Vad är hemligheterna bland världens bästa och mest framgångsrika verksamheter? Vad gör dessa högpresterande företag, organisationer och idrottslag för att skapa framgångsrika kulturer som efterlever den vision, mål och värderingar som utformats? I en förstudie som gjordes till detta examensarbete av studiens författare på det undersökta fallföretag Skanska Sverige AB år 2019, bedömde de intervjuade nyckelpersoner behovet av att ”nå ändå ut” med sina riktlinjer och få sina medarbetare att följa vision, mål och värderingar vara en högst central och betydelsefull kunskap. Denna problematik förekommer inte enbart i det undersökta fallföretaget Skanska, utan forskare såsom Schein (2004) och Wadström (2014) påpekar att det är bland de största utmaningarna och svårigheterna i dagens organisationer.  Syftet med denna studie är att öka kunskapen och förståelsen hur företag kan få sina medarbetare att efterleva företagets vision, mål och värderingar. Examensarbetet ingriper en omfattande litteraturstudie som undersöker vad tidigare forskning visar hur företag kan få sina medarbetare att efterleva företagets vision, mål och värderingar. Från litteraturstudien utvecklas en analysmodell vilket används som teoretisk referensram till den kvalitativa intervjustudie som görs på 18 stycken medarbetare på Skanska Väg och Anläggning Norr Umeå. Den kvalitativa intervjustudien görs semistrukturerad i syfte att fånga åsikter och erfarenheter från respondenternas eget perspektiv. Resultatet från intervjustudien jämförs sedan och analyseras med stöd av litteraturen från tidigare forskning.   Studiens resultat visar att både tidigare forskning och medarbetarnas perspektiv från intervjustudien åskådliggör att företag kan skapa gynnsammare förutsättningar för sina medarbetare att efterleva företagets vision, mål och värderingar genom att medarbetarna får uppleva ansvar och en delaktighet i sin arbetsroll. Även ledarnas fysiska och psykiska närvaro visar sig i tidigare forskning och i intervjurespondenternas perspektiv vara väsentligt i företags strävande att få sina medarbetare att efterleva företagets vision, mål och värderingar, detta eftersom ledarna är en förebild och symbol för de agerande och beteenden som gäller i företaget. Tidigare forskning och studiens intervjuresultat visar likaså att ett företag som verkligen har ambitionen att ens medarbetare ska leva efter sina löften måste bryta ned vision, mål och värderingar till något konkret, vad människor ska göra, det vill säga beteenden, och dessa måste kontinuerligt följas upp. En nyckel för att få sina medarbetare att efterleva företagets vision, mål och värderingar visar studiens litteratur vara i ökningen av antalet kvalitativa uppföljningsmöten, återkopplingsmöten och erfarenhetsåterföringsmöten gentemot planeringsmöten. Vid sidan om en väl genomarbetad strategi gäller det att titta på det faktiska resultatet, ta reda på vad som kan göras bättre och utifrån detta korrigera och ta fram ett idealläge som gör den påtagliga skillnaden. Följaktligen, hade det varit intressant att se framtida forskning studera hur implementering och effektivisering av uppföljning och erfarenhetsåterföring kan genomföras i en organisation. / What are the secrets among the world’s best and most successful businesses? What do these high-performing companies, organisations and sports teams do to create successful cultures that live up to the vision, goals and values ​​that have been designed? In a pilot study carried out for this thesis by the study’s author at the investigated case company Skanska Sverige AB in 2019, key interviewees assessed the need to “reach out” with their guidelines and get their employees to follow vision, goals and values to be a highly central and significant knowledge. This problem does not only occur in the researched case company Skanska, but researchers such as Schein (2004) and Wadström (2014) point out that it is among the biggest challenges and difficulties in today’s organisations.  The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge and understanding of how companies can make their employees live up to the company’s vision, goals and values. The Master thesis involves an extensive literature study that examines what previous research shows how companies can make their employees live up to the company’s vision, goals and values. From the literature study, an analysis model is developed, which is used as a theoretical frame of reference for the qualitative interview study conducted on 18 employees at Skanska Väg och Anläggning Norr Umeå. The qualitative interview study is semi-structured in order to capture opinions and experiences from the respondents’ own perspective. The results from the interview study are then compared and analysed with support of the literature from previous research.  The results of the study show that both previous research and the employees’ perspective from the interview study illustrates that companies can create more favourable conditions for their employees to live up to the company’s vision, goals and values by allowing employees to experience responsibility and participation in their work role. The leaders’ physical and mental presence also proves in previous research and in the interview respondents’ perspective to be essential in companies’ efforts to get their employees to live up to the company’s vision, goals and values, as the leaders are a role model and symbol for the actions and behaviours in the company. Previous research and the study’s interview results also show that a company that really has ambitions to live up to its promises must break down vision, goals and values ​​into something concrete, what people should do, namely behaviours, and these must be continuously followed up. A key to getting their employees to live up to the company’s vision, goals and values is shown by the literature study to be in the increase in the numbers of qualitative follow-up meetings, feedback meetings and experience feedback meetings in relation to planning meetings. In addition to a well-developed strategy, it is important to look at the actual result, find out what can be done better and based on this, correct and develop an ideal situation that makes the tangible difference. Consequently, it would have been interesting to see future research study how implementation and streamlining of follow-up and experience feedback can be carried out in an organisation.

