Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Survivors of sexual assault make difficult privacy management decisions regarding their experiences, particularly in romantic relationships where physical intimacy makes these sensitive disclosures even more complex. As fever is an indicator of illness and a part of healing from the illness, disclosure can be an indicator of underlying disturbance and a part of the restorative process. Additionally, communication privacy management (CPM) theory considers ownership, control, and turbulence to illustrate how private information is regulated. Through qualitative, semi-structured interviews (n=19) and a phronetic iterative approach to data analysis, I examined the ways survivors of sexual assault managed their private information regarding their experiences in a romantic relationship and if disclosure relieved any psychological distress of the survivor. Results of this study offer insight into the ways participants controlled their personal information through the privacy management process; the establishment of boundaries surrounding ongoing disclosures; and the emotional effect of various privacy management strategies on participants, their partners, and the relationship. Reaching across theoretical concepts, this research offers a comprehensive understanding of the factors salient when managing private information regarding sexual assault. This research also provides practical applications for considering the influence of various privacy management approaches and their influence on the physical and psychological health of the survivor and the health of the relationship.

No description available.

Thesis (M.IC.)--Unitec New Zealand, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-81).

The purposes of this study were to examine the oral communication skills considered important to specific companies, identify the objectives emphasized in the business and professional communication courses in Texas colleges and universities, ascertain how much course time is spent in various areas, and determine the communication needs of business and industry and the degree to which the communication departments of Texas colleges and universities are meeting those needs.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Masters Degree of Technology: Public Relations Management, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / This research emerges within the context of changes that occurred in the public sector post apartheid, which meant invariable changes within the organisation’s structure and processes. More specifically, it brought with it a changing role of communication in managing change. With communication being the lifeblood and binding element within an organisation, having effective and efficient communication within the organisation can therefore assist in keeping the various parts of an organisation together, making it easier for the organisation to maintain itself during change. This study locates Senior Communication Officers within Thusong Service Centres in the GCIS and investigates the role communication plays in managing change within the organisation. The study critically examines Lundwig Von Bertalanffy’s (1968) Systems Theory in understanding the interrelatedness of a system such as the GCIS and the role organisational communication channels play in maintaining the process of change. Furthermore, this study analyses the influence of the Chaos Theory within the concept of managing change and the flow of communication within an organisation. This study suggests ways in which Senior Communication Officers can play a vital role in managing change by analysing the underlying principles and concepts of the Chaos Theory and incorporating them within the role of communication during the change process.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sustainable development, defined as "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" is the focus of the research project. The main objectives of the study were firstly to identify the key issues for business around sustainable development for businesses, and secondly to propose a method for communicating these issues to business leaders based on their personality types. A literature study was conducted of the two relevant fields, namely sustainable development and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality type framework. From the first part of the study the findings indicated the recurring themes for sustainable development from a business perspective, which are firstly that businesses have no choice but to take cognisance of sustainable development, secondly that sustainable development makes business sense, thirdly that sustainable development is relevant for all types of business, fourthly that sustainable development requires innovative thinking and lastly that the pressure on business to conduct their operations according to sustainability principles will increase in future. According to the literature study on personality types and communication, MBTI distinguishes between sixteen personality types, based on four dimensions with two extremes each. One of the dimensions defines how people most effectively absorb information. Some people prefer a big picture, conceptual approach. Other people prefer details, facts and figures. The content of the communication should be guided accordingly. The other three dimensions of the MBTI personality definition inform decisions about the setting, communication media and interaction during communication. Relevance of the information and credibility of the sources is important in communication about an important topic, regardless of personality type. Recommendations are firstly that the personality-based approach for presenting the key issues regarding sustainable development to business leaders be used by practitioners in the field and academics, and secondly that the impact should be tested. The testing is a possible topic for another study project. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Volhouhare ontwikkeling, gedefinieer as "Ontwikkeling wat bestaande behoeftes aanspreek sonder om die vermoe van toekomstige geslagte te benadeel om hulle behoeftes aan te spreek", is die fokus van die werkstuk. Die belangrikste doelwitte van die studie was om eerstens die belangrikste kwessies rakende volhouhare ontwikkeling vanuit 'n besigheidsperspektief te identifiseer, en tweedens 'n manier voor te stel om hierdie kwessies aan te bied aan besigheidsleiers gebaseer op persoonlikheidstipes. 'n Literatuurstudie is gedoen van beide relevante velde, naamlik volhoubare ontwikkeling en die Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) raamwerk vir persoonlikheidstipes. Bevindings uit die eerste gedeelte van die studie het aangetoon dat die deurlopende temas rakende volhoubare ontwikkeling vanuit 'n besigheidsperspektief die volgende is: eerstens het besighede geen ander keuse as om kennis te neem van volhoubare ontwikkeling nie, tweedens dat volhoubare ontwikkeling voordelig vir besigheid is, derdens dat volhoubare ontwikkeling relevant is vir alle tipes besighede, vierdens dat volhoubare ontwikkeling innovasie vereis en laastens dat die druk op besighede in die toekoms gaan toeneem om volhoubare besigheid te bedryf. Uit die literatuurstudie oor persoonlikheidstipes en kommunikasie blyk dat MBTI onderskei tussen sestien persoonlikheidstipes, gebaseer op vier dimensies met twee ekstreme elk. Een van die dimensies definieer hoe mense inligting effektief inneem. Sommige mense verkies 'n konsepsuele, algemene benadering. Andere verkies detail, feite en syfers. Die inhoud van die kommunikasie moet dienooreenkomstig aangepas word. Die ander drie dimensies van die MBTI persoonlikheid definisie het 'n invloed op die omgewing, die kommunikasiemedia en die interaksie tydens kommunikasie. Relevansie van die inligting en betroubaarheid van die bronne is belangrik vir kommunikasie oor 'n belangrike onderwerp ongeag die persoonlikheidstipe. Aanbevelings is eerstens dat die persoonlikheidstipe benadering vir die aanbied van belangrike kwessies rakende volhoubare ontwikkeling aan besigheidsleiers gebruik word deur persone wat in die veld werk asook akademici of kursusaanbieders wat gehore toespreek daaroor. 'n Tweede aanbeveling is dat die impak van die benadering getoets word. Die toetsing is 'n moontlike onderwerp vir 'n ander werkstuk.

