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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
31

The role of communication in self-employment of university graduates in South Africa

Roodt, Joan 06 September 2005 (has links)
Amidst economic growth in South Africa, there is increasing job losses. Although a decline in work opportunities is a worldwide trend, in South Africa it is aggravated by the imbalance between skilled and unskilled labour. Recent HSRC (Human Sciences Research Council) research indicated that further job losses (especially for unskilled labour) can be expected over the next five years. Job creation is important to South Africa. Entrepreneurial activity is seen as an essential source of economic growth and the development of small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) can stimulate job creation. Self-employment is seen as the driving force of economic growth. In South Africa there has been a growth of 15% in self-employment since 1991. Unfortunately, failure is the rule. True entrepreneurship entails value creation for owners, stakeholders, customers, employees and the economy as whole. South Africa with its high unemployment urgently needs to assure that self-employment is truly entrepreneurial rather than only a job substitute to merely survive. It has been indicated that successful SMMEs were generally run by highly educated and experienced entrepreneurs the world over. If these highly educated employers were to be inspired to create more jobs, the constraints they experience, should be addressed. The development of human capital is the first step towards economic growth. Quality education and not just quantity of education is required. More co-operation between tertiary institutions, government, and the business world with regard to contents of programmes and opportunities for practical experience is required. First, however, the skills required for growth need to be identified and developed. Quality education can contribute to skills development and quality businesses that can increase exports that are of high quality and tailor-made to the needs of the consumer. Skills that need to be improved are leadership skills, technical, managerial, accounting, communication, marketing, and sales skills that are required for successful entrepreneurship in the global village. The main focus of the study is thus on the required skills that could differentiate between self¬employment and entrepreneurship. The role of especially communication skills is looked into with more depth. Although different roles are required at various stages of development in a business, at each stage communication is crucial. Prior to the start-up phase, networks with a high level of interaction should be developed, as networks link entrepreneurs to resources and provide information exchange opportunities. Once the venture has been initiated and begins to grow, the leader needs to become more concerned with communicating the vision or plan with providing subordinates with the power to accomplish tasks and participate in the process. The main success factors are discussed. A positive attitude was the first step towards success. Perseverance, hard work, trustworthiness, and responsibility were the main factors that contributed to success. True leaders who use transformational processes to achieve goals and persuade others to accept their vision for the organisation can achieve perseverance, hard work, trustworthiness, and responsibility. Open communication builds trust that leads to more open communication and more trust. Strong leadership instead of only narrow technical skills were required. For venturing and further growth, enhanced information and communication systems were required. In order to deal with change and turbulent environments, organisations must incorporate communication mechanisms for coordination. The network strategy of organization is appropriate for organisations that have to cope with high levels of uncertainty. In growth organizations, close collaboration of a manager with other people was necessary in resolving differences and in inspiring others towards a common goal. The main constraints to achieving desired goals were high taxation, market constraints, crime, access to finance, labour legislation, scarce skills, and inadequate opportunities for communication and networking. The perception among some self-employed graduates that labour market laws impact on their businesses, the high unemployment in the country and the fact that most self-employed graduates indicated that they did not wish to increase the staff complement of their companies (even those who had a high turnover), places a question mark on the appropriateness or appropriate communication of the requirements of the present regulations and legislation. Even if many of the legislative requirements were not applicable to most self-employed graduates, the perception was there that it impacted or will impact on their businesses if they increase their staff complement. Even a perception has its consequences. It is crucial to address the legislation and communicate clearly that which is required from very small firms as opposed to that which is required from medium and large firms in more simplified terms. It is crucial that government takes note of the constraints, as many self-employed graduates did not have the will to grow in fear of detrimental consequences for their businesses, may it be high taxation, crime or the impact of legislation. / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Communication Management / MPhil / Unrestricted
32

