The concept of socioemotional wealth (SEW) seeks to present an independent paradigmatic basis for family-firm research, and in doing so aims to establish a sound basis for the scientific legitimacy of family-firm research. Establishing that legitimacy requires scholars to demonstrate that SEW is based on coherent assumptions on several theoretical levels. This paper uses the problematization methodology to challenge the coherence of the theoretical assumptions underpinning SEW and to advance theory development. The results of this problematization show that SEW is built on a theoretical level close to the object of research (in-house assumptions), but that more deeply-rooted theoretical levels (e.g. paradigmatic assumptions) are not sufficiently elaborated. Moreover, the original conceptualization is based on a positivist-mechanistic view, which hinders SEW reflecting the complex reality of family firms. Based on the results of this problematization, new systems theory is applied to reframe SEW's theoretical grounding. Thereby the main contribution of the paper is a critical reflection on the theoretical underpinnings of SEW (in particular root-metaphor and paradigmatic assumptions), serving as the basis for advancing a coherent theoretical understanding of this important concept in family business research.

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions l'adaptation de modèles en apprentissage supervisé. Nous adaptons des algorithmes d'apprentissage existants à une représentation relationnelle. Puis, nous adaptons des modèles de prédiction aux changements de contexte.En représentation relationnelle, les données sont modélisées par plusieurs entités liées par des relations. Nous tirons parti de ces relations avec des agrégats complexes. Nous proposons des heuristiques d'optimisation stochastique pour inclure des agrégats complexes dans des arbres de décisions relationnels et des forêts, et les évaluons sur des jeux de données réelles.Nous adaptons des modèles de prédiction à deux types de changements de contexte. Nous proposons une optimisation de seuils sur des modèles à scores pour s'adapter à un changement de coûts. Puis, nous utilisons des transformations affines pour adapter les attributs numériques à un changement de distribution. Enfin, nous étendons ces transformations aux agrégats complexes. / In this thesis, we study model adaptation in supervised learning. Firstly, we adapt existing learning algorithms to the relational representation of data. Secondly, we adapt learned prediction models to context change.In the relational setting, data is modeled by multiples entities linked with relationships. We handle these relationships using complex aggregate features. We propose stochastic optimization heuristics to include complex aggregates in relational decision trees and Random Forests, and assess their predictive performance on real-world datasets.We adapt prediction models to two kinds of context change. Firstly, we propose an algorithm to tune thresholds on pairwise scoring models to adapt to a change of misclassification costs. Secondly, we reframe numerical attributes with affine transformations to adapt to a change of attribute distribution between a learning and a deployment context. Finally, we extend these transformations to complex aggregates.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:20:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ZeuPS.pdf: 1116050 bytes, checksum: c5e21c4a5d04fb39a2cb0f5b2bad7e15 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-12-22 / This thesis is inserted on the discussion about the productive reframing and its reflexes concerning the world of work, in the current crisis stage in the capitalist way of production. This study deals with the impacts of outsourcing in relation to workers of companies subhired by Petrobras, in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, since decade of 1990. It is demonstrated that outsourcing in the oil sector, used mainly as a way to reduce costs of production, contributed to the raising of precarious conditions and relations of work. The transformation to the way of organization in the production, has intensified with the outsourcing, represented to the companies a bigger gain in productivity and a better control over the workers. These changings, that reconfigure the profile of the oil work force, allowed, among other things, reduction in numbers of the effective workers in the table of employees of Petrobras, the raising of relation concercing instable works, the raising in numbers of young workers, with a little or none qualification, reduction in the salary pattern of the professional class, illegal withholdment of labourite rights and the raising of risks to the health and security of the workers / A presente tese se insere na discuss?o da reestrutura??o produtiva e os seus reflexos sobre o mundo do trabalho, no atual est?gio da crise do modo de produ??o capitalista. O estudo trata dos impactos da terceiriza??o em rela??o aos trabalhadores das empresas subcontratadas pela Petrobras, no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, a partir da d?cada de 1990. Demonstra-se que a terceiriza??o no setor de petr?leo, utilizada principalmente como meio de redu??o dos custos da produ??o, contribuiu para a crescente precariza??o das condi??es e das rela??es de trabalho. As transforma??es no modo de organiza??o da produ??o, intensificadas com a terceiriza??o, representaram para as empresas um maior ganho de produtividade e um maior controle sobre os trabalhadores. Essas mudan?as, que reconfiguraram o perfil da for?a de trabalho dos petroleiros, possibilitaram, entre outras coisas, a redu??o do n?mero de trabalhadores do quadro de pessoal efetivo da Petrobras, o crescimento de rela??es de trabalho inst?veis, o aumento do n?mero de trabalhadores jovens, com pouca ou sem nenhuma qualifica??o, a redu??o do padr?o salarial da categoria profissional, a sonega??o de direitos trabalhistas e o aumento dos riscos para a sa?de e a seguran?a dos trabalhadores

