Videogames have been historically known for causing negative mood states in players, but there is still more research to be done about the potential for videogames to alleviate these induced negative mood states. Using an online repeated measures survey design, participants were asked to play a game with an impossible difficulty curve unbeknownst to them. They were then instructed to play one of three casual videogames (CVGs). It was hypothesized that increased levels of competency and autonomy would lead to a decrease in participants’ negative mood state as per Self-Determination Theory. In addition, the act of playing CVGs was also predicted to decrease participants’ negative mood state as per Mood Management Theory. To test for this, participants were asked questions regarding their feelings of competency, autonomy, and overall mood state throughout the experiment. Support was not found for competency and autonomy helping alleviate negative mood states, but support was found for CVGs and their healing potential towards negative mood states. The implications of these results as well as the potential for future research is discussed.

Inom de flesta industrier är konkurrensen hård, byggindustrin är inget undantag. Ett sätt att stå sig stark på marknaden är att finna andra konkurrensmedel än de traditionella: pris och kvalitet. Detta examensarbete syftar att undersöka eftermarknadens betydelse för entreprenadbolag och fastighetsägare. Examensarbetet är skrivet tillsammans med byggentreprenören Zengun vars avsikt är att förbättra sin hantering av eftermarknaden. Med hjälp av Zenguns beställare har studien genomförts explorativt med fokus på relationen mellan entreprenören och fastighetsägaren under tiden efter ett byggprojekts färdigställande. Intervjuer har genomförts med representanter från Stockholms fyra större fastighetsägare och representanter från två byggentreprenörer. Studien tar avstamp i teorier om servicemarknadsföring, kund-leverantörsrelationer och organisationsteori för att på ett akademiskt sätt analyseras och diskuteras genom empiriska data.  Studien visar att eftermarknaden inom byggbranschen inte fungerar på ett tillfredställande och effektivt sätt. Det synsättet delas av representanter från både fastighetsägare och entreprenadbolag. Byggentreprenörer lägger ned lite tid och energi på eftermarknaden trots att det är eftermarknaden som utgör majoriteten av en byggnads livslängd. En anledning till det är svårigheterna för entreprenörer att se lönsamhet i investeringar på eftermarknaden. Eftermarknadsrelaterade arbeten uppfattas ske på bekostnad av produktionen av nya projekt, där produktionens framdrift prioriteras. För att lyckas på eftermarknaden är det viktigt att förstå vilka långsiktiga fördelar den kan ge. Med en separat organisation för eftermarknaden tar entreprenören bort intressekonflikten mellan produktion i projekt och eftermarknadsrelaterade arbeten. Den separata eftermarknadsorganisationen skapar förutsättningar för andra enheter hos entreprenadbolag att bli mer lönsamma. Dessutom uppstår en möjlighet att stärka relationen till fastighetsägaren och dess förvaltning vilket kan generera nya uppdrag. För att eftermarknadsorganisationen ska fungera krävs det att vissa faktorer, förutsättningar och risker tas i beaktande. Om hänsyn tas till detta och företag kan ändra sitt synsätt och organisation kring eftermarknaden kan den göras mer effektiv och värdeskapande för både byggentreprenadbolag och fastighetsägare. / In most industries, competition is hard, the construction industry is no exception. One way of standing strong in the market is finding other means of competition than the traditional: price and quality. This master thesis aims at investigating the importance of the aftermarket for contractors and property owners. The thesis is written together with the construction company Zengun, whose intention is to improve its management of the aftermarket. The study has been conducted exploratively with focus on the relationship between the contractor and the property owner in the time after completion of a building project. Interviews have been conducted with representatives from four of Stockholm's major commercial property owners and representatives from two construction companies. The thesis starts with theories of service marketing, relationship management theory and organizational theory which are subsequently analyzed and discussed. The study shows that the aftermarket in the construction industry does not work satisfactorily and efficiently. This view is shared by representatives from both property owners and construction companies. The contractor does not spend a lot of time and energy on the aftermarket, even though it is the aftermarket that constitutes the majority of a building's technical service life. One reason for this is the difficulty for the contractor to see the profitability in aftermarket investments. Aftermarket-related work take place at the expense of the production of new projects, where new production is prioritized. To succeed in the aftermarket, it is important to understand what long-term benefits it can provide. With a separate aftermarket organization, the contractor eliminates the conflict of interest between production in projects and aftermarket-related jobs. The separate aftermarket organization creates the conditions for other units of construction companies to become more profitable. In addition, there is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship with the property owner and its facility management unit which can generate new projects. In order for the aftermarket organization to work, it requires that certain factors, conditions and risks be taken into account. If this is considered and the contractor can change their approach and organization in the aftermarket, it can be made more effective and adding value for both construction companies and property owners.

