Communitarianism and harmony ideology have their proponents and critics, particularly as viewed through the lens of conciliation-based dispute resolution. Both features being prominent in the Tibetan Diaspora in India, I hypothesized that the strengths and weaknesses of these orientations could be assessed through the rationale behind the norms of social control operative in the community, and the efficiency and effectiveness of those norms in terms of voluntary compliance. I found that the informal Tibetan mechanisms for dispute resolution were effective and efficient in supporting Indian systems of law enforcement, while allowing a ritualistic affirmation of community. Contrary to proponents of legal centralism and court justice, I found that liberalist values underpinning litigative process were disruptive of social expectations, and had the potential to exacerbate rather than relieve social tensions. The harmony norms that predispose pro-social behavior within Tibetan settlements failed to protect the interests of community members, however, when the challenge came from local Indian groups operating on the basis of their own standards of particularistic allegiance. Legal ethnography best describes the methodology used for this research. Fieldwork drew on: 1) Interviews with twelve settlement officers whose mandate specifically includes mediation of disputes; 2) In-depth interviews with two disputants fighting cases before the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission; and 3) Interviews with over 70 informants (including senior and mid-level exile government officials and settlement residents), together with archival material, to situate findings and verify interpretations. This research contributes a unique non-Western body of data in support of Law and Society scholars, such as Amitai Etzioni and Phillip Selznick, who have argued for devolution of law-like responsibilities to local levels where internalized norms are an everyday means of social control. It also argues against the pejorative interpretation of harmony ideology as depicted by legal centralists such as Laura Nader. By reframing harmony as a function of norm rationale, efficiency and effectiveness, the research offers new variables for assessing the costs and benefits of community. Finally, the Tibetan case studies provide an important comparative for cosmopolitan states that are debating how to accommodate diversity and legal pluralism.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe „Molbertinės tapybos darbai Lietuvos visuomeninių pastatų architektūroje“ nagrinėjami XX-XXI a. pr. Lietuvos visuomenių pastatų interjerai, kurių svarbi meninės raiškos priemonė yra molbertinės tapybos paveikslai. Išsamiai analizuojamos paveikslų naudojimo visuomeniniuose interjeruose prasmės, tapybos integravimo architektūroje istorinės raidos ir dabarties tendencijos. Išryškinami tapybos ir interjero architektūros sąveikos kompoziciniai principai ir dermės dėsningumai. Daroma išvada, kad tiek estetiniu, tiek semantiniu požiūriu tapybos kūriniai gali būti svarbūs architektūrinės erdvės formantai ir, nepaisant daiktinės aplinkos formavimo tendencijų XX a. pabaigoje - XXI a. pr. pokyčių, molbertinės tapybos naudojimas architektūroje išlieka tvarus. Darbo apimtis - 94 psl. 97 iliustracios, 1 lentelė, 94 bibliografiniai šaltiniai. / In master's thesis final paper work “Easel painting in the architecture of Lithuanian public buildings” interiors of public buildings at the period of XX and the beginning of XXI century in Lithuania are considered. Easel paintings have a very important mean of art expression in these interiors. Meanings of use of paintings in interiors of public buildings, historical developments and tendencies of paintings integration in nowadays architecture are analyzed at length. Fundamentals and consistent pattern of harmony of interaction between painting and architecture of interior are highlighted. The conclusion is done that painting works could be important formants of architectural space in esthetical and semantic points of view. Moreover, the usage of easel painting remains stable despite the tendency changes in formation of materialistic surrounding at the end of XX century and at the beginning of XXI century. Size of the paper work - 94 pages, 97 figures, 1 table, 94 bibliographical sources.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The pursuit of harmony has always been a great concern of Chinese thinkers. In this process, especially prior to the Ming dynasty, a significant “borrowing” of their basic philosophical elements and their mutually syncretic metamorphosis was a common practice among three religious communities, particularly disseminated during times of crisis. The work of Wang Yangming proved to be an epitome of this philosophical “collaboration”, capable of producing new synthetic teachings that directly or indirectly linked two or more polarized teachings. He succeeded in modifying the existing Buddhist idea of inherited Buddha Nature to be now understood as an innate insight, while also promoting the practice of meditation, as a clear example of Chan and Daoist influence. Wang Yangming is probably best known for his emphasis on the simultaneity of the two functions – knowledge and action, viewed as a reinterpretation of non-Confucian ideas in a new Neo-Confucian framework.

