The concept of customer perceived value occupies a prominent position within the strategic agenda of organisations, as firms seek to maximise the value perceived by their customers as arising from their consumption, and to equal or exceed that perceived in relation to competitor propositions. Customer value management is similarly central to the marketing discipline. However, the nature of customer value remains ambiguous and its measurement is typically flawed, due to the poor conceptual foundation upon which previous research endeavours are built. This investigation seeks to address the current poverty of insight regarding the nature and measurement of customer value. The development of a revised conceptual framework synthesises the strengths of previous value conceptualisations while addressing many of their limitations. A multi-dimensional depiction of value arising from customer experience is presented, in which value is conceptualised as arising at both first-order dimension and overall, second-order levels of abstraction. The subsequent operationalisation of this conceptual framework within a two-phase investigation combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies in a study of customer value arising from subscription TV (STV) consumption. Sixty semi-structured interviews with 103 existing STV customers give rise to a multi-dimensional model of value, in which dimensions are categorised as restorative, actualising and hedonic in type, and as arising via individual, reflected or shared modes of perception. The quantitative investigation entails two periods of data collection via questionnaires developed from the qualitative findings, and the gathering of 861 responses, also from existing STV customers. A series of scales with which to measure value dimensions is developed and an index enabling overall perceived value measurement is produced. Contributions to theory of customer value arise in the form of enhanced insights regarding its nature. At the first-order dimension level, the derived dimensions are of specific relevance to the STV industry. However, the empirically derived framework of dimension types and modes of perception has potential applicability in multiple contexts. At the more abstract, second-order level, the findings highlight that value perceptions comprise only a subset of potential dimensions. Evidence is thus presented of the need to consider value at both dimension and overall levels of perception. Contributions to knowledge regarding customer value measurement also arise, as the study produces reliable and valid scales and an index. This latter tool is novel in its formative measurement of value as a second order construct, comprising numerous first-order dimensions of value, rather than quality as incorporated in previously derived measures. This investigation also results in a contribution to theory regarding customer experience through the identification of a series of holistic, discrete, direct and indirect value-generating interactions. Contributions to practice within the STV industry arise as the findings present a solution to the immediate need for enhanced value insight. Contributions to alternative industries are methodological, as this study presents a detailed process through which robust value insight can be derived. Specific methodological recommendations arise in respect of the need for empirically grounded research, an experiential focus and a twostage quantitative methodology.

Social action and communication constitute the building blocks in the organizational structure and the agents of change, as well as shape the relationships among working parties, that can become inconsistent, due to the same desire of two or more people for a similar resource which is in scarcity, introducing the issue of human relations in an organizational context and especially the issue of conflict prevention. In this study we investigate conflict in a group based on different parameters by providing some insights on what is the impact between these different factors when interrelated. The research is carried out by adopting the survey path and performing multivariate statistical analysis techniques where we simultaneously examine the relationship between latent factors in an organizational conflict environment.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-08-05T16:43:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigo Bühler_.pdf: 1861061 bytes, checksum: 0774ab308ad9b1e55708414fcf929368 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-08-05T16:43:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigo Bühler_.pdf: 1861061 bytes, checksum: 0774ab308ad9b1e55708414fcf929368 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-31 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O biomonitoramento tem importante participação na compreensão das dinâmicas da natureza. Compreender a maneira como a vida reage às interferências externas ajuda na predição e tratamento dos efeitos fruto dessas alterações. Além disso, possibilita o entendimento sobre os processos de recuperação de áreas contaminadas, ajuda a prever efeitos das mudanças climáticas e até mesmo entender como é possível compartilhar o ambiente com diferentes espécies de forma a minimizar os danos. Com o objetivo de agregar valor na etapa de análise de dados de campo, o presente trabalho propõe um modelo de software para apoio ao pesquisador. O modelo proposto contempla a interação entre o pesquisador responsável pela coleta e organização dos dados e o estatístico encarregado de elaborar e por vezes implementar agrupamentos de técnicas estatísticas que descrevem uma análise estatística. Levando em conta o fato de que a área de estudos do Biomonitoramento abrange diversas abordagens de interação com a fauna e flora, o modelo foi criado de forma que sua adaptação para diferentes métodos aconteça com um mínimo de esforço. O modelo procura atender tanto o biomonitoramento, na elaboração das análises de dados e interpretação dos resultados, quanto suportar uma arquitetura extensível e adaptável a diferentes contextos. Neste sentido são propostos módulos ou pacotes de funções para interface, controle de requisições e suporte a execução das técnicas estatísticas. Como forma de mostrar a viabilidade da implementação e validar o modelo, foi implementado um protótipo, o qual foi usado em uma avaliação envolvendo pesquisadores da área do biomonitoramento. Esta avaliação foi aplicada com a utilização de um teste de aceitação de tecnologia baseado no TAM - Technology Acceptance Model onde os resultados obtidos se apresentaram bastante positivos tanto para a percepção de utilidade do software proposto quanto para a facilidade de uso. / The biomonitoring has an important role in the understanding of the dynamics of nature. Understanding the way life reacts to external interferences helps us to predict and treat the effects result of these changes. In addition to that, it provides a better understanding of the steps of self-recovery processes in areas damaged by toxic accidents, regarding the weather changes or even knowledge on how it is possible to share the same space with different species, minimizing the damages. Aiming at adding value to the step of data analysis, the current dissertation proposes a software model for supporting the researcher. The proposed model covers the interaction between the researcher, who is responsible for collecting and organizing the data filed, and the statistician, who is in charge of defining and sometimes implementing sets of statistical techniques describing a statistical analysis. Taking into account that the Biomonitoring area of study covers different approaches in terms of fauna and flora interactions, the model was created in a way that its adaptation to handle such a diverse set of options would happen with a minimum effort. With the objective to cover both the biomonitoring, assembling the analysis and interpreting the results, and an architecture extensible and adaptable to a wide range of contexts we propose modules or packages for the interface, requisition controllers and statistical support. In a way of presenting the validity and viability of the proposed implementation into the described context a prototype is implemented and evaluated by biomonitoring researchers. Such evaluation was applied based on TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) acceptance test. The results obtained were very positive for the perception of usefulness as they were for the ease of use.

