Thesis (Ph. D.)--Université Paris-IV Sorbonne.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Université Paris-IV Sorbonne.

Le mercredi 15 mai 1940, dans le petit village ardennais de La Horgne à l’ouest de Sedan, les cavaliers de la 3e Brigade de Spahis (2e Régiment de Spahis Algériens de Tlemcen et 2e Régiment de Spahis Marocains de Marrakech) tentent d’arrêter une partie de la plus moderne Panzer-Division de la Wehrmacht. L’histoire commémorative a retenu que la 3e Brigade de Spahis aurait été tout simplement « anéantie » en une dizaine d’heures de combats, non sans avoir auparavant mis hors de combat un bon millier de soldats allemands. De son côté, l’histoire scientifique dénombre 50 Spahis et 31 soldats allemands tués. Plus de 76 ans après les faits, il est plus que temps d’en finir avec la légende du « massacre inutile de 700 Spahis chargeant à cheval les chars allemands à La Horgne ». / Wednesday, May 15, 1940, in the small Ardennes village of La Horgne, west of Sedan, the troopers of the 3rd [Cavalry] Brigade of Spahis (2nd Regiment of Algerian Spahis from Tlemcen and 2nd Regiment of Moroccan Spahis from Marrakech) try to stop a part of the most modern Panzer-Division of the Wehrmacht. Commemorative History has focused on a 3rd Brigade of Spahis that was simply "annihilated" in about ten hours of fighting, but not before putting out of action a thousand German soldiers. For its part, the scientific History takes into account 50 Spahis and 31 German soldiers killed in action. More than 76 years after the fact, it is more than time to put an end to the legend of the "useless slaughter of 700 Spahis charging German tanks on horseback at La Horgne".

Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne (1555-1623), vicomte de Turenne, maréchal et duc de Bouillon, est l’un des principaux lieutenants d’Henri de Navarre pendant les guerres de religion. Jouissant d’une belle longévité, il est impliqué dans la plupart des événements politiques des années 1570, avec la formation du mouvement des Malcontents, à sa mort, en particulier sous la régence de Marie de Médicis et lors du déclenchement de la guerre de Trente ans. L’approche du personnage a longtemps été brouillée par les campagnes de libelles lancées contre lui à la fin de sa vie et par les critiques de Sully, Richelieu et Rohan dans leurs mémoires, qui font de lui un éternel trublion, ingrat à l’égard du roi et prompt à la révolte. Cette dégradation de son image s’explique par le contexte politique des années 1610 au cours desquelles il joue un rôle majeur. Elle constitue une réaction à la spectaculaire affirmation politique et sociale de la maison La Tour d’Auvergne depuis le milieu du XVe siècle, processus dans lequel il joue un rôle décisif. Elle s’explique par la tension dynamique qui apparaît, à partir de son avènement à Sedan en 1591, entre ses fonctions de sujet du roi de France, de chef de file du parti protestant et de prince souverain étranger. Henri de La Tour jouit d’une grande capacité d’action en raison de sa polyvalence – ambassadeur, chef de guerre, prince lettré, bâtisseur, législateur – et des puissants réseaux dans lesquels il s’intègre, et qu’il contrôle parfois, dans le royaume de France et dans l’Europe protestante. / Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne (1555-1623), viscount of Turenne and maréchal-duc de Bouillon, was one of Henri de Navarre’s principal lieutenants during the French Wars of Religion. Having lived a long life, he was involved in most of the political events during the 1570’s, from the creation of the Malcontents, to his death, particularily during the reign of Marie de Medicis and the Thirty years war. Towards the end of his life, satirical writings and criticism from Sully, Richelieu and Rohan, marred understanding of his actions, portraying him as a perpetual troublemaker, ungrateful to the king and quick to revolt. This negative portrait of his character is due to the political context of the 1610’s during which he was one of the main figures. Such a distortion is a reaction to the spectacular political and social ascent of the House of La Tour d’Auvergne from the middle of XVth century onwards in which he played a leading role. It is also due to a dynamic tension starting with his arrival in Sedan in 1591, in his duties as a subject of the King of France, as leader of the Huguenots and as a sovereign prince abroad. His great reactivity is explained by his varied functions – as ambassador, war leader, a well-read prince, builder, legislator – and his participation at the heart of powerful networks, which he sometimes controlled, throughout the Kingdom of France and Protestant Europe.

