Living systems theory provides a conceptual model the use of which might help to improve the understanding of an organisation and its problems, thus helping analysts to find solutions to these problems. A method to guide the application of living systems theory to the analysis of organisations is needed. In this work, a number of methods based on living systems theory are analysed, and a method for analysing organisations that consists of nine steps based on fundamental living systems theory concepts and, to some extent, the aforementioned methods is proposed. The steps of the method range from the initial problem, i. e. the reason to undertake the analysis, to the evaluation of the final solution. The method is iterative - the analyst will have to go back and forth between the steps of the method - and is also supposed to be continually applied. Together with this method a number of description techniques are proposed. Several of these description techniques are graphical, which will hopefully enhance readability and maintainability.

The concept of socioemotional wealth (SEW) seeks to present an independent paradigmatic basis for family-firm research, and in doing so aims to establish a sound basis for the scientific legitimacy of family-firm research. Establishing that legitimacy requires scholars to demonstrate that SEW is based on coherent assumptions on several theoretical levels. This paper uses the problematization methodology to challenge the coherence of the theoretical assumptions underpinning SEW and to advance theory development. The results of this problematization show that SEW is built on a theoretical level close to the object of research (in-house assumptions), but that more deeply-rooted theoretical levels (e.g. paradigmatic assumptions) are not sufficiently elaborated. Moreover, the original conceptualization is based on a positivist-mechanistic view, which hinders SEW reflecting the complex reality of family firms. Based on the results of this problematization, new systems theory is applied to reframe SEW's theoretical grounding. Thereby the main contribution of the paper is a critical reflection on the theoretical underpinnings of SEW (in particular root-metaphor and paradigmatic assumptions), serving as the basis for advancing a coherent theoretical understanding of this important concept in family business research.

The idea that we can 'save energy' has become a commonplace homily. But with a moment's reflection it is clear there is nothing self-evident about saving energy. Do we save fuel or a system's ability to 'do work'? Do we conserve for perpetuity or to prolong use? Is the motivation resource economy, scarcity, productivity, or - more recently - climate change mitigation? And what stops the fruits of individual parsimony being consumed elsewhere? This thesis offers a history of the idea that we can conserve energy by using it more efficiently. In recounting this story, it is argued that conserved energy is a 'metrological resource' produced by practices of measurement, calculation, and computation. A second argument is that the history of ERC offers an under examined example of a 'resource ontology'; the social processes through which nature is imbued with utility and value. Accordingly, the study of, what is termed, energy resource conservation (ERC herein) involved a novel research method which focused upon the scientific and intellectual processes of resource making, as much as the material. This thesis begins in 1865 with the publication of William Jevons' The Coal Question (1865), in which the resource conservative principles of Classical political economy were overturned. Jevons argued that increased efficiency of coal use would serve only to increase the rate and scale with which coal was used. Proceeding from this anti-thesis, the following chapters outline how, irrespective of Jevons' claim, policies based on the principles of scientific management were applied to the conservation of fuel resources for conserving natural resources. In pre-war America, a complex system of 'pro-rationing' extraction licenses were introduced to conserve the productive capacity of petroleum wells. However, a significant shift occurred during the Cold War, as the conservation of fuel became increasingly conflated with the econometrician's notion of efficient resource allocation. But the most significant developments occurred in the nineteen-seventies, in response to a perceived crisis in energy supply. Fuel policy became a more systemic 'energy policy', which drew on scientific management, graph theory, systems theory, statistical mechanics, and computational econometrics in an attempt to quantify and demonstrate how society could act to conserve energy resources by increasing the efficiency of energy use. The resulting science, and its concomitant policies were an odd mix of cold war rational decision making theories, détente science, scientific radicalism, and liberal economic theory, all given a countercultural and environmentalist gloss in the latter half of the decade. On the basis of this conflation of ideas, a new approach to energy saving that emerged, which transformed the principles of energy resource governance, shifting the onus to conserve from producer to consumer, with distinct implications for post-war theories of political economy.

