Given that the basic functions of parliamentary Question Time are to provide information and to hold the Government accountable for its actions, the possibility of evasion occurring in such a context is of crucial importance. Evasion (equivocation) has been identified as a matter of concern in political interviews, but no systematic study has been undertaken in the context of parliamentary discourse, notably Question Time, anywhere in the world. This study applies and adapts Harris's (1991) coding framework on various types of responses, Bull and Mayer's (1993) typology of non-replies and Clayman's (2001) work on how politicians 'resist' answering questions, all of which are based on political news interviews, to the study of evasion in Australia's House of Representatives' Question Time. A comprehensive, unified framework for the analysis of evasion is described, a decision flow-chart for the framework is provided, and an illustrative example of the applied framework is given based on Australia's Federal House of Representatives' Question Time. Put simply, the study was undertaken to determine if evasion occurred, how frequently it occurred and how it occurred. It involved the classification of responses as 'answers' (direct or indirect), 'intermediate responses' (such as pointing out incorrect information in the question), and 'evasions' based on specific criteria. Responses which were considered evasions were further analysed to determine the levels of evasion, whether they were covert or overt in nature and the types of 'agenda shifts' that occurred, if any. The thesis also involved a discourse-analytical study of other factors that appear to facilitate Ministerial evasion in Australia's House of Representatives, including the Speaker's performance and the use of 'Dorothy Dixers'. The research data was sourced from Question Time transcripts from the House of Representatives Hansard for the months of February and March 2003, dealing only with questions and responses on the topic of Iraq. In those months there were 87 questions on the topic of Iraq, representing more than two thirds of all questions on Iraq for the whole of 2003. Of these 87 questions, the majority (48) came from the Opposition party, through its leader. The balance (39) was asked by Government MPs. Analysis of the question/answer discourse for all 87 questions revealed that every question asked by Government members was answered compared to only 8 of the 48 Opposition questions. Of the 40 remaining Opposition questions, 21 were given intermediate responses and 19 were evaded outright. The fact that the overwhelming majority (83%) of Opposition questions were not answered together with other findings such as instances of partiality on the part of the Speaker; the use of 'friendly', prearranged questions by Government MPs; and the 'hostile' nature of questions asked by Opposition MPs casts serious doubt on the effectiveness of Question Time as a means of ensuring the Government is held accountable for its actions. The study provides empirical evidence that evasion does occur in Australia's House of Representatives' Question Time.

No description available.

The purpose of this essay is to describe the legal conditions of the two legal rights the safety representatives upholds, the right to suspend work and the right to request investigations. Furthermore, it should be investigated and explained what obstacles and problems the safety representatives may face when it comes to exercising these rights. The aim is also to give the essay a diversity perspective with the help of a study of language problems among migrated workers and if this can be a safety hazard in the work and how it then can be related to the safety representatives legal rights mentioned above. As occupational health and safety issues also are regulated by EU law, the purpose of this essay is also to give a brief account of how EU bodies affects the law concerning occupational health and safety issues. In order to answer the essays research questions and to achieve its purpose, I have worked with the legal method and also performed a qualitative research interview.   I have concluded that the right to request investigations and the right to suspend work are two powerful tools that a safety representative has at its disposal. However, there are several aspects that can affect how they can be used and for what. Furthermore, I also came to the conclusion that there are certain obstacles affecting safety representatives possibilities  to work with its right, in the form of knowledge, time for education and also fear from negative consequences applied from the employer. Finally, I would like to present my conclusions concerning language problems and that they could be considered a safety hazard in the work and that the right to request investigations and the right to suspend work could be relevant in the particular case.

