In recent years, the service industry has been made aware of the advantages of risk sharing and inter-firm collaborations. In the current turbulent business environment, a large proportion of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) firms rely on collaboration and partnering with other businesses. The value of such collaboration is highly enhanced by pooling resources to help exploit complementarities between the collaborating businesses and significantly increasing performance and management. Many studies have been conducted on the determinants of collaboration success or failures. However, authors have suggested further research to provide a framework to cover the factors responsible for enhanced value within collaborative working. In particular, the susceptibility of SMEs to successfully collaborate is significantly less than that of large organisations. Hence this was the focus of the current study. The research was focused on establishing the value enhancement of collaborative working within ServQ's, the sponsoring organisation's, collaborative environment. The main aim of this research project is 'To investigate the potential of Value-Enhanced Collaborative Working (VECW) in an SME management advisory firm'. The aim was achieved with the help of the development of a VECW framework based on the issues faced by ServQ's collaborative environment. To achieve this aim, an inductive research approach was adopted; this was facilitated by literature reviews and research methods such as semi-structured interviews, focus groups and scenario planning. This was to ensure that the project was an applied research based on the sound foundations of available theories on collaborative working. The research was initiated with a preliminary case study of the sponsoring organisation to better understand it. This period of initial investigation entailed learning more about the organisation's management and working culture. Parallel to the initial case study, a literature review helped establish a definition of Value Enhanced Collaborative Working (VECW) as well as a conceptual VECW framework. Three key factors were identified in the conceptual VECW framework; these were considered as three separate but equally important branches that together will create a sustainable longterm collaborative working environment. The first factor identified was the People factor; the main output from this was the development of a Collaboration Charter. The Process factor developed a business process model for ServQ while the Tools factor was established through scenario planning. The output of this research was a development of a VECW framework. The research work progressed chronologically by first developing a conceptual VECW framework followed by the development of each of the People, Process and Tool factors in further detail with the help of mechanisms such as Collaboration Charter and business process models. Eventually the framework recommended how all these three factors together enhance the value of collaboration in ServQ. These outputs established the mechanisms to balance all the three factors within ServQ resulting in development of a sustainable collaboration environment. The research has contributed to knowledge by providing a VECW framework in an industrial setting that can be replicated in similar organisations with required changes. In addition, it complements the wide array of literature pertaining to Collaborative Working, SMEs, services organisations and Value.

We live in a rich visual world that we experience as a seamless and detailed stream of continuous information. However, we can only attend to and remember a small portion of our visual environment. The visual system is tasked with stitching together snapshots of the world through near constant eye movements, with around three saccades per second. The situation is further complicated with the visual system being contralaterally organized. Each eye movement can bring items in our environment into a different visual hemifield. Despite the many challenges and limitations of attention and the visual system, how does the brain stitch together our experience of our visual environment? One potential mechanism that could contribute to our conscious perception of a continuous visual experience could be visual working memory (VWM) working to maintain representations of items across saccades. Electrophysiological activity using event-related potentials has revealed the contralateral delay activity (CDA), which is a sustained negativity contralateral to the side of the visual field where subjects are attending. However, how does this work if we are constantly moving our eyes? How do we form a stable representation of items across eye movements? Does the representation transfer over to the other side of the brain, constantly shuffling the items between the hemispheres? Or does it stay in the hemisphere contralateral to the visual field where the items were located when we originally created the representation? The consequences of eye movements need to be examined at multiple levels and time points throughout the process. The goal of my doctoral dissertation is to investigate VWM representations throughout the dynamic peri-saccadic window. In Experiment 1, I will first compare VWM representations across shifts of attention and eye position. With the focus on the effect of maintaining attention on items across eye movements, Experiment 2 will also explore eye movements both towards and away from attended visual hemifields. Finally, Experiment 3 is designed to substantiate our use of the CDA as a tool for examining VWM representations across eye movements by confirming that the CDA is indeed established in retinotopic coordinates.

