The purpose of this study is to extend the theoretical model of organizational politics in different contextual situations by using cross-level analytical framework. In accordance with the social exchange perspective, this study draws on a reciprocated subjective cognitive state that existed between the employee and workplace (psychological contract breach) as a mediator to connect the relationship between group political climate and turnover intention. Additionally, this research also employed the situational strength perspective by introducing a group characteristic variable (group interaction) to investigate its moderating effect on the relationship between group political climate, psychological contract breach and turnover intention. Data were collected from 56 work groups consisted of 750 work group members who provided the information about group political climate, psychological contract breach, turnover intention, group interaction and demographic variables. Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were applied to test the full model. The results reveal that individual employees¡¦ psychological contract breach partially mediate the relationship between group political climate and turnover intention. Further, group interaction moderates the mediated relationship between group political climate, psychological contract breach, and individual employees¡¦ turnover intention. Lastly, groups with high degree of group interaction could lessen their employees¡¦ turnover intention induced by group political climate.

Darbe analizuojamos Lietuvos Respublikos Civilinio kodekso (toliau - LR CK) nuostatos, įtvirtinančios galimybę sutarties šalims nutraukti sutartį esant neesminiam sutarties pažeidimui, kartu pateikiant Lietuvos Aukščiausiojo Teismo suformuluotas nuostatas ir šių nuostatų taikymo principus. Atsižvelgus į tai, kad sutarties nutraukimą reglamentuojančios LR CK normos yra UNIDROIT Principų recepcija, nemažas dėmesys skiriamas šių Principų analizei. Palyginimui analizuojami ir kiti svarbūs teisiniai dokumentai, tai: 1980 m. Jungtinių Tautų konvencija dėl tarptautinių prekių pirkimo-pardavimo sutarčių, Europos sutarčių teisės principai (PECL), Bendros principų sistemos metmenys (DCFR) ir kt. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje analizuojami istoriniai aspektai, atskleidžiantys sutarties nutraukimo esant neesminiam pažeidimui kilmę. Konstatuojamas UNIDROIT Principų ir sutarties laisvės principo teisinis pamatinis pagrindas sutarties nutraukimo instituto dalies atsiradimui. Antroji darbo dalis skirta apibendrinti sutarties nutraukimo esant neesminiam pažeidimui pagrindus, tai - įstatyminis LR CK 6.209 str. ir sutartinis LR CK 6.217 str. 5 d. pagrindai. Trečiojoje darbo dalyje apibrėžiama sutarties pažeidimo samprata. Pateikiami teisiniai vertinimai, kurie padėtų atskirti esminį sutarties pažeidimą nuo neesminio. Prieinama prie išvados, kad neesminį sutarties pažeidimą galima apibrėžti tik plačiąja prasme, atsižvelgiant individualiai į kiekvieną situaciją. Šis apibrėžimas skamba taip: neesminis... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The thesis analyzes provisions of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the CC) that establish the possibility for the parties to terminate the contract in case of immaterial breach, and provides provisions formulated by the Lithuanian Supreme Court as well as principles of application of these provisions. Given the fact that provisions of the CC go-verning termination of contract are adaptation of the UNIDROIT Principles, much attention is paid to the analysis of these Principles. For the purposes of comparison, other important legal documents, i.e. United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 1980, Principles of European Contract Law (PECL), Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR), etc. are analyzed as well. The first part of the thesis analyzes the historical aspects, revealing the origin of an insti-tute of termination of contract in case of immaterial breaches. It also finds legal basis for the emergence of the institute of termination of contract inherent in the UNIDROIT Principles and the principle of freedom of contract. The second part of the thesis summarizes grounds for the termination of contract in case of immaterial breaches, i.e. statutory (Article 6.209 of the CC) and contractual (paragraph 5 of Article 6.217 of the CC). The third part of the thesis defines the concept of breach of contract. Moreover, it pro-vides legal evaluations that would help to differentiate between material and... [to full text]

Until recently, research has been scarce in the field of physical modelling of dam breaching. Over the past few years, teams from the University of Ottawa, Canada, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, and HR Wallingford, United Kingdom have worked on several physical models to help determine how various dam breaching characteristics vary due to changes in dam geometry and geotechnical properties. The purpose of this project is to use these new experimental data sets to compare and validate the applicability range of two existing pieces of software, MIKE11-DB and BREACH developed by the Danish Hydraulic Institute and National Weather Service, respectively. Several breaching characteristics such as the outflow hydrograph, peak flow, lag time, breaching time, breach width, and water level are considered in the present study. A sensitivity analysis is also performed on the model’s main input parameters and their sensitivity and performance is ranked accordingly.

