Thesis (D. Min.)--Bethel Seminary, St. Paul, MN, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-120).

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-203).

Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Droit fiscal--Paris 13, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 399-426. Index. Résumé en anglais.

Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Droit privé--Amiens, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 455-493. Index.

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Introduction: The United States today has become "meeting-conscious." The complexity of conducting business has led to the need for sophisticated coordination of decision-making processes on all levels of the organization. Company meetings have played an increasingly important role in the success and future of many companies. Strategies and decisions are developed at meetings that can determine future policies of crucial importance. Executive training can mean the difference in whether the company will even survive. Large and growing companies have increased their off-premise meeting budgets annually in spite of the state of the economy. however, the rising costs of travel and lodging have made management monitor these budgets more closely than ever. Thus, the need to use every dollar efficiently has compelled companies to examine newer methods of running meetings and alternatives to the usage of typical off-premise meeting facilities. The importance of off-premise meetings in the United States economy has greatly increased due to the billions of dollars spent annually. These factors make it vital to explore the effectiveness of time and monetary expenditures. Up until the mid-1960's, company meetings were held in facilities of various design and purpose, none of which were specifically designed for the small to medium corporate meeting. Upon gathering information concerning the meetings market and the corporate meeting planner, certain individuals endeavored to change the situation. This study is designed to investigate this new concept, which will hereafter be referred to as "conference center." For the purpose of this study, the following two definitions will be used. 1. Conference center - that meeting facility primarily marketing its facilities for the small to medium-sized corporate meeting. The center is operated by specialists aware of market needs in as much detail as are those people working for the company involved. On-premise sleeping rooms are not mandatory provided such facilities are within easy access. 2. Meeting planner - that person within an organization who has primary responsibility for arranging off-premise meetings and all other related items necessary for meeting effectiveness. This person may spend anywhere from 10 to 100l of his time in this capacity. The conference center has effectively satisfied the need for specialized corporate meeting facilities. This study will show the depth of the corporate meetings market and trace the growth and development of this relatively new conference center concept. Information will also be compiled on the top centers in the country. It is hoped that by presenting this research meeting planners will become more aware of the nature and location of these centers, especially for use by the small to medium-sized company. Such exposure of the centers will hopefully increase existing demand and enable the construction of new, innovative centers.

The convention hotel emerged as a distinct building type in the years of the Second World War and its aftermath. The earliest examples of convention hotels were distinguished from their pre-war counterparts by the design of their meeting facilities and the layout of public areas. In these projects, new techniques in architectural design were used only where they were critical to hotel operation. As the number of hotels increased in the fifties, competition for business required new approaches to design. For some hotel companies, the policy was to improve a hotel's capability for handling groups in order to attract sizable conventions to the property. In resort cities, hotel operators found that innovations in style and decor enhanced popular appeal, thereby increasing business. In the late fifties and early sixties, the participation of developers and corporations outside the hotel industry in building new properties brought about an increasing diversity. In the projects, design was based on potential profitability regardless of traditional hotel principles. At the same time, the inclusion of convention hotels in large-scale urban developments called for innovations in site planning and expansion of public amenities. While these hotels and their predecessors of the fifties rarely displayed architectural excellence, their contribution to guidelines for modern hotel design was critical to later, more spectacular developments of the building type. One project of the late sixties, the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, dramatically explored the potential of new approaches to hotel architecture. The astounding design of the public spaces, the integration of the hotel with surrounding development, and the hotel's subsequent popularity have served to transform this commercial building type into significant public architecture. The success of the. Atlanta Hyatt has led to a repetition of the concept by the hotel company, while inspiring new experiments by the architect. In the early seventies, a series of hotels of remarkable design opened in the United States. Their public appeal confirmed the value of good architecture to the successful operation of a hotel. Hotel professionals were forced to reconsider the necessary elements of hotel design, while architects were encouraged to re-examine the possibilities inherent in this commercial building type.

In this project I investigate the factors shaping compliance with international human rights agreements and I provide a definition of compliance, which goes beyond “ratification.” I argue that compliance is a multistage process, built upon three different steps: ratification/accession, implementation, and what I call “compliant behavior.” As an alternative to the dominant structural and normative explanation of compliance, I suggest that the factors affecting compliance are not only endogenous to state characteristics, such as the democratic/non-democratic nature of governments, but also exogenous, such as the perceived level of threat to national security. I offer a twofold theory that looks at leaders’ behavior under conditions of stability and instability and I suggest that under certain circumstances that threaten and pressure government leaders, state compliance with international human rights law becomes more costly. I suggest that regardless of regime type, threats shape leaders’ behavior toward international law; states are faced with the choice to abide by international obligations, protecting specific human rights, and the choice to protect their national interests. I argue that when the costs associated with compliance increase, because leaders face threats to their power and government stability, threats become the predictor of non-compliant behavior regardless of the democratic or non-democratic nature of the regime.

No abstract / Mini Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Centre for Human Rights / MPhil / Unrestricted

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