Title: Volunteering in a sports event - Olympic Parks 2016-2018 Objectives: The main objective of this thesis, based on the research of the development of volunteer satisfaction rate of cooperation with the Czech Olympic Committee, is to provide specific recommendations for improving the cooperation between these parties. The research will focus on the cooperation between COC and volunteers within the events of Rio - Lipno 2016 and PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Parks. Methods: The research was implemented using qualitative and quantitative methods. For the quality of the data an interview with the main volunteer coordinator, Tomáš Mirovský, and the observations in the natural environment of the events were conducted. The author participated in this sporting event as a volunteer. She represented an equal member of the group. As the observer was in the position of participant of the team, the other co-workers were informed about her true identity. The quantitative method was implemented through paper and electronic questionnaires. Results: The research results showed that the development of the satisfaction rate of volunteer cooperation with the Czech Olympic Committee improved in 2018. The research revealed the drawbacks of COC especially in the area of organization, insufficient informative directions...

This diploma thesis deals with the involvement of the cross-curricular theme of media education in the Czech language teaching. The first part defines the basic concepts of media literacy and media education and describes their development and concepts in education. It also deals with the form of media education in curricular documents, especially in the framework educational programme, and the characteristics of the thematic areas of the cross-curricular theme of media education involved in this document. Subsequently, it deals with the possibilities of media education realization and with the use of textbooks and other methodological and teaching materials and projects. In the second part of the thesis, the school education programmes of three selected grammar schools are analysed, on the basis of data obtained by own qualitative research, by answers of respondents from semi-structured interviews and by specific teaching situations. The aim of the research part is to provide information on the implementation of media education and on the state of the relevant cross-curricular topic integration into teaching at selected grammar schools. The focus of concern is also whether the topics defined in the Framework Educational Programme for Grammar Schools are fulfilled in media education.

Name: Level of Aspiration and psychomotor speed of squash players Aims: The aim of this thesis is to find out the differences between professional and performance squash players in the area of aspirations, psychomotor speed and resistance to stress. Further, to verify the hypothesis that professional players have a higher level of all these categories than performance players Methods: The thesis uses the quantitative questionnaire TATSO (2017), which is supplemented with a qualitative interview with trainers of squash professional players. Data are evaluated by statistical functions of Microsoft Excel and verified by f-test and T-test at 5% and 1% level of significance. Results: Research reveal statistically significant differences between professional and performance players at psychomotor speed and aspirations, while professional players showed significantly higher values, the results of this group proved above average even compared to the current test standards. The results of both groups were above average when tested for resistance to stress, but there was no significant difference between the selected test groups. Key words: Personality test, speed diagnostics, squash, Czech Republic, psychological training

This theses focuses on intellectually talented pupils and from the narrower point of view on pupils of the Czech language at the second level of an elementary school. In the theoretical part, the author deals with a talent for the Czech language, definitions and concepts of a given issue, existing models, characteristics of gifted pupils and approaches of Czech schools towards the education of these pupils. This theses also focuses on linguistic intelligence and personality of teachers of gifted pupils. The aim is to reveal what are the experiences of the teachers of the Czech language with the gifted students and what differences are there between gifted individuals and ordinary students. For this solution is used a structured interview method. The next aim is to find out the attitudes of gifted pupils towards a taught subject. A semi-structured interview method is used to meet this aim. The final aim is to find differences between results of talented pupils and ordinary pupils in the subject of the Czech language. As an appropriate method was chosen a didactic test.

