"A refreshing and candid look at the emotions and pitfalls of our current society. These works are carefully crafted, as not to overuse a word, a phrase, or a piece of punctuation. (Thomas J. Doan, poetry editor of "Paradigm")--BACK COVER. / https://dc.etsu.edu/alumni_books/1012/thumbnail.jpg

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / To gain further insight, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of leadership styles, particularly the impact of transformational and transactional leadership on employee engagement. Within a business context, transformational leaders are those “extraordinary” individuals that have the ability to capture their employees’ attention, intellectually stimulate them and strategically align them with the vision and mission of the organisation. Contrary to this, is transactional leadership which is basically an exchange relationship between the leader and employee whereby the leader exchanges rewards and/or incentives for performance. Both styles of leadership are instrumental in engaging employees within the organisation, although a plethora of literature suggests that transformational leadership impacts more significantly on employee engagement (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004).

I alla designprocesser måste man ta hänsyn till ett mediums egenskaper. Detta är inget nytt inom design. Ändå förekommer det ofta inom människa --‐ dator interaction (HCI) och interaktiv systemdesign att teknikens egenskaper bara ses över som hastigast. Tekniken är ofta abstraherad, utan att tillräcklig uppmärksamhet ges till hur deras distinkta egenskaper öppnar upp för designmöjligheter. I den här rapporten beskrivs ett tillvägagångssätt som kallas Inspirational Bits för att bli mer bekant med designmaterialet inom HCI, det digitala materialet. Det är också ett sätt för att bli bättre på att förmedla kunskapen till alla gruppmedlemmar i ett interdisciplinärt designteam. Inspirational Bits skapas ”snabbt och smutsigt” men är fullt fungerande system i både hard--‐ och mjukvara, med målet att blotta en eller flera av de dynamiska egenskaperna hos digitala material. / In any design process, a medium’s properties need to be considered. This is nothing new in design. Still it is found that in Human--‐Computer Interaction (HCI) and interactive systems design the properties of a technology are often glossed over. That is, technologies are black--‐boxed without much thought given to how their distinctive properties open up design possibilities. This thesis describes an approach using Inspirational Bits to become more familiar with the design material in HCI, the digital material. It is also a way to become better able to share some of this knowledge with all members of an interdisciplinary design team. Inspirational Bits are quick and dirty but fully working systems in both hardware and software with the single aim of exposing one or several of the dynamic properties of some of the digital materials.

The goals of this research study were to determine if clergy members were prone to experiencing compassion fatigue and to identify the self-care methods they currently employ. Compassion fatigue can affect anyone in a helping profession and is considered to be a component of burnout. With the use of qualitative interviews, the views of pastors will be used to explain their understanding of compassion fatigue and their implementation of self-care. Data will also be collected to describe the methods of self-care the clergy members utilize when their levels of compassion fatigue presentation are prominent. Audio information gathered from the interviews, and demographic, compassion satisfaction and self-care surveys will be used, and a thematic and phenomena analysis will be created to analyze the data collected. This research will contribute to the collaborative efforts of churches and social workers to increase public awareness of compassion fatigue and self-care deficits that pastors are experiencing and that churches are observing within their faith communities. This can be beneficial in helping communities to effect positive change within the community.

Survival of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) is a critical issue for business leaders. The Ghana Statistical Service reported that over 60% of SMEs, including Ghanaian small and medium scale private basic schools, fail during their first 5 years of operation. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the transformational leadership skills that proprietors of Ghanaian small and medium scale private basic schools have used to enhance employee performance for sustainability beyond 5 years. The conceptual framework for this study was Bass and Avolio's transformational leadership theory. Data collection included semistructured interviews to elicit narratives from 3 proprietors from 3 different Ghanaian private basic schools about what leadership skills they used to enhance employee performance. Data also came from a review of relevant school documents and a reflective journal. The data were analyzed with Yin's 5-step data analysis technique. Data analysis included identification of key themes and triangulation of data from interviews and relevant school documents. The main themes revealed that leaders used idealized influence, inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation to enhance employee performance for sustainability of the schools. Findings indicate school leaders can enhance employee performance when they adopt transformational leadership, particularly when leaders articulate a clear vision, encourage teamwork, and involve followers in decision-making. Social implications include helping proprietors of Ghanaian private basic schools enhance employee performance for sustainability beyond 5 years to improve student education, enhance employment, and contribute to improved living standards.

This essay explores the living conditions of the main characters Kambili in Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Tambudzai in Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga and their struggle to achieve personal freedom. It aims to show that colonial stereotypes are challenged through the girl´s struggles. It starts with a short exposé over post-colonial theory, here a methodological viewpoint, which is important to consider Kambili and Tambudzai from. It furthermore considers how their extensive family circumstances have impact on these two young protagonists, and finally examines how they employ formal and informal education as a tool to make changes in their lives and become inspirational young African women.

