Forgiveness is a construct that has captured the interest of researchers and practitioners across various fields, from philosophy to biology; however, defining and measuring forgiveness has been a challenge because of its complex nature. By drawing on relationships discovered in past studies, reviewing definitions across disciplines, and noting weaknesses in current forgiveness measures, the task of developing a broadly applicable forgiveness measure with strong theoretical and psychometric roots resulted in the creation of the General Measure of Forgiveness (GMF). The GMF is a brief, Likert response questionnaire that is appropriate for both relationship and non-relationship transgressions; heretofore, there has not been an established measure for non-relationship trangressions. This study was an initial investigation into the psychometric properties of the GMF. In an online design, college participants (n=343) were administered the GMF along with an established interpersonal measure of forgiveness, the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI: Enright & Rique, 2004), and other measures of theoretically related and unrelated constructs. For the forgiveness measures, participants completed the GMF and EFI (order counterbalanced) in response to the same self-generated relationship transgression, then completed the GMF in response to a self-generated non-relationship transgression. Results supported the internal consistency of the GMF (Cronbach's alphas of .93 for both relationship and non-relationship forgiveness) and an exploratory factor analysis identified a primary factor accounting for about 30% of the total item variance. Convergent and discriminant validity analyses resulted in largely predicted relationships (e.g., r = .81 for GMFrelationship and EFI; r = .78 for GMFnon-relationship and a single-item assessment of forgiveness; r = -.26 for GMFrelationship and anger and aggression). These results are encouraging as use of the GMF could open new areas of research in non-relationship forgiveness and enhance research and application of relationship forgiveness. Specifically, the GMF holds promise for improving research by providing a brief, non-proprietary, and broadly applicable measure of forgiveness. Broadly, the study suggests that a general measure of forgiveness is feasible. / Master of Science

Romantic relationships are assumed to be guided by norms and rules, however research in the field of personal relationships has not directly addressed the area of relationship rules in romantic relationships, but has investigated their violations, with a specific focus on examples such as infidelity and deception. The present research program provides the first comprehensive study of rules and expectations in romantic relationships. The overall aim of the research is to explore the types of rules and expectations, or relational standards that exist in romantic relationships, how they come to exist, and their function within relationships. Given the lack of research on relational standards, a program of four studies, utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods was proposed to address the research aims. A combination of methods was deemed appropriate as qualitative methods would allow exploration of the types of relational standards that exist in romantic relationships, while quantitative methods could be used to explore their structure, function, and potential correlates. An initial study of the use of deception was based on previous work by the author. This study aimed to combine research on the strategies of deceptive use, with the motivations that are provided for engaging in deception, in order to further understand how deception is used in romantic relationships. A survey of 152 individuals currently in romantic relationships demonstrated that individuals tend to use multiple strategies when they engage in deception, and prefer to use less overt strategies than lying. Consistent with research on victim and perpetrator accounts, individuals believed their partners would view the deception as more serious than they themselves would. Deception can be viewed as one example of the violation of major relationship rules and expectations regarding trust and honesty, which prompted the question of what other rules and expectations exist in romantic relationships. This question provided the impetus for the subsequent studies, the aims of which were to explore what rules and expectations exist in romantic relationship, and how they come to exist. A qualitative study using focus groups and interviews with couples enabled the development of 16 categories about which rules and expectations typically exist. These categories described both the emotional aspects of a relationship, such as loyalty, fidelity, help and support, and the day-to-day functioning of a relationship, such as those regarding roles and time allocation. A third study, using quantitative methods, presented the 16 categories to 106 individuals in order to validate the categories, investigate how they come to exist (whether they are discussed or exist as expectations) and explore their function in terms of their importance to the relationship and levels of threat and (un)forgivability when they are violated. It also sought to explore whether relational standards were related to a measure of adjustment, specifically one.s self-restraint. All 16 categories were endorsed, and were generally seen as being common in most relationships, and important to a relationship.s functioning. The categories differed in their importance, threat and unforgivability, with rules and expectations about the emotional aspects of a relationship consistently rated as more important than rules and expectations about the procedural aspects of a relationship. The number of rules endorsed, and the types of rules discussed and expected, were not related to an individual.s adjustment. A final study of 45 couples aimed to replicate the results from the third study, as well as explore whether there was agreement in partners. responses. The final study also investigated whether relational standards were related to individual factors such as adjustment, personality, and the tendency to betray, and relationship variables such as trust, satisfaction and commitment. The results confirmed the pattern of endorsement found in the third study, that rules and expectations regarding the emotional aspects of relationship are regarded as the most important, and the most threatening and unforgivable when violated. Rules and expectations regarding the procedural aspects or the day-to-day functioning of the relationship are seen as least important to therelationship, and least threatening and easily forgiven when violated. The present research program demonstrated that there are identifiable areas about which couples have rules and expectations, and that these form a hierarchy based on their importance to the relationship. No differences were found in the way that relational standards come to exist, and relational standards were not found to be related to either individual or relationship factors. The identification of rule and expectation categories may help couples clarify their expectations of each other, and reduce potential areas of conflict. They also provide a starting point from which to further explore the importance of relational standards to relationship functioning.

