This thesis sought to lay the foundation for an application for tracking K-12 teacher activities. Its primary contribution is a descriptive model of K-12 activities. The work's starting point, the Faculty Activities System project, is an ETSU initiative that seeks to produce a tool for university-level academic accountabilities management. It was possible to adapt the FAS project's data model for K-12 activities. The resulting model was validated by experts in the field of education and teachers and administrators across Tennessee. A second strategy for model validation, using national and state legislation and expert recommendations, determined that the model did well at capturing teachers' professional growth and contributions to the school and community, but fell short at capturing student improvement, the learning environment, teaching strategies, portfolios, and self-assessment. The data model was realized as a multi-file XML schema, which was tested for well-formedness and validity using a sample data document.

We are currently at a point in time in Australia where questions concerning how to govern police have never been more pressing or more fluid. Systemic corruption has been identified in several states; a range of new accountability mechanisms have been established internal and external to police and in Victoria police corruption has been linked with a violent 'gangland war'. This thesis locates these contemporary developments within a broader analysis of the historical circumstances shaping the changing techniques for governing state police. More specifically, this thesis engages in a detailed comparative study of the changing techniques of governing police in Queensland and Victoria. The theoretical tools to conduct this analysis are drawn from 'governmentality studies'. This refers to a broad grouping of theoretical scholarship concerned with the changing ideas - or 'political rationalities' - on how to govern some thing or some activity, and the underlying reasoning, justifications and ambitions contained within the practical tools or 'techniques' used to govern. Central to the thesis is an argument that a new politics of policing has emerged recently, one that extends the dyad of the old accountability - 'police powers' and 'external accountability' - to a pluralisation of accountability processes and structures. The thesis argues that governmentality studies offer new insights into ways of analysing the techniques for governing state police, increasingly shaped by the managerialisation of governing and embodying efforts to make police innovative, risk-taking problems-solvers. This is what I refer to as an open-ended normative project for re-making the entrepreneurial officer. However, a detailed examination of the development of governmental techniques for 'making up' the entrepreneurial officer indicates that such a governmental project is not implemented unproblematically. Nonetheless, the thesis concludes that the attempts to remake the entrepreneurial officer through the managerialisation of governing presents distinct possibilities for a new 'politics of policing' that fosters deliberative, reflective police practice within a new framework of police accountabilities.

This thesis investigates whether different public accountability forums interact with one another when they oversee the same decision maker. It contributes to the larger study of how decision makers are held to account in constitutional democracies where the simultaneous operation of multiple accountability relationships has become routine. Looking beyond the dominant assumption that multiple forums autonomously assess a decision maker's accountability against different and diverging standards, I aim to understand whether forums can influence the standards against which other forums evaluate the same decision maker. I draw on political and normative understandings of public accountability to answer one central question: do different public accountability forums interact with one another in a way that influences the scope of what a decision maker is obliged to account for and the normative standards against which that account is evaluated? Answering this research question involves examining the mechanisms by which interactions might occur and the motivations of actors to interact. I begin by critically reviewing the literature on multiple accountabilities, arguing that existing approaches can only partially explain how public accountability is constructed in multiple accountability regimes. I argue the focus on typologies of accountability emphasise the attributes of individual forums and overlook the broader dynamics of the accountability regime. I then develop an analytical framework to examine how the interactions between different forums, and other actors, might reshape the accountability dialogue. This framework is used to analyse the case of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in Australia (2008-2012). By presenting a contextSrich analysis of interactions between forums, and other actors, I find that multiple forums act in concert with one another and other actors to contest and then reshape the standards against which the two decision makers are evaluated. The thesis concludes by discussing the implications of recognising accountability interactions for understanding multiple accountability regimes.

