Desired forest conditions, or DFCs, are recently created parameters which strive to create diverse stands of hardwoods of various species and age classes, along with varying densities and canopy gaps, through the use of uneven-aged silvicultural methods and repeated stand entries. Little research has been conducted to examine residual stand composition and hardwood regeneration after DFC installment. The objectives of this study were to characterize forest overstory and midstory conditions after DFC treatments, assess the natural regeneration, and to characterize available light in the treatment and control areas. Residual stand conditions after application of DFC harvest guidelines indicate that shade tolerant species will be the future occupants of the sites and oaks will diminish or disappear over time. This documented initial forest response to DFC treatments can be used by forest and wildlife habitat managers when assessing the potential outcomes of DFC management.

Management prescriptions that describe desired conditions for resources and visitor experiences have become widely accepted as an important component of public land management plans. However, very little effort is spent on evaluating and learning about this part of the planning process. This research identifies and addresses the need to explore opportunities for additional guidance on the development of management prescriptions, by (1) evaluating the current perception of the purpose of management prescriptions; (2) developing criteria and other tools to guide the development of management prescriptions based on the experiences of public land management professionals; and (3) testing an alternative method for collecting visitor preference data regarding social, resource and management conditions to inform development of management prescriptions. The first two papers report the results of a visitor preference study, using the stated choice method, conducted in Acadia National Park. The purpose of the first paper is to identify visitor preferences for tradeoffs among social, resource and related management conditions of the recreation setting. The purpose of the second paper is to identify differences among visitor preferences for social, resource and management conditions in various recreation settings. By considering the integrative nature of these attributes and the relative importance to visitors across recreation settings, the definition of management prescriptions can be better informed. To further investigate the results of the stated choice method and ensure the validity of the data, a verbal protocol assessment was applied to a sample of the stated choice survey respondents. The purpose of the third paper is to reexamine the role of management prescriptions for park management planning and investigate tools for facilitating development of management prescriptions. The study included in-depth interviews, participant observation of a three-day planning workshop and a written survey. All of the participants in the various components of the study were National Park Service land management professionals. The study resulted in a list of the purpose and criteria for management prescriptions and a related menu of desired condition topics, which will be integrated into planning guidance to aid the development of unique and effective management prescriptions for national parks. / Ph. D.

Background:  Making customers loyal to the brand have become a key issue for marketers to achieve since it acts as a major contributor to competitive advantage. The brand image is argued to be the main source for brand loyalty and organizations continuously seeks for ways to achieve brand loyalty through enhancing their image. Employee branding makes it possible for organizations to consistently deliver a desired brand image to the customers, through its employees, and it could therefore be of importance to explore the relationship between employee branding and brand loyalty.  Research questions: RQ1: How does the organization’s management communicate its desired brand image to the employees? RQ2: How do the various sources of messages contribute to employees’ knowledge of the desired brand image? RQ3: How do the various sources of messages contribute to the upholding of the psychological contract between the employees and the organization? RQ4: How does the image projected by employees influence brand loyal customers? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between an organization’s employee branding and brand loyalty. Methodology: Conducted as a single embedded case study, semi-structured interviews Conclusion: The empirical investigation revealed that employee branding activities could strengthen customers’ loyalty towards the brand. Employee branding therefore influence customers’ satisfaction, commitment, trust, and identification to the brand.

