This thesis focuses on three fashion industry themed female friendship films: Pret-a-Porter/Ready to Wear (1994) by Robert Altman, The Devil Wears Prada (2006) by David Frankel, and The September Issue (2009) by R.J. Cutler. Female interpersonal relationships are complex – women often work to motivate, encourage and transform one another but can just as easily use tactics like intimidation, manipulation, and exploitation in order to save their own jobs and reputations. Through the lens of post-feminist theory, this thesis examines significant female interpersonal relationships in each film to illustrate how femininity is constructed and driven by consumer culture in the fashion industry themed films.

This dissertation examines selected love lyrics composed during the 1930s by Cole Porter, whose witty and urbane music epitomized the Golden era of American light music. These lyrics present an interesting paradox – a man who longed for his music to be accepted by the American public, yet remained indifferent to the social mores of the time. Porter offered trenchant social commentary aimed at a society restricted by social taboos and cultural conventions. The argument develops systematically through a chronological and contextual study of the influences of people and events on a man and his music. The prosodic intonation and imagistic texture of the lyrics demonstrate an intimate correlation between personality and composition which, in turn, is supported by the biographical content. / English / M.A. (English)

近年來有關企業策略及產業演進之研究，隨著組織內外環境互動之增加，而逐漸受到 相當的重視。有關企業策略之研究，一般偏向於公司個體作為之剖析；而有關產業演 進之研究，則多採整體覯察之方式進行；本研究試圖同時以個體微觀與整體巨觀之方 式，對兩者間互動關係進行探討。有關產業演進之理論根據，係以哈佛大學教授波特 （Porter. １９８０）有關產業分析與演進之論著為主，並參考吳思華教授之「產業 政策與企業策略」；有關企業策略之文獻則以司徒達賢教授之「企業政策」及策略形 態理論為骨架，旁及國內外學術期刊中有關競爭策略之論著。由於研究範圍相當廣泛 ，且重點在於建立自有之理論架構，故研究方法係自理論之研討與實務之觀察同時並 進，著重於資料之蒐集、分析、比對，並以專家請教、團體研討、腦力激盪等方式來 產生創造性思考，以獲致架構性結論。研究內容係以電視機及個人電腦產業為對象， 分別觀察其國內外產業演進之歷史軌跡，以生命週期循環之觀念劃分其演進階段，並 歸納呇階段之產業特色、關鍵性成功因素、以及變遷訊號；而另一方面亦透過專家請 教及次級資料之蒐集，來瞭解國內外主要廠商在產業演進各階段之策略性作為，以及 其策略成效。研究結果發現不同產業之演進型態有所差異，而不同階段中有著不同的 關鍵性成功因素；就企業而言，策略形態之決策係受外在環境、內在條件以及企業目 標組合之影響，當功能性政策及組織結構與策略形態配合良好時，可以產生策略效率 ，使企業之策略作為有所涵意，然而，此項策略涵意必須能配合業滿足產業階段性關 鍵成功因素，才能產生實質的策略效果，而達成企業績效。最成功的企業，能夠在環 境變化實際發生以前偵測到變化訊號，予以正確之解釋與推論，並且預先調整本身策 略形態以為因應；而未能敏感於內外變動，且無策略調整以為因應之企業，其生存成 長將受到嚴重威脅。

The aim of this work is to develop a universal procedure introducing the concept of IT Governance using COBIT methodology to a small business environment. This thesis understands COBIT as a tool with which is possible to create a new business strategy for a firm and which will provide more competitive force for the firm in the competitive fight. The main contribution of this thesis is a theoretical research, which resulted in the proposal as how should a small company (which close-up characteristic is described in more detail in the work) proceed in a case that it decides to efficiently manage, manage and control the business IS / IT. This theoretical approach is then tested as a case study on a real small enterprise.

This thesis handles the economic strategy of the firm HATLE-UNIKLEMP. Used methods are PESTLE analysis, Porter's five forces model, SWOT analysis, value chain analysis, and most used method is the financial analysis, in which indicators are applied to absolute indicators and financial ratios of profitability,liquidity, activity and debt. The thesis aims to find solutions to the poor economic situation of analyzed firm and to set a strategy, to ensure a positive future business development.

New Zealand-born architect Joseph Fearis Munnings (1879-1937) is largely forgotten in the country of his birth. Considering the importance of his public works in Bihar and Orissa, India (1912-1919) and his prominence as a school architect in New South Wales, Australia (1923-1937), recognition of his architectural achievements is long overdue. This thesis takes as its premise the notion that early twentieth century architecture in colonial New Zealand, India and Australia was British, the rationale expounded by G. A. Bremner in Imperial Gothic– Religious Architecture and High Anglican Culture in the British Empire (2013). My thesis argues that, considering Munnings’ colonial upbringing and English training, the styles he employed reflected his and his clients’ identity as British. It explores the extent to which Munnings adapted British styles, by incorporating features appropriate for colonial conditions. Drawing upon the work of Ian Lochhead on the achievements of Samuel Hurst Seager, my thesis considers the role played by Seager in mentoring Munnings and guiding his philosophy of architecture. Peter Scriver’s papers, ‘Edge of empire or edge of Asia’ (2009) and ‘Complicity and Contradiction in the Office of the Consulting Architect to the Government of India, 1903-1921’ (1996), also inform my analysis of Munnings’ work in India. To enable an analysis of Munnings’ work, this study divides his career into chronological stages: Early experiences and training, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1879-1903 Architectural training, London, England, 1903-1906 Partnership with Hurst Seager and Cecil Wood, Christchurch, 1906-1909 Work with Leonard Stokes, London, 1909 Responsibilities and achievements, India, 1910-1918 Contributions and achievements, New Zealand, 1919-1923 Partnership with Power and Adam, Sydney, Australia, 1923-1937. This thesis, the first comprehensive study of Munnings’ career, illuminates the extent of his architectural legacy in India, his significant contribution to school architecture in New South Wales, and asserts his place as an architect of the British Empire.

