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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
11

Sadisme filial et vocation littéraire chez Marcel Proust

Bégin Marchand, Jasmine 02 1900 (has links)
Dans la Recherche du temps perdu, toute relation filiale est une relation où le fils fait inévitablement souffrir sa mère en commettant, selon Proust, une forme de parricide. La lecture des œuvres pré-Recherche de l’auteur, telles la nouvelle « La confession d’une jeune fille » et l’article « Sentiments filiaux d’un parricide » permettent de comprendre cette relation ambigüe, au cœur de laquelle se trouve l’amour incommensurable que ressent le fils pour le parent, un amour si intense qu’il en est étouffant. Dans ces conditions, le parent en vient à symboliser aux yeux de l’enfant la Loi contre laquelle il doit se rebeller à coup de gestes de cruauté. Le fils, s’il est de ceux qui peuvent soutenir la vue de leurs crimes, entre alors dans un cercle vicieux : par sa cruauté, il tue – symboliquement ou réellement – le parent aimé et il en jouit. Suite à ce sadisme, il ressent une insupportable culpabilité qui le mène à une dévotion masochiste encore plus grande pour son parent. Or, par le personnage du narrateur de la Recherche du temps perdu, Proust démontre que la seule manière de se libérer de cette douloureuse culpabilité, c’est l’Art. Le crime ultime qu’est la création excuse les actes de cruauté antérieurs et les justifie même. C’est la seule manière de transformer la souffrance vécue (issue entre autres de la culpabilité d’avoir pris plaisir à faire souffrir un parent aimé) en idées universelles, en œuvre d’art. / In A la recherche du temps perdu, every filial relationship is one where the son inevitably causes his mother suffering by committing, according to Proust, a form of parricide. The writings of Marcel Proust before la Recherche, such as the short story “A young girl’s confession” and the newspaper article “Filial sentiments of a parricide”, allow us to understand this ambiguous relationship, at the heart of which we can find the unmeasured love that the son feels for his parent, a love so intense that it soon becomes suffocating. Under these conditions, the parent comes to symbolize to the child “the moral Law” against which he must rebel, choosing cruelty as his weapon. The son, if he is one of those who can stand the sight of their own crimes, enters then in a vicious cycle: with his daily acts of cruelty, he kills – symbolically or in genuinely – the beloved parent, and he enjoys it. Following this act of sadism, he feels an unbearable guilt that leads him to an even greater masochistic devotion for his parent. Yet, through the character of the narrator of la Recherche, Proust demonstrates that there is indeed one way to free oneself from this painful guilt, and it is through Art. Creation, the ultimate crime, excuses and even justifies any previous acts of cruelty. It is the only way of transforming suffering (resulting among other things, from the guilt of having enjoyed causing a beloved parent any kind of suffering) into universal ideas, into art.
12

O caso do diletante: a personagem de Charles Swann e a unidade do romance Em busca do tempo perdido, de Marcel Proust / Charles Swann´s diletantisme: the unity of Proust´s novel through an analysis of Charles Swann´s character in \'In Search of Lost Time\'