The subject of quality has been a pervasive issue on the agenda in higher education around the world for more than a decade. A greater focus on quality in higher education resulted from a range of competing factors, among the most prominent were: political control over higher education (exerted particularly by national governments), the growth in the number of students in higher education (including general changes in the student population and their expectations) and financial control on the part of national governments (frequently related to the previous two factors). Quality monitoring has become a mechanism for governments worldwide to tackle these competing factors. However, at the same time, it can be argued that it was frequently employed to disguise the dominant focus on accountability in higher education rather than on enhancement. Many of the quality assurance models and systems applied to higher education originated in the business and manufacturing sectors. They have often been found unsuitable or only partially suitable for the higher education sector, because they largely disregarded the nature of higher education and its employees, in particular the academics. It may be argued that the quality movement has driven higher education more towards greater uniformity, which may be detrimental to what was understood as the “real” quality in higher education. For instance, innovation was regarded as an important aspect of academic work. Nevertheless, the present quality development drive seems to be working against the nature of academic work. Given this background, it is alarming that the academic voice seems to have had little impact to date on the development of quality systems in higher education. Therefore, the present thesis attempted to investigate the academic voice concerning higher education quality. Overall, this thesis had two main objectives. First, based on the analysis of stories of academics and higher education leaders, the thesis endeavoured to construct a framework of significant quality issues for the potential use in future policy development in higher education in the two countries investigated in this research (the Czech Republic and England), and prospectively in other higher education systems around the world. In particular, it aimed to introduce more human-centred measures into the area of higher education quality. Second, in terms of developing a methodology, the thesis attempted to illustrate the way in which a critical event narrative inquiry study of heterogeneous and complex environments, such as higher education, could be undertaken. Employing such a critical event narrative inquiry approach, the researcher endeavoured to highlight important aspects of higher education quality, which have been largely overlooked in the area, and thus assist the improvement of the practice of quality development in higher education. The study utilised face-to-face interviews with academics and higher education leaders concerning their perceptions of the issue of higher education quality. The researcher anticipated that eliciting of “critical events” through interviews with individuals involved in the area of quality in higher education (academics and higher education leaders) would uncover some important aspects in higher education quality which would not be revealed using other more traditional empirical methods of inquiry, particularly quantitative research methods. To investigate the area of higher education quality, the researcher elected to look into the English and Czech higher education systems. The choice of the English higher education system was influenced by the knowledge that England, and more generally the UK, was among the first countries in the world, and certainly the first in Europe, to introduce a formal quality assurance system into higher education. Australia followed this trend soon after it was introduced in the UK. The researcher elected the Czech higher education system, as a culturally different educational system, distinctive from the Anglo-Saxon educational tradition, and which is uniquely placed on the divide between Western and Eastern Europe. In this respect, the critical event narrative inquiry method was proposed as a suitable method for the investigation of significant aspects of cultural difference. Employing the critical event narrative inquiry method, the researcher uncovered a number of significant issues. Some of these issues were identified by English and Czech academics and higher education leaders as not featuring strongly in their countries’ current higher education quality enhancement practices, and yet they were regarded as important by the academics. Some of the issues uncovered in this research, on the other hand, were highlighted as impacting negatively on the quality enhancement processes in their respective higher education systems. There were a number of issues which were identified as common to both the English and Czech higher education systems. These issues might have been an indication of potential wider relevance of such trends among a broader range of higher education systems worldwide. This thesis proposed a framework for a human-centred approach to quality enhancement in higher education based on issues which were common to both English and Czech higher education systems. This framework featured: • Regard for the academic voice in higher education quality policy development; • Attention to human-centred aspects of higher education quality; • Need for a collegial approach and reflection on the purposes of quality evaluation processes; • Equal value afforded to teaching and research; and • Focus on innovation and change. There were also some culture-specific issues uncovered, particularly in relation to the Czech higher education system. These culture-specific issues may be relevant to certain common trends and features in other higher education systems in Central and Eastern European regions. In this respect, the thesis proposed a framework for a human-centred approach to quality enhancement with regard to culture-specific issues. The framework focused specifically on Czech higher education and may be of potential relevance to other Central and Eastern European higher education systems. This framework included: • The significance of transparency in educational processes; • The need for a fundamental change in the style of pedagogy in higher education institutions; to focus more on thinking processes and reasoning; • The need for a more systematic move towards a student-centred approach across the whole higher education system; • The need to address the factor of pressure on Czech academics to publish mainly in English in order to receive international recognition; and • The need for education of Czech academic staff to enable a broader and better understanding of the concept of higher education quality in the context of the Czech higher education system. Investigation of the academic voice in English higher education did not reveal any culture-specific issues. In other words, the English academics and higher education leaders did not identify any issues in higher education quality that were distinctively different from the general issues highlighted also by Czech academics and higher education leaders. Some of the issues pointed out in the English context occurred on a more advanced level due to the different historical, political and socio-economic context of the UK higher education. It appears that quality in higher education is here to stay. As such, it is essential for the future of higher education that quality enhancement be based on education-focused approaches. Overall, this thesis proposed a human-centred approach to quality enhancement as one way of attaining educational focus.

