Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States. Proactive adult behaviors leading to early intervention are a child’s best hope to reach their full potential. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnered with Porter Novelli to develop a public health campaign called “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” The goal of this campaign was to increase awareness about the early warning signs of autism to help invoke positive behaviors in parents so that children receive services at the youngest age possible. HealthStyles survey data were analyzed to assess the difference in level of autism awareness of those surveyed before the campaign launch and of those surveyed two years post-campaign launch. Association between awareness of autism and early intervention behavior was also examined. Results of the study show improvements in awareness of autism issues; however, the results indicate minimal association between awareness and early intervention behavior. Further research efforts are essential to modify the campaign and target the issues necessary to instigate early intervention behavior.

Durante el presente siglo, con el cambio desde el paradigma mecanicista al ecológico, se produce un giro en las teorías del conocimiento. Se cambia de tener una visión mecanicista del ser humano, fuertemente influenciada por la física newtoniana, que acepta la relación lineal entre causa y efecto para justificar el aprendizaje; a considerar al ser humano como un sistema complejo, en el que las relaciones lineales son sólo una excepción en el estudio de los fenómenos naturales, ya que las estructuras biológicas, y entre ellas las personas, son sistemas dinámicos inestables, sistemas que aprenden, o cambian de estado, a partir de las situaciones de desequilibrio que van viviendo, pasando de un estado inferior a otro superior. Con el nuevo paradigma se produce un cambio en la forma de entender al individuo, en nuestro caso al jugador y/o al portero de fútbol (protagonista del estudio), aparecen nuevos modelos que lo reconocen como una realidad holística, indivisible, interconectada, dinámica y relativista. Toda esta nueva forma de entender y comprender al ser humano ha provocado, obligatoriamente, un cambio en la forma de investigar. Tradicionalmente gran parte de la investigación en el deporte se ha realizado a partir de la metodología experimental, caracterizada por un elevado control interno y desnaturalización del entorno habitual del deportista. Aparecen nuevas líneas de investigación que nos permitan comprender mejor la realidad. Un claro ejemplo de ellas son las propuestas de Anguera, Blanco, Losada y Hernández Mendo (2000) que nos presentan la aplicación de la metodología observacional, desde una visión sistémica, como un método que nos permite estudiar el comportamiento espontáneo en el entorno habitual del portero.Paralelamente a la aparición de las teorías sistémicas del conocimiento, aparece una nueva tendencia de entrenamiento, una nueva forma de entender el entrenamiento basada en el deportista, en solucionar las necesidades de los jugadores teniendo en cuenta la individualidad, ya que cada uno tiene su propia auto-estructuración. Tradicionalmente se había basado en crear unos modelos ideales que se intentan reproducir mediante los ejercicios, fundamentado en las teorías mecanicistas. Este enfoque del jugador se presenta como un nuevo reto para la investigación en las ciencias de la actividad física y el deporte. Siguiendo estos modelos de conocimiento hemos desarrollado nuestra tesis. La hemos dividido en una parte teórica y una empírica. En la parte teórica se expone una descripción de las nuevas teorías ecológicas, y como éstas afectan a la forma de entender al jugador, en nuestro caso al portero, y su interacción con el juego, el fútbol. A su vez, se incorporan los conceptos más utilizados, imprescindibles para comprender el interés de la parte empírica.En la segunda parte, se expone una investigación en la que, mediante la metodología observacional, se estudia la actuación de dos porteros profesionales de fútbol, Iker Casillas y Víctor Valdés, durante los partidos de competición de toda la temporada 2006-07, específicamente en situaciones de juego en las que tienen que intervenir defensivamente para evitar el gol del contrario. A partir de los resultados se aportan las sigiuentes conclusiones y aplicaciones prácticas para el entrenamiento.► Demostrar la organización dinámica y no lineal del portero mientras participa en la competición; es decir, que sus manifestaciones conductuales siguen los mismos criterios que caracterizan a los sistemas complejos. ► Proponer criterios de entrenamiento justificados con los principios de comportamiento demostrados previamente. / During the present century, with the change from the mechanist paradigm to the ecological one, a turn in the theories of the knowledge takes place. It changes to have a mechanist vision of the human being, strongly influenced by the Newtonian physics, that accepts the lineal relation among cause and effect to justify learning; to consider the human being as a complex system.All this new form to understand and to include the human being has caused, obligatorily, a change in the form to investigate. New lines of investigation appear that allows us to understand better the reality. A clear example of them are the proposals of Anguera, Blanco, Losada and Hernandez Mendo (2000) that present us the application of the observational methodology.This approach of the player appears as a new challenge for the investigation in sciences of the physical activity and sport. Following these models of knowledge we have developed our thesis. We have divided it into a theoretical part and an empirical one. In the theoretical part a description of the new ecological theories is exposed, and how these affect the form to understand the player, in our case to the goalkeeper, and its interaction with the soccer game. As well, the concepts used are gotten up more, essential to understand the interest of the empirical part.

