The thesis explores the impact of European Union funding on Turkish non-governmental organizations in the post-Helsinki period. The European Union financial aids in the post-Helsinki period is analysed with a specific emphasis on civil society and how Turkish civil society is affected from these financial aids. The search for impact analysis is done through case studies of three different civil society organisations at several levels. The organisations studied are, Women Entrepreneur&rsquo / s Support Foundation of Turkey (KAGiDER), Mother-Child Education Foundation (A&Ccedil / EV) and Southeast Anatolia Project- Entrepreneurs Development Centres (GiDEM) The importance of these three cases is being representative of different strata of civil society and operating in priority areas in such as, women, entrepreneurship and basic education the pre-accession stage. The effects of EU funding will be analysed in different subject areas and levels, such as organisational changes, operational changes, mission differentiations and changes in relations with third parties. The study concludes with the analysis if these impacts have a permanent effect on Turkish civil society and civil society organisations, together with the critiques of the extent EU funds can be utilised by an average NGO.

High turnover rate of employees in construction cause companies in the sector struggle against knowledge loss. Due to the high competition in the market, companies differentiate by keeping and increasing their intellectual capital generally acknowledged as the main source of competitive advantage. Knowledge Management (KM) is defined as any process or practice of creating, acquiring, capturing, sharing, and using knowledge, wherever it resides, to increase learning and performance by sustaining organisational knowledge. This study investigates the awareness of Knowledge Management (KM), applicability of KM tools and the role of intellectual capital assets to propose a roadmap for companies in the Turkish construction industry. For this purpose, the study employs a combination of a detailed literature survey, interviews with ten leading medium large-scale Turkish construction companies, and the analysis of previous KM research and tools. Results are analysed, possible barriers are determined, benefits are identified, KM techniques are discussed in terms of their applicability and a four-staged model framework is developed and discussed in order to assist the construction firms in KM.

The aim of this study was to determine the quantity of construction waste for several construction materials and to state the probable origins of this waste, depending on case studies in Turkey. There is a lack of documented quantitative data in Turkey on how much material waste the construction industry generates and what amount of such materials remain unused due to this waste. Although some amount of waste is accepted as unavoidable, the probable reasons for it are unclear. Therefore, the study focused on determining waste percentage values for certain materials based on several construction projects and assessing the reasons for this as stated by the professionals who were involved in the construction process of these projects. For practical reasons, it was confined to the material amounts in the bill of quantities, progress payment reports and invoices for four different construction materials / namely, ready-mixed concrete, rebar, brick and floor block, which belonged to eight different projects of two construction companies. Data compiled on these aspects were analyzed statistically via ANOVA and regression analyses. The results showed that waste percentage values displayed differences among materials. Design-related aspects, skill level and attitude of labor, incorrect calculation of material quantities, contractual clauses and material defects were the most effective reasons for waste within the projects analyzed.

Social science research has been slow to incorporate the international migration of skilled and educated women, and the impacts of their return migration. At the same time, Turkish female migrants have been negatively stereotyped in the literature. This exploratory and descriptive study aims to address these gaps by examining the impacts of emigration and return migration on the social and work lives of educated Turkish women who have returned to Turkey from Canada. Oral history interviews were conducted with six working-age, educated female returnees in Istanbul and Ankara between February and April 2007. Aside from some common features, the six women in this study differ greatly in terms of age, marital status, field of study and work, length of time in Canada and Turkey, and the opportunities and resources available to them throughout their migrations. From the interpretive examination of the women&amp / #8217 / s narratives, patterns in their subjective social and work life experiences emerged. The issue of gender was found to pervade all aspects of the women&amp / #8217 / s lives at all stages of their migrations as they negotiated their often contradictory social roles as mothers, wives, daughters, and professionals. This study also reveals that none of the women migrated as an individual actor. Rather, contextual and stratification factors such as marital status, family configuration, language skills, prior exposure to different cultures, socio-economic background, education and labour force participation were found to shape and influence their initial potential for migration, as well as the processes and outcomes of their migrations.

Within the scope of this research, factors contributing to the decline and failure in the Turkish construction industry are examined by the aid of a broad literature review and a Delphi Study conducted among respondents selected to be civil engineers who experienced organizational decline and/or bankruptcy throughout their professional lives. Based on the identified factors and their interrelations, Analytical Network Process (ANP) is used to quantify the relative importance of these factors on &ldquo / Organizational Decline/Bankruptcy of the Turkish Construction Companies&rdquo / . Organizational Decline/Bankruptcy evaluation and prediction model to be used by the construction company managers as a decision support tool is constructed. As a result of the ANP analysis, importance of management competency and companies&rsquo / intangible resources such as organizational knowledge and its technical and technological capabilities came out to be the most important factors effective on the fate of the company to success or bankruptcy whereas external factors such as economic and political changes / which are effective on all kind of industries commonly, occurred to be the least effective factors that directly affect business failure.