The thesis examines the claims that may be brought against express trustees for pecuniary compensation. It contends that a difference of principle divides this conventional category in two. Some compensation claims complain that the trustee has breached one of his duties and seek to charge him with reparation for whatever ensuing loss has been suffered by the beneficial interests. These claims resemble claims for damages founded upon a tort or breach of contract. Other compensation claims overlook whatever breach there may have been and demand that the trustee account and perform the trusts, in money where this cannot be done in specie. This second type of claim resembles a claim for the specific performance of a contract, bearing in mind that specific performance may be given with compensation where the defendant cannot deliver what he has promised. The claims are cumulative subject to the principle of full satisfaction.

This study sought to answer critical questions surrounding the impact that national culture has on specific parts of the employment experience of employees working for multinational organizations. As globalization expands and organizations are gaining larger footprints beyond regional operations, there has become a need to understand how cultural nuances could be playing a role in the employee experiences at these organizations. This study looks at two pieces of the employee experience in great detail, the psychological contract and job satisfaction. Understanding the process that builds psychological contracts between employee and employer is a critical piece to promoting a satisfied and productive workforce. The perception of a breach of the psychological contract has substantial negative implications. Understanding how the psychological contract and employee job satisfaction are linked is a key focus of this study. Binary logistic regression and path analysis were conducted on a sample of employees of multinational organizations which provided key findings and evidence that both nationality and job satisfaction play a statistically significant role in the perception of a psychological contract breach. The path analysis provided results that warrant further research, but was unable to substantiate the moderating effects of the dimensions of national culture on job satisfaction and psychological contract breach. Implications and recommendations for multinational organizations and learning technology practitioners are discussed as well as recommendations for future research.

