The number of women in the Chartered Accounting (CA) profession has continued to rise since the 1970s; women now make up one-third of working CAs in Canada (Tabone, 2007). Yet, the number of women in the upper levels of the profession remains very low. The main purpose of this dissertation is to understand how women CAs experience and talk about the CA profession and to explore the implications of the CA context for the development and maintenance of friendship among women CAs. The ways in which power and agency are exercised in the micro-politics of the everyday lives of women CAs and the nexus of relations through which individuals develop and enact their identities is explored through open-ended interviews and discussion groups with Western Canadian women CAs. <p> The dominant ideology of professionalism constructs both individual and collective identities while structuring workplace relations. The findings of this study demonstrate that female CAs believe strongly in elements of professionalism such as meritocracy, excellence, client service, and commitment but that their understanding is gender-neutral and differs from the dominant masculinist interpretations and practices. The participants narratives reveal a particular pattern of engagement with the profession characterized by stages of early optimism, disillusionment and the glass ceiling, negotiation and the glass box, resignation, and justification. All participants encountered a glass ceiling, or invisible barriers to advancement, as a result of the conflicting meanings of the ideals of professionalism. As the women attempted to negotiate solutions to the constraints imposed by the professions elite, masculinist discourses were mobilized by those in power in new ways resulting in further constraints upon the women, containing them within a glass box that limited their career mobility in all directions and may contribute to gender segmentation in the profession.<p>Masculinist discursive practices have a significant impact not only on the participants career aspirations, but also on their friendship relationships, which are, in part, constituted by their relationship to the profession, their need for support against masculinist strategies, and their choice of gender identity strategy. Friendships do not increase activism as the participants feel powerless to create change and fear reprisals.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att a) kartlägga vilka former av vänskap som i praktiken förekommer mellan revisorer och uppdragsgivare på mindre orter i Sverige samt b) skapa/utveckla en teoretisk modell för vilka former av vänskap som är acceptabla inom teori, praktik och lagens råmärken. Metod och teori: Författarna har för att uppnå studiens syfte använt sig av en kvalitativ metod där fem revisorer från tre mindre orter intervjuats om deras syn på bland annat vänskapshotet. Som teoretisk referensram har författarna använt sig av gällande lagstiftning och teorier inom området oberoende, samt en modell för vänskapsnivåer från tidskriftsartikeln Friendship networks through time: An actor-oriented dynamic statistical network model, Van De Bunt G.G. (1999). Sammanfattande slutsats: Relationen mellan revisor och kund på mindre orter har visat sig vara en mycket svårfrånkomlig problematik. Hotet ökar med långvariga uppdrag där en relation mellan revisor och kund ter sig ofrånkomlig. En strikt yrkesmässig relation med ett absolut oberoende mellan revisor och uppdragsgivare är en utopisk syn på verkligheten. Samtidigt behöver inte detta betyda att revisionen är omöjlig att kvalitetssäkra om tillräckliga motåtgärder sätts in. Respondenterna i denna studie verkar alla befinna sig alla i en gråzon mellan lagens riktmärken och vad som för en lekman skulle betraktas som en vänrelation.  Denna problematik framgår främst vid långa uppdrag dock finns flera fördelar med dessa, då revisorn känner till företaget i fråga och således på ett effektivare sätt kan gå igenom revisionen. Hotet uppenbarar sig även i de fall där revisionsbyrån har dubbla roller, det vill säga både säljer konsulttjänster och sköter revisionen i samma företag. I dessa fall ligger ekonomiska skäl till grund för relationen då revisionsbyråer tenderar att inte neka eller klaga på en kund som står för stora intäkter till byrån. Dessa faktorer påverkar oberoendet negativt och behöver motarbetas för att upprätthålla det synliga oberoendet mot intressenter i företagets omgivning. Förslag till vidare forskning: Under denna studie har författarna enkom tittat på vad revisorerna har att säga om relationen till sina klienter. En mycket intressant tanke vore att vända på denna bit och istället genomföra en liknande studie där empirin grundar sig i företagens syn på sin relation till revisorn. I analysen under punkten ”Övriga observationer” framkommer ett mycket intressant ämne att fördjupa sig inom. I intervjuerna framkom det att ekonomiska incitament tenderar att få revisionsbyråer att anta uppdrag som riskerar deras oberoende, både via vänskapshotet och via självgranskningshotet. En djupare och mer ingående forskning inom detta område hos större revisionsbyråer vore högst intressant enligt författarna av denna studie. Uppsatsen bidrag: Författarna anser att denna studies kunskapsbidrag ligger i att den belyst problematiken med vänskapshotet på mindre orter. Genom det empiriska underlaget har vi kunnat återge en så sanningsenlig bild av problematiken som möjligt.  Dessutom har Van der Bunts (1999) modell möjliggjort en visuell beskrivning för vad som är okej i enlighet med lagen och var respondenterna i denna studie ligger i förhållande till lagtext kontra verklighet.

