Emotions play an important role in affecting human¡¦s behaviors. It is obvious especially in the negotiation process. However, these emotional interactions disappear in the electronic communication media. Emoticons provide a new way for negotiators to show their emotions in e-negotiation. E-negotiation support system is composed of electronic communication and decision support system. Using emoticons could help negotiators display their emotions to counterparts. This study explored the effect of emoticon on negotiation process from the aspect of communication. In general, e-communication can be separated into social-emotional communication and task-oriented communication. Emoticons retrieve multiple cues and enable negotiators transmit emotions so that the interactions increase. As a result, more social-emotional communication happens between negotiators. Previous studies indicate that nonverbal cues could add the meaning of messages. In the negotiation process, negotiators may lower down the opportunity of misunderstanding by using emoticons to express their thought in text and increase the quality of communication. The negotiation process may be more effective and increase the ability to reach agreement. Negotiators will be more satisfied of the process and their counterparts when the outcome is equal or better than what they expected. The purpose of this study is to explore whether supporting emoticons influence negotiators communication behavior and change the negotiation process. For this purpose, we conducted an experiment and adopted content analysis to define the social-emotional communication and task-oriented communication behaviors. We also measured the perceived communication effectiveness and satisfaction of negotiation process by questionnaire. The results showed that emoticons increase the frequency of social-emotional communication. Social-emotional communication also increases the negotiators¡¦ task-oriented communication. As a result the communication becomes more effective. Negotiators have better satisfaction of negotiation process.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between employees' perceptions of their immediate supervisors' relations-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors and different types of organizational commitment. Bass & Avolio's (1995) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ Form 5X) was used to measure relations-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors. Meyer & Allen's (1997) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) was used to measure organizational commitment. Participants in the research included 361 employees who worked for the city of Charlottesville, Virginia. These employees were located in eight departments that varied in the area of technical functioning, size, and academic levels. Factor analyses, with principal component extraction and varimax rotation, were performed to determine how the MLQ Form 5X items would load onto a 2-factor model of relations-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors. The task-oriented items of contingent reward loaded with the relations-oriented items, and the non-leadership items of laissez-faire loaded with the task-oriented items. These findings resulted in an arrangement of relations-oriented and task-oriented subscales that was different than the arrangement proposed by Bass & Avolio (1995). Correlations for the MLQ Form 5X revealed multicollinearity among all the relations-oriented subscales and two of the task-oriented subscales, preventing any interpretations about the amount of variance that any particular type of relations-oriented or task-oriented leadership behavior might explain in organizational commitment. Factor scores were used to perform regressions and investigate the amount of variance relations-oriented leadership behaviors and task-oriented leadership behaviors explained in organizational commitment. Relations-oriented leadership behaviors explained the greatest amount of variance in affective commitment, somewhat less variance in normative commitment, and no variance in continuance commitment. The results for task-oriented leadership behaviors revealed the same pattern of relationships with the different types of organizational commitment, only weaker. / Ph. D.

Ellipsis is a phenomenon whereby constituents which are normally obligatory in the grammar are omitted in actual discourse. It is found in all types of discourse, from everyday conversation to poetry. The omitted constituents can range from one word to an entire clause, and recovery of the ellipted item depends sometimes on the linguistic and sometimes on the non-linguistic context. From a practical point of view, the contribution of ellipsis in the context is twofold. First, it is one of several important means of achieving cohesion in a text. Secondly, ellipsis contributes to communicative appropriateness determined by the type of linguistic activity (e.g., narrative, casual conversation), the mode of communication (e.g., written / spoken) and the relationship between participants. The aim of this research is to provide a description of the functions of elliptical utterances – textual and interpersonal – in English and Japanese, based on a cross-linguistic analysis of dialogues in the English and Japanese map task corpora. In order to analyse ellipsis in relation to its two key functions, elliptical clauses in the map task dialogues were examined. I discuss how ellipsis is used to realise cohesion in the map task dialogues. The findings challenge the well-known claim that topics are established by full noun phrases, which are subsequently realised by pronouns (English) and null pronouns (Japanese). Rather, the results suggest that full noun phrases are used for topic continuity in both languages. Constituents which are ellipted in an utterance are identified and related to the moves types which the utterance realises within the exchange structure. The ellipted elements will be categorised according to the constituent types (Subject, Finite, Predicator, Complement and Adjunct), using the systemic functional approach. This analysis reveals that whereas in the English dialogues the most common types of ellipsis are that of Subject and Finite elements, in the Japanese dialogues the most common type is that of Subject. Types of ellipsis are also correlated with speech acts in the dialogues. The relation between types of ellipsis and particular speech acts associated with them is strikingly similar in the English and Japanese dialogues, despite the notable difference in grammar and pragmatics between the two languages. This analysis also shows how these types of ellipsis are associated with interpersonal effects in particular speech acts: ellipsis of Subject and Finite can contribute to a sharp contrast in the question and answer sequence, while Subject ellipsis in Japanese can contribute to modifying the command-like force in giving instructions. These effects can be summed up as epistemic and deontic modality respectively. Ultimately, it is argued that some types of ellipsis can serve as modality expressions. Additionally, in comparison to the way of realising the speech act of giving instructions in the English dialogues, it emerges that the Japanese speakers exploit ellipsis, which seems to be associated with lowering the degree of the speaker’s commitment to the proposition. As implications for pedagogical settings, I present pedagogical descriptions of ellipsis for Japanese learners of English and English learners of Japanese. Since the description is for specific learners, the approach which takes the difference in grammar and pragmatics between the two languages is made possible. Although descriptions state some detailed facts of ellipsis in English and Japanese, primarily highlighted is the importance of raising awareness of elliptical forms for particular functions in particular contexts. As ellipsis is a product of forms, functions and contexts, it is a most remarkable feature of spoken language. Spoken language is claimed by some researchers to show similar linguistic features among languages because of the restrictions inherent in the medium on communication. In the form of pedagogical description, I show the similarities and differences in ellipsis which derive from the grammar and pragmatics of each language, which are observed in the preceding linguistic research. Through the presentation of the findings which are modified for learners, learners will know how languages show convergence and divergence cross-linguistically.

