The purpose of the present study was to provide validation for Levinson's theory about pets and human personality development. Levinson (1978) proposed that the personality development of individuals who have pets to which they are attached differs from that of those who do not have pets and that pets play an important role in facilitating the development of certain adaptive personality traits. In the present study, specific areas that were addressed included differences in certain personality characteristics between life-long pet owners who were strongly attached to their pets, life-long pet owners who were less strongly attached to their pets, and people who had owned pets for only a limited period of time in their lives. One hundred undergraduates completed the Pet Attitude Scale, the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, the Personality Research Form - Form E, the Hogan Empathy Scale, the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation - Behavior (FIRO-B), and the IPAT Anxiety Scale Questionnaire. No significant differences were found between the three pet owner groups in levels of affiliation with other people, impulse control, nurturance, succorance, capacity for empathy, and anxiety levels. In addition, no significant differences were found between the three pet owner groups in interpersonal behavior characteristics or self-esteem. Concurrent validity was shown between membership in the different pet owner groups and positive attitudes toward pets as measured by the Pet Attitude Scale. As predicted, the most attached life-long pet owners reported more positive attitudes toward pets than the least attached life-long pet owners or the limited-time pet owners.

The purpose of my thesis is to describe unit owners association as a subject of law in the Czech Republic. It focuses on analysis of the most significant problems of the current legal regulation in the Act No. 72/1994 Coll., on apartment ownership. It also concurrently reflects the legislation in the new civil code, in which is the apartment ownership incorporated. The subject of thesis was selected because of its actuality in the professional literature and in the daily life. The issue of the unit owners association affects more and more inhabitants because of its mandatory membership and increasing amount of apartment owners. This dissertation consists of six individual chapters. Each chapter looks at the basic principles of the unit owners association and contains subchapter reflecting legal regulation in the new civil code. The first chapter concentrates on the legal regulation of the unit owners association. It looks at the most significant changes in the apartment ownership legislation, which have constituted unit owners association as a legal person. It also includes basic analysis and classification of amendment to apartment owners legislation in the new civil code. The second chapter looks at the legal status of unit owners association. It describes its characteristics as a person of law,...

The enterprise Derome Forest, which manages the supply of raw materials to Derome Group's industries, wants to develop its communications with suppliers and also the forest services that the company provides. The purpose of the study was to find new information channels for forest companies to communicate about forest services to existing and future suppliers. In order to answer the research questions and achieve the purpose of the study, a questionnaire was chosen as a method in combination with a focus group. The most sought after services were final felling, thinning, and pre commercial thinning and planting. Forestry magazines, personal meetings and social activities were important sources of knowledge for forest owners. Few of the forest owners replied that they used the websites of forest companies or followed them on social media, although most of the respondents estimated that their internet use for forest purposes will increase. Digital calendars with forest companies' activities and mobile apps for measuring and calculating were digital tools that were requested. Damage and diseases on forests, intrusion issues and thinning were subjects that many forest owners thought was difficult. Greater diversity in forestry methods and a more goal-based and diversified advice were requested from forest companies.

Unit owners association as a subject of law (A comparative study of the new civil code bill) The purpose of my thesis is to analyse current legislation regarding apartment ownership which incorporates provisions regarding unit owners associations and compare it with the new Civil Code bill which will incorporate these provisions in the future. The methodology is primarily critical analysis. I explain the main problem by way of practical examples. The reason for choosing this subject of research is its topicality and the large numbers of people who live in apartments in the Czech Republic who are required to be members of unit owners associations. The thesis is composed of six chapters, five of which deal with various elements of the provisions regarding unit owner associations. Following these chapters, I look at the new Civil Code bill. The final chapter describes some provisions which apply outside the Czech Republic. Chapter One explains the legal status of unit owners associations as a legal entity and their characteristics. The chapter is subdivided into three main parts. Part One deals with the extent of the association's legal capacity. Part Two describes who represents the association and Part Three concerns the register of unit owners associations. Chapter Two describes the creation and...

Half of new businesses in the United States cease to exist after the first 5 years of operations, and the failure rate continues to increase after the first 10 years. The study was grounded on von Bertalanffy's systems theory to explore business strategies that small business restaurant owners use to sustain their business beyond 5 years. Data were collected by engaging 3 small restaurant business owners in the Little Rock, Arkansas metropolis who sustained their business beyond 5 years. Information obtained from face-to-face interviews and data mining organizational document were analyzed with the support of qualitative software to generate themes. Data analysis included semistructured interviews and review of business documents using data mining and coding keywords for thematic analysis. A total of 5 themes were discovered from the findings, which included formal and informal training, customer relationship, startup resources, capacity building, and consistent quality of food and services. The social change implications of the study include identifying strategies to sustain small restaurant business to create more jobs for local residents, which can positively impact the economic viability of the Little Rock area.