Tillväxt genom företagsförvärv har under de senaste årtiondena blivit allt mer förekommande.Genom att köpa upp konkurrenter, leverantörer eller distributörer kan företag öka sinamarknadsfördelar och detta kan leda till högre vinst. Det råder ingen tvekan om attföretagsförvärv är en komplex och riskfylld transaktion. För att ta rätt beslut behöver köparenha god kunskap om vad köpet kan medföra. Av denna anledning genomförs en undersökningav företaget. Due Diligence är ett relativt nytt begrepp som i vardagliga ord innebärbesiktning av målföretaget. Undersökningen bidrar till att genomlysa det företag som skallförvärvas och används i slutet som beslutsunderlag för köparen.Due diligence är en typ av informationshantering mellan köpare och säljare. Detta innebär ettinformationsutbyte mellan parterna och därmed har köparen och säljaren förpliktelsergentemot varandra. Vid företagsförvärv regleras dessa förpliktelser med hjälp av köplagen.Köparens undersökningsplikt kopplas till att köparen inte får åberopa fel som denne kände tilleller förväntades känna till. Den upplysningsplikt som åligger säljaren innebär att allinformation som anses vara relevant och kan påverka köparens beslut skall presenteras.Utöver köparen och säljaren finns det ytterligare parter som är delaktiga vid ettföretagsförvärv. Då due diligence berör främst legala, finansiella och kommersiellaundersökningar är det vanligt förekommande att externa parter tas in som rådgivare. Detta dåde flesta företag inte besitter kunskapen att göra due diligence själv. De externa rådgivare somanlitas är vanligtvis advokater och revisorer.Syftet med vår studie är att undersöka vilken betydelse due diligence har vid företagsförvärv.Vidare undersöker vi ansvaret som åligger köparen och säljaren vid due diligence samt detansvar som rådgivare har vid due diligence.I uppsatsen har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ metod och tillämpat en abduktiv ansats. För attuppnå vårt syfte och kunna besvara våra forskningsfrågor har vi genomfört fyra semistruktureradeintervjuer, dessa ligger till grund för empirin. Samtliga är med personer som, istörsta mån, arbetar dagligen med att genomföra företagsförvärv. Intervjuade personer bestårav två finansiella rådgivare från revisionsbyråer samt två legala rådgivare.Efter genomförd studie kan vi konstatera att due diligence har stor betydelse vidföretagsförvärv. Inte minst för eventuella justeringar av köpeskillingen utan även att duediligence-materialet fungerar som beslutsunderlag vid slutförhandlingarna av förvärvet.Vidare visar studien att köparens och säljarens ansvar stämmer bra överens med köplagensbestämmelser. Lagen används som underlag men är inte det faktiska regelverket somtillämpas, istället hänvisar man till det avtal som skrivs mellan köpare och säljare.Avslutningsvis kan vi konstatera att revisorer och advokater som genomför due diligence harett stort ansvar både under och efter genomför due diligence. Agerar rådgivaren vårdslöst kandenne bli skadeståndsskyldig. Således krävs det att både revisorer och advokater begränsar sittansvar redan innan due diligence genomförs. / Growth through mergers and acquisitions has during the last few decades increasedexponentially. The company in charge of the purchase can increase their market share andcompetitive advantages by acquiring competitors, distributors or suppliers. There is no doubtin that it is a complex and risky process. To make the right decision the buyer needs to havein-depth knowledge of the company and what the transaction might result in. For this reason athorough investigation of the company is carried out. Due diligence is a relatively newconcept which highlights the process of examining a company. The examination providesdetailed information and is thereby used a tool when making the final decision, to buy or notto buy.Due diligence is used as an information trade between buyers and sellers. As with alltransactions, this exchange means that both parties have obligations to each other. When itcomes to mergers and acquisitions these obligations are regulated by means of the Sales ofGoods Act. The buyer’s duty to examine is linked to that the buyer may not invoke defectswhich he was aware of, or was expected to know. The duty of disclosure imposed on theseller means that all information which is deemed relevant and which may affect the buyer’sdecision should be presented. In addition to the buyer and the seller, there are more partiesinvolved in a business transaction of this kind. As the due diligence process primarilyconcerns legal, financial and commercial studies, it is very common for external parties to behired in order to conduct the due diligence process in these areas. The reason behind it isbecause most companies do not possess knowledge to do it themselves. External consultantshired are lawyers and accountants.The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the due diligence process in mergers andacquisitions. Further, we explore the responsibility linked to to buyers and sellers in a duediligence process. In addition we also explore the responsibility linked to the lawyers andaccountants involved in the process.The study is conducted by means of a qualitative method where we apply an abductiveapproach. To achieve the purpose of our study and answer our research questions we heldfour semi-structured interviews, these form the base for our empirical data. All interviewedare with people who work with due diligence on a daily basis. Two of the interviewees areconsultants from accounting firms, and the other two are legal advisors.The paper shows that due diligence is of great importance in acquisitions. Not only for anyadjustments in purchase sum, but also that it is a useful tool when making a final decision.Furthermore, the paper also shows that the obligations buyer and seller has rhymes pretty wellwith those written in the Sales of Goods Act. The act is use as a basis but it is not the actualrules that apply, instead you refer to the agreement signed between buyer and seller. Lastly wecan note that the obligations related to accountants and lawyers are fairly strict. If theconsultant acts recklessly, the consultant may be sued. Thus, both accountants and lawyerslimit their responsibility before the due diligence process commences.This study is written in Swedish.

The importance of records management to the provision of healthcare services cannot be overemphasised. If medical records are not managed properly, this might result in the provision of poor healthcare services. This is because usually if medical records are not properly managed, the healthcare institutions attain inaccurate, untimely, incomplete and unauthentic records or the records fade completely. Records that are not managed properly are easily lost, modified, altered, misfiled and/or damaged, which results in a struggle to locate them and, eventually, much time is lost. Records of this kind may not support healthcare service providers properly in decision-making, problem-solving, monitoring and evaluation of service for continuous service improvement. This study utilised the five elements of trusted records management (records management governance practice, staff capacity and competencies, recordkeeping system and technology, and records archival processes) to investigate the development of a framework to embed medical records management into the healthcare service delivery practice for effective records management practice. The study predominantly utilised a quantitative approach with some support from a limited scope of qualitative data to augment numeric data. The data was collected using the four different techniques, namely questionnaire, interview, observation and system/documents analysis. The study revealed that the mode of medical record management was not effectively enabling the institution to manage medical records properly due to lack of integrated medical records management framework into the healthcare business process. The medical records management technology also lacked file tracking system, records backup, and audit trail which compromise records safety and security. The study recommended supply of the necessary resources, with a framework that the healthcare institutions may adopt to embed medical records management into the healthcare service delivery. ECM may also be implemented to incorporate electronic records management systems, information management, web content and other add-ons to support the records management framework in ensuring effective discharge of all records management functional requirements on the healthcare business process. A further study was recommended about the development of an online outpatient consultation system and medical records access to avoid patient long turnaround time for service. / Information Science / D. Litt. et. Phil. (Information Science)