published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

No description available.

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-238) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1976. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves 122-132.

<p>The ambient conditions such as air quality, noise, music, temperature, lighting and colour, in open-plan offices and their impact on employees are important for managements to recognize because open-plan offices are becoming more and more common in Swedish companies' office design today (Aronsson, 2005). For students, who will soon be entering the work force, it is important to understand how the characteristics of the ambient conditions can influence employee behaviour/satisfaction.</p><p>To have a working knowledge of what kinds of effects the ambient conditions can have is likely to increase one's chances of becoming a satisfied employee. An employee that is aware of the importance of creating a servicescape (the attributes of the physical surrounding) that meets its needs and desires is likely to enhance its satisfaction in the ambient conditions. A great number of managements may not be aware of the risks of working in an open-plan office where the ambient conditions are not satisfying the employees; ergonomic issues as well as heart diseases are the most serious results (Evans and Johnson, 2000, pp. 780-782). This leads to the problem formulation of this thesis: "How can management improve employee satisfaction in an open-plan office through the characteristics of a servicescape's ambient conditions?”.</p><p>Four main theories are included in the Theoretical Framework to provide a deep understanding for the reader about the complexity of problems that comes with working in an open-plan office. The Bitner theory and the research compiled by Sundstrom discuss ambient conditions and their impacts on employees' behaviour/satisfaction. Evans and Johnson’s theory discusses how stress is related to low-intensity noise. The final main theory, Person-Environment Fit, upholds the importance of a servicescape that fits employees’ needs and desires.</p><p>The ambient conditions influence employee behaviours in numerous ways (Davis, 1984, pp. 271) and at Sogeti’s open-plan office several ambient conditions are studied through an observation conducted during April 17th 2007 and a questionnaire with 15 closed questions. The outcomes of the observation and the questionnaire are analysed and concrete proposals are created for the Sogeti management to act upon in order to improve the characteristics of their open-plan office’s ambient conditions and thereby improve employee satisfaction.</p><p>One of the concrete proposals to how Sogeti may improve the ambient conditions in their open-plan office is to introduce a survey that should be handed out to the employees three or four times a year. The purpose of the survey is to define employees’ perceptions of the different ambient conditions.</p><p>Based on the outcomes from the survey, employees’ needs and desires of the servicescape, the ambient conditions’ characteristics, can be improved. Also, some examples of actions geared towards reducing the level of noise in the Sogeti open-plan office are to use ear phones when listening to music and to leave the open-plan office when conducting phone calls. The concrete proposals developed based on the Sogeti employees’ perceptions of the ambient conditions in the open-plan office are outcomes of this thesis that may serve as a tool for the Sogeti management to improve the ambient conditions of their servicescape and thereby increase employee satisfaction.</p>

The ambient conditions such as air quality, noise, music, temperature, lighting and colour, in open-plan offices and their impact on employees are important for managements to recognize because open-plan offices are becoming more and more common in Swedish companies' office design today (Aronsson, 2005). For students, who will soon be entering the work force, it is important to understand how the characteristics of the ambient conditions can influence employee behaviour/satisfaction. To have a working knowledge of what kinds of effects the ambient conditions can have is likely to increase one's chances of becoming a satisfied employee. An employee that is aware of the importance of creating a servicescape (the attributes of the physical surrounding) that meets its needs and desires is likely to enhance its satisfaction in the ambient conditions. A great number of managements may not be aware of the risks of working in an open-plan office where the ambient conditions are not satisfying the employees; ergonomic issues as well as heart diseases are the most serious results (Evans and Johnson, 2000, pp. 780-782). This leads to the problem formulation of this thesis: "How can management improve employee satisfaction in an open-plan office through the characteristics of a servicescape's ambient conditions?”. Four main theories are included in the Theoretical Framework to provide a deep understanding for the reader about the complexity of problems that comes with working in an open-plan office. The Bitner theory and the research compiled by Sundstrom discuss ambient conditions and their impacts on employees' behaviour/satisfaction. Evans and Johnson’s theory discusses how stress is related to low-intensity noise. The final main theory, Person-Environment Fit, upholds the importance of a servicescape that fits employees’ needs and desires. The ambient conditions influence employee behaviours in numerous ways (Davis, 1984, pp. 271) and at Sogeti’s open-plan office several ambient conditions are studied through an observation conducted during April 17th 2007 and a questionnaire with 15 closed questions. The outcomes of the observation and the questionnaire are analysed and concrete proposals are created for the Sogeti management to act upon in order to improve the characteristics of their open-plan office’s ambient conditions and thereby improve employee satisfaction. One of the concrete proposals to how Sogeti may improve the ambient conditions in their open-plan office is to introduce a survey that should be handed out to the employees three or four times a year. The purpose of the survey is to define employees’ perceptions of the different ambient conditions. Based on the outcomes from the survey, employees’ needs and desires of the servicescape, the ambient conditions’ characteristics, can be improved. Also, some examples of actions geared towards reducing the level of noise in the Sogeti open-plan office are to use ear phones when listening to music and to leave the open-plan office when conducting phone calls. The concrete proposals developed based on the Sogeti employees’ perceptions of the ambient conditions in the open-plan office are outcomes of this thesis that may serve as a tool for the Sogeti management to improve the ambient conditions of their servicescape and thereby increase employee satisfaction.