Visais laikais žmones domino individų elgesys. Kodėl žmonės vienoje ar kitoje situacijoje elgiasi nevienodai, juk egzistuoja tam tikros gyvenimo normos, įstatymai, taisyklės? Atrodo, viskas reglamentuota, apibrėžti konkretūs reikalavimai, žmonėms belieka jų laikytis, tačiau elgesys turi tendenciją kisti. Švietimo organizacijoje šis reiškinys taip pat ne išimtis. Vis dar pastebimos netinkamo mokinių elgesio apraiškos. Kas gi lemia tokį jų elgesį? Ar netinkamas elgesys – tai išradingumo požymis? O gal tai noras pabrėžti savo individualumą? Dažnai analizuojami smurto, patyčių atvejai (tai jau pasekmė), bet per mažai dėmesio skiriama pageidaujamo mokinių elgesio skatinimui ir ugdymui pamokose. Svarbiausiais tikslais ugdymo įstaigoje tampa ne tik padėti mokiniui sėkmingai mokytis, bet ir ugdyti pageidaujamą elgesį. Taigi, kokias taikyti pageidaujamo elgesio ugdymo priemones, kad elgesys būtų pozityvus, motyvuotas, sukoncentruotas į atliekamos veiklos kokybę? Analizuojant, pasirinktą temą, atsakymo ieškoma remiantis probleminiais klausimais: 1. Ar visada sudaromos sąlygos, skatinančios mokinius tinkamai elgtis? 2. Ar aiškios ir priimtinos elgesio taisyklės, kaip laikomasi susitarimų? 3. Ar egzistuoja skatinimo už gerą elgesį sistema, kuri motyvuoja mokinius tinkamai elgtis? 4. Kokie veiksniai skatina mokinius tinkamai elgtis? Nagrinėjant pasirinktą temą orientuojamasi į priežastis ir veiksnius, kurie daro įtaką elgesio kitimui. Išanalizavus priežastinius netinkamo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Throughout the history, people were interested in individual’s behaviour. Why do people in a certain situations behave differently, even though there are certain rules of life and laws? It seems everything is regulated, specific requirements defined, people can only follow them, but the behaviour tends to change. Even in educational organizations this phenomenon is no exception. Improper student behaviour can still be noticed. What determines this behaviour? Is improper behaviour the sign of ingenuity or a need to emphasise person’s individuality? Often cases of violence and bullying (which is a consequence) are analysed, however too little attention is paid to the promotion of the desired behaviour in the classroom. The most important purpose of an educational organisation is not only to contribute to successful student learning, but also to develop the desired student behaviour. So, what should be the methods of the desired behavioural education, in order to make student’s behaviour positive, motivated, focused and concentrated on the quality of the performed activities? In order to answer the thesis question, four hypothesis are raised: 1. Are there the right conditions created in order to encourage students to behave properly? 2. Are there clear and reasonable rules of conduct, which comply with the agreement? 3. Is there an incentive for a good behaviour in a system that motivates students to behave properly? 4. What factors do encourage students to... [to full text]

The diploma thesis focuses on organizational culture and its impact on efficiency of chosen company. In analysis of current organizational culture, there will be identified specific imperfections and suggested improvement measures to bring organizational culture closer to desirable.

The theoretical part of this thesis describes the structure of organizational culture, organizational values, typology of organizational culture, the importance of organizational culture and its functions, sources of organizational culture and relation between organizational culture and corporate strategy. Based on these concepts, it defines the desired organizational culture and ways of achieving it. The practical part deals with organizational culture in a part of a chosen company. The goal of this thesis was to analyse organizational culture in this company division, identify its lacks and suggest solutions leading to desired culture type supporting an efficient functioning of the company.

Teacher perspectives and judgments of students' race and gender are known to influence their assessment of primary and secondary students' academic achievements. However, little is known about the effect on children's academic achievement of preschool teacher perspectives and judgments of students' race and gender, which forms the basis for this study. The purpose of this study was to analyze teacher assessment of preschool children's mathematics and science skills on the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) and Teacher Strategies GOLD (TSG), along with teacher comments written in preparation for each child's parent-teacher conference, to determine if there was a relationship between preschool teachers' assessment and comments and the race and gender of the child. Wason's theory of confirmation bias formed the theoretical foundation of this study. The research questions addressed the relationship between preschool teacher assessments recorded on the DRDP and TSG regarding children's mathematics and science skill and teacher comments coded from Racasens linguistic model and those children's race and gender. Archival data from 2 Head Start centers in a western and southwestern state were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, and the point-biserial Pearson correlation. The Mann-Whitney U test found no statistically significant differences in DRDP and TSG scores by students' race and gender. The point-biserial Pearson correlation found no statistically significant correlation between race or gender and teacher comments. This study contributes to positive social change by confirming observational assessments to be free from teacher bias, supporting their continued use with preschool children to promote their learning and development.

