Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The manpower of military structure has always been dominated by male gender (as shown literally by the word ¡§manpower¡¨); females rarely participate in this particular work environment. However, more females are engaged in this field resulting from an awareness of equal rights on sex as a combined consequence of trend of time, diversified development of the society, and ROC¡¦s ever-changing national defense strategies. Ever since the establishment of Chinese Army, i.e., the Hung-Pu Military Academy, military schools have been recruiting males solely except for the National Defense University and the National Defense Medical Center in which females are also recruited. In order to fully utilize female human resource, professional officers/sergeants were open to female to apply since 1991. The application of recruitment were later available for all the military academies. The participation of females in ROC¡¦s military forces has significantly impacted on the structure of human resource. As the number of female human resource increases, the following issues regarding sex such as equal right on employment, promotion, training, and lifestyle management have been regulated and adjusted accordingly. Female human resource will be an integral part in ROC¡¦s military forces. In spite of the fact that researches on females have become popular in recent years in Taiwan, the studies on female officers or sergeants are scarce. The current research focuses on female officers¡¦ and sergeants¡¦ perception of administrative justice and their attitude toward work. The study is based on an analysis using administrative support as a perturbing parameter. The influence of this parameter is investigated and evaluated. A survey was carried out by sending out a questionnaire to 400 female officers and sergeants, with 350 copies returned. By comparing differences and similarities of the survey using a statistic regression analysis, it can be concluded that: 1. In general, most female officers and sergeants show similar perception and responses to administrative justice, job satisfaction, dedication to work, and promises from their organizations regardless of their personal backgrounds. 2. A coherent connection exists between their responses to administrative justice and factors such as their job satisfaction, dedication to work, and promises from their organizations for most female officers and sergeants. However, some interviewees do not change their attitudes toward their administrative justice. 3. A perception of administrative support on justice has a more important negative impact on work attitude rather than a positive impact, i.e., it discourages a female officer¡¦s or sergeant¡¦s dedication to work more than it encourages her work morale.

Title: Advertising message and Customer Satisfaction A case of Lidl Sweden Problem: “Are the customers satisfied when they compare marketing message with services provided by Lidl grocery store?” Purpose: We aim to analyze the satisfaction level of customers at Lidl store and how effective messages delivered in the advertisement. Method: We used a primary research through the interviews of the managers in Lidl, and a survey questionnaire by the customers. We also used the secondary data from the website of Lidl and some qualitative information from textbooks and different sources. Conclusion: After the research, we conclude that the advertising messages of Lidl is clear and most of the customers feel satisfied with price and the quality of Lidl’s products. However, about the non-food products, the customers do not feel so pleasant and they do not have much knowledge about after sale services.

Relationships have become more essential today considering that the business environment consists of many actors competing over the same customers. Relationships imply great advantages, for both the companies and the customers, and involve knowledge exchange. This implies that the companies are able to understand and tailor their offering to suit the specific needs of the customers. To understand how the customers perceive a company’s offering it might be useful to assess the dimensions regarding service quality. A company needs to be aware of what they are promising in order to achieve this. The purpose of this thesis is to identify essential aspects that affect the customer satisfaction in the relationship between a wholesale company and a specialized retailer. In order to fulfill our purpose a case study was conducted of the wholesale company Dogman. To be able to understand Dogman’s relationships with their retailers, five service quality determinants were used. Our research indicates that four aspects; information, knowledge, salespeople and responsiveness, are essential for customer satisfaction and long-lasting relationships.

Risk is an increasingly important factor of our modern society, but that does not mean that risks have become higher today versus any other epoch of human history. Especially in the developed world, risks have been progressively lowered over time. In opposition to the declining risk in everyday life of our modern society, there seems to be an apparent increasing prevalence of risk-taking in our leisure pursuits. More people are willing to take unenforced risks and the fast growing development of adventure tourism is a good example of this. The main purpose of this thesis is to create an understanding how service providers of dangerous activities manage the balance risk and safety in interaction with their customer. Our research objective is to obtain an understanding of risk management practice in a context with the potential physical risks inherent in adventure tourism. The organizational structure for a service provider in extreme environments can be similar to a temporary organizational structure and can therefore be seen from a project management perspective. This research is conducted through a qualitative case-study, which was carried out in the context of a mountaineering expedition in the attempt to summit Mount Everest. Our empirical data are gathered from a database created by the research project Extreme Environments – Everyday Decisions (Triple ED). This database contains numerous transcribed interviews, tracking records, and field notes that was used in order to interpret and analyze the expedition and encounters happening during the process of this mountaineering expedition. Our empirical findings suggest that management of a balance between risk and safety is highly dependent on honest communication. Educated personnel that have the experience and knowledge necessary to manage an expedition or group in a similar setting are another key feature. Furthermore, managing a balance between physical risk and safety is an on-going process in the context of adventure tourism with a large amount interaction between the service provider’s representatives and their customers. For these reasons, the building of a well-functioning relationship between the incorporated strong stakeholders is of importance when balancing risk and safety in a dangerous activity with inherent risks for physical harm.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

This thesis investigates the seven promises of the Promise Keepers movement using the rhetorical criticism method of fantasy theme analysis. In order to understand this movement, four research questions guided the study: ( 1) What common themes are embedded in the rhetoric of the Promise Keepers? (2) What is the rhetorical vision promoted by the Promise Keepers movement? (3) What makes the vision of the Promise Keepers movement so persuasive to so many Christian men in America? (4) Based on an examination of the rhetoric of the Promise Keepers movement, what can be ascertained about the motives of the movement?" In order to answer these questions, a rhetorical analysis was conducted on the primary literature of the movement. The analysis indicated that the Promise Keepers are trying to transform America into a Christian nation. The Promise Keepers believe that change can be brought about if men follow the movement's seven promises for Christian living. Through these promises, the movement emphasizes a patriarchal view of men in society. In addition, the analysis of the movement's rhetoric suggests that the Promise Keepers are not interested in political change, but moral change through the lives of individual men.

