The focus of the study is to explore Geographic patterns and Disasters Management in the context of Alexandra Township situated in the Johannesburg Metro. The research evaluates if the Disaster Management Unit in Johannesburg municipality is prepared in terms of policies, community campaigns on flood disasters as well as forming organizations that will assist in times of disaster. It also refers to other South African townships with regard to where most affected townships are located, how the community is affected and how the local government responds. Disaster management infers preparedness for disaster; therefore, measures of preparation from the local government need to be in place to reduce extreme losses, pro-active policies should be in place to guide officials on how to manage disasters affecting their areas. The South African local government as the third sphere of government is closest to the people and mostly responsible for the community’s wellbeing. It is for this reason that local governments should have a strategy on how to deal with disaster. Having experienced natural disaster incidents, most countries in the world have been compelled to develop legislations, disaster management and mitigation plans that guide them on how to prevent and respond to disasters. In view of a several unimagined disaster incidents in South Africa, the researcher maintains that the concept and practice of disaster management is rather new in South Africa, and many local governments do not have well-informed strategies to manage natural disasters. Unlimited rain caused by climate change, the position of residence and overpopulation can be major attributes to disasters hazards. Floods can easily flow into residential dwellings and destroy the property, not only that, but it can also result in the loss of lives and enhance the spread of diseases. It becomes more of tragedy as most people living in these areas are poor and have all their belongings in the same place which makes them even more vulnerable to disaster. The location of Stjwetla settlement along the Alexandra Township riverbanks becomes relevant at this point in case. The residents of Stjwetla are exposed to flood threats, they are very much aware of the risk associated with the low-lying geographical patterns, overpopulation and the riverbanks. However, they still occupy the disaster prone sites because they cannot afford elsewhere. Stjwetla is an illegal settlement where no one pays rent; there is a serious lack of basic municipal services such as water and electricity in the area. The residents claim to have arrived in this area simply because Johannesburg seems to offer informal job opportunities; therefore, they anticipate good opportunities in terms of employment. Most of them are from Limpopo province and have more than twenty years residing in Stjwetla, and are still unemployed. The community has formed rescue groups that help in times of regular disasters such as floods and fire. The rescue groups also mediate between the community and the northern Johannesburg municipal Disaster and Emergency Unit. The Disaster and Emergency Unit have formed good relations with the community leaders for support and emergency response. Other organizations, for instance Red Cross Society make regular input, by offering food and clothes to the people affected. Red Cross Society and other organizations work together with the local government to help Stjwetla residents deal better with disaster effects. However, the residents feel that other government departments, such as social development, health and housing must assist as well. Residents are of an idea that the disaster management unit alone cannot conquer the disaster risk in Stjwetla but social development should help with psychological therapy while health department should intervene to reduce long-term effects of injuries. / M, Development and Management, Public Management and Administration, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The following case study aims to explore the knowledge transfer and its implications in the context of a soft service firm. The complexity of knowledge itself and the knowledge transfer process in service firms brings new challenges. The phenomenon was investigated by the application of grounded theory. Interviews were conducted with employees at a company present in the Quick Service Restaurant segment. It resulted in several findings that were not reported by previous literature. Firstly, within the case company there was multiple formal networks that circulate separately, except for interconnections through the restaurant managers. Within the organization personal relationships proved to be the most important factor for knowledge sharing. Secondly, within a large franchise network, an actor might take the role of knowledge creator due to its size and influence the other franchises in the network. Thirdly, knowledge transfer, implementation and innovation are hindered when work environment is characterized by stress and high pressure to perform. Fourthly, communication improves operation efficiency and employee motivation. This study provides navigations to future research and can be used as guidance in regard to knowledge transfer for practitioners, managers or other interested.

