Many organizations have started to adopt knowledge management as one of their strategic initiatives that is to create, retain, share and use the valuable knowledge assets to achieve the organisational objectives. Although knowledge management (KM) is mainly adopted by the private sectors, the Knowledge-based Economy Master Plan, which was launched in 2002 by the government of Malaysia, has encouraged the public and government sectors to value and exploit their knowledge assets. While knowledge comprises both explicit and tacit, many organisations have created knowledge management teams with various KM designations/positions, led by Chief Knowledge Officers (CKOs) to manage the organization knowledge assets. As KM is considered a new, multifaceted and an evolving discipline, frameworks pertaining to KM activities are still lacking. Regardless of which approach an organisation embarks on, there must be a 'shared understanding' of the organisation KM direction so knowledge assets could be capitalized at every level in the organisation. It is crucial for KM team members being able to introduce and promote the organisation's KM direction; therefore, those who are responsible for managing the initiatives should have adequate skills and knowledge to perform their KM tasks. Besides having some managerial and generic competencies, KM team members must also have some essential technical skills (KM-related skills). The research highlighted two research questions - how do KM managers interpret the essential KM-related competencies needed in supporting their KM tasks? and how do these required KM competencies influence KM managers' attitudes towards KM-related training needs to improve their KM understanding and implementation? From the social constructionist philosophical stance, this interpretive study uses the qualitative research approach to explore and investigate the essential KM-related competencies required by KM managers in performing their KM tasks and how they influence the attitudes for KM related training. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, the researcher made a study of KM managers of XYZ; an organisation that adopted a strategic KM approach. An E-focus group was conducted for the pilot study and face-to-face interviews were used to understand the phenomenon based on the experience of KM managers. Findings suggested that six essential KM-related competencies are needed by KM managers; KM overview, Corporate Taxonomy, Communities of Practice (CoPs), KM Tools, Knowledge Measurement and Information Management. This is to make sure that KM could be easily justified in the terms of the benefits to the management and employees, especially relating it to the economic gains. Those competencies were also suggested based on their difficulties in delivering some KM activities such as measuring knowledge, developing taxonomies and establishing appropriate KM tools and CoPs. Indeed as KM managers' suggestions and views on KM competencies come from their KM involvements, KM managers also admitted that those competencies had influenced their preferences towards KM-related training. KM managers prefer some advanced KM-related courses and also certified KM training. The findings have implications for HR/KM personnel and researchers at XYZ as well as others in general. Hence, the major contributions of this research include the following: a. KM competencies framework for KM professions which contributes to b. Demonstrates the implications of the required KM competencies on training preferences c. Presents the design and development of an alternative way of data collection method in conducting e-focus group using blog.

An interest in human coping applicable to endemic disease environments such as Bangladesh now includes disease mitigation and management through self-care. Although a frequently utilised treatment, research into the reasons behind self-care preference, types of self-care practised and the implications this has for individuals and communities in developing countries such as Bangladesh is lacking. This research therefore examines the adoption of self-care in Bangladesh and seeks to understand if it is an effective disease management strategy. A mixed methods approach was employed, targeting a representative sample of different gender, age and socioeconomic status across three locations. 630 questionnaires, 47 semi-structured interviews, 15 focus group discussions, 20 key informant interviews and a series of participatory research tools were applied to explore how and why people use self-care. Data were also used to identify behaviours indicative of appropriate and inappropriate self-care that are beneficial or detrimental to the individual. A detailed and complex picture of self-care emerged. It is widely used to prevent and respond to illness through traditional, herbal and modern pharmaceutical actions. Common illnesses and endemic diseases such as fever and diarrhoeal diseases were most frequently treated through self-care. A declining natural resource base, a hazardous flood environment and communication breakdown between doctors and patients can restrict self-care adoption. However, economic savings on healthcare expenditure, reduced opportunity costs and the means to preserve dignity represented positive aspects of self-care amongst participants. Examination of these factors demonstrated the failings of current health service provision as well as the potential for better self-care integration into existing healthcare approaches. Wider lessons for disease management were therefore derived from self-care including the importance of low cost manifold strategies and the value of local knowledge and ownership. It is concluded that although self-care is not a panacea for the burden of ill health there is evidence to suggest it can play a crucial role in coping with the insurmountable disease risks people face in Bangladesh. In doing so the research contributes to understanding self-care in developing countries as an integrated and integral component of the primary health care system and infectious disease risk reduction more widely.

