The study aims to analyze the causes and treatments of spousal violence in Taiwan, to explore how Taiwanese people, abused women, and anti-spousal violence workers consider the causes of spousal violence and how they cope with it. Approaches are taken from the viewpoints of social system theory, resource theory and social control theory, and discourse analysis is made on quantitative and qualitative bases. The purpose is to manifest the causes of spousal violence, different tackling methods adopted by abused women from different family and cultural backgrounds, as well as the discrepancies of the third role played by anti-spousal violence workers. The study combines both macro- and micro-level approaches, integrating empirical research and grounded theory research as the methodology to account for the effects of resource variables and social bond variables on spousal violence in Taiwan, and also to probe into the dynamic process and coping modes from the angles of victims and the third role. The source of this study is ¡§Taiwan Social Change Survey¡¨Data , which was conducted by Institute of Sociology Academia Sinica in 2001. Quantitative analysis is based on the data collected, while qualitative analysis is made with in-depth interviews with 10 abused women and 18 anti-spousal violence workers. According to the empirical research of ¡§Taiwan Social Change Survey¡¨Data¡]2001¡^ , when samples of wives and husbands are analyzed respectively, traditional substantive resources are found to have significant differences to the understanding of spousal conflict treatments. As to non-substantive resources, the lower the level of domestic life satisfaction, the more probable marital violence will happen. On the husband side of social control model, it is discovered that the rarer the husband deals with his neighbors, the more likely he will commit violence. Furthermore, applying theories to the interviews with abused women, we found that in the original family, structural factors such as ethnic background, history of spousal violence; interactive factors such as ill communication, discrepancy in money values and attitudes towards child raising; individual factors such as the husband with patriarchal ideology, are all contributive to spousal violence. Thus, it is shown that both substantive resources (i.e. money and wealth) and non-substantive resources (i.e. level of marriage satisfaction and gender role attitude) are significantly correlated related to conjugal power. Then, inspecting the impact cultural context has on spousal violence, the study divides the abused victims¡¦ reaction modes into patriarchism, ritualism, equalitarianism, and idealism, based on family values and resources on father/son axis and husband/wife axis. The results indicate that as one possesses more resources and stronger connections with the society, one receives greater conjugal power, and is more likely to suggest or demand a more equal authoritative structure in marriage. On top of that, the interviews with anti-spousal violence workers show that the third role offers different treatments depending on to what degree and on what aspect it intervenes in spousal conflicts. Only by integrating educational, social, police, judicial, and medical units can we provide women in Taiwan with an effective anti-spousal violence strategy.

The theme of the thesis is ¡§The Research and Discussion of the Promotion of the Local Employment Policy of R.O.C.¡¨ It is divided into five chapters. The first chapter, Introduction, is started with the unemployment problems caused by the worse and worse situations of politics and the economic environment and the related solutions of the government. Chapter Two, the Backgrounds and the Models of the Promotion of the Local Employment Policy of R.O.C., discusses a series of policies of re-establishment of employment, everlasting employment construction and multiple-employment development, etc. Chapter Three, The Evaluation of the Domestic promotion of local employment policy and related methods, evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of the local employment policy from the points of view of social efficiency and the efficiency of employment. Chapter Four, The Research and Discussion of the Experiences of the Promotion of Local Employment Policies of Foreign Countries, discusses the points which deserve our analyzing and learning, taking reference from the related academic theories and practical policies of USA, EU, Korea, etc. Chapter Five, Conclusion, claims the new thinking of combining the Third Party NGO of Multiple-Employment Development Policy and the benefits caused by the Policy of ¡§Deep Cultivation Localization¡¨ To reduce the rate of unemployment is the purpose of domestic promotion of the local employment policy. Although there appear many disadvantages during the process of practicing of the policy, generally speaking, multiple employment development policy has the advantages of reducing the rate of unemployment, the re-distribution of income, the balance between cities and countries, activating the re-building of the community life and the promoting of local economic development, etc. It is so-called Deep Cultivation Localization which presents the characters and the needs of the communities

