O trabalho investigou, através de dois estudos, a seca e suas implicações psicossociais para as famílias de agricultores da região Noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. No estudo qualitativo, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas tendo participado sete agricultores de ambos os sexos, com idade entre 33-51 anos (M=42; DP=5,22). O objetivo foi verificar como a perda de recursos desencadeada pelas secas exerce influência sobre o bem-estar familiar. Constatou-se que as secas afetam recursos de sobrevivência familiar e causam implicações psicológicas para esta população, como insegurança quanto ao futuro, desânimo e tristeza. Os participantes utilizam estratégias de coping a partir do uso de recursos pessoais e do apoio social disponível no cotidiano de vida, sendo prevalente o uso do coping ativo. Políticas públicas em caráter permanente poderiam contribuir para reduzir o tempo de exposição ao estresse decorrente do desastre e, consequentemente, melhorar níveis de saúde e bem-estar nesta população. No segundo estudo, participaram 198 agricultores, com idade entre 18 e 77 anos (M=44,38; DP=10,04), sendo 104 (52,5%) homens e 88 (44,4%) mulheres. O objetivo foi avaliar a relação entre o grau de impacto da seca na família e as variáveis crenças básicas, apoio social, saúde geral e percepção do desastre. Os participantes responderam a um questionário composto por itens relacionados aos impactos psicossociais das secas e percepção do desastre, além das escalas World Assumptions Scale (WAS), Social Support Appraisals (SSA) e o Questionário de Saúde Geral (QSG-12). Os grupos de alto e médio impacto da seca apresentaram percepção mais negativa do desastre em relação ao grupo de baixo impacto, no que se refere às suas consequências no bem-estar, além de perceberem-se mais responsáveis pelos seus impactos. Além disso, esses grupos apresentaram menores médias nas crenças de justiça, controlabilidade e aleatoriedade dos acontecimentos. Em relação ao apoio social, o grupo com alto impacto do desastre percebe-se mais apoiado pelos grupos primários (família, amigos, vizinhos, comunidade), enquanto que o grupo de baixo impacto percebe-se mais apoiado pelos grupos secundários (governo, técnicos, grupos religiosos). Constatou-se ainda, menor percepção de saúde no grupo de alto impacto da seca, nas dimensões depressão, autoeficácia e autoestima. O trabalho contribui para a compreensão da relação entre seca e bem-estar nos agricultores, bem como, com discussões no âmbito da psicologia dos desastres no contexto brasileiro. / This work investigated, through two studies, the drought and its psychosocial implications for families of farmers in the northwest region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In the qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participating farmers of both sexes, aged 33-51 years (M = 42, SD = 5.22). The goal was to understand how the loss of resources triggered by droughts influences family well-being. It was found that droughts affect family survival resources and has psychological implications for this population, such as uncertainty about the future, hopelessness and sadness. The use of active coping through personal resources and informal social support is prevalent. Public policies could help to reduce the time of exposure to stress caused by the disaster, and consequently, improve the levels of health and well-being in this population. In the second study, 198 farmers participated, aged 18-77 years (M = 44.38, SD = 10.04); 104 (52.5%) men and 88 (44.4%) women. The objective was to evaluate the relationship between the degree of impact of drought upon the family and the variables of world assumptions, social support, general health and perception of the disaster. The participants answered a questionnaire (beyond the World Assumptions Scale (WAS), Social Support Appraisals (SSA) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) instruments) comprised of items related to the psychosocial impacts of droughts and the perception of the disaster. The groups of high and medium impact had more negative perceptions of the disaster, with regard to its consequences on well-being, than had the low impact group. They also perceived themselves as more accountable for it. Moreover, these groups had lower mean belief in justice, controllability and randomness of events. Regarding social support, those in the high- and medium-impact groups perceived themselves to be more supported by the primary groups (family, friends, neighbors, community); while those in the low-impact group perceived themselves to be more supported by secondary groups (government, agricultural technicians, religious groups). Additionally, there existed a decreased perception of health in the high-impact group, related to the following dimensions: Depression, self-efficacy and self-esteem. The work contributes to the understanding of the relationship between drought and well-being among farmers; as well as to discussions within the psychology of disasters in the Brazilian context.

