This study will be investigating the perceptions of the implementation and modelling of best practices in technical vocational education and training (TVET) areas of endeavour. Four lecturers from three selected programmes will be investigated see how well they are preparing their students to enter the technically advanced workplace in an urban tertiary TVET institute in Jamaica. It has been reported by employers that graduates’ performance has been unsatisfactory in the sectors which require technically skilled professionals (HEART Trust, 2012). This investigation will incorporate a literature review of the apprenticeship system, and the current occupational training requirements as well consider competency based methods of teaching used in the TVET classroom. This will be in the context of career development theories, and constructivist and social learning theories. A qualitative research design method will be applied, using a case study approach. In addition to data collected from the lecturers, interviews, observation and focus group discussions with three groups of 15 students will also be collected. Additionally, the Director/ Principal of the Vocational Development Training Institute (VDTI) will be interviewed. Finally, a stakeholders’ report based on employee attitudes in various industries will be used to attain their perspectives on the preparedness of the TVET graduates for the workplace. The results and recommendations will be used to evaluate the best practices of the TVET lecturers. / Educational Leadership

The study aims to analyze Georgia's Migration Strategy 2021-2030 and its elaboration process within a multi-stakeholder format. The Strategy along with the annual action plans and a logic framework, sets a state policy on migration. The development of migration policy and cohesive field management is a novel and largely understudied phenomenon in the local context. It also falls beyond the general research focus of migration policies within the Western liberal democracies. In addition, conditions related to Georgia's specific location, introduced by the thesis, give relevance to studying the contemporary manifestation of migration in the state policy. The research is interested in the knowledge paradigms and its sources that form the policy, and their role in creating salience of certain topics, while muting others. The research uses an ethnographic method and a poststructural policy analysis to interrogate the strategy and its development process. The results are assessed with the use of a conceptual framework assembled from Brown and Balibar's theorization of relationship between neoliberalism and democracy, and its consequent impact on democratic governance. The findings reveal the prominence of neoliberal rationality as a political and normative form of reason and display some of its sources of power. In this process, best practices function as perceived neutral forms of knowledge and further carry a legitimizing effect due to their intrinsic contingency on the European geopolitical space. In overall, the results reveal a certain 'disorganic' development of migration policy, dislocated from Georgia's historical and contemporary realities.

The aim of this study was to determine employees' perceptions of the fairness of employment equity practices. It was conducted in an organisation in the Health Services industry, using a Diversity Questionnaire. The sample size was 520 and 245 responses were received, constituting a 47% response rate. Employees' responses were measured along 10 dimensions of employment equity. The unit of analysis was the group according to gender, race, age and job level. Independent t-tests and analysis of variance techniques were used to determine any statistically significant differences in perceptions between groups. Statistically significant differences were found between race groups and job levels. Gender and age did not significantly affect employees' responses. The research concluded that compliance with organisational justice requirements is as important as compliance with legislative requirements. Ultimately, every organisation should adapt its employment equity strategy according to its specific demographic and environmental context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Admin.

This study examines mentors’ perspective and level of satisfaction with the elements of effective practices among girl mentoring programs in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. The sample consisted of mentors who served at-risk girls. The variables analyzed included the following: recruitment, screening, training, matching, monitoring, support, and closure. Explanatory design was used to generate the study and the purposive and snowball sampling was utilized to gather the analysis. A total of 125 respondents participated in the study. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that mentors are overall satisfied with their experience with mentoring girls. Among the best practice elements the screening, matching, and monitoring and support were the greatest predictors of mentor satisfaction.

