Title: Marketing mix of Czech Taekwon-Do ITF Federation Objectives: Main objective of this diploma thesis was an analysis of marketing mix of the Czech Taekwon-Do ITF federation and making of suggestions for its improvement. Partial goals were aimed at analysis and description of the organization and of the environment in which this organization exists. Methods: Qualitative marketing research method has been selected to meet purpose of this thesis. Methods of case study and in-depth interview have been used also together with SWOT analysis. Results: Outcome of this thesis consists of a draft with suggestions for optimization of marketing mix. Foremost these improvements have been suggested: changes in promotion, utilization of sponsors and also update of some product items and prices. Key words: Marketing mix, Taekwon-Do, case study

The current system of credit ratings is full of conceptual and administrative flaws with highly rated companies defaulting in the short term. This has led regulators, investors, companies and researchers aiming to improve the system. This thesis details the study of this aim to improve the existing credit ratings system through a conceptual perspective, as well as developing it into a more comprehensive and overarching new corporate ratings methodology. In doing so, organisational performance appeared to be an apparent solution, to be considered as the main basis on which to derive new ratings for a company. However organisational performance has its own conceptual disagreements between managers and researchers concerning the dimensions to be measured for overall organisational performance. Therefore, this study attempted two tasks: to establish a link between ratings and organisational performance, and to identify what should be measured for overall organisational performance. This resulted in the development of new corporate ratings methodology based upon the overall organisational performance measurement in case of publicly traded companies. A mixed methods research strategy combined with a qualitative analyses of 10 selected company cases and 24 interviews; and quantitative analyses of the performance of 128 publicly traded companies from the UK, the USA and the India stock exchanges in 4 manufacturing and 3 service industries was adopted in the development, testing and application of ‘new company ratings’ and ‘overall organisational performance measurement’ propositions. Secondary data was obtained from companies’ annual reports, sustainability reports, social responsibility reports, performance reports available from companies’ official websites; and company profiles generated by trade analyst companies such as Bloomberg and Morningstar. Primary data was collected from company managers, industry experts, trade analysts and investors through telephonic or face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Company reports and interview transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. A metaphor was applied to understand and to derive the concept of overall organisational performance measurement in terms of stability, resilience and sustainability. A secondary data survey of 128 companies was conducted to test three hypotheses of organisational performance (OP) based ratings, stability – resilience – sustainability as main dimensions of OP, and the application of an overall OP score to derive new corporate ratings. Performance data for 54 dimensions for 128 companies was collected and analysed, applying reliability analysis, principal components analysis, multiple discriminant analysis and non-parametric independent sample tests of Mann-Whitney U and Kruksal-Wallis. All hypotheses were accepted proving the concept and model based on statistical and subjective significance. Findings suggest there is a strong link between corporate ratings and organisational performance (OP), and OP measurement could be utilised to provide improved and overarching new corporate ratings as compared to existing credit ratings. A significant difference was found to exist between new corporate ratings and existing credit ratings, with new corporate ratings having a better predictive accuracy of company performance over a three years duration. Sustainability was found to contribute more towards measurement of organisational performance as compared to the traditional dimension of stability, comprising financial and operational performance. Very high reliability and principal component scores for sustainability proved that organisational effectiveness can be measured as one of the contributing dimensions to overall organisational performance. Other findings suggest that there is a clear divide between researchers studying OP as a variable and developing a framework in which to measure it. Overall OP can be measured by applying the conceptual lenses of stability, sustainability and resilience, comprising various sub-dimensions. Major and novel contributions of this research are: a new approach in providing corporate ratings based upon overall organisational performance, and a new concept of measuring overall organisational performance in terms of stability, resilience and sustainability.

New Orleans has had a consistently high homicide rate for around twenty years, but limited research has committed to discovering a successful solution to the pre- and post-Katrina crime problem. Prior research has been conducted to analyze whether the Southern “culture of violence,” poverty, income inequality, unemployment, gun ownership and legislation, gangs, and residential segregation affect homicide, but no study applies these factors to New Orleans. Using a case study analysis that applies these variables studied in prior research to New Orleans and information acquired from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports, correlations are made between homicide in New Orleans and poverty, income inequality, and residential segregation. Implications show that homicide is affected by multiple factors. All of these factors should be analyzed when homicide is the focus of the research because homicide is not a result of one or two variables.

Latino students often embark on their post-secondary educational journey at a community college due to cost, proximity to family, and open access policies. The current literature on Latina/o community college students has primarily focused on a deficit view of the educational aspirations and educational completion of this population. The current rapid and expected growth of the Latina/o population requires a call to action to identify the capital and supports employed by these students to navigate their journey to eventual transfer to the University in the Southwest region of the United States. Guided by Yosso's (2005) Community Cultural Wealth framework, my dissertation examined the educational experiences of five Latino male students at a Southwest Community College. Latina/o students highlighted the challenges that they encountered, resources available to overcome these challenges, and their resiliency. The findings are indicative of the presence and utilization of aspirational, navigational and resilience capital driven by self-determination.