Η φαρμακευτική αγορά αποτελεί έναν κρίσιμο τομέα της οικονομίας και της κοινωνίας εν γένει, αφού το συναλλακτικό προϊόν της το φάρμακο, αποτελεί κοινωνικό αγαθό. Σχεδόν εδώ και έναν αιώνα η κύρια πηγή ενημέρωσης των γιατρών για τα φάρμακα ήταν και είναι οι ιατρικοί επισκέπτες. Η σχέση μεταξύ γιατρού και ιατρικού επισκέπτη είναι ιδιαίτερα πολύπλοκη και δεν περιορίζεται ως αυστηρά επαγγελματική, αλλά έχει και κοινωνικές προεκτάσεις. Βέβαια ο γιατρός έχει την επιρροή (δύναμη στη λήψη αποφάσεων), η οποία βασίζεται στην θέση και την επιστημονική του αυθεντία (κανονιστική δύναμη-normative power). Σε ένα τέτοιο πλαίσιο λήψεως αποφάσεων, οι σχέσεις ιατρών-φαρμακευτικής βιομηχανίας θα περιμέναμε να είναι μάλλον ασύμμετρες, ή μη ισορροπημένες. Με αυτή την έννοια, κάποιος θα περίμενε ότι οι σχέσεις γιατρών και ιατρικών επισκεπτών θα ήσαν περισσότερο διακριτές, χωρίς έρεισμα για ανάπτυξη μακροχρόνιων δεσμών. Από τη άλλη πλευρά, οι γιατροί χρειάζονται τις νέες γνώσεις των φαρμακευτικών εταιρειών, όπως αυτές εξελίσσονται μέσα από την διαρκή κλινική και εργαστηριακή έρευνα. Έτσι η διαδικασία στη λήψη αποφάσεων είναι πολύπλοκη- μη δομημένη σε μεγάλο βαθμό, οπότε και χρειάζεται πλούσια και άμεση διαπροσωπική επικοινωνία. Για παράδειγμα, το φαρμακευτικό προϊόν έχει μη άμεσα απτές ιδιότητες (intangible), διότι την δράση του (απόδοσή του) δεν μπορούμε να τη γνωρίζουμε, αν ο ασθενής δεν το καταναλώσει. Επομένως, ο γιατρός θα πρέπει να αναπτύξει εμπιστοσύνη σε κάποιες παραμέτρους κατά περίπτωση (π.χ. όνομα φαρμάκου, κλινικές μελέτες, αξιοπιστία ιατρικού επισκέπτη, κλπ), που πάντως καθιστούν την διαδικασία λήψης απόφασης αρκετά πολύπλοκη. Την ίδια στιγμή, οι φαρμακευτικές εταιρείες προσπαθούν να ασκούν και τον ρόλο ενός εμπειρογνώμονα, ασκώντας επιρροή γνώσης (referent power) κάνοντας έτσι την σχέση μεταξύ των παραπάνω δρώντων πιο ισόρροπη και συμμετρική. Παρόλο το αυξημένο ενδιαφέρον που υπάρχει στην υπάρχουσα φαρμακευτική αγορά και τις μεμονωμένες μελέτες, απ’ όσο γνωρίζουμε μέχρι σήμερα, δεν έχει εμφανισθεί ένα ολοκληρωμένο μοντέλο, που να εξετάζει συνολικά τις σχέσεις μεταξύ ιατρών και των αντιπροσώπων των φαρμακευτικών εταιριών (των ιατρικών επισκεπτών). Σκοπός της παρούσας ποσοτικής μελέτης είναι να καλύψει σε ένα βαθμό αυτό το κενό στην υπάρχουσα βιβλιογραφία. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, ο σκοπός της παρούσας διατριβής συνίσταται στην μορφοποίηση ενός θεωρητικού μοντέλου ανάπτυξης μακροχρονίων σχέσεων μεταξύ γιατρών και ιατρικών επισκεπτών, που περιλαμβάνει αφ’ ενός μεν, ως ανεξάρτητες μεταβλητές τις επικοινωνιακές ικανότητες και ικανότητες ανάπτυξης σχέσεων εκ μέρους των ιατρικών επισκεπτών, αφ’ ετέρου δε, ως εξαρτημένες μεταβλητές μακροχρονίων σχέσεων, την εμπιστοσύνη και την δέσμευση των ιατρών και ως εξαρτημένες μεταβλητές αποτελεσματικότητας, την απόδοση των ιατρικών επισκεπτών και την ικανοποίηση των ιατρών. Το μοντέλο, επίσης, εξετάζει την ικανότητα περιβαλλοντικών μεταβλητών όπως είναι η αβεβαιότητα, ο δυναμισμός και η ένταση του ανταγωνισμού, της σύγκρουσης μεταξύ ιατρών-ιατρικών επισκεπτών, καθώς και των ψυχογραφικών χαρακτηριστικών των ιατρών, να παίξουν τον ρόλο των επιδρώντων παραγόντων (contingency factors) στις σχέσεις μεταξύ των ανεξάρτητων και εξηρτημένων μεταβλητών. Εκτός των άλλων, η έρευνα ειδικότερα επιχειρεί να αποτυπώσει και την εικόνα της ελληνικής φαρμακευτικής αγοράς, θεωρούμενης ως δυνητικό πλαίσιο ανάπτυξης σχέσεων γιατρών-ιατρικών επισκεπτών. Η μορφοποίηση του θεωρητικού μοντέλου βασίσθηκε στην υπάρχουσα βιβλιογραφία και αρθρογραφία που αντλήσαμε από τα επιστημονικά πεδία του μάρκετινγκ επιχειρήσεων (business-to-business marketing), του σχεσιακού μάρκετινγκ (relationship marketing), του φαρμακευτικού μάρκετινγκ, καθώς και της επιχειρηματικής ψυχολογίας. Επίσης βασίσθηκε σε πρωτογενή στοιχεία, με συνεντεύξεις από αντιπροσωπευτικούς συμμετέχοντες (key-informants), που αφορούσε κυρίως την προσαρμογή κλιμάκων μέτρησης στο περιβάλλον της έρευνάς μας. Τόσο η δειγματοληψία, όσο και οι στατιστικές αναλύσεις που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν, βασίσθηκαν στην σχετική επιστημονική βιβλιογραφία και αρθρογραφία. Το μοντέλο μας ελέχθηκε με μια σειρά αναλύσεων συσχέτισης, παλινδρομήσεων, t-test και ανάλυσης δομικών εξισώσεων (structural equation modeling), όλες βασισμένες σε αθροιστικές μεταβλητές (παράγοντες), οι οποίες είχαν προηγουμένως ελεχθεί ως προς την αντιπροσωπευτικότητα, αξιοπιστία και εγκυρότητά τους. Συμπερασματικά, όπως φάνηκε από τις αναλύσεις παλινδρόμησης, οι επικοινωνιακές ικανότητες και οι ικανότητες ανάπτυξης σχέσεων του ιατρικού επισκέπτη έχουν αρκετές στατιστικά σημαντικές συσχετίσεις με τις εξηρτημένες μεταβλητές του μοντέλου μας, την ανάπτυξη εμπιστοσύνης και δέσμευση του γιατρού, και στη συνέχεια με την αποτελεσματικότητα του ιατρικού επισκέπτη, επαληθεύοντας έτσι, τις περισσότερες από τις υποθέσεις της έρευνας. Επίσης, οι στατιστικοί δείκτες κατέδειξαν ότι το μοντέλο δομικών εξισώσεων που χρησιμοποιήσαμε συνολικά είναι δυνατό (έχει στατιστική σημαντικότητα). Ωστόσο, σύμφωνα με τα ευρήματα, φαίνεται να είναι διακριτός ο τρόπος ανάπτυξης σχέσεων των γιατρών με τους ιατρικούς επισκέπτες σε δύο επίπεδα, στο κοινωνικό και στο επαγγελματικό. Έτσι, εξαιρετικά ανεπτυγμένες προσωπικές σχέσεις με έναν γιατρό δεν συνεπάγονται αυτόματα και την συνταγογράφηση του φαρμάκου που εκπροσωπεί το ιατρικός επισκέπτης, από τον συγκεκριμένο γιατρό. Όσον αφορά την ανάλυση των ψυχογραφικών χαρακτηριστικών των γιατρών, προέκυψαν δύο ομάδες, οι αλτρουιστές και οι πραγματιστές. Από την συσχέτιση μεταξύ των δύο αυτών ομάδων με τις μεταβλητές της έρευνας φαίνεται ότι οι πραγματιστές εστιάζουν το ενδιαφέρον τους στην ανάπτυξη εμπιστοσύνης με τον ιατρικό επισκέπτη και στον τρόπο που αυτός ανταποκρίνεται στα αιτήματά τους. Από την άλλη πλευρά, οι αλτρουιστές φαίνεται ότι είναι στραμμένοι περισσότερο και προς την γενικότερη ανάπτυξη σχέσεων και την απόκτηση πληροφόρησης γύρω από τα φάρμακα, για αυτό και φαίνεται να δίνουν μεγάλη σημασία στην ικανοποίηση από την επικοινωνία. Αναφορικά με τους παράγοντες επιρροής (contingency factors) του περιβάλλοντος, παρατηρούμε ότι υψηλός ανταγωνισμός, υψηλός δυναμισμός (μεταβλητικότητα της τεχνολογίας) και υψηλή αβεβαιότητα επηρεάζουν τις σχέσεις μεταξύ των ανεξάρτητων και εξηρτημένων μεταβλητών. Το περιβάλλον είναι εκείνο μέσα στο οποίο λειτουργεί η σχέση και, όπως φαίνεται, επηρεάζει τις συνιστώσες της. Ομοίως, η σύγκρουση μεταξύ γιατρού-ιατρικού επισκέπτη, καθώς και η προσωπικότητα του γιατρού φαίνεται ότι επηρεάζουν τις υπό εξέταση σχέσεις της μελέτης μας. Tα συμπεράσματα οδηγούν σε ορισμένες επιπτώσεις και προτάσεις για τα στελέχη των φαρμακευτικών εταιρειών καθώς και σε προτάσεις για περαιτέρω έρευνα. / The pharmaceutical market is a key asset of the economy and the society in general, since drugs, its transaction products, are public goods. For almost a century, the main source of information for doctors, about medicines, are pharmaceutical representatives. The relationship between a physician and a pharmaceutical representative is particularly complicated, and it is not stringent professional but has also social implications. Of course, the doctor has the power in decision making, which is based on position and scientific authority (normative power). In such decision making context, relations between doctors and