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<p><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"> <p align="left">The purpose of this study was therefore to address the following primary research question: &lsquo / What effect would a specially designed, developed, implemented and evaluated Material Science (MS) course have on serving teachers in terms of their perceptions and knowledge/understanding regarding content in MS and instructional practice in D&amp / T?&rsquo / </p> </font></font></p>

<p><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"> <p align="left">The purpose of this study was therefore to address the following primary research question: &lsquo / What effect would a specially designed, developed, implemented and evaluated Material Science (MS) course have on serving teachers in terms of their perceptions and knowledge/understanding regarding content in MS and instructional practice in D&amp / T?&rsquo / </p> </font></font></p>

Originating from Silicon Valley in the early 1990s, high-technology-oriented entrepreneurs-turned-philanthropists have applied venture capital principles to philanthropy in order to address intractable social problems, coining the term venture philanthropy (VP). Evolving from an emergent to a pervasive model in Europe in the last two decades, the VP approach has been considered as an innovative alternative to the traditional philanthropy (TP) type of benevolence and cheque-writing (Anheier and Leat 2006). With increasing expectations, in the context of governmental hollowing-out of social services, debate seems to have become polarised. VP is criticised for not being a solution to changes in the social landscape and for its business approaches failing to address fundamental social issues (Sievers 2001; Anheier and Leat 2006; Shiller 2012) and so remaining simply a myth. This research explores the nature of VP based on the organisational perspectives of four funders in Scotland, with a focus on the engagement process. The new empirical data regarding the funding distribution process are gathered with the aim of answering the core questions: 'why give', 'what to give' and 'how to give'. A new operational framework for analysing funders is developed and is used to analyse processual trajectories mapping the convergence and divergence amongst the four funders, citing new evidence from Scotland. Case studies from the years 2011 to 2014 present four grant-giving modes respectively: 1) pure grant-giving but emerging to a business approach applied to funding distribution; 2) grant-giving but applying venture capital approaches (VP); 3) mixed grants and repayable business loans; and 4) repayable business loans. To map the feature of emergent trajectory, a new operational framework is proposed and utilised for analysis. Research findings suggest that a pattern of resource heterogeneity is emerging in the four funding models in response to isomorphic forces. While dealing with inward (governance) and outward (market and political) legitimacy forces, hero-entrepreneurs are shown in the four cases as the key driver to identify the need for change and drive change forward. Meanwhile, hero-entrepreneurship behaviour is associated with the setting of goals, shaping the rationale of the funding scheme, marshalling resources and aligning with partners to demonstrate value adding through the engagement process. The contribution of this research to the philanthropic field is threefold. Firstly, with regard to its theoretical contribution, the findings support conventional isomorphic change theory by arguing: a) that the agent-conduit-roles of funders are not determined by structure, but rather individual agents (hero-entrepreneurs) play a cementing role in the change process of initiating, leading, diffusing influence and levering power for social change; and b) that in their agent-conduit-roles funders act as an active but reflective intermediary, change taking place in the process of legitimacy and resource distribution through the cycle of change-model shaping; convening and conducting; reflecting, dismantling and reshaping. This contribution enhances and complements the discovery by Mair and Hehenberger (2014), which suggests TP and VP create shared space for negotiation, shared objectives and a reflective isomorphic process (Nicholls 2010a). Arguably, funders should strategically consider complex and plural elements of funding and integrating a competitive market and a cooperative rationale with emotional motives into a decision-making. Realisation of social objectives will ultimately be achieved through reflective isomorphic processes, adjusting the funding structure to fit social contexts with convergent resources alignment. Secondly, with regard to its empirical contribution, this research proposes a new typology of funders. Different from the typology proposed by Ostrower (2006), the new typology proposal is based on what the funding is for. The elements of the new typology are synthesised from why, how and what in action, i.e. grant-giving mode, engagement approach and level of risks. Thirdly, practical contributions emerging from the implications of the proposed framework, which are discussed in the concluding chapter, may improve the quality of decision-making in funding behaviour and may also help to shape modes of governance for social problem-solving.