Discussing, defining and engaging with ‘terrorism’ has long been limited to the narrowly framed situations in which parties to an asymmetric conflict resort to the use of force and to the legitimacy they have in doing so. The problem with the limited understanding of ‘terrorism’ and ‘counterterrorism’ as ‘facts of objective reality’ is the lack of attention to the role of the extreme asymmetry of power in conflicts involving ‘terrorism’ that does not lend itself to analysis readily. This thesis introduces a new theoretical concept, the Terrorism Complex that signifies the complexity of power/knowledge relations and the complexity of power/knowledge practices that operate on a discursive and non-discursive level through time and are affected by the mechanisms of power that stem from the asymmetry of power between the actors involved in a conflict. The research into the Terrorism Complex involves an ontological and epistemological widening of the research focus to account for these effects of the interplay between power and knowledge on the production, construction and perception of ‘terrorism’. I draw on postmodern scholarship and the Critical Terrorism Studies to present a theoretical and methodological framework that is used to examine the production of knowledge in relation to the asymmetries of power. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is used as a case study for the study of power asymmetry in the political field that determines who will be labelled a ‘terrorist’ and who will be able to claim the moral high ground. The research also reveals the surprising extent to which the power over discourse obscures the role of the systemic terrorising exercise of state power in inducing ‘terrorism’. The final chapter concentrates on the media’s role in the Terrorism Complex. It applies the findings from other chapters to observe the Terrorism Complex in action.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / The aims of the study were to: (1) explore the education support services required by three learners who were integrated into the mainstream, (2) determine the level of support required by these learners to function maximally in the mainstream, (3) specifically explore the socioemotional ability of these learners to adjust to the mainstream setting. Three cases were explored within an eco-systemic approach. Each case consisted of a learner with a physical disability, the learner’s mother and the educator/s who first taught the learner at the mainstream school. Interviews were conducted with all of the participants and subsequently transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was then conducted to extract themes from the transcriptions. / South Africa

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / This research study employs a strengths perspective. This means that, instead of the traditional deficits or pathology-based approach of focusing on weaknesses, the focus is on positive outcomes. Fortitude, more specifically, is the strength gained from appraising oneself, one’s family, and one’s social support,in a positive manner. This strength equips people to cope successfully in stressful situations. Fortitude as a construct in the strengths perspective promises to give insight into student success because it takes more than one level of analysis into account. The current research study investigates whether there is a link between fortitude and academic achievement in first year students at the University of the Western Cape / South Africa

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Violence is considered to be one of the most critical and threatening global problems plaguing the world today, leaving a trail of devastating consequences to societies, economies, cultures, families and individuals (Desjarlais & Kleinman, 1997). Adolescents who grow up in a context of violence learn distorted ways of thinking, acting, living and interacting. Aggressive tendencies and violent behaviour become internalised and adopted as acceptable ways to resolve conflict situations. Chronic, continuous exposure to violence results in physical, psychological and emotional disturbances, such as depression, anxiety, lowered self-confidence, sleep disturbances, decreased attention and concentration spans. This study addressed the form of violence known as community violence, i.e. violence that children experience within their communities (either as witnesses or as victims). This study investigated the effects of this negative environmental experience and investigated potential mediating and moderating variables that could influence the harmful effects of such experiences. The variables considered as mediating and/or moderating variables were social support and self-esteem. The theoretical framework adopted for this study was Bronfennbrenner's Bioecological Systems theory. / South Africa

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The aims of this study were therefore to describe the personal experiences of a methamphetamine addict as well as the effects of this addiction on the family’s communication and problem-solving abilities.

The aim of this study is to investigate the nature, extent and impact of micro lending on the social functioning of members of Correctional Services. The negative implications and involvement of employers in micro lending often surface too late because the borrower is not well enough informed. This study is approached from a systemic perspective, which focuses on the bilateral influence of systems and their role in the individual’s everyday life. Because of the fact that a void has been identified in regard to scientific literature and evidence concerning this problem, an explorative study has been undertaken for data collection. In order to reach the goal, literature studies were undertaken, conversations with experts and individuals who have had first hand experience regarding micro lending. For the purpose of this study a questionnaire has been used with fourty respondents. This study was undertaken at the Department of Correctional Services Baviaanspoort Management Area. This study is based on quantitative and developmental research principles, within the exploratory design. From the research findings, several results and recommendations were put forward. / Dissertation (MSD (EAP))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work / unrestricted