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This study was an attempt to add to existing research by estimating the ability of third-party examiners to assess whether or not an organization successfully implemented strategies based on the criteria of the Texas Award for Performance Excellence (TAPE). The TAPE is given each year by the Quality Texas Foundation and recognizes organizations that demonstrate superior performance as it is defined by customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. The TAPE is a state-level award for quality that uses the same criteria as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence. This research was an analysis of the TAPE process at the level of examiners, also known as the Board of Examiners. The Board is made up of approximately 150 experienced professionals from several types of business sectors and is responsible for evaluating organizational self-assessments. In this quantitative study, data were converted from the Quality Texas Foundation into a database. Because the set of the TAPE applicants included in the study consisted of the entire population of TAPE applicants selected from 2001 to 2004, descriptive statistics were appropriate for producing informative data that could be analyzed for variation and stability in the scoring process. Exploration of patterns in descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance were the primary tools used in this particular study along with Cronbach’s Alpha as an indicator of reliability. Since scoring for the TAPE is based on an individual examiner’s best subjective assessment, it was impossible to have one objective score against which all the other scores could be measured. The team consensus score was therefore used as the true score for measurement. Establishing reliability of examiners’ scores was a problem due to the fact that organizations and teams did not repeat. Results from the study led to the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to make a determination on what influences examiners’ scoring consistency. More data will need to be collected in such a way so as to make it possible to identify that impact consistency of examiner scores.

<p>Competition in the logistics service industry has constantly increased over the last decades which has lead to the traditional services offered by third-party logistics (TPL) providers becoming commodities and no longer offering attractive profit margins. When the company’s core product becomes a commodity, the company’s performance of supplementary services becomes vital for competitive advantage. The term “value-added service” is defined as a service adding extra feature, form or functions to the basic service and stands for all types of activities which are not directly based on services traditionally offered by TPL providers, i.e., transportation and warehousing. The term value-added service is mainly used in the logistics literature while supplementary service is used in the service management literature. Although value-added services can offer obvious advantages in form of customer lock-in and improved competitive advantage, such services are still offered at a low level and there is much space for development.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how TPL firms develop value-added services and to investigate what the driving forces and barriers for developing and providing such services are. In the frame of reference, literature within service management, outsourcing, third-party logistics, value-added services, innovation and learning have been used.</p><p>In the thesis, an inductive research approach is used and qualitative study has been carried out by applying multiple case studies as a research strategy. The empirical material is gathered from three TPL providers: Bring Logistics Solutions, Aditro Logistics and Schenker Logistics. Data was collected through several interviews conducted at the three target companies and the findings have been analysed using the existing theory stated in the frame of reference.</p><p>The main conclusions from analysing the development process of value-added services are that this process in most cases is initiated by customer request and that development of value-added service can occur both in the beginning or during an ongoing relationship, though a lack of information about a customer’s business in the beginning of the relationship can hinder the TPL provider to develop value-added services. Apart from the TPL provider and the customer, firms such as IT companies, transport suppliers and other companies can be involved in the development process. No formal innovation process is applied for developing value-added services. The main driving force behind value-added services is meeting customer demands. Lack of proactiveness from the TPL provider’s side can be a barrier for developing value-added services, as well as problems with achieving successful organizational learning. The difficulty for the TPL firm to coordinate offering so many different services can be also seen as a barrier.</p>

<p>With the changes in the business environment, there has been an increasing dependence on the skills of companies to deliver customer adapted products quickly and on time around the world. Therefore, instead of being caught in the high cost and unsatisfactory result of managing logistics operation by themselves, many companies have chosen to outsource some or all of their logistics and supply chain activities to specialist third party logistics companies (TPL). Hence, the TPL companies are managing and integrating their customers’ supply chains to increase the competitiveness and profitability.  It is argued, that knowledge is becoming the only resource capable of offering competitive advantage and continued growth and prosperity for supply chain partners. Therefore, the effective transfer and creation of knowledge has become a top priority in a supply chain. Since third party logistics companies have taken on the major responsibility of managing customers’ supply chains, effective knowledge management has become a top priority for them as well.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to describe the knowledge transfer and creation processes within the third party logistics dyadic relationships in the context of supply chain integration.</p><p>The thesis has been carried out by using inductive and conductive research approaches and the qualitative study has been carried out by applying multiple case studies as a research strategy. The empirical material is gathered from four companies in two third party logistics relationships. Data was collected through several interviews conducted at the target companies and the findings have been analysed using the existing theory stated in the frame of reference.</p><p>The main conclusions from this study are that the buyer-seller context determines the way knowledge is transferred and created in the dyadic third party relationships, and the companies did not have any specific strategies or governance structures for managing knowledge although considered important. How the companies in the dyadic TPL relationships transfer and create knowledge changes with the evolvement of the relationship. Knowledge transfer must penetrate all companies and all organizational levels to increase a holistic and integrated understating of the whole supply chain to achieve value created. How TPL companies create and utilize knowledge internally vary due to company size and the practices used. In addition, the customer company using multiple TPL providers is able to transfer and create knowledge from all TPL relationships to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its supply chain. Due to the buyer-seller characteristic, however, there are no or very little barriers for knowledge creation and transfer in a dyadic TPL relationship.</p>