Alexandre Bebiano de Almeida 11 June 2008 (has links)
Pesquisa de teoria literária sobre o romance Em busca do tempo perdido, de Marcel Proust. Tem como objetivo refletir sobre a unidade do romance Em busca do tempo perdido, por meio de uma análise da personagem de Charles Swann. Este trabalho principia pelo levantamento do projeto global do ciclo romanesco, a partir de um trecho d´A Prisioneira em que o narrador-protagonista estabelece dois tipos de unidade para a obra de arte: uma lógica e outra vital. O segundo capítulo expõe as dificuldades que esse projeto coloca: como criar uma obra artística que seja viva e aberta, ao mesmo tempo que coesa e íntegra? A resposta é encontrada nos vasos comunicantes, nas transversalidades capazes de dar ao ciclo romanesco, não uma unidade lógica, mas vital. O terceiro capítulo analisa um dos nós, um dos pontos para o qual convergem essas transversalidades: a personagem de Charles Swann. Por meio da reconstituição desta personagem, são discutidos aqui alguns temas importantes para o romance: a formação do artista, assim como a relação entre a arte e a vida. Vemos em seguida que, em contraponto a Swann, cuja trajetória é vista como uma vocação artística frustrada, a expressão do romance proustiano busca condensar as experiências de um indivíduo para se tornar escritor. Finalmente, o excerto reflete sobre o caráter realista do romance: tendo por base um ensaio de Antonio Candido, \"Realismo (via Marcel Proust)\", e levando em conta um acontecimento-chave para o escritor francês, analisamos aqui o papel desempenhado pelo caso Dreyfus na narrativa. A hipótese mais geral desta pesquisa é a de que certos temas, representados pela personagem do diletante Charles Swann e por seu engajamento no caso Dreyfus, tornam difícil o acabamento do romance e lhe dão uma forma crítica, polêmica, viva. Esta não retira sua unidade da perspectiva de um artista profissional, cujo ofício participa da divisão do trabalho e do conhecimento de nossa sociedade; mas vincula-se à percepção de um diletante, cujo ponto de vista conserva algo de maravilhoso e mágico para as criações artísticas, como se a arte oferecesse mais do que obras e fosse capaz de ensinar a ler a vida. Lembramos neste sentido que a narrativa proustiana, desde seu começo até seu final, acompanha o ponto de vista não de um artista formado, mas de um apaixonado pelo universo artístico: o protagonista que deseja criar uma obra de arte e a imagina capaz de organizar a vida à imagem de sua complexidade. / A literary theory research on Marcel Proust´s novel In Search of Lost Time. The objective is to discuss the unity of Proust´s novel through an analysis of Charles Swann´s character. The first chapter of this work is a survey of the novel\'s global project, taking a passage of The Captive as a starting point, where the novel\'s narrator identifies two kinds of unity for the work of art, a logical one and a vital one. We remind then some difficulties that this project brings along with it: how can we create a work of art which is open and live, as well as coherent and complete? The answer is found in the communicant vases, in the transversalities able to provide the novel with a vital unity, not a logical one. In the third chapter, we analyse one of the points into which these transversalities converge: Charles Swann´s character. By a reconstitution of this character, we discuss certain important motifs of Proust´s novel: the education of the artist, as well as the relationship between art and life. In comparison with Swann, who represents a frustrated artist, we recognize that Proust´s literary expression seeks to condense someone\'s experiences to become a writer in the actual society. Finally, in the last part, we study the realistic aspects of the novel, based on Candido´s essay, \"Realism (according to Proust)\", and, taking into account an important political experience for the writer, we review the role of Dreyfus\'s Affair in the narrative. The general hypothesis of this research is that some themes, represented by Charles Swann´s diletantisme and his political engagement at the Affair, make it difficult to finish the novel and also give it a critical, polemical and live form. This form does not take its unity from a professional artist´s perspective, which participates in the division of the work and knowledge of our society, but from the dilettante condition, which point of view preserves something magical and wonderful for the artistic creations, as if art could give more than artworks and teach to read life. In this sense, we remind that Proust´s novel follows the point of view of a passionate for arts rather than a professional writer: the hero who wants to create a work of art and who believes it capable to organize the world at its complexity.
13

Em torno da gênese de uma personagem proustiana: tia Léonie no caminho da descoberta de uma vocação / Around a Proustian character: Léonies way in the discovery of a vocation