La surverse d’une digue fluviale (levée) peut conduire au développement d’une brèche par érosion externe, suivie d’une rupture brutale de la digue. Cela provoquerait une vague de submersion dans la plaine protégée, laquelle peut présenter des enjeux humains, économiques et financiers majeurs. La gestion et la prévention du risque d’inondation passe par une détermination précise de l’aléa. Pour ce faire, il est nécessaire d’avoir une estimation fiable du débit au travers de la brèche, donc du mécanisme de formation de la brèche et de sa dynamique d’expansion. Les approches existantes sont souvent adaptées pour les digues frontales (barrage et remblai en terre) soumises aux surverses. La transposition de ces approches pour les digues fluviales demeure peu fiable. Les processus qui régissent la formation des brèches dans les digues fluviales restent donc encore du domaine de la recherche. Un programme expérimental visant à améliorer notre compréhension des processus physiques qui régissent la rupture graduelle des digues fluviales par surverse a été mené conjointement par le Laboratoire National d’Hydraulique et Environnement (LNHE) de la division R&D d’EDF et le groupe de recherche Hydraulics in Environmental and Civil Engineering (HECE) de l’Université de Liège. Les travaux ont été conduits sur deux dispositifs expérimentaux distincts, chacun constitué d’un canal principal et d’une plaine d’inondation, séparés par une digue fluviale. Nous nous sommes focalisés sur les surverses localisées de digues homogènes non-cohésives. Une métrologie adaptée, incluant la mesure détaillée de l’évolution de la géométrie de la brèche en continu, par une technique non intrusive (profilométrie laser), a été développée et exploitée dans les travaux de cette thèse. Les tests, réalisés sous conditions contrôlées, ont permis d’investiguer l’évolution de la bèche et des débits sortants pour différentes conditions hydrauliques (débits d’entrée dansle canal principal, régulation du débit sortant en aval du canal principal, confinement de la plaine inondable). Les effets des dimensions du canal principal, de la taille des sédiments et de la cohésion apparente ou encore de la mobilité des fonds au pied de la digue ont fait également l’objet d’étude. En exploitant les mesures, l’évolution des écoulements au voisinage de la brèche a été simulée avec le code de calcul bidimensionnel TELEMAC-2D, permettant d’évaluer les performances de ce code pour des cas d’écoulements, en rupture de digue fluviale, hautement transitoires et complexes. Le couplage avec le code morpho dynamique 2-D SISYPHE a permis d’apprécier l’apport d’une modélisation hydro-morpho dynamique détaillée à l’étude des brèches dans les digues fluviales / Overtopping of fluvial dikes (dykes or embankment levees) can promote external erosion, leading to the initiation of breaching and potentially brutal dike failure and inundation of the protected area. This can generate major human, economic, and financial losses. Flood risk management and prevention require precise hazard quantification. Accurate estimate of the flow through the breach is paramount, for which a precise understanding of the breach formation and expansion is required. Existing methods are often the result of investigations conducted on overtopping of frontal dikes (embankment dams). The application of such approaches to fluvial dikes is not reliable and processes underpinning breach expansion are still under research. An innovative experimental program was conducted to fill this gap by investigating the physical processes involved in overtopping induced fluvial dike gradual breaching. Experiments were conducted in the framework of collaboration between the National Laboratory for Hydraulics and Environment (LNHE) of the R&D division of EDF and the research team Hydraulics in Environmental and Civil Engineering (HECE) of University of Liège. Experiments were conducted on two distinct experimental setups, each consisting of a main channel and floodplain area separated by an erodible fluvial dike. The focus was made on overtopping induced spatial erosion of homogenous, non-cohesive dikes. Measurements included continuous scanning of the dike geometry using a non-intrusive method (Laser Profilometry Technique), which was designed and developed specifically for the present works. Tests conducted under controlled flow and dike configurations allowed assessing the effects of channel inflow discharge, downstream channel regulation system, and floodplain confinement on the breach development and outflow. Effects of main channel size, dike material size, apparent cohesion, and bottom erodibility were studied as well. Using the experimental data, the flow features near the breach area was simulated using the two-dimensional depth-averaged hydrodynamic code TELEMAC-2D, which allowed assessing the performance of the code for highly transient and complex flows such as involved in dike breaching. Coupling TELEMAC-2D with the morphodynamic model SISYPHE enabled investigating the interest of a detailed hydro-morphodynamic modeling for fluvial dike breaching studies

Objective: This research intends to add to the understanding of the various factors that influence an employee’s intention to quit an organisation. Increasingly globalised markets and global competition have demanded that organisations retain scarce human resources. The moderating effect of an employees’ level of engagement on the relationship of an employees’ level of psychological contract breach and perceived supervisor support with the productivity outcome of the employees’ intention to quit the organisation is examined to deepen the understanding of the relevance and inter-relationships of these factors. Methodology: This quantitative explanatory study considered the level of an employees perceived supervisor support and psychological contract breach as the predictor of their intention to quit and their level of employee engagement as the moderator of the variable relationships. The study obtained 449 responses from the employees in the Johannesburg based business unit of a South African company. The Pearsons product moment correlation coefficients were observed to identify the extent of the relationships and a stepwise multiple regression analysis gave insight into which of the independent variables explained more of the variances in ITQ. Finally a two-way ANOVA was used to check for interaction to determine the moderating effect of EE. Outcome: The level of an employee’s engagement, perceived supervisor support and psychological contract breach were observed to have significant relationships with their intention to quit the organisation in this study. The level of employee engagement was not observed to significantly moderate the relationship of their perception of supervisor support and psychological contract breach with their intention to quit the organisation. This suggests that the relationship of an employees’ level of perceived super support and psychological contract breach on their intention to quit does not vary depending on their level of employee engagement. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / ccgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

