No description available.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore what corporations in Brazil, whether with Brazilian headquarters or not, are doing in regards to communicating their diversity practices and initiatives to the public. Understanding these companies' positions on diversity can paint a better picture of how much Brazil has advanced on diversity in the workplace matters, since the topic started coming about in discussions in the 1990s (Fleury, 2000). A sample of 15 companies was selected from Exame magazine "Melhores e Maiores Ranking 2014" (2015), and a content analysis of each company's website was performed during the summer of 2016, based on three diversity assessment models that were suggested by Mazzei and Ravazzani (2008): assimilating minorities, managing diversity, and leveraging differences. One of the corporations that was part of the sample, JBS, could not have its content analyzed because, even though there was a website listed, there was no content displayed about the company. A rubric was developed to code the data and assign a certain score to each corporation. Those companies were then placed under each of the three diversity assessment models based on how many points each of them scored on the rubric. The study found out that all companies headquartered in Brazil with an international presence fell under the third diversity assessment model, leveraging differences, which is the most proactive and diversity-oriented of the three. In addition, some international corporations that are present in Brazil mostly fell under the diversity management approach, but did not show the amount of diversity information initially expected before the study was conducted. Brazilian corporations with a domestic presence were scattered around the three models, with one company under assimilating minorities, three under diversity management, and one under leveraging differences. Despite the researcher's initial expectations, the results show that Brazilian companies with an international presence seem to be in tune with international diversity standards, and international companies with a presence in Brazil seem to be lacking some diversity related information, at least on their Brazilian websites. There are also suggestions for further research on the topic, this time based on diversity strategy guidelines suggested by Conklin (2006) and by the Instituto Ethos (2000).

No description available.

During the last decades the problems caused by anthropogenic sound and noise in oceans have been recognized in public, by governments, and military. With the use of active sonar, different choices can be made to minimize the risk of damaging or disturbing marine mammals. For this purpose knowledge of sonar disturbance is crucial. There are methods for time or area planning, i.e. when and where to use active sonars, to avoid marine mammals. The purpose of this work is to find information in literature on marine mammal behaviour reactions to the sound of sonar pings, and to evaluate which of two different behavioural models used in risk assessment programs, the “varying response” model and the “avoidance” model, is more correct to use. Main focus is on sonars and marine mammals residing in Sweden, i.e. the harbour porpoise, grey seal, harbour seal and ringed seal. Behavioral results from other research areas such as bycatch, environmental, and strandings, together with other sound sources than sonars and other species, provide a broader picture of the situation in noisy oceans. For the harbor porpoise the “avoidance” model works well. It is a very shy species, which flees fast and far when it comes in contact with new things. With the seals however the “avoidance” model is probably less good, since their responses to sonar differ rather much. Hence, for these taxa we recommend to use the “various” model that takes into account such varying responses.

Land contamination is an acknowledged problem around the world due to its potentially adverse impacts on human health and the environment. Specifically in Europe there are estimated to be 2,500,000 potentially contaminated sites. The risk that contaminated sites pose is investigated by risk assessments. The methods and the models though used in risk assessments, vary both on a national and an international level. In this study, the risk assessment methods and models for polluted soils used in Scandinavia and issued by the Environmental Protection Agencies were compared. The comparison aimed to (i) identify similarities and differences in the risk assessment methodology and risk assessment methods and to (ii) investigate to which extend these differences can impact the results of the models and the implications regarding mitigation measures. The method and model comparison showed that Sweden and Norway have great similarities in assessing risks for contaminated soil. However, there are differences with Denmark on a conceptual level. When a common hypothetical petrol station with 20 soil samples was assessed, the results and the conclusions of the three risk assessments were quite different; the site was seen as posing risk to human health with the Danish model when complied with the quality criteria issued by the Norwegian model. The Swedish risk assessment concluded that the contaminant concentration in 3 out of 20 samples was potentially harmful for the environment but not for human health. The demonstrated divergence of the conclusions of risk assessments has major implications and shows great interest for mainly four groups: Land-owners who may be called to cover the expenses for remedial action. Consultants and companies who perform risk assessments and land remediation. The countries that have to meet national and international environmental goals and can also share/ or cover the cost for remedial action. The people exposed to such environments that could be deemed as potentially harmful by a neighboring country. The study was conducted in collaboration with URS Nordic.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2005. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Currently, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is available to almosteveryone. In the last few decades its impact has widely expanded in all fieldsincluding the educational one. There are important attitudinal factors affecting theusage of learning technology successfully. Information system researchers haveidentified the importance of personal factors, such as attitudes, beliefs, culture andbehaviours in technology acceptance (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1992). Previousresearch has analysed these factors in the acceptance of educational technology inhigher education (Liu, Liao, & Pratt, 2009), (Teo, 2009), (Terzis & Economides, 2011),(Cheung & Vogel, 2013). However, the factors playing a role in a mathematicalcontext have not been fully analysed. This research explores the role of several attitudinal factors in the acceptance ofeducational technology for the assessment process in mathematics in a highereducation setting. We examine the effects of formative on-line feedback on theadoption of educational technology by analysing both teachers' and students'opinions regarding enriched formative on-line assessment for mathematics. Ourresults suggest that UK students find on-line feedback is more enjoyable and usefulthan traditional feedback. Attitude and enjoyment are two important factorsinfluencing usage intentions. Results also show that two influential factors to facilitateusing the on-line testing environment are that feeling confident about computers andthe availability of information technology services. In Mexico, findings reveal thatstudents' attitude has the strongest influence on usage intentions which means thattheir feelings and opinions are important. They also think that on-line feedback ismore enjoyable than face-to-face feedback. Students who are proficient in on-linetesting are more likely to find it easy to use. Students also agree that when an on-lineenvironment is easy to use, it is also more likely that they consider it as useful andenjoyable. Taking into account these results can be the best way to design amathematics e-assessment activity for UK and Mexican students. UK instructors agreethat on-line assessments are useful tools to enrich instructional strategies. Teachersin Mexico have a similar opinion. Both results show that they really value providingon-line feedback.