Darbo objektas: Kūno kultūros mokytojų nuomonė apie neformalųjį fizinį ugdymą mokykloje. Tikslas: Nustatyti kūno kultūros mokytojų požiūrį į neformalųjį fizinį ugdymą Šakių miesto ir rajono mokyklose. Uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti mokinių dalyvavimo sportinės krypties neformaliame ugdyme mastą ir pobūdį pedagogų lyties ir pedagoginio darbo stažo aspektu. 2. Išsiaiškinti mokinių nedalyvavimo sportinės krypties neformaliame ugdyme priežastis pedagogų lyties ir pedagoginio darbo stažo aspektu. 3. Nustatyti sporto renginių organizavimo ypatumus pedagogų lyties ir pedagoginio darbo stažo aspektu. Svarbiausi rezultatai: Sportinės krypties neformaliojo švietimo būreliai dažniausiai organizuojami 5-8 ir 9-12 klasių mokiniams- krepšinis. Daugiausiai organizuojami sportinės krypties neformaliojo švietimo būreliai 5-8 kl.- 9-12 kl.- krepšinis. Tarp vaikinų populiariausias - krepšinis, tarp merginų- tinklinis. Daugiausiai mokinių lanko krepšinio neformalaus švietimo būrelius. Iš gautų duomenų paaiškėjo sportinės krypties neformalaus švietimo būrelių nelankymo priežastys: per daug laiko praleidžiama prie kompiuterio, TV, silpna motyvacija, tingėjimas. Dažniausiai organizuojamos varžybos – krepšinio, konkursai - „Geriausi mokyklos sportininkai”, sporto šventės – „Turizmo sporto šventė“. Dažniausiai organizuojami turnyrai: krepšinio turnyras Vasario 16-osios dienai paminėti, Vasaris-mano sveikatos mėnuo. Mokyklose sporto renginius dažniausiai organizuoja mokytojai ir mokiniai. Juos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Object of the job: Psychical education teachers' opinion about informal psychical education in Sakiai city and district schools. Goal: Identify features of psychical education at school. Tasks: 1. Identify the scale and type of students activity in informal education in the aspect of teachers gender and length of service. 2. Identify the reasons why students are not involved in informal psychical education in the aspect of teachers gender and length of service. 3. Identify specifications of organizing sport events in aspects of teachers gender and length of service. Most important results: Informal psychical education after school activities that are being organized for grade 5 – 8, 9-12 class students is basketball. The most popular informal psychic education between they males is basketball, between the females is volleyball. The most students are attending the basketball informal physical education activity.. The obtained data indicate that the direction of non-formal education sports clubs attendance reason: too much time in front of the computer, TV, weak motivation, laziness. Mostly organized race - basketball competitions-"The best school athletes, sports-festival" festival of sport tourism. Usually organized tournaments: Basketball tournament on February 16th 'Day, February is my health. Schools sporting events are usually organized by the students and teachers. Sporting events are usually funded by the school administration. Sports events for the period between 50... [to full text]

This thesis investigates whether adoption of partnerships between water utilities and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in Sub-Saharan Africa can improve water services to informal urban settlements. The study is particularly relevant because over 1 billion of the world's population have no access to clean water supply with many living in urban areas. The lack of adequate resources coupled with insufficiency of conventional approaches has rendered it impossible for urban utilities to deliver sustainable water services to all customers, including the informal settlements. The thesis proposes that partnership between water utilities and CBOs is a viable approach for improving water services to informal settlements. The thesis enhances understanding of the context in which such partnerships could be developed.

The immediate catalyst for having taken up this study was the violent outbreak of weeks of public unrest in the Paris banlieus in the wake of the shooting of young man on the run from the police on October 27 2005. The obvious inability of local municipalities and police forces to explain, let alone to anticipate the swelling discontent with a system which is generally assumed to work effectively and to benefit all has led me to the assumption that we have entered a stage where the concept of representational democracy is seriously compromised. The sheer scale or projected growth rates of urban agglomerations worldwide is certainly a strong, if not the only indicator for the radical change of ‘lived experience’ in the wake of globalized economies, politics and communication networks. If once the lack of a ‘unitary theory’ was attributed to the field of urbanism (Lefebvre, 1991 [1974]), from a contemporary point of view the range of issues and problems at stake far exceed the boundaries of any discipline in particular. Furthermore, to start the inquiry by reasserting the importance of the human condition will allow us to delve into the process of individuation, the diverse realities of individuals, their gathering in groups, their dialogue amongst each other and with their environment in its totality in order to account for the complex interrelations within a highly dynamic network of associations, since the emergence of a fully emancipated Many – as opposed to the One of the state – requires more than the flawed promise of representational democracy to act for the ‘common good,’ or ‘general will’ (Rousseau, 2009 [1762]) of all. Clearly this task is ambitious, for we have to bridge the gap between the needs, aspirations, emotions, anxieties and dreams of individuals on the one hand, and the temporal emergence of collective co-operation on the other. ‘Official’ knowledge, incorporated by endless columns of statistical data, gathered and administered meticulously thanks to the firm grip of institutionalised observation, is of little help though, for we have become increasingly conscious that the representations thereof are a poor match for the complexity of networked realities ‘on the ground’. My artistic practice conducted together with Alexandra Berlinger under the name of Tat ort is precisely aimed at looking into “matters of