<p>The objective of the thesis is to study the Sri Lankan negotiation process during 2000-2006 sponsored by the Norwegian facilitation and further to analyse the major constraints hin-dering a final solution.</p><p>The stated purpose is analysed by studying both primary and secondary materials such as official documents, research and newspaper articles. One of the major findings of the thesis is that the Norwegian facilitation has not been very effective mainly due to both domestic and international political developments in recent years. In the case of domestic politics, the Sri Lankan political arena has a tradition of political crisis which is mainly a result of the two major Sinhalese parties fighting for power. These parties have been blocking any sus-tainable solution for Tamil demands while focusing on their political power.</p><p>Furthermore, international attitudes towards the warring parties are found to have had a huge impact on the Sri Lankan peace process during the studied period. Since one of the major constraints in the negotiation process appears to be that the Government of Sri Lanka seems to have adopted the international “realpolitik” on its domestic issue in the name of the war on terror. This political strategy may further inflate the already existing na-tionalism among the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority and thus may intensify the conflict.</p>

This research involves a legal impact study of the State College Nuisance Property Ordinance and an assessment of State College Rental Property Managers in the role of place manager/intimate handler of offender. The impact of the Ordinance was assessed by employing an interrupted time series design which examined five years of pre-ordinance violations against five years of post-ordinance violations. The assessment of State College Rental Property Managers in the role of place manager/intimate handlers of offenders was assessed through a mail survey. The survey contained items that measured the level to which State College Rental Property Managers have assumed this role. This level was then regressed against the offenses covered under the Ordinance in order to determine if this role has an impact on reducing and/or deterring offenses in rental units. The data suggest that the Ordinance was successful in reducing violations in nuisance rental units. In addition, the analyses of the survey revealed that a higher level of place manager/intimate handler of offender was positively correlated with criminal and ordinance violations. / Dr. Randy L. Martin Dr. Kathleen J. Hanrahan Dr. Jennifer J. Roberts Dr. John A. Lewis

Anecdotal descriptions and small studies have reported decreasing reimbursements from Medicare Part D sponsors and commercial third-party payers, resulting in decreased gross margins for independent pharmacies; however, reports are inconclusive regarding which payer more greatly affects independent pharmacies’ financial viability. Using 2006-2009 prescription claims data collected by a pharmacy switching company, the purpose of this study was to calculate and describe estimated reimbursement formulas and mean gross margins to assess the relative impact of these two payer groups. The study evaluated a total of 2,929,696 prescription claims paid for by Medicare Part D sponsors (n = 1,830,896) and commercial third-party payers (n = 1,098,800). The prescriptions were dispensed by 418 Texas independent pharmacies to 192,968 patients aged 65 to 94. Between 2008 and 2009, the median ingredient reimbursement ranged from AWP-17% to AWP-15% for Part D sponsors and from AWP-17.44% to AWP-15% for commercial third-party payers. The median dispensing fee ranged from $1.50 to $2.00 for Part D sponsors and from $1.10 to $2.00 for commercial third-party payers. For all payers, the median dispensing fee and median ingredient reimbursement decreased or was stagnant. Similarly, aggregate percent gross margin (calculated using the payers’ estimates of acquisition cost) decreased for both payer types between 2007 and 2009, with the mean gross margin of 4.0 percent earned for Part D prescriptions being higher than the 3.7 percent earned for commercial third-party prescriptions. In the same timeframe, the mean aggregate percent gross margin ranged from 2.8 percent to 6.0 percent among the five most popular Part D sponsors in the sample, and from 2.4 percent to 5.1 percent among the five most popular commercial third-party payers. The generic dispensing ratio explained a portion of the variance between and among payers. This study shows that significant variation exists in reimbursement formulas and percent gross margin between and among several of the most popular Part D sponsors and commercial third-party payers and supports pharmacy assertions that reimbursements from both payer types are decreasing. Pharmacies can respond to these pressures by being more conscientious of their business’ margins when reviewing contracts and increasing the proportion of generic drugs dispensed. / text

With a subpoena in one hand and a donor agreement in the other, what choice should an ethical archivist make? Since the legal battle over the Belfast Project—a collection of oral histories from Northern Irish paramilitaries about their involvement in the Troubles—at Boston College erupted in 2011, such a scenario has become a reality. With U.S. attorneys demanding access in the name of truth and justice, and historians advocating denial for the sake of scholarship and honor, the archival profession is facing some troubling legal and ethical issues. Regardless of the ultimate fate of the Belfast Project, the archival field will have to adapt to a new reality. This reality will have to consider the effects of the law and oral history practices on archives. Should archives be granted privilege recognized within the legal system? Should there be oversight for oral histories? Should archives offer privacy protections for third parties? How can the archival community address these issues? This thesis will use the Belfast Project to analyze legal and ethical issues facing archivists and explore what this means for the future of the profession. / text