Les décisions collaboratives sous incertitude dans les situations non urgentes peuvent être retardées, surtout lorsque la santé humaine et des investissements élevés sont en jeu comme c’est le cas des projets de R and D pharmaceutiques. Cette thèse étudie les causes des retards récurrents dans la prise de décision collaborative sous incertitude et les pratiques efficientes pour réduire ces retards. Pour mieux comprendre le problème des retards dans la prise de décision face à l’incertitude, nous étudions d’abord la notion d’incertitude et proposons une définition de l’incertitude adaptée au management de projet. Ensuite, le processus de prise de décision dans les projets de développement de nouveaux médicaments est modélisé, mettant en évidence le cycle de vie de l’information à partir de sa production jusqu’à sa consommation c’est-à-dire la décision elle-même. Ce modèle comprend une étape de réflexion individuelle et une étape de l’interaction en groupe, en clarifiant comment l’information est traitée différemment par les décideurs. Afin d’analyser les conflits du passé et anticiper ceux du futur, sur la base de ce modèle, un indice est défini pour mesurer le risque d’invalidation d’une décision prise a posteriori. Finalement, à travers des entretiens approfondis, 252 facteurs clés qui influent la prise de décision sont identifiés. Les trois causes de retard les plus citées sont : la peur de l’incertitude, la peur de la hiérarchie et la difficulté des décisions d’arrêt. Sur la base des facteurs identifiés, un recueil de bonnes pratiques est construit pour les acteurs du processus de prise de décision qui aident à former, mûrir, communiquer, digérer, respecter et finalement exécuter les décisions collaboratives. / Collaborative decisions may be deferred when faced with a high degree of uncertainty, especially when public health and high investments are at stake and in situations that seem non-urgent, as is the case in pharmaceutical R and D projects. This thesis investigates the causes of recurrent delay in collaborative decision-making under uncertainty, and the efficient practices to reduce this delay. To better understand the problem of delay in decision-making under uncertainty, we first review the notion of uncertainty and propose a definition of uncertainty adapted to project management. Then, the decision-making process in drug development projects is modeled, highlighting the information life cycle from its generation to its consumption i.e. the decision itself. It includes individual reflection and group interaction, clarifying how information is processed differently by decision-makers. To analyze past conflicts and anticipate future ones, based on this model, an index is defined that measures the risk of invalidating a decision a posteriori. Finally, through an in-depth interview-based approach, 252 key factors that affect decision-making are pointed out. The three most-mentioned causes of delay are: fear of uncertainty, fear of hierarchy, and difficulty of No Go decisions. Based on the identified factors, a compendium of practices is constructed for the actors of the decision-making process that help collaborative decisions to be formed, matured, digested, respected, and finally executed.

La maladie d'Alzheimer, figure archétypique de la "mauvaise" vieillesse, et véritable désordre dans I'univers de la personne, implique de nombreux acteurs et particulièrement les accompagnants familiaux. Pour soulager ce qui est souvent désigné comme un "fardeau", de nombreuses initiatives sont prises dans le domaine des gérontechnologies. Conçues pour répondre aux besoins des personnes âgées,elles représentent un axe de recherche et de développement - scientifique et industriel - en plein essor. Cependant, peu de ces technologies sont réellement insérées dans le quotidien des personnes âgées et beaucoup de projets stagnent à un stade embryonnaire ou, édités sous forme de prototypes. Elles peuvent également être considérées comme salvatrices mais lorsque la "technologie" ne fonctionne plus, mal ou reste à l'état de prototype, le monde construit autour de la personne atteinte de la maladie bascule dans les désillusions. L'approche anthropologique est intéressante pour comprendre les mécanismes d'appropriation de l'espace en maison de retraite. Les lieux aident à la construction de la personnalité et de l'identité de chacun et, pas l'approche du "lieu anthropologique" [Augé,1992a], les accompagnants peuvent se rendre compte des capacités effectives des personnes. Ces compétences doivent aider à la construction d'outils gérontechnologiques pertinents. / Alzheimer's disease is most often regarded as the bad ageing disorder. It wreaks havoc in the physical and psychological lives of individuals concerned, and requires the support and help of numerous persons, in particular family caregivers. In order to reduce this burden many initiatives have been taken in the field of gerontechnology. Research and development in gerontechnologies are presently booming, both scientifically and industrially. Although these technologies were originally conceived to respond to the elderly's needs, few of them have actually been implemented in the aging persons' environment. Many projects stagnate at the conceptual level, others do not go beyond the building of a prototype. Nonetheless, sometimes these technologies arouse great hopes. When, however, they function badly or not at all, or when they are not developed beyond the prototype stage, disillusionment slowly destroys all the hope that patients and caregivers had invested in these technologies. M. Augé's anthropological approach helps us understand how people lay claim to public space, in a retirement home, for example. Places and spaces help shape each individual's personality and identity. Using the "lieu anthropologique" (anthropological place or space) [Augé, l992a] caregivers can more easily get to know the elderly's effective capacities in this domain. These skills should be analyzed in order to improve the construction of pertinent gerontechnological tools.