This study aims to enlighten the effect the agile leadership has on alienation. Two different companies, with different leadership styles, are examined in an attempt to determine if leadership is a contributing factor to alienation among the employees. The study was conducted through the use of a case study of two stores of two different companies. To obtain the purpose of this study the following questions have been asked: • Which features of alienation can be found among the employees? • What effect does the leadership have on the employee’s alienation? To acquire the purpose of the study the theoretical framework is based on a presentation of the traditional leadership, the agile leadership and alienation. The study shows that the employees have encountered some features of alienation. The study shows that the employee at the company who practices the agile leadership encounters fewer of the alienation features, than the employees at the company who practices the traditional leadership. The results of the study showed that some of the features had a bigger impact on the employees. We also found that the agile leadership had good effects on alienation, as the self organized-team, an including approach and lack of hierarchy had beneficial effects on the employee’s sense of control and motivation. / Studiens syfte är att belysa det agila ledarskapets påverkan på alienation. Två företag med två olika ledarskapsstilar har undersökts för att kunna avgöra om ledarskapet är en faktor som kan påverka alienation hos medarbetarna. Undersökningen har gjorts med hjälp av en fallstudie, där två butiker från två olika företag undersökts. Studiens syfte har lett till följande frågeställningar: •     Vilka drag av alienation kan påträffas bland medarbetarna?•     Vad har ledarskapet för effekt på medarbetarnas alienation? En teoretisk referensram bestående av en genomgång av det traditionella ledarskapet, det agila ledarskapet samt alienation har utformats för att svara på frågeställningarna. Då alienationsbegreppet har stor betydelse har det bearbetats noga och brutits ned i fem beståndsdelar. Studien visar att intervjupersonerna upplever drag av alienation. Det framgår att medarbetaren på företaget med agilt ledarskap påträffar färre drag av alienation än medarbetarna på företaget med traditionellt ledarskap. Studien visade att de olika dragen av alienation har olika inverkan på medarbetarna. Det framkom även att det agila ledarskapet hade goda effekter på alienation, då det självorganiserade teamet, ett inkluderande förhållningssätt och avsaknad av hierarki främjade medarbetarnas känsla av kontroll och motivation i arbetet.

Studiens syfte är att få kunskap om hur den inre organisatoriska kontexten kan påverka förstalinjechefers ledarskapsbeteende gentemot underställda och hur den inre kontexten kan påverka ledarskapseffektiviteten. Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ forskningsansats där tre stycken avdelningschefer samt en HR-chef i en organisation har intervjuats. Studien fokuserar på hur kontexten påverkar, begränsar, förstärker eller styr en organisations avdelningschefer till att använda en viss form av ledarstil eller beteende. De ledarstilar vi har utgått från är ett uppgiftsorienterat- samt relationsorienterat ledarskap. I studien har vi funnit att den inre kontextens variabler påverkar både ett uppgiftsorienterat- och ett relationsorienterat ledarskapsbeteende hos avdelningschefer. Vi har kunnat urskilja hur variabler i den inre organisatoriska kontexten påverkar avdelningschefers ledarskapsbeteende är individuellt. I studien har vi använt engagemang samt sjukskrivningsstatistik hos de underställda som mått på ledarskapseffektivitet. Studien visar att i en inre organisatorisk kontext med flertalet substitut för ett uppgiftsorienterat ledarskapsbeteende, kan en relationsorienterad ledarstil vara mer effektiv för att öka engagemang och minska sjukfrånvaron bland underställda. / The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge about how the internal organizational context may affect the first line managers leadership behavior toward subordinates and how the internal context can influence leadership effectiveness. The study was conducted using a qualitative research approach where three department managers and one HR manager in an organization were interviewed. The study focuses on how the context affects, restricts, amplifies or controls an organization's department managers to use a certain kind of leadership style and behavior. The leadership styles we have used in this study is based on a task- and relationship-oriented leadership. The study found that the internal contextual variables affects both the task- and relationship-oriented leadership behavior of the department managers. We have been able to discern that there are individual differences in how the variables in the internal organizational context affects department managers leadership behavior and style. We have used the commitment and level of absenteeism of subordinates as a measure of leadership effectiveness. The study shows that in an internal organizational context with several substitutes for a task-oriented leadership behavior, a relationship-oriented leadership style could be more effective in increasing the level of commitment and reduce the level of absenteeism of subordinates.

