Cooperative services--a term which includes any system that relies on the resources and participation of its clients to function--have proven to be a popular, naturally scalable means to disseminate content, distribute computational workloads, or provide network connectivity. However, because these services critically depend on participants that are not controlled by a single administrative domain, these services must be designed to function in environments where no participant--because of failure or selfishness--will necessarily follow the specified protocol. This thesis addresses the challenge of establishing and maintaining cooperation in cooperative services by (1) advancing our understanding of the limits to what our services can guarantee in the presence of failure, (2) demonstrating the critical role that correct participants can play in the incentives provided by the service, and (3) proposing a new notion of equilibrium that, unlike traditional notions, provides both rigorous yet practical guarantees in the presence of collusion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our ideas can be applied to practice by designing and implementing Seer, a system that provides a scalable, reliable, and robust method for disseminating content even if participants may fail arbitrarily or deviate selfishly as a coalition. / text

Main purpose of this thesis was based on the analysis of the current situation and retail trends suggest the possibility of increasing competitiveness of consumer cooperatives, improve their market position and reach expected level of customer services in Czech retail market. Responses of consumer cooperatives customers correspond with other retail market customers. The introduction on the modern technologies is not required by customers and they would rather welcome the enlargement of existing retail services, especially the readable information on the packaging. Consumer cooperatives customers would like to use the loyalty program. The best option in that case would be the loyalty program on the central level to be available to all customers from consumer cooperatives. The implementation of detected solutions would help expand the existing base of consumer cooperatives customers and improve their position in the Czech retail market.

Assessment of the past helps one seize emerging opportunities. The Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) Foreign Mission Board (FMB) radically redesigned itself July 1, 1997, the most far reaching self-assessment since its 1845 founding. The FMB's changes neglected some essential historical precedents. In 1892, a band of FMB missionaries posted with the North China Mission resigned and established their own operation. They held and integrated three core values: indigeneity, incarnation, and responsible autonomy. Baptist historians have dismissed these dissidents because they considered them Landmarkers (an earlier movement that threatened the SBC itself). Later historical inquiry corrected this assumption demonstrating that Landmarkers seized the Gospel Mission Movement to serve its own ends not the reverse. What prorrpted these missionaries to leave their base of support and operate independently? Original sources tell the tale of strong convictions about missions that were more commonly apparent later, in a post-modern era. Gospel Missionism's peers did not listen, partly because of the Landmarkist confusion and partly because they advocated things others were not prepared to hear. The Gospel Missioners found it difficult to sustain their experiment outside the SBC. Hence, survivors gradually reentered the FMB structure, primarily the Interior China Mission. Their influence extended to the next generation of missionaries. Yet, indirectly their values entered the FMB's strategies through outside evangelicals which increasingly espoused similar core values. By 1985, the Board tackled the challenge of the least evangelized peoples. Trustees formed Cooperative Services International (CSI) to accommodate the need. Unwittingly, from within the FMB, CSI embodied Gospel Missionism's core values with more modern emphases. In 1997, trustees restructured the FMB and dismantled CSI. They borrowed its drive and its penchant for streamlined administration, but jettisoned its priority passion for those least evangelized. Only time will tell, but there is evidence that the FMB has reverted and embraced elements of an older paradigm, possibly because it was unprepared to face a postmodern future. This study concludes that the Gospel Missionism movement was a blending of both enlightenment and post-modern missiological ideals. It was an incipient, evangelical version of a post-modern missiological paradigm. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