The clothing and textile industry has a significant impact on the world economy and has secured itself as one of the six most important industries in South Africa. This industry faces many challenges and over the years has been branded by economical changes, company closure, extensive job losses, low productivity, lack of investment in machinery, intensive competition from low-priced imports, trends toward outsourcing and growth in the informal sector (Pride&Ferrell, 1993:34). All of these factors had a direct impact on the South African clothing industry’s overall output. This study’s focus is primarily on the South African clothing production industry that has, despite its prominence in the country’s economy, shown considerable decline in the last decade. For South African clothing production to survive, it is important to connect to global value chains and to increase exports. To do this, clothing manufacturers and operational managers have to improve operational productivity and overall plant performance. Although companies are unable to control external and environmental factors, they can adjust internal factors within the company. Therefore this study explores the utilisation of a company’s resources in relation to their productivity. In this study the aim was to explore and describe the interactive contribution of resources (human, operational and physical) with regard to the operation and outputs of a South African clothing production system from a management’s and employees’ perspectives to formulate recommendations whereby the clothing industry could become more competitive in the current cut-throat environment. A clothing production company can be viewed as a social system with constant interaction with the environment. It does not operate in a vacuum and consists of a collection of interrelated parts of various subsystems (Spears&Gregoire 2004:24). The systems theory was adapted as a theoretical framework for this study, as it provides a basis for understanding how the various interactive resources are interrelated to the clothing production system and contribute to the overall outputs thereof (Spears&Gregoire, 2004:24). A case study research design was followed, which permitted a more flexible and multi-perspective approach to understand the phenomena under study (Maree, 2007:5). A combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques was used with relevant data analysis procedures. The unit of analysis was a clothing production company in the Bronkhorstspruit area in Gauteng. The operational management, line supervisors as well sewing machine and cutting room operators participated in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select the case, and the individuals within the case study (Babbie&Mouton, 2003:166). Individual interviews were held with the operational management. From the focus group interviews, with the line supervisors, a questionnaire was developed. The sewing machine and cutting room operators participated in the completion of the questionnaire. Qualitative data analysis was done on the interviews and focus group interviews according to Miles and Huberman’s (1994:10) data analysis process. Overall 137 questionnaires were completed and was thereafter analysed by a statistician. Findings indicated that the internal resources in this factory were interrelated. Thus the optimisation of each resource individually contributed to a more efficient overall production output. Human resources were the core and heartbeat of any production company. Employees’ needed, employees’ satisfaction, training, and communication and feedback were crucial for optimal outputs. Resources that had a direct relation to human resources were performance appraisal, motivation, training and ergonomics. Optimum training was facilitated by motivating workers. Performance appraisal was directly influenced by training as management trained employees through a performance appraisal system. When the trained employees knew how to operate their equipment effectively it contributed to ergonomic posture and the optimum usage of equipment. Thus all four of these resources were closely interrelated on all levels. Operational and physical resources (technology, production planning, material handling and production system used) were all related to ergonomics and indirectly related to the other human resources mentioned. Quality control was incorporated into all the resources within the company and played a role within the use of every one of the above-mentioned resources. Human resources implemented quality control in their work on hand, which was facilitated by technology, production planning, material handling and the production system used. An investigation of a single resource would therefore not have reflected a true scenario in terms of strengths and shortcomings that could be attended to, to improve the outputs of a clothing production system. This study revealed the pertinence of all of the resources in terms of the success of a clothing production system but clearly indicated that failure to control one resource could jeopardise the entire system unless other resources are able to compensate for such shortcomings. In this particular study the potential role of human resources in terms of the success of a clothing production system was confirmed. Although not conducive in the long term, when properly trained and well-treated, employees could be motivated to overcome frustrations caused by poor working conditions created by poor ergonomic features and dated machinery. The hierarchy of resources and the interactive contribution of resources towards the output of the system should therefore be understood and acknowledged by management in order to succeed and to survive in a cut throat industry. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Consumer Science / unrestricted