In a preparatory class are newly arrived students who have no or very little knowledge of the Swedish language. Some of the newly arrived pupils may have arrived in Sweden very recently and some of them have no or very limited understanding and experience of how the school system works in their country of origin. The purpose of this study is to find out how education in a selected preparatory class works seen from two SVA-teachers and students perspective.  Questions related to my purpose reads as follows: In which way can two of the SVA-teachers respond in a selected preparatory class to their group of newly arrived students? What methods can be used by the two SVA-teachers in a selected preparatory class to their group of newly arrived students' language learning? How does the newly arrived student in a selected preparatory class experience their education and friendship? The study was conducted through a qualitative approach in a selected preparatory class in a multicultural school in a suburb in southern Stockholm. Through observations on six separate occasions as well as interviews with two of the SVA- teachers in the selected preparatory class, and with three of the newly arrived pupils during a period of three weeks. The results of this study show that in the selected preparatory class, one is actively working to learn the Swedish language and to create a structural learning environment based on trust and friendship. The results also show how easily the structure may fall apart when some teachers lack training in Swedish as a second language, also because of insufficient resources and inadequate guidelines in the selected preparatory class, for the reception of the newly arrived students in school activities for the chosen study area.

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. However in order to be successful in influencing others, a manager must be able to know what their subordinates think. With the knowledge of subordinate¡¦s perceptions, managers can perfect their use of influence tactics and then be able to easily perform influence on others. One of the most important aspects that can influence perspectives is culture. In Hofstede¡¦s (1980) study it was found that Chinese societies are high in power distance and can be classified as collective societies. This is the result of Confucianism, which spreads values of social order and harmony. In this society, relationships are extremely important. Another characteristic of the Chinese is that they are elitists, and have a deep-rooted belief that education can raise a person to higher levels in society, thus we can see the importance of having expertise. Because of the high power distance which implies inequality and love of power, and collectivity which implies the difference in treatment between in-group and out-group members, it can be inferred that the Chinese tend to have Machiavellian personality. Thus we can see that the three main factors that influence the acceptableness of different influence tactics are expertise, relationships and Machiavellianism. The purpose of this study is to examine influence tactics from the subordinate¡¦s perspective, and to explore the relationship between expertise, personal relationships, Machiavellianism and influence strategies. The results show that (1) the closeness of the relationship is the most important factor to consider when choosing influence tactics, the closer the relationship, the more tactics one can use, both hard and soft tactics would be acceptable, (2) If the manager is known as having expertise, it would be best to use soft tactics, however subordinates will also accept hard tactics from managers who have a higher education level, (3) there was no significant relationship between influence tactics and Machiavellianism.

In the current study, it was aimed to explore young adults&rsquo / communication technology preferences in friendships. With this aim, two survey studies were conducted on university students. In the first study 178 students and in the second study 343 students were surveyed. The findings of both studies demonstrated that (a) face-to-face communication was the most preferred communication,(b) preference for face-to-face communication was positively associated to preference for auditory communication, and negatively associated to preference for written communication, (c) several individual difference variables contributed to relative preferences for face-to-face over mediated communication in negative situations. General &lsquo / ndividual difference variables in relation to Relative Preferences were found to fit into a two-factor higher-order structure. The higher order constructs were Social Openness (the factors tapping to individuals&rsquo / motivation to engage in interpersonal interactions even when those interactions are challenging) and Individuated Functioning (the factors tapping to individuals&rsquo / motivation for personal growth). Relative Preference increased with increases in Social Openness and in Individuated Functioning. Communicaiton-specific individual difference factors underling the associations among Social Openness, Individauted Functioning and Relative Preferences were explored. Results suggested that Social Openness &ndash / but not Individuated Functioning- was indirectly linked to Relative Preferences via Perceived Difficulty of Communication Situations (Study1) / Social Openness was indirectly, and Individuated Functioning was both directly and indirectly linked to Relative Preferences via Difficulty in Handling Negative Situations (Study 2). Theoretical and practical implications of studies were discussed considering the previous literature.

This thesis analyzes the concept of Friendship in Aristotle&rsquo / s Nicomachean Ethics with its main aspects. Book VIII and Book IX of the Nicomachean Ethics are devoted specifically to the concept of Friendship to explore the moral and political aspects of it. Friendship has been one of the prominent topics for moral philosophers and hence contemporary discussions lead the Nicomachean account of friendship come to the fore. Thus, the main features of friendship in the Nicomachean Ethics as well as contemporary perspectives and discussions on that topic will be analyzed and explored in depth.

No description available.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on January 22, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Amanda J. Rose. Includes bibliographical references.

The author's thesis, Paris. / "Table alphabétique des auteurs modernes cités": p.[263]-268.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-170). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.