pharmaceutical industry would be expected to be rather asymmetrical, or unbalanced. In this sense, one would expect that the relationships of doctors and pharmaceutical representatives would be more distinct, without the basis for developing long term bonds. On the other hand, doctors need new scientific data, as knowledge progresses through the ongoing clinical and laboratory research of the pharmaceutical companies. So the decision-making process is complex, greatly unstructured, and requires frequent face to face communication. For example, medicines do not have directly tangible properties, because we cannot know the action (performance) of any medicine, if the patient does not consume it first. Therefore, the physician should initialliy develop confidence in some parameters of the drug as appropriate (e.g. brand name of the drug, clinical trials, pharmaceutical representative reliability, etc.), which, however, makes the decision process very complicated. At the same time, pharmaceutical companies are trying to perform the role of an expert, exerting influence knowledge (referent power) thus making the relationship between these actors more balanced and symmetrical. Despite the increased interest in the pharmaceutical market and the individual studies that exist to date, there has not emerged, to our knowledge, an integrated model that comprehensively address the relationships between doctors and representatives of pharmaceutical companies. The purpose of this quantitative study is to cater to a certain extent this gap in the existing literature. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to formulate a theoretical model for developing long-term relationships between doctors and pharmaceutical representatives, which includes on one hand, as independent variables communication skills and relationship development skills by pharmaceutical representatives, and on the other hand as dependent variables of longterm relationships, trust and commitment of doctors and dependent variables of effectiveness, the performance of pharmaceutical representatives and satisfaction of physicians. The model also examines the ability of a.) environmental variables such as uncertainty, dynamism and intensity of competition, b.) conflict between doctors and pharmaceutical representatives, and c.) psychographic characteristics of physicians, playing the role of contingency factors in relationships between independent and dependent variables. Among other things, the research specifically seeks to capture the image of the Greek pharmaceutical market, viewed as a potential framework for developing relations between doctors and pharmaceutical representatives. In conclusion, as shown by the regression analysis, communication skills and relationship skills development of the pharmaceutical representative have several statistically significant correlations with the dependent variables of our model, trust and commitment of the doctor, and the effectiveness of the pharmaceutical representative, confirming thus, most of the hypotheses of the research. Also, statistical indicators show that the structural equation model is overall possible (is statistically significant). However, according to the findings it appears that doctors are developing relationships with pharmaceutical representatives in two distinct levels, social and professional. So highly developed personal relationships with one doctor, does not automatically imply prescribing the drug, the pharmaceutical representative promotes, from the individual physician. Regarding the analysis of psychographic characteristics of the physicians, emerged two groups, altruists and