No description available.

<p>Approximately 4.2 million Canadian adults suffer from a physical or psychological disability, of whom up to 30% suffer from depression. Those receiving disability benefits versus those not receiving benefits may be at greater risk of unsatisfactory outcomes because their circumstances or psychological status may interfere with successful implementation of standard therapies. This thesis addresses the effectiveness of therapies for depression in patients receiving disability benefits, using an individual patient data meta-analysis of all published randomized controlled trials evaluating Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and a secondary analysis of an administrative database from a large, private, Canadian insurer. Additionally, this thesis addresses an important methodological issue: assessing the impact of missing participant data for continuous outcomes in systematic reviews. Missing participant data may bias results of individual trials or systematic reviews of individual trials if participants with missing data have different expected outcomes from those with available data. No methods have been proposed for investigating the extent to which missing participant data for continuous outcomes might bias the results of systematic reviews, and this dissertation addresses that gap.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Yes / Payment incentives are known to influence healthcare but little is known about the impact of paying directly for achieved outcomes. In England, novel purchasing (commissioning) of National Health Service (NHS) stop smoking services, which paid providers for quits achieved whilst encouraging new market entrants, was implemented in eight localities (primary care trusts (PCTs)) in April 2010. This study examines the impact of the novel commissioning on these services. Accredited providers were paid standard tariffs for each smoker who was supported to quit for four and 12 weeks. A cluster-controlled study design was used with the eight intervention PCTs (representing 2,138,947 adult population) matched with a control group of all other (n=64) PCTs with similar demographics which did not implement the novel commissioning arrangements. The primary outcome measure was changes in quits at four weeks between April 2009 and March 2013. A secondary outcome measure was the number of new market entrants within the group of the largest two providers at PCT-level. The number of four-week quits per 1,000 adult population increased per year on average by 9.6% in the intervention PCTs compared to a decrease of 1.1% in the control PCTs (incident rate ratio 1108, p<0001, 95% CI 1059 to 1160). Eighty-five providers held 'any qualified provider' contracts for stop smoking services across the eight intervention PCTs in 2011/12, and 84% of the four-week quits were accounted for by the largest two providers at PCT-level. Three of these 10 providers were new market entrants. To the extent that the intervention incentivized providers to overstate quits in order to increase income, caution is appropriate when considering the findings. Novel commissioning to incentivize achievement of specific clinical outcomes and attract new service providers can increase the effectiveness and supply of NHS stop smoking services.

Zeitabhängige Multimessenger-Astronomie ist die Studie von vorübergehenden astrophysikalischen Phänomenen mithilfe verschiedener Botschafterteilchen und -wellen. Das High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) ist ein bodengestütztes Teleskop-Array, das Gammastrahlen im Bereich von 30 GeV bis 100 TeV misst. In dieser Arbeit werden drei H.E.S.S.-Programme zur Nachverfolgung von vorübergehenden Phänomenen diskutiert. Zuerst wird das Nova-Programm vorgestellt, zusammen mit der Entdeckung des Ausbruchs von RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph) im Jahr 2021. RS Oph ist eine Nova, welche schon mehrmals ausgebrochen ist. Die Analyse der Nova, zeigt eine klare Detektion über die ersten fünf Nächte sowie eine marginale Detektion bis zu vier Wochen nach dem Ausbruch. RS Oph ist damit das erste galaktische vorübergehende Phänomen, das bei Energien von ~1 TeV detektiert wurde. Eine klare Variabilität des Spektrums wird gezeigt. Eine Diskussion zeigt, dass die beobachteten Gammastrahlen höchstwahrscheinlich durch beschleunigte Protonen innerhalb eines astrophysikalischen Schocks stammt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine zeitaufgelöster Teilchenbeschleunigung. Das zweite Programm ist das Gravitationswellen (GW)-Programm. Hier wird die Analyse von vier beobachteten Verschmelzungsereignissen von binären schwarzen Löchern vorgestellt. Es wird keine Detektion gemeldet, stattdessen werden Himmelskarten mit Höchstgrenzen produziert. Die Effektivität der GW-Nachverfolgung mit H.E.S.S. wird diskutiert. Das dritte Programm ist das Pionierprogramm für Gezeiten-Sternzerrissereignisse (TDEs), das in den letzten Jahren etabliert wurde. Herausforderungen des Programms werden diskutiert, und die H.E.S.S.-Nachverfolgung des Ereignisses AT2019uqv wird vorgestellt. Es werden keine Detektionen gemeldet, stattdessen werden obere Grenzen für AT2019uqv angegeben. Abschließend erfolgt ein Vergleich der Programme sowie ein Ausblick auf das nächste Jahrzehnt bodengestützter Gammastrahlenbeobachtungen. / Time-domain multi-messenger astronomy is the study of transient astrophysical phenomena using several messenger particles and waves. The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is a ground-based telescope array, which measures very-high-energy gamma rays between 30 GeV and 100 TeV. Within this work, three H.E.S.S. transients follow-up programs and their results are shown. At first, the nova program is shown together with the detection of the 2021 RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph) outburst. RS Oph is a known nova with past eruptions. The analysis of the nova presented in this work shows a clear detection over the first five nights of observations, and a marginal detection two to four weeks after the eruption. RS Oph is thus the first Galactic transient phenomenon detected at ~1 TeV energies. A clear variability of the spectrum is shown. A discussion of the underlying physics concludes, that the observed gamma-ray emission most likely stems from cooled protons accelerated within an astrophysical shock. The results show time-resolved particle acceleration. The second program is the gravitational-waves (GWs) program. Here, the analysis of four observed binary black hole merger events is shown. No detection is reported, and upper limit sky maps are derived instead. The viability of GW follow-up with H.E.S.S. is discussed, and a case is made for a potential counterpart detection. The third program is the tidal disruption event (TDE) program, a pioneered program established at the emergence of the source class within the last few years. Unique challenges of the follow-up program are discussed, and the H.E.S.S. follow-up of the event AT2019uqv is shown. No detection is reported, and upper limits for AT2019uqv are given instead. The interest in follow-up observations of TDEs with gamma-ray instruments is stressed. In conclusion, a comparison of the different programs and their requirements is given, together with an outlook for the next decade of ground-based gamma-ray observations.

Hitherto, previous studies on the cerebral correlates of fluid intelligence (fluIQ) used tasks that did not exclusively demand fluIQ, or were restricted to participants of average fluIQ (ave-fluIQ) solving intelligence test items of varying difficulty, thus not allowing assumptions on interindividual differences in fluIQ. Geometric analogical reasoning (GAR) demands fluIQ very purely and thus is an eligible approach for research on interindividual differences in fluIQ. In a first study, we examined the cerebral correlates of GAR, and showed the involvement of parietal and frontal brain regions. This is in line with the assumptions of the parieto-frontal integration theory (P-FIT) of intelligence and with literature reports for other visuo-spatial tasks. Building upon these findings, we report results from a second study with high fluIQ (hi-fluIQ) and ave-fluIQ school students solving a GAR task. Again in line with the P-FIT model, we demonstrated that the parieto-frontal network is involved in GAR in both groups. However, the extent of task-related brain activation in parietal and frontal brain regions was differentially modulated by fluIQ. Our results thus partly run counter to the postulates of the neural efficiency hypothesis, which assumes a negative brain activation-intelligence relationship. We conclude that this relationship is not generally unitary; rather, it