This research focused on pre and post-disaster planning in Malaysia since the adoption of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005–2015 and national Vision 2020. A review of the existing research and practice in Malaysia including the structure and attitude of government officers at central and local authorities to risk was the starting point. The regulatory compliance to the Malaysia National Security Council MNSC Directive 20 programme is a key focus. The MNSC Directive 20 exists as the important core of disaster regulation in Malaysia but the implementation is not according to plan and regulatory compliance was low. Failures in regulation and compliance were identified as the key vulnerability and disaster causes in Malaysia. The beneficiaries were actually unaware of non-compliance that exposed them to hazard. In general, the more developed Asian economies, of which Malaysia is one, have not devoted much attention to pre-disaster planning despite a rapidly growing capital stock of buildings including public and private housing. Although the Asian Development Bank has provided templates for pre-disaster planning, the uptake has been slow. This Malaysian case study is an important example, not just for the country but the region. The aim of this research is to highlight shortfalls in provision, training and awareness, and to recommend ways of improvement. Gathered actors’ perspectives in the implementation of regulatory compliance in all level of emergency management system in Malaysia helps to explain the reason of regulatory compliance failures. Measuring their attitudes towards regulatory compliance reveals actual commitment because regulatory compliance would require making changes to existing barriers in the administrative environment. These changes would have to be based, to a large extent, on how actors’ perceived and judged the benefits of regulatory compliance implementation. The research uses both quantitative and qualitative methods together that involved 484 respondents. They have broadly negative general attitudes towards regulatory compliance, arguing that currently too many barriers are present in department levels to make regulatory compliance implementation straightforward. They need informative advice and guidance to enable them to see the very probable societal benefits that can lead towards regulatory compliance development. The research concludes by categorising obstacles that need to be overcome, to encourage actors to accept regulatory compliance and recommends changes to department structures, systems and practices prior to regulatory compliance implementation.