In recent decades, guitar education has emerged as a discipline in PreK-12 institutions alongside “traditional” music education such as band, orchestra, and chorus. Despite the substantial body of literature containing practical advice on teaching guitar, research-supported scholarship is lacking. Additionally, this body of literature suggests a lack of congruency between curriculum, pedagogy, and teacher preparation among guitar educators. The purpose of this study was to provide an evidentiary-based understanding of the professional profiles and pedagogic practices of guitar educators. A multi-phase investigation was conducted. In Phase One, a large sample (n = 1,269) of guitar educators participated in the Guitar Educator Questionnaire (GEQ). Findings from the GEQ suggest a low (7.9) percent of music educators who teach guitar class consider themselves to be “guitar specialists.” A substantial number of respondents (68.5 percent) indicated that they rarely or never participated in guitar related professional development, and 76.1 percent of respondents reported that their pre-service training provided little or no preparation for a career in guitar education. A purposeful sample of six “exemplary” guitar educators contributed pedagogy-focused interviews and video teaching samples in Phases Two and Three. Data from the three phases were analyzed according to principles of thematic analysis in order to identify potential pathways toward the continued growth and maturation of guitar education.

In order to demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired during her tenure in the Arts Administration graduate program, the consultant works four hundred and eighty hours as a Social Media and PR intern at Bond Public Relations and Brand Strategy in New Orleans, Louisiana. The following body of work is a consultant’s report written from the perspective of a professional Arts Administrator, and includes the following items: host company profile; description of internship activities; consultant’s contributions and gains; summation of company and industry best practices; host company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats – both internal and external; and the consultant’s recommendations for improvement.

O Conselho de Administração (CA) é foco de diversas pesquisas por ser considerado o principal mecanismo de governança corporativa. Inserido na linha de pesquisa que investiga o impacto da estrutura do CA sobre as decisões corporativas, esta pesquisa tem o intuito de verificar a relação entre o alinhamento às práticas recomendadas de governança relativas ao CA e o nível de evidenciação das empresas. Especificamente, avalia-se a relação de complementaridade ou substituição entre as práticas de governança e o nível de evidenciação. Adicionalmente, investiga-se a relação entre a presença do profissional da área contábil nos conselhos e o nível de evidenciação das empresas. Optou-se pela elaboração de índices para mensurar o alinhamento às práticas de governança. O índice construído é composto por subíndices referentes à independência, disponibilidade de tempo, diversidade e comitês. Para a variável dependente, foi elaborado um índice de evidenciação com base na divulgação de políticas sobre gerenciamento de risco, gastos com auditoria, operações com partes relacionadas, código de ética e remuneração dos administradores. Foram realizadas análises exploratórias por meio de diferenças de médias entre determinados grupos de empresas, e análise de dados em painel a fim de verificar a consistência das relações entre o alinhamento às práticas de governança e o nível de evidenciação. Os resultados exploratórios evidenciam que tanto a média do índice de alinhamento às práticas de governança do CA quanto o índice de evidenciação ficaram abaixo da metade da pontuação máxima, 16 e 6 pontos, respectivamente. Constata-se que muitas recomendações em relação à independência, disponibilidade de tempo, diversidade e comitês ainda não foram adotadas pelas empresas, havendo ainda muito a ser aprimorado. Em relação à participação do profissional da área contábil, destaca-se que empresas com conselheiros ou membros externos com formação em contabilidade na composição do Comitê de Auditoria apresentam média estatisticamente superior em relação ao índice de evidenciação se comparada às empresas que não têm profissionais com essa formação na composição deste Comitê. Os resultados da análise de dados em painel não confirmam a hipótese desta pesquisa em relação à complementaridade entre a adoção de práticas recomendadas de governança corporativa e o nível de evidenciação. Porém confirmam a complementaridade entre o nível de evidenciação e as variáveis relacionadas à negociação no Novo Mercado e na Bolsa de Nova Iorque (empresas com emissão de ADRs), provavelmente este fato pode sugerir o esforço dos administradores em evidenciar informações devido ao fortalecimento do papel de monitoramento dos conselhos das empresas com estas características. Os progressos nas melhorias das práticas de governança corporativa no Brasil dependem de maior ação dos agentes de mercado e as evidências desta pesquisa indicam alguns pontos para melhoria e aprofundamento de pesquisas acadêmicas tanto na adoção de práticas de governança quanto no nível de transparência de informações. / The Board of Directors (BoD) is the focus of several researches as it is considered the main corporate governance mechanism. Following the research line that investigates the impact of BoD structure on corporate decisions, this research aims to investigate the relationship between the alignment of recommended governance practices related to the BoD and the disclosure level of companies. Specifically, it evaluates the complementary or substitute relationship between governance practices and disclosure level. Additionally, it investigates the relationship between the presence of accounting professional in the BoD and the disclosure level of companies. An index has been elaborated to measure the alignment to corporate governance practices. The index has been built comprising sub indexes relating to independence, time availability, diversity and committees. For the dependent variable, a disclosure index has been elaborated based on disclosure of policies on risk management, audit expenditures, related party transactions, ethics code and administrators\' remuneration. Exploratory analyses were performed by differences between average of certain companies groups and panel data analysis to verify the consistency of the relationship between governance practices alignment and disclosure level. The exploratory results presented that both means of alignment to governance practices of BoD index and disclosure index were below half the maximum score, 16 and 6 points respectively. It appears that many recommendations in relation to independence, time availability, diversity and committees have not yet been adopted by companies and there is still much to be improved. Regarding the accounting professionals participation in BoD, the relevant results presented that companies that have directors or external advisors with accounting background in the composition of the Audit Committee have statistically higher average of disclosure index compared to companies that do not have accounting professionals in the composition of this Committee. The panel data analysis results haven\'t confirmed the research hypothesis that there is a complementary relationship between the adoption of recommended governance practices and disclosure level. However confirm the complementarity between the level of disclosure and the variables related to trading on Novo Mercado and New York Stock Exchange (companies issuing ADRs), probably this may suggest this relation follows the administrators\' efforts to disclose information due to the strengthening of boards monitoring role. Progress in the improvement of corporate governance practices in Brazil depends on greater action of market agents, the evidences of this research indicate some points for improvement and further academic research development in both adoption of governance practices and on transparency information level.