Thesis (M.A. (Hons.)- Visual Arts) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1997. / The thesis includes : Appendix 1- Catalogue of Works which comprises 59 coloured slides. The intent of this body of work is to visually interpret the book of poems "Akhenaten" by the Australian contemporary poet, Dorothy Porter. Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts (Honuors) Visual Arts, University of Western Sydney, Nepean, Faculty of Visual and Performing Arts. Bibliography : p. 58-61.

Récemment, une nouvelle ère du commerce « connecté » arrive, dans laquelle l’offre des services logistiques fluides entre les différents canaux de vente, sera primordiale pour les réseaux de distribution. Dans ce contexte d’omnicanalité, nous focalisons aux liens pouvant être établis entre le logistics model adopté et le business model. Nous formulons l’hypothèse selon laquelle le logistics model adopté peut faire évoluer le business model : P1: le business model a un impact sur le logistics model. P2: Le logistics model a un impact sur le business model. P3: Quand le business model évolue, le logistics model évolue et s’adapte. P4 : L’évolution du logistics model a un impact sur l’évolution du business model. P5 : L’innovation du logistics model peut pousser l’innovation du business model. Une recherche empirique (4 cas) est menée permettant de capter les aspects dynamiques. Des entretiens semi-directifs avec les dirigeants, les responsables logistiques ont été réalisés. Des analyses intra-cas et inter-cas ont été menées. Apports: Au plan théorique, nous définissons les composants des business model et des logistics model dans l’industrie du prêt-à-porter et montrons 4 processus logistiques liés à la proposition de valeur. Nous montrons comment les évolutions ou les innovations logistiques peuvent permettre d’acquérir des compétences et du savoir-faire distinctifs susceptibles de proposer de nouvelles propositions de valeur aux clients et d’améliorer le business model d’une enseigne. Au plan managérial, les distributeurs trouveront matière à modéliser leurs activités et à positionner les services logistiques au centre de leurs business models futurs. / Recently, a new era of “connected commerce” is emerging, where the ability of offering effective and fluid logistics services among the different channels will be a key feature of distribution networks. In the context of omnichannel, we focus on the dynamic links between logistics model adopted by a distribution company and its business model. We make the hypothesis that the adopted logistics model can lead to changes in the business model: P1: the business model impacts the logistics model. P2: the logistics model impacts the business model. P3: the evolution of the business model impacts the evolution of the logistics model. P4: the evolution of the logistics model impacts the evolution of the business model. P5: The innovation of the logistics model impacts the innovation of the business model. To answer the research questions, we conducted a dynamic empirical research (four case studies in the ready-to-wear industry). Semi-structured interview with leaders, and logistics managers were conducted, followed by an intra-case and cross-case analyzes.Implications: At the theoretical level, we define precisely the components of the business model and the logistics model and demonstrate an association between four logistics processes and the value proposition to customers. We show how evolution and innovation of logistics can provide distinctive skills and know-how that can help create new value propositions to customers and improve the company’s business model. At the managerial level, our study offers insights to retailers certain ways to model their activities and to position the logistics services at the center of their future business model.