Dans un contexte où la psychiatrie et plus largement le champ de la santé mentale semblent peiner à prendre soin de ceux qui y travaillent, nous souhaitons proposer une réactualisation du paradigme de la psychothérapie institutionnelle (P.I.) à l’aune des expériences, des pratiques et des discours des professionnels d’aujourd’hui. A l’aide d’une méthodologie qualitative, nous avons comparé les résultats d’une étude de documents portant sur les écrits des principaux auteurs de la P.I. des années 50 à 80 et les conclusions d’une enquête de terrain menée dans quatorze institutions sanitaires et médico-sociales, au sein desquelles nous avons rencontré 85 professionnels du soin et de l’accompagnement lors d’entretiens semi-dirigés que nous avons enregistrés, retranscrits et anonymisés. Notre recherche montre que la situation du monde de la santé français crée des opportunités et des risques pour la pérennité de la P.I. : préoccupation grandissante pour la Qualité de Vie au Travail de soignants en difficulté dans leurs services et absence de modèle ad hoc en santé mentale pour penser le travail d’équipe, mais aussi influence du paradigme de la désinstitutionalisation en psychiatrie et rejet de toute approche revendiquant sa dimension « institutionnelle ». Après avoir thématisé le corpus de la P.I. en huit concepts opératoires ou « opérateurs » : distinction statut/rôle/fonction, coefficient thérapeutique de la vie quotidienne, « faire avec » comme mode relationnel principal, fonction de décision partagée et agie en réunion, liberté de circulation, fonction d’accueil, principe hippocratique de « ne pas suraliéner » et greffe d’ouvert, nous démontrons, extraits d’entretiens et de journaux de bords à l’appui, que chacun de ces opérateurs travaille encore fortement le champ de la santé mentale. Nous proposons par conséquent de redonner à la P.I. sa place de théorie de la pratique du travail d’équipe en psychiatrie et, plus encore, d’étendre ses conceptions aux liens inter-institutionnels en santé mentale afin d’analyser et de contribuer à leur développement dans les territoires français / In a context where psychiatry and more broadly the French mental health field seem to fail at caring for their carers, we wish to actualize the institutional psychotherapy (I.P.) paradigm in the light of the practices and discourses of today’s mental health professionals. Using a qualitative methodology, we compared the results of a document analysis we conducted on the writings of the major authors of the I.P. movement from the 50’s to the 80’s to the results of a field study we led in fourteen sanitary and medicosocial institutions, in which we interviewed 85 mental health professionals. Our research shows the current situation of the French mental health field has created a series of risks and opportunities for the sustainability of the I.P. paradigm, most notably a growing concern for workers’ Quality of Working Life, the influence of the deinstitutionalization paradigm, and the defiance surrounding the term « institution » itself, despite its rich and plural meaning. We transcribed, anonymized and analyzed the semi-directed interviews we conducted, and compared them to the eight « operators » of the I.P. movement which emerged from our document analysis. These operators help shed light on the questions which always lie under the organization of care for people with mental health issues : distinguishing between status, role and function ; considering daily life as having a therapeutic coefficient ; doing things together as the prime relationship structure between users and carers ; considering decision-making as a collective function enacted during pluriprofessional meetings ; freedom of circulation ; welcoming the singularity of patients ; trying not to further alienate them ; and finally “grafting openness” as a way to prevent the withdrawal of patients from their peers, and the withdrawal of the institutions away from the community. All these operators name important questions and problems mental health professionals deal with in their day-to-day practice with people suffering from mental health issues. We therefore offer to actualize the I.P. paradigm so as to help these professionals reflect on their practices and empower themselves