Family businesses are rapidly becoming the dominant form of business enterprise in both developing and developed economies. Family businesses are also being recognised as a potential driver of economic growth and wealth creation in the world. Family businesses in particular, have been making a positive contribution towards the South African economy for the last 300 years. Approximately 80% of businesses in South Africa could be classified as family businesses and they comprise 60% of the companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Family business wellness, which often forms the underlying causes for a lack of family harmony, is, however, a neglected area of research. The primary objective of this study is to explore selected determinants of family business wellness in small and medium-sized family-owned businesses in South Africa and to make recommendations to ensure effective management of these determinants in the family business. Topics such as the characteristics of the job, work stress and burnout, job engagement, family member commitment, the perceived success of the family business, among others, was investigated. In order to achieve the primary objective of this study, a survey was undertaken using a structured questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was determined by calculating the Cronbach alpha coefficient, which indicated that the questionnaire used in this study conformed to the criteria of acceptable reliability and can be regarded as internally consistent. The survey yielded 45 usable questionnaires from 17 family businesses restricted to Gauteng and the North-West provinces in South Africa. Because this study was exploratory in nature, descriptive statistics was then used to analyse the statements that captured the information to measure the selected determinants of family wellness. The correlations between the variables were assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficients and the relationships between the variables assessing family wellness were used for the discussion and conclusion points. Practical recommendations are suggested to improve family business wellness and, subsequently, increase the sustainability of such business. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Family businesses are rapidly becoming the dominant form of business enterprise in both developing and developed economies. Family businesses are also being recognised as a potential driver of economic growth and wealth creation in the world. Family businesses in particular, have been making a positive contribution towards the South African economy for the last 300 years. Approximately 80% of businesses in South Africa could be classified as family businesses and they comprise 60% of the companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Family business wellness, which often forms the underlying causes for a lack of family harmony, is, however, a neglected area of research. The primary objective of this study is to explore selected determinants of family business wellness in small and medium-sized family-owned businesses in South Africa and to make recommendations to ensure effective management of these determinants in the family business. Topics such as the characteristics of the job, work stress and burnout, job engagement, family member commitment, the perceived success of the family business, among others, was investigated. In order to achieve the primary objective of this study, a survey was undertaken using a structured questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was determined by calculating the Cronbach alpha coefficient, which indicated that the questionnaire used in this study conformed to the criteria of acceptable reliability and can be regarded as internally consistent. The survey yielded 45 usable questionnaires from 17 family businesses restricted to Gauteng and the North-West provinces in South Africa. Because this study was exploratory in nature, descriptive statistics was then used to analyse the statements that captured the information to measure the selected determinants of family wellness. The correlations between the variables were assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficients and the relationships between the variables assessing family wellness were used for the discussion and conclusion points. Practical recommendations are suggested to improve family business wellness and, subsequently, increase the sustainability of such business. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The pursuit of harmony has always been a great concern of Chinese thinkers. In this process, especially prior to the Ming dynasty, a significant “borrowing” of their basic philosophical elements and their mutually syncretic metamorphosis was a common practice among three religious communities, particularly disseminated during times of crisis. The work of Wang Yangming proved to be an epitome of this philosophical “collaboration”, capable of producing new synthetic teachings that directly or indirectly linked two or more polarized teachings. He succeeded in modifying the existing Buddhist idea of inherited Buddha Nature to be now understood as an innate insight, while also promoting the practice of meditation, as a clear example of Chan and Daoist influence. Wang Yangming is probably best known for his emphasis on the simultaneity of the two functions – knowledge and action, viewed as a reinterpretation of non-Confucian ideas in a new Neo-Confucian framework.