Assessment of the past helps one seize emerging opportunities. The Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) Foreign Mission Board (FMB) radically redesigned itself July 1, 1997, the most far reaching self-assessment since its 1845 founding. The FMB's changes neglected some essential historical precedents. In 1892, a band of FMB missionaries posted with the North China Mission resigned and established their own operation. They held and integrated three core values: indigeneity, incarnation, and responsible autonomy. Baptist historians have dismissed these dissidents because they considered them Landmarkers (an earlier movement that threatened the SBC itself). Later historical inquiry corrected this assumption demonstrating that Landmarkers seized the Gospel Mission Movement to serve its own ends not the reverse. What prorrpted these missionaries to leave their base of support and operate independently? Original sources tell the tale of strong convictions about missions that were more commonly apparent later, in a post-modern era. Gospel Missionism's peers did not listen, partly because of the Landmarkist confusion and partly because they advocated things others were not prepared to hear. The Gospel Missioners found it difficult to sustain their experiment outside the SBC. Hence, survivors gradually reentered the FMB structure, primarily the Interior China Mission. Their influence extended to the next generation of missionaries. Yet, indirectly their values entered the FMB's strategies through outside evangelicals which increasingly espoused similar core values. By 1985, the Board tackled the challenge of the least evangelized peoples. Trustees formed Cooperative Services International (CSI) to accommodate the need. Unwittingly, from within the FMB, CSI embodied Gospel Missionism's core values with more modern emphases. In 1997, trustees restructured the FMB and dismantled CSI. They borrowed its drive and its penchant for streamlined administration, but jettisoned its priority passion for those least evangelized. Only time will tell, but there is evidence that the FMB has reverted and embraced elements of an older paradigm, possibly because it was unprepared to face a postmodern future. This study concludes that the Gospel Missionism movement was a blending of both enlightenment and post-modern missiological ideals. It was an incipient, evangelical version of a post-modern missiological paradigm. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

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In 1976, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted its Bold New Thrusts in Foreign Missions with the overarching goal of sharing the gospel with every person in the world by the year 2000. The formation of Cooperative Services International (CSI) in 1985 and the assigning of the first nonresidential missionary (NRM) in 1987 demonstrated the Foreign Mission Board's commitment to take the gospel message to countries that restricted traditional missionary presence and to people groups identified as having little or no access to the gospel. This thesis traces the historical development of the NRM paradigm along with an analysis of the key components of the paradigm and its impact on the Board's missiology. Chapter 1 presents on overview of the thesis, outlining the primary research question addressed by this thesis and the rationale for this research. Chapter 2 focuses on the key events, persons and concepts that directly and indirectly influenced the leadership of the FMB in the development of this new missiological paradigm. Chapter 3 outlines the events leading up to the launching of CSI and the NRM program, the unique contributions of key Board leaders, and the initial growth of the NRM paradigm. Chapter 4 examines the years of growth and maturity of the NRM paradigm under the leadership of Mike Stroope. During this time, the nomenclature changed from NRM to Strategy Coordinator (SC). Chapter 5 seeks to demonstrate the impact of the NRM/SC paradigm on the Board's reorganization in 1997 called New Directions. Chapter 6 explores the CPM phenomenon and its impact on the SC paradigm, giving special attention to the reductionism that occurred as the Board sought to define and describe these movements. Chapter 7 revisits the major objective of this research as expressed in the introductory chapter and offers suggestions for further research. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th.

In 1976, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted its Bold New Thrusts in Foreign Missions with the overarching goal of sharing the gospel with every person in the world by the year 2000. The formation of Cooperative Services International (CSI) in 1985 and the assigning of the first nonresidential missionary (NRM) in 1987 demonstrated the Foreign Mission Board's commitment to take the gospel message to countries that restricted traditional missionary presence and to people groups identified as having little or no access to the gospel. This thesis traces the historical development of the NRM paradigm along with an analysis of the key components of the paradigm and its impact on the Board's missiology. Chapter 1 presents on overview of the thesis, outlining the primary research question addressed by this thesis and the rationale for this research. Chapter 2 focuses on the key events, persons and concepts that directly and indirectly influenced the leadership of the FMB in the development of this new missiological paradigm. Chapter 3 outlines the events leading up to the launching of CSI and the NRM program, the unique contributions of key Board leaders, and the initial growth of the NRM paradigm. Chapter 4 examines the years of growth and maturity of the NRM paradigm under the leadership of Mike Stroope. During this time, the nomenclature changed from NRM to Strategy Coordinator (SC). Chapter 5 seeks to demonstrate the impact of the NRM/SC paradigm on the Board's reorganization in 1997 called New Directions. Chapter 6 explores the CPM phenomenon and its impact on the SC paradigm, giving special attention to the reductionism that occurred as the Board sought to define and describe these movements. Chapter 7 revisits the major objective of this research as expressed in the introductory chapter and offers suggestions for further research. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th.