This research has been based on my experiences of London taxi drivers, both before I entered the London Taxi Industry, whilst studying to be a London taxi driver and during the thirty years I spent within the industry in a number of roles. My research has been undertaken in an inductive, broadly ideographic style. The study has been developed through initially narrating my experiences and observations in the industry and then analysing this account reflexively. The material that formed the basis of my narrative account was collected in an ethnographic style. In addition to my narrative account I also referenced the small amount of published material concerning the London taxi industry and interviewed a number of taxi drivers. A significant constraint was the lack of peer reviewed literature concerning taxi drivers and the taxi industry. Once I had developed my narrative account I then interpreted it in order to better understand the experiences and observations, the institutions and the people within the industry to understand and relate how they react and behave within their environment. The analysis involved deconstruction and interpretation against a framework of relevant literature to facilitate my understanding and assist sense making. I also interpreted the interactions with those outside of the taxi drivers' environment and analysed the persona that journalists and others have constructed that is meant to represent the London Taxi Driver. I considered the identity and characteristics implied by journalists with the prevailing culture and the identity that taxi drivers and the industry sought to portray. The qualification to become a taxi driver is known as the Knowledge of London. The Knowledge, as it is known in the industry, is recognised as an onerous task and has developed according to many in the industry into a rite of passage. I found that this process, with its rituals and arcane practices, which are accepted consensually by the industry, had a significant effect on the taxi drivers' identity and their status amongst non-taxi driver peers. Taxi driving is considered in working class circles to be at the upper end of a hierarchy of professional driving roles largely due to the achievement of passing the Knowledge of London together with the earning opportunity, perceived job security and flexibility afforded by being one's own boss. Knowledge of London students and taxi drivers appear to demonstrate common behavioural traits which I have explored in my research. London's taxi drivers appear to fear an assimilation of their role with other lower status driving roles and this fear has a significant effect on any attempts at change within the industry or within its institutions. The institutions within the industry provided much material for me to consider in the context of their alignment or clash with the culture of the industry. Changes in business processes and some of the institutions' relationships with their taxi driver stakeholders and the challenges to the industry's culture are considered as case studies within my reflexive account. The contribution to original knowledge is the insight into the culture and identity of London's Taxi Drivers, the behaviours and relationships within the industry both between drivers and the institutions that regulate, represent and benefit from the industry. Taxi drivers' responses to organisational and business process change. Further contributions to original knowledge are provided from the realisation that much of the structure developed within conventional organisations by management has developed organically without management intervention in the taxi industry. Many of the traits of life in offices and factories are likewise present in the London Taxi Industry despite the disparate and virtual nature of the industry and its reliance on consensual adoption of rules and practice rather than managerial influence and formal processes and procedures.

This project seeks new forms of housing production that answer to the disappearance of the welfare state and provides structures for self-organization. It stretches the limits of the housing policies and explores new flexible design solutions. It addresses social and economical adaptability where both the city and the dwellers have responsibility for the process and development of new housing. The adaptable city is a city where dwellers co-create their housing environment.

This study of the dance experiences of related men and boys pursues overlapping and related research goals. It is an investigation about reflective teaching practice in the process of developing an emergent curriculum for this multi-generational group of men and boys. It is an investigation about the communicative moments between participants through which members expressed their pedagogical regard for each other, their needs, desires and their dance learning. And it is an investigation about this group of men and boys as an example of aesthetic community, a community engaged in expressing and mediating individual style and dispositions through a group process and resulting in deeply shared aesthetic meanings and group style. Fourteen participants in six family groups danced together on seven Saturdays in a small community north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Participants ranged in age from five-years old to more than forty-five years old. Dance curriculum was designed in reference to the teacher's knowledge and experience of creative movement for primary aged children, and in reference to the teacher's dance performance and choreographic experiences and experiences of parenting. Based on detailed transcriptions of two-camera video documentation of the seven sessions, a narrative analysis thickly describes significant movements of participants, before, during and after the sessions, as well as interactions and participants' utterances. Post-session captioned drawings are discussed in detail following each session. Major findings are then presented as related to three research goals: reflective practice for emergent curriculum design, intersubjectivity as it occurred in this example of inter-generational dance education and an examination of this group of learners as an example of aesthetic community. Findings are discussed in relation to relevant literature and recommendations posed for further research. / Dance

The current communicative planning paradigm appears to lack the ability to include the voices of the voiceless and is stuck in practices that continue to confirm the status-quo through technocratic quick fixes, which do not solve underlying problems causing climate change. This thesis is an exploration of how two unconventional methods, storytelling and co-created speculative design, can contribute to a change in paradigm, specifically improve the inclusiveness of coproduction, where nonhumans are involved in the decision-making processes. This thesis takes the reader on a journey through the embodiment of water in Slussen, by an analysis of semi-structured interviews and a critical discourse, a story from the perspective of water with the title Suorssá, and two alternative designs of Slussen if water were in charge. The applied lense in this thesis is a combination of Latour’s perspective on actants, Bell’s studies of the future, storytelling, critical utopianism, and ecocentrism. The methods and lense are embedded in a case study of water in Slussen, which is a major urban development in Sweden where water plays a considerable role. Through this journey an alternative perspective is attempted to be shared with the participants and an increasing openness towards ecocentrism, where all organisms on the planet have an intrinsic value irrespective of humans, is created. The results suggest that a truly inclusive planning paradigm, especially for megaprojects like Slussen, seems to be a utopian thought. Nonetheless, storytelling and co-created speculative designs turn out to be an effective step towards realizing this vision.