abstract: The main objective of this project was to create a framework for holistic ideation and investigate the technical issues involved in its implementation. In previous research, logical ideation methods were explored, ideation states were identified, and tentative set of ideation blocks with strategies were incorporated in an interactive software testbed. As a subsequent study, in this research, intuitive methods and their strategies were investigated and characterized, a framework to organize the components of ideation (both logical and intuitive) was devised, and different ideation methods were implemented based on the framework. One of the major contributions of this research is the method by which information passes between different ideation methods. Another important part of the research is that a framework to organize ideas found by different methods. The intuitive ideation strategies added to the holistic test bed are reframing, restructuring, random connection, force connection, and analogical reasoning. A computer tool facilitating holistic ideation was developed. This framework can also be used as a research tool to collect large amounts of data from designers about their choice of ideation strategies, and assessment of their effectiveness. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Mechanical Engineering 2012

Research indicates that the number of individuals diagnosed with neurological, learning and psychiatric disorders has shown a sharp increase in recent years. An increasing acknowledgement of the importance of narratives and discourses in constructing social reality has stimulated much debate on the consequences of diagnosing individuals with such diagnostic labels. The aim of this study was to explore the ways in which such individuals construct meaning from their experiences of adapting to their diagnostic labels by reframing them as interpersonal metaphors. In service of this aim, a social constructionist epistemology was adopted and discourse analysis was used to analyse the results from three participants’ interview data. The results indicate that participants managed to construct meaning from their experiences with their diagnostic labels through a reframing process that serve to promote positive perceptions of self in relation to others. Furthermore, this meaning-construction process appears to be a reflective and interactional one, in that it relies on a negotiation of meanings between people in a retrospective fashion. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Text in Afrikaans / In this study a description of the development of meaningful alternative constructions has been provided. The development of meaningful alternative descriptions of a painful situation within which people find themselves could create the possibility of movement taking place. · The development of alternative descriptions was discussed by means of the following components of a therapeutic conversation: The therapist uses the different punctuations of the family in their description of the problem and takes complementary descriptions into consideration. (Punctuation/complementation.) In the description of alternative realities the therapist uses a language that creates hope for change. (Reframing.) The therapist listens to the family with respect and endeavours to hear the family's themes, to understand and to use them. (Language.) The therapist, by asking questions of which the answers facilitate further questions, accepts the responsibility to facilitate discussions that encourage participation in the therapeutic process. (Participation/questions leading to further questions.) The discussion was based on a constructivist approach. A case history was described to illustrate how meaningful alternative descriptions were developed in a therapeutic conversation. / In hierdie studie is 'n beskrywing van die ontwikkeling van betekenisvolle alternatiewe konstruksies gegee. Die ontwikkeling van alternatiewe beskrywings vir 'n pynlike situasie waarin mense hulle bevind kan die moontlikheid skep dat beweging plaasvind. Die ontwikkeling van alternatiewe beskrywings word bespreek aan die hand van die volgende vier komponente van 'n terapeutiese gesprek: Die terapeut gebruik die verskillende punktuasies van die gesin in hulle beskrywing van die probleem en neem komplementerende beskrywings in ag. (Punktuasielkomplementering.) In die beskrywing van alternatiewe realiteite gebruik die terapeut 'n taal wat die hoop op verandering skep. (Herformulering.) Die terapeut luister met respek na die gesin, en poog om die gesin se temas aan te hoor, te verstaan en te gebruik. (Taal.) Die terapeut neem, deur vrae te vra waarvan die antwoorde tot verdere vrae aanleiding gee, die verantwoordelikheid op hom om gesprekvoering te fasiliteer wat deelname aan die terapeutiese proses aanmoedig. (Deelname/vrae wat aanleiding gee tot verdere vrae.) Die bespreking is gebaseer op 'n konstruktivistiese benadering. 'n Gevallestudie word beskryf om te illustreer hoe betekenisvolle alternatiewe beskrywings in 'n terapeutiese gesprek ontwikkel is. / M.A. (Social Work)