concern” as opposed to “matters of fact” (Latour, 2005) in order to gain a genuine insight into the workings of existing settings, where we introduce ourselves as intermediaries for the initiation of a process of active participation by means of interventional apparatuses, conceived specifically for the context in question. Our respective experience has led me to the conclusion that instead of providing alternative representations based on presumed universal identity, the full-blown heterogeneity of the multitude thrives on the general intellect and the activity of the speaker. To speak is to act, and to act is the predominant trait of political praxis. It is through our acts and deeds that we disclose ourselves in public in the presence of others (Arendt, 1998 [1958]). And it is through acting that we start anew and leave our mark in a situation the moment we intervene in the circulation of empty signifiers upon which we assign a name, the name of an event. It is through our interventional participation that we allow for novelty to emerge in time, as a process without representation and based on sustained fidelity. My research is centred around two questions: First of all, is it possible to devise an interventional apparatus (physical infrastructure) which would work independent of contextual factors, and secondly, is it possible to retain the site-specificity through a process of dynamically mapping the amalgamation of existing information and the data obtained by participants based on face to face communication in order to draw up the ‘portraits’ of existing communities beyond the scope of institutionalised representation. Emancipating the Many therefore is a statement about difference marked as intervention. This intervention requires the presence of others and the intention to act. It is the emergence of a ‘constitution of time’.

Over the last twenty years female entrepreneurs have been increasing in numbers in economies of developing and developed nations across the world. But although female entrepreneurship participation rates have increased worldwide, it appears that economic and socio cultural patterns still prescribe whether a female can become or want to become an entrepreneur in her society. Some reasons are obvious such as lack of employment and opportunities; other are disguised in patriarchal culture that deters female entrepreneurship. Against this backdrop it appears that in less developed countries necessity and informal entrepreneurship are more prevalent than opportunity entrepreneurship. An explanation from economic nature for this phenomenon is perhaps the fact that with less job opportunities available in developing nations, the ‘need’ to become an entrepreneur seems to be the answer for females to make a living by creating their own jobs. At the socio cultural level, the motivation to become an entrepreneur out of need surfaces because of the socio cultural structure of certain nations that hinder females from finding work that brings them independence, self actualization and flexibility for work-life balance. This qualitative exploratory study investigates the phenomenon of female entrepreneurship comparing female entrepreneurship in two contexts: Brazil and the United States. The economic differences on a macro level between these two countries have been well documented and national socio cultural differences have been discussed. But very little has been focused at the individual level of the female entrepreneur per se, that is, how they perceive and experience the economic and the social cultural macro environment with their businesses. This research attempts to fill this gap. This was done by first reviewing the literature and then by analysing the responses from face to face and telephone interviews with 34 female entrepreneurs in Brazil and 26 in the United States. The findings indicated that female entrepreneurs in Brazil and the United States share similarities in motivation for starting the business in terms of pull factors, such as search for financial independence, want to be one’s own boss, need for autonomy, and self actualization. The women from both groups also identified customer satisfaction and recognition from society as key elements for their business success. But business informality was a phenomenon only found among the Brazilian enterprises (the informais) a factor found to be directly related to economic necessity and the scarcity of waged jobs and opportunities. The perception of gender barriers was shared by both groups of entrepreneurs but other factors such as religion and the importance of faith to succeed in business were emphasized only by the Americans. Higher education was perceived by both groups as an instrument to gain recognition from society, but not important to grow their businesses; vocational training was perceived as more important. Networking was perceived as important, but different patterns of networking emerged among the Brazilians and the Americans. Definitions of success also differ among the women independent from their nationality. Some were more inclined to define success in financial terms, others simply define success in terms of flexibility and the ‘got to be in control’ syndrome. This research contributed to an increased understanding of the processes of female entrepreneurship as it related to how economic and socio cultural forces influence these processes. The findings indicated that the female entrepreneurship process becomes a combination of two processes: a person driven process and a response to environment process. Mentoring and coaching programs that assist women finding their path to entrepreneurship along with their own passions should be emphasized by local agencies. Although policy development was not the specific objective of this study, a number of issues have arisen that have implications both for future research and female entrepreneurship policies. For instance, in Brazil, higher taxes and the high cost of starting a business were perceived by the women as barriers to their businesses. It is suggested that Brazilian authorities and legislators continue with their efforts to streamline the business start process by introducing innovative and cost effective ways to formalize a business.