This study examined staff and leadership's attitudes to their work organisation and its environment, and, in particular, the extent to which they preferred a human or task orientation. The study then defined and measured the 'academic culture' of the institution and explored the different effects of emphasising human or task orientations on this academic culture. Finally, the relationship between academic culture and student satisfaction within the institution was explored in the research. The measure of academic culture encompassed 3 domains - planning, the way of doing things, and relationships. A set of survey research instruments was developed and piloted. These instruments measured, in addition to background characteristics of respondents, aspects of attitude to the organisation and perceptions of its academic culture. The results of the study provided evidence that stronger task-oriented attitudes of leaders and staff were associated with academic culture subscales based on 'clarity of the job' and 'goal setting' within the planning domain and 'job performance' within the way of doing things domain. Although the relationship was much weaker, stronger human-oriented attitudes were related to the academic culture subscales of 'communication and relationship' and 'social acceptance' within the relationship domain, and 'leader-subordinate interaction' in the way of doing things domain. In as much as a strong academic culture needs an emphasis on the 3 domains (planning, the way of doing things in an organisation, and relationships), the research suggested that staff and leadership need to be versatile and incorporate both task-oriented and human-oriented approaches. A number of measures of attitudes and perceptions of academic culture were significantly related to the demographic backgrounds of the participants. This emphasised the importance of treating the constructs as multi-dimensional and the leaders, staff, and students as heterogeneous groups. Finally, and importantly, student satisfaction measures were associated with higher academic culture scores / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Leadership has been one of the most interesting research areas for academicians and practitioners for many years. (Hughes et al, 2006, p. 22) defined leadership as an interaction process of leader, follower and situation that showed its complex character. Within this complexity, a leader behavior was studied in the past with different dimensions of behaviors. The behavior of leaders can have an impact on the performance and effectiveness of organizations. Leadership behaviors have been studied considering gender and different situations. The interaction between gender and situation is emphasized as a focal point in this study.</p><p>The main objective of this study is to look up for the gender and situation interaction for the determination of leadership behaviors of female managers. It means the impact of the two interactions on the leader behavior of female managers is investigated.  In order to achieve the determined objective, two different sectors, which are construction and nursing, are selected. The gender differences between the workers of these fields and the tasks performed in the area constitute reasons for us to work on these two different working situations in order to achieve our objective. To find out the differences as well as similarities between the leader’s behaviors in these work situations, task and relation oriented behaviors are used as it is the dominant one when the leader behavior is studied in relation to gender and situation. The authors of this paper believed that studying female leaders in specific working situations can create new knowledge about female leaders in those identified cases.</p><p>A qualitative study with semi-structured interview is employed by having eight samples of female leaders from construction and nursing organizations found in Northern Sweden.  Previously determined behaviors in task and relation category are used to identify the leaders’ behavior in these organizations. Based on the qualitative results, the findings revealed that leaders in nursing have more of relation behaviors than the task behaviors.  Female leaders in construction also show behaviors that mainly characters relation than task oriented behaviors. Therefore, the finding shows that female leaders have both task and relation behaviors with more of relation oriented behaviors in both cases. Finally, the study concludes that the interaction between gender and situation does not determine the leadership behaviors of female managers, where more of relation oriented behavior is identified in both cases.</p>