This research identifies the experiences, behaviours, attitudes, values and beliefs of Australia's most successful franchise owners in order to understand the reasons for their outstanding success in a business environment designed to encourage replication and uniformity. In this study, twelve of Australia's best franchisees have been interviewed to find out their personal qualities that have enabled them to succeed in the franchise business environment. A qualitative methodology within a constructivist ontology and interpretivist epistemology has been used. Interviews were conducted, coded, analysed and models developed using NVivo software. The coding and analysis led to the development of six key characteristics or behaviours of successful franchisees. Australia's best franchisees are successful because they are highly motivated, have outstanding business skills, are committed to franchising, demonstrate remarkable personal qualities reflected in highly ethical leadership with exceptional communication skills and create a business environment that has real customer focus. Human qualities are difficult to isolate and quantify. This research highlights those necessary to succeed in franchising and business generally. The findings from this research have been presented as a framework for franchisee success. The framework provides the basis of human characteristics and elements to consider in franchisee selection and business skill development. The title of this research is in many ways its conclusion. The contribution of franchising to Australia's entrepreneurial spirit is the growth and development of the business skills of franchisees, many of whom are entrepreneurs in the making.

The lack of attention to quality control by house builders in the Australian State of Victoria has been a contentious issue for more than two decades. Ina an attempt to improve the quality of housing, various mechanisms such as voluntary and compulsory registration schemes have been adopted and discarded by industry-based organisations and government. While builders are encouraged to improve construction quality, little is known and published about the quality of housing produced by owner builders specifically during the seven year warranty period after construction is completed. With this in mind, this thesis presents research findings that compare the latent defects in houses built by owner builders with those of registered builders. Using inspection reports provided by Archicentre <a subsidiary of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects> a sample of 1772 houses, of which 1002 were owner builders <HO> and 770 were registered builders <HR> was used to determine the severity, the incidence, and location of defects within each house type. Houses less than a year old were found to contain a siginificant proportion of defects for both types of builder. In addition, it was found that HO builders had a mean of 2.74 defects per house and HR builders mean of 2.30 defects per house for the seven-year warranty period. To determine whether there was a significant difference between the quality of housing produced by HO and HR the statistical technique of Chi-squared analysis was undertaken at a 5% level of significance. The analysis revealed that there was a significant difference between the quality of housing procured by owner <HO> and registered <HR> builders. In particular, it was found that the important category of workmanship for HO builders had significantly less defects that HR builders, which suggests that HR builders need to improve their managerial practices and the quality of on-site supervision. In essence, this thesis has provided a series of benchmark metrics for latent defects against which current and future legislative programs con be compared for new housing in the State of Victoria. It is recommended that future research focus on the methods for improving the role of the on-site supervisor as they are considered to be the important link in the quality chain.

Work-life balance is a concept that has attracted attention for several years. It is relevant as people attempt to apportion time to different demands they face from both work and life. The multiplicity of demands that individuals have can increase this challenge as people strive to incorporate many more activities into lives. The focus of current literature regarding work-life balance tends to focus on how employees can be provided with opportunities by their organisations for achieving this elusive balance. Research has been conducted into various strategies that organisations have implemented to facilitate their employees’ lifestyle options. Furthermore, studies have examined the role of organisational initiatives and staff retention. However, many of the organisations providing these opportunities for employees have substantial resources, thereby enabling the provision of these initiatives. Previous empirical research has examined work-life balance in depth. However, there are aspects that call for further attention. In particular, the management of this concept within small business requires further research. Australia has a large number of small businesses, which comprise a large proportion of the labour force and contribute significantly the national economy. The broad category of small business includes different business models, and two of these models are the independent and the franchised business. The success of these models has been demonstrated by their rapid growth in the Australian economy. As one of the reasons most commonly cited for entering into a small business is to regain the control over one’s life and work-life balance, the purpose of this research is to investigate work-life balance from the perspective of small business owners. Examination of different research issues considering the perception of work-life balance, the impact of control, of owning a small business, and the choice of business model on work-life balance is undertaken. The research considers how small business owners perceive the concept of work-life balance, and whether it is regarded as important to them. This research seeks to understand how work-life balance is viewed differently for small business owners. The concept of control requires examination to clarify how control and work-life balance relate to each other. Due to the popularity of franchising in the small business sector, a comparison of the concept of work-life balance by both franchised and independent small business owners is warranted...

The paper evaluates the support needs of minority small business owners in Austin, Texas, based on a review of literature on support programs available around the country and primary research on the needs of local entrepreneurs. Research included a focus group with local small business owners served by BiGAUSTIN, a nonprofit business support organization, and a survey of 1900 business owners served by the organization in the past. Information was collected on the demographics and economic characteristics of 159 local firms, as well as on their interest in particular types of business training or support services. Based on survey findings, the paper concludes with recommendations for how Central Texas organizations can augment their programs to better assist small businesses in growth and development. / text

A better understanding of people’s attitudes to housing is fundamental to attracting new residents and retaining those who already live in or close to the central city. As such, this study operating in a Canadian context adopts Hägerstrand’s model for the process of innovation diffusion. The study draws on the findings of an online survey and interviews with city planners in both Edmonton and Winnipeg to explore the demand and supply dimensions of city-center living and attitudes towards different types of housing and neighbourhood design. The study shows that the central area in Winnipeg and Edmonton are at different stages regarding housing. Prospective home owners who are interested in housing in the central area share a number of environmental attitudes. These attitudes were related to the care for recycling, the importance for eating organic food, the use of public transportation, volunteering in non-profit organization to help the community and the interest in attending cultural activities. Based on the results of the study, it can be expected that housing types such as apartments, townhouses and even loft housing can be more common in the future and especially in Winnipeg since apartments and townhouses are already common in Edmonton.