The research for this thesis started just before the TVNZ Charter was released in 2001. It followed the discussion regarding the new direction for the broadcaster to follow a more public service role. The data gathering was conducted through to post Charter implementation and captured the uncertainty surrounding the shift in policy. Although the aim of the TVNZ Charter was to raise the standards of public service broadcasting the introduction of this new policy was marked by confusion as to how this would be achieved, funded and monitored.The TVNZ Charter was introduced with the prescription that TVNZ find a balance in achieving public service needs in television as well as maintaining the revenue from advertising. This was because the government was not willing to provide sufficient funding for a non-commercial service and hence the result was always to be a hybrid model. It was frequently emphasized that Charter programmes should rate well and there was strong stress on the importance of retaining and attracting audiences.The core changes leading to the introduction of the TVNZ Charter owe their origins to the major policy turning point of 1989/1990, when broadcasting was deregulated in New Zealand. The free market provided programmes with a focus on entertainment and the previous dictum that they should also educate and inform was no longer spelled out in the Broadcasting Act. As only one of the traditional principles of television was being satisfied, there was a measurable decline in programmed diversity and it is argued, quality. The freedom of deregulation allowed TVNZ to pursue the goal of earning as much advertising revenue as possible. Therefore, the TVNZ Charter was hailed as a significant change of direction to ensure that public service needs were met.Even though it can be argued that many positive changes have resulted since the TVNZ Charter was mooted, it is argued that the drive to reposition TVNZ as a public service broadcaster seems to have resulted in a very diluted form of public service broadcasting. A major shift in direction has been compromised by a fear that significant changes in programming would result in a dramatic loss of vital advertising revenue.

In the Mars atmosphere, reactivity of trace components is as relevant as that of the major compounds if formation of complex molecules is considered. These are of great importance concerning the existence of a past or future life on Mars. In this context, the gas-phase chemistry of alkylcarbonate and alkyloxalate ions and radicals, ROCOO–/• and ROCOCOO–/•, is investigated for different alkyl substituents R (H, CH3, C2H5, i-C3H7, and t-C4H9). This study describes the structures, stability, and unimolecular dissociation behavior of these species and is achieved by means of mass spectrometric methods and ab initio calculations. Standard heats of formation of the ions and radicals are determined via computational methods, using atomization energies and bond-separation reactions. Vertical charge-transfer experiments are performed to provide evidence for the existence of the radicals under study and the NIDD (ion and neutral decomposition difference) method is employed to determine their reactivity. Typical processes observed involve direct bond cleavages leading to elimination of carbon dioxide. Concerning anionic compounds, classical metastable ion (MI) and collisional activation (CA) experiments enable the determination of their gas-phase behavior. This, in contrast to radicals, is not only constituted by direct bond cleavages, but also by hydride-transfer reaction or carbon monoxide expulsion involving formation of ion-neutral complexes as intermediates. Translational energy loss spectra are also employed to gain more insights concerning the dissociation energetics of CH3OCOO• and CH3OCOO+ formed by vertical charge-transfer of methylcarbonate. This rather unusual method for such study implies a careful evaluation of the error caused by the instrument which may otherwise generate dramatic deviations of the results compared to theory.

L2 WRITING TEACHERS&rsquo / PERCEPTIONS OF MISTAKES IN STUDENT WRITING AND THEIR PREFERENCES REGARDING FEEDBACK: THE CASE OF A TURKISH PRIVATE UNIVERSITY Dokuzoglu, Selcen M.A. Program of English Language Teaching Supervisor: Prof. Dr. H&uuml / sn&uuml / Enginarlar September 2010, 161 pages This study aimed to investigate L2 writing instructors&rsquo / perceptions of seriousness of different mistake types in upper-intermediate level students&rsquo / essays. It also set out to examine the teachers&rsquo / preferences related with feedback provision. Furthermore, whether there were discrepancies between the teachers&rsquo / claims about the issues mentioned above and their actual performance while marking the essays was looked into. The study was conducted at the Preparatory School of a private university in Turkey. Ten essays written by upper intermediate level students were marked by ten writing teachers who showed the most disturbing mistakes in these essays. They also gave feedback for these papers and half of the teachers were requested to think aloud while evaluating the essays. In addition, a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were used by the v questionnaire were analyzed through SPSS 15.0. This data gathering instrument was implemented on ten writing teachers working at the institution. In analyzing the data, descriptive statistics were used. The averages showing the seriousness of different mistake types and the frequency at which the teachers use different feedback techniques were revealed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five teachers. The results of the interviews were analyzed through content analysis. The results of the study revealed that 80 % of the teachers viewed content related and organizational problems more disturbing than those related with accuracy. However, for 20 % of the teachers mistakes concerning the accuracy of the sentences were more serious. As for the feedback preferences of the teachers, 90 % of them used error codes while marking the essays and all the teachers preferred to write comments. While 60 % of the teachers were in favour of marking students&rsquo / mistakes comprehensively, the rest (40 %) believed selective marking was preferable. Moreover, it was found out that the teachers&rsquo / claims were compatible with their actual performances although some contradictions were observed in their performance.

