Housing can be used to satisfy man's needs on all five levels as identified by Maslow, although in the context of Tshwane, South Africa, housing decisions are especially guided by a great need for safety as well as status. Townhouse living offers a secure living environment for residents, while simultaneously providing an adequate status living option that is generally accepted by the public. Along with several advantages townhouse living provides, there are also significant negative aspects. The main consideration for this study is the fact that all of the units in a given complex look either the same or very similar, leaving no room for differentiation amongst the units. This can become problematic, since theory suggest that all people have a need to be unique, and when placed in a situation where they are perceived as being highly similar to others, as in a townhouse complex, people will tend to act in a counter-conforming manner. The only viable option available to the residents lies in the interior of their homes. Much has been published to date concerning the need to be unique and the expression thereof within the clothing environment, but only limited research has been done to explore townhouse residents‟ need to express their extended selves in the interior of their homes. The study involved 182 respondents of both genders, who lived in townhouse complexes in Tshwane. They completed a structured questionnaire, which investigated who was responsible for decisions regarding the interior design and décor of their homes, identified their most valued objects, as well as the reason why it is regarded as such, whether or not they restricted guests to their social zones of their homes, as well as whether they portrayed their social selves to onlookers, their level of need for uniqueness, their buyer behaviour, the source of interior inspirations and lastly, a section on the overall satisfaction they might have with residing within a townhouse complex. One qualitative section, the identification and motivation on their valued objects, was included to gain insight into what type of objects are regarded as valuable, supported by motivations on why it is regarded as valuable. Data collection was especially time consuming, since it was difficult to gain access to townhouse complexes. Convenient snowball sampling proved to be the only option viable to collect the data. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics as well as factor analysis. Respondents indicated that interior professionals were seldom, if ever, asked to assist with the design and décor of their homes and that furniture was their most valued interior objects for social, rather than private reasons. Respondents furthermore indicated that they wished to restrict guests to the social zones of their homes as far as possible and that those respondents who resided in their homes for less than five years preferred their social selves to be displayed, while respondents who resided in their homes for more than five years chose to display a limited version of their personal selves as well. Respondents showed an average inkling to express their extended selves in a counter conforming manner, with the creative choice counter conforming motivation being the most popular option. Their buyer behaviour supported their need for uniqueness, in that the objects purchased for the interior of their homes had to be aesthetic and original. The most prominent source of interior inspiration originated from interior shows and thereafter the respondent's family. The majority of interior shows guide and encourage the viewer to attempt the design and décor of their homes themselves, which may serve as an indication on why so few respondents made use of services provided by designers and decorators. The respondents agreed that, due to the fact that the exteriors appear the same or similar, greater attention is given to the interior of their homes, and that more unique products are sought to compensate for the lack of uniqueness in the complex. About half of the respondents did state, however, that presented with the option again, they would still choose to reside in a townhouse complex. Findings of this study will contribute to existing literature and will be useful to property developers, retail industry, interior designers and decorators in terms of marketing opportunities for their products, be it mass customization (property developers and retailers) or individual customization (interior designers and decorators) to tailor a product that will provide the illusion of uniqueness to potential consumers. Copyright / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Consumer Science / unrestricted

Fifty percent of small businesses launched survive 5 years or more and about 33.3 percent continue operating for 10 years or longer. This transcendental phenomenological study included Cantillion's theory of entrepreneurship to explore strategies used by successful second-time business owners after a failed first launch. Face-to-face interviews took place with 12 successful second-time business owners in Fairfax County, Virginia, whose first business had failed. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a modified Van Kaam method to identify strategies small business owners used to succeed beyond 5 years after a failed first business venture. Data analysis revealed 4 themes: (a) owners assimilated and accommodated lessons from the previous failure, (b) owners did not view obstacles as barriers, (c) owners acquired the ability to have successful plans, and (d) owners valued people who make businesses successful. Implications for social change include presenting the strategies in focus groups to train prospective entrepreneurs in local communities. The prospective entrepreneurs might learn new insights and strategies used by successful second-time business owners after a failed first launch that were critical to the success of their business. The findings of the study might offer applicable ideas, strategies, and actions that may promote the worth, dignity, well-being, and development of individuals, communities, organizations, institutions, and cultures.