Retrofit programmes for installing energy efficient technologies in social housing are a key part of efforts to reduce UK carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. This requires a reduction in CO2 emissions by an average of 80%, from all housing, in order to assist the UK’s long term goals. The UK’s turnover of housing stock is relatively slow compared to most developed countries and approximately 87% of the current housing stock will still be standing in 2050. Therefore, to meet carbon emissions targets, existing buildings must be refurbished or ‘retrofitted’ with technologies which reduce carbon emissions on a huge scale. The Government intends to achieve this by driving energy efficiency in households and businesses predominantly through the proposed Green Deal framework. This represents a shift in policy approach since the 2010 elections, towards a private finance and private industry approach, as rather than the previous Labour Governments predominately state managed and grant-aided social retrofit approach. The influence of the economic recession at the time of this transition is also likely to be a key driver of the Governments changing approach to financing the retrofit of millions of UK homes. Other strategies such as the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy are also intended to dove-tail with this national push to retrofit housing stock, due to reduced energy costs and increased thermal comfort. There is great potential for the proposed national retrofit mobilisation to reduce carbon emissions from homes, contribute to economic growth and provide other benefits such as the reduction of Fuel Poverty. However, the amount of energy used in homes is largely dependent on the behaviours of the occupier(s) and occupant behaviour can determine the effectiveness of retrofit programmes and thus impact on the potential of this significant mobilisation to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions from housing. Thus, occupant behaviour is increasingly recognised as a critical element to be acknowledged and addressed in order to meet carbon reduction targets, both within the literature (excluding the policy literature) by and those delivering retrofits on the ground. This research provides a unique insight into occupant energy use behaviour by evaluating a ‘live’ project to retrofit energy efficient being implemented by Gentoo Group which includes construction and social landlord roles. The literature review relevant to the research focuses on Psychological theories of behaviour and Practice Theory. This provides insights from both paradigms provide two viewpoints on behaviour: an insight into the nature of individual behaviour (Psychological theories of behaviour), and; a consideration of how the framework and structure of society (including aspects such as technology) interacts with the individual’s practices (Practice Theory). The research methodology utilised an inductive approach, underpinned by a qualitative research design. In-depth interviews were conducted before and after specific interventions (a technical intervention and informational interventions) took place, these interviews were recorded and transcriptions were thematically organised and analysed using the template analysis technique. This process first identified ‘patterns of behaviour related to energy use’ arising due the project interventions and secondly based on the frequency of these occurring, identified ‘key patterns’. The theoretical perspectives of the Psychology and Practice Theory literature were drawn on in order to contextualise the findings of the research, but it this thesis does not attempt to apply them in an empirical approach. The analysis process instead draws on specific elements from both of the disciplines to assist the interrogation of the ‘key patterns’ so they may be better explained or understood. Key findings of the research highlighted that energy use behaviour is impacted by the introduction of technology, and tenant behaviour can potentially impact on the energy saving effectiveness of retrofit projects. Significant impacts were identified specifically where tenants had an interaction with the technology being introduced and the informational intervention had no significant impact on behaviour. ‘Key patterns’ indicated several factors which influence tenant energy use behaviour and of these the barriers to retrofit effectiveness were identified as: limited access to knowledge and skills; habits preventing behaviour change to utilise introduced technologies; the quality of installation and function of the technical intervention; convenience of introduced technology potentially increasing energy use, and: the need or desire for thermal comfort. The thesis concludes that energy use behaviour is pivotal factor in determining retrofit effectiveness and that behaviour, and in particular behaviour-related barriers to retrofit effectiveness, should be acknowledged and addressed as part of the UK retrofit strategy, especially in the light emerging policies such as the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation, which intend to drive retrofit on a huge scale. Recommendations are made inform retrofit practitioners and academic and policy debates on behaviour in the context social housing retrofit, and suggestions are made for future research to explore this research area further.

Using consumer satisfaction as an example of complex communication and a virtual world as a mediating platform, a novel framework for eliciting consumer satisfaction has been developed. Consumer satisfaction is a key element for business success, while the elicitation of satisfaction perceptions from consumers can help vendors to assess and to improve their business performance. The objectives here are: how consumer satisfaction is defined, understood and measured; how virtual worlds function, both as a platform and a product; how users typically perceive their experiences in virtual worlds; and how consumer satisfaction metrics can be translated into a virtual environment. Second Life is used as an enabling technology for gathering requirements as well as for the construction, refinement and validation of the framework. Second Life is a virtual world, a multi-user, 3D, immersive environment, which has its own internal economy. The choice of using this social virtual world was due to Second Life being a resilient and widely used platform. The main contribution of this thesis is a framework that can be used to identify and categorise the complex and inter-related factors that affect the use of Second Life in terms of consumer satisfaction perceptions. Another contribution here is a novel approach to Search Engine trend analysis, which focuses on the number or search results returned as opposed to the number of queries for a given search phrase. Based on the research conducted by the author and knowledge gained from the literature, a framework has been developed which identifies interrelated components that provide a wider context to perceive the user experience of Second Life. The approach taken by the framework enables it to be used as a means to comprehend Second Life both as a product and as a platform. A Straussian Grounded Theory approach was taken to data gathering, analysis and interpretation in the context of the framework; further refinements are made to the framework as a consequence of emergent themes revealed through the process of analysing the gathered data. Guidance is given in brief as to how the framework can be adapted to reveal consumer satisfaction perceptions from other internet based services.