Liliane Silva dos Santos 05 September 2014 (has links)
NO ROMANCE DE MARCEL PROUST Em busca do tempo perdidodesfilam ante os olhos do leitorum compêndio de seres enigmáticos, fragmentários, que oferecem em si, ao longo da obra, uma gama de novas imagens e possibilidades. Desse complexo conjunto de seres imprevisíveis, há um caso particular de uma personagem secundária. Figuraaparentemente dentro da narrativa como um ser anedótico, apenas para compor um ambiente cômico, pueril dentro de Combray, a cidadezinha prosaica de infância do herói do romance: a tia Léonie. O objetivo do trabalho que apresentamos não é somente analisar esse ser aparentemente risório, a eterna doente de Combray. Sobretudo, pretende-se mostrar dentro dopróprio romance proustiano que Léonie, como os tantos personagens desse trajeto rumo à descoberta da verdadeira vocação do herói, também colocará sua pequena pedra na composição monumental da obra por vir, pois, ao seu modo, também contribuirá para a composição daquele que renunciará à vida, se reservando apenas o essencial, para compor seu romance. / IN THE NOVEL OF MARCEL PROUST\'S \"In Search of Lost Time\", parade before the reader\'s eyes, a compendium of enigmatic, fragmentary beings, offering itself, throughout the work, a range of new images and possibilities. In this complex set of unpredictable beings, there is a particular case of a secondary character, apparently figuring in the narrative as being anecdotal, just to make a comic, childlike environment in Combray, the prosaic town of the novel heros childhood: Aunt Léonie. The objective of the present work is not only to analyze this seemingly be risorius, \"the eternal sick of Combray.\" Above all, it presents in the Proustian novel itself that Léonie, as so many characters that path towards the discovery of the true vocation of the hero, also put your little stone in monumental composition of the work to come, for, in his own way, also contribute for the composition that he would resign to life, reserve to itself only the essentials, in order to compose his novel.
14

La série adjectivale dans A la Recherche du Temps Perdu. Du fait de langue au fait de vision : « Cette multiforme et puissante unité » / Adjectival serie in In Search of the Lost Time

Vermoyal, Marie-Corinne 07 November 2015 (has links)
La série adjectivale est une structure bien connue des lecteurs de Proust. La Recherche comprend plus de trois mille séries adjectivales ; elles combinent deux, trois, jusqu’à dix-sept adjectifs. Les variations sémantiques et syntaxiques sont nombreuses entre les séries. Devons-nous parler de série adjectivale ou de séries, au pluriel ? Quel point commun ont toutes ces séries entre elles ? Peut-on dire que la série adjectivale est une figure de style ?Notre but sera de montrer comment s’articulent ces deux phénomènes stylistiques qui font de la série adjectivale une microstructure complexe : l’effet artiste et le fait de vision. Notre thèse consiste à démontrer que la série adjectivale est un phénomène stylistique, un fait qui ne peut se comprendre qu’en analysant le fonctionnement cognitif d’une vision du monde. Dans une première partie nous analysons la série adjectivale comme un fait de langue, une syntaxe complexe ; dans une seconde partie, nous étudions les effets stylistiques produits par la série adjectivale ; puis nous démontrons que le fait syntaxique est l’expression d’un rapport phénoménologique entre le narrateur et le monde qui l’entoure. / Adjectival series are a well-known by Proust’s readers. We find more than three thousand adjectival series in In Search of the Lost time ; some combine two, three, four adjectives, until seveteen adjectives ; we notice semantical variations and syntactical differences. Should we speak about adjectival series or serie ? What do these series have in common ? Is the adjectival series a stylistic figure ? We want to prove that the adjectival serie is part of these two both stylistics phenomenons which are artistical writting effects and vision of the world. We analyse this stylistic fact according to psychomecanical linguistic, as the expression of an original way to feel. In the first part of research we will show that the adjectival serie is a complex syntactic fact ; in the second part we analyse the adjectival serie as a stylistic effect ; then, we demonstrate that the syntactic fact express a phenomenological link between the narrator and the world.
15

Otevřené dílo? Swannova láska a její filmové zpracování (1984) / The Open Work? Swann in love and its film adaptation (1984)