Background: There have been examples of luxurious brands that havebeen hijacked for example Gucci and Dr. marten where a non desiredtarget group uses them as symbols and is associated with the brand.Before there have been studies where the main focus has been on brandsthat are used by groups that could have a bad influence on the brand. Thisthesis is exploring how the consumer attitudes in the form of affect,behavior and cognition is influenced and changed when a luxurious brandis hijacked.  Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how the consumerattitude from the ABC model from the desired target group is affectedwhen a luxurious brand is used by a non desired target group. Methodology: The bachelor thesis aims to fill a gap that the authors havefound in the literature by exploring how the consumer attitudes areaffected when a non desired target group hijacks a luxurious brand.Therefore a qualitative research approach was used in this thesis as wellas eighth unstructured interviews. An interview guide from theoperationalisation was made and used to get the data needed from theinterviews. The sample method used in this thesis was purposive samplingto make sure that the participants had the knowledge and previousexperience from luxurious brands.  Findings: The findings of the thesis found that when a luxurious brand ishijacked by non desired target group, which pattern it takes it will lead toa change in the behavior by the participants. Conclusion: The conclusion of the thesis concluded that both the affectand cognition parts from consumer attitudes are unchanged when a nondesired target group hijacks a luxurious brand but the behavior part from2 (71)consumer attitudes changes in the form of actions and behavioralintentions.

Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich sowohl mit der experimentell motivierten Fragestellung nach der Kontrolle der Einzelzellaktivität kortikaler Neurone sowie mit der theoretischen Beschreibung der neuronalen Dynamik und ihrer Transfereigenschaften anhand einfacher Neuronenmodelle. Hierfür werden in-vivo Daten, die mit Hilfe der juxtazellulären Stimulation mit weißem bandpass limitiertem Gaußschem Rauschen erhoben wurden, verwendet. Mit Parameterfits einfacher Neuronenmodelle werden die experimentell ermittelten Pulszugstatistiken sowie die präzisen Zeitpunkte der einzelnen Aktionspotentiale quantitativ reproduziert. Diese Untersuchungen zeigen, dass mit dynamischen Rauschstimuli in juxtazellulärer Stimulation verlässlich und reproduzierbar Pulszüge in einzelnen kortikalen Neuronen hervorgerufen werden können. Weiterhin offenbart die Analyse der Daten die Eigenschaft der untersuchten Neurone frequenzunabhängig, bishin zu Vielfachen der Feuerrate des Neurons, Information über Signalkomponenten zu transferieren. Diese Eigenschaft steht im Widerspruch zum Verhalten der einfachsten (und populärsten) integrate-and-fire Modelle, die die Zelle ohne Auflösung ihrer räumlichen Struktur näherungsweise beschreiben. Die Erweiterung solcher Ein-Kompartiment Modelle auf ein Zwei-Kompartiment Modell und die damit eingeführte Unterscheidung zwischen Soma und Dendrit ermöglicht es, für einzelne Neuronen sämtliche experimentell erhobenen Statistiken, einschließlich des Hochfrequenz- Transfers, quantitativ zu reproduzieren. Zusätzlich zu den obigen Untersuchungen wird eine Methode vorgestellt, um, anhand von Input-Output Statistiken konkreter Neurone, Gaußsche Stimuli zu berechnen, die in der jeweiligen Zelle einen vorgeschriebenen Pulszug hervorrufen. In Experimenten und Simulationen wird gezeigt, dass diese vorgeschriebenen Pulszüge mit einer Verlässlichkeit erzeugt werden können, die in etwa der intrinsischen Verlässlichkeit des untersuchten Neurons entspricht. / This work elaborates on the question to which extent experimental control about the activity of single cortical neurons can be achieved and deals with the theoretical description of the neuronal dynamics. To this end, in-vivo data that have been recorded from juxtacellular experiments in cortical neurons are used. By means of parameter optimization, simple neuron models are fitted in order to quantitatively reproduce the measured spike train statistics and specific action potential timings. The analysis reveals that dynamic noise-stimuli can be used in juxtacellular stimulation to reliably generate reproducible spike trains in single cortical neurons. The analysis also reveals that the cells show a marked broadband coding of information, up to frequencies that are multiples of the firing rate of the respective neuron. This is in contrast to what is known for the simplest (and most popular) integrate-and-fire models, for which the cellular dynamics are described by a single space-independent variable. The extension of these one-compartment models to two-compartment models introduces a spatially distinction between soma and dendrite and we could show that for particular neurons it is sufficient to quantitatively reproduce all experimentally measured spike-train and input-output statistics, including the highfrequency information-transfer. Therefore, the effect of the spatial structure can be an important (structural) mechanism that can have influence on the neuronal dynamics. Additionally to the above considerations, by means of input-output statistics of particular neurons, we propose a method to compute Gaussian stimuli that are supposed to evoke prescribed spike trains in the respective neuron. Using experiments and simulations, we show that the prescribed spike trains can be evoked with a reliability that is comparable to the intrinsic reliability of the neuron under investigation.

