Many argue that personalization is needed in a modern marketing strategy. Whilst there are several positive aspects of personalization, e.g. improved customer satisfaction rates, it can also lead to firms being perceived as intrusive and elicit privacy concerns. This dilemma describes the personalization paradox, which refers to the two-sided results of using personalized communication by collecting and analyzing consumer data. To address the issue of how firms balance the need for personalization while still respecting consumers’ privacy, previous researchers have mainly investigated the issue from the consumer perspective. However, the consumer is believed to display a paradoxical behavior in regards to personalization. Therefore, we have addressed this issue through interviewing 12 company representatives from 7 companies. Our findings indicate that companies are mindful when creating personalized content and do acknowledge the issues with privacy and the risk of being perceived as intrusive. To overcome the personalization paradox, firms are not explicit about their data analysis in their personalized communication as this can lead to consumers feeling discomfort. Finally, an essential way that firms can prevent privacy concerns is to create relevant content as this outweighs feelings of discomfort. These findings to a certain extent do not reflect the empirical research on the topic, however the discrepancies may exist as previous studies were conducted from the consumer side.

Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / Schools seeking to increase student achievement often employ professional development strategies to institute instructional reforms, yet research offers little guidance on how leadership behaviors might support professional development aimed at district reform and instructional change. This qualitative case study examined the following research questions in a suburban Massachusetts district: 1. What is the role of leadership in an initiative to change literacy instruction in a small, suburban district? (a) How is leadership distributed, if at all, in this initiative? (b) What leadership behaviors, if any, do teachers and administrators view as contributing to or limiting to positive instructional change in the literacy initiative? Who is exercising these leadership behaviors? (c) What leadership behaviors support or limit engagement in the initiative? 2. How, if at all, do the professional development strategies utilized in this literacy initiative build capacity for teacher and administrator growth and further change? Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with six district leaders, including four elementary principals, the superintendent, and literacy coach; observations of Literacy Leadership Team meetings and study groups; a written teacher questionnaire; and a reflexive journal. Findings revealed that participants favorably viewed the reform- oriented professional development activities and reported that instructional changes had occurred in their schools. Discrepant perspectives on leadership affected its successful distribution. Time and communication concerns surfaced deeper, adaptive challenges related to the collective understanding of the initiative's vision and priorities, the enactment of instructional leadership by principals and teachers, and trust between stakeholders. Recommendations that arose from the findings provide guidance to the district about how to build professional capacity, shared meaning, distributed leadership, sustainability, and trust. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Richard, S.J. McGowan / The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority (NJTTFA or TTFA) is an independent agency of the New Jersey state government that is responsible for administering the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF of “the Fund”), which is used to fund transportation capital project expenditures by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and the NJ TRANSIT commuter-rail and bus system. The TTF is essential for maintaining, improving, and repairing New Jersey’s infrastructure system. However, since the TTFA was created in 1984, it has been inadequately financed by the state government and has irresponsibly issued enormous amounts of debt. Because of this, it has now it has run into major financing problems. Currently, the TTF’s revenues are insufficient to cover its increasing debt obligations. Because of this, the TTF is expected to be bankrupt by July of this year (2011). If this happens, New Jersey will be left without any financing for its already-troubled infrastructure system.This has become a major cause of concern for the State of New Jersey. For years, politicians and residents across the state have been unable to come to an agreement on how to best solve this growing problem. Because of this, financing strategies in the past have amounted to little more than temporary “Band-Aid” solutions focused principally on the issuance of massive amounts of debt. Now, the outstanding debt of the TTF has built up to the point that, in just a few short months, revenues will be insufficient to cover existing debt obligations. The New Jersey state government needs to take drastic action and adopt a long-term financing strategy that will allow the TTFA to meet its debt obligations and pay down outstanding debt, while still being able to fund essential transportation and infrastructure projects across the state.This paper will examine the causes and effects of the current funding deficit, as well various proposed solutions and strategies. After an in-depth examination of these topics, I will devise a recommended solution for solving the current deficit crisis faced by the TTF and for providing long-term financing for transportation requirements. The results will show that the most logical and effective long-term financing strategy will hinge upon an increase in state gasoline taxes, which are currently among the lowest in the nation. However, solving the problem will also require new sources of revenue and stringent financial management. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Carroll School of Management Honors Program.

