Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / As local textile manufacturing come under pressure from global competition, the competitive advantage of organisations in this sector have become an important research topic. As a key input in the manufacturing process, human resources can either be a burdensome cost or a source of competitive advantage for organisations in the textile industry. The effectiveness of human resources depends to a large extend on the ability of organisations to keep them motivated and productive.

This thesis puts the European Union’s (EU) normative power in a historical context and combines it with EU’s development of social goals and measures surrounding the turn of the twenty-first century. This provides social normative power to be central phenomenon. The development of EU’s social normative power is analyzed through its founding Treaties. It shows how this development leads to the construction of the European Constitution in the beginning of the twenty-first century. This treaty got rejected by the Netherlands through a national referendum, but was reused almost in its entirety in the Lisbon Treaty only a few years later. Since the development of social normative power and these controversial events have taken place in the same period, the connection between the two is examined. This is done by focusing on the national debate in the Netherlands during the period of the European Constitution and the Lisbon Treaty through newspaper articles that were published at that time. It is researched how social normative power influenced Dutch national debate during the indicated period. This research will show that EU’s social normative power made the lack of democratic capacity of the EU more visible for Dutch citizens and that it contributed to a negative attitude towards the EU.

More and more institutions have begun to implement digital transformation. Identifying the reasons behind institutions’ digital transformation can help them make the right strategies. This thesis focuses on the digital transformation taking place in the financial industry and uses organizational institutionalism theory to analyze the influence of external pressures, and what responsible strategies institutions may adopt. We use qualitative methods to conduct the research. We interview eight employees from different institutions in the financial industry in China. Our findings show how coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures affect these financial institutions differently, and in responding to these pressures, these financial institutions develop office management systems and new digital products and services. The study evaluates to which extent the new digital reality fits the theory of the influence of external pressures on institutions. For managerial practice, the findings provide guidance in describing and diagnosing external pressures that drive digital transformation, and in coping with these pressures appropriately to formulate effective digital transformation strategies.

The principles of human rights and democracy have been of great importance for a long time and for many actors globally, especially for the European Union. This paper has the purpose of examining the European Union’s bilateral development aid and its relation to the organisation's human rights and democracy promotion. The study is a case study of Myanmar in the years 2000-2017 and with particular focus on the situation for the Muslim minority Rohingya. The case is investigated through the perspective of Ian Manners’ Normative Power Europe supplemented with aspects collected from previous research, to see if it can explain the behaviour of the aid flow. The conclusions of this study were that human rights and democracy while appearing greatly central has not had any major influence on the aid from the Union to Myanmar, and neither can the idea of European normative power explain the nature of the aid allocation.

Magister Chirurgiae Dentium (MChD) / Objectives: Previous studies have indicated that most of the older adult population has poor oral health but only a few of them demand care for their problems. The reason for this discrepancy has never been explained adequately. The obj ectives of the study were, first, to assess the perceived oral health needs (with regards to social, functional and psychological impacts of oral diseases) of older adults aged 55 years and above, second, to assess the oral health status (periodontal disease, dental caries and oral mucosal lesions ) in an adult population aged 55 years and above.Third, compare the relationship between normative and perceived need. Methods: This was a quantitative cross-sectional, descriptive study and consisted of 100 older adults who were randomly selected from three areas in Guguletu. These areas included the home for the aged Ekumphumleni, NYl and NY2 clinics. Participants aged 55 years and above were interviewed using a structured questionnaire consisting of 32 questions and a clinical examination done. Frequency tables were computed and analysed. The relationship between variables like oral health status, perceived need and a variety of socio-demographic variables and measures of psycho-social impact of oral diseases were analysed by using the chi square test and odds ratio. Results: The ability to perceive that they had a problem and the recency of the last visit to the dentist was associated with perceived need for dental care. There was a significant relationship between the presence of symptoms which were painful and perceived need for dental care (mouth, p value=0.015; gums, pvalue=O.OOl; teeth, p value=0.0006) The positive attitude towards dental care and regular dental hygiene was an indicator of positive attitudes towards oral health care. In this study a substantial difference between perceived and normative need was also observed. 88% of the respondents perceived a need for dental care and 99% were assessed as needing treatment (normative need) but only 29% demanded the care. 63% were dissatisfied with their functional ability to chew and expressed a need for dentures. Conclusion: The aim of this study was to assess the oral health status and perceived oral health needs among older adults in Guguletu. The oral health status was poor in most of the participants and the demand for care was low even though perceived need was high. The study has shown that social, functional and psychological factors influence the demand for care in this adult population. The cost for dental care and access to these services are major barriers to the demand of care.Perceived oral health needs and the impact of oral diseases are important influences in the assessment of oral health needs in the elderly. The assessment of oral health needs as perceived by the elderly facilitates the planning and implementation of dental services with special consideration on the cost and accessibility of oral health care.