The fact that we have entered turbulent times has been a central theme in the recent strategy literature. Turbulent environments are commonly described by increased competitive intensity, disruptive changes in the industry structure, volatility of demand, and unpredictability of customer behaviour, alongside instability of economic, social and political factors. In such a context, the adoption of traditional approaches to strategy, which assumes a relatively stable world, have been questioned by new approaches. Mixed strategy, which emerged as a contingency option to Porter's generic strategies model, defends that in a turbulent environment the simultaneous pursuit of the low-cost and differentiation approaches is fundamental for the short-term performance and long-term survival of the firm. A vast corpus of literature supports the benefits of adopting a mixed approach strategy: several empirical studies have proved that a combination of low-cost and differentiation strategic elements establishes a firm's performance superiority over the pure strategy choice. The mixed literature has concentrated on the performance linkage and on the debate countering the pure strategy approach, however very little attention has been paid to the challenges presented by the mixed strategy implementation. In fact, despite the rich empirical literature, it is still not clear how firms that adopt a mixed strategy may successfully integrate the inherent contradiction of the low-cost and differentiation approaches. The aim of this study is to investigate how a firm has been implementing the mixed strategy approach, unveiling its managerial characteristics and to generate a proposed managerial framework that could serve as a guide for further implementation. This study approaches the subject of mixed strategy implementation on three levels: environment, strategy definition and making process, and value chain activity. After having elucidated several ambiguities related to the concept of mixed strategy present in the literature and having proposed a normalized definition, this study investigates through a unique case study approach, an in-depth explorative process using causal process methods the managerial implication of the mixed strategy. Several characteristics are revealed from the unique case study and represent a major contribution to the field of strategy management. Furthermore, a managerial framework is proposed which could serve as support in the implementation of a mixed strategy.

Due to the globalization, companies have to review their strategy permanently. In the same way, they need to choose the right management control system which will be in line with their strategy. Recent research has been made and it was highlighted that new strategies have been created to face up to the globalization and stay competitive. One of the new strategies is called “hybrid strategy”. It consists of combining the low-cost competitive advantage with the differentiation competitive advantage. By doing that, a company differentiates itself from its competitors with a special feature and, by the same time, has the lowest cost in its market. This new strategy came after the three generic strategies from Porter, which explains that a company needs to choose a competitive advantage if it wants to be profitable. The competitive advantages are either low-cost or differentiation. Most of the research made about the hybrid strategy was about the efficiency of this strategy. A very few research was made about the management of companies using the hybrid strategy. This is why in this paper, we would like to understand what kind of management control companies using this strategy have, more particularly do they use more a tight or a loose control. We also are looking at what kind of objectives companies using hybrid strategies have. If it is more a short-term or a long- term perspective and if it is more focused on monetary goals or non-monetary goals. For that, we compared the management control implemented in a hybrid company with the management controlled implemented in a low-cost company in Sweden. Four interviews were made at IKEA and MIO, which are two Swedish furniture companies in Sweden. To be able to draw a conclusion, we choose one hybrid company and one pure company to compare them. IKEA is the company using the hybrid strategy. These interviews gave us a lot of information to better understand the type of management control both companies have implemented. Then, the data were analyzed and discussed in order to highlight a potential conclusion. The gathered data suggest that hybrid companies and companies using a low-cost strategy have approximately the same management control system which is more tight control. About the objectives, both companies have the same. Indeed, IKEA and MIO have monetary goals and are more short-term goals oriented, at least for the lower level management. However, there are some differences that we can noticed. The first thing is that MIO uses more the informal control than IKEA. The second thing is that IKEA is more concerned by its employees. To conclude, even if IKEA and MIO are using two different strategies, they are very similar when looking to their management control.

Assessment of the current situation and status of the selected company in the market through analysis of the external environment. Based on the results of corporate strategy and propose measures for successful management of company.

This thesis deals with financial analysis and benchmarking for construction company Pozemní stavby Jihlava, spol. s.r.o. The first part summarizes the theoretical basis of benchmarking. In the next part –practical part contains an analysis of the current situation of the company and other construction companies, are included financial analysis, Porter's value chain and SWOT analysis. Based on the observed data are proposing measures and to imporivng and specific recommendations for evaluating enterprise.

This master´s thesis describes the suggestion of appropriate marketing strategy for an advertising agency, which intends to expand its range of services. The first part deals with theoretical bases which are used in the second part in practice. In the practical part is first analyzed the current state of advertising agencies and are subsequently suggested suitable marketing strategy for the introduction of new services.

Theoretical part of the thesis focuses on explanation of basic terms in the field of strategic management of companies and on the overview of instruments used for strategic analysis of a company. In the practical part i have attempted to make a detailed analysis of the production of buttons in Knoflíkářský průmysl Žirovnice, using PEST analysis and Porter's Five forces model. The aim was to make a decision, based on the analyses, wheter or not to continue producing buttons in the company.