Adult literature has shown that quality of patient-physician relationships is associated with better patient adherence to treatment recommendations across chronic illnesses. However, few studies have examined this in youth with type 1 diabetes, particularly those of Hispanic origin. Evidence indicates that minority youth with type 1 diabetes are at higher risk for poorer metabolic control and experience less satisfaction in patient-provider relationships compared to their white, non-Hispanic counterparts. This study examined the association between satisfaction with the physician-patient relationship and regimen adherence and glycemic control in 120 Hispanic youth with type 1 diabetes. Most caregivers who participated were mothers (82.5%) and youths were primarily female (51.7%). Children ranged in age from 10 to 17 (M age = 13.63 ± 2.18 years). Mean duration of diabetes was 6.26 ± 3.72 years. Most caregivers were married (64.7%). Mothers? highest level of education included 35.3% who had a high school education or less, 34.5% who had some college, and 30.2% who completed college. Mean HbA1c level on recruitment date was 7.68 ± 3.56. Adolescents and their parents independently completed an adapted version of the Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (MISS-21) (Meakin & Weinman, 2002), which assessed their personal satisfaction with their endocrinologist?s consultation, and the Diabetes Self Management Profile (DSMP) (Harris et al., 2000), which measures adherence over the past 3 months across multiple self-care domains. Spanish translations of both forms were used when appropriate in obtaining caregiver report. Also, physicians rated their patients? regimen adherence using an average of eight items concerning patient adherence. Youth and parents shared similar perceptions concerning youth regimen adherence, as measured by the DSMP (r=.68, p<.001). Youth and parent report of their relationship with their endocrinologist was modestly correlated (r=.27, p<.01). Due to high concordance between parent and child adherence scores, further analyses used a combined DSMP score, while separate scores were used for parent and child reports of satisfaction. Age, mother?s education, and single parent status were used as control variables and were correlated with parent and child satisfaction and a combined DSMP score. Including control variables, parent and child satisfaction did not significantly predict glycemic control (R2∆=.02, p<.10). Parent and child satisfaction also did not significantly predict adherence (R2∆=.02, p=.06). Due to these unexpected findings, further exploratory analyses were conducted. Parent and child satisfaction did not predict physician report of adherence. Interestingly, parent and child report of satisfaction with communication comfort with the physician predicted physician report of adherence (R2∆=.05, p<.01). More specifically, child report of communication comfort predicted physician report of adherence (ß=.26, p<.01), while parent report did not. No subscales of the satisfaction measure (MISS) or the adherence measure (DSMP) predicted glycemic control. Findings suggested that more positive patient-physician relationships are associated with better physician-reported regimen adherence, but not with family report of adherence. However, it is unclear whether better patient-physician relationships enhance adherence or whether more adherent patients are likely to be satisfied with their provider. Further studies are needed to prospectively examine the directionality of these relationships, as well as examine methods to improve the quality of physician-patient relationships in order to increase positive health outcomes.

