The field of strategic human resource management attempts to investigate the role and contribution that human resources may provide to organizations. Although various theoretical perspectives have been applied to the field of strategic human resource management, some scholars still label this field as atheoretical. I apply discretion theory to this atheoretical discussion with the expectation that discretion theory will allow a better examination of what may be occurring in the “black box” between human resource practices (i.e. high performance work practices) and organizational outcomes. Specifically, my intent was to determine under what conditions human resource managers might influence the high performance work practices/organizational outcomes relationship. I surveyed dyads consisting of one senior human resource manager and one other human resource employee within various organizations to assess 1) the nature of the human resource practices that each organization employs, 2) the intensity of the senior human resource manager’s individual discretion, and 3) the intensity of the organization’s contextual discretion. Moderated regression analysis was utilized to test each hypothesis. Upon testing each hypothesis, partial support was found for the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1a: The use of high performance work practices will be negatively related to absenteeism, Hypothesis 1b: The use of high performance work practices will be negatively related to turnover, Hypothesis 2a: The use of high performance work practices will be positively related to ROA, Hypothesis 3b: Individual discretion will moderate the relationship between HPWPs and turnover: specifically, HPWPs will be more strongly related to turnover (i.e. less turnover) when individual discretion is high than when individual discretion is low, and Hypothesis 4a: Individual discretion will moderate the relationship between HPWPs and ROA; specifically, HPWPs will be more strongly related to ROA (i.e. higher levels of ROA) when individual discretion is high than when individual discretion is low. No support was found for Hypotheses 2b, 3a, and 4b. With respect to each of the three-way interaction hypotheses, slope difference tests revealed that none of the slopes for were significantly different from one another, hence no support was provided for Hypotheses 5a-5c, 6a-6c, 7a-7c, and 8a-8c.

Lekmannarevisorer är ofta förtroendevalda utan någon relevant utbildning som skulle anses likvärdig den en yrkesverksam revisor har. Trots att lekmannarevisorerna inte har några direkta formkrav som en professionell revisor har så ska de följa god revisionssed. Grunden för god revisonssed är enligt FAR att revisorn ska vara oberoende, ha rätt kompetens och vårda tystnadsplikten. En verksam revisor har dessa ledord i ryggmärgen men en novis (som man kan utgå från att en lekmannarevisor är) har de troligen inte lika inpräntade. Man kan undra vad som är drivkraften bakom hur dessa lekmannarevisorer i idrottsföreningar agerar i olika situationer med tanke på att det också är mycket känslor involverade. Målsättningen för en idrottsförening är inte inriktad på samma vinstdrivande mål som andra bolag utan det är de sportsliga framgångarna som värdesätts högst. Syftet med denna studie är att utforska vad som påverkar handlingsutrymmet för lekmannarevisorer som verkar i idrottsföreningar. En explorativ forskningsfilosofi har använts tillsammans med en abduktiv ansats och en kvalitativ metod.  Med studien har vi funnit att volontärerna har en mycket viktig roll för idrottsföreningarnas överlevnad och att de rekryteringsproblem som finns idag troligen påverkar lekmannarevisorns handlingsutrymme negativt. Vidare visade det sig att den ekonomiska kompetens som vi trodde var en förutsättning för att kunna följa god revisionssed fick helt andra effekter på revisionen, främst negativa då granskningen av verksamhet (styrelsens arbete) inte gjordes. Studie visar också på att det finns ett behov av tydligare riktlinjer och krav på föreningarna och lekmannarevisorerna så att uppdraget i sig i framtiden har större möjlighet att utföras i linje med medlemmarnas intresse och god revisionssed. Då författarna av denna uppsats inte har funnit någon tidigare forskning som tittat på lekmannarevisorers agerande i idrottsföreningar (utifrån handlingsutrymmet) så kan resultatet hjälpa till att förstå området bättre. Resultatet kan användas för att göra idrottsföreningar medvetna om vilka faktorer som påverkar lekmannarevisorernas agerande och på så vis belysa vikten av dessa när man utser lekmannarevisorer i framtiden. / Lay auditors are often elected without any relevant education that would be considered equivalent to the one a professional auditor has. Although the lay auditor has no direct formal requirements as of a professional auditor, the lay auditor still comply with generally accepted auditing standards. The backbone of these generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) according to FARs definition the auditor has to be independent, have the right skills and care for professional secrecy, in order to develop a trust for the auditor. For a professional auditor these guiding principles are second nature but for a novice (that one can assume that a lay auditor is) they are probably not as ingrained or even aware of them. With this in mind, one might wonder what the driving force behind how lay auditors in sports clubs act in different situations is, keeping the emotions involved in mind. The objective of a sports club is not focused on the same goals as other for-profit companies, but instead it is the sporting success that is of bigger value. The purpose of this study is to explore what affects the scope for lay auditors active in sports clubs. An exploratory research philosophy has been used along with an abductive approach and a qualitative method. In the study, we found that volunteers are very important in sports clubs survival. The recruitment problems that exist today are likely to affect the lay auditors’ discretion negative. It was also found that the economic expertise that we thought was a necessity to follow GAAS had quite different effects on the audit, mostly negative as the review of operations was not done. The study also shows the need for guidelines and requirements on the sports clubs and the lay auditors so that the task itself in the future is more likely to be carried out in line with the interests of the members and the GAAS. As the authors of this paper have not found any previous research that looked at the lay auditors’ behavior in sports clubs (using discretion) the results can help to understand this area better. The results can be useful for sports clubs to be aware of the factors that influence the behavior of lay auditor, thus highlighting the importance of these when appointing lay auditors in the future.