No description available.

Scholars of transformational leadership literature assert that school-based management teams are a vital component in transforming schools. Many of these works focus heavily on the roles of principals and teachers, ignoring the contribution of Assistant Principals (APs). More attention is now being given to the unique role that Assistant Principals play in school leadership teams (see for example, Muijs & Harris, 2002). While there is a good amount of literature on what APs do in terms of their roles and responsibilities, what remains unclear; is how and why they enact their role in particular ways, especially under the umbrella of urban school reform. This work will address this gap by examining: how Urban High School Assistant Principals come to understand their role as both leader and staff, particularly in the context of transformational models of leadership? Guided by the theoretical framework of middle management, this study utilized a qualitative case study approach to interview seven Assistant Principals in three urban high schools in a large Northeast coast school district. Additionally, a one-time 15 minute interview with the principals and direct reports to the APs was employed to gain a better understanding of the leadership dynamic within the schools. The interviews were transcribed and coded by the researcher using Atlas.Ti. Through the lens of middle management theory, this work focused on a specific group of Assistant Principals working under a distributed leadership model. The findings revealed that the role of the AP is nebulous position that when not appropriately defined can cause professional difficulties that impede the leadership capacity of APs and the growth of school success. As such, stakeholders involved in schooling need to gain a greater understanding of the psychological and sociological underpinnings that impact the functionality of their middle leaders (those not operating in senior level positions). The findings of this work speak to the intricacies of the Assistant Principalship and contribute to a growing body of literature centered on how Assistant Principals navigate their space as leader and staff in an educational setting where leadership is more shared and collaborative. / Urban Education

The study aimed to explore and describe the factors influencing disclosure of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) status to sexual partners by people infected with HIV in Botswana, by undertaking an exploratory and descriptive qualitative study. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with people infected with HIV who had disclosed their HIV status to their partners. The major findings of the study confirmed disclosure as a multi-stage process. People infected with HIV experienced mainly positive and some negative outcomes following disclosure. Disclosure was associated with the discloser’s motivations, personal and cultural beliefs, risk-benefit assessment, individual circumstances (context), previous experiences, and perceived degree of control over private information. The communication privacy management (CPM) theory helped explain the findings. The key factor influencing disclosure was protecting others. Non-disclosers had also seriously considered disclosing to partners. / Health Studies / M.P.H

The thesis examines two interrelated topics; the perception of management theory in general, and the efficacy of the learning organisation in particular. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to compare the rhetoric espoused in the learning organisation literature with a survey of senior managers in large, commercial organisations. The results revealed a positive disposition towards business and management theory in general. The survey also demonstrated that leadership is considered the most important variable in the success of a company. This is facilitated through the attraction and retention of the appropriate staff and creating sufficient space for them to operate. Learning is embedded by anticipating the future, learning from the past and enabling good communication. However, the latter is balanced through change management. This is derived through legitimate authority and a reliance on planning. Finally, a strategy of experimentation is balanced by challenging industry rules. Themes involving politics, corporate alignment and corporate longevity were found to have relatively little convergent validity. The third section of the questionnaire reveals a positive disposition towards the learning organisation. The contribution of this thesis is in three areas. First, it is the only work to evaluate the anti-guru school. Second is the development of a syncretic model of learning organisation concept using structural equation modelling. Finally, it explains and examines the largely misunderstood concept of management fashions.

