Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University

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M.Com. / The purchasing and maintenance cost of a company car has increased dramatically due to factors such as worldwide high inflation rates and drastic increases in fuel costs. This increase in operating costs is magnified according to fleet size and has a direct bearing Upon company expenses and product costs ...

Using the U.S. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act ("GLBA") as a model, I argue that this act of financial reform, promulgated in November 1999, is a result of "Re-regulation", rather than "Deregulation" as suggested by most scholars. I emphasize the linear development of the GLBA, from 'regulation' to 'deregulation' and then further to 're-regulation'. This linear direction denotes sequential regulatory development that concerns the gradual relaxation of permissible banking activities, which is correspondingly marked by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, and the GLBA of 1999. The GLBA enabled the U.S. financial services industry to begin offering all round financial services under the single roof of the Financial Holding Company("FHC"). The GLBA's mandate is to provide the U.S. financial services industry with a level playing field and allow them to compete with their strongest rivals from th eEuropean Union. European Union banks already operate under a liberal regime, following the success of the Second Banking Directive of 1989 that embraces financial liberalization. Taiwan's Financial Holding Company Act ("FHCA"), promulgated in July 2001,owes much of its content to its U.S. counterpart, the GLBA. Taiwan's FHCA is basically modeled after the U.S. GLBA but selectively adopts parts of the E.U. model. The U.S. model is represented by the GLBA while the E.U. model is represented by the Second Banking Directive. Through cross-selling and cross-marketing, financial holding companies in the U.S. model and universal banks in the E.U. model, both can achieve economies of scale and scope. This dissertation is otherwise devoted to providing a comparative analysis on certain key elements of the U.S. GLBA and Taiwan's FHCA, although I sometimes refer to the E.U.'s Second Banking Directive. I conclude that while Taiwan's FHCs lack the economic scale of U.S. FHCs, the adoption of the U.S. model in the FHCA offers Taiwan's FHCs better fire wall protection than the E.U. model would. More generally speaking, there are pros and cons to Taiwan's adoption of the GLBA. The GLBA and by extension the FHCA require its domestically established FHCs be pure holding companies, as opposed to the E. U. model which requires the parent companies (universal banks) to also be operating holding companies. / Law, Faculty of / Graduate

This thesis documents the history of a Vancouver theatre company from the time of its inception in 1980 to present day. Headlines Theatre Company formed with a mandate to create socially relevant theatre. This thesis also examines Headlines' life and evolution as a political and popular theatre company; specific plays and productions were selected for examination which were found to be representative of the development of the company's work. The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter explores the formation of the collective and the company's successful initial work, which employed agitprop techniques. This chapter also highlights Headlines' follow up venture into the medium of film using material from their theatrical work. The company's next theatrical project, which resulted in a national tour, is also documented. This theatre company's direction underwent an enormous change subsequent to their second theatrical production. Chapter Two introduces the company's move from a collective to a traditional organizational structure while it continued to produce agitprop theatre. As well, this chapter investigates Headlines' introduction o f the theories and practices of Brazilian director Augusto Boal into its new work, Power Plays, to create both conventional and forum theatre. Chapter Three looks at the further development of Headlines' forum theatre productions, the Power Plays, and its experiments with this theatre form. This chapter examines the company's search for an even wider audience through the innovative merging of live interactive theatre with the medium of television. Headlines' brief return to a more conventional style of theatre is discussed in Chapter Four. In both of the productions reviewed in this chapter, the company faced funding obstacles due to the content of the play or the discussion following it. Chapter Five surveys the progression of Headlines' work as it incorporates the later work of Augusto Boal. The company's Theatre for Living programmes and methods of operation are further explored. The final chapter reveals some of Headlines' recent collaborations with other theatre artists as well as with artists in other disciplines, a direction the company will continue to pursue in the future. Headlines is shown to be a small, professional theatre company that is a well-established member of Vancouver's theatre community. B y documenting their history and examining selected productions and projects, this thesis chronicles an extremely active theatre company whose work has evolved greatly over a period of eighteen years. With its evolution in content, form and function, Headlines has been an innovative popular and political theatre company. / Arts, Faculty of / Theatre and Film, Department of / Graduate