The field of strategic human resource management attempts to investigate the role and contribution that human resources may provide to organizations. Although various theoretical perspectives have been applied to the field of strategic human resource management, some scholars still label this field as atheoretical. I apply discretion theory to this atheoretical discussion with the expectation that discretion theory will allow a better examination of what may be occurring in the “black box” between human resource practices (i.e. high performance work practices) and organizational outcomes. Specifically, my intent was to determine under what conditions human resource managers might influence the high performance work practices/organizational outcomes relationship. I surveyed dyads consisting of one senior human resource manager and one other human resource employee within various organizations to assess 1) the nature of the human resource practices that each organization employs, 2) the intensity of the senior human resource manager’s individual discretion, and 3) the intensity of the organization’s contextual discretion. Moderated regression analysis was utilized to test each hypothesis. Upon testing each hypothesis, partial support was found for the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1a: The use of high performance work practices will be negatively related to absenteeism, Hypothesis 1b: The use of high performance work practices will be negatively related to turnover, Hypothesis 2a: The use of high performance work practices will be positively related to ROA, Hypothesis 3b: Individual discretion will moderate the relationship between HPWPs and turnover: specifically, HPWPs will be more strongly related to turnover (i.e. less turnover) when individual discretion is high than when individual discretion is low, and Hypothesis 4a: Individual discretion will moderate the relationship between HPWPs and ROA; specifically, HPWPs will be more strongly related to ROA (i.e. higher levels of ROA) when individual discretion is high than when individual discretion is low. No support was found for Hypotheses 2b, 3a, and 4b. With respect to each of the three-way interaction hypotheses, slope difference tests revealed that none of the slopes for were significantly different from one another, hence no support was provided for Hypotheses 5a-5c, 6a-6c, 7a-7c, and 8a-8c.

Harold Lasswell (1936) defined politics as the exploration of "who gets what, when, and how." As such, one of the central concerns of democratic governance is the role that affected interests play not only in politics, but in the implementation of adopted policies as well. In this dissertation, I use both comparative method case studies, as well as pooled-time series statistical techniques, to examine the effects of political, economic and market forces, and competition between the affected interests on implementation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. The findings of this, as well as previous, research shows that state-level implementing agencies have some discretion in enforcement activities; however, closer examination shows that this discretion is rarely used. This lack of use of regulatory discretion by the state-level implementing agencies suggests that in most states, there is either sufficient competition between the affected interests to neutralize the excessive use of discretion in enforcement activity, or that there is insufficient pressure placed on the implementing agencies by the affected interests to warrant the use of discretion.