Methods for Non-invasive Trustworthy Estimation of Arterial Blood Pressure

Koohi, Iraj January 2017 (has links)
The trustworthiness of the blood pressure (BP) readings acquired by oscillometric home-based monitoring systems is a challenging issue that requires patients to see the doctor for trusted measurements, especially those who are obese or have cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension or atrial fibrillation. Even with the most accurate monitors one may get different readings if BP is repeatedly measured. Trusted BP readings are those measured with accurate devices at proper measurement conditions. The accurate monitors need an indicator to assure the trustworthiness of the measured BP. In this work, a novel algorithm called the Dynamic Threshold Algorithm (DTA) is proposed that calculates trusted boundaries of the measured systolic and diastolic pressures from the recorded oscillometric waveforms. The DTA determines a threshold from the heart rate of subjects to locate the oscillometric pulse at the mean arterial pressure (PULSEMAP) and uses the peak, trough, and pressure of the located pulse to calculate the trusted boundaries. In terms of accuracy, a modeling approach is employed to estimate BP from the arterial lumen area oscillations model in the diastolic region (ALA-based). The model requires compliance parameter ‘c’ to estimate BP. To this end, a pre-developed linear regression model between ‘c’ and the corresponding amplitude ratio of the PULSEMAP is employed to evaluate ‘c’. The proposed method uses ‘c’ and estimates BP by minimizing differences between peak and trough amplitudes of the actual and corresponding simulated waveforms. The proposed DTA and ALA-based methods were tested on two datasets of healthy subjects and one dataset of sick subjects with cardiovascular diseases, and results were validated against corresponding references and compared with two popular maximum amplitude and maximum/minimum slope algorithms. Mean absolute error (MAE) and standard deviation of errors (STDE) are used to evaluate and compare the results. For healthy subjects, the MAE of the estimated systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures was improved up to 57% and 57% with an STDE of 55% and 62%, respectively. For sick subjects, the MAE was improved up to 40% and 29% with an STDE of 36% and 20% for SBP and DBP, respectively.
33

The Impact of Good Navigation and Trust in E-commerce : The importance of navigation and trustworthiness when creating a web application for selling emission allowances

Andreasson, Lovisa, Asp, Agnes, Gustafsson, Eric, Halling, Edvin, Kristiansson, Johan, Lindhe, Axel, Nordin, Anton, Normell, Jakob, Spjuth, Gabriel January 2022 (has links)
The purpose of this report was to study how the design of a web application can induce trust and navigability. To study this, a web application was created where the private consumer can buy a part of an emission allowance, tailored to the consumers’ specific needs. Since environmental companies are subject to hard audits, not only by authorities but also by the consumers, it was concluded that this type of web application is well suitable to test how design can induce trust. This web application was tested by different test groups in three iterations. The user tests made use of the Critical thinking-aloud protocol, System Usability Scale, and Smith’s Lostness formula, and consisted of two assignments followed by various questions regarding how the test subject experienced the assignments. After each iteration, the web application was altered in alignment with the feedback received from the test subjects. Each iteration had a completely different test group to ensure that the alterations were effective on a larger scale than only to address the last test group's concerns. The results from the user test improved with each iteration and after the final iteration, all test subjects were unanimous in that they experienced the web application as secure and trustworthy enough to make a payment using their debit card on the site. It was concluded that implementing a website according to existing theories and websites is important to create trust and navigability. Design, information pages, typography, colors, and shape, have an impact on trustworthiness while placement of functionality as well as popups for completed tasks improve navigability. This study can hopefully be viewed as a foundation for future research in the field of design and its impact on trustworthiness and navigability.
34

Trustworthiness traits in leader recruitment : Prioritization of trustworthiness and related traits during recruitment of leaders in the Swedish industrial sector