In working machines the human operator is essential for the performance of the total system. Productivity and energy efficiency are both dependent not only on inherent machine properties and working place conditions, but also on how the operator manoeuvres the machine. In order to operate energy-efficient the operator has to experience the machine as harmonic. This is important to consider during the development of such working machines. It is necessary to quantify operability and to include this interaction between the human operator and the machine in both the later stages of a development project (where physical prototypes are evaluated by professional test operators) as well as in the earlier stages like concept design (where only virtual prototypes are available). The influence of the human operator is an aspect that is traditionally neglected in dynamic simulations conducted in concept design, because the modelling needs to be extended beyond the technical system. The research presented in this thesis shows two approaches to rule-based simulation models of a wheel loader operator. Both operator models interact with the machine model just as a human operator does with the actual machine. It is demonstrated that both operator models are able to adapt to basic variations in workplace setup and machine capability. A “human element” can thus be introduced into dynamic simulations of working machines, providing more relevant answers with respect to operator-influenced complete-machine properties such as productivity and energy efficiency. While the influence of the human operator is traditionally ignored when evaluating machine properties in the early stages of the product development process, later stages are very reliant on professional test operators using physical prototypes. The presented research demonstrates how the traditional subjective evaluation of a machine’s operability can be complemented by a calculated measure for the operator’s control effort, derived from the recorded control commands of the machine operator. This control effort measure can also be calculated from the control commands of an operator model in a simulation, such as those presented in this thesis. It thus also allows for an assessment of operability already in the concept design phase. In addition, the results of a study of quantifying operator workload by means of measuring psycho-physiological data such as heart rate variability and respiration rate are presented as the first step towards realising workload-adaptive operator assistance functions. Once fully developed, the method itself can also be used as another complement to the traditional subjective evaluations of operability. This approach can then be applied not only in testing of physical prototypes, but also earlier in the product development process in studies on human-in-the-loop simulators. / I arbetsmaskiner spelar föraren en avgörande roll för maskinens prestanda. Såväl produktivitet som energieffektivitet beror inte enbart av maskinens egenskaper och arbetsomgivningen, utan beror också av sättet på vilket föraren manövrerar maskinen. För att främja ett bränslesnålt körsätt ska maskinerna upplevas som harmoniska och det är viktigt att beakta detta vid utvecklingen. Det är nödvändigt att kvantifiera maskinharmonin och att ta hänsyn till interaktionen mellan föraren och maskinen i alla steg av ett utvecklingsprojekt. Detta gäller såväl sena faser, när fysiska prototyper redan har tagits fram och utvärderas av professionella provförare, såväl som tidiga faser som konceptutveckling, när endast virtuella prototyper finns tillgängliga. Förarens inflytande beaktas traditionellt inte i prestandasimuleringar i konceptfasen, eftersom detta innebär att mer än enbart det tekniska systemet måste modelleras. I den forskningen som presenteras här visas två olika regelbaserade modeller av hjullastarförare. Båda förarmodellerna använder maskinmodellen på samma sätt som en verklig förare använder en verklig maskin. Det visas att båda förarmodellerna kan anpassa sig till förändringar både i arbetsomgivningen och i maskinens egenskaper. I och med detta kan man utöka dynamiska simuleringar av arbetsmaskiner med ”ett mänskligt element”. Detta ger bättre resultat vad gäller produktivitet, energieffektivitet och liknande egenskaper som föraren påverkar i kompletta maskiner. Medan man i tidiga faser av produktutvecklingsprocessen traditionellt bortser från förarens inflytande, så är man i senare faser mycket beroende av att professionella provförare testar fysiska prototyper. Den här presenterade forskningen visar hur den traditionella subjektiva förarbedömningen av en maskins körbarhet kan kompletteras med ett mått på förarens ”spakarbete”, som beräknas utifrån en mätning på hur föraren använder sina kontroller för att styra maskinen. Detta mått på ”spakarbete” kan också beräknas utifrån de spaksignaler som genereras av förarmodellerna i en simulering. I och med detta kan en maskins körbarhet undersökas redan under konceptutvecklingen. I avhandlingen redovisas också resultaten från en studie som gjorts i syfte att kvantifiera förarens arbetsbelastning genom att mäta psykofysiologiska mått som variationer i hjärtfrekvens och andningsfrekvens. Studien är ett första steg mot att förverkliga en vision av stödfunktioner i arbetsmaskiner vilka anpassar sig efter förarens momentana arbetsbelastning. En sådan metod att mäta förarens arbetsbelastning kan också användas som ett komplement till den traditionella subjektiva förarbedömningen av en maskins körbarhet. Metoden kan inte bara användas vid provning av fysiska prototyper utan också tidigare i produktutvecklingsprocessen vid studier i avancerade körsimulatorer. / IN ARBETSMASCHINEN spielt der Fahrer eine entscheidende Rolle für die Leistung des gesamten Systems. Produktivität und Energieeffizienz sind nicht nur abhängig von den Grundeigenschaften der Maschine und den Bedingungen am Einsatzort, sondern auch von der Art und Weise wie der Fahrer die Maschine manövreriert. Für eine kraftstoffsparende Fahrweise muss der Fahrer die Maschine als harmonisch erleben. Dies muss bei der Entwicklung beachtet werden. Das Erfassen der Fahrbarkeit und die Berücksichtigung des Zusammenspiels zwischen Fahrer und Maschine ist in allen Phasen der Entwicklung notwendig, sowohl in den späteren Phasen, wenn Prototypen von Erprobungsfahrern ausgewertet werden, als auch in den frühen Phasen wie dem Konzeptentwurf, wenn nur virtuelle Prototypen vorhanden sind. Der Fahrereinfluss