An extensive review of past benchmarking literature showed that there have been a substantial number of both conceptual and empirical attempts to formulate a benchmarking approach, particularly in the manufacturing industry. However, there has been limited investigation and application of benchmarking in tourism and particularly in tourist destinations. The aim of this research is to further develop the concept of benchmarking for application within tourist destinations and to evaluate its potential impact on destination performance. A holistic model for destination benchmarking was developed using the three main types of benchmark: internal, external and generic. Internal benchmarking aimed at improving a destination's internal performance by evaluating quantitative and qualitative measures. External benchmarking used tourist motivation, satisfaction and expenditure scores to investigate how one destination may perform better than another. Generic benchmarking aimed at evaluating and improving a destination's performance using quality and eco-label standards. This study developed four hypotheses to test the possible measures and methods to be used in carrying out destination benchmarking research and investigate how cross-cultural differences between tourists and between destinations might influence its formulation and application. These hypotheses and the model were tested utilising both primary and secondary data collection methods. The primary data was collected from eight different groups of British and German tourists visiting Mallorca and Turkey in the summer of 1998 (n=2,582). Findings were analysed using content analysis and a series of statistical procedures such as chisquare, mean difference (t-test), factor analysis and multiple regression. Personal observations were also recorded. The secondary data included statistical figures on tourism in Mallorca and Turkey. This research provides a discussion of findings and their implications for benchmarking theory and practitioners. The relevance of benchmarking to tourist destinations was examined through the measurement of performance, types of destination benchmarking and taking action. It is apparent that specific measures could be developed for destinations. Both internal and external benchmarking could be applied to benchmarking of destinations. However, in the case of external benchmarking, this research indicated that each destination might have its own regional differentiation and unique characteristics in some respects. Crosscultural differences between tourists from different countries also need to be considered. Given these findings, it is possible to suggest that this research makes a fresh and innovative contribution to the literature not only on tourism but also on benchmarking. The contribution of this study's findings to knowledge exists in the methods and techniques used to identify the factors influencing selected destination performance variables and in the methods to be employed for comparison between the two destinations. Caution should be used in generalising the results to apply to other destinations.

Although menstruation is typically regarded as an indication of health (Kissling, 1996), strong cultural messages about menstruation perpetuate the belief that it is dirty, disgusting and a state that must be managed (Ussher, 2006). Many women internalize this belief and go to great lengths to hide their menstrual status (Chrisler, 2007). Negative attitudes toward menstruation have been linked to decreased body satisfaction (Schooler, Ward, Meriwether, & Caruthers, 2005), perceptions of decreased competence and likability (Roberts, Goldenberg, Power, & Pyszynski, 2002), and the belief that menstruating women are more emotional, less attractive, and more irritable than non-menstruating women (Forbes, Adams-Curtis, White, & Holmgren, 2003). Whereas there is a relatively large body of literature regarding the significance of women and girls' experiences of menstruation, comparatively little is known about the development of men's attitudes towards menstruation. The lack of focus on how men learn and think about menstruation may have important implications on their attitudes toward women, particularly in their gendered relationships. Therefore, a grounded theory approach using semi-structured group interviews was used in this qualitative investigation. The purpose of the study was to better understand how perceive menstruation, where these ideas come from, and how their perceptions about menstruation may inform their view of women. Two group-interviews were performed and comprised of men in two different student-interest groups. During the interview process, participants described their childhood and present-day experiences with menstruation, including how they learned about menstruation, the messages they received, and how they think about menstruation in the present day. In addition, participants were each asked to create and describe an image depicting the way that they think about menstruation. A Grounded Theory approach was used to analyze the data. The emergent themes from this study were characterized by participant's feelings that they were too young to learn about menstruation in early adolescence and the internalization of dominant cultural messages that menstruation is not something that men should know or talk about. Participants were found to still hold these beliefs as adults, and also revealed they perceive menstruation to be associated with the display of heightened emotions and physical pain. Thus, menstruation was perceived as an overall negative event. Their negative associations with and feelings of disgust toward the presence of blood led to the development of means of avoiding menstruation (e.g. not talking about it and avoiding sexual encounters with menstruating partners). Overall, the participants indicated that they internalized three main beliefs about menstruation: (a) menstruation is associated with affective changes in women, (b) menstruation is irrelevant to men's lives, and (c), menstruation is disgusting because of its association with blood. The implications of the internalization of these beliefs for women, men and practitioners were discussed, and future directions were identified.