can be conjectured that the adaptive and flexible modulation of brain activation is characteristic of hi-fluIQ. Knowledge on the stability of the cerebral correlates of hi-fluIQ during adolescence had been sparse. To elucidate this field, we examined the follow-up stability of the cerebral correlates of GAR in hi-fluIQ in a third study. We demonstrated that the relevant brain network is in place already at age 17 and that improvements in behavioral performance at age 18 due to task familiarity are indicative of more efficient use of the cerebral resources available. / Bisherige Studien zu zerebralen Korrelaten fluider Intelligenz (fluIQ) haben Aufgaben verwendet, die fluIQ nicht in Reinform erfordern oder haben Probanden mit durchschnittlicher fluIQ (ave-fluIQ) beim Lösen von Intelligenztestaufgaben mit variierenden Schwierigkeitsstufen untersucht und ermöglichen daher keine Aussagen zu interindividuellen Unterschieden in fluIQ. Geometrisches analoges Schließen (GA) beansprucht fluIQ in Reinform und eignet sich daher als differentielles Untersuchungsparadigma. In einer ersten Studie haben wir die zerebralen Korrelate des GA untersucht und nachgewiesen, dass parietale und frontale Hirnregionen involviert sind. Dies steht im Einklang mit der parieto-frontalen Integrationstheorie (P-FIT) der Intelligenz und mit Literaturberichten zu anderen visuell-räumlichen Aufgaben. Aufbauend auf diesen Befunden berichten wir Ergebnisse einer zweiten Studie, in der Schüler mit hoher fluIQ (hi-fluIQ) und ave-fluIQ GA-Aufgaben lösten. In Übereinstimmung mit den Annahmen des P-FIT-Modells konnten wir zeigen, dass GA in beiden Gruppen das parieto-frontale Netzwerk beansprucht. Das Ausmaß der Hirnaktivierung wurde jedoch differentiell durch fluIQ moduliert. Unsere Ergebnisse widersprechen damit teilweise den Postulaten der neuralen Effizienztheorie, die einen negativen Zusammenhang zwischen Hirnaktivierung und Intelligenz annimmt. Wir schlussfolgern, dass dieser Zusammenhang nicht generell einseitig gerichtet ist, sondern die flexible Modulation von Hirnaktivierung charakteristisch für hi-fluIQ ist. Befunde zur Stabilität zerebraler Korrelate von hi-fluIQ in der Jugend waren bisher rar. Um dieses Feld zu beleuchten, haben wir die follow-up-Stabilität zerebraler Korrelate des GA in der hi-fluIQ Gruppe in einer dritten Studie untersucht. Wir konnten zeigen, dass das relevante zerebrale Netzwerk schon mit 17 Jahren etabliert ist und Performanzverbesserungen über die Zeit für eine effizientere Nutzung der verfügbaren zerebralen Ressourcen sprechen.

Im Jahr 2013 ist es dem IceCube-Experiment gelungen, einen Fluss von Neutrinos extraterrestrischen Ursprungs nachzuweisen, und damit das Neutrino als weiteres kosmisches Botenteilchen zu etablieren. Die Frage nach dem Ursprung der Neutrinos, die einen komplementären Blick auf die Quellen bieten, kann möglicherweise die alte Frage nach dem Ursprung der kosmischen Strahlung lösen. Zeitunabhängige Suchen nach Neutrinoquellen konnten bisher keine einzelnen Kandidaten isolieren. Zeitlich veränderliche Quellen kommen daher als Ursprung in Betracht. IceCube ermöglicht es, kontinuierlich den gesamten Himmel nach aufflackernden Neutrinoquellen abzusuchen und die astronomische Gemeinschaft schnellstmöglich zu benachrichtigen. In dieser Arbeit wird die Echtzeitidentifikation und -rekonstruktion von Myonneutrinokandidaten mit IceCube verbessert. Die erreichte Sensitivität ist mit etablierten nicht-Echtzeit Analysen vergleichbar. Kontinuierlich vom Experiment am Südpol übermittelte Informationen werden sofort auf bemerkenswerte Ereignisse hin analysiert. Bekannte astrophysikalische Quellen von Gammastrahlung werden auf Neutrinoemission hin beobachtet. Eine verallgemeinerte Methode erlaubt die Suche nach Signalen überall, unbeeinflusst von vorher bekannten Quellen. Weiterhin werden die hochenergetischsten Neutrinokandidaten, die wahrscheinlich astrophysikalischen Ursprungs sind, sofort identifiziert und global bekannt gemacht. Abschließend werden die Suchalgorithmen am Beispiel zweier Blazare demonstiert, 1ES 1959+650 und TXS 0506+56. In letzterem Fall wurden erstmals Anzeichen für eine Quelle hochenergetischer, kosmischer Neutrinos gefunden. Die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit entwickelte Infrastruktur erlaubt es, die astronomische Gemeinschaft auf signifikante Neutrinoereignisse, oder sich entwickelnde Neutrinocluster hinzuweisen. Auch die zügige Suche nach Neutrinos in Reaktion auf interessante astrophysikalische Ereignisse, wie z.B. Gravitationswellen, ist möglich. / The discovery of an flux of neutrinos of astrophysical origin with the IceCube experiment in 2013 has broadened our understanding of cosmic messengers and opened a new window on the universe. By addressing the newly pertinent question about their sources, neutrinos can provide a complementary view on cosmic accelerators and may help solving the long-standing puzzle of the origin of the cosmic rays. As traditional time-integrated searches for sources of neutrinos have not been able to isolate individual candidates, variable and transient sources shift into focus. IceCube's design allows to continuously search the entire sky for neutrino flares, and alert the community with the lowest possible latency in the case of a detection. This thesis improves the identification and reconstruction of muon neutrino candidates with IceCube in real-time, achieving a sensitivity comparable to dedicated