Injury to the cervical spinal cord results in complete or partial loss of arm and hand function, severely limiting the performance of daily activities. Deficits in hand function in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) are primarily due to a loss of descending motor pathways that are vital for fine control of the hand and fingers. In addition to these deficits, secondary plastic reorganization may create further loss of function. This thesis will explore the following questions: 1. What are the similarities and differences between cortical organization of muscles affected by a cervical SCI to those not affected by the injury?; 2. Do individuals with cervical SCI improve in hand function and cortical organization after an intensive hand training intervention?; 3. Which physical therapy intervention provides the optimal conditions by which to improve hand function following cervical SCI? In chapter 2 we compare cortical motor maps of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) evoked responses of muscles rostral and caudal to the injury to those of ND individuals. The cortical maps of the biceps brachii or the thenar muscles were constructed, and compared between ND individuals and individuals with SCI. The motor threshold (MT) for the thenar muscles in individuals with SCI was significantly higher than ND individuals. The purpose of the study described in chapter 3 was to compare the functional and cortical changes associated with two different interventions: unimanual or bimanual massed practice training, both combined with somatosensory stimulation. There was a significant difference between pre- and post-intervention scores on tests measuring unimanual hand function, bimanual hand function, and sensory function. This difference was associated with a difference between pre- and post-intervention cortical map area. The purpose of the study described in chapter 4 was to compare clinical and cortical changes associated with either a delayed intervention control period or a combined intervention of massed practice training with electrical stimulation. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: delayed intervention control group or immediate intervention group. Participants were also randomly assigned to one of four groups: unimanual training with somatosensory stimulation, bimanual training with somatosensory stimulation, unimanual training with functional electrical stimulation, or bimanual training with functional electrical stimulation. There was a significant difference between the control and immediate intervention group on the test measuring unimanual hand function. Participants in the bimanual group performed significantly better on the test measuring bimanual hand function. There was a significant difference between the control group and immediate intervention group in cortical map area. In chapter 5 we discuss the clinical relevance of the results of the studies described in three prior chapters. Conclusions drawn include the idea that cortical maps of muscles caudal to the level of injury in individuals with SCI have higher motor thresholds than ND participants. Individuals with tetraplegia can improve in hand function and sensation with a physical therapy intervention of massed practice training combined with somatosensory stimulation. Finally, the type of training (unimanual massed practice or bimanual massed practice) influences the type of improvements gained, however the type of electrical stimulation does not influence the clinical outcome.

Leadership has been one of the most interesting research areas for academicians and practitioners for many years. (Hughes et al, 2006, p. 22) defined leadership as an interaction process of leader, follower and situation that showed its complex character. Within this complexity, a leader behavior was studied in the past with different dimensions of behaviors. The behavior of leaders can have an impact on the performance and effectiveness of organizations. Leadership behaviors have been studied considering gender and different situations. The interaction between gender and situation is emphasized as a focal point in this study. The main objective of this study is to look up for the gender and situation interaction for the determination of leadership behaviors of female managers. It means the impact of the two interactions on the leader behavior of female managers is investigated.  In order to achieve the determined objective, two different sectors, which are construction and nursing, are selected. The gender differences between the workers of these fields and the tasks performed in the area constitute reasons for us to work on these two different working situations in order to achieve our objective. To find out the differences as well as similarities between the leader’s behaviors in these work situations, task and relation oriented behaviors are used as it is the dominant one when the leader behavior is studied in relation to gender and situation. The authors of this paper believed that studying female leaders in specific working situations can create new knowledge about female leaders in those identified cases. A qualitative study with semi-structured interview is employed by having eight samples of female leaders from construction and nursing organizations found in Northern Sweden.  Previously determined behaviors in task and relation category are used to identify the leaders’ behavior in these organizations. Based on the qualitative results, the findings revealed that leaders in nursing have more of relation behaviors than the task behaviors.  Female leaders in construction also show behaviors that mainly characters relation than task oriented behaviors. Therefore, the finding shows that female leaders have both task and relation behaviors with more of relation oriented behaviors in both cases. Finally, the study concludes that the interaction between gender and situation does not determine the leadership behaviors of female managers, where more of relation oriented behavior is identified in both cases.

Caruthers argues that the mindreading capacity and the introspective capacity are in fact one and the same capacity. This single capacity relies on the same sub-personal "interpretive" mechanism that takes sensory information as input and produces attitudes as output. I use neuroscience research to show that if the “interpretive mechanism” exists, and moreover that it operates in accordance to Caruthers’ description in mindreading tasks, (e.g. detecting external cues and paying attention to others’ behavior), then this operation would have to be handled or implemented at the neural level by the Task Oriented Neural Network. On the other hand, it is well known that self-referential thought, including introspective thought is handled by the Default Mode Network. This consequence is problematic for the view that self and other attitude attributions are done by the same mechanism. The same cognitive operation can not be implemented by two distinct neural networks that are in competition with one another. Moreover, the Default Mode neural network and the Task Oriented networks implement such different types of thinking that they oppose and interrupt one another’s functioning. If the only difference between the two networks were that one simply handles a larger quantity of information than the other, then they wouldn’t be in competition. It appears that there is indeed something special about the very nature of self-referential information such that it determines the type of operations involved in its processing. / text