Dans notre travail de recherche en psychologie clinique et psychopathologie, nous interrogeons le démantèlement dans la pathologie autistique chez les enfants. Nous questionnons le phénomène, le processus, le mécanisme de défense et la fonction du démantèlement, puis, la stratégie thérapeutique et ses effets consensualisateurs, le remantèlement. Le dispositif utilisé pour mettre en évidence la modélisation du démantèlement dans l’autisme, est un dispositif longitudinal filmé de psychothérapie d’inspiration psychanalytique en séance individuelle en cabinet privé avec trois enfants autistes. La relation transféro contre-transférentielle permet la relance de la construction d’espace pré-transitionnel. L’articulation de la psyché de l’enfant autiste à celle du thérapeute permet la construction d’une relation d’objet primaire. Le passage par la sensorialité de l’enfant autiste et le corps du thérapeute permet de transformer les pictogrammes, les idéogrammes omniprésents, traces originelles non élaborées, en un mot la représentation de chose, vers une possible représentation de mot. Ainsi, la modélisation métapsychologique du mécanisme de défense de démantèlement est construite sur le modèle Freudien, topique, économique et dynamique. / N our research in clinical psychology and psychopathology, we question the dismantling in autistic disorder in children. We question the phenomenon, the process, the defense mechanism and function of dismantling and the therapeutic strategy and its consensualisating effects, remantèlement. The device used to highlight the modeling of dismantling in autism is a longitudinal filmed device psychoanalytic psychotherapy in individual sessions in private practice with three autistic children. The transference counter-transference relationships help in building pretransitional psychics spaces. The articulation of the autistic child’s psyche into the therapist’s psyche built a primary object-relation. The passage by the autistic child senses and the the therapist’s body contact can turn pictograms, ideograms ubiquitous, unprocessed original traces, in a word, thing representation, into a possible, word representation. Thus, the metapsychological model of the defense mechanism of dismantling is built on the Freudian model, topical, economic and dynamic.