Bőhmová, Veronika January 2017 (has links)
(in English): Our thesis is titled The Open Work? Swann in love and it's film adaptation. Our primary aim is not only to summarize the most famous theories about the openness of the work but also to apply these theories directly to the book Swann in love and subsequent comparison of the literary and film adaptation of the story. We have divided the thesis into three chapters. The first one is methodological overview. In our thesis we will deal with several phenomena from the field of literary science. We will be interested mainly in the character of the reader and the author and the different roles attributed to them by different theories. We will look closely at the differences between the empiric and model reader and the author, deal with the openness of the work, the difference between the subjects of the author, the narrator and the main characters, and we will also look into the theory of fictional worlds. We chose the work of Umberto Eco as a theoretical basis, but we also draw some ideas from the work of other literary theorists. In the second chapter, these theories will be applied to the specific passages of the book Swann in love. Let's get into the fictional world of Swan's love and watch the surroundings. We will try to conclude what the reader of this work should be, what mistaken...
16

Unidade e fragmento: uma leitura da composição proustiana a partir dos cadernos 53 e 55 de Albertine / Unity and fragment: a reading of the Proustian composition using exercise books 53 and 55 of Albertine as a starting point

Carla Cavalcanti e Silva 08 March 2010 (has links)
Embora o romance Em busca do tempo perdido seja incontestavelmente uma obra inacabada, não se trata, entretanto, de uma obra incompleta. Seu fechamento circular, promovido pelo diálogo entre o primeiro e último volumes, foi tema de grande parte da crítica proustiana. Com relação à sua composição, seu processo escritural passou por diversas mudanças e a construção, equiparada à execução de uma catedral, poderia igualmente ser caracterizada pela colagem, montagem ou costura dos fragmentos textuais esboçados nos setenta e cinco cadernos de rascunho. A busca pela unidade em meio a essa profusão de textos levou o escritor à atividade incessante de releitura e reescritura e, consequentemente, ao inacabamento da obra. O trabalho que ora apresentamos tem por objetivo o estudo dessa composição, a partir da leitura e análise dos cadernos 53 e 55, ambos consagrados à elaboração da história de Albertine. / Although the novel In Search of Lost Time is certainly unfinished, it is not an incomplete work. Its round ending, promoted by the dialogue between the first and last volumes, was the subject of much Proustian criticism. With respect to its composition, its writing process has gone through many changes and the construction, equivalent to the execution of a cathedral, could also be characterized by the process of montage or the stitching of textual fragments contained in Prousts seventy-five exercise books. The search for unity amongst this profusion of texts has led the writer to the ceaseless activity of rereading and rewriting and thus to the incompleteness of the work. The analysis presented here is aimed at studying this composition, having the reading and the analysis of exercise books 53 and 55, both related to the elaboration of the story of Albertine, as a starting point.
17

Tracés de Proust, itinéraires maternels : la grand-mère dans « À la recherche du temps perdu ».