Japanese-style management and Japanese companies have been popular targets of management studies since the 1970s. Many studies have been devoted to the examination of Japanese companies in Japan. By comparison, less understanding has been achieved about how Japanese companies conduct business in their international operations and how famous Japanese management has been transferred to Japanese subsidiaries. This thesis contributes to an ongoing academic debate about the internationalization processes within Japanese multinational companies. The processes involved in interaction between the parent company and subsidiaries address the research question of how subsidiaries of Japanese multinational firms perceive the relationship with their parent companies. The parent-subsidiary relationship is conceptualized within the boundaries of communication and information exchange theory. The conceptual framework creates a tool for research inquiry into the parent-subsidiary relationship. The framework conceptualizes the relationship between facilitating factors and perceived parental influence. Access to the parent company, motivation to engage with the parent company, and ability to engage with the parent company are conceptualized as factors facilitating the parent-subsidiary relationship. National/country and organizational/industry characteristics are identified as attributes moderating the relationship. Information outflow, inflow, and intraflow are derived components of the parental influence. The study presented here is exploratory with findings based on two sequential comparative research stages. The Czech Republic and New Zealand, although different in terms of national and country characteristics, are argued as a suitable comparable base for conducting research within subsidiaries ofJapanese firms. In stage one, 18 Czech and 17 New Zealand subsidiaries of Japanese companies participated in a questionnaire survey. In stage two, 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted for case studies within Czech and New Zealand subsidiaries of six Japanese parent companies. The case studies provided further insights into the subsidiary-parent relationship. This research seeks contribution to the internationalization literature by offering a new useful framework for the examination of the parent-subsidiary link. The self-identity of Japanese subsidiaries was found to give meaning to the parental relationship as perceived by the subsidiary. This relationship was influenced by the subsidiary�s country location, the industry in which the subsidiary operates, and the presence of expatriate management in the subsidiary. This research also found significant commonalities among the perceptions of parental influence in all Japanese subsidiaries involved in the study. The observed commonalities indicate that Japanese companies might have moved away from the internationalization processes ascribed to them by previous academic research. The change triggered by collapse of stock markets in mid-1990s has resulted to a recent reduction of expatriate staff reported little parental guidance, independence, and the strong self-identification of subsidiaries with their local environment. Keywords Internationalization, Japanese Multinational Company, Subsidiary, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Information, Parent-Subsidiary Relationship

This dissertation examines the theme of travel in the work of Karel Čapek (1890-1938), both in his travelogues and fiction. Instead of assuming travel as a conventional departure to another destination, journey and return home, Čapek experimented with the topic, popular in interwar literatures and arts, as an example of the avant-garde interconnectedness between different genres and arts. Čapek used three approaches to express his experiences of traveling. First, he founded his own aesthetics of the so called “marginal forms” or “low-brow genres” which he simultaneously interpolated in his prose. Their use, which greatly changes the perspective on travel writing, is visible in comparison between Čapek’s and previous travelogues (chapter 1). Secondly, he introduced skaz as stylized spoken language to Czech literature, and changed the traditional roles of the narrator and his addressees in travelogues (chapter 2). Thirdly, he used visual elements of language, combined verbal and visual arts (illustrations and drawings) in the narrative (chapter 3). Finally, all these elements he interpolated to his prose (chapter 4) through the intertextual links with travelogues. On the example of the theme of travel in Karel Čapek’s work, my dissertation revisits some current definitions of the historical avant-garde. It shows that the recent theories, predominantly developed on the examples from Western European and Russian arts, cannot be fully applied to local artistic movements. First, it shows that the notion of the avant-garde cannot be just confined to the writers who called themselves “avant-garde” (such as Karel Teige or Vladislav Vančura). Instead, it should be also expanded to other writers, such as Karel Čapek, marginal to the avant-garde mainstream. Second, the analysis of the theme of travel in Karel Čapek’s opus shows that the Czech avant-garde was not destructive towards its literary heritage. Instead, it offered an alternative reading of tradition through artistic experiments. In extension, it also provided a new understanding of the cultural and literary identity.