Associations are embedded in many aspects of filmmaking. It is this artist's goal to analyze visual associations in the process and product of an original narrative video piece called Discretion. Character relationships and plot structure are examples of nonconcrete visuals developed in preproduction. Family trees and plot diagrams provide a structural map for the film and are helpful tools to communicate with the cast and crew. Art direction and wardrobe are examples of concrete visuals developed during production. For example, wardrobe with certain colors may be assigned to each character in the film. Editing and compositing allow further development in the postproduction phase. Juxtaposing scenes and imagery results in a more complex web of connections for the viewer to discover. In effect, this thesis is meant to explore the filmmaking process with a special emphasis given to visual associations. In this discussion, the video will be referred to as a film to relate concepts to other films and to the filmmaking process. However, it is important to note that interchanging these words is a common practice that is not acceptable in many industry settings.

The aim of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of the administrative officials work with assessments in home studies of adoption. To answer the purpose, we chose to focus on the guidelines for administrative official’s assessments in home studies of adoption and what assessment areas that is fundamental to the administrative official’s assessments. The study is structured on the basis of a qualitative approach where we have used semi-structured interviews. We interviewed seven administrative officials in the social services which conducted home studies of adoption. The interviews were conducted in different municipalities in order to demonstrate that the result does not depend on local circumstances. We can however say that administrative officials in the various municipalities had close cooperation among themselves, which resulted in that the local factor could have some impact on the result. We have analysed the results based on theories of discretion and the street-level bureaucracy. We have in this study concluded that all administrative officials used the same guidelines and almost all of the administrative officials used the same investigation method. Even though all the administrative officials emanated from the same guidelines and though almost all of the seven administrative officials also used the same investigating method, we discovered in the results and analysis section that the implementation in home studies of adoption may differ between administrative officials in the various municipalities. We have interpreted this result as a consequence based on how each administrative official uses their discretion. Furthermore we found that the administrative officials did not think that there was one assessment area that was more important. There are a number of areas that are important to consider which depends on the applicant's background.

As a result of the Supreme Court’s broad definition for ‘best interests of the corporation’ in recent decisions, the author examines to whom managers ought to owe their fiduciary duties normatively and what role managerial discretion has in this debate. The author argues that the lack of clarity offered by the judiciary, in this area of corporate law, has led to the adoption of a wide discretion being afforded to managers. An examination of several rationales fails to justify this continued adoption of a broad discretion. The author argues that granting managers with wide discretionary powers is problematic because the interests of constituencies will not be adequately protected. At the very least, statutory reform is necessary to protect the most vulnerable stakeholders. The author recommends that the law be amended to require that managers, in performing their fiduciary duties, regard the interests of employees and shareholders.

As a result of the Supreme Court’s broad definition for ‘best interests of the corporation’ in recent decisions, the author examines to whom managers ought to owe their fiduciary duties normatively and what role managerial discretion has in this debate. The author argues that the lack of clarity offered by the judiciary, in this area of corporate law, has led to the adoption of a wide discretion being afforded to managers. An examination of several rationales fails to justify this continued adoption of a broad discretion. The author argues that granting managers with wide discretionary powers is problematic because the interests of constituencies will not be adequately protected. At the very least, statutory reform is necessary to protect the most vulnerable stakeholders. The author recommends that the law be amended to require that managers, in performing their fiduciary duties, regard the interests of employees and shareholders.

Executive discretion, the latitude for executives strategic decisions, is a powerful moderator of strategic decision making. In spite of its potential contribution to strategic management studies, Hambrick and Finkelstein's (1987) socio-political model of executive discretion has received little empirical research effort. Some of the basic propositions of the model, which incorporates industry, firm and individual characteristics as determinants of discretion have not been empirically tested. The restricted research effort is partly attributable to the lack of quantitative measures for industry-level discretion. This thesis initially uses the correlation between industry-level attentional homogeneity, the similarity in foci of attention of executives in an industry, and industry-level discretion to produce 116 new values for industry-level discretion for 23 U.S. 4-digit SIC coded industries for the years 1990 to1997. Predictive validity for the new values is demonstrated using long-term debt data and annual accounts adjustment data. Theil's (1992b) industry variety measure based on information theory is modified to produce strategic variety measures that permit pan-industry comparisons. Strong support is demonstrated for a positive association between variety in long-term strategic positions and industry-level discretion. Some weak evidence suggesting large firms in low discretion industries may compete using behaviours that impact on current accounts is also identified.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-58).