Chronic headache may be the most frequently reported somatic symptom, yet it puzzles health experts and poses a considerable treatment challenge. It was suggested that this is because conventional views of headache, adhering to a Newtonian-Cartesian epistemology, focus almost exclusively on intrapsychic factors ignoring the wider social context in which the problem is embedded. An overview of the existing body of knowledge on the most widely researched headache conditions was presented, and it was argued that a conceptual shift is required to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the problem. This study was conducted within an holistic, ecosystemic epistemology. A qualitative approach employing a case study method was adopted to provide rich descriptions of the contexts in which two chronic headache sufferers' symptoms were embedded. The case study presentations also illustrated the attempts that were made to intervene into the headache contexts from a second-order cybernetics stance. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Chronic headache may be the most frequently reported somatic symptom, yet it puzzles health experts and poses a considerable treatment challenge. It was suggested that this is because conventional views of headache, adhering to a Newtonian-Cartesian epistemology, focus almost exclusively on intrapsychic factors ignoring the wider social context in which the problem is embedded. An overview of the existing body of knowledge on the most widely researched headache conditions was presented, and it was argued that a conceptual shift is required to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the problem. This study was conducted within an holistic, ecosystemic epistemology. A qualitative approach employing a case study method was adopted to provide rich descriptions of the contexts in which two chronic headache sufferers' symptoms were embedded. The case study presentations also illustrated the attempts that were made to intervene into the headache contexts from a second-order cybernetics stance. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Like death, the defining human reality underlying our relationships and views of life's meaning, the experiences and activities of undertakers, remains an uncommon subject for psychological research. Existential anxiety roots a society-wide denial of the fundamental nature of death. which necessitates the development of institutions to take responsibility for the dying and dead. As the image and service of the stigmatised funeral industry improves, society's experience of death should become more meaningful. The overview of the research into these topics noted the need for further studies. Within a holistic, ecosystemic epistemology, this study adopted a qualitative approach and case study method, which provided descriptions of the ecology, contexts, and relationships characteristic .of the undertaker's vocation by focussing on patterned expressions of views and attitudes. The aim was to gain insight into the undertaker's experience of the many faces of death, with a genuine interest and deep respect for their world. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Bakgrund/problem: Då svensk matproduktion länge varit dominerad av massproduktion och förädlade livsmedel, pekar nu trenden mot att allt fler intresserar sig för lokalproducerad mat. Detta innebär en möjlighet för lokalproducenter att sälja och marknadsföra sina varor i en större omfattning jämfört med tidigare. För att detta skall realiseras visar forskning att det krävs samarbete aktörerna emellan för att maximera värdet. Dock är forskningen begränsad i att förklara hur dessa samarbeten bör utformas. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka om en brandingmöjlighet skulle kunna ge upphov till ett horisontellt värdeskapande och vilka dimensioner som i så fall skulle vara kritiska i en affärsmodell för att möjliggöra denna typ av värdeskapande. Metod: Vätterns nutida förutsättningar för framtida matsamarbeten har formats som en fallstudie där kvalitativt arbetssätt använts för att samla empiriskt material. Resultatet bygger på en kombination av långa och korta intervjuer där respondenter från tre olika infallsvinklar hörts. Dessa tre infallsvinklar; samordning, aktör och marknadsföring har valts för att kunna få en holistisk syn på den angivna problematiken. Resultat/Bidrag: Resultatet av studien påvisar att en identifierad brandingmöjlighet via identitetsbyggande faktorer kan bygga ett starkt varumärke, vilket kan ligga till grund för ett horisontellt värdeskapande. För att det horisontella värdeskapandet i slutändan ska möjliggöras kräver affärsmodellen fyra kritiska dimensioner (balans av aktörer, finansiell och mobiliserande kraft, tillfredsställande ledning samt nätverkande). / Background/problem: For a long time the food industry has been dominated by mass production and refined food, though times are changing and more people are getting interested in locally produced food. This enables great possibilities for local food producers, which give them great opportunities to sell and market their goods, but it requires them to cooperate with each other. The present research is rather limited on how to create these types of cooperation in the food industry. Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to examine if a branding opportunity can enable horizontal value co-creation and which dimensions that will be critical in a business model in order to enable that type of value co-creation. Method: A case study has been formed based upon the present conditions of Vättern to enable a food based cooperation, where qualitative methods have been used to collect data. The result is based upon a combination of in-depth and shorter interviews where the respondents represent three approaches; coordinator, stakeholder and marketing. These approaches were chosen in order to enable a holistic perspective on the problem area. Results/contribution: The study shows that a branding opportunity can result in a strong brand, which can build a foundation for horizontal value co-creation. In order to enable horizontal value cocreation, the business model requires four critical dimensions, (operators in balance, financial- and mobilizing muscle, a satisfying management and lastly, networking), which are identified in this study.