Is the relationship between insurance consumption and its determinants spurious? Is general insurance a luxury service? Do bequest motives matter for life insurance consumption? Is private credit important for the development of life insurance? Do socioeconomic development and informal risk sharing institutions matter for formal insurance consumption? This thesis investigates these and other related issues using international datasets and relatively new panel data method, namely the Common Correlated Effects Pooled (CCEP) estimator. A novelty of the CCEP is that it takes into account the impacts of unobserved common factors. The thesis consists of an introduction, three empirical chapters and conclusions. Chapter 2 studies the relationship between nonlife insurance consumption and income/wealth per capita. Estimation results suggest that income elasticity is below unity and that nonlife insurance is positively related to GDP per capita, the law, risk aversion, infrastructural development, and negatively related to socioeconomic development. Chapter 3 explores life insurance consumption driven by bequest motives. We found that life insurance consumption is positively related to GDP per capita, old age dependency ratio, infrastructural development, and social security and welfare; and negatively related to the extended family institution, savings, inflation, and risk aversion. Estimation results suggest the presence of altruistic, and bequest as exchange old age security motives. Chapter 4 investigates the long run relationship and causality direction between private credit consumption and life insurance development. Life insurance development may be explained by GDP per capita, formal and informal credit consumption, infrastructural development, life expectancy, institutional quality, inflation, and Islam, and Orthodox being the dominant religions. Cointegration test results suggest that life and nonlife insurance consumption and its determinants exhibit a long run relationship; and that there is a long run bi-directional causality relationship between life insurance development and private credit consumption. The thesis concludes that insurance development requires institutional and infrastructural development-in particular- telecommunications infrastructure, to facilitate cost effective insurance supply.

Det är viktigt hur kontorsmiljöer utformas så att de kan skapa förutsättningar för lärande, välbefinnande och hälsa på arbetsplatsen. Syftet med aktivitetsbaserade kontor (ABkontor) är att ge de anställda möjligheten att välja den kontorsplats som bäst lämpar sig för den uppgift som ska utföras. Det innebär att ingen har en egen plats att gå till. Även om den här kontorstypen blir alltmer populär finns det begränsat med forskning som undersökt vilken effekt ABkontor har på kommunikation, stöd, hälsa och välbefinnande, särskilt ur ett lärandeperspektiv. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om det finns skillnader mellan män och kvinnor i hur de skattar hälsa, välbefinnande och hur nöjda de är med olika förutsättningar för informellt lärande i ABkontor, samt om det finns ett samband mellan förutsättningar för informellt lärande på arbetsplatsen och upplevd hälsa och välbefinnande. Ett frågeformulär skickades ut till 174 arbetare på ett av Trafikverkets kontor och svarsfrekvensen var 53 %. Analyserna visar att det inte fanns någon signifikant skillnad mellan män och kvinnor i hur tillfredsställda de är med de olika förutsättningarna, generellt så skattades tillfredställelse högt. Ett signifikant samband hittades mellan informellt lärande och välbefinnande men inte mellan informellt lärande och hälsa. Vidare forskning behövs för att undersöka om informellt lärande faktiskt äger rum i ABkontor genom att undersöka en större population och en större variation av ABkontor för att reda ut den kausala relationen mellan informellt lärande och välbefinnande. / It is important how office environments get designed so they can promote conditions for learning, well-being and health in the workplace. The purpose of an activity-based office (ABW) is to give the employees a possibility to choose the workplace best suited for the task at hand, implying that no one has their own private office to go to. Although this office environment gets increasingly popular, there is a lack of research demonstrating the effects of ABW:s on communication, collegial support, health and wellbeing, especially from a learning perspective. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in how satisfied women and men are in an ABW with the conditions for informal learning, such as work-related information exchange, cooperation and social support and test whether it is a relation between informal learning at work and self-rated wellbeing and health. A questionnaire was sent out to 174 employees working at the Swedish Transport Administration and the response rate was 53 %. The analyses showed that there is no significant difference between men and women in how satisfied they are with the conditions for informal learning in the ABW, overall both genders gave high ratings on satisfaction. A significant relationship was found between informal learning and well-being but not between informal learning and health. Further research is needed to investigate whether informal learning actually takes place in the activity-based office, using a bigger sample and variety of ABW:s, to clear out if the relation between informal learning and well-being is causal.

