Thesis advisor: Mary Ann Glynn / I examine the process of evolution for theoretical constructs in the field of organizational scholarship, leveraging the sociology of knowledge literature and empirical studies of construct development to focus my research. Prior studies suggest several key factors operating in the process--actor-oriented components, including the characteristics and strategies of scholarly actors, and situationally-oriented components of historical context and word meanings. No study, however, has assessed these factors in interaction over time. I address this gap through a historical study based primarily on archival data regarding construct usage in journal articles and scholarly books. Specifically, I explore the evolution of "cooperation" and "purpose" in organizational scholarship from 1938 through 2005. My findings contribute to elaboration of the theory of construct evolution proposed by Hirsch & Levin (1999), as I observe that a construct developing largely within a single disciplinary paradigm is marked by narrowing rather than expansion of meaning in the course of increased operationalization. Further, I find that an interdisciplinary context of evolution multiplies not just meanings but also the language used for a construct. I also document how antecedent conditions of meaning for the words "cooperation" and "purpose," as well as elements of historical context, affect the evolution process. In addition, my study extends the observations of Barley & Kunda (1992) regarding a cyclical dichotomy between rational and normative paradigms in managerial discourse, as I observe this pattern contributing to the fragmentation of language and meanings in the constructs studied. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Organization Studies.

Thesis advisor: Michael G. Pratt / Through two inductive qualitative studies, this dissertation explores the surprising emergence, and members’ subsequent responses, to value-laden claims regarding “why we exist” – what members themselves and scholarship refers to as organizational purpose. Study One finds that, although unintended, the implementation of specific practices within this organization generated powerful emotional energy amongst members. Leaders subsequently grafted this energy into organizational symbols and engaged in meaning-making to articulate what this energy meant for why the organization existed. This study advances theories of organizational identity formation and Selznick’s institutionalism by highlighting an alternative unit of analysis focused on features of shared experiences rather than discourse, documenting an alternative generative mechanism focused on emotional energy, and recasting leaders not as ideological visionaries engaged in sensegiving, but by setting in place conditions to build, harvest, and articulate emotional energy. Study Two examines members subsequent responses to these value-laden claims, finding that members either broadly rejected claims finding them akin to a desired projected image or broadly accepted claims finding them to be real and implicating of the organization itself. These responses varied depending on various ways members construed the credibility of the organization, as well as the plausibility of the organization’s claims. This study advances theories of how members accept or reject organizational meanings by highlighting the ways in which members anthropomorphize organizations – treating them as if they were human beings – and evaluating claims in light of what they see as organizational traits, motives, and intentions. I addition, this study advances theory by identifying the critical importance of perceiving how products and services – “what we do” – is linked to claims regarding “why we exist.” / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Management and Organization.

by Tsun Tak-on. / Chinese title: / Bibliography: leaves 111-113 / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1983