This manuscript contains discussion and analysis of the growing number of public schools in the state of Florida that are increasingly more segregated than at the height of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Further discussion and analysis on the influence that standardized testing, like the FCAT, has on the resegregation of public schools and the economic conditions of our Florida schools are also included. Interviews, field observations, and research data are provided and illustrate the burden that high stakes testing has on Florida's K-12 public schools, its teachers, principals, and the students who attend those schools. For the purposes of this study, I have explored the realms of Florida's deteriorating public education system through direct field study and observation in public schools across the state of Florida, as well as collecting published available data regarding funding, race, ethnicity, gender, and standardized test scores. I have visited schools in Miami-Dade County, Orange County, Seminole County, as well as Broward County, Florida, in order to better analyze the gap between the "have's" and the "have not's," across Florida's public schools. This research project has permitted my investigation to further dissect the linkage between school funding, standardized testing, school environments, and cultural conditions and roles played by economics, race, demographics, family income, social environment, and standardized testing.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T19:30:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Francisco Pinheiro de Assis.pdf: 5310934 bytes, checksum: e0aab97a2efb6b2a6f3074121619d3c7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-15 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work aims at investigating the devotional trajectory of rubber tappers from the Acre River Valley, who managed to re-signify in the course of many decades the popular devotion brought from the Brazilian northeastern region, producing new meanings for their lives through faith. It seeks to show the importance of faith and devotion of hundreds of devotees who inhabit the forests and towns in the Acre River Valley. It also intends to present the various manners those rubber tappers have found to overcome daily difficulties, such as diseases, dangers in the forest, attacks by poisonous animals, and falls from trees or bridges. This research, though grounded in popular religiousness, shows the fragility or the mere state of abandonment of the in-forest inhabitants, and it thus justifies the search to understand the reasons that lead them to turn to faith and popular devotion in order to find ways to overcome daily difficulties and the absence of government assistance. It entertains the hypothesis that those devotees find meaning and reason to life through their faith in Santa Raimunda (Saint Raimunda), and in the protection She offers. Interviews and direct contacts with them during pilgrimages in the varadouros (small roads in rubber plantations), beads, and homage at Santa Raimunda´s tomb gave us the opportunity to gather rich and important data. The results show that the devotion to Santa Raimunda do Bom Sucesso (Saint Raimunda of Good Success) kept and still keeps the devotees men and women ready for their daily struggles, giving meaning to their lives and renewing their hopes. Devotion provided them strength to live in the rubber plantations as long as possible, and continues to support their lives in the periphery of the capital city of Rio Branco / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar a trajetória devocional de seringueiros do vale do rio Acre, que ao longo de várias décadas conseguiram ressignificar a devoção popular que trouxeram do nordeste brasileiro, dando assim um novo sentido para suas vidas, por meio da fé. Devoção que já se faz presente há algumas décadas, dentro e fora dos seringais acreano. Objetiva-se mostrar a fé e a devoção de centenas de devotos que habitam as florestas e as cidades do vale do rio Acre, pois encontraram na devoção à Santa Raimunda do Bom Sucesso, uma maneira de dignificar suas vidas. Pretende-se, ainda, apresentar as diversas maneiras encontradas para superar as dificuldades diárias, sejam elas doenças, perigos existentes na floresta, ataques de animais peçonhentos, quedas de árvores ou pontes. A pesquisa, embora fundamentada na religiosidade popular, mostra a situação de fragilidade ou até mesmo abandono dos habitantes que residem dentro da floresta, o que justifica pesquisar as causas que os levam a buscar na fé e na devoção popular maneiras para superar as dificuldades do dia a dia e a ausência do Estado. Sustenta-se a hipótese de que os devotos encontram sentido e razão para viver, por meio da fé e da proteção de Santa Raimunda. Entrevistas, contatos com os devotos na peregrinação, no varadouro, na reza dos terços e junto à sepultura, prestando homenagem à Santa Raimunda, possibilitaram uma rica coleta de dados. Os resultados da pesquisa atestam que a devoção em Santa Raimunda do Bom Sucesso manteve e mantém seus devotos, homens e mulheres, nas suas lutas diárias, dando sentido e renovando a esperança. A devoção deu a eles força para viverem e resistirem o quanto puderam nos seringais e continua sustentando, cotidianamente, suas vidas nas periferias da cidade de Rio Branco para encontrar saídas aos seus problemas, nas brechas existentes na devoção popular de Santa Raimunda do Bom Sucesso