Cette étude s’intéresse à la question de l’autorité à l’école élémentaire. Elle est consacrée dans une première partie à un travail d’élaboration conceptuelle qui vise à proposer une compréhension globale de la relation d’autorité éducative, modélisée sous la forme d’un système dynamique et complexe. L’analyse du fonctionnement de ce système relationnel, et l’exploration méthodique de l’ensemble des éléments qui le composent et de leurs liens, portent in fine à envisager l’autorité comme une propriété de la relation entre enseignants et élèves. La seconde partie de la thèse est consacrée à la validation théorique et empirique de l’hypothèse selon laquelle un système relationnel d’autorité éducative gagne à s’accompagner d’un système relationnel de confiance : dans un rapport de causalité circulaire, relation d’autorité éducative et relation de confiance tendent à se renforcer mutuellement. Cette analyse est ensuite prolongée dans la troisième partie de l’étude par une exploration des conditions favorables à l’instauration de la confiance chez les élèves, et de l’influence positive de celle-ci sur la relation d’autorité éducative. L’ensemble de ce travail accorde donc une place importante à question de la subjectivité des élèves, tant dans la relation d'autorité éducative que dans la relation de confiance. De fait, la réflexion théorique est systématiquement appuyée sur les résultats d’une enquête de terrain conduite avec trois classes de cycle 3, qui ont été suivies pendant une année scolaire complète, et dont les acteurs, enseignants et élèves, ont été observés en situation et interrogés. / Authority at elementary school is the main topic of this thesis. The first part of the study is dedicated to the conceptual development aimed at providing a global understanding of educative authority relationship, modelled as a dynamic and complex system. The analysis of the functioning of this relational system, and the methodical investigation of all its elements as well as their connexions, suggests authority as the property of the relationship between teachers and pupils.The second part of the thesis focuses on the theoretical and empirical validation of the hypothesis that a relational system of educative authority benefits from a trust-based relational system, i.e. educative authority and trust relationships tend to complement and reinforce each other in a process of circular causation. This analysis is further extended in the third part of the study, which is looking at the favourable conditions for building pupils’ trust, and the positive influence of trust on the educative authority relationship.Pupils’ subjectivity, both in the educative authority relationship and in the trust relationship, plays a key role in this subject. Hence, theoretical reflection systematically relies on the results of an empirical investigation conducted with three classes of third grade of elementary cycle pupils, who were followed for an entire school year, and observed in situation and interviewed with their teachers.

While numerous studies have been conducted on the subject of political participation, research on how corruption and political trust affect the way citizens participate in politics has yet to produce consistent and clear results. The divide in perspectives surrounds whether these phenomena spur citizens to take action or, on the contrary, render them apathetic and indifferent to political events. Through using the method of regression to analyze individual level data, this study attempts to examine how political trust and perceived corruption impact non- institutionalized political participation in South Korea. While results indicate no statistically significant effects for political trust, perceived corruption is suggested to have a positive effect on non-institutionalized forms of participation.

Trust is seen as an essential ingredient in a flourishing society. It is a well-researched subject within the political science discourse, but few have looked at how retirement affect trust. This thesis aims to examine the relation between retirement and trust using regression analysis. Two hypotheses are formulated in relation to previous research findings; that trust increases when a person retires, and that this positive effect is expected to be stronger for retirees that engage in civil society. This thesis finds little evidence that supports the first hypothesis. Instead, retirement is negatively associated with trust, and this stands true after controls for other variables (health, education, age, year of birth) and a robustness test. In relation to the second hypothesis, this thesis finds that civic participation is indeed positively related to trust among the retired, although this relationship is rather weak.

Este trabalho explora o tema confiança nas relações entre líderes e liderados, tendo como base a teoria do flow, de Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, e a trípode do trabalho, de Gillian Stamp (Bioss International). O principal objetivo foi testar a hipótese de que líderes e liderados em condições de flow estão associados a níveis altos de confiança mútua entre líderes e liderados. O método de pesquisa foi um estudo de campo, conduzido em nove empresas, com 643 respondentes a um questionário a respeito de suas percepções sobre o quanto seus trabalhos estão exigindo o melhor de suas capacidades e 1.036 questionários respondidos por líderes e liderados relativos à qualidade da liderança recebida e, em particular, à percepção de confiança do líder para o liderado, nessa relação. Os dados foram tratados nas categorias gerais da população e na categoria particular da relação de pares entre líderes e liderados. Foram conduzidas análises inferenciais com base nos dados coletivos e foram conduzidos testes de hipóteses para as relações específicas de pares de líderes e liderados. Os resultados comparativos demonstram que a hipótese central deste estudo se confirma. Quando líderes e liderados se sentem em condições ótimas de flow a percepção de confiança mútua é alta. O contrário também se confirma, quando ambos - o líder e o liderado - estão em condições não ótimas de flow, a percepção de confiança mútua é baixa. Complementarmente, 46 entrevistas foram conduzidas com o objetivo de comparar como líderes e liderados compreendem e definem o significado do tema confiança e associar as definições obtidas com as teorias básicas da confiança encontradas. Esses resultados qualitativos mostraram que a Teoria Sociológica da Confiança é a que melhor reflete as experiências práticas dos participantes. E, também, que líderes e liderados, quando em flow e numa condição de confiança mútua, relatam experiências qualitativamente diferentes com relação ao trabalho, em particular nas dimensões de autonomia, na confiança recebida para o uso dos próprios julgamentos e nos processos participativos. / This work explores the theme of trust in the relationship between leaders and subordinates based on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi\'s flow theory and Gillian Stamp\'s tripod of work (Bioss International). The main objective was to test the hypothesis that leaders and subordinates when in a condition called flow are associated with high levels of mutual trust between leaders and subordinates. The research method was a field study conducted with nine companies, with 643 respondents to a questionnaire as whether their perceptions of how their jobs are demanding at the best of their abilities and 1,036 questionnaires answered by leaders and subordinates related to the quality of leadership received and, in particular, the perception of leader\'s trust between leaders and subordinates in this relationship. The data were treated in both the general categories of the population and the particular category of relationship between pairs of leaders and subordinates. Inferential analyzes were conducted based on the collective data. Hypothesis tests were conducted for the specific pairs of leaders and subordinates. The comparative confirms the hypothesis of this study. When leaders and subordinates are in optimal conditions of flow perception of mutual trust is high. The opposite was also confirmed: when both the leader and their specific subordinates are under non optimal flow, the perception of mutual trust is low. Additionally, 46 interviews were conducted with the objective of comparing how leaders and subordinates understand and define the meaning of the subject trust and associate their definitions obtained with the basic theories of trust found. These qualitative results showed that the Sociological Theory of Trust is that better reflects the practical experiences of the participants. And, also, that when leaders and subordinates are in flow and in a condition of mutual trust, reported qualitatively different experiences with regard to work, particularly on the dimensions of autonomy, for the trust they receive in using their judgments and in participatory processes.