In this study an ecosystemic approach to self-hypnosis was utilised as a tool to explore and describe the healing of sport injuries. Four injured Subjects, from four different sporting activities participated in the study. Self-hypnosis/hypnosis was used as a linguistic means to perturb the problem-defining ideas within which the sport injury was embedded. Problem dis-solution involved a process of reframing each Subject's current reality through dialogue, and a new reality for each respective Subject was co-constructed through consequent linguistic differentiation. The hypnotist, participating in the linguistic domain as an equal participant, looked for intended meanings in each respective conversational exchange with the athletes, and synthesised information creatively. This process and the thinking behind each case study is described in detail in this dissertation. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Alors que la mobilisation de la diaspora tamoule pendant la guerre civile sri lankaise (1983-2009) a été amplement discutée et analysée, peu de chercheurs se sont penchés sur la mobilisation de la diaspora tamoule après 2009. Pourtant, cette mobilisation d’après-guerre présente une rupture importante avec le discours d’indépendance du Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) prédominant pendant la guerre civile sri lankaise, rupture qui s’illustre, entre autres, par l’émergence d’un discours de reconnaissance du génocide. Comment expliquer ce changement de discours? L’objectif de ce mémoire est d’exposer le recadrage des actions collectives de la diaspora tamoule depuis 2009, pour ensuite expliquer comment et pourquoi nous l’observons. Pour ce faire, nous retraçons le discours de cinq acteurs collectifs en matière d’indépendance et de génocide, tel que rapporté par le site web diasporique, Tamilnet.com. Les acteurs collectifs à l’étude sont les suivants : le Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), le Global Tamil Forum (GTF), le Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) et le National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT). Notre démarche, qui consiste en une analyse de cadrage, à la fois quantitative et qualitative, nous amène à remettre en question la relation causale entre la fenêtre d’opportunité et le recadrage. En revanche, nous démontrons que le recadrage des actions collectives de la diaspora tamoule depuis 2009 s’explique par l’émergence de nouveaux acteurs collectifs, eux-mêmes porteurs d’un nouveau discours. L’apparition de ces nouveaux acteurs collectifs médiate ainsi la relation entre la fenêtre d’opportunité et le recadrage. / While previous studies have focused on Tamil diaspora mobilization during Sri Lanka’s civil war (1983-2009), post-war Tamil mobilization within the diaspora remains largely understudied. However, this post-war mobilization is characterized by the emergence of a new discourse on the recognition of the Tamil genocide and represents a major break with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)’s discourse on Tamil Eelam independence. How can we explain this shift in discourse? This research outlines the reframing of collective actions organized within the Tamil diaspora since 2009 and provides an explanation as to why such reframing is taking place. We focus on five collective actors, namely the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), the Transnational Governement of Tamil Eelam (TGTE), Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) and the National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT). We deconstruct their discourse pertaining to Tamil independence and Tamil genocide using Tamilnet.com, an online news portal. Using a quantitative and qualitative frame analysis approach, we challenge the causal relationship between opportunity window and reframing. Conversely, our results show that the reframing of Tamil collective actions in the diaspora since 2009 is due to the emergence of new collective actors, bearers of a new discourse on the recognition of genocide. We then suggest that the emergence of new collective actors mediates the relationship between opportunity window and reframing.

This thesis describes an investigation of a model of support for students with emotional/behavioural disorder (EBD) that involves neurologically based behaviour (NBB). Students with EBD that may involve NBB do not consistently respond to the behavioural interventions typically offered in schools. Organic neurological differences and executive functioning deficits may be implicated in neurologically based behaviour. Students who present with neurologically based behaviour characteristics often are said to have a developmentally delayed or undeveloped recognition of cause and effect. Thus, logical consequences and school wide behaviour support systems tend to be ineffective. Some direct service providers now advocate “working from the bottom up” (Nunley, 2005; Deak, 2005; Solomon & Heide, 2005) to address students with violent or aggressive behaviour. In this study, such a bottom up approach involved the use of environmental modification, body awareness, somatic understanding, and various calming techniques and meditative strategies to quiet the physiological responses, triggered from the bottom and mid areas of the brain (Nunley, 2005; Deak, 2005; Solomon & Heide, 2005). Once the midbrain is calmed, higher order interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, conflict resolution, mediation, and others were used to help students process information, put appropriate language to behavioural events, and reframe and redefine their needs in more acceptable terms (Garbarino, 2001, Nunley, 2005; Charles, 2008a). The education system has a legal obligation to educate students with neurologically based behaviour despite the extreme behavioural issues they raise. Educators need to develop additional strategies and techniques to address students with severe behaviour. This thesis highlights a theoretical framework for a model of support for students with emotional/behavioural disorder that involves neurologically based behaviour.

This thesis describes an investigation of a model of support for students with emotional/behavioural disorder (EBD) that involves neurologically based behaviour (NBB). Students with EBD that may involve NBB do not consistently respond to the behavioural interventions typically offered in schools. Organic neurological differences and executive functioning deficits may be implicated in neurologically based behaviour. Students who present with neurologically based behaviour characteristics often are said to have a developmentally delayed or undeveloped recognition of cause and effect. Thus, logical consequences and school wide behaviour support systems tend to be ineffective. Some direct service providers now advocate “working from the bottom up” (Nunley, 2005; Deak, 2005; Solomon & Heide, 2005) to address students with violent or aggressive behaviour. In this study, such a bottom up approach involved the use of environmental modification, body awareness, somatic understanding, and various calming techniques and meditative strategies to quiet the physiological responses, triggered from the bottom and mid areas of the brain (Nunley, 2005; Deak, 2005; Solomon & Heide, 2005). Once the midbrain is calmed, higher order interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, conflict resolution, mediation, and others were used to help students process information, put appropriate language to behavioural events, and reframe and redefine their needs in more acceptable terms (Garbarino, 2001, Nunley, 2005; Charles, 2008a). The education system has a legal obligation to educate students with neurologically based behaviour despite the extreme behavioural issues they raise. Educators need to develop additional strategies and techniques to address students with severe behaviour. This thesis highlights a theoretical framework for a model of support for students with emotional/behavioural disorder that involves neurologically based behaviour.