This thesis examines the problems of impermanence, isolation and external dependency of single resource mining communities (SRMCs) in British Columbia. It poses the question: can the problems of SRMCs be resolved within the parameters of our present planning/decision-making system? After an outline of the historical evolution and the specific problems of SRMCs identified in the Canadian literature, demonstrating the inherent impermanence of these communities, the study reviews relevent critical literature from the field of political economy. The reviewed literature suggests the significance of socially allocated indirect wages such as social services and infrastructure for the perception of quality of life by British Columbians, and in particular to the problems of isolation and dependency of SRMCs. Three groups of concerned actors " in SRMCs are identified: government, multinational extraction companies, and community residents. These actors' goals and resultant roles are determined from the literature and inter-actor conflict and alliances explored, along with their respective value positions and ideology. Liberal belief in the value of economic growth results in an alliance between government and organized capital. To facilitate provincial development in a competitive global economy, the provincial government tries to minimize extraction expenditures for the mining companies, attempting to provide low aggregate labour costs while still maintaining a politically stable environment. This government/corporate alliance results in lower than (provincial) average levels of indirect wages for residents of SRMCs. Furthermore, local self-determination is purposely limited. These conditions create many of the typical SRMC problems, leading to community dissatifaction and high turnover rates. A case study of the five-volume provincial Plan for Tumbler Ridge is then undertaken. It was found that the dominant goal of the plan is to create a community capable of attracting and maintaining a viable labour force at lowest government and corporate cost. Proposed levels of collective consumption are intentionally lower than in non-SRMCs and below provincial standards. Seventy percent of the repayment of the community's direct costs is allocated to Tumbler Ridge's future residents, even though the potential life span of the community could be as little as fifteen years. The proposed per capita municipal debt is over three times higher for Tumbler Ridge than the per capita debt of Vancouver. The planning document proposes specifically limiting local government self-determination in Tumbler Ridge to protect corporate rate payers, even though the ratio of residental to corporate municipal debt is similar to the ratio in Vancouver. The thesis concludes that a contradiction exists between the requirements of a stable community at the local level and those for attracting multinational corporate development at the provincial level. As a result SRMCs are inherently unstable. Resolution of SRMC problems does not appear likely within the constraints of our present decision-making system. Planners should acknowledge this reality and attempt to design implementable alternatives to the traditional SRMC. One efficent option may be the modern commuting work camp, allowing mine workers to live in a stable community when not at the work site. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This thesis is primarily concerned with the activities of a group of Finnish-Canadians in British Columbia. They attempted to found an Utopian community on Malcolm Island between 1901 and 1905. The activities of these people, the Kalevan Kansa or descendants of Kaleva, an ancient Finnish mythological figure, were millenarian in nature. During this period there were distinct changes in their social relations and their new undertakings predicted the arrival of a different and more ideal form of social organization. The content of that organization was revealed to them by their leader, Matti Kurikka, who proposed to make a joint-stock company the basis of the new community. The subsequent settlement scheme was known as the Kalevan Kansa Colonization Company, Limited. Indicative of their aspirations, Kurikka and his followers named their new community Sointula, the place of harmony. In order to explore more fully the millenarian activities this thesis also investigates their roots in the historical development of Finnish identity and the ability of Finns to fulfill those perceptions in day to day activities. In addition, the thesis focuses on the related problems concerning identity encountered in the aftermath of the Kalevan Kansa Colonization Company by those settlers who remained at Sointula. The activities which were undertaken in the relatively brief period between 1901 and 1905 represented a rapid coalescing of ideas and aspirations into activities. Among the Vancouver Island Finns who were primarily coal miners the new society appeared immanent. To them and to others who came from various parts of the United States, Canada and Europe the vision of the joint-stock company encompassed recognizable characteristics of a more ideal form of social organization. As such the Kalevan Kansa Colonization Company provides an empirically accountable and distinctive aspect of the Kalevan Kansa movement. From its description and aims it is possible to make suggestions about the intellectual and charismatic appeal of Matti Kurikka and about some of the aspirations of the participants themselves. However, the fundamental nature of the energy released by the Utopian vision largely remains to be inferred. The first chapter of the thesis presents a brief ethnographic introduction to the activities of the Kalevan Kansa during this period. In addition, it proposes some relevant methodological considerations reflective of the content of millenarian situations. These considerations influence the direction and content of the following chapters. The approach which is taken remains open ended inasmuch as the activities of the Kalevan Kansa are seen as part of a much broader historical process which is reflective of the