There are many important factors that influence and even determine the work of middle and senior managers in the public and private sectors, NGOs, and international organizations such as the UN. Yet, despite this overall agreement, the study of 'managerial effectiveness' has remained relatively neglected and unexplored particularly within the developing world. The present research explores the dimensions of the managerial effectiveness of middle and senior managers who work in the Education Programme of the UN Agency in Lebanon. These managers are dedicated to refugees and their children at primary and high schools, and vocational centers. In doing so this study has adopted the framework, 'parameters of managerial effectiveness', developed by Analoui (1999) to explore and identify the factors and causal influences which form the basis for the effectiveness of these managers to develop policies and strategies for their increased effectiveness. The literature in the areas of development of management, management training and development, and recent works on managerial effectiveness confirm the importance of the parameters and interrelationship between them and the unique contextual factors, namely the personal, organizational and external factors. The Education Programme of the UNRWA in Lebanon provides a suitable case, and the middle and senior managers constitute the units of analysis. The entire cadre of senior and middle management (N= 132) were included in this first time study. The methodology adopted for collecting and generating relevant and adequate data was a combination of survey questionnaire, interviews and the use of secondary data available. The adoption of 'triangulation' as a strategy yielded adequate and relevant data which was analyzed using statistical methods. The quantitative analysis was supported by qualitative data based on senior and middle managers' own perception of their effectiveness. The results, by and large, support Anloui's (1999; 2007) theory and led to the first time discovery of the eight parameters of the managerial effectiveness in UNRWA, Lebanon. The results revealed a myriad of factors and influences concerning the middle and senior managers' perception, managerial skills and competencies, organizations criteria for effectiveness, opportunities, demands and constraints involved, as well as the inter-organizational relationship and the dominant managerial philosophy of effectiveness. The study contributes to the literature on managerial effectiveness by contextualizing the model adopted thus contributing to this neglected field of managerial studies. It also provides the basis for the formulation of policies and strategies to improved and increase managerial effectiveness in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine, and the developing world as the whole where UN is actively operating to support refugees. Like any empirical investigation the study suffers from limitations which need to be considered in the future research in this field.

Recently, the issue of poverty amongst indigenous people has become a significant topic in literature on social policy and development studies. The literature mainly looks at this issue in terms of an unequal and one-sided relationship between the mainstream society and an indigenous minority group. This thesis seeks insights into the more diversified circumstances and experiences of poverty amongst indigenous people. The following questions are addressed: (1) Why and how is the poverty of indigenous people reproduced over time and space? (2) How can we understand patterns of differentiation between indigenous people? (3) What is the balance between structural opportunity and constraint in the lives of indigenous people? (4) To what extent do people exercise agency to cope with or overcome their poverty situations? The thesis adopts an ethnographic approach, including participant observation and interviews in four villages of Taiwanese indigenous people. It explores the connections between poverty dynamics and diversified patterns of socio-economic action amongst indigenous people. Hogget and Greener's model of agency, which contains the essential theoretical views of Giddens (the ability of agents to act) and Bourdieu (the embedded corporeal disposition of human agents) are used to make sense of this exploration. The thesis finds that the actions of indigenous people as human agents are differentiated. Actions are not only motivated by strategic plans and emotions but are also influenced by the agents' socio-economic positions, such as their occupations and education and those of their parents. The differentiated socio-economic activities of agents, in turn, have a strong effect on the stratification of their living standards.

Within this thesis I examine Western practices and conceptualizations of childbirth from three distinct angles, with the goal of better understanding how one can negotiate agency in contemporary childbirth. First, I outline the history of the medicalization of childbirth in the West, using a reference frame of the famous second wave feminist text, Our Bodies, Ourselves. Next, I conceptualize agency in the context of contemporary childbirth, first defining the ‘agency’ that I am working with, and then outlining some of the factors that play into the negotiation of agency in one’s childbirth; some of these factors include race, class, location, and information provided about specific medical and physical procedures. Finally, I destabilize the hegemonic Western understanding of labor and birth pain by situating pain as culturally constructed and contextually specific. I provide a few examples of ways in which we can reconceptualize pain in a way that situates it as a unique experience for each individual. The end goal of this thesis is to contextualize current childbirth practices within a specific history of medicalization, and to illustrate the complex nature of agency, but the importance of it to a childbirth in which the mother feels as safe and supported as possible.