This study looked at the journey towards becoming a missional church, using Beach Mission Presbyterian Church as a case study and explores the question of the missiological praxis of Beach Mission and UPCSA. Despite the fact that the church is not fundamentally the keeper of mission, it is however the sign, instrument, means of expression, and foretaste of God’s mission to the troubled, broken and traumatised world. I can affirm with equal validity that, mission belongs to God. Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission – God’s mission. The UPCSA must give careful attention to the processes by which it governs itself but the biblical and theological foundations will always be crucial than the specific structures implemented. These foundations will allow authentic relationships to develop simply because they assure people that they will be valued as those created in the image of God. Their wisdom and participation will be noticed and honoured. The church structures will give credence to God’s work of reconciliation. When church structures allow the biblical and theological foundations to order its life, the church will bring glory, praise and honour to God. Gibbs (2005:20) asserts that, the church of the twenty-first century needs missional thinkers and apostolic leadership. By missional leadership I mean leaders who can read the Scriptures with fresh eyes, relating the story of redemption to the human condition in its present cultural context – contexts that are increasingly multicultural and influenced by global trends. This poses a challenge to UPCSA. It was apparent that the Beach Mission Presbyterian Church approaches missional church conversation with a sense of hopefulness, and this was motivated by the strong belief that God is present and up to something wonderful. The Beach Mission Presbyterian Church’s case in point is heartening other congregations who intend in embarking on a journey towards becoming a missional church. The focus has been about God and his mission. The Beach Mission Presbyterian Church ought to comprehend the indisputable fact that it is just an instrument for missio Dei or to put it simply it is nothing more than a delivery means for the gospel. Wright (2010:31) asserts that, but at the end of the day, mission is a matter of loyalty. The ambassador must have complete loyalty to the government he or she represents. A trusted messenger will faithfully deliver what his sender said, not his own opinions. The church is a rejected community sent out to the world with a product (Jesus), to bring about transformation to the world. In essence, one wonders if the church does comprehend the world in which it is sent out to? Does it comprehend God, who has sent it? In the missional church, the theology is more than the self-serving what do you get mentality. Members comprehend that they are called to be the church rather than be served by it. / Dissertation (MA Theol)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

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Syfte: Syftet med studien är att ur anställdas perspektiv få en ökad förståelse för hur kvinnor och män som transformativa ledare använder inspirerande motivation, för att sedan kunna undersöka om könet på ledaren är av betydelse. Metod: Studien utgår från en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna genomfördes på två större företag med sammanlagt 10 intervjupersoner. Det insamlade materialet har analyserats med hjälp av en tematisk analys. Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet av studien visar de egenskaper och karaktärsdrag som ledarna har vilka de anställda beskriver vara motivationshöjande. Respondenterna är överens om att ledarnas positivitet, deras optimistiska syn samt deras engagemang påverkar de anställdas motivation på arbetet. Studien visar att det inte finns någon betydande skillnad beroende på om ledaren är en kvinna eller en man i utövandet av delen inspirerande motivation. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Då flertalet respondenter ansåg att ledarens erfarenhet var av betydelse och inte ledarens kön föreslår vi att fortsatta studier kan jämföra erfarna och oerfarna ledare. Det kan vara av intresse att undersöka om det finns olikheter i delen inspirerande motivation i det transformativa ledarskapet beroende på ledarens ålder och erfarenhet. Fortsatt forskning skulle även kunna innebära en mer omfattande studie för att få en bekräftelse på våra slutsatser. Studien genomfördes på två företag som arbetar med kundservice och det vore därför intressant att studera hur transformativa ledare använder sig av den inspirerande motivationen i andra branscher för att finna eventuella likheter eller olikheter. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien har genomförts på två företag där de transformativa ledarna varit en kvinna och en man, vilket bidrar till den befintliga forskningen om könets betydelse i det transformativa ledarskapet. Vi menar också att studien bidrar till teorin då vi har uppmärksammat och studerat kvinnliga och manliga egenskaper och karaktärsdrag som påverkar de anställdas motivation. Att studien visar de ledarskapsbeteenden som de anställda önskar menar vi ger ett bidrag till att utveckla både befintliga och potentiella ledare i företag och organisationer. / Aim:The aim of the study is, from the employee’s perspective, to achieve a better understanding of how women and men as transformational leaders are using inspirational motivation, to discern whether the leader’s gender is of significance. Method:The study is based on a qualitative approach. In the study we have conducted semi-structured interviews at two major companies with a total of 10 interviewees. We analyzed our material using a thematic analysis. Result & Conclusions: The result of the study shows the characteristics and traits that leaders have which the employees are describing as motivational. The respondents agree that leaders positivity, their optimistic view, as well as their dedication affect employee motivation at work. The study shows that there is no significant difference depending on the gender of the leader in the performance of the area inspirational motivation. Suggestions for future research: As the majority of respondents felt that the manager's experience was of importance and not the leader's sex, we suggest that further studies compare the experienced and inexperienced leader. It may be of interest to investigate whether there are differences in the dimension inspirational motivation in transformationalleadership depending on the leader's age and experience. Further research couldalso lead to a more extensive study in order to receive a confirmation of our conclusions. The study was conducted in two companies working with customer service and it would be interesting to study how transformationalleaders use the inspirational motivation in other industries to find any similarities or differences. Contribution of the thesis: The study was conducted at two companies where the transformationalleaders was a woman and a man, which contributes to the existing research on the significance of gender in the transformationalleadership. We also believe that the study contributes to the theory, as we have noticed and studied male and female characteristics and traits that affect employee motivation. That the study shows the leadership behaviors that are of employees’ wishes is according to us a contribution to the development of both existing as well as potential leaders in companies and organizations.

Inspirational Speech given on the occasion of the meeting of German as well as selected Austrian, Polish and Swiss UNESCO Chairs from 28 to 29 October 2011 at the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany