One key focus in the 21st century is adjusting work and personal life in order for individuals to find a rhythm to help them combine work with other responsibilities and aspirations in their personal lives. Over the past few decades it has become evident that work and personal life are interrelated domains and that employed individuals experience interaction between these domains. Although the amount and extent of work-family research studies in South Africa have progressed considerably over the past decade, it is not clear how the experiences of the interference between work and nonwork roles compare to the experiences of employees in other countries. There is also no South Africa instrument that measures the interference between work and different nonwork roles in both directions (work-to-nonwork and nonwork-to-work). This could pose potential problems for organisations and future workfamily studies in South Africa. The objectives of this research were 1) to gain insight into the interaction between work and personal life in the South African context and how South African employees experience this interaction; 2) to develop a new work-nonwork interference instrument that is suitable for the South African context and that addresses measurement and theoretical issues relating to previous work-family instruments; and 3) to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed work-nonwork interference instrument. The empirical study consisted of three phases. During the first phase, exploratory interviews (i.e. 92 interviews) were conducted in order to gather information regarding the interaction that individuals experience between their work and their personal lives. Thereafter, a new instrument that measures work-nonwork interference was developed and tested with a pilot study (n = 245) in order to overcome some of the measurement limitations relating to previous work-family instruments. During the final phase, the psychometric properties of the newly developed work-nonwork interference instrument were tested (Le. construct validity, discriminant validity, convergent validity and external validity; n = 366). Results from the exploratory phase indicated that South African employees experience various forms of interaction between their work and other dimensions in their personal life (e.g. domestic, leisure, exercise, studies, community, extended family and religion/spirituality). In addition, South African employees experience various stressors in their work environment that contribute to this interaction (i.e. general stressors such as pressure, overload, workload, stressful working arrangements, and strenuous relationships at work, and more occupation-specific stressors such as stressful nature of the job and not being valued in an unsupportive work environment). Additional supportive aspects present in their work environment included supportive work arrangements, supportive relationships at work and occupation satisfaction. Results also indicated consequences specifically related to all the forms of interaction (e.g. time-based consequences, build-up and spillover of emotions, and energy depletion) and consequences that are more related to a specific form of interaction (e.g. mental preoccupation, strain on relationships, managing responsibilities, limiting of work opportunities, energy generation, learned skills). From the exploratory study, very similar findings were obtained and some unique contributions were made to existing workfamily literature. The antecedents mentioned are in line with international literature (physical workload, time pressures, physical stressors, shift work and recipient contact) and the consequences are very similar to categorised consequences reported in international research (i.e. physical, psychological, behavioural, attitudinal, organisational consequences or work, nonwork and health-related consequences). During the second phase a new work-nonwork interference (W-NWI) instrument was developed which differentiates among interference between work and various specific roles in an individuals' personal life (i.e. work-parent interference, parent-work interference, workspouse interference, spouse-work interference, work-religion/spirituality interference, religion/spirituality-work interference, work-domestic interference, domestic-work interference). During the evaluation study various problematic items were eliminated using the Rasch measurement model. The fmal phase included the validation study where the psychometric properties of the new instrument were investigated. The results provided evidence for constrUct, discriminant and convergent validity, reliability and significant relations with external variables. Tills study provides evidence for the psychometric properties of the new instrument, which researchers and managers can use to investigate the specmc interference between work and different nonwork roles in employees' private lives. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