pragmatists. From the correlation between these two groups with the variables of the survey it seems that pragmatists focus their interest on developing trust with the pharmaceutical representative and on his responsiveness. On the other hand, altruists seem to be mainly facing towards overall development of relationships, the acquisition of information about medicines, and to give great importance to the satisfaction from communication. With respect to contingency factors, as far as environment is concerned, we observe that high competition, high dynamism (variability technology) and high uncertainty affect the relations between the independent and dependent variables. The environment is the one in which the relationship operates and as it is shown affects its components. Similarly, conflict between doctor and pharmaceutical representative, and doctor's personality appear to influence ongoing relationships of our study. These conclusions lead to some implications and suggestions for managers of pharmaceutical companies as well as suggestions for further research.

Cooperation in international organizations is to a large degree driven and sustained by socialization – the process of inducting actors into the norms and rules of a given community. In the context of international organizations, the most influential state agents are the permanent representatives, the member states’ ambassadors to an international organization. However, systematic studies on the conditions for the socialization of permanent representatives are conspicuously absent in the literature. Instead, most previous research has focused on the conditions for socialization of “high-level officials” in the European Commission. This quite narrow perspective has led to a “N=1” problem and the generalizability of these studies have suffered as a result. In this thesis, I have aimed to broaden this perspective by testing six hypotheses on the conditions for socialization within two committees of permanent representatives in two different international organizations, the PSC (EU) and the NAC (NATO). This has been done by conducting elite interviews with 21 permanent representatives and deputies in Brussels. In contrast to previous research, the results of this thesis suggest that four of the six tested hypotheses should be disregarded, while two hypotheses – the representative’s relation to its MFA and the ambiguity of the international organization’s norms– should be given more theoretical consideration in future research. In addition, the interviews have shown that the degree of “internalization”, which can be understood as the goal and outcome of socialization, is stronger in the NAC than in the PSC. This outcome also contests the conventional wisdom that the EU is a sui generis case of socialization. On the basis of these results, I argue that the socialization of permanent representatives in international organizations is likely to occur if the organization’s norms have unambiguous, existential and materialistic consequences.

Small retailers are searching for a basis of competitive advantage to compete against larger retailers. The independent sales representative (rep) may represent such a basis. Little is known about how the role of reps and their performance is perceived by suppliers and retailers. We do not know what is expected from reps, if the reps' performance meets suppliers and retailers expectations, or whether met expectations lead to a basis of competitive advantage. Primarily, the study was designed to identify the role and contributions reps in the interactions between the supplier and retailer in the channel of distribution.