No description available.

This creative project was written to provide learning materials that would facilitate student use of open physics laboratories in modular scheduled schools or schools operating under the open concept.The writer identified the needs and interests in physics for both the science and nonscience student. Using these topics of interest, nine open physics laboratory acttivities for science and nonscience students were written. Each activity was designed to offer a "hands-on" activity supplimented with pictures, diagrams, and a minimal of written material.An attempt was made to divide each activity into two parts or phases with each phase being more difficult (i. e., using more advanced scientific terms and/or mathematics). This structure was chosen so as to interest and motivate the nonscience student or low ability science student and not bore the ambitious science student.

Statement of the ProblemThe purpose of the study was to determine if traditional patterns of instruction have been altered as a result of open design in the construction of elementary school facilities. Answers to the following questions were sought through investigation. Do open design elementary buildings guarantee changes? Do open design elementary buildings actually contribute to a lesser degree of flexibility? Do open plan programs provide continuous growth and open endedness in instructional activities?Procedure UsedTen open designed elementary schools were selected as project schools for the study. The criteria for selection included a minimum of two months of operation for the program, uniqueness of building with respect to design and flexibility and uniqueness of program with respect to grouping and instruction. Data were gathered from literature, research and in the field. Persons interviewed included principals, teachers, custodians, guidance counselors, cafeteria personnel and school secretaries. A separate two section presentation of data was made for each sample school. A brief introduction for the sample schools was followed by an equipment description and concluded with general observations.FindingsFurniture and equipment play a major role in promoting the movement of students and working toward individualizing instruction. Carpeting was the floor covering chosen in nine of the ten schools. Carpeting appeared to be imperative in order to provide for a more informal climate of learning.Grouping across age and grade levels allowed for a more homogenic group. Open designed buildings provided the impetus for experimentation as gleaned from the study as every school in the sampling was involved in some type of experimental program. Media centers played a major role in grouping for instruction as personnel and students must have multi-grade level materials for grouping to be successful. Professional and non-professional personnel must work together toward facilitating learning and not just dispensing learning.ConclusionsOpen designed elementary buildings for northern and central Indiana school districts do not guarantee changes in program from the self-contained classroom arrangement. However, the buildings and programs studied provided evidence to support the position that experimentation with different types of student grouping is facilitated by open designed elementary buildings.Open design elementary buildings contribute to a greater degree of flexibility than the self-contained classroom arrangement. Nine of the ten schools in the study were carpeted, which encouraged teachers with groups of students or with individual students to organize learning activities almost anywhere in the facility. In buildings using the tote tray arrangement, students were allowed more freedom because the materials were readily movable. Evidence provided by observation in the study revealed that choice of equipment and materials are important contributions to instructional flexibility.Open plan programs can provide continuous growth and open-endedness in instructional activities. Observations conducted in the study provided the students with a multi-media center. Although maximum utilization was not observed in all cases, generally, the multi-media centers included a large variety of materials which could foster continuous growth and open-endedness in the instructional program. All nine schools with multi-media centers also provided the students with wet carrels, including filmstrip viewers, which contributed further to the opportunity for providing open-endedness and continuous growth in the instructional program.

This study of Henry Fielding's Amelia was undertaken in an attempt to discern what Fielding was doing in this last novel, how he was setting about to achieve his purpose, why he felt that this purpose was important, and how successful he had been in achieving his goals. The unrevised first edition published by A. Millar (1752) was utilized because the original purpose of the novel and not the response to criticism was the concern of the study.The study first places Amelia within the period and events of its literary genesis and considers the reception and rejection of the novel 1) in light of the personal feuds between Richardson: and Johnson on the one hand and Fielding on the other, and 2) in light of the later generations of literary criticism.Amelia is considered within the context of the development of the Fielding canon to establish that Henry Fielding maintained essentially the same style, the same intention, and the same point of view in this last novel that he had presented in his more famous earlier novels as well as inhis drama and prose works. The qualities are found to differ from work to work only in degree of emphasis.The study shows through a careful examination of style, structure, and characters that the purpose in Amelia is to set forth the Art of Life as Fielding had previously set forth the Art of the Novel. Amelia Booth is a well-controlled character who mirrors acceptable emotional reaction of the wives of her day. As Captain Booth's alter-ego, she is the locus from which the circles of Life radiate; however, it is Captain William Booth who is the central character through whom the reader experiences the lessons in Virtue--wisdom and prudence--that make possible the eventual perception of the Art of Life. Booth emerges as the last in the succession of Fielding's heroes--a human, fallible, middle-class gentleman who is the prototype of the twentieth-century unhero. He is good-hearted but imprudent and naively myopic.Amelia, upon close examination, emerges as a tight, complex, and well-written novel. It is the product of a mature, vital, and creative artist whose first concern throughout his entire career was the Art of Life, which he felt was best perceived through observing the people, the circumstances, to hopes, and the problems of his time. Amelia emerges as a credible work of remarkable depth and cultural sophistication.