One key focus in the 21st century is adjusting work and personal life in order for individuals to find a rhythm to help them combine work with other responsibilities and aspirations in their personal lives. Over the past few decades it has become evident that work and personal life are interrelated domains and that employed individuals experience interaction between these domains. Although the amount and extent of work-family research studies in South Africa have progressed considerably over the past decade, it is not clear how the experiences of the interference between work and nonwork roles compare to the experiences of employees in other countries. There is also no South Africa instrument that measures the interference between work and different nonwork roles in both directions (work-to-nonwork and nonwork-to-work). This could pose potential problems for organisations and future workfamily studies in South Africa. The objectives of this research were 1) to gain insight into the interaction between work and personal life in the South African context and how South African employees experience this interaction; 2) to develop a new work-nonwork interference instrument that is suitable for the South African context and that addresses measurement and theoretical issues relating to previous work-family instruments; and 3) to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed work-nonwork interference instrument. The empirical study consisted of three phases. During the first phase, exploratory interviews (i.e. 92 interviews) were conducted in order to gather information regarding the interaction that individuals experience between their work and their personal lives. Thereafter, a new instrument that measures work-nonwork interference was developed and tested with a pilot study (n = 245) in order to overcome some of the measurement limitations relating to previous work-family instruments. During the final phase, the psychometric properties of the newly developed work-nonwork interference instrument were tested (Le. construct validity, discriminant validity, convergent validity and external validity; n = 366). Results from the exploratory phase indicated that South African employees experience various forms of interaction between their work and other dimensions in their personal life (e.g. domestic, leisure, exercise, studies, community, extended family and religion/spirituality). In addition, South African employees experience various stressors in their work environment that contribute to this interaction (i.e. general stressors such as pressure, overload, workload, stressful working arrangements, and strenuous relationships at work, and more occupation-specific stressors such as stressful nature of the job and not being valued in an unsupportive work environment). Additional supportive aspects present in their work environment included supportive work arrangements, supportive relationships at work and occupation satisfaction. Results also indicated consequences specifically related to all the forms of interaction (e.g. time-based consequences, build-up and spillover of emotions, and energy depletion) and consequences that are more related to a specific form of interaction (e.g. mental preoccupation, strain on relationships, managing responsibilities, limiting of work opportunities, energy generation, learned skills). From the exploratory study, very similar findings were obtained and some unique contributions were made to existing workfamily literature. The antecedents mentioned are in line with international literature (physical workload, time pressures, physical stressors, shift work and recipient contact) and the consequences are very similar to categorised consequences reported in international research (i.e. physical, psychological, behavioural, attitudinal, organisational consequences or work, nonwork and health-related consequences). During the second phase a new work-nonwork interference (W-NWI) instrument was developed which differentiates among interference between work and various specific roles in an individuals' personal life (i.e. work-parent interference, parent-work interference, workspouse interference, spouse-work interference, work-religion/spirituality interference, religion/spirituality-work interference, work-domestic interference, domestic-work interference). During the evaluation study various problematic items were eliminated using the Rasch measurement model. The fmal phase included the validation study where the psychometric properties of the new instrument were investigated. The results provided evidence for constrUct, discriminant and convergent validity, reliability and significant relations with external variables. Tills study provides evidence for the psychometric properties of the new instrument, which researchers and managers can use to investigate the specmc interference between work and different nonwork roles in employees' private lives. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

These thesis focus on one of the most problematic fields of the governance of local authorities – the control system of local governments‘ and the most important figure in this system – the municipality controller‘s institution. This work aims to analyse the municipality controller‘s instituttion and to present an in depth and systematic analysis of it‘s legal regulation and institutional development, problems and topicalities, concerning the controller‘s practise and functions. Another aspect of this research - is to describe the international and the EU standards, related to the external and internal audit, and to give examples of the experience of other European countries in the field of the municipality control.

