The study set out to explore the influences of change on organisational culture in a private healthcare organisation of South Africa. The research was conducted at Life Healthcare, the largest private hospital group in South Africa. A survey questionnaire was constructed and used as a means of collecting data for the purpose of this study. The data was collected from a sample of 189 respondent managers using stratified probability sampling technique. Data analysis was conducted by applying descriptive and inferential statistical methods.

The growth of for-profit hospitals in the southern United States was researched. Two regression models were developed to analyze the spatial distribution and growth of for-profit hospitals as a function of the locational characteristics of a hospital's service area from 1970 to 1980. For the first model, the dependent variable was the market share of for-profit hospital beds in 1980. In the second model, the dependent variable was the percent rate of change in for-profit market share from 1970 to 1980. Based on this research, the for-profit hospital of the 1970's appears to express a locational preference for areas which had limited hospital competition and were becoming increasingly suburban. A detailed review of the literature on for-profit hospitals and the method of analysis is presented. / Master of Arts

Australia's dual system of broadcasting has provided national and commercial radio services to Australians in both urban and remote areas. Networks were formed to serve these areas, but advertising agencies tended to dominate smaller commercial networks on behalf of their clients. Most of these failed. The Macquarie Broadcasting Service Pty. Ltd. (MBS) network began in 1938 and offered network programming and sales representation to stations affiliating with them. Its subsidiary, Artransa Pty. Ltd., also produced and syndicated programs and provided sales representation both nationally and internationally. This study concludes that MBS' contribution to Australian commercial broadcasting was the development of networking and that it had the greater listenership of any commercial network in this time period.

This thesis explores the design and implementation of an API using the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, aimed at bridging proprietary systems for sustainable lighting solutions. The project addresses the urgent need to replace mercury-based lamps in Sweden with environmentally friendly alternatives due to upcoming EU regulations. The developed API facilitates integration and automation between two distinct systems controlling lighting and power supply. Key research questions include identifying factors critical for a successful API and assessing its impact on client-specific problems and consequences of web automation. The research begins with identifying core problems through stakeholder engagement, followed by iterative design and development of the API. The solution's objectives were derived from practical constraints and stakeholder feedback, ensuring a focused and relevant artifact. The API was partially demonstrated and evaluated through simulations, theorizing its ability to meet the intended goals and providing insights into good practices for web automation. This work contributes to the field of information systems by providing a practical example of API development through DSR, highlighting the challenges and solutions in web automation and system integration. The findings suggest that a well-designed API relies on understanding end-use cases, good communication with minimal assumption and good adaptability. Relying on web automation can also result in post-release complications or pose ethical dilemmas.

This research focuses on for-profit post-secondary education in the United States. Through autoethnography it seeks to examine the dissonance of function, belief and ethic in the role of a professional educator working in the proprietary industry. The autoethnographic data, based on personal memory data, email correspondence and interviews, show the challenges faced by staff and faculty in their efforts to meet revenue-linked performance targets set by corporate employers. The study uses grounded theory in conjunction with analytical autoethnography to identify the core concept of institutional pressure and to formulate a theory relating to the probable consequences of that pressure. While some staff and faculty are tempted to use questionable practices in order to meet required goals, others perceive they have no control over the circumstances that lead, for example, to the student attrition for which they are held responsible. The research describes how the autoethnographer and her co-workers were arguably recipients of negative feelings which were split and projected towards them by their employers and were unable to process or transform these negative feelings adequately. Some resigned from their positions and others were dismissed, but they departed taking this negativity with them in much the same way as a traditional scapegoat. As for-profit education continues to attract the attention of the media and regulatory bodies in the United States and similar colleges are established in other countries, this research has implications for those with expectations of education as a social good who find themselves required to work in a for-profit environment.