Det kunskapssamhälle som råder idag medför att organisationer måste rusta sig och hålla ett högt tempo i den förändringsbenägna omvärlden. Kunskap och lärande ses däremellan som nyckelaktiviteter i relation till förändring vilket i sin tur föder innovation. Forskning har påvisat att småföretag förväntas bidra till en större del av näringslivets tillväxt, men att småföretagen samtidigt har behov av att höja sin innovationskapacitet för att möta utmaningen. Studien avsåg därför att utforska småföretag i extern samverkan för att se huruvida ett sådant kunskapsutbyte skapat förutsättningar för innovation hos den egna organisationen. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ forskningsmetodik undersöktes sex småföretagsledare som deltagit i det lärande nätverket, Tillväxtmotorn, via semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet påvisade att småföretag inte aktivt arbetade med att ta tillvara på kunskapsutbytet som framkommit från Tillväxtmotorn på grund av tidsbrist, en bristfällig strategisk ledning eller värdesättandet av kunskap och lärande. En modell skapades i riktning att ge småföretagsledare verktyg till att ta tillvara samt integrera kunskapsutbytet med den egna organisationen i större utsträckning och på så vis öka dess innovationskapacitet. / The knowledge society that currently exists demands that organizations must adequately equip themselves and be able to maintain a fast pace of learning and adaptation in the changing environment. Knowledge and learning are seen as key activities in relation to change, which in turn generates innovation. Research has shown that small businesses are expected to contribute to a larger percentage of economic growth, than previously, and that small businesses simultaneously have the need to raise their innovation capacity to meet these challenges. The study intended, therefore, to explore small businesses participation in external partnerships to see whether such an exchange of knowledge for innovation in the organization is effective. Using a qualitative research technique, six small business leaders who participated in the learning network were interviewed, using semi-structured questionnaires concerning the ”engine of growth”. The results demonstrated that small businesses are not proactively working to take advantage of the knowledge exchange that emerged from the growth engine due to a lack of time, inadequate strategic direction or their value planting of knowledge and learning. A model was created to provide small business leaders tools to utilize and integrate knowledge exchange with its own organization to a greater extent, thus increasing its capacity for innovation.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The purpose of this study was therefore to address the following primary research question: ‘What effect would a specially designed, developed, implemented and evaluated Material Science (MS) course have on serving teachers in terms of their perceptions and knowledge/understanding regarding content in MS and instructional practice in D&T?’

台商乃是兩岸政治經濟下，不同「身份資本」所孕育出來的特殊群體，特別是大陸特殊制度環境及大陸對台商制度規範下，所造成的高交易成本，使得台商為因應而運用下列三種方式 以降低交易成本：非制度化管道、制度化管道、抗衡促使制度變遷，進而參與制度創新的過程。 　　但在加入WTO之後，面對制度化及法制化的大陸制度環境變遷，台商應著重後二種的管道來降低大陸的高交易成本。 　　本文採用新制度經濟學中的交易成本理論來分析大陸對台商的制度規範及台商因應策略。 / Taiwanese investors are particular group who come from different “Capital of identity “ between Mainland China and Taiwan. Under high transaction cost caused by particular institution in China and China’s institutional regulation on Taiwanese investors, they have to take non-institutional way, institutional way and the way that they against current institution to improve institutional change and then join the procedure of institutional innovation in China. So, they can bring the transaction cost down. But after both sides have entered WTO and Taiwanese investors have to obey the regulation of WTO and they should put emphasis on latter two ways, that is institutional way and the way that they against current institution to improve institutional change and then join the procedure of institutional innovation in China to bring their transaction cost down. This dissertation analyzes the Taiwanese investors under Mainland China’s institutional regulation and their survival strategy in Transaction cost approach.