ethnographic situation as well as of certain more universal anthropological problems. The method adopted cannot provide an explicit account of why the activities took the direction they did nor why they occurred at a particular time. However, it does focus on the dynamics inherent within a continuing set of problems and contradictions to be resolved. As such it has permitted a form of discussion which has not been totally bound to the contingencies of the situation. Yet, the character of the Utopian activity of the Kalevan Kansa remains significant in terms of its all consuming nature and its attempt to institute an idealistic social order. As such, it was clearly religious in nature and represented a societal rite of passage. The second chapter is primarily historical. By taking into account the historical background of the Kalevan Kansa, further light is shed onto the goals and activities of the group. The past has provided only a partial answer to questions of origin since the movement in many aspects remained independent of its historical legacy. However, it provided a point of departure. Inasmuch as the method employed and suggested by the content and focus of this chapter remains applicable to other situations it is anthropological. The third chapter explores the Utopian activities in detail. Chronologically, the discussion moves from a point where the Finns were regarded as being morally and materially inferior to others. From there the chapter moves to a discussion about the redefinition of power and the nature of individual obligations articulated by the chosen leader, to the eventual attempt to realize the new way of being in terms of appropriate social relationships. Progressively it was apparent among the Kalevan Kansa that the vision of the joint-stock company could not provide the emotional and intellectual unity which could overcome individual and ideological differences. As increasing numbers of the participants began to ignore their obligations without sanction the energy of the movement was consumed by conflicting interests. The activities of the Kalevan Kansa can, however, be differentiated from the more mundane forms of political and economic unrest among disparate groups by the sudden emergence of emotional and moral passion focused and activated by their leader, Kurikka. The final chapter looks at Sointula during an active period of socialist politics after the failure of the Kalevan Kansa Colonization Company, Limited. In conjunction with these activities which were largely group-oriented, the chapter also focuses on the content of individual experiences among a particular group within the community. Insights are derived from fieldwork interviews and from a thematic and structural analysis of a corpus of narrative songs. Throughout the thesis the focus remains on the central issues of identity and the moral implications that its varying definitions have implied. The ethnographic detail provides an indication of how a particular group of people chose to confront the problem and of how its constituents were reformulated through a series of encounters in a historical time span. In this series the millenarian activities of the Kalevan Kansa were the most unique and profound in their intensity and appeal. A comprehensive bibliography of relevant sources in English and Finnish follows the text. The thesis also contains six appendixes. The first is my translation of Matti Halminen's first hand account of the Utopian activities at Sointula and his role in them. The next four appendixes contain copies of documents relevant to the Kalevan Kansa Colonization Company, Limited. The last appendix is a collection of Finnish song texts recorded at Sointula in 1973. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Includes bibliographical references. / The Companies Act 61 of 1973 (the "1973 Act") will be repealed in its entirety when the Companies Act 71 of 2008 (the "2008 Act") comes into operation on a date still to be fixed by the President of the Republic of South Africa, in proclamation. The goal of this dissertation is to investigate what impact, if any, the 2008 Act will have on the remedies afforded to members or shareholders in companies to protect their rights in the event of so-called "oppressive or unfairly prejudicial conduct" by majority decision, or otherwise, in a company.

This paper explores how ethnic character representations in Disney films have changed in response to changing cultural attitudes and historical context over time in response to variations in the broader American sensitivity to race and ethnicity. When we today look at instances of African American representation from the 1940s, such as in the Film Dumbo (1941), we are shocked at how overtly stereotypical these representation are. According to today’s standards, it would be unacceptable to show such caricatured racial representations. But at the time in America such standards, and the attitudes that inform them, did not exist. In view of the progress made in the intervening 70 years in thinking about race and the extent to which attitudes to racial representations have changed, we should now see the representation of African Americans being dealt with very differently in recent films such as The Princess and The Frog (2009), which featured Disney’s first African- American princess (Breaux 413). In order to answer this question I in this paper critically assess African-American representation in Disney films from the 1940s to today. In order to see how race has been dealt with in one of the studio’s first feature-length films and in one of its most recent releases I analyzed specific instances of racial representation in two case studies: Dumbo (1941) and The Princess and the Frog (2009). This analysis is informed by an awareness that the offensiveness of such representations is culturally determined and has changed over time. By textually reconstructing the contexts in which the films were produced and then analyzing instances of racial representation according to how they have been constructed, making reference to concepts of Stereotyping, Othering and Hierarchy.