A falta de informação e de confiança entre os agentes em sistemas de recomendação que lidam com domínios dinâmicos podem ser fatores que contribuem para que os agentes gerem resultados de baixa qualidade. Na falta de informação para gerar recomendações, é necessário que os agentes sejam capazes de assumir ou compartilhar informações, criem laços de confiança entre si e que se adaptem às mudanças do estado do conhecimento para que sejam capazes de resolver os problemas. Esta tese apresenta a abordagem MATRES - uma abordagem multiagente baseada em suposições com mecanismo de confiança aplicada em um sistema de recomendação multiagente. Na abordagem MATRES, os agentes são capazes de lidar com conhecimento distribuído. Cada agente trabalha como especialista e é capaz de compartilhar seu conhecimento com os demais, de acordo com seus índices de confiança. Para a solução de um problema, diferentes tarefas são distribuídas entre os agentes. Algumas tarefas apresentam uma relação de dependência, fazendo com que uma tarefa dependa do resultado de outra. Nesta situação, o agente possui um componente de manutenção da verdade que permite a utilização de suposições para a realização das tarefas de forma assíncrona. Na falta de informação proveniente de outra tarefa, o agente é capaz de manipular suposições, sendo capaz de executar sua tarefa. Além disto, o componente de manutenção da verdade auxilia na manutenção da integridade das bases de conhecimento dos agentes. A abordagem MATRES foi validada em um cenário de recomendação de pacotes turísticos. Casos reais de uma agência de viagem foram utilizados na validação da abordagem e os resultados obtidos corroboram a hipótese de que que a abordagem proposta aumenta a assertividade das recomendações geradas pelos agentes em ambientes distribuídos e dinâmicos. / The lack of trust and information among agents in dynamic domains may contribute to the generation of poor results in multiagent recommender systems. These domains requires that agents exchange information, establishing bonds of trust among themselves and adapting the modification of the status of the knowledge to be able to solve problems. In systems where the knowledge is distributed among several agents, the exchange of information is essential for improving the performance of the agents and maybe leading to inconsistencies when the information exchanged has different status. This thesis presents the MATRES approach - a multiagent Assumption-Based recommender approach with a trust mechanism. In this approach agents are able to deal with distributed knowledge. Each agent works as an expert and is able to share its knowledge with other agents, according to its trust degree. In order to solve a problem, different tasks are distributed among the agents. Some tasks are interdependent, which means that to solve a task it is necessary to use the result from other one. In this situation, the agent has a truth maintenance component that allows using assumptions to perform tasks in a assynchronous ways and helps the maintenance of the integrity of the knowledge bases of the agents. TheMATRES approach was validated in the travel recommendation scenario. The results show that the proposal increases the assertiveness of the recommendations provided by the agents in this dynamic domain.

O trabalho investigou, através de dois estudos, a seca e suas implicações psicossociais para as famílias de agricultores da região Noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. No estudo qualitativo, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas tendo participado sete agricultores de ambos os sexos, com idade entre 33-51 anos (M=42; DP=5,22). O objetivo foi verificar como a perda de recursos desencadeada pelas secas exerce influência sobre o bem-estar familiar. Constatou-se que as secas afetam recursos de sobrevivência familiar e causam implicações psicológicas para esta população, como insegurança quanto ao futuro, desânimo e tristeza. Os participantes utilizam estratégias de coping a partir do uso de recursos pessoais e do apoio social disponível no cotidiano de vida, sendo prevalente o uso do coping ativo. Políticas públicas em caráter permanente poderiam contribuir para reduzir o tempo de exposição ao estresse decorrente do desastre e, consequentemente, melhorar níveis de saúde e bem-estar nesta população. No segundo estudo, participaram 198 agricultores, com idade entre 18 e 77 anos (M=44,38; DP=10,04), sendo 104 (52,5%) homens e 88 (44,4%) mulheres. O objetivo foi avaliar a relação entre o grau de impacto da seca na família e as variáveis crenças básicas, apoio social, saúde geral e percepção do desastre. Os participantes responderam a um questionário composto por itens relacionados aos impactos psicossociais das secas e percepção do desastre, além das escalas World Assumptions Scale (WAS), Social Support Appraisals (SSA) e o Questionário de Saúde Geral (QSG-12). Os grupos de alto e médio impacto da seca apresentaram percepção mais negativa do desastre em relação ao grupo de baixo impacto, no que se refere às suas consequências no bem-estar, além de perceberem-se mais responsáveis pelos seus impactos. Além disso, esses grupos apresentaram menores médias nas crenças de justiça, controlabilidade e aleatoriedade dos acontecimentos. Em relação ao apoio social, o grupo com alto impacto do desastre percebe-se mais apoiado pelos grupos primários (família, amigos, vizinhos, comunidade), enquanto que o grupo de baixo impacto percebe-se mais apoiado pelos grupos secundários (governo, técnicos, grupos religiosos). Constatou-se ainda, menor percepção de saúde no grupo de alto impacto da seca, nas dimensões depressão, autoeficácia e autoestima. O trabalho contribui para a compreensão da relação entre seca e bem-estar nos agricultores, bem como, com discussões no âmbito da psicologia dos desastres no contexto brasileiro. / This work