Bakgrund:   Allt fler människor vårdas i sina hem och det anses ofta vara en betydelsefull plats för både sjuka och anhöriga. När sjukdom drabbar en person spelar de anhöriga en viktig roll. De får ta ett stort ansvar gentemot den sjuke och för vården i hemmet. Det är trots detta fortfarande sjuksköterskans uppgift att främja patientens och familjens upplevelse av livskvalitet och välbefinnande. Allas behov behöver tillgodoses för att vården i hemmet ska vara adekvat. Syfte: Att beskriva anhörigas upplevelse av att vårda en sjuk familjemedlem i hemmet. Metod: Denna litteraturöversikt baserades på tio vetenskapliga artiklar. Dessa hämtades från databaserna CINAHL plus with Full text och PubMed. Familjefokuserad omvårdnad var den teoretiska referensram som kom att diskuteras utifrån litteraturöversiktens resultat. Den handlar om familjens betydelse för patientens upplevelse av hälsa och sjukdom. Även de vårdvetenskapliga konsensusbegreppen behandlades. Resultat: Det framkom fyra områden i resultatet. Det första var känslomässig påverkan på den informella vårdaren, vilket berörde de tankar och känslor som uppkom när någon tog sig an vårdarrollen. Det andra var social påverkan, som handlade om hur de anhörigas sociala liv påverkades när de tog sig an den informella vårdarrollen. Det tredje var förändringar, vilket berörde kontrasterna mellan hur livet var innan sjukdom drabbade familjen och hur livet blev efter sjukdomen inträdde. Det sista området var information och stöd som omfattade det som familjen ansåg sig behöva hjälp med.                                                                                          Diskussion: De två områdena känslomässig påverkan på den informella vårdaren och social påverkan diskuterades utifrån den familjefokuserade omvårdnaden och de vårdvetenskapliga konsensusbegreppen. / Background: Nowadays more people are being cared for in the home which is often considered an important place for both the patient and relatives. When illness hits one family member the relatives plays an essential role. They have to take responsibility for their sick family member and for the home nursing. Nevertheless, it is still the nurse´ task to ensure that the patient and the family experience quality of life and wellbeing. Aim: To describe the family experience of caring for a sick family member at home. Method: This literature review was based on ten scientific articles. These were taken from the databases CINAHL Plus with Full Text and PubMed. Family focused nursing was the theoretical framework that the literature review was proceeded from. Family focused nursing is about the family importance to the patient experience of health and illness. The consensus concepts of caring science were also discussed.   Results: Four themes appeared in the result. The first one was emotional impact on the informal caregiver. That theme includes thoughts and feelings that arise when someone takes on the caregiving role. The second one was social impact which is about the family members' social lives and how the informal caregiving role affects them. The third one was changes and that theme is about the contrast between what life was like before the illness struck their family and how life became after the disease entered. The final theme was information and support which included the areas where the family required more help. Discussions:  Emotional impact on the informal caregiver and social impacts were discussed on the basis of family focused nursing and the consensus concepts of caring science.

Qu'apporte la sociologie de l'acteur-réseau à la sociologie du développement? Depuis l’implosion de l’URSS et la division du bassin de la mer d’Aral en cinq républiques indépendantes, l’Asie centrale est le théâtre d’une « guerre de l’eau ». Cette guerre se traduit notamment par la difficulté des républiques à s’entendre sur un accord de partage de la ressource en eau du bassin, dont l’optimum a été démontré par des modèles hydroéconomiques développés par la coopération internationale. Ce travail retrace l'histoire de la guerre de l'eau et montre dans quelle mesure les dispositifs de calculs contribuent à la performer. Nous suivons pour cela l’eau qui circule dans les champs de production, dans les statistiques administratives et dans les travaux des experts internationaux. En mettant les dispositifs techniques au cœur de l'analyse, la sociologie du développement se trouve enrichie par la sociologie de l’acteur réseau / What can bring the Actor-Network Sociology to the Development Sociology ? Since the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the political disintegration of the Aral Sea basin into five independent republics, Central Asia is witnessing a "water war". The republics have difficulties in finding an agreement for sharing the water resources, while international cooperation has many times demonstrated an optimum by producing hydro-economic models.This thesis analyses the history of the water conflict in Central Asia and shows how the experts’ calculation devices contribute to perform the “water war”. The research chases the water flowing in the production field, in the administrative statistics and in the work of international experts. It focuses on technical devices and demonstrates how the Development Sociology gets enriched by the Actor-Network Sociology