The transgender (TG) community has become more visible, both individually and collectively. The counseling professions, not unlike other professions, have lagged behind in their understanding of this population and their culture, an act that perpetuates stereotypes and supports unequal treatment. Among the many barriers faced by transgender individuals, barriers that block access to mental health and medical care are the most critical, as they can be life threatening (Shipherd, Green, & Abramovitz, 2010; Stotzer, Silverschanz & Wilson, 2013). Ignorance, bias, and discrimination are a common experience for those who are TG when trying to gain access to social services (Grant et al., 2010a). Accredited training programs that are responsible for training counseling professionals to work with all people, regardless of gender, vary in their extent and method of providing multicultural instruction, including information regarding TG individuals (Lewis, Bethea, & Hurley, 2009). A lack of uniform preparation for counselors may leave them unprepared to work with a population that is growing and becoming more likely to present for treatment. Supervisors are often counselors themselves with only two or more years of experience of training to establish their clinical licensure. Like counselors, they may have received minimal education with regard to transgender clients and culture during their masters training program. This study was an exploration of nine counselor supervisors’ experiences of providing supervision for counselors who worked with TG clients. Additionally, there was exploration into whether when supervising for counselors who are working with TG clients, what, if any changes occurred in the supervision relationship. Prominent themes emerged among the supervisors’ training experiences, their models of supervision and training, and their supervision alliances. An additional prominent theme among the supervisors interviewed was their trajectory of knowledge acquisition about transgender culture and needs. Most supervisors gained their knowledge through self-motivation, investigation, and self-direction. Likewise, the motivation that led the supervisors to seek more knowledge also compelled them to pass this on to others. Experiences from supervision preparation to supervision provision were explored, examined, and analyzed to identify common themes. Following the Grounded Theory (GT) methodology of Corbin and Strauss (2008), nine counseling supervisors, located throughout the United States, were interviewed. The population of interest for this study was unique and specific: counselor supervisors who supervised a counselor from a CORE or CACREP accredited program that was working with a TG client. The information from these interviews revealed a lack in formal training at both the Masters level for counselors and at the Doctoral level for supervisors. Through dialogue with these supervisors, a description of their experiences in their work and the relationships between themselves and their supervisees was exposed. Subsequent analysis revealed five themes: personal choice, multicultural skills to work with TG clients, lack of training, self-motivation to work with TG clients, and barriers to working with TG clients. Supervisors discussed their experiences of working with supervisees and their perception of necessary training to work with TG clients. Supervisees who lacked training struggled with such issues as language use and internalized hate. According to these participants’ training and education on the TG population was obtained in other venues such as conferences, on the job trainings, and from other certification organizations.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-05-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:19:27Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 uliana_mrp_me_botfm.pdf: 695188 bytes, checksum: 17b48afac4878d2d5f8fb272e5e0bb88 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu-Unesp há 40 anos desenvolve práticas de ensino de graduação médica na comunidade, no âmbito da atenção primária à saúde. Essa experiência se fez sob distintas influências, dentre as quais se podem destacar os movimentos de reforma médica da Medicina Integral e da Medicina Comunitária, nas décadas de 1960 e 1970. Já nos anos 1990 o ensino foi influenciado pelo Programa UNI e, na última década, exerceram papéis relevantes as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para os cursos de medicina e o papel indutor do Ministério da Saúde, por meio dos programas de incentivo às mudanças curriculares: Promed e Pró-Saúde. Nesse contexto, em 2003, a Faculdade Medicina de Botucatu implanta experiência de ensino na comunidade para alunos do 1º ao 3º ano de graduação - o Programa de Interação Universidade, Serviço e Comunidade (IUSC), que é orientado pelos princípios da integralidade e humanização e por inovações pedagógicas. Este estudo tem por objetivo compreender os significados e percepções de alunos que cursaram o IUSC e caracterizar sua proposta pedagógica à luz dos movimentos mais recentes de reforma na educação médica. Para tanto, realizou-se estudo de natureza qualitativa com a primeira turma de alunos que cursaram o IUSC, quando já estavam no 6º ano médico, por meio de três grupos focais, e pesquisa documental a respeito do projeto e operacionalização do IUSC. Os conteúdos obtidos nos grupos focais foram transcritos e submetidos a análise temática. O estudo documental do IUSC mostrou sua criação sob influência de políticas públicas de indução de reorientação da educação médica no país, as quais viabilizaram, em parte, a sustentação financeira e política do programa. Sua operacionalização fez-se adotando-se como modelo pedagógico a problematização. Os resultados obtidos mostram que, para... / For 40 years the Medical School of Botucatu-Unesp has been developing teaching practices of medical graduation in the community concerning the primary health care. This experience has been influenced by different factors such as the movements of medical renovation of Comprehensive Medicine and Community Medicine, in the 60s and 70s. UNI Program influenced this practice in the 90s; in the last decade two programs played an important role in the medical courses: the National Curriculum Directions and the inducing role of the Health Ministry, through programs which motivated curricula changes like Promed and Pro-Saúde. In such context, in 2003, the Medical School of Botucatu implemented the experience of community teaching for students of the first and third years of graduation – the Program Interaction University, Service and Community (IUSC), guided by the principals of comprehensiveness and humanization and by pedagogical innovations. This study aimed to understand meanings and perceptions of students who studied the IUSC and to characterize its pedagogical proposal regarding recent movements of medical education renovation. This is a qualitative study with the first group of students who have done the IUSC, when they were in the sixth year, through three focus groups and documental research regarding the IUSC project and operation. The narrative obtained in the focus groups were transcribed and submitted to thematic analysis of content. The documental study of UISC showed its development under influences of public policies of induction of medical education reorientation in the country what provided the partial financial and political support of the program. Its operation adopted the problematization as the pedagogical model. The results show that, for the students, the familiar visit was the most significant practical activity experienced during the course; however, there ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