Globalization, specialization, decentralization, and urbanization are changing social, economic, and ecological conditions for forest landowners throughout the United States. One possible response to these new and recurring challenges is economic cooperatives, an old idea being retooled and reapplied, keeping more of the power, control, and profit generated by natural resource extraction and management in the hands of private forest landowners and local communities. Detailed case studies were carried out on four cooperatives in the Southern Appalachian region. The objectives for this study were: 1) to develop a set of potential criteria/attributes/dimensions/benefits by which these cooperative ventures can be evaluated, 2) to document and understand what mechanisms, institutions, and people will contribute to the success of these cooperatives, 3) to document and understand what obstacles stand in the way of these cooperatives, and 4) to illustrate these findings using four case studies and summarize results in key challenges and keys to success. The four main criteria developed to assess the success or potential success of landowner and business cooperatives were economic feasibility, social feasibility, community enhancement, and ecological sustainability. The results of this study show that cooperative forestry endeavors such as those studied here are reaching out to forest owners missed by traditional service providers and outreach programs. They emphasize a different set of services coming from a different set of trusted sources and can build community capacity, improve ecological qualities, and enhance local economies; however, professional forestry, state and federal governments are only marginally involved with cooperative ventures. Additionally, nine key challenges that forestry cooperatives need to overcome were identified, and twelve keys to success defined. / Master of Science

In this dissertation, I investigate whether corporate governance affects the negative association between investment and future excess returns. Shareholders are concerned with the effectiveness of the firm's governance regime as a tool to reduce agency costs. In the absence of strong control over firm assets, managers may choose to invest in value-decreasing projects. The probability that managers select value-decreasing projects is an increasing (decreasing) function in investment activity (governance regime). At the time of investment, the capital market prices expected returns to the investment activity conditioned on the governance regime in place. This study examines future risk-adjusted returns to investment activities conditioned on low and high governance regimes. If the market correctly prices the governance environment and the expected returns to expenditures at time t, there should be no future risk-adjusted returns to either governance or expenditure information. I find that for firms with low external monitoring, and separately, for firms with high shareholder rights, lower (higher) investment activity results in positive (negative) future risk-adjusted returns. Implementing a trading strategy which holds low investment firms and shorts high investment firms results in 7.1% and 5.6% annual risk-adjusted returns when conditioned on low institutional holdings and high shareholder right, respectively. This study also provides preliminary evidence that outside blockholder and activist ownership is effective in mitigating the negative association between investment activity and future excess returns through the shareholder rights mechanism. Finally, I provide evidence that the diversification discount associated with multi-segment firms is generally invariant to investment activity levels.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes special report study entitled: Vertical garden in urban context. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes special report study entitled : Vertical garden in urban context. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

This thesis deals with the governing bodies of the association of unit-owners and the way of their decision-making. It is focused on usual interpretative problems, which appear in practice in association with this problematic . An association of unit-owners is an legal entity, which originates on the grounds of The Act of Housing Property. Its existence is always connected with a concrete building divided into residential (in some cases also nonresidential) units. Membership in the association of unit-owners is inseparably linked to the ownership of each unit in this building. The Act of Housing Property also establishes that the association of unit-owners has only special legal personality. It means it can execute that kind of discretions and duties which deal with an object of their activities, such as administration, operation and repairs of common parts of the building (in case The Act of Housing Property states, also other associated activities) - this whole area is called administration of the building. The Decree of the government, which issues the model statutes of the association of unit-owners, offers more exact features of the activities, rather than The Act of Housing Property. These activities can be summed up as the building administration. Chapter one and two of this thesis deal with...

Inom den utförda studien har både finansiell data och information kring ägarstruktur gällande företag på svenska OMX Stockholm Small-Cap listan använts för att undersöka ifall andelen privata småsparare har en signifikant påverkan på volatiliteten. Volatilitet har en väsentlig roll när det kommer till aktiehandel och tidigare teorier pekar på att det finns ett flertal variabler som ligger bakom volatiliteten, småägare är en av dessa variabler. Utifrån regressionsanalysen kan andelen privata småsparare påvisas ha en signifikant påverkan på volatiliteten. Det framkom även utifrån resultaten att bolagens resultat dividerat med deras totala tillgångar var ett mått som påverkade volatiliteten. Flera variabler som enligt tidigare teori bör ha verkan på volatiliteten kunde inte påvisas att överensstämma med den här uppsatsens forskning som till exempel institutionella ägares påverkan. / In the following study both financial and ownership data have been gathered regarding companies listed on the Swedish OMX Stockholm Small-cap list to determine whether the fraction of small private investors have an significant impact on volatility. The reason is because volatility has a central role within the stock market making it an important variable. Previous theories suggest that a number of different variables that affect the volatility, where small private investors are one of them. Our regression model proves that the fraction of small private investors indeed have a significant effect on volatility. Our results also suggest that the company’s earnings divided by its total assets is a variable which alters the volatility. Multiple variables which were suggested by theories to have an impact on volatility could not be proven to be true, one of these variables were institutional owners.