A presente investigação tem como objetivo identificar os projetos de vida e projetos vitais éticos dos jovens estudantes com idade entre 16 e 18, anos em condição de vulnerabilidade social, de instituição pública de Ensino Médio do estado de São Paulo, buscando compreender as principais características destes projetos, e, se eles podem influenciar os demais objetivos e aspirações e a percepção de sentido e significado de suas vidas. Para tanto, esta pesquisa partiu do conceito de projeto de vida (BRONK, 2010; MARIANO; SAVAGE, 2009) e dos conceitos de projeto vital e projeto vital ético de Damon e seus colaboradores (DAMON; MENON; BRONK, 2003; DAMON 2003; DAMON 2009a; DAMON 2009b). Em suma, o projeto de vida e o projeto vital correspondem a objetivos de vida de longo prazo, orientados para o futuro e significativos para o sujeito, que podem motivar e conferir sentido à existência desse sujeito. Entretanto, o projeto vital difere do projeto de vida porque corresponde a uma meta essencial na identidade do sujeito que visa beneficiar o mundo e a sociedade. O projeto vital, sobretudo o projeto vital ético, é um projeto que possui uma orientação moral que implica o devotamento a uma causa significativa e ética, com uma preocupação em fazer diferença no mundo através de ações éticas e cidadãs. Para atingir o objetivo proposto neste trabalho, foi realizada uma pesquisa com 90 sujeitos estudantes de uma escola pública da zona leste da cidade de São Paulo, inserida num bairro cujo índice de desenvolvimento humano (IDH) está abaixo da média. Em conjunto com a análise dos indicadores econômicos e sociais da região onde a escola estava localizada, foi possível identificar a presença da condição de vulnerabilidade social analisando-se outros fatores qualitativos da região onde a pesquisa foi realizada. Para atingir os objetivos aos quais esta pesquisa se propôs aplicou-se um questionário sobre projetos de vida, a escala de objetivos de vida (ROBERT; ROBINS, 2000) e a escala de sentido de vida (STEGER et. al., 2006). Os resultados da pesquisa demonstraram uma baixa presença de jovens estudantes com projetos vitais, mas confirmou o fato de que os projetos vitais éticos influenciam suas vidas no que diz respeito aos seus objetivos e ao sentido que eles atribuem a elas. / This present investigation is aimed at identifying purposes and ethical purposes of young students between 16 and 18 years old who cope with social vulnerable conditions in a public High School in the State of Sao Paulo, trying to understand the main characteristics of those purposes and whether they can have any influence on those people´s lives. For such, this research adopted the concept of purpose (BRONK, 2010; MARIANO; SAVAGE, 2009) and the concept of purpose and ethical purpose, as defined by Damon and his collaborators (DAMON; MENON; BRONK, 2003; DAMON 2003; DAMON 2009a; DAMON 2009b). In short, purposes refer to enduring, future-minded goals in life, meaningful for the people, capable of motivating and fulfilling their lives. However, the concept of purpose as defined by Damon differs from the concept of purpose as defined by other autors, as the former is stable and indicates intention of having consequences to the world beyond the self, consisting of family, community or society. Ethical purpose, however, consists of a long-term, stable and generalized goal in life, but with moral orientation that implies dedication to a significant, ethical cause, with a sense of purpose to make a difference in the world, by means of ethical and civic actions. In order to achieve the objective set in this work, we surveyed 90 students in a public school on the East side of the City of Sao Paulo, located at a neighborhood whose human development index (HDI) is lower than average. Combining the analysis of social and economic indexes for the region where the school was located, it was possible to identify the presence of social vulnerable conditions. For such, we distributed a survey on purposes, scale of purpose in life (ROBERT; ROBINS, 2000) and meaning in life questionnaire (STEGER et. al., 2006). Our survey results show there is a small number of students with purpose, but confirmed that ethical purpose influences their lives when it comes to goals and the meaning those goals can have in their lives.

This thesis examines whether the UK's General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) unjustifiably permits the judiciary to take account of the taxpayer's motives, intentions and purposes for the purpose of determining tax liability. It will be argued that the UK GAAR does permit consideration of these factors, which, it will be argued, is undesirable because of the subjective nature of these terms and the possibility of judges ascribing a motive, intention or purpose on the taxpayer which may not be factual in reality. Although the GAAR has attracted much commentary, there has been little to explain how the GAAR allows the taxpayer's motives, intentions and purposes for embarking on an arrangement to be scrutinised by HMRC and the courts. This discussion hopes to fill this gap, especially in respect of whether and how the provisions of the GAAR can allow for a "motive test", how such a test may be applied in practice, and whether the GAAR can still be considered to have a targeted scope in light of factors that are arguably subjective. An allied issue that is examined is whether the implementation of the UK GAAR was needed given that the courts can apply the principle established in WT Ramsay Ltd v IRC1 to cases on tax avoidance. In developing the arguments presented in this thesis, the approaches of a number of Western jurisdictions will be examined. The selected jurisdictions chosen include; the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. These countries, with the exception of the United States of America, have a general anti-avoidance legislation in place and the majority of them include an anti-abuse provision in their general anti-avoidance rules. The thesis concludes that the UK GAAR is unique in taking into account the taxpayer's intentions. The UK GAAR also makes reference to the purpose of the taxpayer's arrangement. These factors, taken together, can result in scrutinisation of the taxpayer's own motive, intention or purpose. It will be suggested that the scope of the UK GAAR is much wider than it was ostensibly designed to be and that it is likely to rely heavily on the discretion of judges. Therefore, suggestions as to the ways in which the GAAR could move towards a more objective approach are given.