The significant problem addressed in this research was the increasing default rate among federal student loan borrowers who attended non-degree-granting proprietary colleges in Florida (i.e., career and technical colleges). The purpose of this study was to identify, better understand, and predict which borrower characteristics increased the likelihood of student loan default at proprietary non-degree-granting colleges. The research was based on the structural-functional and planned behavior theories and utilized a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design to explore the relationship between academic success, age, college graduation status, ethnicity, gender, high school class ranking, and federal student loan default. Self-reported data were obtained from students who attended private, for-profit, less than 2-year colleges in Florida. To determine which student borrower characteristics predicted an increase in the likelihood that borrowers would default on their student loan payments, one hypothesis was proposed to evaluate six borrower characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the statistical relationships and found that academic success, age, and gender were statistically significant in predicting student loan default among students who attended private, for-profit, less than 2-year colleges in Florida. This study may facilitate positive social change by aiding educational institutions in identifying at-risk borrower characteristics and by providing various default prevention strategies that could be incorporated into specific counseling messages to reduce future student loan defaults and lower institutional cohort default ratings.

This paper examines the theoretical and empirical differences between the behavior of nonprofit and for-profit hospitals. Considerations are extended to include the possibility of collusion when hospitals make strategic choices. The operating objectives of the firms take into account price, quantity, and quality. Defining the quality of hospital care is discussed and applied to the empirical work. The model predicts nonprofit hospitals will provide a higher level of quality and a lower price than for-profit hospitals. Theoretically, under a collusive outcome for nonprofits, price will increase but the change in quality is indeterminate relative to a competitive, non-collusive outcome. The empirical section offers evidence of differences between nonprofit and for-profit hospital behavior. Nonprofit hospitals do provide higher quality and a lower price when compared to their for-profit rivals. It seems the competitive forces extend to the area of quality. There is evidence that increased competition between nonprofits fosters quality competition. From the for-profit perspective, quality competition appears to be provoked in markets where the for-profit competes more directly against nonprofits. This paper provides theoretical and empirical analyses of hospital interactions and how these interactions change depending upon the type of control. / Graduation date: 2001

The overall objective of this research was to analyze the effect of ownership status on 1) quality of care delivered, 2) the cost of nursing homes in the United States and 3) wages to Registered Nurses. The model developed here uses a two stage least squares technique to correct for observed endogeneity problems. Results show that a model which includes ownership classification interactively with all independent variables, performs better than a model which simply uses dummies to proxy for ownership status. Nonprofit homes were found to have higher direct patient care expenditures than profit homes. Non-profits were also found to have a more specialized nursing force. Both of these results suggest that non-profits may actually provide a higher quality of care than for profit enterprises. No support was found for the hypothesis that nonprofits have more philanthropic wage policies. / Graduation date: 1996

Not available / text

This study centred on factors contributing to the perceived organizational effectiveness within an educational service provider. The guiding assumption of this research was that the general public supports effective organizations because they are perceived as rendering an effective and efficient service. This results in a reciprocal relationship between the organization and its clients. The Kip McGrath Education Centres was studied since it is an organization that has been rendering educational service in South Africa since 1996. There are to date thirty-five centres operating in the country. However, while there has been phenomenal growth in terms of geographical expansion, no studies have been done to establish what has contributed towards this organization's perceived effectiveness. Literature sources informed this study of the indicators that characterize effective organizations. Some of these indicators of effectiveness were used in this research to determine whether the organization under study can be viewed as one such effective organization. The theoretical underpinning of this study is that there are inherent contradictions within models of effective organizations. As such, effectiveness should be determined according to a given model and relevant indicators. This study surveyed perceptions of the major stakeholders on matters pertaining to the organizational effectiveness of the Kip McGrath Education Centres at Newholmes. Both the qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used. That is, questionnaires were used to obtain information from large samples of educational stakeholders and interviews schedules and check-lists were used to collect qualitative data from small samples and observations of facilities and activities at the centre. The findings revealed that the organization under study was rendering an effective service that clients seem to have valued. This consequently led to their support of the organization which led to its growth in size, judged by student numbers. The conclusions derived from these findings were that an effective organization is one that is able to develop because it possesses salient features necessary for delivering an effective and efficient service to its clients, thus ensuring their continued support. A major finding was that parents were willing to pay for the services offered by the Newholmes KMEC because they felt they got their money's worth. This leads to the conclusion that when the public has confidence in an education provider, the public is willing and able to pay for the services. A recommendation arising out of this would be to determine the extent to which perceived effectiveness translates into genuine effectiveness judged by the quality of programmes offered by a number of private education providers. This would offer evidence and support for the role of the private sector in educational provision which can guide government policy and practice. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.