This case study uses post-colonial and dependency theoretical lenses to investigate the forces influencing policy, procedures, and participation in international activity in the post-colonial African university environment of Kenya’s first national public university—the University of Nairobi (UoN). The research addresses (1) the approaches and strategies adopted by UoN to engage in international activity; (2) the changes that have taken place over time in international activity engagement at UoN since the attainment of political independence by the Republic of Kenya; and (3) the rationales driving participation in international activity. This investigation included library research, document analysis, multiple campus visits, and 20 formal interviews with the faculty and administrators of the University of Nairobi, Kenya. I argue that even though the University of Nairobi now exhibits some degree of agency in her international engagement as an independent post-colonial African University, limitations to this agency are evident given her colonial genesis as a university college linked to the University of London. Despite the fact that greater control has been realized in curricula issues, institutional level governance, income generating projects, and joint research collaboration and international partnerships, the road to independence in international engagement in a post-colonial university environment is still under construction. The University of Nairobi faces many challenges in her efforts to find a place in the global community of higher education. These challenges include, but are not limited to, lack of resources for human capacity building, shortage of faculty and staff, heavy teaching load, bureaucracy, loss of faculty control in setting their research agendas, commercialization of higher education, intellectual property rights violations, and brain drain. Rationales driving internationalization at the University of Nairobi are a consequence of contextual factors, some of which are external to the university and others internal and individual in nature. For example, whereas the academic rationales for participation, including research outlet, professional development, and networking are commonly cited as key motivators for international engagement, equally powerful economic motivators drive participation. I conclude this investigation by questioning the assumption that there can be balanced interdependence between marginalized African institutions of higher education (IHEs) and the developed world, as internationalization proponents suggest, arguing that these institutions are yet to break away from the colonial mold that led to their creation. KEYWORDS: African Higher Education, Internationalization, Post-colonialism, Dependency, Agency

La redéfinition de la profession infirmière, intervenue en Europe depuis 1990 afin de répondre aux nouveaux besoins en santé de la population, appelle les professionnelles à se centrer sur la prévention, le maintien et la promotion de la santé dans toutes les situations de soins (OMS, 1986). Cette réorientation, développée dans la formation initiale, touche le développement d’un rôle présenté dans les textes de lois et professionnels comme « autonome » et « indépendant » et pose problème quant à son intégration dans les pratiques de soins infirmiers. En effet, celles-ci, principalement déléguées par le corps médical et par l’institution, font apparaître l’injonction paradoxale au sein de laquelle les infirmières se situent : celle du développement d’une pratique autonome selon des objectifs donnés. A partir d’un échantillon (n=841) issu d’une enquête réalisée auprès de l’ensemble des infirmières d’un CHU en Suisse (n=1951), au travers d’une approche sociocognitive (BANDURA, 2003), la recherche des principaux facteurs favorisant le développement d’une « pratique de santé », identifiée comme la centration sur le malade et sa santé selon sa propre définition de la santé, amène à mettre en évidence une double dimension de l’agentivité: autonome et hétéronome. Ainsi, les résultats montrent que la valeur attribuée par l’infirmière à sa « pratique de santé » détermine son orientation au sein d’un contexte qui reste prioritairement dirigé vers une « pratique de soins », centrée sur la gestion de l’ensemble des soins auprès du patient selon la définition de l’institution. Dès lors, l’autonomie dans les pratiques infirmières se présente comme l’exercice de l’agentivité, soit la puissance personnelle d’agir de l’infirmière, selon sa propre orientation : santé ou soins. Elle se développe significativement chez les professionnelles ayant un haut niveau de formation, santé ou soins, par une approche centrée sur l’apprentissage tout au long de la vie. Cette thèse permet de tracer des perspectives relatives à la clarification des rôles et des missions des infirmières et de leurs développements, au sein des établissements hospitaliers universitaires en particulier. Elle pose la question de la construction d’un sentiment d’efficacité personnelle (SEP) qui ne correspondrait pas à l’attente prioritaire et explicite du contexte. Enfin, en distinguant l’agentivité de l’autonomie, elle contribue à la construction conceptuelle des questions liées à l’autoformation (CARRE, 2005). / The redefinition of the nursing profession, in effect in Europe since 1990 in order to meet the new health needs of the population, requires professionals to focus on the prevention, the maintenance and the promotion of health in all care situations (OMS, 1986). This reorientation, developed in initial training, concerns the development of a role depicted in the professional legal texts as "autonomous" and "independent", while raising the issue of its integration into nurses' care-giving practices. Indeed, these practices, which are mainly delegated by the medical corps and the institution, highlight the paradoxical injunction in which nurses find themselves: developing their autonomous practice in accordance with heteronomously-set objectives. Based on a sample (n=841) taken from a study which surveyed the nursing population of a Swiss university hospital (n=1951), via a social cognitive approach (BANDURA, 2003), the search for main factors that foster the development of "health practices", identified as a focus on the patient and the patient's health according to one's own definition of health, brings to the fore a double dimension of agency : autonomous and heteronomous. Thus, the results show that the value attributed by the nurse to her "health practices" determines their orientation within a context that remains first and foremost directed toward "treatment practices" centered on the management of patient care in all its forms as defined by the institution. Consequently, autonomy in nursing practices appears to be the exercise of agency or of the nurse's personal power to act, according to her own orientation, health or treatment. It develops significantly in highly-qualified professionals, according to an approach centered on lifelong learning. This thesis allows for a marking out of perspectives pertaining to the clarification of nurses' roles and missions as well as the development of these roles within the university hospital structure. It raises the question of the construction of a self-efficacy which would not correspond to the explicit, nor priority expectation of the context. Lastly, by distinguishing agency and autonomy, this thesis contributes to the conceptual construction of questions linked to self-directed learning (CARRE, 2005).

