Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Bernard L. Herman, Dept. of Art History. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S. in Mathematics) Naval Postgraduate School, December 1995. / "December 1995." Thesis advisor(s): Carlos Borges, Bard K. Mansager. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 264-282).

For centuries the world’s biggest breweries, including Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors, have been producing America’s favorite beers like Budweiser and Coors Light. However, more recently smaller, craft breweries have seen significant expansion as a growing number of Americans are drinking craft beers. How has this recent trend affected the beer market in the United States? More specifically, how has the recent success of craft breweries affected Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors? I examine the economic factors that have led to craft beer’s success in a highly competitive market, and further, how this success has impacted Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors. My study reveals that the premier quality of craft beer has distinctively separated itself from the traditional American lagers, like Coors and Bud Light. Furthermore, as the United States has experienced economic growth, more and more Americans are choosing craft beers over these American lagers. In final, I examine and explain Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors’ recent multi-billion dollar investments into the craft beer industry.

Recent years have seen the emergence of a novel type of community space around the world, labelled variously as makerspaces, hackerspaces, hacklabs, Fab Labs, and repair cafés. These workshops, often known collectively as the ‘maker movement', have inspired considerable speculation regarding their potential to prefigure a more sustainable economy, including a shift to localised and participatory forms of production and consumption (Smith and Light, 2017). Until recently, the social scientific work on such spaces has been sparse, especially in-depth ethnographic work, though scholars are increasingly turning their attention to them, particularly in the fields of design and science and technology studies. This thesis, a practice-led ‘enactive ethnography' drawing from three case study workshops in Edinburgh, Scotland, explores the question of sustainable development and maker spaces along two main axes: firstly, the emergence of sustainable practice in such spaces, and secondly, the relevance of such spaces to the cultivation of human wellbeing. The thesis is the first examination of such spaces drawing from developments in social theory towards relational materialism, more-than-representational approaches, and a focus on social practice. It draws a number of conclusions. Firstly, that claims of an undifferentiated global ‘maker movement' may be exaggerated: the grassroots participant-led creation of such spaces results in irreducible diversity and local differentiation. Secondly, while claims about the potential of such spaces for reconfiguring global production and consumption are overstated, when viewed from a practice-oriented perspective, the communities of practice populating such sites comprise potent and potentially-valuable crucibles of knowledge and materials. And thirdly, trying to move away from individualistic conceptions of wellbeing, the case studies provided evidence for the shared workshops playing a crucial role in the contingent emergence of participant wellbeing. These findings are further developed in tandem with a posthuman reading of maker practices, contributing to timely scholarly debates on ‘making' and ‘craft'.

In The Walls We Build, the wall acts as a metaphor for the walls we build within ourselves and outside of our selfs. Walls creating separation and alienation, leading to an increasingly polarized society. In this thesis I will be investigating the wall from a material as well as a non-material standpoint. By building a wall out of glass I hope to be able to activate thoughts about what a wall is and what it does to us, and how the inner and outer walls are influencing each other.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in Europe's economy. Since SMEs have distinct organisational practices and structures (e.g. owner-run, continuity over several generations, regional engagement), their intellectual capital (IC) differs from large enterprises. However, there is little research on IC in SMEs. Placing special attention on the craft industry, this research aims at closing this gap. It will present a cross-disciplinary review of research on craft to explore the role of knowledge and human capital in the craft industry. The findings point to overall characteristics which can guide future research and inform policy-making in the craft industry.