This study aimed at investigating learners&rsquo / attitudes towards English language and English speaking societies. The study also explored the historical and sociopolitical factors that might have influenced learners&rsquo / attitudes. In order to collect data, a language attitude questionnaire was designed adapting several questionnaires which were prepared with the goal of collecting information about learners&rsquo / attitudinal predispositions towards language and language learning in various countries around the world. The study sampled 219 students studying at the preparatory schools of two state and three private universities in Ankara. In addition to the quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire, qualitative data were obtained from the open ended items in the questionnaire and the interview sessions. Interview sessions were conducted at the sampled universities, and 10 students (5 male 5 female) were asked their opinions about their reasons to learn English, their opinions regarding the current status of English in Turkey and their feelings towards English and towards their native language. After the data collection procedure, inferences were made according to the data obtained from the questionnaire and interviews so as to make quantitative and qualitative analysis. While the quantitative findings of the data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics via SPSS 11.0 (Statistical Package of Social Sciences), qualitative data were analyzed through the content analysis. According to the factor analysis of the responses in the pilot and the actual study, the parallel statements were categorized into a factor. Consequently, five factors which ultimately formed five &lsquo / themes&rsquo / were obtained. The research findings were interpreted with reference to these five themes-native language loyalty, instrumental orientation, cultural interest, appreciation of intercultural contact and attitudes towards British and American people respectively. According to the research findings, Turkish learners of English at sampled universities have favorable attitudes towards the English language due to their interest in the cultural products of the English speaking societies and the instrumental value of English as a global language. On the other hand, they have developed ambivalent attitudes towards the target societies due to the intercultural contact with these societies throughout Turkish history, current sociopolitical concerns regarding the British and American state policies and finally their perceptions regarding their native language and culture. Alternative solutions at individual and institutional levels have been proposed in order to change negative attitudes into favorable ones, and prevent the generalization of stereotypes and attitudes into individual levels. In order to achieve the acquisition of favorable attitudes at individual level, intercultural contact should be promoted so that learners will have personal experiences and personal contacts rather than relying on indirect sources such as press and cultural products which might generate biased assumptions.

One of the major change efforts for the construction industry is lean construction. This thesis analyzes the practices of the construction companies in Turkey from the lean construction perspective. Prior to the analysis in question, requisite information about change in the construction industry, lean thinking and lean construction will be presented. A questionnaire, based on a lean construction model, is used to survey the practices and gather the data for the analysis. Various statistical analysis methods are performed on the gathered data to make inferences. According to these analyses, the lean construction characteristics of the construction companies will be discussed and the recommendations for improving the lean conformance of the construction companies will be presented.

This study aims to analyze the istanbul Hilton, the izmir Grand Efes and the Grand Ankara Hotels, which are owned by the Pension Fund, during the 1950-1980 period that witnessed the formation process of modern tourism and tourism architecture in Turkey. As the first five-star hotels of their cities, these buildings provide the possibility of tracing the social transformation processes at the second half of the 20th century beyond their architectural properties that reflect and affect the zeitgeist of the period. In this manner, besides the architectural formation of the buildings, this thesis also aims to examine the participation of the hotels in social life and the relations of architecture with the changing city life and tourism. Moreover, this thesis offers historical perspectives about tourism architecture, about which adequate researches have not been provided yet. Chronologically, the first chapter formulates a general introduction. The second chapter issues the 1950s&amp / #8217 / Turkey and the istanbul Hilton Hotel. The third chapter issues the 1960s&amp / #8217 / Turkey and the izmir Efes Hotel and the Grand Ankara Hotels. The fourth chapter examines the critique of tourism that developed in the 1970s&amp / #8217 / social and political medium, and the last chapter is a general conclusion

This thesis analyzes the educational function of art museums, how education in art museums evolved and how an art museum can conduct an educational mission. The concept of the material collections as the educative origin of art museums will be discussed alongside the history of collections in Europe. In addition to the concept of collection, the importance of educational programmes of art museums will be highlighted. Having derived a general notion of the educational function of art museums, the thesis will seek to answer questions such as how museology evolved in Turkey and whether the turkish museology has an educational concern. In accordance with these questions two turkish contemporary art museums will be investigated as case studies.

Partnering is in the agenda of many construction companies worldwide as it is an effective strategy that may increase competitiveness of partner companies and reduce risks retained by each party. In order for partnering to reach its expected benefits, partner selection is of vital importance. Similarly, there are some critical success factors (CSF) that should be taken into account by the parties in order to maintain a successful partnership throughout its lifecycle. The aim of this thesis is identification of factors that affect the partner selection process of the Turkish contractors as well as CSFs that are found important by the Turkish contractors. For this purpose, interviews are carried out with experts and a questionnaire is designed to collect necessary statistical data regarding the CSFs. The number of experts who answered the questionnaire is 49. Statistical analysis is conducted to reveal the perception of contractors about partnering in the Turkish construction industry. One of the findings is that Turkish contractors prefer establishing short-term partnerships in the form of project-based joint ventures rather than long-term strategic alliances. Results demonstrate that the most important factors while selecting the partners are experience and image of the company. Mutual trust between the parties, management support and commitment to win-win attitude are identified as the most important CSFs by the Turkish contractors. Finally, the results of the questionnaire are compared with those from other countries and certain strategies are proposed to practitioners for maximizing success of partnerships.