Brand personality is a set of human personality traits that are relevant to a brand. A distinctive brand personality serves a symbolic or self-expressive function and helps to create a set of unique and favourable associations in the consumer’s mind. Generation Y consumers are considerably more brand and image conscious than any other generational cohort. Given that motor vehicles, especially luxury motor vehicles, are a conspicuous consumption item that are often used to signal status to others, luxury motor vehicle marketers need to understand Generation Y members’ perceptions of brand personality. Aaker (1997) developed a brand personality trait scale to measure brand personality perceptions. This study established a factor structure for Aaker’s (1997) brand personality trait scale applicable for luxury sedan brands. This adapted brand personality trait scale was used to investigate the brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan motor vehicles amongst Generation Y. The target population for this study was defined as students registered at South Africa’s public HEIs in 2014. This study made use of a non-probability convenience sample to select one traditional university campus and one university of technology campus located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in two separate steps. Step 1 of the study distributed the questionnaire to 65 participants to identify Generation Y students’ top-of-the-mind awareness concerning luxury sedan motor vehicle brands. Step 2 of the study distributed 500 questionnaires to investigate the brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan brands amongst Generation Y students by means of Aaker’s (1997) brand personality trait scale. Step 2 also investigated Generation Y students’ purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles by making use of an adapted a scale by Zeithaml et al. (1996:31-46). The statistical analysis included exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis and significance tests. The findings of the study suggest that Generation Y students’ top three luxury sedan brands are BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. The brand personality perception results revealed that all three brands are associated with the ‘Competence’ and ‘Sophisticated’ brand personality dimensions. In addition, BMW is also associated with the ‘Excitement’ brand personality dimension. The findings of the study also suggest that Generation Y students do have purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles. Some gender differences regarding Generation Y students’ brand personality perceptions and purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles do exist. However, the differences are limited with a small effect of practical significance. The study offers insight into the brand personality perceptions in the South African market. Generation Y consumers have unique perceptions regarding different brands and it is therefore important to gain insight regarding their perceptions. The results presented in this study can aid the marketers of the selected luxury sedan motor vehicle brands in identifying the personality traits associated with their brand. This information can be compared with their current marketing strategy to determine if any differences exist between the desired and perceived brand personality. This can also help the marketers to tailor the marketing strategy accordingly to achieve the desired brand personality / MCom (Marketing Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

Brand personality is a set of human personality traits that are relevant to a brand. A distinctive brand personality serves a symbolic or self-expressive function and helps to create a set of unique and favourable associations in the consumer’s mind. Generation Y consumers are considerably more brand and image conscious than any other generational cohort. Given that motor vehicles, especially luxury motor vehicles, are a conspicuous consumption item that are often used to signal status to others, luxury motor vehicle marketers need to understand Generation Y members’ perceptions of brand personality. Aaker (1997) developed a brand personality trait scale to measure brand personality perceptions. This study established a factor structure for Aaker’s (1997) brand personality trait scale applicable for luxury sedan brands. This adapted brand personality trait scale was used to investigate the brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan motor vehicles amongst Generation Y. The target population for this study was defined as students registered at South Africa’s public HEIs in 2014. This study made use of a non-probability convenience sample to select one traditional university campus and one university of technology campus located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in two separate steps. Step 1 of the study distributed the questionnaire to 65 participants to identify Generation Y students’ top-of-the-mind awareness concerning luxury sedan motor vehicle brands. Step 2 of the study distributed 500 questionnaires to investigate the brand personality perceptions of luxury sedan brands amongst Generation Y students by means of Aaker’s (1997) brand personality trait scale. Step 2 also investigated Generation Y students’ purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles by making use of an adapted a scale by Zeithaml et al. (1996:31-46). The statistical analysis included exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis and significance tests. The findings of the study suggest that Generation Y students’ top three luxury sedan brands are BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. The brand personality perception results revealed that all three brands are associated with the ‘Competence’ and ‘Sophisticated’ brand personality dimensions. In addition, BMW is also associated with the ‘Excitement’ brand personality dimension. The findings of the study also suggest that Generation Y students do have purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles. Some gender differences regarding Generation Y students’ brand personality perceptions and purchasing intentions of luxury sedan motor vehicles do exist. However, the differences are limited with a small effect of practical significance. The study offers insight into the brand personality perceptions in the South African market. Generation Y consumers have unique perceptions regarding different brands and it is therefore important to gain insight regarding their perceptions. The results presented in this study can aid the marketers of the selected luxury sedan motor vehicle brands in identifying the personality traits associated with their brand. This information can be compared with their current marketing strategy to determine if any differences exist between the desired and perceived brand personality. This can also help the marketers to tailor the marketing strategy accordingly to achieve the desired brand personality / MCom (Marketing Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