<p>The aim was to analyse how the political parties, relate to questions of young individuals in Sweden, particularly to the question of youth unemployment. The theoretical basis encompassed two perspectives explaining party politics - “the party as outflow of society” and “the party as actor”, derived from the structure-agency school. Units of analysis were the parliamentary parties and their youth organisations, and the material comprised the parliament’s special debate of youth</p><p>unemployment in 2006, and text from the youth organisations' web sites. The method was qualitative with an interpretative approach. Conclusions were that young individuals in society have a limited impact on the appearance of political parties. No party has a stable responsiveness to questions of young individuals; only three out of the seven youth organisations had the current youth unemployment on the agenda (parties as outflow of society). All parties had suggestions on how to combat unemployment, but not all had suggestions directed towards youth in particular. The proposals were adjusted to other party policies to facilitate a power position through alliances</p><p>(parties as actors). The Centre party brought forward the current youth unemployment the most and “the special youth agreements” might attract new voters, including young individuals, but could also deter traditional voters.</p>

Local Health Departments (LHD) that aim to address the public health needs of growing populations require qualified professionals with management competencies. In Arizona, the majority of public health services are delivered by the county health departments, which are charged with assisting community members and monitoring and improving community health. These activities are funded with federal, state and local money, which varies across counties. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the local public health system in Arizona, the distribution of public health services across counties and examines the association between health outcomes data and funding patterns for each county. National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) data from their 2008 survey was used to examine the activities performed at the local level. The majority of the activities in which the LHDs focus fall within the assurance function of public health. Interviews with all Arizona county health department directors (N=15) were conducted. Discussion focused on LHD activities, county and state political/policy climate and partnerships that contribute to LHDs activities. Responses varied significantly across the state due to differences in demographic and financial characteristics of the counties. Many political, socioeconomic and environmental barriers to provision of services were identified as well as the need for developing a stronger public health infrastructure.Finally, associations between several health outcomes and funding, workforce and demographic data of the 15 local health departments in Arizona were examined by conducting correlation analysis and linear regressions. This study found strong positive associations between LHD revenues, LHD expenditures, population size and number of LHD employees and HIV/AIDS incidence, low birth weight births and infant mortality rate. Positive associations were also found between revenues and number of women who received prenatal care and HIV/AIDS mortality rate as well as between number of LHD employees and diabetes mortality rate. This study represents a small step in better understanding the local public health system in Arizona, the distribution of public health services across counties and the political, financial and policy constraints faced by county health department directors.