År 2009 införde Justitiedepartementet Klarspråk i Jönköping. Klarspråk är ett projekt med ett självkontrollstest och riktlinjer för hur myndigheter ska kommunicera till allmänheten med ett enkelt och tydligt språk.  Syftet med denna studie är att jämföra om Länsstyrelsen i Jönköpings skriftliga ex-ternkommunikation har förändrats sedan Klarspråksprojektet infördes år 2009 i Jönkö-ping. Genom en kvalitativ textanalys och ett strategiskt urval kommer sex handlingar från Länsstyrelsen i Jönköping analyseras. Tre handlingar före och tre handlingar efter år 2009. Handlingarna är reella dokument som avser beslut om djurhållning i Jönköpings län.  Texterna analyseras och jämförs med hjälp av Klarspråksprojektets självkontrollstest och riktlinjer samt genom en stilistisk analys tillsammans med den linjära kommunika-tionsmodellen. Resultatet kommer därefter förklaras med hjälp av teorin organisationskul-tur och Jacobsen och Thorsviks organisationsmodell i kapitlet resultatdiskussion.  Resultatet visar att det inte har skett någon märkbar förändring i Länsstyrelsens ex-ternkommunikation. Det som går att utläsa är att det har gjorts försök men att det ännu inte följer Klarspråksprojektets riktlinjer för ett mer mottagaranpassat språk. Ur ett stilis-tiskt perspektiv går det att se en förändring i hur mottagaren tilltalas samt hur sändaren benämner sig själv i handlingarna. Analysen bekräftar även att Länsstyrelsen i Jönköping har haft mottagaren i åtanke när de har förmedlat sitt beslut vilket är en bra utgångspunkt för en konstruktiv kommunikation. / In 2009 the Swedish Justice Department introduced project "Klarspråk", in translation “easy lan-guage”, consisting of a set of informative tools and guidelines meant to improve communication between government agencies and the public. Its core message was to use clear and simple lan-guage that all recipients comprehend.  Purpose of study is to compare if a government entity in the county of Jönköping called Länsstyrelsen, changed written external communication since Klarspråk was implemented. Through a qualitative text analysis and strategic selection, six documents originating from Länsstyrelsen in Jönköping's agricultural division, is analyzed. Three documents before the turn of the year 2009, and three after.  The documents used for this study are correspondence relating to decisions made in regards to animal treatment in the county boundaries of Jönköping. By comparison analysis the documents are evaluated against Klarspråk guidelines, and through a stylistic examination, assessed against the linear communication model. In conclusion, the result is explained through the theory of organiza-tional culture and Jacobsen and Thorsvik's (2008) pertaining model.  Results show there has not been any significant change in the format of Länsstyrelsen's external communication. Documents show attempts were made to simplify language, yet Klarspråk's pro-consumer guidelines were not consistently followed. From a stylistic aspect there was improvement to how the recipient is titled in documents and originator promotes itself. In conclusion, Länsstyrelsen in Jönköping county indeed makes effort in their attempts to improve its external communication, and even with its flaws it is the beginning of constructive communication.

In many studies, choice based conjoint analysis is used to build a market simulator to develop marketing strategies; i.e., shares-of-preference are taken as market share forecasts. However, conjoint data are collected in interview situations, which may differ considerably from real shopping behavior. In this paper, we test the internal and external validity of four commercial choice based conjoint pricing studies including a total of 43 brands. We use conjoint and sales data to assess the relative performance of two modern approaches to estimate conjoint parameters: the segmentation based Latent Class model and the individual level Hierarchical Bayes approach. Our paper confirms previous results of the internal superiority of the Hierarchical Bayes approach. The main result of our investigation is that internal validity does not predict external validity and that Latent Class shows the same real world performance as Hierarchical Bayes. Both models show an average error of 4.2% in market share level prediction and a correlation of 69% between conjoint forecasts and real market shares. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science"