The purpose of this study is to examine the volatility spillover among a country&rsquo / s foreign exchange, bond and stock markets and the volatility transmission from the global bond, stock and commodity markets to these local financial markets. The sample for the study includes data from both emerging and developed economies in the time period between 2004 and 2011. A multivariate GARCH methodology with the BEKK representation is applied for the local financial markets and global variables are included as exogenous variables into the model. The volatility integration of the financial markets of the emerging economies is stronger compared to the integration of the developed economies. Global variables have a spillover effect on the developed markets only after the global financial crisis, whereas they significantly affect the volatility in emerging markets for both the pre- and post-crisis period. North American countries in the sample, U.S. and Mexico, have low local volatility integration in the pre-crisis era and the integration rises in the post-crisis period. Moreover, they are more open to the internal and global short-term shocks in the post-crisis period. Germany and Turkey are the representatives of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region and they have high local market integration and are open to global shocks for both sub-periods. Far Eastern markets, Japan and Korea, also have high local market integration and their vulnerability to the global effects is large and getting larger for the post-crisis period. The most important limitation of this thesis is the difficulty of reaching sharp generalizations due to the small number of countries analyzed. This limitation can be addressed by the inclusion of a larger number of geographically dispersed countries. The most noteworthy originality of this study is the addition of the exogenous global variables for modeling volatility spillovers. Furthermore, comparison of results for emerging versus developed markets and the pre- versus post-crisis periods is another contribution of this study to the existing literature. The findings of this study can be used by investors interested in assessing the risks of investing internationally.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第18965号 / 工博第4007号 / 新制||工||1617 / 31916 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科都市社会工学専攻 / (主査)教授 藤井 聡, 准教授 SCHMOECKER,JAN-DirK, 准教授 神田 佑亮 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

The importance of customer experience in the banking sector is steadily increasing due to product similarity, competition and the global expansion. Additionally, in the twenty-first century, the focus has shifted from a service-based to an experience-based economy where senses, feelings, impressions, perceptions and emotional connections have become central. The global expansion in the banking sector has created a need for cross-cultural studies of customer experience, because of the increase of success when the service delivery is in tune with the cultural differences of customers. Despite the scarcity of cross-cultural studies, the few existing studies have shown significant results. The purpose of this study is hence to compare the perceived customer experience in the banking sector in Sweden and the United States. These two countries are culturally different on the masculinity versus femininity dimension explained by Hofstede in the universally acknowledged study on cross-cultural dimensions. The study has a positivistic, deductive, cross-sectional approach. A questionnaire survey is used based on the three most critical factors affecting customer experience: convenience, employees and servicescape. The findings are significant, showing how culture is affecting customer experience. Swedish respondents have a more positive perception of the total customer experience despite scoring lower on the critical factors than their American counterparts. This can be linked to the high degree of femininity in Sweden, meaning that Swedish customers are putting emphasis on balance, care for others and the quality of life, rather than being materialistic, goal-oriented and competitive. The original value of this dissertation is a better understanding of the impact of cultural differences in customer experience in banks in two culturally different countries: Sweden and the United States.

Izraelio–palestiniečių konfliktas, būdamas vienas kruviniausių ir sunkiausiai išsprendžiamų konfliktų pasaulyje, nepraranda savo aktualumo ir tarptautinės bendruomenės pastangų surasti sprendimą, kuris padėtų įgyvendinti taiką tarp minėtų tautų. Šio konflikto eiga dar kartą atsidūrė viso pasaulio dėmesio centre 2007-aisiais, kai po septynerių metų trukusios Izraelio ir palestiniečių santykių stagnacijos, atsinaujino pokalbiai dėl taikos. Šiame darbe, teigiant, kad dažnai analizuojant konfliktus apsiribojama mechanistiniais ir deterministiniais jų paaiškinimais, į konfliktą siekiama pažvelgti iš kitos pusės. Darbe tvirtinama, kad Izraelio–palestiniečių konflikto išsprendimas niekada nebuvo susijęs vien tik su svarstymais, ar Izraelis gali pasitraukti iš okupuotų teritorijų, nesumažindamas savo saugumo. Magistriniame akcentuojama Izraelio nacionalinio identiteto įtaka konflikto eskalacijai ir jo išsprendimui, darant prielaidą, kad egzistuoja tiesioginis ryšys tarp šalies nacionalinio identiteto ir politinio elito priimamų užsienio politikos sprendimų. Darbe taip pat laikomasi nuostatos, kad nacionalinio identiteto įtakos šalies užsienio politikai ignoravimas yra viena pagrindinių nesugebėjimo suvokti konflikto sudėtingumo ir jo eskalacijos priežasčių. Pagrindinis magistrinio tikslas – nustačius kaip ir kokiais atvejais nacionalinis identitetas turi įtaką šalies užsienio politikos sprendimams, išanalizuoti Izraelio nacionalinio identiteto įtaką žydų–palestiniečių konflikto eigai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Many conflicts in the 21st century are perceived as intractable: long-lasting, brutal, irreconcilable, of a zero-sum nature. One of these conflicts – over a century long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conflict is a struggle between two nations claiming their rights to the same territory which they both consider to be their homeland. This struggle is usually perceived as a zero-sum conflict over the territory but one of the main propositions of this research is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for many years was perceived as a zero-sum struggle over national identity as well. For over four decades many Jews and Palestinians believed that one nation can implement its national aspirations only at the expense of the other nation. This belief was the principal impediment for the conflict to break-through. This mutual belief also resulted in neglecting any possibility to recognize the other nation’s legitimacy and therefore – permanent confrontation and conflict escalation. This paper seeks to take a different approach to the analysis of conflict. One fundamental statement of this research is that many academics limit their analysis of Israeli-Palestinian struggle to mechanistic and deterministic explanations this way failing to explain some crucial factors having tremendous impact on the course of the conflict. This research paper emphasizes the role of national identity in conflict resolution and claims that the condition for peace between these two nations was never... [to full text]