wird traditionell in den dynamischen Simulationen während des Konzeptentwurfs vernachlässigt, denn er erfordert die Ausweitung der Modellierung über das technische System hinaus. In dieser Dissertation werden zwei Herangehensweisen zur Erstellung regelbasierter Modelle eines Radladerfahrers aufgezeigt. Beide Fahrermodelle interagieren mit dem Maschinenmodell gleich einem menschlichen Fahrer mit einer realen Maschine. Es wird gezeigt, dass beide Fahrermodelle in der Lage sind, sich auf Änderungen des Einsatzortes und der Maschineneigenschaften anzupassen. Somit kann „ein menschliches Element“ in die dynamische Simulation von Arbeitsmaschinen eingeführt werden, was zu qualitativ besseren Resultaten bezüglich Produktivität, Energieeffizienz und ähnlicher fahrerbeeinflusster Eigenschaften führt. Während man in den frühen Phasen der Produktentwicklung traditionell vom Fahrereinfluss absieht, ist man später sehr auf die Erprobung physischer Prototypmaschinen durch professionelle Testfahrer angewiesen. In dieser Dissertation wird aufgezeigt, wie die traditionell subjektive Bewertung der Fahrbarkeit einer Maschine mit einem Maß der „Steuerungsarbeit“ komplettiert werden kann, berechnet aus der gemessenen Betätigung der dem Fahrer zur Verfügung stehenden Bedienelemente. Dieses Maß der „Steuerungsarbeit“ kann auch aus den Signalen der von uns vorgestellten Fahrermodelle in einer Simulation berechnet werden. Damit kann man die Fahrbarkeit bereits in der Konzeptentwicklung abschätzen. Weiterhin werden die Resultate einer Studie zur Quantifizierung der Fahrerbelastung mithilfe psychophysiologischer Daten wie Veränderungen der Herzfrequenz und Atmungsfrequenz vorgestellt. Diese Studie ist ein erster Schritt zur Entwicklung eines Assistenzsystemes, dass sich an die aktuelle Fahrerbelastung anpasst. Eine solche Messmethode der Fahrerbelastung kan auch zusätzlich zur traditionellen subjektiven Fahrbarkeitseinschätzung angewendet werden – nicht nur bei der Erprobung physischer Prototpyen, sondern auch schon frühzeitig bei Studien auf Fahrsimulatoren.

Communitarianism and harmony ideology have their proponents and critics, particularly as viewed through the lens of conciliation-based dispute resolution. Both features being prominent in the Tibetan Diaspora in India, I hypothesized that the strengths and weaknesses of these orientations could be assessed through the rationale behind the norms of social control operative in the community, and the efficiency and effectiveness of those norms in terms of voluntary compliance. I found that the informal Tibetan mechanisms for dispute resolution were effective and efficient in supporting Indian systems of law enforcement, while allowing a ritualistic affirmation of community. Contrary to proponents of legal centralism and court justice, I found that liberalist values underpinning litigative process were disruptive of social expectations, and had the potential to exacerbate rather than relieve social tensions. The harmony norms that predispose pro-social behavior within Tibetan settlements failed to protect the interests of community members, however, when the challenge came from local Indian groups operating on the basis of their own standards of particularistic allegiance. Legal ethnography best describes the methodology used for this research. Fieldwork drew on: 1) Interviews with twelve settlement officers whose mandate specifically includes mediation of disputes; 2) In-depth interviews with two disputants fighting cases before the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission; and 3) Interviews with over 70 informants (including senior and mid-level exile government officials and settlement residents), together with archival material, to situate findings and verify interpretations. This research contributes a unique non-Western body of data in support of Law and Society scholars, such as Amitai Etzioni and Phillip Selznick, who have argued for devolution of law-like responsibilities to local levels where internalized norms are an everyday means of social control. It also argues against the pejorative interpretation of harmony ideology as depicted by legal centralists such as Laura Nader. By reframing harmony as a function of norm rationale, efficiency and effectiveness, the research offers new variables for assessing the costs and benefits of community. Finally, the Tibetan case studies provide an important comparative for cosmopolitan states that are debating how to accommodate diversity and legal pluralism.

This work takes as its central "conceit" a specific cultural site, namely a small town choir-- The Emu Park and District Amateur Choral Society Inc., which operates in Central Queensland, circa 1965. A discontinuous narrative of interconnected short stories of one chapter each, highlight significant and often highly traumatic aspects of the interconnected lives of selected choir members. The narrative lampoons the English choral tradition against the setting of a society which does not deal with the political and social negativities of Queensland in the sixties. It is a culture in denial. The comedy deals with the often banal, though always good natured, behaviours of the choir members in dealing with often black-edged lives. An Overture introduces all characters, while Acts I, II & III deal with individual's stories. The Finale deals with the outcome of rehearsals in a culminating performance of the Emu Park and District Amateur Choral Society Incorporated. The short stories, one to a chapter, concern individual choir member's life stories and form discreet, fully finished pieces of work in their own right. Background action throughout the stories involves a series of rehearsals which structurally tie all the narratives to the final chapter. Lyrics of popular songs of the 1900's through to early 1960's are mentioned within the text. For copyright reasons the texts are not reproduced in full. However, these lyrics do comment tangentially on some aspect of the character's story.