The EU has taken a major role in The Republic of Kosovo, creating a new future for the country via the EU office in Kosovo with its role in implementing EU norms in Kosovo. Kosovo is a potential candidate state for the EU and has declared its interest in becoming an EU member state.  Kosovo has implemented crucial reforms and shows commitment to advancing on its European path. Kosovo does not fulfil the general requirements for the accession based on the Copenhagen criteria yet, and there remain major internal and external hindrances to its membership. The rule of law, despite the progress made in adapting the legal framework, Kosovo needs to step up its efforts to strengthen the independence of the judiciary. Additionally, Kosovo must fight corrupted structures and organised crime by building strong and independent institutions. Furthermore, reforms in the economic area are needed to tackle Kosovo's informal economy and unemployment. Despite, the Copenhagen Criteria, the main hindrances are the five non-recognizers in the EU and the required normalization process with Serbia. Kosovo must get its independence recognized by the five non-recognizers in the EU and stabilize its relations with Serbia before focusing on the accession to the EU.

EU’s international role as a normative power can be questioned as the current foreign policy of the Eastern Partnership implies a limit to the union’s ability to democratize. An alignment with EU norms is often seen through a dichotomy of compliance or non-compliance, overlooking other forms of resistance stemming from a nexus of international compliance pressure, and defiance pressure from hybrid regime structures. This applies to Georgia, a pro-EU country in the Eastern Partnership, committed to EU norms while maintaining a skewed playing field in favor of incumbents. Through the application of a theoretical framework developed in memory studies, a range of rhetorical adaptation strategies employed by the ruling party regarding electoral reforms delineates a norm navigation. A qualitative content analysis of statements and events relating to the long-contested electoral system during 2015-2019 shows a variation of strategies used, pointing in a direction of increased pressure to align with prescribed EU norms. Whether EU or domestic political forces can be credited is difficult to determine, yet the nuances of norm resistance are important to analytically separate from overarching labels, as states’ rhetorical commitments need a critical perspective to better understand the limits to EU’s normative power in the Eastern Partnership.

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This thesis examines constraints of the EU’s engagement in the frozen conflicts of the South Caucasus, namely, the Abkhazia, the South Ossetia, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts. The study begins with a puzzle in which the EU’s ambition for prioritizing the resolution of frozen conflicts mismatches with the reality related to the status quo of frozen conflicts. By using an abductive reasoning in an observed surprising fact, the research highlights that the complexity of the region can be the main contributor to the EU’s limitations.   With this purpose, the ENP as a normative power of the EU is analyzed to identify how the EU is attempting to be a major actor in the region in order to secure its borders. Subsequently, the limitations of the EU in engaging in frozen conflicts are examined from ‘security dilemma’, ‘balance of power’ and ‘bandwagoning’ neorealism perspectives together with a comparative study on the three conflicts. The results show that the complexity of the region is a principal constraint for the EU. In particular, geopolitical rivalries with Russia and small states with their alliances contribute to the complexity of the region. However, this study also explores the idea that the complexity of the region is not only the best explanation for the EU’s limitations, but also the EU’s structure per se creates a lack of credibility with relations to the respective Caucasian states. For future studies, I suggest that the analysis of the social learning mechanism of the EU will be an asset for understanding the region and avoiding Eurocentric approaches towards Caucasian political systems and people. Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, policymakers can consider that it is possible to change the EU’s low profile either by having clear strategies concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or replacing one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group with the EU.