Dupuis-Morency, Clara 06 1900 (has links)
Le seul vrai livre, pour Proust, est la traduction des impressions perdues dont la trace subsiste dans notre mémoire sensible. Les personnages entrent dans le texte de la Recherche en frappant la sensibilité du héros. Or, « toujours déjà là, » la grand-mère, comme la mère, relève d'une réalité qui ne s'est jamais imprimée, une réalité antérieure à la conscience du narrateur et de ce fait, antérieure au texte. Néanmoins, la grand-mère est une mère qui vieillit et qui meurt. Alors, elle apparaît au narrateur, suivant ainsi le chemin inverse de l'altérité. De présence immédiate pour le héros, il lui faudra devenir autre, une vieille femme étrangère, indéfinie dans son geste vers la mort, afin que le texte lui restitue une première impression. C'est précisément dans cette distance à parcourir, cet itinéraire entre l'immédiateté du départ et la première impression, que la spécificité du personnage de la grand-mère touche à ce que Proust qualifierait lui-même de « névralgie » de son texte. La réalité maternelle, pour devenir objet du style littéraire, doit se plier au trait de l'écrivain. Or, le personnage de mère, telle qu'il est élaboré dans la Recherche, résiste à ce « fléchissement ». Le personnage de grand-mère permet à Proust d'exprimer la réalité de la mère qui se dégrade et qui meurt, une mère que la main du fils devenant écrivain rend malléable. / According to Proust, the only true work is one translated from lost impressions, still sustained in our memory of senses. Characters enter the text of the Recherche by hitting the hero's sensibility. However, the grandmother, toujours déjà là (always already there) like the mother, belongs to a reality that has never imprinted itself, a reality that is anterior both to the narrator's consciousness and to the text. Nevertheless, the grandmother is a mother who ages and dies. Then only she appears to the narrator, but in reverse direction to the general introduction of alterity. She must become another woman, old, unknown, and indefinite in her gesture towards death in order for the text to give her back a « first impression ». It is precisely in this distance - which is also an itinerary - between the immediacy from the beginning and this first impression, that the grandmother's specificity approaches what Proust would call a neuralgia of his text. In order to become an object for literary style, the mother must bend (se plier) to the writer's stroke. Yet, the mother character, as it is elaborated in the Recherche, seems to resist this bend. The grandmother character allows Proust to express the reality of the mother's decay and death, a mother made malleable by the hand of a son becoming a writer.
18

Tracés de Proust, itinéraires maternels : la grand-mère dans « À la recherche du temps perdu »

Dupuis-Morency, Clara 06 1900 (has links)
No description available.
19

Operational effectiveness of connected vehicle smartphone technology on a signalized corridor

Mjogolo, Festo 01 January 2019 (has links)
Over the last decade, extensive research efforts have been placed on performance evaluation and the benefits of innovative CV applications. Findings indicate that CV technology can effectively mitigate the safety, mobility, and environmental challenges experienced on transportation networks. Most of research evaluated CV technology through simulation studies. However, a field study provides a more ideal method of assessing CV technology effectiveness. Therefore, a field study to obtain the actual effectiveness of CV technology was warranted, to validate previous findings, and to add to the body of knowledge surrounding this topic. This thesis presents both a field study and simulation evaluation of the effectiveness of CV smartphone technology on a 1.1 mile segment of State Road 121, containing five intersections, in Gainesville, Florida. Field observations were conducted using a CV application, developed by Connected Signals, Inc., that uses a smartphone application, called EnLighten, to communicate intersection information to driver’s smartphone, which serves as a vehicle on-board unit. Traffic operation and safety performance was evaluated using start-up lost time, discharge distribution model, and speed harmonization. Findings show that the CV smartphone technology improved intersection performance with a reduction in start-up lost time of approximately 86%. Additionally, driving safety improved with a reduction in speed variability by nearly 61% between vehicles in a specific lane for a 100% CV penetration rate. Cost analyses of deploying CV smartphone technology indicate that implementation may result in an average total economic cost savings associated with crashes of nearly $6.8 million at the study site, and approximately $5.6 billion statewide. Findings of the simulation evaluation revealed that the CV technology improved performance of intersections operating at a Level of Service (LOS) B or better, compared to lower operating levels. Operational performance improved at intersections operating at a LOS C with a 30% to 60% CV penetration rate.
20

Improving the turnaround maintenance of the Escravos gas plant / Ishekwene, I.V.