Authorised Representatives of an Entrepreneur The purpose of my thesis was to analyse the authorised representatives of an entrepreneur. I mostly focused on the authorised representatives of companies, as companies are the most common entrepreneurs. The main aim of the thesis was to define the term statutory limitations of an authorized representative's competence to act on behalf the company, find its examples in the Czech Commercial Code and analyse the consequences of not following those limitations. The thesis is composed of seven chapters. Chapter One is introductory; it defines the term authorised representative, compares it with a proxy and analyses the problem of individual or collective character of an authorised representative. Chapter Two offers a brief comparison of authorised representatives in personal and stock corporations. Chapter Three introduces other entrepreneurs than companies. Chapter Four describes the requirements that each person has to fulfill in order to become an authorised representative. Chapter Five is the most important part of the thesis. In concentrates on the areas of competence of companies' authorised representative: the competence inside the company - management of a company, and the competence outside the company - the authorisation to act on behalf of the...

Czech School of Social Policy This thesis deals with the most famous representatives of the Czech school of social policy, their main attitudes and contributions. The thesis is composed of six main chapters. Chapter One is introductory and defines the term of "social policy" and basic goals of this thesis. Chapter Two deals with the historical evolution of Czech social services. The analysis begins in the period of Bismarck's Germany, which had an effect on social provisions in a lot of other states. One of them was Austria-Hungary including the Czech country. Thus, the first social laws introduced in the independent state of Czechoslovakia formed after World War One were based on the legislation of the former monarchy. But Czechoslovakia started to implement its own laws very early. Therefore, the final part of Chapter Two focuses on this social development and the establishment of the Czech Social Institute. This part also describes the most important laws in the social field. Chapter Three characterises some of the main representatives of the First- Republic social system. It attempts to sketch their private lives through short biographies. This part of the thesis also tackles their work with the aim to introduce their opinions and ways of thinking in the social field. The very first...

This study attempts to present the relations between discourse and ideology in debates taking place in the Bahraini Council of Representatives. It uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) and the Sociocognitive Approach (SCA) to ground the theoretical claims in the idea that Shiite members of parliament (MPs) in the Bahraini Council of Representatives employ discursive strategies differently from Sunni MPs. To test this hypothesis, the research aims first to observe whether, and if so how, the Sunni parties and the Shiite party employ discursive devices and strategies differently to achieve three ideological goals: attempting to gain political advantage discursively in parliamentary debates on topics related to dissent control and political freedom; manoeuvring the definitions of self and others in the contexts of dissent control and political rights; and manipulating the law to support one’s party’s and/or sectarian affiliation’s ideological stances about dissent-controlling laws and the definition of political freedom and political rights. The second aim of the research is to explore whether and how the use of discursive devices and strategies reflects the sectarian ideological conflict in Bahrain. The research critically analyses excerpts on dissent control and personal freedom from the Hansard of the Bahraini Council of Representatives. The research first marks discursive devices used by MPs. It then identifies discursive strategies. The research detects three major discursive strategies that are fulfilled by using the devices and called them ‘corroborating by information’; ‘intensifying grievance’; and ‘centralising pride and dignity’. The analysis shows that some discursive devices are used more intensively, though not exclusively, under certain strategies. The research also notes that the Shiite party, Al Wefaq, employs the strategy of intensifying grievance more often than other strategies. The Al Wefaq members demonstrate more tendency toward objecting than do the other parties to the dissent control in Bahrain. The research relates this tendency to the ideologies of Shi’ism as a religious and political institution that heavily relies on the ideology of protest and the feeling of injustice and discrimination. Finally, the research provides a preview of the use of identified strategies during the unrest that started in Bahrain in February 2011.

This diploma thesis focuses on the research of education of representatives of small municipalities. This education is very important, because it influences the level of community management and the quality of life for its inhabitants. Education is currently not obligatory, however the introduction of a wide spectrum of educational programs contributes to professionalization of the government and especially of the local government. The theoretical part of this thesis monitors approaches to the study of the legal status of the municipalities and their legal competences and decision-making autonomy. The practical part deals with the issue of the importance of education for representatives of small municipalities. This issue is analyzed in a particular area of the region Podřipsko, which is the region with a relatively high number of small municipalities. The thesis puts great stress on the result of the questionnaire-research which was done in small municipalities and on the result of the interviews, which were arranged with the representatives of the educational institutions. These results have contributed to the better understanding of the problem and to meeting the goal of the thesis.