The United Kingdom is committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 as part of a strategy to mitigate climate change. As housing is responsible for approximately 26 percent of all UK carbon emissions, housing carbon reduction is a key component in meeting this target. Local Authorities are faced with the problem of how to improve the quality of existing housing stock, provide additional social housing to meet increasing demand, and cutting emissions from both new and existing housing stock. The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is being used as a means to deliver new and refurbished social housing using private, rather than public capital, and is expected to enable the delivery of sustainable, rented homes. However there have been concerns about the use of the PFI model to deliver public sector housing which meet sustainability goals. The overall aim of this thesis is to examine whether the UK’s Public Finance Initiative (PFI) can achieve the procurement of sustainable social housing. In order to address this aim, the study considers the technical and contextual issues that affect sustainability in PFI housing projects, focussing specifically on one such project in the North East of England. With regard to the technical issues, the research introduces a methodological tool that has been developed to assess the sustainability of PFI housing projects. It is envisioned that the tool will be useful for assessing the sustainability of other housing projects procured under a public private partnership arrangement. The contextual issues are examined by means of an ethnographic study carried out from within North Tyneside Councils PFI procurement team over a period of 2 years. The results of the study suggest that the PFI procurement model can be used to deliver sustainable housing, but is currently hampered by a lack of skills, knowledge and understanding. These problems are particularly acute at the project management and governance level within the procuring local authority. The study identifies the need for clear guidance on incorporating sustainability into the procurement of PFI projects. It also recommends the use of appropriate tools to assess the sustainability of plans and build capacity within local authority procurement teams.

Consumer researchers have long accepted that consumption can serve as a tool in the creation, maintenance, and expression of consumers' identities. And brands, in particular, may be important to the consumer self, even potentially serving as relationship partners. This dissertation explores how brands that are important to consumers may impact their identities at a cognitive level. Specifically, I apply Aron et al.'s (1991) "including others in the self" paradigm from interpersonal relationship research, which finds that people's cognitive representations of close others overlap the psychological self, to studying the impact of brands on the self. I provide evidence that consumers' mental representations of loved brands, which may be perceived as relationship partners, overlap the psychological self in memory. I refer to this as self-brand overlap. I also consider the relevance of disliked brands to the consumer self, providing evidence that consumers' mental representations of disliked brands are dissociated from the psychological self in memory. I refer to this as self-brand dissociation.In two studies I demonstrate and replicate the self-brand overlap and dissociation effects. And, study 2 further explores these constructs, providing evidence that self-brand overlap and dissociation are the cognitive representations of positive and negative, respectively, consumer-brand relationships. This dissertation also includes three further studies that aim to identify boundary conditions of these effects. However, no conclusive support is found for a role of any of the explored moderators. Specifically, studies 3 through 5 find the self-brand dissociation effect in every condition, in every study, suggesting that self-brand dissociation is impervious to the boundary conditions examined. Evidence for the self-brand overlap effect, which was demonstrated in both studies 1 and 2, however, is mixed in each of these 3 later studies. Potential reasons for this lack of concrete replication are offered.

Modern Japan established three kinds of national identification (ID) systems over its population: Koseki, Alien Registration, and Juki-net. The Koseki system is a patriarchal family registration of all citizens. It began in the 1870s when Japan’s nation-state was developed under the emperor’s rule. Koseki used traditional patriarchal hierarchy and loyalty to construct subjects for the Japanese Empire and reify a fictional unity among the “Japanese” people. Until today, this disciplinary element has functioned as the norm for organizational relations in Japan. The Alien Registration System requires non-citizens to register and carry an ID card to distinguish “foreigners” from “Japanese”. This system stems from surveillance techniques used over the colonial populations in the early twentieth century: the Chinese in the colony of “Manchuria”, in northeast China, and the Koreans on the Japanese mainland. Although the empire collapsed after World War II, the practice was officially legislated to target Koreans and Chinese who remained in post-war democratic Japan. Juki-net is the recently established computer network for sharing the personal data of citizens between government and municipal authorities. Juki-net attaches a unitary ID number to all citizens and gives them an optional ID card. Juki-net uses digital technology to capture individual movement, so the system is direct, individualistic, and fluid. It has expanded the scope of personal data and shifts the foundation of citizenship to state intervention. This thesis examines how these three systems have defined the boundary of the nation and constructed categories for its subjects, which have then been imposed on the entire population. Drawing on the theories of Foucault’s bio-power and Agamben’s bare life, I explain how the national ID card systems enable the state to include and exclude people, use them for its own power, and produce subjects to support the state. Although this process is often hidden, the scheme is a vital part of the current proposal to use national ID card systems in the global “war on terror”. I argue that the national ID card systems impose compulsory classifications on individuals, threaten the public’s rights against state intervention, and spread “bare life” across the population. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2008-05-29 13:58:26.233