Ishekwene, Isaac Victor January 2011 (has links)
According to Oliver (2002) the success of turnaround maintenances is measured in terms of the cost of completion, time, safety performance and the performance of the plant afterwards. The Escravos gas plant (EGP) is a gas processing plant that converts associated gas from Chevron owned crude oil wells to liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas and gas condensate (Chevron intranet. Website assessed on September 14, 2007). According to the EGP plant operations coordinator (See interview Appendix A), the plant undergoes a turnaround maintenance exercise once every two years. The major tasks done during these turnaround maintenances are 1. Change–out of three molecular sieve beds. 2. Servicing of three compressor turbines. 3. Servicing of expander turbo–machinery. 4. Clean–out of fired gas heater tubes and burners. 5. Tie–ins for major upgrades. The EGP management does not involve the contractor personnel that carry out the tasks in the management of the turnaround maintenance. The contractor’s personnel simply follow the work plans and instructions developed by the EGP management. The EGP turnaround management team consists of the coordinator who is the head of the turnaround maintenance team, shift supervisors, maintenance supervisors (rotating equipment maintenance supervisor, instrumentation and electrical maintenance supervisor, and static equipment maintenance supervisors), safety supervisors, maintenance planners, process engineers and construction supervisors. All these listed personnel in the preceding paragraph and the supervisors of the contractor teams participate in the pre–turnaround meetings which happen once a month for the first 10 months of the 12 months leading to the turnaround. The meeting frequency increases to once every two weeks during the last two months leading to the turnaround maintenance. The meeting is held daily during the turnaround maintenance and once every two weeks for the first month after the turnaround maintenance. During the preceding months to the turnaround maintenance, the work scope is defined, the job sequence outlined and schedules are developed. Resources requirements are detailed and procured. During the turnaround maintenance the focus of the turnaround meeting is to discuss potential deviations, observe at–risk behaviors and likely challenges. Plans are then made to address these deviations, challenges and at–risk behaviors. After the turnaround maintenance, “lessons learnt” are captured and the turnaround maintenance is closed out. According to the EGP coordinator (see interview in appendix A), the success of its turnaround maintenance is measured by the time used to complete the turnaround maintenance, the total recordable incident rate during the turnaround maintenance, the days away from work, the lost time injury(LTI) and the cost incurred. Poling et al noted that it is difficult to rate turnaround maintenance projects because no two turnaround maintenances strategies are exactly the same. They iterated that the most common tactics used is benchmarking and that benchmarking enables a company to measure and compare its performance against peer companies in a constructive and confidential manner. They pointed out that the quantitative differences computed between a plant and other similar plants using detailed data taxonomy can provide invaluable information regarding improvement opportunities. This is a way of effectively extending a “lessons learned” exercise across multiple companies. According to then however a critical attribute of effective reliability and maintenance benchmarking is the ability to compare disparate assets; but even small differences for similar plants can alter the value of the comparison. Existing literature indicate that the parameters the gas plant management use to rate the safety of its turnaround maintenance (i.e. the total recordable incident rate, the days away from work and the lost time injury)are reactive in nature. They are otherwise called lagging indicators. Lagging indicators are safety performance metrics that are recorded after the accident or incidents has occurred. For example lost time injury is any work related injury or illness which prevents that person from doing any work day after accident (E&P Consultancy Associates. Website assessed on June 15, 2009). In contrast the other group of metrics called pro–active metrics or leading indicators such as at–risk behaviors, near misses and preventive maintenance not completed are parameters that measure safety performance before accident occurs. Leading indicators gained popularity in the 1930’s after Heinrich postulate his iceberg theory (Wright, 2004). Heinrich’s used the iceberg analogy to explain reactive (lagging) and proactive (leading) indicators. Heinrich likened accident and at–risk behaviors to two parts of an Iceberg; the part you see above water and the part hidden under the water. The size of the iceberg above water is relatively small compared to that under water. The iceberg starts to grow under the water and only after they reach a certain size does part of the ice begin to appear above water. Heinrich believed that accidents are the result of root causes such as at–risk behaviors, inconsistencies, wrong policies, lack of training and lack of information. When the number of