The benefits of an early integration of palliative care in patients with cancer were already shown in various studies. Regarding the increase of palliative care it is important to ensure an adequate end of life care (EoL Care). One possibility is the use of clinical quality indicators (cQIs). Therefore the present study sought to explore the applicability of cQIs in the German health care system and in certification programs of the German Cancer Society. Retrospective clinical routine data from patients with recurrent or newly diagnosed lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, melanoma or brain tumor treated at the University Hospital Würzburg were used. 331 patients were included in the analysis. 18,1% underwent a tumorspecific therapy in the last 14 days of life and 21.8% had a new tumorspecific therapy in the last 30 days of life. This was most common in patients with lung cancer and newly diagnosed cancer. 56.2% had contact with palliative care services. 17.2% were admitted to an intensive care unit and 3.7% had more than one emergency admission during the last 30 days of life. This was most common in patients with gastrointestinal or lung cancer and in patients with newly diagnosed cancer or tumorspecific therapy. Only 22.4% had a documented formal living will. Due to the variant results shown between the different cancer diagnoses we concluded that it is possible to compare the quality of EoL Care in different samples using cQIs. As shown in various studies the benchmarks defined by C. Earle could not be achieved in all cQIs. Therefore we conclude that the use of cQIs comparing the quality of EoL Care in an international approach is limited. On the other hand it could be stated, that cQIs are valuable tools to assess the quality of EoL Care in individual hospitals to detect gaps in the quality of care and to provide the basis for a quality improvement. Therefore it could be advisable to implement cQIs in certification programs of the German Cancer Society. / Zahlreiche Studien haben in den vergangenen Jahren den Vorteil einer frühen Einbeziehung der Palliativmedizin in die Versorgung von Tumorpatienten nachgewiesen. Aufgrund der Zunahme an palliativmedizinischen Einrichtungen besteht Bedarf, die Qualität der Patientenversorgung zu evaluieren. Hierfür können klinische QI zum Einsatz kommen, anhand derer auch andere Aspekte der Versorgung am Lebensende (z.B. Zeitpunkt der letzten tumorspezifischen Therapie) evaluiert werden können. In der vorliegenden Arbeit sollte geklärt werden, inwieweit sich klinische QI auf das deutsche Gesundheitssystem übertragen lassen und in Kennziffern für Zertifizierungsprogramme der Deutschen Krebsgesellschaft überführbar sind. Hierfür wurden mithilfe des SAP retrospektiv die Daten von Tumorpatienten der Entitäten Lunge, ZNS, Darm und Haut erhoben, die im Jahr 2011 aufgrund der Diagnose einer primären Metastasierung oder aufgrund eines Rezidivs und/oder Metastasen in einer Tumorkonferenz an der Universitätsklinik Würzburg vorgestellt wurden. Von den insgesamt 631 Patienten war eine Auswertung bei 331 möglich. 263 wurden ausgeschlossen – größtenteils, weil sie noch nicht verstorben waren – und bei weiteren 37 Patienten war die Datenlage nicht ausreichend. Im Folgenden sind die wichtigsten Ergebnisse dieser Studie nochmal kurz zusammengefasst. In den letzten 14 Lebenstagen hatten 18,1% eine tumorspezifische Therapie und 8,4% eine Chemotherapie, wobei die Lungenkrebspatienten am häufigsten betroffen waren. Es ergaben sich signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den einzelnen Tumorentitäten. Für die Umstellung bzw. den Start einer neuen tumorspezifischen Therapie in den letzten 30 Lebenstagen ergab sich ein Anteil von 21,8%, wobei 8,4% aller Patienten eine Chemotherapie erhielten und auch hier die Lungenkrebspatienten den größten Anteil ausmachten. Ebenfalls zeigten sich Unterschiede zwischen den Entitäten und zudem zwischen Primär- und Rezidivfällen. Kontakt zur Palliativmedizin bestand bei 56,2% aller Patienten und dies am häufigsten bei den Hirntumorpatienten und Rezidivfällen. Mit 12,9% hatten nur wenige Patienten einen Erstkontakt kürzer 3 Tage vor Tod, was bei Patienten mit tumorspezifischer Therapie signifikant häufiger war. Eine medizinische Akutversorgung hatten 19,9%, wobei 17,2% intensivmedizinisch behandelt wurden und nur 3,7% mehr als eine Notaufnahme hatten. Am häufigsten betroffen waren die Lungen- und Darmkrebspatienten. Ein höheres Risiko bestand zudem für Patienten mit Primärfall und tumorspezifischer Therapie am Lebensende. Eine Patientenverfügung war bei 22,4% dokumentiert, wobei für 12,4% eine Datenerhebung nicht möglich war. Aufgrund der dargelegten Unterschiede zwischen den einzelnen Tumorentitäten und zwischen den Primär- und Rezidivfällen lässt sich festhalten, dass anhand der QI vergleichende Aussagen zur Versorgungsqualität am Lebensende möglich sind. Wie bereits in verschiedenen internationalen Studien gezeigt, ließen sich auch in dieser Arbeit die Sollvorgaben von C. Earle nur für die QI „Therapie in den letzten 14 Lebenstagen“ und „Palliativkontakt“ einhalten. Ein Vergleich der Versorgungsqualität in verschiedenen Krankenhäusern ist daher vermutlich nur bedingt möglich. Die QI sind dagegen gut dafür geeignet, die Versorgungssituation an einzelnen Kliniken darzustellen, um Lücken der Versorgungsqualität aufzudecken und so die Grundlage für eine Qualitätsverbesserung zu schaffen. Daher ist es durchaus empfehlenswert, die QI im Rahmen von Zertifizierungsprogrammen der Deutschen Krebsgesellschaft zu testen. Um eine vollständige und zeitsparende Datenerhebung zu ermöglichen, sollte allerdings die Dokumentation von Patientendaten verbessert werden, so dass auch eine effiziente Umsetzung im klinischen Alltag möglich ist.