This study is innovative in that it draws together the concepts of suggestion from several cultural groups and develops an inventory to account for variations the occurrence of scale to studies the relatively new area of the effects of suggestion in classrooms and compares effect on personality and academic variables. As new ideas and knowledge become more widespread and accepted by the community and teaching profession, precision in the applications of suggestion in the classroom is being seen as more important. Although new to education, suggestion and similar variations has always been central to influencing behaviour and learning among pastoral, counseling and hypnotherapy fields. Teachers who had experience or influence from those fields or the ideas of Lozanov (1978) or accelerated learning groups were and are more the exception than the rule. However, as new ideas become more influential, the influence of suggestion in is becoming increasingly important in progressive, modern education. A major goal of the study was to provide a valid instrument to compare Chinese and Australian differences and similarities in use of suggestion in learning. It was hoped that such a comparison would provide increased mutual understanding of values, strategies, practices and preferences by teachers and students. A second goal was to develop a causative model that explained the relationships between the measured variables of personality and learning behaviour and suggestion in teaching and learning.. A third aim was to make a comparison on effects and performance of suggestion in teaching and learning in Australian, Chinese and Australian accelerative learning classes. This study examined differences between Australian and Chinese high school Science classrooms in their use of suggestion in teaching and learning. To ascertain the prevalence and types of suggestion in the classroom the 39-item suggestion in teaching and learning (STL) scale was developed and validated v in Year 7, 9, and 11 high school classes in China and Australia. The STL scale categorized suggestion into the following types or subscales: Selfsuggestion, metaphor, indirect non-verbal suggestion, general spoken suggestion, negative suggestion, intuitive suggestion, direct verbal suggestion, relaxation, and de-suggestion. The study involved surveying 344 participants (n=182 female, n=162 male) from four high schools in Australia and China. A further 374 participants (n=108 teachers, n=266 students) from six high schools were surveyed for selecting a Chinese sample in a pilot study. About 284 participants (China: 200 students; Australia: 84 students [includes 8 adults]) were observed for validation of the STL instrument. All subjects and classes were randomly selected and were surveyed and observed for the purpose of scale and model development. The STL scale was found to be capable of distinguishing different types of suggestion within Chinese, Australian, and Australian Accelerative Learning classes. The STL scale was significant as a first scale to measure suggestion in teaching and learning in Australian and Chinese classrooms. Items in the scale were strongly and significantly correlated with other items within the subscales and with the overall scale. Path analytic techniques were used to explain relationships between the STL scale, its subscales, nation, gender and high school students profiles on stress, depression, learning styles and academic grades. Limitations of the study included problems arising from language and cultural differences as well as newness of the scale and the field of study. Recommendations for further study included strengthening aspects of the scale with new items and further qualitative and quantitative studies on the uses of suggestion in academic learning and other forms of change in childhood and adolescence.