investigated, through two studies, the drought and its psychosocial implications for families of farmers in the northwest region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In the qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participating farmers of both sexes, aged 33-51 years (M = 42, SD = 5.22). The goal was to understand how the loss of resources triggered by droughts influences family well-being. It was found that droughts affect family survival resources and has psychological implications for this population, such as uncertainty about the future, hopelessness and sadness. The use of active coping through personal resources and informal social support is prevalent. Public policies could help to reduce the time of exposure to stress caused by the disaster, and consequently, improve the levels of health and well-being in this population. In the second study, 198 farmers participated, aged 18-77 years (M = 44.38, SD = 10.04); 104 (52.5%) men and 88 (44.4%) women. The objective was to evaluate the relationship between the degree of impact of drought upon the family and the variables of world assumptions, social support, general health and perception of the disaster. The participants answered a questionnaire (beyond the World Assumptions Scale (WAS), Social Support Appraisals (SSA) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) instruments) comprised of items related to the psychosocial impacts of droughts and the perception of the disaster. The groups of high and medium impact had more negative perceptions of the disaster, with regard to its consequences on well-being, than had the low impact group. They also perceived themselves as more accountable for it. Moreover, these groups had lower mean belief in justice, controllability and randomness of events. Regarding social support, those in the high- and medium-impact groups perceived themselves to be more supported by the primary groups (family, friends, neighbors, community); while those in the low-impact group perceived themselves to be more supported by secondary groups (government, agricultural technicians, religious groups). Additionally, there existed a decreased perception of health in the high-impact group, related to the following dimensions: Depression, self-efficacy and self-esteem. The work contributes to the understanding of the relationship between drought and well-being among farmers; as well as to discussions within the psychology of disasters in the Brazilian context.

Durante os anos 70, os sistemas de produção evoluíram de planos de produção em massa para planos flexíveis, capazes de prover para cada consumidor produtos ou serviços diferenciados através de um processo ágil, flexível e integrado com baixo custo. O aumento de opções do menu de escolha por parte dos clientes resulta na produção de pequenos lotes de produtos e, consequentemente, dados em volume insuficiente para estimar os parâmetros do processo necessários para o monitoramento da característica de qualidade. A literatura reconhece que não existem métodos capazes de tratar o pro- blema do monitoramento de ferramentas de qualidade em sistemas de produção flexíveis e customizados. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor ferramentas de controle estatístico do processo para este tipo de ambiente. Verifica-se que cenários de produção customi- zados sujeitos à produção em pequenos lotes são suscetíveis a violações de suposições e estimativas imprecisas dos parâmetros do processo. Além disso, as ações adotadas pelos engenheiros de qualidade na fase I da implantação de cartas de controle nas empresas visitadas é conflitante com o que é sugerido na literatura. Verificação dos pressupostos de normalidade e independência não são executados, mesmo quando cartas de controle são implantadas. Os principais procedimentos de controle de qualidade do atual estado da arte são apresentados para verificar alternativas para a implantação de ferramentas de controle estatístico do processo em ambientes onde as estratégias atuais de produção causaram o aumento da necessidade de flexibilidade. Nestes casos, a característica da qualidade costuma ser a mesma, mas para diferentes produtos, o que significa que se tem uma única observação para cada produto em cada momento, no mesmo processo. Discussões sobre a viabilidade em implantar as principais metodologias neste contexto são apresentadas. Entre os métodos levantados no estado da arte, uma única abordagem ca- paz é a carta que utiliza o desvio do alvo no instante t, apresentada por Del Castillo et. al. (1996), porém não é aplicável ao problema de pesquisa apresentado nesta tese, pois exige uma fase retrospectiva de análise. Além disso, a inclusão de um novo produto ou uma mudança significativa no processo antigo em um ambiente flexível não pode ser tratada pelos métodos apresentados. Uma carta de controle multivariada de auto-inicialização baseada no filtro de Kalman para o sistema de múltiplos setups é proposta além de adap- tações da carta de auto-inicialização de Shewhart e da carta de controle de Quesenberry (1991) com média e variância desconhecidos. O modelo baseado no filtro de Kalman foi escolhido depois de um estudo de simulação que comparou o desempenho preditivo dos modelos ARIMA, Regressão PLS e Estrutural Básico. O desempenho das abordagens de controle estatístico do processo propostas foi comparado através de medidas de ARL e a análise considerou a implantação das ferramentas em uma série de dados real e em séries simuladas de ambientes sujeitos à violação das suposições básicas das cartas tradicionais. Como benchmark, foi utilizada a análise retrospectiva da carta de resíduos apresentada por Del Castillo et. al. (1996). Os resultados mostram que a hipótese de violação da nor- malidade é a que mais deteriora o desempenho das cartas de controle. Efeitos de violação da independência e da suposição de homocedasticidade