本論文主要從情緒解釋框架效應，由情緒管理理論（Mood management theory）、情緒壓抑效果(Dampening effect)解釋框架效應，並利用問卷驗證兩理論之正確性。情緒管理理論認為:在正向框架下，受試為了保持好心情，選擇能保持好心情的確定選項；在負向框架下，受試為了逃離負向情緒，選擇有機會沒有人損失的風險選項。而情緒壓抑效果則認為:受試會對不確定選項會有一個情緒的壓抑效果，因此在正向框架下，受試對風險選項的正向情緒較低，因此選擇確定選項；負向框架下，受試對風險選項的負向情緒較低，因此選擇風險選項。另外，對於過去文獻中顯現人們對亞洲疾病問題比賭局問題要來的風險追逐的現象，情緒管理理論比情緒壓抑效果更能由情緒的角度提供解釋。情緒管理理論預期受試面對賭局問題比亞洲疾病問題，在正向框架下的正向情緒較高，在負向框架下的負向情緒較低。情緒壓抑效果預期受試在正向框架下，對於確定選項有較高的正向情緒，因此選擇確定選項；面對負向框架，對於不確定選項有較低的負向情緒，因此選擇不確定選項。本文採用問卷的方式，在實驗一與實驗二中，對於上述的理論作檢驗，結果支持情緒管理理論的預測，情緒壓抑效果僅獲得部分支持。本文除了對於過去框架效應的相關文章作一統整外，對於框架效應的發生提供一個情緒解釋基礎，並使用情緒管理理論驗證並支持之。

In this thesis the discourse on intercultural and language contact of German native speakers in the Czech Republic (so called "expatriates") is analysed in accordance with the Language Management Theory. Individual interactions on the discourse-based (micro) level are the source of data for the analysis of linguistic, communicative and socio-cultural language problems. Language problem is understood as a noted and negatively evaluated deviation from the expectation of the expatriates. Which language problems have been recognized by the German native speakers and which strategies to solve them have been chosen is examined in three domains "work domain", "leisure domain" and "daily life domain". The Czech language competence is the most mentioned language problem in the discourse. As a result of the discourse analysis it has been found out that Language Management cannot be seen as an objective process of solving language problems, as the expatriates possess diverse expectations according to their individual interests and further aspects (situation conditions or the issue of social power). Therefore it is not possible to give a general recommendation of how to solve the language problems. Key words: Expatriates, Discourse, Language Problem, Language Management, Language Management Theory, Adjustment...

In my diploma thesis I have described several management theories and concepts used in practice and illustrated them with examples from the practice. The theory does not always coincide fully with the praxis, there are rather some common points. Both the company I write about and its management system are very specific, therefore it is a very interesting example, but not generally predicative. I would be glad if this thesis could also serve as a well- arranged material for the people in our company. In the theoretical part I have treated the management theory first in general and then several particular theories or concepts which I examined more deeply. These are the manager theory, the motivation theory, critical success factors, management by objectives, knowledge management. The empirical part concerns the practical use of these theories the company of my interest. The whole thesis is thematically wide, but the extent is limited here. Therefore it does not contain whole descriptions of the theories, but rather insights and some chosen elements. Also the empirical part does not fully examine the function system of the company and the work in it, but chooses the elements corresponding with the theoretical concepts described instead.

The aim of this work is to analyze the management style of Japanese businessman and philanthropist Shibusawa Eiichi, who laid the foundations of Japanese capitalism. This interpretation is based on extensive research of original sources and other secondary literature. The work includes not only analysis of Shibusawa's management style, but also puts Shibusawa's thoughts into a broader historical context. The work also includes a comparison of Shibusawa's thoughts, influenced by Confucian ethics, with modern Western management theories. Source base for this work is going to be Shibusawa Eiichi's works, in which we can find timelessness and applicability to current conditions of management. Key word: management theory, liberalism, joint-stock company, human resource management, ethics, profit, scientific management.