The dissertation examines the economic and behavioral factors influencing 'sector-switching' in Kazakhstan's health care industry. Sector-switching involves doctors moving from the national to the private system, which is not well established, thereby raising questions about why the switch occurs. It addresses the question: why health care professionals in Kazakhstan switch from the public sector to similar jobs in the private or nonprofit sectors? This study addresses a key issue in public management (sector switching) and also offers insights into the dynamics of the transition from a centralized economy to a market economy. As such, its findings have `real-world' applications beyond the particular case being studied i.e. Kazakhstan. This study is based on two simple claims. First, fundamental to the reforms that characterize transitional economies is effectively moving public sector employees to a nascent private sector. Second, such switches are unique because the risks related to transitioning to the private sector are different in transitional economies than in established market economies. Thus, the study considers: the degree to which economic and behavioral factors interact with different perceptions of sectoral risk, and subsequently shape the decision to move from the public sector to the private sector; in particular in Kazakhstan's health industry. The data supporting this study come from a survey covering approximately 1,000 health care professionals (practicing physicians working in both the public and private health care sectors) from nine regions of Kazakhstan. The data includes information about individual incentives physicians have for switching sections and their perceptions of perceived risks and uncertainties given the economic transition currently underway in Kazakhstan. The findings of the research suggest the strong support for the proposed hypotheses and have revealed some of the dynamics of sector switching behavior and the characteristics of "sector switchers" in Kazakhstan. The results demonstrate that physicians' overall job dissatisfaction, relative salary compared to physicians in a different sector, their risk-taking behavior, the national health care system's deterioration compared to previous years, as well as problems with providing medical services in the country affect physicians in making their decision to change their employment sector.

Recent developments such as internationalization of labor markets, emergence of multi-level polities and a global discourse on human rights have influenced citizenship practices and challenged conventional definitions of citizenship. While conventional definitions of citizenship often presuppose the relationship between citizenship, nationality and nation-state, as an institution, citizenship is constituted and reconstituted by economic, political, social and legal practices. In this context, European Union citizenship (EU citizenship), which was formally introduced in 1993, has generated a discussion on its nature. As a reflection of its dynamic and ambiguous character, there is a variety of interpretations on EU citizenship that can be evaluated between postnational and national ends. In line with these interpretations, this thesis aims to provide an insight to the possibility of postnationality in the case of the European Union Citizenship. In this sense, the analysis of EU citizenship depends on two significant theoretical bases: the contemporary debates on citizenship and the theories of European integration. It is attempted to combine these theoretical frameworks in a critical analysis in order to consider the postnational potentials and possibilities that the EU citizenship has. In the case study of EU citizenship a socio-historical analysis of the making of EU citizenship is carried out mainly with reference to the official documents of the institutions of European Union. In the light of this analysis, EU citizenship is critically examined according to designated discussion themes. Consequently, in this thesis, it is mainly argued that dynamic and evolving nature of EU citizenship create contradictory notions in its development process. This also reflects that possibilities for postnationality are inherent to the EU citizenship.

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the leadership styles of Turkish middle-level managers and leadership prototypes of Turkish employees in terms of task-oriented and people-oriented behaviours. The secondary purpose was to investigate the effects of incongruence between actual and ideal manager perceptions on three important work outcomes: performance (task and contextual performance), job satisfaction, and organizational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitment). A total of 320 people working in a wide range of organizations (71 managers and 239 employees) filled out the questionnaire. Employees rated their actual managers&rsquo / leadership style and also their ideal manager&rsquo / s leadership style (i.e., leader prototype) in the same questionnaire, while the managers rated their own leadership style as well as their leadership style as perceived by their subordinates. Additionally, supervisory-rated performance and self-rated job satisfaction and organizational commitment levels of employees were obtained. Results indicated that self-reported leadership styles of Turkish managers were consisting of more people-oriented behaviours than task-oriented behaviours. On the contrary, employees perceived their managers as being more task-oriented than people-oriented. Ideal leadership style for the employees were comprised of higher levels of both task- and people-oriented behaviours than their actual managers. Incongruence between the actual and ideal manager perceptions of employees predicted job satisfaction levels of the employees only. The results are discussed together with the implications, strengths and limitations of the study. Some suggestions for future research are made.