não são significativos ao nível de 5%, de acordo com a análise de variância realizada. Conclui-se que, dos cinco procedimentos propostos, os adaptados obtiveram resultados similares ao benchmark, podendo ser tratados como alternativas para lidar com o problema de monitoramento da qualidade em ambientes organizados com sistemas de produção customizados. / During the 70s, production systems have evolved from mass production plans to flexible plans, able to provide for each constumer differentiated products or services with low cost through an agile, flexible and integrated process. The number increase of choi- ces results in production of small batches of products, and therefore insufficient volume data to estimate the required process parameters for the monitoring of quality characte- ristics. The literature shows that there are no methods to treat the problem of quality monitoring in flexible and customized production systems. The objective of this thesis is to propose tools for this type of environment. It is verified that customized scenarios are subject to small-batch production and are also susceptible to violation of assumpti- ons and inaccurate estimate of process parameters. In addition, actions taken by quality engineers in Phase I implementation of control charts in visited companies is conflicting with what is suggested in the literature. Verification of assumptions such as normality or independence are not performed, even when control charts are implemented. The state of art quality control procedures are presented in order to verify how to implement quality control tools in environments where the current strategies of production has increasing flexibility. In these cases, the quality characteristic is usually the same, but for different products, which means that it has an observation for each product in each time frame for the same process. Discussion on the feasibility of implementing the main methodologies are presented in this context. Among the methods considered the state of the art, the chart which uses the deviation from the target at time t, presented by Del Castillo et al. (1996) is the only that could be able to work in this problem, but shall be not applied to the research problem presented in this thesis, since it requires a Phase I of retrospective analysis. Moreover, the inclusion of a new product or significant change in old process in a flexible environment can not be treated by the methods presented. A self-start multivariate control chart based on Kalman filter for multiple setups is proposed, as well as the adaptations of the self-start Shewhart control chart and the self-start Quesenberry’s control chart (1991). The model based on the Kalman filter was chosen after a simulation study that compared the predictive performance of ARIMA, PLS Regression and Struc- tural Basic models. The performance of the proposed quality control approaches was compared with measures of ARL and the analysis considered the implementation of tools in series of real data and simulated data subject to violation of the traditional charts’ basic assumptions. As a benchmark, we used a retrospective analysis of the chart presented by Del Castillo et al. (1996). The results show that the assumption of normality violation is the one that most deteriorates the performance of control charts. Effects of independence and homoscedasticity violation of assumptions are not significant at 5%, according to the analysis of variance performed. We conclude that, among the five proposed procedures, the adapted ones obtained similar results to the benchmark and can be treated as alter- natives to deal with the problem of quality monitoring in environments with customized production systems.

M.Com. (International Accounting) / Post-employment benefits under IAS 19 include defined benefit plans (DBP’s) and defined contribution plans. The accounting for defined contribution plans is fairly straightforward, since accrual accounting is applied and the employer entity’s legal or constructive obligation is limited to the amount the employer entity agrees to contribute to the defined contribution plan. In contrast, the accounting for DBP’s is complicated and provides a promise/guarantee of future benefits and the investment and actuarial risk of the plan lies with the employer entity. The literature review indicated that accounting and presentation of DBP’s is complicated because of the long-term nature of the liability/asset that is raised for the plan. There are many uncertainties involved in estimating the liability as this involves looking into the future and making estimates and assumptions about the future. The literature also indicated factors such as the market performance of assets, and inaccurate or unrealistic assumptions and decisions that delay making payments to DBP’s affects the funding status. Actuaries and accountants differ somewhat in the roles they play in determining the amount for DBP’s, with accountants choosing the accrued benefit method. The problem with DBP’s is that they are of a long-term nature and require estimates and assumptions to be made in calculating the DBP liability/asset. The long-term nature affects the adequacy of the liability/asset recognised for DBP’s and the related disclosure in the financial statements of large listed companies. The objective of the minor dissertation is to perform a content analysis on the presentation and disclosure of DBPs in the financial statements of a sample of Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed companies in South Africa. The research approach applied includes a broad assessment of the current status of DBP’s and defined contribution plans operated by the top 40 Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies, followed by a quantitative and qualitative assessment on the disclosures provided by these companies’ financial statements.