abstract: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using a grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006) to examine the subjective experiences of mindfulness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 individuals who practice mindfulness on a regular basis. Data analysis revealed domains related to the experience, conditions, strategies and consequences related to the practice of mindfulness. The following main themes emerged: subjective experience, mechanism of practice, use of metaphors, contextual influences, and shift in perception. An emerging theoretical model related to the experience of mindfulness is also proposed. Implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Counseling Psychology 2013

The purpose of the proposed study was to understand the process of career identity development among women immigrants arriving as applicants with dependent status, where career identity refers to a generalized perception of one’s career-related interests and potential in terms of acceptable career roles. Previous research has shown that the majority of dependent applicants under the economic class of immigrants are women and constitute a group of talented persons, possessing the skills to contribute positively to Canada’s economy. However, immigrant women who arrive on a dependent visa to Canada have largely been ignored within immigrant literature. Exploring their career-related experiences upon immigration may assist in understanding the effect of these experiences on their developing career identity. This in turn may lead to useful information in terms of how to tap into their potential and help them realize their career goals, within an evolving process of career development. Adopting a constructivist approach, a qualitative enquiry inspired by a grounded theory methodology was carried out to identify some of the key themes relevant to immigrant women’s career identity development and possible interactions between those themes. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit six participants for the study. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with each participant. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2012) six-phase method of conducting thematic analysis to generate themes and subthemes. Eight main themes were generated and include: On board the Canadian dream, Coming to terms with “dependent” status, Maintaining equilibrium, Tipping point, Grieving the loss of preferred career trajectory, Taking agency, Redirecting one’s career path, and Emergence of a strengthened career identity. Findings from the study shed light on some of the gender-specific experiences that women immigrants undergo in their career journey, and may provide useful information to career counsellors who play a critical role in helping immigrants navigate through career transitions in a new country.

Background: The incidence of cancer is increasing alongside a fall in mortality rates. This has resulted in a growing number of cancer survivors overall, including for colorectal (bowel) cancer. For healthcare services to effectively support recovery and adjustment for survivors and their caregivers, there is a need to develop an understanding of couples’ experiences after treatment. Objectives: The systematic review aimed to identify qualitative research on partners' experiences of cancer care-giving after treatment, and to synthesise findings on partners’ psychological adjustment. The primary qualitative study aimed to explore couples' experiences of colorectal cancer services from the perspectives of patients and their partners, focusing on the transition period after treatment. Methods: For the systematic review, 10 qualitative studies were purposefully sampled to focus on partners’ psychological adjustment post-treatment. Findings from these studies were analysed and synthesised using the Framework approach. For the empirical study, semi-structured interviews were conducted separately with a purposeful sample of 10 participants, comprising five patient-partner dyads. Data were analysed using the Framework approach, incorporating dyadic analysis to compare narratives within and between couples. Results: The synthesis highlighted the importance of considering the patient-caregiver relationship across the cancer trajectory and within the wider context. Specific barriers and facilitators of partners’ adjustment related to communication and cohesion, transitions and gradual changes, as well as healthcare and cultural belief systems. The empirical study identified three overarching themes: the process of recovery, the impact of relationship dynamics, and mixed experiences of healthcare services. An additional discussion chapter provided further comparison of the primary research study with the extant literature. Conclusions: Recovery and adjustment after cancer can be facilitated by a proactive and systemic approach to healthcare. The findings illustrate the significant impact that patients and partners can have on each other and underscore the need for consistency in good clinical practice throughout the recovery process.