L’objet de la thèse est l’étude des fonctions de mentor exercées par les maîtres d’apprentissage du secteur artisanal. Cette question répond aux difficultés rencontrées par les dirigeants de TPE à fidéliser les nouveaux collaborateurs formés en apprentissage dans un secteur confronté à une pénurie structurelle de main d’œuvre qualifiée. À partir de la théorie de l’échange social, la thèse se focalise sur les effets du mentorat sur l’intention de quitter. Deux mécanismes ont été identifiés et explorés empiriquement : le mécanisme de clarification des valeurs et le mécanisme médiateur d’engagement. Ce double mécanisme opérant à la fois aux niveaux organisationnel et occupationnel a permis de saisir suivant quelles modalités les fonctions de mentorat, en particulier l’activité de role model, influencent positivement la rétention des apprentis à court terme dans l’entreprise et à long terme dans le métier. 230 apprentis des compagnons du devoir ont été interrogés par questionnaires, 6 mois après leur entrée en entreprise. Les données ainsi recueillies ont fait l’objet d’un traitement statistique par la méthode des équations structurelles / The purpose of this thesis is to study the mentoring functions exercised by apprenticeship masters in the craft industry. This issue echoes the difficulties small business leaders may have to retain new staff trained through apprenticeship in a trade suffering from a structural shortage of qualified workforce. Drawing on social exchange theory, this thesis focuses on the impact of mentoring on the intent to leave. Two mechanisms have been identified and empirically explored: the values clarity mechanism and the mediating commitment mechanism. This double mechanism, operating on both the organizational and occupational level, was instrumental in the understanding of how mentoring functions, and the role model activity in particular, have a positive impact on short-term apprentice retention in the business, and long-term retention in the profession. 230 French Compagnons apprentices have been interviewed with questionnaires after 6 months in the business. The collected data has been processed statistically using the structural equation modeling approach

abstract: This paper discusses the second phase of sustainability in the field of design and identifies the success factors of design innovation in the ethnic craft industry in northern Thailand. This study explored craftspeople’s capital, their means of developing it, and potential routes to sustainable development on the capital. The literature review examines three topics: (1) ethnic identity and craft; (2) northern Thailand and hill tribes; and (3) design thinking, vulnerability, and resilience. Empirical research was conducted with hill tribe craftspeople in northern Thailand. Seven types of capital—human, social, natural, physical, financial, cultural, and emotional capital—were identified through interviews and observation. Those types of capital indicated what the craftspeople wanted and needed. The key findings were as follows: First, social capital has a close relationship with both human capital and emotional capital, indicating that for craftspeople, networks and membership ensure knowledge and increase connections with friends and family. Secondly, emotional capital is affected by financial capital. Financial capital refers to the monetary resources used to achieve craftspeople’s livelihood objectives. The craftspeople required high order volumes to earn to more money and thus improve their economic condition; they experienced more stress when order volumes were low. Third, financial capital is not related to social and cultural capital. Graphs implied certain relationship among them, with the reasons varying depending on the individual craftsperson’s environment. A high level of social and cultural capital does not affect low financial capital, and vice versa. Finally, cultural capital directly influences emotional capital because the happiness of hill tribe craftspeople is related to their identity and dignity as craftspeople. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Design 2017

abstract: This project examines the social and economic factors that contributed to the development of a specialist-based economy among the Phoenix Basin Hohokam. In the Hohokam case, widespread dependence on the products of a few concentrated pottery producers developed in the absence of political centralization or hierarchical social arrangements. The factors that promoted intensified pottery production, therefore, are the keys to addressing how economic systems can expand in small-scale and middle-range societies. This dissertation constructs a multi-factor model that explores changes to the organization of decorated pottery production during a substantial portion of the pre-Classic period (AD 700 - AD 1020). The analysis is designed to examine simultaneously several variables that may have encouraged demand for ceramic vessels made by specialists. This study evaluates the role of four factors in the development of supply and demand for specialist produced red-on-buff pottery in Hohokam settlements. The factors include 1) agricultural intensification in the form of irrigation agriculture, 2) increases in population density, 3) ritual or social obligations that require the production of particular craft items, and 4) reduced transport costs. Supply and demand for specialist-produced pottery is estimated through a sourcing analysis of non-local pottery at 13 Phoenix Basin settlements. Through a series of statistical analyses, the study measures changes in the influence of each factor on demand for specialist-produced pottery through four temporal phases of the Hohokam pre-Classic period. The analysis results indicate that specialized red-on-buff production was initially spurred by demand for light-colored, shiny, decorated pottery, but then by comparative advantages to specialized production in particular areas of the Phoenix Basin. Specialists concentrated on the Snaketown canal system were able to generate light-colored, mica-dense wares that Phoenix Basin consumers desired while lowering transport costs in the distribution of red-on-buff pottery. The circulation of decorated wares was accompanied by the production of plainware pottery in other areas of the Phoenix Basin. Economic growth in the region was based on complementary and coordinated economic activities between the Salt and the Gila River valleys. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Anthropology 2013