accidents that occur in an endeavor is measured you get relatively smaller numerical quantities when compared to the number of at–risk behaviors. Heinrich suggested that to eliminate accidents that occur infrequently, organizations must make effort to eliminate the root causes which occur very frequently. This makes sense because imagine a member of personnel coming to work intoxicated every day. Binging intoxicated at work is an at–risk behavior. The employee is very likely to be involved in an accident at some time as a result of his drinking habit. The number of times he is intoxicated if counted will be huge when compared to the impact of the accident when it does occur. The iceberg theory is supported by work from Bird (1980) and Ludwig (1980) who both attempted to establish the correct ratio of accidents to root causes in different industries. Heinrich suggested a ratio of three hundred incidents to twenty nine minor injuries to one major injury. This researcher chose to use the number of at–risk behavior exhibited by the turnaround maintenance teams to rate the safety performance of tasks despite criticism from individuals like Robotham (2004) who said that from his experience minor incidents do not have the potential to become major accidents and Wright et al (2004). Leading indicators are convenient to analysis because of their relative large quantity. In a turnaround environment, the numbers of accidents that occur are relatively few unlike the number of near misses (Bird, 1980). It is easy to statistically analyze thirty at–risk behaviors than four accidents. In addition Fleming et al (2001) noted that data from industry show much success by companies in the reduction of accidents by efforts at reducing the number of at–risk behaviors, increase the number of safety audits, and reduce the number of closed items from audits etc. Phimister et al made similar claims when they said Near miss programs improve corporate environmental, health and safety performance through the identification of near misses. Existing literature also reveals many theories about management styles and their possible impact on performance. The theories are grouped into trait theories, situational theories and behavioral theories. The trait theories tries to explain management styles by traits of the managers like initiative, wisdom, compassion and ambitious. Situational theories suggest that there is no best management style and managers will need to determine which management style best suit the situation. Behavioral theories explain management success by what successful managers do. Behavioral theorists identify autocratic, benevolent, consultative and participatory management styles. Vroom and Yetton (1973) identified variables that will determine the best management style for any given situation. The variables are; 1. Nature of the problem. Is it simple, hard, complex or clear? 2. Requirements for accuracy. What is the consequence of mistakes? 3. Acceptance of an initiative. Do you want people to use their initiative or not? 4. Time–constraints. How much time do we have to finish the task? 5. Cost constraints. Do we have enough or excess to achieve the objective? A decision model was developed by Vroom and Yago (1988)to help managers determine the best management style for different situations based on the variables listed above (See figure six). They also defined five management style could adopt, namely the; 1. Autocratic I style 2. Autocratic II style. 3. Consultative I style 4. Consultative II style 5. Group II style The autocratic I management style is a management style where the leader solves the problem alone using information that is readily available to him/her, is the normal management style of the Escravos gas plant management in all turnarounds prior to 2009. However the Vroom and Yago model recommends the Consultative II management style for the type of work done during the Escravos gas plant turnaround maintenance. According to Coye et al (1995), participatory management or consultative style II creates a sense of ownership in organization. In this management style the leader shares problem with group members individually, and asks for information and evaluation. Group members do not meet collectively, and leader makes decision alone (Vroom and Yago, 1988). Coye et al believe that this management styles instills a sense of pride and motivate employees to increase productivity. In addition they stated that employees who participate in the decisions of the organization feel like they are a part of a team with a common goal, and find their sense of self–esteem and creative fulfillment heightened. According to Filley et al (1961), Spector and Suttle did not find any significant difference in the output of employees under autocratic and participatory management style. This research studies if and how the Escravos gas plant turnaround maintenance can be improved by changing the management style from autocratic I style to consultative II style. Two tasks in the turnaround were studied; namely the change out of the molecular sieve catalyst beds and the servicing of the turbine engines. The turnaround contractor Techint Nigeria Limited divides the work group into teams responsible for specific tasks. Six teams (team A, B, C, D, E and F) were studied. EGP management will not allow the researcher to study more