The purpose of this research was to enrich our understanding of why large organisations have not performed in low-income markets relative to middle- to high-income markets through an understanding of their market orientation in these markets. The research sought to establish whether an organisation can have more than one instance of market orientation in its chosen markets. The literature asserts that the bottom-of-the-pyramid approach to earning corporate profits has gained considerable attention and has awakened managers to the potential of serving an underserved market and alleviating the level of global poverty while still earning a profit (Pitta et al. 2008). South African companies have heeded the call to play a role and have targeted low-income markets, but, disappointingly, have achieved limited success. Contrary to the situation in relation to low-income markets, South African firms serving middle- to high-income markets have achieved market success through effective business models and orientation towards their markets. The qualitative study showed that an organisation indeed can have more than one instance of market orientation, as managers responsible for low-income markets experience challenges across all market orientation activities, relative to their middle- to high-income market counterparts. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Research indicates that the dynamics and complexities driving and challenging business organisations in the current era have increased exponentially in the recent past. As a result more complex demands are being placed on organisations to adapt to an ever-changing environment. This adaptation to change is demanding more flexible structures capable of enduring the dynamics of current market risks. This research proposed that such endurance is possible by reconsidering the current paradigm that governs an understanding of risk. It is proposed that risk to date has been focused on a quantitative perception. In the light of this a comprehension from a qualitative perspective is proposed. This comprehension will then permit concepts from a number of diverse disciplines to be incorporated into an alternative paradigm on risk. As such a more creative approach to understanding risk can be presented. This dissertation will focus on introducing creativity into the current understanding of risk in a bid to produce a qualitative risk model capable of not only defining an alternative definition of risk but also providing solutions to managing risk. In this manner, it is proposed that a trend toward a more flexible organisational structure will arise and a comprehension of risk that is more in keeping with current economic trends will result. / Dissertation (Magister Commercii (Financial Management Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Accounting / unrestricted

Photovoice is a Participatory Action Research (PAR) method that generates knowledge about the lived experiences of members of marginalized communities. Participants are understood to be experts of their experiences and are asked to take photos of their lives. Photovoice is highly flexible in application and participants can have varying degrees of involvement in components of the method, from design to dissemination of findings. Although providing opportunity for a high degree of participation is ideal, this is less frequently demonstrated in the literature. To understand the impact of participation on the type of information generated, individuals living in supportive housing were asked to share their experiences of their housing. Perspectives of consumers of supportive housing have had little presence in the housing literature, particularly within a photovoice framework. Therefore, this research asked consumers about their housing as well as how they experienced their participation across two photovoice projects that afforded more and less opportunity for participation. This dissertation consists of three studies conducted on two distinct projects. Studies 1 and 2 were conducted on the HousingPlus Photovoice Project, an investigator initiated and driven application of photovoice. Study1 examined what can be learned about supportive housing and revealed rich information about participants’ experiences with their housing. Study 2 examined experiences of stakeholders with the photovoice method, including participants and project contributors. Study 2 revealed three distinct approaches to photography: planned, discovery-oriented, and task-oriented approaches to photography. Participants who used a discovery-oriented approach tended to benefit the most from this project. Contributors shared the common value of supporting participation but had divergent perspectives of the photographs, an important product of participation. Contributors tended to focus either on the external or internal photo narratives. Study 3 was conducted on the Home Photovoice Project, which was initiated and run by a community-based agency. This second project provided a point of comparison to determine whether a more participatory application of photovoice would result in similar or distinct findings related to supportive housing and stakeholder experiences with the method. Although the three distinct styles of participation observed in the HousingPlus Photovoice Project were also observed in the Home Photovoice Project, most participants developed a planned approach to photography over time. Participants who began with a planned or task-oriented approach tended to benefit the most from this more participatory application of photovoice. More was learned about shared participant experiences and perspectives in the Home Photovoice Project. In contrasting these projects it is apparent that the choice of methodological focus significantly impacts the photos and narratives produced, approaches to participation, and stakeholder experiences of photovoice. This has important implications for the design and delivery of photovoice projects.