In an earlier era of instructional technology, researchers proposed a set of criteria to help practitioners understand what assumptions about their work could help them develop well-designed instruction, as well as what assumptions could lead them to develop rigid instruction that did not characterize the goals they had for their practice. They named these criteria Technology I, II, and III. Technology I presupposed that using physical hardware improved instruction. Technology II presupposed that using formulas or strategies improved instruction. Technology III was the belief that good instruction could consist of many different product or process technologies, but that technology use alone did not define good instruction. Rather, good instruction was the realization of improved systems in which learning could take place. I used a historical case study method to analyze the major themes of Technology I, II, and III, as well as reasons why some practitioners might limit themselves to only Technology I or II. My purpose was to discover how to help instructional technologists better accomplish more of the goals they want to achieve. I compared the original goals of two instructional technologies (programmed instruction and problem-based learning), along with twelve case study reports of actual practice of these technologies, against the criteria for Technology I, II, and III. I found that Technology I, II, and III can describe the goals and practices of instructional technologists. Additionally, I discovered four reasons why instructional technologists may limit themselves to Technology I or II, and therefore might not achieve all the important goals for their practice: (a) distracted focus (or compromised integrity); (b) status quo adherence; (c) solidification; and (d) deliberately chosen Technology I or II. I also discovered three methods to help instructional technologists to avoid limiting themselves and more consistently practice Technology III: (a) legitimate evaluation; (b) adopting guiding principles for practice; and (c) using opinion leaders to disseminate the value of Technology III. This study also provides recommendations to help instructional technologists use Technology III to help them better develop flexible instructional technology that better characterizes their goals for their practice.

Four years following the refugee crisis of 2015, Uppsala Stadsmission’s integration program “Mötesplatsen” begun its activity offering a ‘meeting place’ for unaccompanied young adults, who had received temporary residence according to the Swedish Upper Secondary School Act. The program offered individual support and guidance in their contact with the Swedish agencies, civic information, help in searching and applying for jobs and school homework assistance. The first aim of this study is to conduct an outcome evaluation, that is to assess whether and to what extent the intended outcomes of Mötesplatsen were achieved. The second aim is to identify the program’s underlying assumptions about how the program’s planned activities are thought to lead to the desired outcomes. The study is structured in accordance with evaluation theory and practice, making use of a logic model framework to identify Mötesplatsen’s program components, which in turn, is used to inform the outcome evaluation and the explication of the program’s underlying assumptions. The results of the study indicated that the services at Mötesplatsen had a positive effect on the conditions of the participants across most areas of receiving support. Participants reported improvements in their requirements to finding a job, did comparatively better in their educational pursuits, were assisted in legal/administrative questions or other questions, acquired civic information about the Swedish society and generally felt a sense of community throughout their involvement with the program. Overall, the progress observed in their individual conditions and prospects contributed to the empowerment of the participants across the areas which they sought help in. Furthermore, the results pointed towards assumptions mainly concerned with how the program’s planned activities are thought to produce the intended outcomes, showcasing the causal relationships between these components. / Fyra år efter flyktingkrisen 2015 startade Uppsala Stadsmissions integrationsprojekt Mötesplatsen sin verksamhet med att erbjuda en mötesplats för ensamkommande unga vuxna, som fått tillfälligt uppehållstillstånd enligt Gymnasielagen. Programmet erbjöd individuellt stöd och vägledning i deras kontakt med de svenska myndigheterna, samhällsinformation, hjälp med att söka och hitta jobb samt läxhjälp i skolan. Det första syftet med denna studie är att genomföra en utvärdering av utfall, det vill säga att bedöma om och i vilken utsträckning Mötesplatsens avsedda utfall uppnåddes. Det andra syftet är att identifiera programmets underliggande antaganden om hur programmets planerade aktiviteter anses leda till önskade resultat. Studien är uppbyggd i enlighet med utvärderingsteori och praktik, med hjälp av en logisk modellram för att identifiera Mötesplatsens programkomponenter, som i sin tur används för att informera utvärderingen och förklaringen av programmets underliggande antaganden. Resultaten av studien visade att tjänsterna på Mötesplatsen hade en positiv effekt på deltagarnas villkor inom de flesta stödområden. Deltagarna rapporterade förbättringar i sina förutsättningar för att hitta jobb, klarade sig jämförelsevis bättre i sin utbildning, fick hjälp i juridiska/administrativa frågor eller andra frågor, fick information om det svenska samhället och kände generellt en känsla av gemenskap under hela sitt engagemang i programmet. Sammantaget bidrog de framsteg i deras individuella villkor och framtidsutsikter till att deltagarna hade mer egenmakt inom de områden som de sökte hjälp inom. Dessutom pekade resultaten på de antaganden som främst handlade om hur programmets planerade aktiviteter tros ge de avsedda resultaten, vilka i sin tur visade orsakssambanden mellan dessa komponenter.