This study examines citizens awareness and usage of government e-services. Governments use Web-based Internet applications to enhance their citizens access to government services. However, in a case study in Brunei Darussalam, it was found that the government s initiative in providing e-services in last few years has not been as successful as it could have been as the services have not been citizen-centric. This was due to the availability of e-services being unknown amongst the citizens and that a silo-based approach existed for each government ministry. One notable finding was that although the ICT literacy of Brunei citizens has rapidly improved, this has not been reflected in the citizens interaction with government. There are several challenges for citizens awareness and use of government e-services that occur on e-government initiatives. Failure in managing such problems, results in a high probability of these services becoming a white elephant , with inefficiency, wastefulness and cost overruns on e-government projects. E-government management agencies still do not have an organized citizens awareness strategy approach to managing knowledge in e-government initiatives. The proposed Government e Services Citizens Awareness Strategy (GeS-CAS) framework, incorporating communication, management and education strategies, can effectively be used to enable e-government agencies to deal with e-government projects problems and risks in an organised and efficient way. It is concluded that e-government initiatives management can be improved if the knowledge dimensions of the problems are well understood and are conveyed to the right people, at the right time and the right place, and are appropriately managed. This research has developed an integrated citizens awareness strategy Knowledge Management framework that provides a structured approach to achieving this which is easy to understand and put in to practice by e-government agencies, and can be used to solve citizen awareness problems, explore opportunities and make decisions.

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Science in Construction Project Management

Managers spend 75-80% of their time communicating interpersonally. Ironically, communication skills are consistently listed as a major weakness of today's managers. Furthermore, management theorists contend that management students have been mis-educated for the job of managing. This study focuses on the relationship between attitudes toward communication and managerial success. Communication attitude was measured by Hart, Carlson and Eadie's RHETSEN Scale. Success was measured as promotions in relation to years worked and salary in relation to age. The hypothesis was that the Rhetorically Sensitive manager will be most successful. Two three-way analyses of variance were performed to assess this relationship. The results indicated no significant difference in success level for the Rhetorically Sensitive manager. The exploratory research suggested several directions for future research. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are noted.

Mega construction projects are complex undertakings. The complexity is increased during a construction boom in a city such as Dubai where more than 80% of material and labour resources are imported. The complexities inherent in mega construction projects include uncertainty and interdependencies, which affect project management performance at the operational level where most of the problems occur. Understanding these processes, how they interrelate and how to overcome the complexities is crucial for increasing the chances of project management success. This research contributed to construction project management theory and practice by using a highly inductive exploratory qualitative approach for capturing formal and informal processes in mega construction projects in Dubai. A dynamic model depicting the complementary formal and informal processes is developed showing formal and informal processes and how they interrelate to reduce complexity. Guidelines on how and when to use specific processes are provided as a framework for the model. This framework may be used to help develop communication processes in future complex projects to increase chances of project management success. The research was conducted by exploring two case study projects fitting the characteristics of mega construction projects. Both case study projects were of values above 1.5 Billion US Dollars and were similar in scope with elements including amusement parks, retail areas, hotels, extensive infrastructure and large landscape areas. Both case study projects were of an experimental character, considered an engineering achievement, complex, and thereby, difficult to control. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 83 project staff from both case study projects. Rich picture diagrams of the organization and processes were made from data collected during the interviews and case study project documents. The analysis was performed in three phases where the results from each phase were built upon cumulatively. The first phase examined what the most crucial critical success factors (CSFs) were in the case study projects. These were revealed to be communication, top management support and effective change management. In the second phase each CSF was analyzed where it was found it that the majority of important communication modes were informal and were was most effective in reducing complexity. Furthermore, it was found that the characteristics of the client were crucial in both case study projects. The third phase involved development of the dynamic hybrid model from the rich picture diagrams created showing the interplay between formal and informal processes. It was found that informal processes are ad-hoc and chaotic in nature and controlled by individuals in the project. Development of guidelines for the positive use of informal processes was required. From the analysis it was found that the characteristics of client staff and individuals in the case study projects provided the main guidelines for effective use of the hybrid model. The research provides insights into the formal and informal processes and the reduction and management of complexity inherent in mega construction projects. Current research in managing complexity is from the perspective of the formal process where the informal processes are neglected, despite research and practice indicating their importance in construction projects. The research presents a systemic dynamic model of the processes for mega construction projects revealing that formal and informal processes are required and are complementary. Guidelines for the successful use of the model provide a framework for its application in practice. This shows how it can be used to inform understanding of processes in the context of the research. The model and guidelines were validated via discussions with practitioners experienced in construction of mega projects. Future work should expand the findings to applications of the model in practice for management of complex projects. The model may be used by practitioners to act as a guide in how to manage construction processes to consciously overcome the inherent complexities to achieve project management objectives. This tool may also be used to inform clients of the inherent complexities and the level of informality required to overcome them. IT/IS practitioners may use the model and framework to understand the complexities in construction, and thereby, develop systems that are practically applied in construction projects. Researchers in the field may build upon the model and findings to increase knowledge regarding construction processes, particularly informal processes.