Debating Cannae: Delbrück, Schlieffen, and the Great War provides the reader a view of the historical struggle between Alfred von Schlieffen and Hans Delbrück. They argued fiercely about the foundation of the German Empire and the use of history. The first chapter provides the context of the foundation of the German empire. The second chapter explores the debates between Schlieffen and Delbrück by investigating their writings. The third chapter surveys the effect that the Delbrück and Schlieffen culture war had upon the First World War. This work expands the current view of Schlieffen by demonstrating his commitment to his interpretation of history. The reader will gain an appreciation for the impact of the historical struggle between these two historians. Delbrück believed that nationalism needed to be controlled through objectivity and a contextual understanding; in contrast, Schlieffen believed that nationalism needed to direct one’s historical research as well as one’s life.

Traditionally, Arthur Johnston has been judged proxime accessit to George Buchanan in the world of Scottish neo-Latin poetry, and particularly in the versification of the Book of Psalms. The thesis offers a counterpoint to that theme. More of his poetry came under scrutiny at the close of the nineteenth century, when an edition of his Parerga and Epigrammata of 1632, turned scholarly attention to his secular poems. This study examines the poems written between 1599 and 1622 during Johnston’s peregrenatio academica in Europe – poems which depict him at the moment of his emergence onto the public stage, and which offer insights into his life, and the worlds he occupied, during those years. Part one of the thesis will examine his early years and his move into the academic world in Aberdeen and at Heidelberg University. Part two will consider the years he passed as a teacher of philosophy at the Huguenot Academy in Sedan, the independent principality on the northern border of France. It will look, too, at the evidence of his year spent in Padua, where he studied to become a physician. Part three will focus on the years 1619-22 when his longest secular poems were composed. He wrote and published with an eye to achieving a post in the medical circle around James VI and I. The thesis concludes by considering the retreat he made from Europe and London to his home in Aberdeen, and looks briefly at one of the small poems he wrote in 1623-24. Throughout, themes emerge of Johnston’s irenic preferences, and his response to the disturbance to intellectual life brought about by Calvinist division, and by the crisis heralded by the Bohemian Revolt.

Att integrera insamling och analysering av användardata inom produktutveckling förekommer hos företag inom alla branscher över hela världen. Användardata kan ge ett företag information om användare och den informationen kan i sin tur utnyttjas för att utveckla befintliga och nya produkter. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur användardata och andra arbetssätt i kombination kan identifiera och tillfredsställa kundbehov under utveckling av webbplatser och appar. För att besvara frågeställningen byggdes en teoretisk referensram från en vetenskaplig litteraturstudie. En stor del av litteraturstudien består av Kano modellen för att förklara sambandet mellan olika kundbehov och kundtillfredsställelse. Vidare presenteras vanligt förekommande användardata och andra arbetssätt. Sedan genomfördes en kvalitativstudie hos fyra företag som arbetar med produktutveckling av appar och/eller webbplatser. Den kvalitativa studien bestod av semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Resultaten från den kvalitativa studien analyserades sedan och jämfördes mot den teoretiska referensramen. Efter analys och diskussion av resultaten visar studien att en kombination av användardata och andra arbetssätt är fördelaktigt i en produktutvecklingsprocess för att uppnå hög kundtillfredsställelse. Vidare upptäcker studien svårigheten i att mäta kundtillfredsställelse då användares behov ständigt förändras samt för att tillfredsställelse oftast mäts på specifika produktfunktioner, inte produkten i sin helhet. / Integrating collection and analysis of user data within product development is occurring in companies worldwide and across all industries. User data can provide a company with information about the users which can be utilized to develop existing and new products. This study aims to explore how a combination of user data and other work methods can identify and satisfy customer needs during the development of websites and apps. To answer the research questions a theoretical framework was built from a scientific literature study. The literature study gives much focus to the Kano model to explain the connection between different customer needs and customer satisfaction. Additionally, common user data and other work methods are presented. Subsequently, a qualitative study was conducted at four companies who are working with product development of apps and/or websites. The qualitative study consisted of semi-structured interviews. The results from the qualitative study were analysed and compared to the theoretical framework. After analysis and discussion, the study shows that a combination of user data and other work methods is profitable in a product development process to achieve high customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the study discovers the difficulties in measuring customer satisfaction since customer needs are constantly changing and also because customer satisfaction is often measured on specific product features, not the product as a whole.