The e-government phenomena has become more important with the ever increasing number of implementations world wide. A model explaining the e-government adoption and the related measurement instrument a survey had been developed and validated in this study. In a post technology acceptance model (TAM) approach, theory of planned behavior (TPB) was extended to t the requirements of e-government context. The adoption of student loans service of the higher education student loans and accommodation association (KYK) was investigated to obtain data for empirical validation. The instrument was administered to over four-hundred students and partial least squares path modeling was employed to analyze the data. The results indicate that the model was an improvement over TAM in terms of predictive power. The constructs investigated in the study successfully explained the intention to use an e-government service.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第18965号 / 工博第4007号 / 新制||工||1617 / 31916 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科都市社会工学専攻 / (主査)教授 藤井 聡, 准教授 SCHMOECKER,JAN-DirK, 准教授 神田 佑亮 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

The relationship between interpartner abuse (IPA) and criminal offending has received little scholarly attention, despite its important theoretical and practical implications. Two key questions about this relationship require attention. First, to what extent do IPA, violent offending, and property offending represent empirically distinct behavioural domains? Second, to what extent do these offence types share common predictors? The current study addressed these issues, and several additional issues, in a birth cohort of 950 New Zealand adults. Cohort members were questioned at ages 21, 25, and 30 years about the extent which they had engaged in IPA and criminal offending during the previous year. Information was also obtained from birth to late adolescence on a number of potential predictors of IPA and criminal offending, including socio-economic disadvantage, family dysfunction, childhood abuse, conduct disordered behaviours, deviant peer affiliations, substance abuse, academic ability, the obtainment of a high-school qualification, identification with an ethnic or racial minority, and gender. Confirmatory Factor Analysis results indicated that IPA, violent offending, and property offending represent three empirically distinct, albeit related, behavioural domains. Consistent with this finding were those obtained using Structural Equation Modelling techniques, which indicated that these offence types share many common childhood, adolescent, and demographic predictors. In addition, many predictors, but not all, were found to exert similar effects across these offence types. Analyses also indicated that shared predictors accounted for considerable proportions of the relationships between IPA, violent offending, and property offending. Finally, the vast majority of predictors were found to exert similar effects for males and females on each offence type. The current findings are discussed in relation to previous research and theory, and with respect to their implications for prevention-focused interventions for IPA and criminal offending.

No description available.

Background: There are innumerable diabetes studies that have investigated associations between risk factors, protective factors, and health outcomes; however, these individual predictors are part of a complex network of interacting forces. Moreover, there is little awareness about resilience or its importance in chronic disease in adulthood, especially diabetes. Thus, this is the first study to: (1) extensively investigate the relationships among a host of predictors and multiple adaptive outcomes; and (2) conceptualise a resilience model among people with diabetes. Methods: This cross-sectional study was divided into two research studies. Study One was to translate two diabetes-specific instruments (Problem Areas In Diabetes, PAID; Diabetes Coping Measure, DCM) into a Chinese version and to examine their psychometric properties for use in Study Two in a convenience sample of 205 outpatients with type 2 diabetes. In Study Two, an integrated theoretical model is developed and evaluated using the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 345 people with type 2 diabetes from the endocrine outpatient departments of three hospitals in Taiwan. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a one-factor structure of the PAID-C which was similar to the original version of the PAID. Strong content validity of the PAID-C was demonstrated. The PAID-C was associated with HbA1c and diabetes self-care behaviours, confirming satisfactory criterion validity. There was a moderate relationship between the PAID-C and the Perceived Stress Scale, supporting satisfactory convergent validity. The PAID-C also demonstrated satisfactory stability and high internal consistency. A four-factor structure and strong content validity of the DCM-C was confirmed. Criterion validity demonstrated that the DCM-C was significantly associated with HbA1c and diabetes self-care behaviours. There was a statistical correlation between the DCM-C and the Revised Ways of Coping Checklist, suggesting satisfactory convergent validity. Test-retest reliability demonstrated satisfactory stability of the DCM-C. The total scale of the DCM-C showed adequate internal consistency. Age, duration of diabetes, diabetes symptoms, diabetes distress, physical activity, coping strategies, and social support were the most consistent factors associated with adaptive outcomes in adults with diabetes. Resilience was positively associated with coping strategies, social support, health-related quality of life, and diabetes self-care behaviours. Results of the structural equation modelling revealed protective factors had a significant direct effect on adaptive outcomes; however, the construct of risk factors was not significantly related to adaptive outcomes. Moreover, resilience can moderate the relationships among protective factors and adaptive outcomes, but there were no interaction effects of risk factors and resilience on adaptive outcomes. Conclusion: This study contributes to an understanding of how risk factors and protective factors work together to influence adaptive outcomes in blood sugar control, health-related quality of life, and diabetes self-care behaviours. Additionally, resilience is a positive personality characteristic and may be importantly involved in the adjustment process among people living with type 2 diabetes.

No description available.