A desconfiança em instituições e atores políticos pode favorecer a desmobilização do cidadão quando mantida por prazos mais longos. Este estudo, baseado na análise estatística de dados do Estudo Eleitoral Brasileiro de 2002, encontrou evidências de que a participação eleitoral e não-eleitoral e o interesse por política são menores entre aqueles que consideram os políticos mais desonestos e declaram menor adesão a partidos. A exposição à mídia jornalística teve impacto reduzido na confiança política, mas mostrou influência positiva para a mobilização, no contexto das eleições brasileiras de 2002. / Distrust in political actors and institutions may foster citizen\'s political demobilization, if sustained for longer periods. This study, based on statistical analysis of data gathered by Estudo Eleitoral Brasileiro of 2002, found evidences that electoral and non-electoral participation, as well as interest in politics, are lower among those expressing less confidence in politicians\' honesty and less attachment to parties. Journalistic media exposure showed little impact on political trust, but consistent influence on mobilization, in the Brazilian electoral context of 2002.

Trust between humans and artificial systems has recently received increased attention due to the widespread use of autonomous systems in our society. In this context trust plays a dual role. On the one hand it is necessary to build robots that are perceived as trustworthy by humans. On the other hand we need to give to those robots the ability to discriminate between reliable and unreliable informants. This thesis focused on the second problem, presenting an interdisciplinary investigation of trust, in particular a computational model based on neuroscientific and psychological assumptions. First of all, the use of Bayesian networks for modelling causal relationships was investigated. This approach follows the well known theory-theory framework of the Theory of Mind (ToM) and an established line of research based on the Bayesian description of mental processes. Next, the role of gaze in human-robot interaction has been investigated. The results of this research were used to design a head pose estimation system based on Convolutional Neural Networks. The system can be used in robotic platforms to facilitate joint attention tasks and enhance trust. Finally, everything was integrated into a structured cognitive architecture. The architecture is based on an actor-critic reinforcement learning framework and an intrinsic motivation feedback given by a Bayesian network. In order to evaluate the model, the architecture was embodied in the iCub humanoid robot and used to replicate a developmental experiment. The model provides a plausible description of children's reasoning that sheds some light on the underlying mechanism involved in trust-based learning. In the last part of the thesis the contribution of human-robot interaction research is discussed, with the aim of understanding the factors that influence the establishment of trust during joint tasks. Overall, this thesis provides a computational model of trust that takes into account the development of cognitive abilities in children, with a particular emphasis on the ToM and the underlying neural dynamics.

Cheung Kin Hang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-97). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction / Divergent meanings of trust and institution --- p.1 / Research questions --- p.1 / Structure of thesis --- p.3 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Trust and Bounded Rationality / Meaning and the four key elements of trust --- p.5 / Plausible loss due to lack of certainty --- p.7 / Positive expectation by a trusting party --- p.8 / Relevance to human interaction --- p.9 / Intentionality --- p.10 / Trust and Rationality --- p.13 / Herbert Simon's bounded rationality --- p.13 / "Bounded rationality, use of authority, and trust" --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Theory of Institution / Institutionalisms in Politics and Exchange of Insights --- p.23 / Understanding of North's Works --- p.25 / North's understanding of human rationality and economic performance --- p.25 / "Core idea, major traits of institution and its relationship with actors" --- p.30 / Learning and Accumulation of Experiences --- p.38 / Plasticity of human brain --- p.44 / Path dependence and change of institution --- p.47 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Trust and Institution / Divergent understandings of relationship of trust and institution --- p.54 / At the neural level: institutionalized experience and neural systems for trust --- p.57 / At interpersonal and organizational level: reciprocal trust and impacts of empowerment --- p.62 / At organizational and macro-social level: deprivation experience and social violence --- p.68 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Conclusion --- p.73 / References --- p.76