offline analyses. The stream of neutrino candidates is analyzed for interesting events in order to alert partner experiments and inspire follow-up observations. First, known gamma-ray emitters are monitored for time-variable neutrino emission. Second, a generalization of this method monitors the entire sky for neutrino flares, regardless of pre-defined source lists. Third, the most-energetic neutrino candidates with the highest chance to be of astrophysical origin are selected for alerts. Eventually, the search methods are applied to the blazars 1ES 1959+650 and TXS 0506+056. In the latter case, evidence for source of high-energetic, astrophysical neutrinos was found for the first time. The infrastructure built in this work allows to notify the community whenever significant neutrino events are recorded, or significant flares develop on time-scales from days to weeks. It also allows to quickly perform neutrino follow-up searches in response to interesting astrophysical events, such as the observation of gravitational waves.

In the environmental impact assessment (EIA) field, much attention is paid to the process leading up to the granting of an environmental authorization, but very little is given to what happens after the consent decision is granted. This study aimed to address this lack through the implementation of an EIA follow-up procedure in a region of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Follow-up focused on assessing the amount of non-compliance with EIA consent conditions as well as the overall impact that projects had had on the environment. The results of this follow-up process were then used to develop a risk screening tool that could be used to screen out new EIA applications that were likely to require follow-up to control default or impact. Projects that showed the greatest amount of default were those submitted by local municipal proponents for basic infrastructure type activities such as sewage treatment works and low-income housing developments. Private companies that compete in the open market presented the lowest default risk. Default with consent conditions ranged between 0% and 100% with an average rate of default of 49%. The overall environmental impact for the majority (58%) of projects followed-up on was low (on a 5 point scale of low to high), with only 1% of projects scoring high on impact. The study found a moderate positive correlation between default and impact (rs = 0.48) although a significant percentage (39%) of projects scored high on default but low on impact. Follow-up appears to have had a positive effect on reducing the average amounts of default and to a lesser extent the degree of impact. The risk screening tool developed is promising with statistically significant matches between predicted and actual default and impact scores for three out of the four test samples. / Geography / D. Phil. (Geography)

A death in research exacerbates the lack of knowledge and information in respect of the needs and life view of the aged. Two studies were conducted in this population group with specific reference to the 'once-off interview'. Information was gathered using interview schedules focusing on therapeutic skills of social workers working within the system which cares for the aged. Results of a pilot study and an expanded study were compared in order to establish the inter-relationship between the. needs of the elderly, their elemental experiences in line with Bloom's theory (1984), and the role of the social worker. Findings revealed that the majority of "discontinuances" after the first interview were because the needs of the elderly clients had in fact been met. The need for day care services, transport and the expansion of the 'home help' facility was highlighted to enable the elderly to retain their independence in the community / Social Science / M.A. (Social Science: Mental Health)

The aim of the study is to determine the nature and utilisation of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) in a white-collar work environment, and, more specifically, in a South African context. Information about the research topic was obtained from accumulate records of the Standard Bank's Employee Well-being Programme (EWP), structured interviews which were conducted with eleven EWP practitioners and a union representative, and from self-administered questionnaires which were completed by a sample of 153 of the bank's employees. The study includes an in-depth literature review on EAPs in general and issues such as the nature and scope of the bank's EWP, the extent to which the EWP addresses employees' needs, the nature and extent of the marketing of the EWP, and the extent to which the workforce is utilising the programme, were explored and described. The main findings are that the EWP shows evidence of acceptance by employees as well as a degree of utilisation that compares favourably with local and international trends. It also shows an incongruence between marketing and employee orientation and training initiatives and reveals that programme evaluation efforts are insufficient and could be significantly improved. Accordingly, recommendations have been made pertaining to the needs of employees, employee and union involvement, a multi-disciplinary approach to case management, marketing, training and evaluation with regard to the EWP, an EWP database, and a post-treatment follow-up. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)