<p>Usually contexts for learning are chosen by adults without conferring with learners at any point. The present study investigated learners&rsquo / preferences for contexts to use in learning school mathematics. Furthermore the study sought to establish motivations learners have for preferring particular contexts. The problem the study addressed was that of absence of learners&rsquo / contribution in contexts used to learn mathematics. The aim was to find out the contexts learners preferred and the reasons they gave for their preferences. It is important to be aware of learners&rsquo / preferences when choosing contexts to use in teaching. Preferences improve motivation and learning. Furthermore, consulting them sends a message that they matter and have an important role to play in their education.</p>

Prevalence studies around the world show that men are the largest group at risk of becoming problem gamblers and that men gamble more than women. However, gambling research has long been gender blind. The gambling market is rapidly changing, with the Internet making gambling more accessible. Further, despite the well-documented presence of health, social and financial problems among the concerned significant others (CSOs) of someone close with gambling problems in clinical and help-seeking samples, there is little research investigating on this population. This thesis aims to examine the relation between gender and problem gambling among regular gamblers and CSOs, and to determine whether there was a convergence of men’s and women’s gambling behavior between 1997/98 and 2009/10 in Sweden. A further aim is to examine health problems associated with Internet gambling and CSOs. The data collections were taken from three different but linked gambling and health representative national population based studies in Sweden, all using the same methods: telephone interviews supplemented by questionnaires. The studies are as follows: 1) prevalence study 1997/98, age 15-74 years, n = 10,000, response rate 72% (n = 7,139) 2) prevalence study 2008/09, age 16-84 years, n = 15,000, response rate 63% (n = 8,165); and 3) incident study 2009/10, the 8,165 participants from the 2008/09 prevalence study were contacted again, response rate 74% (n = 6,021). Gambling was generally merged into domains based on the axis chance-strategy and public-domestic. The dichotomy of public and private spheres is relevant in since there is a link between the public sphere and notions of masculinity and a link between the private and femininity. Further, the literature suggests that men are attracted to gambling that involves features of strategy, whereas women generally prefer game of chance. Problem gambling was measured using SOGS-R and PGSI. Health variables included measures such as self-reported health, psychological stress, social support, alcohol consumption, and financial situation as a determinant of health. There were very few indications of a convergence between men’s and women’s gambling behavior. Men and women generally gambled in different domains. Men gambled more than women and dominated all domains except the domain of chance-domestic, a domain associated with less risk and Internet gambling. However, men and women who gambled regularly were just as likely to be problem gamblers. No gender differences were found in the score from separate PGSI analyses in the chance-public domain (games of chance in public spaces, such as gambling machines and bingo in halls). This domain was also the only domain associated with problem gambling for women who gambled regularly. Men and women were just as likely to report that they were CSOs and they constituted a large proportion of the Swedish population (18%). CSOs experienced a range of social, economic and health related problems including psychological stress, risky alcohol consumption, exposure to violence, and separations. For women who were CSOs, no relation with own problem gambling was found. This thesis suggests that the presence of gambling machines must be addressed to prevent problem gambling and that separate analyses for men and women are required to identify important differences between genders. The findings indicate that gambling domains produce and reinforce gender. Further, to be able to prevent problem gambling we require further knowledge about these gendered processes. However, it is also important to see the overall similarities between men and women to avoid reinforcing stereotypical images of gender which would have an negative impact on the preventive work. Male and female gamblers are both very heterogeneous categories where the specific gambling site, context and life circumstances must be acknowledged. Prevention, research and interventions should also target CSOs if a public health approach is applied because they require help and support in their own right. CSOs also play an important to the problem gambler. More qualitative research is required to understand gendered processes in gambling, as well as further research on interventions that go beyond the individual and address gambling and problem gambling at various levels. When addressing the harmful effects of gambling from a public health perspective, it is imperative to recognize the ethical principles of justice, autonomy, doing no harm and beneficence. / -