This dissertation examines the theme of travel in the work of Karel Čapek (1890-1938), both in his travelogues and fiction. Instead of assuming travel as a conventional departure to another destination, journey and return home, Čapek experimented with the topic, popular in interwar literatures and arts, as an example of the avant-garde interconnectedness between different genres and arts. Čapek used three approaches to express his experiences of traveling. First, he founded his own aesthetics of the so called “marginal forms” or “low-brow genres” which he simultaneously interpolated in his prose. Their use, which greatly changes the perspective on travel writing, is visible in comparison between Čapek’s and previous travelogues (chapter 1). Secondly, he introduced skaz as stylized spoken language to Czech literature, and changed the traditional roles of the narrator and his addressees in travelogues (chapter 2). Thirdly, he used visual elements of language, combined verbal and visual arts (illustrations and drawings) in the narrative (chapter 3). Finally, all these elements he interpolated to his prose (chapter 4) through the intertextual links with travelogues. On the example of the theme of travel in Karel Čapek’s work, my dissertation revisits some current definitions of the historical avant-garde. It shows that the recent theories, predominantly developed on the examples from Western European and Russian arts, cannot be fully applied to local artistic movements. First, it shows that the notion of the avant-garde cannot be just confined to the writers who called themselves “avant-garde” (such as Karel Teige or Vladislav Vančura). Instead, it should be also expanded to other writers, such as Karel Čapek, marginal to the avant-garde mainstream. Second, the analysis of the theme of travel in Karel Čapek’s opus shows that the Czech avant-garde was not destructive towards its literary heritage. Instead, it offered an alternative reading of tradition through artistic experiments. In extension, it also provided a new understanding of the cultural and literary identity.

Abstract It is well known that geographical distances between nations cause differences in cul-tural resemblances as well as affinity. Defined, affinity is inheriting similarities between nations in familiarity, language and mutual understanding. It cause variations in the uni-lateral trade volume flowing towards the destination countries and can be estimated by a traditional gravity model (GM). So far Swedish affinity towards Czech Republic (CZ) has remained unexplored. Hence, this paper investigates Swedish firm´s export perfor-mance and affinity towards CZ, both through the aggregate export and the extensive margin (average number of exporters). The investigation aims to seek clarification of what particular factors influence unilateral export towards CZ as well as stronger affini-ty in contrast to similar markets. To answer those questions, a one sided GM is re-gressed on two gravity equations, covering panel data for 177 destination countries from year 1997 to 2006. Results are in line with the expected behavior of the GM and show evidently; distance as well as land lock features have negative effects on unilateral ex-ports to CZ. Additionally, evidence of positive influence on unilateral export is found for GDP and familiarity to the nation. Both regressions for the gravity equations are showing high goodness of fit for the panel data. Findings of positive residuals in both the equations conclude that Swedish export have stronger affinity to CZ and solider country characteristics than its resembling countries Slovenia and Slovakia. However, positive residuals also indicate larger export flows to CZ than motivated by the tradi-tional GM coefficients. Various explanations are suggested as origins for those, such as differences in purchasing power and regions, were Prague was found to be the most suitable option for export and other regions rather for outsourcing possibilities.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the nature of health care system change in the Czech Republic and Hungary after the collapse of communism. In order to do so, the thesis focuses mainly on Europeanization and New Institutionalism as competing approaches in explaining domestic changes in Central and Eastern European Countries. While doing so, first this study tries to explore whether Europeanization is one of the main determinants in the transition process of the health care systems of the Czech Republic and Hungary and discusses the EU-level policies, laws and regulations related to the health care sector. Second, the study looks through the historical legacy and path dependency theories as branches of the New Institutionalist approaches to investigate the transition of the health care systems of case countries. The review of the related literature and empirical case studies exhibit that the transformation process of the health care systems of the Czech Republic and Hungary were possibly affected by many factors and it would be misleading to attribute all consequences to only one determinant. In this respect, the main argument is that the Europeanization effect is weak compared to the New Institutionalism approach in explaining the transition process of health care systems of Hungary and the Czech Republic / however, there are strong opportunities for EU institutions to shape the future contours v of health care systems and public health programs in Hungary and the Czech Republic.