“Just as the consumer is becoming more intelligent, the company in parallel should become more intelligent about the customer” (Raisch, 2000, p.4). Internet has become a huge marketplace and to stay competitive in this growing marketplace, companies must improve the way they interact with their customers (Rayport &amp; Jaworski, 2005). As the amount of information online is rapidly growing, customers are becoming more intelligent. Intelligence that in turn makes them more powerful as they with high knowledge becomes high involvement purchasers, which is the opposite to what companies desire. Moreover customers are no longer satisfied with rewards like “bonus-points” or “take three pay for two” campaigns (Kalkota &amp; Robinson 1999). Today’s customers want to be treated individual, they want to feel special, want to feel that the company really take care for them (Newell 2000). The aim with this thesis is to explain how Interactive Agents (IA) as a concept can help companies to attract and retain customers. To do so, we first need to describe what that concept consists of. IA:s can be described as “robots” chatting with the user/customer. They often take graphical form and works with a large knowledgebase that help them deliver the answer a user asks for. The agent is designed to serve customers 24/7 and can, to the opposite of a human, handle more than one case at time. The significant difference between a search-engine and an IA is the technology that allows users to use natural sentences to communicate with the agent instead of only using keywords.  Our findings, that take ground in a literature study followed by an interview with one of the big developers of AI in Sweden, indicates that IA:s could provide companies with an additional value over money savings, which is the main reason according to developers to invest in IA:s. As we can see, two different types of benefits, technical and commercial, can be generated by implementing an IA in an organization. Technical benefits are generated directly from the technology, i.e. make the access to information less complicated and increased knowledge about customers. Commercial benefits are generated as a result of applying this technology and if experienced to a satisfactory level by its target-group, it can generate some commercial benefits, such as goodwill and brand mediation. We would like to conclude our findings to say that IA will be able to generate some value for the system-user and the end-user. However, we believe that to create a value of significance, there are still requirements (see conclusions) that need to be carried out, where the most important part would be interaction with other systems.

<p><em> “Just as the consumer is becoming more intelligent, the company in parallel should become more intelligent about the customer”</em> (Raisch, 2000, p.4)<em>.</em></p><p>Internet has become a huge marketplace and to stay competitive in this growing marketplace, companies must improve the way they interact with their customers (Rayport & Jaworski, 2005). As the amount of information online is rapidly growing, customers are becoming more intelligent. Intelligence that in turn makes them more powerful as they with high knowledge becomes high involvement purchasers, which is the opposite to what companies desire. Moreover customers are no longer satisfied with rewards like “bonus-points” or “take three pay for two” campaigns (Kalkota & Robinson 1999). Today’s customers want to be treated individual, they want to feel special, want to feel that the company really take care for them (Newell 2000).</p><p>The aim with this thesis is to explain how Interactive Agents (IA) as a concept can help companies to attract and retain customers. To do so, we first need to describe what that concept consists of.</p><p>IA:s can be described as “robots” chatting with the user/customer. They often take graphical form and works with a large knowledgebase that help them deliver the answer a user asks for. The agent is designed to serve customers 24/7 and can, to the opposite of a human, handle more than one case at time. The significant difference between a search-engine and an IA is the technology that allows users to use natural sentences to communicate with the agent instead of only using keywords. </p><p>Our findings, that take ground in a literature study followed by an interview with one of the big developers of AI in Sweden, indicates that IA:s could provide companies with an additional value over money savings, which is the main reason according to developers to invest in IA:s. As we can see, two different types of benefits, technical and commercial, can be generated by implementing an IA in an organization. Technical benefits are generated directly from the technology, i.e. make the access to information less complicated and increased knowledge about customers. Commercial benefits are generated as a result of applying this technology and if experienced to a satisfactory level by its target-group, it can generate some commercial benefits, such as goodwill and brand mediation.</p><p>We would like to conclude our findings to say that IA will be able to generate some value for the system-user and the end-user. However, we believe that to create a value of significance, there are still requirements (see conclusions) that need to be carried out, where the most important part would be interaction with other systems.</p><p> </p>