Detta är en kvalitativ och explorativ studie som grundas på ett socialkonstruktivistiskt synsätt. Det socialkonstruktivistiska synsättet har vi haft i åtanke då respondenternas svar kan se annorlunda ut i framtiden. Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera hur konsumenterna uppfattar kundcentrerad marknadsföring via internet och den övervakning som det innebär. Ett andra syfte är att försöka bidra till marknadsföringsforskningen genom att analysera problemet ur ett kritiskt övervakningsperspektiv. Vi undersökte respondenternas attityder till den kundcentrerade marknadsföringen då tidigare forskning grundar sig mer på företagens perspektiv; ett effektivt tillvägagångssätt som är baserat på konsumentens tidigare aktiviteter vilket gör att det går att anpassa annonser till den specifika konsumenten. Företagen har sett detta som en god service då konsumenterna besparas annonser som de inte intresserar sig av. Hur ser konsumenterna på det här? Vi kunde se att respondenterna i vår studie till stor del, vare sig de tycker om det eller inte, anser att det är en effektiv metod som påverkar dem. Däremot ansåg en del respondenter att övervakningen är integritetskränkande och påträngande. Den här studien ska fungera som ett underlag för fortsatt forskning kring konsumenters attityder till den kundcentrerade marknadsföringen. / This is a qualitative and exploratory study which relies on a social constructionist view where the data might be different in the future. The purpose is to describe and analyze the consumers’ perceptions regarding the customer centric marketing including internet surveillance. A second purpose of the study is to contribute to the marketing science by analyzing the surveillancecomplication through a critical perspective. We were interested in finding out what our respondents’ stand on the marketing phenomenon. Prior research is mostly based on the external actors’ point of view; it is an effective marketing strategy based on the consumers’ activities. Since it is based on the consumers’ previous activities, the companies can provide relevant ads of what they believe the consumers to be wanting; hence it should be seen as a desired service. In our data, we found that the majority of respondents’, whether or not theyliked it, believe this to be an effective marketing tool, since it affects them, but also a tool that put them in a state of discomfort. The surveillance that has to take place to make the customer centric marketing effective is seen as i.a. intrusive and nosy. This study should work as a foundation and inspiration for future research where a larger sample is studied.