No description available.

South Africa since the liberation in 1994 has faced a lot of changes. The changes include being a member of the international community. As part of the international community, South Africa is finding itself largely faced by the challenges associated with this position. Looking at other countries South Africa is realizing that the world is looking at better ways of educating their people and organizing their education and training systems so that they might gain the edge in an increasingly competitive economic global environment. Success and survival in such a world demands that South Africa has a national education and training system that provides quality learning and promotes the development of a nation that is committed to life-long learning. Institutions of higher education in South Africa are currently changing their present education system to conform to a Competency-Based Training (CBT) system. This system has only been planned but not implemented yet and it is not clear how CBT will be implemented, especially how the learners are going to be assessed. Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) is an integral part of CBT that needs particular attention if the new system is to succeed. The key aims of this thesis are to investigate the current assessment policy and practice at the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) underpinned by Competency- Based Training system. The project will describe and analyze the Competency-Based Assessment system used within CIT's CBT system. The project will focus on: Observing classroom practice of CBA, analyzing students' and teachers' perceptions of their involvement with CBA, and analyzing employers' perceptions of the effectiveness of CBA. The main aim of this thesis is to suggest recommendations for an assessment model that will be suitable to implement within hospitality training institutions in South Africa.

Many software companies face such problems as projects being behind schedule, exceeding the budget, customer dissatisfaction with product quality. Most of the problems arise due to immature software process of the company. The most popular process assessment models worldwide are ISO/IEC 15504 and CMMI. Companies seeking wider official recognition choose between these two models. Companies face the problem that different customers require process assessment according to different models. Therefore, it is important for companies to have an instrument that would transform company’s assessment results according to one process assessment model to another model without actual reassessment each time. The transitional process assessment model proposed in the dissertation allows the companies in the automotive, defence, space, medical, and other industries to have assessment results according to different process assessment models by performing only single process assessment. The presented method for TPAM development could be used developing transitional process assessment models in other domains. For example, service companies could implement a transitional model covering CMMI-SVC and ISO/IEC 15504-8 assessment models, and companies working in other areas could implement a transitional model covering Enterprise SPICE and FAA-iCMM assessment models. / Dauguma programinę įrangą kuriančių įmonių susiduria su problemomis: projektai vėluoja, viršijamas biudžetas, klientai nepatenkinti produktų kokybe. Daugelis problemų kyla dėl nebrandaus programų kūrimo proceso, pagal kurį įmonė įgyvendina projektus. Populiariausi pasaulyje programų kūrimo procesų vertinimo modeliai yra ISO/IEC 15504 ir CMMI. Įmonės, norėdamos būti oficialiai pripažintos platesnėje aplinkoje, renkasi vieną iš šių dviejų modelių. Įmonės susiduria su problema, kad skirtingi užsakovai reikalauja skirtingų procesų vertinimo modelių. Todėl įmonėms yra aktualu turėti instrumentą, kuris atvaizduotų jos vertinimo rezultatus iš vieno procesų vertinimo modelio į kitą, neatliekant kaskart realaus įmonės procesų vertinimo. Disertacijoje pateiktas tarpinis programų kūrimo procesų vertinimo modelis yra instrumentas įmonėms, siekiančioms kurti programų sistemas automobilių, krašto apsaugos, kosmoso, medicinos ir kitose pramonės šakose, gauti vertinimo rezultatus pagal įvairius procesų vertinimo modelius, atliekant vieną procesų vertinimą. Pagal pasiūlytą tarpinio programų kūrimo procesų vertinimo modelio kūrimo metodą galima kurti tarpinius modelius ir kitų sričių procesams vertinti. Pavyzdžiui, galima konstruoti tarpinį modelį paslaugas teikiančioms organizacijoms, apimantį CMMI-SVC ir ISO/IEC 15504-8 vertinimo modelius, arba tarpinį modelį bet kokia veikla užsiimančioms organizacijoms, apimantį Enterprise SPICE ir FAA-iCMM vertinimo modelius.