This thesis discusses the findings of a 'virtual' ethnography of a 'virtual team' of teleworkers called 'FlexiTeam'. The concept of teleworking refers to workers who use Information and Communication Technologies to work flexibly in time and space. A 'virtual team' is a group of teleworkers organised into a 'team'. There are three substantive findings of this research. First, the discourses of virtual teamwork as 'effortless' and 'flexible' are subject to critique through a description of the forms of labour and (self-)discipline enacted on the part of FlexiTeam members in order to implement 'best practice'. Second, the analysis examines how team members' commitment to this 'best practice' can be understood in relation to their identity at work. This is explored using a theory of subjectivity as constructed through social relationships at work. The analysis focuses on FlexiTeam's social relationship with clients, their employing organisation and within the team. The client relationship is highlighted in particular because FlexiTeam are interesting in their role as 'teleworking consultants'. FlexiTeam not only practice but also sell the concepts of teleworking and virtual teams. Unlike existing studies of 'top-down' change imposed by management upon the workforce, FlexiTeam are active in the production of the very same discourse they also consume. It is argued that this production/consumption relationship constructs a reflexive dynamic for team members' subjectivity, as they strive to be 'experts', 'exemplars' and 'embodiments' of the 'best practice' discourse they sell. However, the third finding suggests that, for some team members, their relationship to the 'best practice' consultancy discourse is characterised less by 'internalisation' and more by ambiguity, ambivalence and instrumentality. This exposes the limits to the 'normalising' power of discourse, even in the case of a team who produce the discourse in question, thereby helping to develop a more sophisticated theory of the subjectivity/discourse relationship.

Yes / The much debated relationship marketing paradigm suggests that the marketing strategy should try to develop long-term and mutually rewarding customer relationships, rather than simply focusing upon the promotion and selling of products and services and electronic CRM software, is often promoted as the ideal mechanism for implementing relationship marketing, on a company-wide basis. However, it has not been empirically demonstrated that the application of e-CRM software produces these benefits. This study develops a conceptual framework, which models the links between relationship marketing and e-CRM, and uses it to explore the outcomes of the adoption e-CRM applications by a sample of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), operating in the mail order sector. The key findings, presented in this paper, are twofold: the driver for e-CRM adoption has primarily been the need to integrate the front and back offices; when operating in an increasingly complex multi-channel environment, and consequently, e-CRM hasn¿t delivered the anticipated benefits of relationship marketing such as customer retention or ¿share of pocket¿.

Relationship marketing reduces emphasis on the sales focus that organizations traditionally place on profitability, shifting towards a campaign that emphasizes customer relations and retention. The aim of this study is to determine how relationship marketing can be used to assist Botswana Railways to address issues pertaining to customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention, and at assessing how customers currently perceive the quality of service rendered to them. The extant literature emphasizes that trust is the main pillar of a relationship between customers and service providers. This relationship is nurtured though constant communication to manage expectations as well as perceptions, including therein some consideration for the seven (7) P's which are central to most service marketing concepts. Data for this study was collected by means of self-administered questionnaires which were completed by a broad spectrum of Botswana Railways customers. The questions were designed around a Likert scale technique, with the data then being processed using the Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings of the study reveal that although a reasonable number of customers are relatively satisfied with the service-delivery aspects they get from Botswana Railways, there was little to no communication between their businesses and Botswana Railways, and that the various aspects that are integral to the realization of relationship marketing do not exist in the organization. This is supported by the fact that most of the customers interviewed have revealed that there is no system of communicating carriage policies and informing them about new products. These findings suggest that a number of initiatives must be introduced to enable the organization to move from transactional-based activities to relationship-based activities. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2010

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

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