No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

M.B.A. / In recent years South African travel industry has been facing ferocious competition. The competitive business environment has driven managers to consider the performance of their organizations in order to increase market share, or in other words, improve the quality of service as the ultimate weapon for achieving high performance. The delivery of service quality to customers requires a congruence in the perceptions of the customers and the providers of service. The aim of this research is to examine if there are any statistically significant differences in the perceptions of received service between the three major groups i.e. the customers, the staff and the managers of travel agencies. The information was gathered by means of a mail survey. A questionnaire was developed (based on SERVQUAL), where all possible answers of respondents were pre-specified and standardized, in order to ease the comparison of responses. The findings of the research revealed significant differences between the perceptions of customers and staff and that of managers and staff of the travel agencies but not between managers and customers. Of most concern, were the differences in the perceptions of the dimension of reliability, which was considered the most important dimension by the customers. Therefore, the managers of travel agencies in South Africa need to devise strategies and seriously consider the issue of internal marketing to achieve this alignment in the perceptions

This dissertation is based on the assumption that the Port Elizabeth Municipality should deliver essential services effectively, efficiently and economically so as to attain excellence in service delivery. The essential services dealt with in this study are electricity; refuse collection; sewerage; and water services. Attaining excellence in service delivery will lead the Port Elizabeth Municipality to improve and sustain the quality of life of the local inhabitants. The primary objectives of this dissertation include, inter alia: An historical analysis of delivery systems of the former government prior to 1994, which provides the primary reasons and purposes of delivery systems, and the effects on the Port Elizabeth Municipality. Reformation and transformation of South African local government since 1994, with particular reference to the Port Elizabeth Municipality. A normative model for service delivery, which is designed to accelerate service delivery in the local spheres of government, with special reference to the Port Elizabeth Municipality as the locus of this study. The nature, extent and evaluation of the existing service delivery by the Port Elizabeth Municipality from 1994 to 1999. An empirical survey is conducted in the form of questionnaires to the directors, heads of departments, senior managers, as well as councillors. Approaches and strategies for attaining excellence in service delivery, which include, inter alia: a government-business paradigm and an equilibrium approach. Lastly, a number of recommendations are made and conclusions are drawn based on the findings of the empirical survey in order to deliver essential services equitably, efficiently, effectively and economically to attain excellence in service delivery in the Port Elizabeth Municipality.

The study is initially concerned with the origins and development of different approaches to nutrition science in Britain during the first three decades of the twentieth century. The contrasting approaches are shown to embody alternative "styles of thought" in the sense used by Karl Mannheim. An account of the work of the Advisory Committee on Nutrition of the Ministry of Health (founded 1931) is then given. The conflicts which occured during the deliberations of the Committee are interpreted as conflicts between those who advanced the contrasting "styles of thought." The focus of attention then shifts to the foundation and development of the Nutrition Society (1941). The disputes which occured in the Nutrition Society during its early years are shown to be largely concerned with alternative notions of the application of nutritional knowledge. Developments in the Society after the war, it is suggested, must be understood against the background of the post -war reaction against the "social relations of science movement ". The foundation of the first Nutrition Degree in 1953 at the Nutrition Department at Queen Elizabeth College of the University of London, is then considered. A hypothesis is presented which suggests an explanation of certain important features of the professional ideology of nutrition which has been associated with the College.

No description available.

The health of children is very important in Kenya, given that more than half of its population is under twenty years of age. Despite continued efforts, Kenya has not achieved the Universal Child Immunisation (UCI) target of full immunisation for 75 per cent of all children. It is argued here that two of the factors contributing to this situation are the lack of information and of effective media of communication.

This study is about the progress of a cohort of students who commenced a Project 2000 pre-registration nurse education course in April 1991. The research was undertaken entirely within one setting - in a College of Healthcare which was one of the 13 Demonstration colleges in England - and was conducted over a period of three years and ten months. The aim of the study was to evaluate what was considered by the nursing profession, government officials and educationalists, to be a radically new and innovative nursing course. A case study research approach of illuminative evaluation was used, within which a three stage framework of observation, further enquiry and evaluation was followed. The emphasis of the research was on the illumination of the processes, perceptions and contingencies which resulted in particular outcomes for the participants. This has enabled a comprehensive understanding of the complex realities which surrounded this innovative course, and the effects that a number of contemporaneous events have had on the findings. A description of these events has been presented, as has a literature review, overviews of both the history which preceded the introduction of Project 2000 and the professional concerns regarding the rapidity with which it was implemented. Multiple data collection methods were used to obtain the required information from the April 1991 cohort, the teachers involved with these students, the practitioners from three health authorities and other members of the College staff. The analyses of the data and the progressive focusing on the findings, have resulted in the identification of numerous positive and negative aspects and outcomes, together with problem areas and particular issues associated with the rapidity of the implementation of the course and the management of change. The placing of the negative and positive findings in a broader explanatory context, demonstrates how they relate to each other and with the research literature, and how the resulting conclusions have been reached. The research demonstrated that there were some very positive aspects and desirable outcomes which arose from the P.2000 programme. However, the concerns are the detrimental effects which arose from the introduction of numerous innovations into a constantly changing environment. The nursing profession had placed great importance on the introduction of P.2000, but insufficient time had been allowed for the application of management of change theories which would have enabled a more successful implementation to take place.

Primary school-aged children are an important target for health promotion but their increasing social and financial freedom is unlikely to be matched by an increase in their food control, cognitive abilities or the perceived need required to facilitate healthy behaviours, especially food choice. Thus, indirect attempts at behavioural modification are required, with parents indicated as potentially powerful education intermediaries. This research aimed to take a 'bottom-up' approach to investigate the current motivators and reinforcers for behaviour change within the families of primary school children in the UK. Initial focus group discussions with children and parents were hypothesis generating, highlighting the perceived priorities and required message format of the target audience in relation to children's diet and exercise behaviour. Quantitative depth was added to these findings via the development of a novel tool based upon the Theory of Planned Behaviour. This questionnaire was completed by 199 parents, allowing a rigorous assessment of parental intention to provide a healthy diet for their children. Finally study findings informed the development of a tailored parental nutrition education intervention which was pilot tested with 13 parents, providing valuable information regarding the logistical implications of implementing a health promotion programme within the parent population. Overall, results indicated a general rejection of traditional nutritional messages and sources in favour of a less abstract, more flexible approach with a short term health focus delivered by neutral agencies. Whilst healthy eating was viewed positively, parents tended to perceive unrealistic targets and to have sub optimal nutritional knowledge and an inadequate awareness of their own influence as a model for their child's behaviour. Negative approaches to food control were frequently observed along with practical barriers to education uptake, which need to be addressed. Significant differences in parental attitudes and behaviour were observed between families of different socio-economic status and variations were seen by child gender. Parents appeared to be reinforcing inappropriate gender stereotypes in the domain of food and exercise behaviour. Social support was shown to positively impact on parental intention to provide a healthy diet, indicating the importance of ensuring sufficient environmental support for behaviour change, via family and community cohesiveness. This research has allowed the nutrition education language, priorities and beliefs of the dynamic UK parent and child population to be characterised and quantified and the possibilities for their incorporation into effective, if non-traditional approaches to health promotion are discussed.