than these six teams for fear of the research disrupting the work. The tasks completed by these teams are amongst those not on the projects critical path so delays caused by the research will not impact the entire turnaround project provided the float on these activities were not exceeded. They also had the fewest number of personnel, so cost impact of the research work could be easier to manager. Teams A, B and C are different maintenance teams comprising of eight personnel each. They were responsible for changing the EGP molecular sieve beds A, B and C respectively in the 2007 and 2009 turnaround. Their tasks are identical because the molecular sieve beds are identical. Teams E, D and F are also maintenance teams comprising of six personnel each. They were responsible for servicing the EGP turbine engines A, B and C during the 2007 and 2009 turnaround maintenance. Their tasks are also identical because the turbine engines are identical. Consultative management style II is exercised by involving team A and team D in the development of the procedures, processes and job safety analysis of all tasks that they were assigned to complete during the 2009 turnaround maintenance. They were also permitted to participate in the turnaround maintenance meetings and to make contributions in the meetings. In the 2007 turnaround maintenance team A and team D only carried out their tasks. They did not participate in the development of procedures and job safety analysis neither did they participate in the turnaround maintenance meetings. The other four teams; team B, team C, team E and team F are used as experimental controls for the research. They did not participate in the development of the procedures, processes nor the job safety analysis for the tasks in either of the turnaround maintenance. They were also not permitted to attend the daily turnaround meetings. They only completed their tasks based on instructions given to them during the 2007 and 2009 turnaround maintenance. It was necessary to study the experimental control teams as the researcher was not sure whether task repetition, increased knowledge or improved team cohesion would lead to a reduced time or a reduced numbers of at–risk behavior. ix The research tested the hypothesis 1H0 and 1H1 and 2H0and 2H1 at the 0.025 and 0.05 level of significance as follows; Null hypothesis, 1H0: There is no significant difference in the time spent by team A and team Din 2007 when they did not participate in the development of the procedures and processes with the time in 2009 when they did(u1-u2=0). Alternate hypothesis, 1H1: There is a significant difference in the time spent by the team A and Din 2007 when they did not participate in the development of the procedures and processes with the time in 2009 when they did (u1-u2!=0). Null hypothesis, 2H0: There is no significant difference in the number of at–risk behaviors observed to have been exhibited by the team A and team D in 2007 when they did not participate in the development of the procedures and processes with the number in 2009 when they did (u1-u2=0). Alternate hypothesis, 2H1: There is a significant difference in the number of at–risk behaviors observed to have been exhibited by the team A and team D in 2007 when they did not participate in the development of the procedures and processes with the number in 2009 when they did (u1-u2!=0). The student t test was used to analyze these times and number of at–risk behavior. At the 0.025 and the 0.05 level of significance, the data show that there is no difference in the times all the teams used to complete their task in 2007 and in 2009. The researcher concludes that a change in the management style from autocratic I style to consultative II style did not lead to a reduction in the time used by any team to complete their task. However at the 0.025 and the 0.05 level of significance, there is a significant difference in the number of at–risk behaviors of the research team A and team D. There is however no significant difference in the number of at–risk behavior of the control team B, team C, team E and team F at the same level of significance. The researcher concludes that a change in the management style from autocratic I style to consultative II style lead to a reduction in the number of at–risk behavior of team A and team D. In addition the reduction in the number of at–risk behavior of team A and team D could not have been because of task repetition, increased knowledge or improved team cohesion since there is no significant difference in the number of at–risk behavior exhibited by team B, team C, team E and team F. The research can be used by the Escravos gas plant management and the management of any similar process plant to fashion out more cost effective, time effective and safer methods for carrying out their turnaround maintenance. A change in management styles may just be a better approach to improving productivity than giving financial incentives to contractors and personnel. Changes in management style will have to be managed. The change must be gradual because sudden change can be detrimental as people may just need to understand and adapt to the change. The turnaround personnel must also understand the intent so as to prevent conflicts. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

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