Vartotojų elgsenos aktualumas verslo praktikoje ir teorijoje neabejotinas – vartotojų elgsenos, ypač pirkimo sprendimo priėmimo stimulų, kylančių iš vartotojų asmenybės bei aplinkoje esančių ir skatinančių pirkti stimulų išskyrimas. Impulsyvaus pirkimo fenomenas mokslinėje marketingo literatūroje analizuojamas jau daugiau kaip penkias dešimtis. Todėl stimulai, sąlygojantys impulsyvaus pirkimo sprendimą ypač svarbūs – tokių stimulų sukūrimas skatintų vartotojus priimti pirkimo sprendimą per sąlyginai trumpą laiko tarpą, o pastaroji tendencija generuotų pelną organizacijai. Dar vienas itin plačiai mokslinėje literatūroje analizuojamas konceptas – prekės ženklo vertė. Prekės ženklo vertė pagrįsta vartotojo sąmonėje susiformavusiomis teigiamos asociacijos su prekės ženklu, prekės ženklo vertės vartotojui sukūrimu bei vartotojų lojalumu prekės ženklui. Visi pastarieji veiksniai mokslinėje literatūroje traktuojami, kaip skatinantys vartotojo sprendimo pirkti priėmimą. Prekės ženklas įvardijamas, kaip vienas iš impulsyvaus pirkimo stimulų. Darbo objektas – impulsyvaus pirkimo stimulai ir prekės ženklo vertė. Darbo tikslas – teoriškai pagrįsti ir empiriškai patikrinti impulsyvaus pirkimo ir prekės ženklo vertės sąsajas „Nivea“ prekės ženklo pavyzdžiu. Darbo struktūra. Magistro darbą sudaro trys dalys. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje pateikta ir nagrinėta impulsyvaus pirkimo koncepcija, vidiniai ir išoriniai impulsyvaus pirkimo stimulai. Taip pat analizuojami prekės ženklo vertę kuriantys... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of this master work – theoretically support and empirically examine the relationship between impulsive buying and brand equity. The structure of thesis. The Master work thesis consists of three parts. The first part of thesis represents and examines the conception of impulsive buying, its internal and external impulsive buying stimulus. It also analyzes the creating factors of the brand value. The analysis of impulsive buying models is also presented. The second part of the thesis represents the structural interface pattern of impulsive buying and the brand equity. The research methodology, aims and tasks are also given. A previous analysis of impulsive buying research results is done. The third part of Master work thesis does the empirical research of the relationship between impulsive buying and the brand equity; the results are generalized. Empirically checked structural model relationshiop between impulsive buying and the brand equity by the example of Nivea brand is done. At the end of the Master work the conclusions are made and suggestions are given. In order to make it more transparent, the work contains of 14 pictures and 17 tables. The theoretical analysis has been prepared using 117 English and Lithuanian literature sources.

This thesis compares the consumption of primary superstructure material in a conventional single span CPCI system with those of double-T alternatives. The CPCI system is currently the preferred bridge type for short and medium spans in Canada, despite its relatively inefficient use of materials due to imperfect live load sharing among multiple parallel girders. The double-T alternatives utilize slender double-T cross-sections, fully precast segments, and post-tensioning in both longitudinal and transverse direction. The economy of the CPCI and double-T systems is compared within the framework of four sample designs. The results indicate that the double-T systems are in general more efficient than the CPCI system and have the potential to achieve better economy.

An alternative structural system for short span bridges is presented: a precast segmental double-T with external, unbonded post-tensioning tendons. Single-span designs from 20 to 45 m long show that the system can be implemented over a wide range of spans and that the system’s sensitivity to post-tensioning losses reported in previous literature can be reduced by aligning the prestressing force more concentrically. Designs for multi-span bridges using this system are presented using simply supported spans connected by thin flexible linking slabs made of ultra high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete and using sections made fully continuous over intermediate supports. A simplified method of geometry control is presented to facilitate the proper alignment of precast segments without the use of match casting. The precast segmental double-T bridge is compared to sixteen existing slab on girder bridges and found to be a competitive alternative in terms of material use, cost, construction schedule, and aesthetic merit.

This thesis compares the consumption of primary superstructure material in a conventional single span CPCI system with those of double-T alternatives. The CPCI system is currently the preferred bridge type for short and medium spans in Canada, despite its relatively inefficient use of materials due to imperfect live load sharing among multiple parallel girders. The double-T alternatives utilize slender double-T cross-sections, fully precast segments, and post-tensioning in both longitudinal and transverse direction. The economy of the CPCI and double-T systems is compared within the framework of four sample designs. The results indicate that the double-T systems are in general more efficient than the CPCI system and have the potential to achieve better economy.

An alternative structural system for short span bridges is presented: a precast segmental double-T with external, unbonded post-tensioning tendons. Single-span designs from 20 to 45 m long show that the system can be implemented over a wide range of spans and that the system’s sensitivity to post-tensioning losses reported in previous literature can be reduced by aligning the prestressing force more concentrically. Designs for multi-span bridges using this system are presented using simply supported spans connected by thin flexible linking slabs made of ultra high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete and using sections made fully continuous over intermediate supports. A simplified method of geometry control is presented to facilitate the proper alignment of precast segments without the use of match casting. The precast segmental double-T bridge is compared to sixteen existing slab on girder bridges and found to be a competitive alternative in terms of material use, cost, construction schedule, and aesthetic merit.