Al-Walai, Jack Jalal, Nordin, Mattias, Shwan, Soran January 2023 (has links)
This study examines if, and how recruiters identify and assess trustworthiness in potential leaders. This could benefit less experienced managers in the tools and methods they could use as well as the traits that should be focused on in order to find trustworthy leaders. By recruiting trustworthy leaders, team performance and organizational result could both increase. Five managers were interviewed in the Swedish industrial sector regarding theirleader preferences during recruitment. The analysis of interview transcripts was conducted using a thematic analysis approach. The study draws on the theoretical perspectives on trustworthiness in leadership presented by Willink & Babin (2017) to provide a conceptual framework for interpreting the empirical evidence.  The theoretical perspectives emphasize the importance of trustworthiness as a key leadership trait and outline the characteristics that leaders should embody to foster a culture of trust. The analysis of interview transcripts focuses on how recruiters recognize and evaluate leaders who demonstrate transparency, authenticity, reliability, and the four aspects of successful leadership identified by Willink & Babin (2017): ownership, belief, ego management, and recognition that there are no bad teams, only bad leaders. The empirical evidence collected from the interview transcripts provides valuable insights into the recruiters' perspectives on leadership qualities, particularly in terms of trustworthiness, and the methods they use to assess potential leaders. The thematic analysis identified four main themes: (1) Key leadership traits, (2) Personal Experiences Shaping Leadership Preferences, (3) Techniques for Assessing traits during interview and (4) Assistance, tools, and work methods for assessing candidate’s traits.  By examining the empirical evidence through the lens of the theoretical concepts covered in the theoretical framework and the identified themes, it becomes apparent that traits related to trustworthiness are sought after by the studied senior managers. The managers' emphasis on trustworthiness related traits, such as communication skills, empathy, and integrity, aligns with the principles of authenticity, self-awareness, and reliability discussed in the literature. The study highlights the significance of identifying trustworthy leaders and the challenges that recruiters face when selecting candidates who possess these traits. The findings have implications for organizations seeking to enhance their selection processes and improve their ability to choose future leaders who will foster trust within their teams and contribute to the growth and success of their organizations.
35

Ink vs Inc: The Influence of Visible Tattoos on Trustworthiness and Learning

McKee, D'Lisa N 07 May 2016 (has links)
An emerging concern for employers is the impact of visible body modification (VBM) in the workplace. Visible body modification includes tattoos, piercings, or implants that are both visible and observable on an individual’s body. The extant research on VBM suggests that employers are hesitant to hire those with visible tattoos or piercings, but fails to address how employees with VBM influence organizational outcomes. This dissertation examines how a specific type of VBM, visible tattoos, influences training and learning by investigating how a trainer’s visible tattoos affect trainees’ perceived trustworthiness and learning in a training context. The study used a sample of 164 undergraduate students and Amazon Mechanical Turk workers to assess reactions to a trainer’s visible tattoos. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups, with the two experimental groups having a trainer with one tattoo or full tattoo sleeves. The results indicated that there were no significant differences between groups for perceived trustworthiness or learning. Similarly, there was no support for the moderating effect of openness to experience, authoritarianism, or learning goal orientation. Social distance was found to moderate the relationship between the treatment and perceived trustworthiness. The findings of this study suggest that for the trainer and tattoos used, visible tattoos do not an impact on training outcomes. As this study was limited to one trainer with one type of tattoos, this preliminary evidence suggests that more research is needed to address the diversity of tattooing and VBM as a whole.
36

Publication Bias and Graduate Students' Perceived Trust in the Literature

Iman, Sarah A. 31 March 2016 (has links)
No description available.
37

Trustworthiness of digital government services: deriving a comprehensive theory through interpretive structural modelling

