During the turbulent times facing contemporary organisations, managers and employees need a precise understanding of the nature of team dynamics that develops quality service to customers. Extensive literature searches reveal few research studies focused on the nature of teamwork, which develops value to customers. The purpose of this study is to examine the value of teamwork for providing quality service within the Hong Kong shiprepair industry, outline the insight gleaned and recommend future research. This study aims to link empirically the Western developed Deutsch's (1949a, 19496, 1973, 1980, 1985, 1990) Theory of Cooperation and Competition with the innovation of teamwork and to assist in understanding the variance in the performance of these teams. Literature suggests that the relationships and interaction within the work teams can very much impact the overall performance of these work teams. The extent that these work teams are able to develop cooperative goals can promote productive and constructive communication and problem solving (constructive controversy) in their interactions. A constructive interaction leads to team members' perception of high team confidence. With trust, strong work relationship, team morale and perceived confidence, team effectiveness is enhanced on quality customer service (Alper, Tjosvold and Law, 1998; Tjosvold, Hui and Law, 1998; Tjosvold, Moy and Sasaki, 1996, 1999; Wong et al., 1999). The research also tests the extent of impact of traditional Chinese values of power distance and collectivism as contributing to cooperative goals and encourages an openminded discussion of opposing views (constructive controversy). It proposes that by adopting cooperative goals, shiprepair yard management in Hong Kong may meet the twin challenges of involving employees fully into the organisation and providing quality service to customers. / The result suggests that the Western derived Theory of Cooperation and Competition, if appropriately and skillfully expressed, might have the potential as one alternative to understand the goal interdependence dynamics as experienced by the Hong Kong Chinese in the shiprepair industry. Nevertheless, the result is not confirmatory to the main hypothesis of the study that team confidence is significantly related to quality customer service. Findings of this study question whether a Western theory or research instrument derived is appropriate for application to a Chinese work setting (Bond and Wang, 1983). Although it is useful to test concepts developed in one culture to another, yet theories from the West cannot be assumed to apply in the East (Hofstede, 1993; Triandis, 1983). An important finding of this research is, however, that this Western derived theory might not be suitable to be applied in a work group of very low levels of education and/or low exposure to the modern workplace practice and Western influences.

This thesis aims to explain how British naval power was sustained in the Indian Ocean during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. To improve efficiency and economy, the Admiralty had to reorganise the management of shore support services, as well as to rationalise the bases available to the navy to meet the enemy it faced. The basic proposal of this thesis is that British naval power was projected overseas by the Admiralty's effective reconciliation of two competing demands, the naval demand for strategic deployment and the domestic demand for reform. The thesis argues that British naval power in the Indian Ocean was increased by the acquisition of the Cape of Good Hope and Trincomalee and the naval bases built at these locations. The removal of the navy from complete dependence on the East India Company for support services was part of a long term policy of increasing Admiralty control of facilities in the east. In 1793 Bombay was the main naval base but Madras quickly became another hub supporting naval activities in the east. Other locations were considered. Calcutta was used and investigations were made into developing Penang as a navy base before Trincomalee became part of Britain’s long-term naval infrastructure. At the Cape a separate naval command was given responsibility for part of the Indian Ocean. Following the capture of Mauritius in 1810 this island was used temporarily as a forward support base. Admiralty control of the naval support services delivered to the squadrons at the Cape and in the East Indies was dramatically improved by the appointment overseas of resident commissioners from 1809. This resulted from the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Naval Revision, first suggested by the Commissioners on Fees in 1788. Resident commissioners ensured Admiralty instructions and policies were implemented and executed, resulting in improved efficiency and reduced costs.

Ce travail porte sur les pratiques sociales et la politisation des ouvriers de l'arsenal de Toulon à la fin de l'époque moderne et durant la Révolution française, pour comprendre, par « en bas », comment naît un collectif nouveau : la classe sociale. Cette étude s'appuie sur des archives peu ou pas utilisées en histoire navale. Les sources médicales, judiciaires et notariées, sans négliger les correspondances officielles et les registres matriculaires ou cadastraux, permettent de découvrir toutes les dimensions, individuelles et collectives, des comportements quotidiens des travailleurs toulonnais. À partir des années 1760, les nouveaux rapports d'autorité dus à l'apparition du contremaître et de l'ingénieur, et la mise en oeuvre du libéralisme économique obligent les ouvriers à reformuler les contours de leur identité laborieuse basée sur les routines des chantiers et les expériences en mer. En revanche, la forte proportion de Méridionaux, la puissante reproduction sociale et la ségrégation socio-spatiale à l'intérieur de la ville perpétuent la dimension communautaire des ouvriers de l'arsenal. C'est dans le champ politique, au cours de la Révolution, que leurs pratiques et leurs représentations sont le plus profondément bouleversées. Ils participent alors à l'organisation du port, s'approprient les sections urbaines pour tenir leurs assemblées et accentuent une implication citoyenne par des modes de participation spécifiques qui transforment leur recherche d'économie morale en économie populaire politique. Notre thèse montre donc que la Révolution française a permis la constitution d'un collectif prolétaire et son insertion dans le monde contemporain des luttes sociales. / This work focuses on social practices and politicization of workers in the arsenal of Toulon at the end of the modern era and during the French Revolution in order to understand, from below, how comes a new group: the class. This study is based on few or no archives used in naval history. By analysing medical sources, judicial and notarized without neglecting official correspondence and matriculaires or land registers, we can discover all aspects of the daily behavior of workers in the dockyard of Toulon. From the 1760s, workers must reformulate the contours of their identity based on their laborious routines on docks and their experiences at sea because of the appearance of the foreman and engineer which enforces new authority reports, and of the implementation of economic liberalism. In contrast, the proportion of Southerners, the powerful social reproduction and socio-spatial segregation within the city perpetuate the community dimension of the workers of the arsenal. In fact, their practices and representations are most profoundly affected in the political field, during the Revolution. They participate in the organization of the port, the urban sections are used to hold their meetings and their citizen involvement is amplified by specific modes of participation that are transforming their search for moral economy in popular political economy. Therefore thesis shows that the French Revolution led to the establishment of a proletarian class and its inclusion in the contemporary world of social struggles.