The EAAB (Estate Agency Affairs Board), a statutory body for the South African real estate industry, introduced an extensive Code of Conduct in 1992. The research conducted will serve to determine whether this Code of Conduct is effective in ensuring ethical behaviour by real estate agents. Both qualitative and quantitative research was undertaken, whereby it was determined that there is indeed a level of unethical behaviour amongst real estate agents, that a majority of such agents were unable to interpret specific clauses in the Code of Conduct, and that there was no clear correlation between support for the Code of Conduct and moral intent. Qualitative interviews highlighted the various roles that stakeholders do and should play in training and enforcement of the Code of Conduct, and their insights helped provide the basis for recommendations to the Estate Agency Affairs Board on improving the effectiveness of the EAAB Code of Conduct. Key recommendations to the EAAB were that a revision of the Code of Conduct was needed, entry requirements into the industry should be more stringent, a professional image for the industry should be promoted, and improved communication between the EAAB and stakeholders, improved enforcement and higher penalties, and an extensive training and education programme on Ethics and the Code of Conduct were needed. A Ten Element Model for an Effective Code of Conduct was proposed that detailed ten key themes arising from the research which could also be applicable in other industries. The forces and importance of communication, debate and consultation between society and industry, through regulatory bodies and/or professional associations provided the foundation for the development and revision of the Code of Conduct. To ensure effectiveness, the Code of Conduct needed to be supported by an ethical culture, professionalisation of the industry, support and understanding of the Code of Conduct by stakeholders, exposure, education and training on the Code of Conduct and Ethics, enforcement, penalties and consumer education.

Thesis advisor: Rebecca Lowenhaupt / This single case study examines how stakeholders of a local education agency (LEA) understand and implement state turnaround policy for its chronically underperforming schools. While there is ample research on how to improve chronically underperforming schools that research becomes limited when looking at turnaround implementation actions that are in response to policy mandates. This qualitative study uses the theory frame of policy sense-making to identify how implementers come to understand turnaround policy and to explore how that sense-making impacts their implementation decisions. This individual study examines how school board members make sense of their roles as policy implementers. Findings resulting from interviews, observation and document analysis highlight how the role of the turnaround school board has become ambiguous and misunderstood particularly as their historical roles have evolved, state activism has increased and the authority of the superintendent has expanded. Results indicate that board members tend to make sense of their turnaround policy implementation role primarily through their budgeting and financial oversight responsibilities. In so doing, they depend on the social and political capital they have accrued as experts of the local context which allows them to serve as resource facilitators, resource bridge builders and resource navigators. Communication between school board members and internal/external policy implementers emerged as an influencing factor in board member sense-making. Findings indicate that school board members identify the superintendent as the primary conduit for communication, and interpretation of their internal turnaround policy role. Communication from external agents such as state monitors had a mixed influence on board member policy sense-making. An unexpected finding was the role of a "dissenting voice" on school board sense-making. Recommendations are made for clarifying and strengthening the role of school boards in turnaround districts to increase the effectiveness of policy implementation. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Whilst extensive research has been done on the association between corporate governance and firm performance, the empirical evidence is inconclusive. This thesis argues that the failure of past studies to establish a positive association between corporate governance and performance might be caused by the use of conservative accounting in firms. If firms with stronger corporate governance adopt more conservative accounting procedures, then tests of the relationship between corporate governance characteristics and performance will be biased downwards. If market participants fail to recognise a link between conservative accounting and corporate governance, then firms with stronger corporate governance might also be systematically undervalued. Therefore, studying the relationship between selected corporate governance attributes and the extent of conservative accounting does more than just extend our understanding of the link between governance characteristics and accounting quality. It also provides useful insights for interpreting the existing literature on the association between corporate governance and performance. In this thesis, detailed investigation is undertaken of the link between several governance characteristics (as well as an aggregate index) and the extent of conservatism evident in Australian firms?? financial reporting. Overall, the results provide only weak evidence that firms with certain governance characteristics report more conservatively. Evidence of any such link is restricted to measures of board composition and leadership, and even then the results are sensitive to the method used to measure the extent of conservatism in financial reporting. There is no systematic evidence of an association for measures of audit committee composition, nor board size. Finally, there is only weak evidence that use of a Big 5 auditor affects the extent of conservatism and the results are sensitive to the period investigated. These results are all robust to explicitly recognizing possible endogeneity between the extent of conservative accounting and the governance attributes examined. Overall, the results raise important questions about the extent to which widely advocated corporate governance attributes result in accounting outcomes which accelerate the revelation of relatively poor economic news, at least for Australian firms in the years examined (1998 and 2002). However, beyond the immediate relationship examined, the results also suggest that caution is appropriate before dismissing the absence of a link between governance attributes and firm performance as being attributable to accounting conservatism.