Janssen, M., Rana, Nripendra P., Slade, E.L., Dwivedi, Y.K. 25 September 2020 (has links)
Yes / Having its origin in public administration, trustworthiness is a significant concept in digital government research, influencing the relationships between citizens and governments. However, the interrelationships between the facets of trustworthiness are given inadequate attention. Therefore, the aim of this research was to develop a theory detailing the factors affecting citizens’ perceptions of e-government trustworthiness. A comprehensive review of public administration and information systems literature highlighted 20 pertinent variables. The interrelationships of these variables were identified and categorized according to their driving and dependence power by employing interpretive structural modelling. The proposed model was then drawn based on the level partitioning of variables and interrelationships of the variables determined using the final reachability matrix. The findings reveal that current conceptualizations of digital government trustworthiness take a too narrow view. The findings can help government policy makers with understanding the interrelated factors associated with trustworthiness in the context of digital government services and implement them in effective strategic planning.
38

Effects of Cues of Observation on Trust and Trustworthy Behaviours

Harvey, Evan A. 10 1900 (has links)
<p>Certain factors associated with online video communication have negative effects on the quality of an interaction. One’s propensity to trust others or reciprocate trust with others online may be influenced by these factors of video-mediated communication. I investigated the effects of two such factors on pro-social behaviours in two separate experiments. In the first experiment I assessed levels of reciprocation in the presence of absence of a web-camera, to see if the presence of a camera was a sufficient enough cue of observation to induce trustworthy behaviours. In the second experiment I tested the effect eye gaze had on trusting and trustworthy behaviours. Results from the current research suggest that direct eye gaze is an important factor in deciding whom to trust and with whom to reciprocate trust. The current research introduces methodological changes that help to combat high levels of variability in participant responses. Future directions for research on eye gaze and other factors of video-mediated communication are discussed.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)
39

GSTR: Secure Multi-Hop Message Dissemination in Connected Vehicles Using Social Trust Model

Paranjothi, Anirudh, Khan, Mohammad S., Zeadally, Sherali, Pawar, Ajinkya, Hicks, David 01 September 2019 (has links)
The emergence of connected vehicles paradigm has made secure communication a key concern amongst the connected vehicles. Communication between the vehicles and Road Side Units (RSUs) is critical to disseminate message among the vehicles. We focus on secure message transmission in connected vehicles using multi-hop social networks environment to deliver the message with varying trustworthiness. We proposed a Geographic Social Trust Routing (GSTR) approach; messages are propagated using multiple hops and by considering the various available users in the vehicular network. GSTR is proposed in an application perspective with an assumption that the users are socially connected. The users are selected based on trustworthiness as defined by social connectivity. The route to send a message is calculated based on the highest trust level of each node by using the node's social network connections along the path in the network. GSTR determines the shortest route using the trusted nodes along the route for message dissemination. GSTR is made delay tolerant by introducing message storage in the cloud if a trustworthy node is unavailable to deliver the message. We compared the proposed approach with Geographic and Traffic Load based Routing (GTLR), Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing (GPSR), Trust-based GPSR (T-GPSR). The performance results obtained show that GSTR ensures efficient resource utilization, lower packet losses at high vehicle densities.
40

On the preservation of media trustworthiness in the social media era

Lago, Federica 29 March 2022 (has links)
The amount of multimedia content shared everyday online recently underwent a dramatic increase. This, combined with the stunning realism of fake images that can be generated with AI-based technologies, undermines the trustworthiness of online information sources. In this work, we tackle the problem of preserving media trustworthiness online from two different points of view. The first one consists in assessing the human ability to spot fake images, focusing in particular on synthetic faces, which are extremely realistic and can represent a severe threat if used to disseminate fake news. A perception study allowed us to prove for the first time how people are more prone to question the reality of authentic pictures rather than the one of last-generation AI-generated images. Secondly, we focused on social media forensics: our goal is to reconstruct the history of an image shared or re-shared online as typically happens nowadays. We propose a new framework that is able to trace the history of an image over multiple sharings. This framework improves the state of the art and has the advantage of being easily extensible with new methods and thus adapt to new datasets and scenarios. In fact, in this environment of fast-paced technological evolution, being able to adapt is fundamental to preserve our trust in what we see.

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