Agricultural shows are community-based festivals that represent a majority of festivals staged in rural destinations within Australia. Recent anecdotal evidence indicates their survival is being threatened. Declines in the overall number of shows and visitor attendance have been widely reported, yet an analysis of the reason for these declines has not been investigated. Agricultural shows are managed by volunteers within not-for-profit show societies who are finding it difficult to survive in an increasingly competitive and challenging external environment. Little is understood about these show societies, their volunteer managers and the management effectiveness. This study has addressed these gaps by investigating show society management effectiveness by means of a marketing concept paradigm. A case study method employing qualitative in-depth interviews with key show society members and other stakeholders was conducted on one agricultural show. Findings reveal that this show society is managed by volunteers whose primary involvement motivation is based upon self-interest in one or more components of the show. The majority of these individuals do not have management skills and expertise required to manage a festival and whilst it is important to note their volunteering contribution, it is this lack of skills and knowledge that has prevented a systematic approach to management. There is no attempt at consumer research, strategic planning, organisational planning or volunteer recruitment. The show programs do not change to reflect the current needs of the community, rather what is affordable, who can organise it and what has always been done. As a result, the case study show society is not employing a marketing concept orientation but a product concept orientation. This study concludes that without this focus, the show society will be ill equipped to meet changing customer demands and stay abreast of competitors. To assist agricultural shows to manage future challenges and adopt a marketing concept, a theoretical model has been proposed that incorporates existing frameworks and this study’s findings. / M. Commerce (Hons.)

Thesis (M. Commerce (Hons.)) -- University of Western Sydney, 2008. / A thesis submitted to the University of Western Sydney, College of Business, School of Marketing, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (Honours). Includes bibliographical references.

LD2668 .T4 1947 O9 / Master of Science

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research is included in "History, Culture and Power", and "Integration, Politics and Frontier" studies of History master at UFSM. It is also linked with the project "Social Hierarchy, labour and family in the meridional border of Brasil". The purpose of this research is to analyze the socioeconomic characteristics from the people of Caçapava, in Rio Grande do Sul state, during the first half of the nineteenth century focusing on slave labour. The main sources are the post mortem inventories among 1821 and 1850. For this reason, a bibliographical dialogue about the studies of Agrarian History and slavery were accomplished. . In this debate, it is investigated some studies realized in the last years in order to discuss the crucial concepts of treatment concerning the resources of social and economic universe, which is also approached in this research. This discussion allowed us to understand some local peculiarities, for example, how the slave labor was used and the intensity of itself. In Addition, the analysis of documental sources show the existence of creole and African slaves revealing a connection with the transatlantic traffic, even though it was a region with cattle breeding predominance as in larger or as small scale besides being concentrated on the internal market. Likewise, most of the producers and slave owners were cattle breeders. Among them there was a large amount of land and animals for a few. However, there were a large number of small producers, many of them slave owners as well. Therefore, this research points to a social universe more complex than the ones usually portrayed in books related to the local context in this period. / O presente trabalho se insere na área de concentração História, Cultura e Poder , linha de pesquisa Integração, política e fronteira , do mestrado em História da UFSM. Está ligado ao projeto Hierarquia Social, Trabalho e Família na fronteira meridional do Brasil (século XIX) . O objetivo da pesquisa é fazer uma análise das características sócio-econômicas do universo agrário de Caçapava, na província do Rio Grande do Sul, na primeira metade do século XIX, com ênfase no estudo da mão de obra escrava. As principais fontes empregadas são os inventários post mortem e o período abordado estende-se entre 1821 e 1850. Realizou-se, também, um diálogo bibliográfico com estudos sobre História Agrária e escravismo. Neste debate, analisamos os estudos produzidos nos últimos anos com o fim de discutir os conceitos fundamentais para o trato com as fontes do universo social e econômico que se pretende abordar. Esta discussão permitiu compreender algumas das especificidades locais, como a intensidade e as características da utilização da mão de obra escrava. A análise das fontes documentais aponta a existência de escravos crioulos, mas também de africanos, o que revela uma ligação com o tráfico transatlântico, ainda que se tratasse de uma região com predominância de uma pecuária de média e pequena escala, além de ser voltada para o mercado interno. De fato, grande parte dos produtores e senhores de cativos, eram criadores de gado. Entre eles, havia uma considerável concentração de terras e animais nas mãos de poucos. Entretanto, ao lado desse pequeno grupo concentrador de recursos, havia uma miríade de pequenos produtores, muitos também senhores de escravos. Portanto, sinalizamos para um universo social mais complexo do que aquele geralmente descrito nas obras que tratam do contexto local neste período.

Several documents have been presented outlining the methods incorporated by large multinational corporations in their plant location process. These methods contribute to our knowledge of how companies choose a location in which to locate a manufacturing operation. The role of the region or municipality in preparing an appropriate atmosphere to coordinate with an industry's specific requirements has not been widely examined. The objective of this research paper is to examine the role played by the Town of Ingersoll, Township of South-West Oxford and County of Oxford in Southwestern Ontario in preparing a suitable land, infrastructure and zoning regulations package to facilitate the requirement for a joint General Motors and Suzuki automotive assembly plant. The results obtained from this research paper will aid in the awareness of the actions that occur to aid such a large industrial and economic expansions within a small agricultural society. / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)