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The main purpose of this study was to examine the practices and perspectives of Ontario college board members with respect to board self evaluation. A mixed methodology approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods was employed. Document collection, a survey and interviews were the principal methods used to gather data. This study added to the knowledge provided by the 2005 Deloitte Study of Ontario College Boards by updating the data regarding the current rates of Ontario college boards self evaluation practice and by offering more clarity on the rigour of those boards’ self evaluation practices. The findings of this study provide insights into why some boards do self evaluations while others do not. The findings demonstrate strong support for board self evaluation but also reveal that some boards are still not performing evaluations of their own performance and that more attention must be given to improving the effectiveness of current self evaluation practices. Twelve recommendations to improve board self evaluation practices, grounded in the responses of this study’s participants and the findings in the literature, are offered. This study provides new knowledge about board member beliefs with respect to self evaluation but also raises questions for further research such as exploring possible differences between board members of self evaluating boards versus those from non-self evaluating boards. Personal reflections were presented based on my own experience serving on boards and my readings of the literature. In summary, a case for board self evaluation is made.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the practices and perspectives of Ontario college board members with respect to board self evaluation. A mixed methodology approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods was employed. Document collection, a survey and interviews were the principal methods used to gather data. This study added to the knowledge provided by the 2005 Deloitte Study of Ontario College Boards by updating the data regarding the current rates of Ontario college boards self evaluation practice and by offering more clarity on the rigour of those boards’ self evaluation practices. The findings of this study provide insights into why some boards do self evaluations while others do not. The findings demonstrate strong support for board self evaluation but also reveal that some boards are still not performing evaluations of their own performance and that more attention must be given to improving the effectiveness of current self evaluation practices. Twelve recommendations to improve board self evaluation practices, grounded in the responses of this study’s participants and the findings in the literature, are offered. This study provides new knowledge about board member beliefs with respect to self evaluation but also raises questions for further research such as exploring possible differences between board members of self evaluating boards versus those from non-self evaluating boards. Personal reflections were presented based on my own experience serving on boards and my readings of the literature. In summary, a case for board self evaluation is made.

Syftet med den här studien var att ta reda på hur lärare och elever ställer sig till användandet av de interaktiva skrivtavlorna inom matematiken. Studien bygger på flera olika metoder då detta är en fallstudie. I undersökningen framkom det att elever och lärare är positivt inställda till de interaktiva skrivtavlorna. Det framkom även att lärarna inte använder den interaktiva skrivtavlan alls eller att de använder den som en filmduk.

On 18th Mar 2000, Mr. Chen, Shui-Bian in Democratic Progressive Party was elected to be the new president. Taiwan experienced the first powershift. However, many state-owned banks as well as some government-shared companies re-structured their board of directors continually. In the view of politics, the powershift will be normal in Taiwan in the future. So we try to survey the the effects of powershift towards re-elections of boards and firm performance of state-owned enterprises. We discover that the major reason why government wants to intervene the operations of companies is policy. If this kind of industry is regulated or monopolistic, the government will has stronger motives to intervene its operation. On the other hand, after being intervened by the government, the cumulative abnormal return declined significantly from the event day to thirty days later. Besides, the firm performance didn¡¦t improve significantly through the view of TobinQ, EPS and Market return. So we can say that this time of powershift didn¡¦t improve the poor condition of corporate and firm performance significantly. So Taiwan corporate governance should abandon the relationship-based economic model and stride to the talent-based model.

This study examined the role of the superintendent as it is perceived by school administrators and school board presidents. The study was limited to public schools in Texas located within Region 20 ESC. Responses to a Likert-type instrument were solicited from school board presidents, superintendents and other school administrators (n=163). The questionnaire generated data regarding perceptions toward the role of the superintendent in nine different domains containing 38 different criteria. Results from an ANOVA showed no significant difference at the alpha level of .05. Sidak post-hoc tests were run as well, but because the ANOVA did not reveal any significant difference, the post-hoc data was not presented. The primary conclusion drawn from this study was that the perceived conflict in the literature that exists between boards and superintendents that is prevalent enough to cause a superintendent to leave a district, was not brought to light in this study. Board presidents, superintendents and other school administrators all appear to have the same perceptions regarding the role of the superintendent. This questionnaire did not reveal the source of conflict. However, the data revealed that board presidents, superintendents and other school administrators see the superintendent’s role in the same way. The findings from this research may indicate that as a result of extensive board training, there may be improved respect and communication between the board, superintendents, and other school administrators. Recommendations include, among others: 1. Research into the development of an instrument that examines a more reflective relationship between the board and superintendent dealing with the aspects of personality, character, prejudices and attitudes. 2. Through the legal process, to increase the length of a term for board members from the current three-year term to at least five years. 3. Through the legal process, modify the Open Meetings Act to allow boards the freedom to conduct self-evaluations and “board performance” issues behind closed doors. This would eliminate the perception of the board “airing dirty laundry” in public.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Lehigh University, 2000. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-117).