This thesis is an investigation of software development for children aged six to ten years old. This is a challenging area; despite the trend for children to be exposed to computer technology at an earlier age, they often struggle to utilize it effectively. Children are not merely miniature adults; they have their own needs which are often not met by traditional software. In particular, this thesis focuses on the task of music management: a task that children take much interest in but for which they are given few tools. We address this with the design of a new music management system: the Kid's Music Box. The development of Kid's Music Box is documented in four main parts: background research, requirements gathering, design and implementation, and evaluation. Background research identifies the strengths and weaknesses of conventional music organizers with respect to young users. Requirements gathering took the form of a focus group study, which aimed to overcome the distinct challenges of obtaining input from children. The design of Kid's Music Box builds on this work, by incorporating functionality, metaphors and design elements that suit the needs and capabilities of young children. Expert evaluations and formal evaluation from children users showed promising results, which concluded that Kid's Music Box is better than other organizers in terms of managing music for children.

This thesis investigates Australian middle management teamwork in private and public sector organisations. The research sought to understand key teamwork variables previously overviewed in the literature, but never synthesised and substantially investigated. The main aim, and value, of the study is to bring greater clarity to business organisation teamwork in Australia by determining the variables that define teamwork, and creating a practical model for teams to manage their development. the research rests on a paradigm of post-positiveness, with a particular emphasis on critical realism.The main data collection methodology employed was a survey instrument. The selected paradigm of critical realism allowed a mixture of exploratory methods, and therefore team member focus group reviews were employed to triangulate and confirm the teamwork concepts extracted from the extant literature review. The results indicate that the research hypotheses were not all supported by the data. In general, the hypotheses logically theorised that people in the same teams in the same organisations shared the same attitude and effectiveness perception of their teams. This model could also be used to gain a first pass understanding of team success potential. It should be of assistance to operational management review team processes and human resource departments trying to decide if team members need specific help in the form of education, team member rotation or team member mix adjustment. The model may also help senior management individuals better understand the process required for successful middle management teamwork. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

<p>Previous research has shown both positive and negative effects of gaming on academic and cognitive performance. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of gaming on development of working memory (WM), inattention, reading and math ability using a longitudinal design. A randomly chosen sample of 335 (168 girls) 6–25 year olds performed tests of visuo-spatial and verbal WM, reading and math ability twice, with a two year interval. Gaming and inattention were assed with questionnaires. Time spent gaming did not affect development of any of the variables. However, game category did correlate with development of visuo-spatial WM, with action-gamers having a more favourable development. There was, however, no positive interaction with more time spent gaming for action-gamers. These results suggest that gaming should not be regarded as a damaging leisure activity. There could instead be some positive effects of gaming, but future research should try to identify the aspects of gaming contributing to this effect.</p>

<p>Gaming has become one of the most common activities for children and adolescents, and it is therefore of interest to investigate effects of gaming on cognition and behavior. The present study investigates if gaming is related to working memory capacity (WMC) or inattentive symptoms. We distinguished between three categories: action games, strategy games and non-gamers. The present study hypothesized that games involving higher cognitive functions, such as strategy games, could have an enhancing effect on working memory. A total of 211 children (age 5-16) participated. Gaming and inattentive behaviour was measured through parental assessment. WMC was measured with one verbal and one visuospatial task. No relation between gaming and inattentional symptoms was found. Strategy gamers performed better on the visuospatial and the verbal WM-tasks, but more time spent playing strategy games was not associated with significantly higher WMC, which indicates that this finding could be due to self-selection rather than being an causal effect of playing.</p>

<p>Gaming has become one of the most common activities for children and adolescents, and it is therefore of interest to investigate effects of gaming on cognition and behavior. The present study investigates if gaming is related to working memory capacity (WMC) or inattentive symptoms. We distinguished between three categories: action games, strategy games and non-gamers. The present study hypothesized that games involving higher cognitive functions, such as strategy games, could have an enhancing effect on working memory. A total of 211 children (age 5-16) participated. Gaming and inattentive behaviour was measured through parental assessment. WMC was measured with one verbal and one visuospatial task. No relation between gaming and inattentional symptoms was found. Strategy gamers performed better on the visuospatial and the verbal WM-tasks, but more time spent playing strategy games was not associated with significantly higher WMC, which indicates that this finding could be due to self-selection rather than being an causal effect of playing.</p>