Student Number : 0311118P - MA research report - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Arts / Land reform in Southern Africa has attracted a lot of attention from sovereign third world government and those of developed countries. This followed the invasion of commercial farms in Zimbabwe and has a bearing on Zimbabwe’s neighbours especially Namibia and South Africa. This paper examines why governments at times adhere to land reform within the rule of law and at times does not, resulting in strained donor-government relations. A comparison of government-donor relations in Zimbabwe and Namibia is explored. The crux of the argument is that land reform is damaging when the rule of law is flouted by governments. Strained relations are a result of ineffective agencies of restraint, lack of commitment by the governments, external donors and white commercial farmers to correct land injustices that came into existence as a result of settler colonialism.

ABSTRACT This research is a Qualitative Case Study which investigates the electronic literacy practices of one English teacher and two Grade 10 English classes in a Muslim High school outside of Johannesburg. This study seeks to find out what the forms of electronic literacy used in the classroom are and for what purposes these are used. It is also aimed at investigating how the students in the English classroom engage with these forms of electronic literacies and whether or not gender plays a role in their engagement. This study draws on work in New Literacy Studies, particularly theories of literacy as social practice, Multiliteracies and multimodality as well as current research in the field of electronic literacy. Although there have been numerous studies in the fields of electronic literacy and digital literacy in developed contexts like the United Kingdom and Australia, there is a paucity of research in South Africa in the field and particularly in the area of electronic literacy in the English classroom. The main sources of data were: classroom observations from which field notes were created and group interviews with the students as well as an interview with the English teacher. The findings of this study reveal that being electronically literate in the English classroom means having access to sophisticated forms of technology not only inside the classroom but also outside as well as having a certain degree of fluency around computer use. The forms of electronic literacy used by the English teacher and the purposes for which they were used demonstrate his pedagogy in English and the social forces that shape the production of this pedagogy. The research shows an expansion of the teacher’s role in the English classroom as he is no longer only ‘a mediator of learning’ but a mediator of technology. The status of the text has also changed as the ‘disappearance’ of print-based texts from the classroom was noted with the foregrounding of visual texts and hypertexts. It was found that the students on the whole were engaged with the technology used in the classroom and expressed a preference for its integration into their lessons as opposed to the traditional ‘reading and writing’ practices. Additionally, students’ engagement did not vary according to gender.

A pesquisa centra-se no estudo do gerenciamento de impressões no mercado empresarial brasileiro, analisando a relação entre gestores e investidores da empresa, com base na teoria da atribuição. A teoria da atribuição explica que a pessoa, em um ambiente de interação com outras, costuma associar fato positivos a si mesmo e evitar os negativos, garantindo que sua imagem não seja arranhada. Para observar o fenômeno o trabalho adaptou a pesquisa de metodológica de Brennan et al (2009), que desenvolveu uma estrutura para identificar indícios de gerenciamento de impressões em narrativas textuais. Como instrumento de pesquisa foi selecionada um estudo de caso da empresa Petrobras, durante o exercício de 2014, analisando dados secundários da organização. A pesquisa é qualitativa e interpretativa, procurando observar o gerenciamento de impressões considerando o contexto de mercado inserido a Petrobras. Os resultados apresentaram indícios de gerenciamento nos documentos analisados corroborando com as explicações apresentadas pela teoria da atribuição. A pesquisa contribui para os estudos da qualidade das informações, ressaltando como o processo de gerenciamento de impressões pode ser realizado / The research focuses on the impression management in the Brazilian business market, analyzing the relationship between managers and investors of the company, based on the attribution theory. The theory of attribution explains that the person, in an environment of interaction with others, usually associates positive fact with himself and avoid negative ones, ensuring that his image is not impaired. To observe the phenomenon the work adapted the methodological research of Brennan et al (2009), who developed a structure to identify indications of impression management in textual narratives. As a research tool, a case study of the Petrobras company was selected, during the 2014 fiscal year, analyzing secondary data of the organization. The research is qualitative and interpretive, seeking to observe the management of impressions considering the market context inserted in Petrobras. The results presented management evidence in the documents analyzed, corroborating the explanations presented by the attribution theory. The research contributes to the studies of information quality, highlighting how the process of managing impressions can be realized

No description available.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate how companies address sustainability holistically and compare the practical results to theoretical findings. The holistic approach of sustainability includes four dimensions and five corporate system elements.   Methods: For creating the theoretical framework a literature review was executed. Empirical data was gathered from a multiple case study. In total five case companies have been selected and five interviews have been conducted. Furthermore the interview guideline included a small survey. Empirical data was complemented by information from sustainability reports and companies website.   Main findings: Sustainability is partly executed in differently in practical terms compared to theory research. The differences are mainly explained by the unique use of sustainability initiatives, which are adapted to companies circumstances.   Academic contributions: Previously, only a few researchers investigated the combination of initiatives to provide a holistic sustainability approach. Furthermore a lack of practical research in the field of sustainability has been identified. This thesis contributes to close this gap by investigating five case companies regarding the use of multiple initiatives.   Practical implications: Based on the findings a model was created by the authors. By applying this model and using recommended initiatives companies are able to establish a holistic sustainability approach, involving all sustainability dimensions and corporate system elements.   Limitations: The interviews have been translated from German or Dutch into English, which increases the risk of wrong interpretations. Further the interview involved only one representative per company. Additionally the number of small case study companies and case companies from the service sector might limit the generalization of the results.

Thesis advisor: David Karp / This project focuses on a case study of a woman with the rare autoimmune disease Scleroderma. It is supplemented with data from in-person interviews and online support groups. The study explores the way a chronic illness (particularly, Scleroderma) impacts elements of identity. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.