The main focus of this thesis is the threshold beyond which compensation is payable for breach of a stabilisation clause. The discussion is based on the tax stability clauses contained in the mining development agreements unilaterally cancelled by the Government of the Republic of Zambia in early 2008. The outstanding characteristic feature of the tax stability clauses was government’s undertaking that it shall not, for the stability periods ranging between 10 to 20 years, introduce new fiscal measures resulting in a “material adverse effect” on the distributable profits of the mining companies or the dividends received by the shareholders of the companies. Government further undertook to ‘fully’ and ‘fairly’ compensate mining companies should such measures be introduced during the stability periods. The question investigated by the thesis is whether the fiscal measures introduced by government in early 2008, as amended in 2009, have resulted in a “material adverse effect” on the distributable profits of mining companies or the dividends received by the shareholders of the companies and, therefore, entitle mining companies to compensation from government. The main findings of the thesis, among others, are that: <ul> <li>The threshold beyond which the obligation to pay compensation is triggered varies considerably depending on the specific contractual formulation of the stabilisation clause involved. However, it is significantly lower than the threshold beyond which host States must pay compensation in regulatory taking cases.</li> <li>Although there are several international arbitral awards in which payment of compensation has been ordered for breach of a freezing stabilisation clause, there is no known similar award in cases involving breach of an economic equilibrium stabilisation clause.</li> <li>Even in cases in which compensation has been ordered for breach of a stabilisation clause, there is no evidence of how much the presence of a stabilisation clause contributes to the total quantum of the compensation awarded. The tribunals either take a "contractual perspective" or an "expropriation perspective" to arrive at their respective decisions on the quantum of compensation.</li> <li>International arbitral tribunals take into account any ‘excessive’ or ‘windfall profits’ made by investors in deciding the quantum of compensation payable to the investor for breach of a stabilisation clause.</li> <li>The tax stability clauses contained in the mining development agreements cancelled by the Zambian government are typical economic equilibrium stabilisation clauses.</li> </ul> Based on these findings, among others, the thesis has concluded that there are equal chances that the Zambian government may or may not be ordered to pay compensation to the aggrieved mining companies. Notwithstanding this conclusion, however, the thesis has noted that government’s unilateral cancellation of the mining development agreements has potential to negate the country’s investment image. Against this background, the recommendation of the thesis is that government and the aggrieved mining companies must engage in discussions with a view to reaching at an amicable solution to their standoff. The rationale behind the recommendation is that an amicable solution presents a perfect opportunity for both parties to come up with a decision that is mutually beneficial to their interests. Also it is less costly than international arbitration. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Until recently, research has been scarce in the field of physical modelling of dam breaching. Over the past few years, teams from the University of Ottawa, Canada, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, and HR Wallingford, United Kingdom have worked on several physical models to help determine how various dam breaching characteristics vary due to changes in dam geometry and geotechnical properties. The purpose of this project is to use these new experimental data sets to compare and validate the applicability range of two existing pieces of software, MIKE11-DB and BREACH developed by the Danish Hydraulic Institute and National Weather Service, respectively. Several breaching characteristics such as the outflow hydrograph, peak flow, lag time, breaching time, breach width, and water level are considered in the present study. A sensitivity analysis is also performed on the model’s main input parameters and their sensitivity and performance is ranked accordingly.

The Privacy Act of 1974 was designed to protect personal privacy captured in the records held by government agencies.  However, the scope of privacy protection has expanded in light of advances in technology, heightened security, ubiquitous threats, and the value of information. This environment has raised the expectations for public sector management of sensitive personal information and enhanced privacy protections.  While the expanse of privacy policy implementation is broad, this study focuses specifically on how agencies implement privacy impact assessments (PIAs) as required under Section 208 of the E-Government Act of 2002.  An enhanced understanding of the PIA implementation process serves as a portal into the strategic considerations and management challenges associated with broader privacy policy implementation efforts. A case study of how the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have implemented PIAs provides rich insights into privacy policy implementation and outcomes.  Elite interviews enriched by process data and document analysis show how each organization undertook different approaches to PIA implementation over time.  This study introduces the sociology of law literature using Lauren Edelman's conceptual framework to understand how organizations respond to and interpret law from within the organization, or endogenously.  Building upon Edelman's model, certain characteristics of the PIA implementation are analyzed to provide rich description of the factors that influence the implementation process and lead to different policy outcomes. The findings reflect valuable insights into the privacy policy implementation process and introduce the sociology of law literature to the field of public administration.  This literature furthers our understanding of how organizations enact policy over time, how the implementation process unfolds and is impacted by critical factors, and for identifying emergent patterns in organizations.  This study furthers our understanding how privacy policy, in particular, is implemented over time by examining the administrative capacities and levels of professionalism that are utilized to accomplish this effort.  This research comes at a critical time in the context of the emerging legal and political environment for privacy that is characterized by new expectations by the public and the expanding role of government to manage and protect sensitive information. / Ph. D.