Qualitative observational research, interviews, and student samples explain the complex social structure in my math classroom and my effectiveness as a teacher. The ethnographic narrative will be divided into four major sections. The major sections are Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D. Part A discusses how my personal and professional identity affect my performance in the classroom. Part B highlights action plans that support an English learner, a student with an IEP, and a student with a significant life experience. Part C explores how the demographics of the community and school site affect my classroom environment. Lastly, Part D presents my professional reflections and professional development plan. Together, these studies suggest skills needed to be an effective teacher involve more than expertise in mathematics. Effective teachers use critical self-analysis and their students’ funds of knowledge to create an inclusive and purposeful classroom. Keywords: identity, educator, social capital, purpose, effective

The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences undergraduate students cite as helping them develop and articulate their purpose in life. Purpose in life, as a construct, is associated with many positive attributes associated with life in general, and the college experience specifically; however, it is also closely related to other concepts such as meaning, spirituality, and vocation. For the purposes of this study, purpose in life was defined as a set of goals or actions, informed by a belief system or set of values, that provides a sense of direction to an individual's life. This study sought to answer the question: What are the experiences of traditional-aged undergraduate students at a large, Midwestern, public university who have an articulated purpose in life? In this way, experiences were defined as a necessary, but not sufficient, building block in developing purpose in life. An orientational qualitative approach was used to answer the question. Participants were identified using maximum variance and theory-based purposeful sampling. Senior students close to graduation were recruited to participate using the Student Developmental Task & Lifestyle Assessment (SDTLA; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999), an online assessment that operationalized Chickering and Reisser's (1993) sixth developmental vector, developing purpose. Twelve students with high scores on that assessment were selected to continue in the study. Face-to-face interviews focused on the experiences and relationships that helped them develop and articulate their purpose in life. The results were organized into three major themes: 1) support systems upon which students relied in developing purpose in life; 2) exemplars who they sought to emulate when living their purpose in life; and 3) the critical importance of experiential learning in developing purpose in life. A discussion of the findings asserted that developing purpose in life is a continual skill-building process, rather than definable end goal or product. Existing theories were connected to developing purpose in life to provide educators ideas for helping affect the lives of students. Research implications were discussed with a call to study how individuals' multiple aspects of identity influence developing purpose in life. Overall, this study contributes to the literature, adding breadth in specifically targeting undergraduate students and their shared experiences developing purpose in life and depth in its confirmation of Chickering and Reisser's twenty-year-old revised theory.

We have designed the Standard Map Machine(SMM) as an answer to the intensive computational requirements involved in the study of chaotic behavior in nonlinear systems. The high-speed and high-precision performance of this computer is due to its simple architecture specialized to the numerical computations required of nonlinear systems. In this report, we discuss the design and implementation of this special-purpose machine.

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Mathematics

The purpose of this study is to develop a curriculum which integrated life education and music and to examine the effects of this integrated curriculum on senior high school students¡¦ sense of purpose of life and attitudes toward death. Using a quasi-experimental design, two freshman classes were selected from a Junior high school in Pintung County. Then the two classes were randomly assigned to the experiment group and the control group. The former received a 10-week long integrated life education/music curriculum, while the latter did not receive any treatment. Before and after the experiment, both groups of students were tested on the purpose of life and attitudes toward death, and they answered several open-ended questions about life and death. The experimental group also gave feedbacks about the curriculum. The results of this study found that, after the intervention, the two groups showed no difference in their changes in their sense of the purpose of life and attitudes toward death. However, the students evaluated the program positively; they considered the topic discussed important and liked the way it is integrated into the music curriculum. They also reported that they are inspired to contemplate the complex issue of life and death. Based upon the findings, the implications of this study were discussed.