本研究依循Web 2.0內容平台的研究成果，探討在科技快速變遷之下，網路新創事業如何尋找創意靈感的源頭活水？如何以精實創業模式，節省時間與資源的浪費，透過社群經營找到商業模式創新的可能性，在競爭激烈的網路產業紅海中，快速搶占市場先機脫穎而出？ 首先，本研究針對過去許多學者在網路企業、虛擬社群、商業模式及精實創業等各理論的發展進行探討說明，接著以Eric Ries（2011）的精實創業理論與Steve Blank（2013）的精實創業三原則為研究主軸，融合Wheelwright and Clark（1994）的Design-build-test Cycle之Design Phase、Hagel Ш and Arthur G. Armstrong（1997）建立臨界數量會員的三大挑戰、Gary Hamel（2000）的事業經營模式，成為本研究分析架構的基礎。本研究採取探索性個案研究法，選取iCook愛料理及iPeen愛評網兩個企業個案，進行半結構式訪談，深入了解網路新創事業的起源、理念、發展與作法。 透過分析比較企業個案與文獻理論探討，本研究之發現如下： 一、新創事業的創意靈感來源，來自於對使用者的深入觀察及國外成功案例的啟發。創新商業模式的作法須以「企業價值主張」及「目標客群鎖定」為中心，透過「減法」方式建構最小可行方案，並融合國外創新成功因子及台灣在地文化，提升創新事業的新穎性及適地性。 二、建構虛擬社群的方式，須回歸於「產品功能介面」與「顧客使用經驗」的不斷優化，輔以知名品牌或關鍵人物的口碑宣傳，加速擴散行銷，並善用內容資產及消費者心理分析，加強產品的功能服務及客製化使用程度，以提升顧客對企業品牌的忠誠度。 三、以敏捷開發法創新商業模式，須由草根模式發展核心策略，適時參考顧客的回饋意見，不斷輸入外部知識以避免團隊核心僵化，進而加速產品開發週期循環，並藉由價值網絡的策略聯盟，累積企業的知名度與顧客流量，最後能以自身品牌資產主動創造合作網絡的價值。 最後依據結論提出網路新創事業在經營管理方面的建議，如下所述： 一、深度經營垂直性社群，輔以口碑行銷擴散社群廣度。 二、跨領域整合硬體、軟體、內容、服務各方優勢，創新商業模式的應用。 三、精實創業的過程，講求階段性開發的速度而非精準度，因此團隊成員的專業核心能力為成功的關鍵要素所在，配合顧客回饋意見及創新審核法的檢視，以薄創新的開發方式搶占市場先機。 / Based on the study results of Web2.0, this research attempted to explore how internet new businesses seek for inspiration in the era of rapid advancement of technologies? How can they discover the possibilities of inventing a new business model by taking community as the business center and seize the market in such a competitive network industries by employing the lean startup model to make good use of time and avoid wasting resources? First of all, this research aims at discussing the development of theories of internet enterprises, virtual communities, business models and the lean startup models put forward by scholars. Next, the basic structure of this research is formed by centering on The Lean Startup Model Theory (Eric Ries, 2011) and Three Principles of The Learn Startup Model (Steve Blank, 2013), and further integrates Design-build-test Cycle(Wheelwright and Clark, 1994), Three Challenges of Developing Critical Mass(Hagel Ш and Arthur G. Armstrong, 199) and Business Model Theory(Gary Hamel, 2000). This research adopted an exploratory case study method, where data was collected through semi-structured interviews with two enterprises—iCook and iPeen, to analyze and understand the origin, concepts, development and measures of innovative business network. After this study compared the analysis of the case study of the enterprises and reviewed literatures, the findings of this research are as follows. First, the inspiration of innovative businesses stem from closely studying targeted users and successful cases from overseas. Innovative business models should be “value-proposition-oriented” and “targeting-customer-oriented”, employ “subtraction” to develop a feasible plan and fuse successful elements of abroad cases and Taiwan culture into innovative business models to enhance the novelty and localization of innovative businesses. Second, the methods of establishing virtual communities should put emphasis on ceaselessly optimizing “product function interface” and “customer’s using experience”, cooperate with well-known brands or key men to promote products and marketing, make good use of content assets and customer psychology analyses, and intensify product function services and customization utilities to increase customer loyalty in business brands. Third, agile-development-based innovation business models should center A Grass Roots Model of Strategy Formation to develop core strategies, take customers’ feedback into consideration, and constantly instill external knowledge to avoid core rigidities to further accelerate product development cycle; through value network of strategic alliance, the enterprises accumulate corporate recognition and customer flow. Eventually ebterprises can establish their own brands to actively create the value of cooperative network. Finally, based on the conclusions, this research proposed three suggestions of management for the internet new business as below. First, deeply engage with vertical community and cooperate with word of mouth marketing to extent the span of community. Second, to integrate hardware, software, content and service interdisciplinarily in order to innovate the application of business model. Third, the process of The Lean Startup emphasized on the speed of phased development rather than accuracy. Therefore, the key success element is the professional skills of the entrepreneurial team members, with customer’s feedback and innovation accounting method of viewing the business in order to accelerate the development of innovation to seize market opportunities.