Kiekvienos įmonės savininkas yra suinteresuotas kuo didesniu savo turto augimu, o jei įmonės vadovas yra ne savininkas, o samdytas direktorius profesionalas, tuomet savininkui natūraliai kyla klausimas, ar jis pakankamai gerai valdo įmonę ir maksimaliai didina jos vertę. Tam, kad nustatyti, kurie yra geresni įmonių vadovai (vadovai-savininkai ar vadovai-profesionalai), buvo atliktas tyrimas, kurio tikslas: įvertinti ir nustatyti atstovavimo problemos įtaką įmonių finansiniams rodikliams, labiausiai didinantiems įmonės vertę. I dalyje apžvelgiami teoriniai atstovavimo problemos ir įmonių vertės nustatymo aspektai, II dalyje sudaroma tyrimo metodologija, III dalyje atliekamas tyrimas, nustatantis koks vadovų tipas (vadovai-savininkai ar vadovai-profesionalai) sugeba apsiekti geresnius įmonės vertės didinimo rezultatus. Tyrimo metu nustatyta 1) kokie įmonių finansiniai rodikliai geriausiai koreliuoja su įmonės vertės didėjimu, išreikštu per EBIT/CE santykį 2) kad tiek vadovas-savininkai, tiek vadovai-profesionalai vienodai pasiekia įmonės vertę didinančius rodiklius. / The owner of every company is interested is his company wealth maximization, however, if company’s manager is not owner, but hired professional manager, one may question the quality of management and achievement of aim of increasing company’s wealth. In order to determine, which kind of management (directors-owner or directors-professionals) can achieve better results, a following research was done, which aim was: evaluate and determine agency problem’s impact on companies’ financial indexes that drives company’s value the most. In the Ist part of this research we look at the theoretical aspects of agency problem and company value creation, in the IInd part research methodology is done, in the IIIrd part a research is done, that determines which type of managers (manager-owner or manager-professional) manages to drive company’s value more. During research it was determined: 1) which financial indexes correlate better with company value, which is determined as EBIT/CE ratio 2) that manager-owner, as well as manager-professional, both equally are capable of driving company’s value.

Uppsatsen avser att undersöka hur Skatteverkets kontroller av företagare går till praktiskt. Utifrån detta ska uppsatsen utreda vilka problem som finns i det praktiska arbetet som Skatteverket gör i de olika kontrollformerna. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ metod vilken valts för att få en djupare förståelse för studieämnet. Det empiriska materialet till studien har samlats in med hjälp av intervjuer med sammanlagt fem handläggare på Skatteverket. Material till den teoretiska referensramen har inhämtats från relevant litteratur och sökningar i databaser. Studien har kommit fram till att det finns problem i det praktiska arbetet med skattekontroll, som exempelvis svårighet att få in bokföring och att få svar på förfrågningar. De problem som framkommit i studien har en koppling till Skatteverkets bemötande av företagen samt företagarens beteende. Sambandet mellan bemötande och beteende har i studien analyserats med hjälp av en modell. / The paper aims to investigate how the Tax Agency inspect business owners. Based on this, the essay will examine the problems involved in the practical work with various forms of control. The study is based on a qualitative approach which was chosen in order to gain a deeper understanding of the study subject. The empirical data for the study were collected through interviews with a total of five officers at the Tax Agency. Material for the theoretical framework has been obtained through database  searches and literature. The study has concluded that there are problems in the practical work of the tax Agency, such as the difficulty to get accounts, and to obtain answers to queries. The problems identified in the study are connected to how the Tax Agency treat companies and also to corporate behavior. The relationship between attitude and behavior in the study were analyzed using amodel.

This thesis investigates the experiences of Children’s Centre leaders of the National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) who find themselves in a newly developed role and lacking a professional identity. Its aim is to explore the developing professional identities of NPQICL participants from their own perspectives, focusing on ways in which their professional identities are developing and how, correspondingly, these might be better supported on the NPQICL. Clarification of core ideas embedded in these aims theoretically and conceptually reveals that professions are publicly shaped in line with established traditions, and therefore often prescribed. Processes of professional development are correspondingly seen as largely publicly organised processes of professional learning and/or acculturation. However, a key area for research is the interface between publicly shaped expectations of those learning to be professionals and the particular needs and expectations of course participants themselves especially with regard to how they see themselves as Children’s Centre leaders. Because this area is fluid, uncertain and shaped partly by professionals themselves it is hard to investigate. A flexible Adaptive Theory research design is selected along with an array of conceptual tools (orienting concepts and a conceptual cluster) which can be modified, discarded or replaced according to the demands of data collected. Using a relatively open-ended data collection device also allows a wide range of potentially revealing data to be ‘storied’ for analysis in order to preserve their individualised nature. Although a process of subjective self-conceptualisation in role can be used to explain how NPQICL participants adapt to expectations from the wider professional community and social context, there is a need to explain how public influences and individual co-constructions of professional identity shaped by professionals themselves are synthesised in individual responses to fluid, uncertain professional identities. The research aims are met by modelling the process of developing a professional identity on the NPQICL as an ‘autobiography’. This conceptual device brings together public and individual influences into a synthesis and allows insight into the experiences of individuals. It explains some of the success of the NPQICL course and some of its dynamics including how the development of Children’s Centre leaders’ identities can be supported in a professional learning programme.