Estudos da área de melhores práticas de produção têm revelado que a implementação de práticas idênticas em firmas diferentes pode conduzir a níveis de desempenhos distintos. É sugerida, pela literatura consultada, uma discussão mais apropriada das melhores práticas para contextos específicos. O objetivo principal desta pesquisa é avaliar o relacionamento entre práticas (ou programas de ação) implantadas e a estratégia de produção e, também, analisar os efeitos das práticas sobre a melhoria de indicadores de desempenho operacional e de negócio em empresas do setor moveleiro no Brasil. O objetivo secundário é, por intermédio da análise desses relacionamentos, analisar se tais práticas podem ser consideradas as melhores práticas no contexto do setor pesquisado. Foi elaborado um modelo conceitual com cinco hipóteses de pesquisas, baseado na revisão da literatura. A pesquisa de campo consistiu de uma survey explanatória e de corte-transversal. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas, observações diretas no chão-de-fábrica e, também, mediante questionário estruturado respondido pela internet. Noventa e nove firmas participaram da pesquisa. A técnica usada para a análise dos dados foi a modelagem de equações estruturais com o método de estimação dos mínimos quadrados ponderados. Os resultados indicaram que (a) práticas de produção em diferentes áreas afetam direta e indiretamente indicadores de performance operacional e de negócio; (b) a implantação conjunta de práticas de infra-estrutura dão suporte às práticas-chave que estimulam a melhoria da performance de diferentes indicadores de indicadores; (c) em geral as práticas de produção influenciam diretamente, com maior magnitude, o desempenho operacional que o desempenho de negócio, uma vez que esse último é afetado indiretamente pelas práticas, por intermédio da melhoria do desempenho operacional; (d) práticas nas áreas de desenvolvimento de novos produtos, recursos humanos, gestão de qualidade e planejamento e controle de produção podem ser consideradas como melhores práticas para o contexto estudado, conforme análise da pesquisadora por meio da revisão da literatura. / Studies in the area of best practices have shown that the implementation of identical practices in different companies may result in diverse performance levels. Studies also suggest the need for deeper analysis of best practices for specific contexts. The main objective of this work is twofold. It analyses the relationship between manufacturing strategy and production practices. It also investigates the effects of such practices on the improvement on business and operational performance indicators in brazilian furniture companies. The secondary objective is to investigate whether such production practices can be considered indeed the best practices for the furniture industry. A conceptual model, with five research hypotheses, has been elaborated following thorough literature review. The empirical research consisted of an explanatory cross-sectional survey. Data have been collected during interviews and direct observations on the shop-floor from 99 furniture companies. Some data have also been collected from online questionnaire available on the internet. The technique used for data analysis was the structural equation modeling (SEM) with the weighted least square (WLS) estimation method. Results indicated that (a) practices of production in different areas direct and indirectly affect operational performance indicators of specific and general areas and also firm indicators; (b) the joint adoption of infrastructure supports key practices that stimulate improved performance of different indicators; (c) most of the practices of production influence operational performance directly and with greater magnitude than firm performance, as this last one is affected indirectly by the practices, through improved operational performance; and (d) practices in the area of development of new products, human resources, production planning and control and quality management were could be considered best practices in the context under study, in accordance with the analyzes of the researcher and theory review.