<p>An interest has been established in the identification, documentation and classifi- cation of the environmental assumptions that are missing from the original PACE- MAKER System Specification. This thesis addresses the presented challenge and documents the procedure used to identify, classify, and document these missing en- vironmental assumptions.</p> <p>In summary, this thesis answers the following questions: <ol> <li></p> <p>What can be done in order to improve the original PACEMAKER System</p> <p>Specification with respect to environmental assumptions? </li> <li></p> <p>Why is it beneficial, in terms of enhancing software quality, to include the doc- umentation of environmental assumptions – which sometimes are (wrongfully) perceived as being collateral and optional – as part of the software requirements document? </li> <li></p> <p>How should such environmental assumptions be documented? </li> </ol></p> <p>More specifically, this thesis • Presents an abstract model for the PACEMAKER system. • Identifies system boundaries and interfaces in the PACEMAKER model. • Identifies environmental assumptions for the PACEMAKER system.</p> <p>• Presents a classification system for the environmental assumptions identified for the PACEMAKER system based on the proposed model.</p> <p>• Proposes a process for identifying environmental assumptions.</p> <p>Furthermore, the research findings presented in this thesis are not limited to the PACEMAKER system. The documentation convention proposed in this thesis is meant to be generalized and can be extended to address similar documentation needs posed by all kinds of software systems. Additionally, the process of environmental assumptions elicitation described in this thesis provides a useful reference for con- ducting similar assumption identification projects. Lastly, the classification system presented in this thesis for the environmental assumptions exhibits one facet of a grander conceptual system – one that incorporates multiple ‘views’ of the same set of assumptions, with each view being distinguished by a unique set of classification criteria.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

The focus of this study was the unconscious dynamics in the consultant-client relationship as industrial and organisational psychologists seek to achieve change in client organisational systems. Twelve psychodynamic themes were used to interpret a journal maintained by the consultant throughout one consulting assignment, in an effort to understand the unconscious processes influencing the effectiveness of the consulting relationship. Analysis found that the client system imported the consultant to carry nurturing and healing on behalf of the system, but projected onto and into him the confusion, pain, hostility and incompetence in the system, stripped him of authority and manipulated him out of his role as change agent. The consultant unconsciously accepted the projections, failed to contain the system&#8217;s anxiety, gravitated towards the paranoid-schizoid position and was unable to effect meaningful change. Recommendations where made for the use of this form of psychodynamic analysis as a self-evaluative tool in the consulting context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A.

The daunting challenge that faces South African business is to redress the inequalities of past discrimination and to develop to its maximum the potential of every team member while remaining competitive. Some of the key challenges include creating a supportive and attractive work environment that's inclusive of diversity, staff retention and an organisational culture that will leverage diversity. The case study organisation faced similar challenges. In order to understand the dynamics a diversity workshop was designed and consulted from a systems psychodynamic paradigm. The primary task of the Diversity Workshop was to provide opportunities for members to study and learn about intrapersonal, interpersonal and inter group relationships in relation to diversity behaviour in the workplace. 50 participants attended the workshop and 22 participants completed the questionnaire. The content was analysed and themes from a psychodynamic stance identified. The overall objective of the workshop was met as it made unconscious behaviour visible, allowed participants to reflect, facilitated dialogue and enabled transfer of learning to the workplace. This approach allowed groups to move from basic assumptions to task oriented behaviour. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial Psychology)