Lesbian Detective Fiction: the outsider within is a creative writing thesis in two parts: a draft lesbian detective novel, titled Fatal Development (75%) and an exegesis containing a critical appraisal of the sub-genre of lesbian detective fiction, and of my own writing process (25%). Creative work: Fatal Development -- It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a dead body, but it didn’t seem to get any easier. -- When Dirk and Stacey discover a body in the courtyard of their Brisbane woolstore apartment, it is close friend and neighbour, Kersten Heller, they turn to for support. The police assume Stuart’s death was an accident, but when it emerges that he was about to take legal action against the woolstore’s developers, Bovine, Kersten decides there must be more to it. Her own apartment has flooded twice in a month and the builders are still in and out repairing defects. She discovers Stuart was not alone on the roof when he fell to his death and the evidence he had collected for his case against Bovine has gone missing. Armed with this knowledge, and fed up with the developer’s ongoing resistance to addressing the building’s structural issues, Kersten organises a class action against Bovine. Kersten draws on her past training as a spy to investigate Stuart’s death, hiding her activities, and details of her past, from her partner, Toni. Her actions bring her under increasing threat as her apartment is defaced, searched and bugged, and she is involved in a car chase across New Farm. Forced to fall back on old skills, old habits and memories return to the surface. When Toni discovers that Kersten has broken her promise to leave the investigation to the police, she walks out. The neighbouring – and heritage-listed – Riverside Coal development site burns to the ground, and Kersten and Dirk uncover evidence of a network of corruption involving developers and local government officials. After she is kidnapped in broad daylight, narrowly escaping from the boot of a moving car, Kersten is confident she is right, but with Toni not returning her calls, and many of the other residents selling up, including Dirk and Stacey, Kersten begins to question her judgment. In a desperate attempt to turn things around, Kersten calls on an old Agency contact to help prove Bovine was involved in Stuart’s death, her kidnapping, and ongoing corruption. To get the evidence she needs, Kersten plays a dangerous game: letting Bovine know she has uncovered their illegal operations in order to draw them into revealing themselves on tape. Hiding alone in a hotel room, Kersten is finally forced to confront her past: When Mirin didn’t come home that night, I was ready to go out and find her myself, disappear, and start a new life together somewhere far away. Instead they pulled me in before I could finish making arrangements, questioned me for hours, turned everything around. It was golden child to problem child in the space of a day. This time, she’s determined, things will turn out differently. Exegesis: The exegesis traces the development of lesbian detective fiction, including its dual origins in detective and lesbian fiction, to compare the current state of the sub-genre with the early texts and to establish the dominant themes and tropes. I focus particularly on Australian examples of the sub-genre, examining in detail Claire McNab’s Denise Cleever series and Jan McKemmish’s A Gap in the Records, in order to position my own lesbian detective novel between these two works. In drafting Fatal Development, I have attempted to include some of the political content and complexity of McKemmish’s work, but with a plot-driven narrative. I examine the dominant tropes and conventions of the sub-genre, such as: lesbian politics; the nature of the crime; method of investigation; sex and romance; and setting. In the final section, I explain the ways in which I have worked within and against the subgenre’s conventions in drafting a contemporary lesbian detective novel: drawing on tradition and subverting reader expectations. Throughout the thesis, I explore in detail the tradition of the fictional lesbian detective as an outsider on the margins of society, disrupting notions of power and gender. While the lesbian detective’s outsider status grants her moral agency and the capacity to achieve justice and generate change, she is never fully accepted. The lesbian detective remains an outsider within. For the lesbian detective, working within a system that ultimately discriminates against her involves conflict and compromise, and a sense of double-play in being part of two worlds but belonging to neither. I explore how this double-consciousness can be applied to the lesbian writer in choosing whether to write for a mainstream or lesbian audience.

The objective of my thesis was to map and assess, whether the strategic concept for the development of the business and civilian South Bohemian airport České Budějovice would be viable. I have applied the external analysis of the business environment and an internal analysis of the business subject. Another objective is to specify the strategic plans of development of South Bohemian airport České Budějovice, including phasing their implementation and the orientation financial cost.

This Diploma Thesis deals with problems of marketing strategy proposal for the company ZDT spol. s.r.o. – Agriculture and transport machinery Ltd. A marketing strategy proposal based on theoretical knowledge, analysis of the company’s current condition and questionnaire survey is introduced. This proposal should lead to strengthening our position on domestic market, gaining new market outlet and as a result of this to higher sales and profits.

This dissertation examines selected love lyrics composed during the 1930s by Cole Porter, whose witty and urbane music epitomized the Golden era of American light music. These lyrics present an interesting paradox – a man who longed for his music to be accepted by the American public, yet remained indifferent to the social mores of the time. Porter offered trenchant social commentary aimed at a society restricted by social taboos and cultural conventions. The argument develops systematically through a chronological and contextual study of the influences of people and events on a man and his music. The prosodic intonation and imagistic texture of the lyrics demonstrate an intimate correlation between personality and composition which, in turn, is supported by the biographical content. / English / M.A. (English)