Corporate governance has gained considerable prominence in the last decade as it has become a much more widely discussed and debated issue. The debate as to which model of corporate governance China should adopt continues as China forges a new era of interaction with the global market, especially since its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. The state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector in China is a significant contributing factor in China's endeavour to continue to develop its economy, provide employment and reduce poverty. Therefore, the success of SOE reform is important to China's future economic prosperity and ability to contend with social justice issues. The commencement of the reform process began in the late 1970s and many SOEs have attained significant progress in some important areas. However, all too many SOEs experience poor overall performance. Thus, the consequence of the corporate governance model and corporate structure selected will be considerable, especially as the country's market economy gains momentum. This thesis contributes to the ongoing body of work relating to corporate governance in China, and some clear results have been found. It also reviews the institutional setting in China and elements of the corporate governance literature in detail. As the ownership of firms is considered to be one of the key elements to enhance corporate governance, the empirical study considers issues relating to changes in ownership, concentration and ownership structures. It conducts an empirical study of the ownership and performance of listed corporations in China and based on these analyses, the thesis provides policy recommendations as to which model of corporate governance may best be suited to China during this transitional phase. The findings suggest that the ownership structure is a key element to enhancing corporate governance in China. The wealth affects of changes in listed firm ownership, which for the most part had the effect of reducing state ownership, were found to be positive. Concentration ownership structures per se were not found to enhance listed firm performance. The most significant findings were the following. Firstly, that institutional ownership, through the Legal Person holding companies, have a positive bearing on listed firm performance and thus by implication, upon improving corporate governance. Secondly, medium levels of Legal Person ownership were found to be the most effective. Thirdly, foreign institutions and individual investors were found to be positively correlated to performance. Similar results were found for offshore ownership, but to a lessor extent. Conversely, state ownership was found to be negatively correlated to performance. Other issues that were identified in the empirical analysis are that size does matter, in that large firms were found not to perform as well as smaller firms. Leverage appears to matter also, as highly leveraged firms were found not to perform well. The industry in which a firm operates was also found to have an affect on performance. The policy recommendations are based on the findings and observations of this thesis. The assumption is made that the present gradualist approach and regime will continue. As state ownership is shown to have a negative bearing on listed firm performance, the recommendation is that the state, at its various levels, should divest its holdings. This could be achieved through a privatization program in which the state denationalises a large proportion of its holdings. One of the keys would then be managing the change of ownership. Based on the observations and findings of this study, it is recommended that a privatization program should be instigated that supports blockholders and institutions, and does not focus purely on dispersing large proportions of holdings to diverse small shareholders. In addition, mergers and acquisitions that embrace economic efficiency should be encouraged and supported. The empirical study demonstrates that the ultimate ownership and control of tradeable shares ought to be channelled to pension funds, private institutional investors that should be encouraged to take strong stakes in the firms, to strategic investors, especially minority blockholders, and a proportion to international investors. This strategy would be in China's best interests in its present stage of development.

Patient safety is of particular importance within intensive care units (ICUs), where critically ill, vulnerable patients receive complex multidisciplinary care. Prior research has indicated that improving patient safety and reducing errors within healthcare requires a focus on systems and organisational culture issues. This thesis was concerned with three studies. One focused on assessing the patient safety culture and two on quality improvement initiatives within an intensive care unit (ICU) of a large teaching hospital. The first study involved a survey of ICU consultant, registrar and nursing staff regarding aspects of safety culture. This was conducted using an existing Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Of the twelve patient safety culture composites assessed, eight had scores lower than 50%, highlighting these as areas for improvement. Overall, while the survey results revealed that teamwork within the ICU was considered a strength, event reporting and patient care handovers and transitions were both considered areas with potential for improvement. The second study focused on the evaluation of a change initiative designed to improve the handover of patient clinical information in the ICU. This study involved a survey and interviews with consultant, registrar and nursing staff before and after the introduction of a Patient Management, Plan and Progress (PMPP) document. Examination of the survey responses involved both quantitative and qualitative analysis; respondent interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. The results of this study revealed resistance to, and criticisms of, the introduction of the PMPP document; the initiative failed and use of the document was discontinued. The second initiative concerned an evaluation of the impact of a hospital-wide document on improving documentation of withdrawal of patient treatment within the ICU. This involved both quantitative and qualitative analysis, with a patient medical record audit of decisions to withdraw patient treatment within the ICU before and after the introduction of an Advance Care Plan (ACP) document. ICU consultant, registrar and nursing staff were interviewed regarding the process of withdrawal of patient treatment within the ICU. Interview transcripts were analysed using a modified grounded theory approach. Results revealed that the attempt to improve the documentation of withdrawal of treatment within the ICU failed, with the ACP document remaining unused in 89% of cases and incomplete in the remaining 11%. Also, documentation of decision-making and of the process within the medical records did not improve. Before-introduction findings revealed that only 26% of medical records met the pre-existing requirements for treatment withdrawal in the ICU, and after-introduction findings revealed that only 19% of medical records audited met the requirements of the ACP document. After-audit findings also revealed significant and inappropriate increases in the involvement of an ICU registrar both as primary and secondary decision-makers. In spite of an increased awareness of ICU staff concerning the importance of improving documentation, the medical record audit revealed less compliance with the standards required for documentation. Possible reasons for the document remaining essentially unused, as revealed from interviews with staff, included: previous criticisms by the coroner when they failed to complete a similar formalised document properly; perceived logistical issues associated with obtaining required staff signatures; disagreement concerning who should be involved in documenting the withdrawal of treatment process; and the existence of an ICU subculture of practice that, in one particular aspect of documentation, was not consistent with established hospital and ICU protocol and documentation requirements. The final chapter of this thesis considered implications of the results of the studies for the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of improvement programs within the ICU setting. The results were considered within the context of organisational change management theory and research, including factors that have been found to be critical in the success or failure of change programs, such as resistance to change, the involvement of key stakeholders in the change process, leadership, communication and organisational culture. It is suggested that management consultants with organisational change expertise in the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of such programs should be involved in future quality improvement initiatives. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1297608 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2007

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka de anställdas vid blivande Linnéuniversitetet stöd för fusionen av Växjö universitet och Högskolan i Kalmar. Vidare undersöktes bland annat vilken effekt olika faktorer som information, möjligheten att delta samt tilliten till högsta ledningen hade på stödet för fusionen. En enkätundersökning gjordes med ett slumpmässigt urval med 185 deltagare varav 95 var från Växjö universitet och 90 från Högskolan i Kalmar. Enkäten var baserad på fem mätinstrument: a) Leader-Member Exchange, b) information, deltagande och tillit till högsta ledningen, c) öppenhet för jobbförändringar, d) individens uppfattning av sin egen kunskapsbredd och e) motstånd mot förändring. Resultatet visade att motstånd mot förändring hade negativa samband med information, deltagande och tillit till högsta ledningen. Det visade även att det fanns ett negativt samband mellan motstånd mot förändring och individens syn på sin egen kunskapsbredd på de anställda vid blivande Linnéuniversitetet. Samt att personalen vid Högskolan i Kalmar generellt uppvisade ett större stöd för fusionen. / The aim of this study was to examine employees of the prospective Linnaeus University support for the merger of Växjö University and University College of Kalmar. It was further examined including the impact of various factors such as information, the ability to participate and trust in management had the support of the merger. A survey was made with a random sample of 185 participants of which 95 were from Växjö University and 90 from the University College of Kalmar. The survey was based on five instruments: leader-member exchange, change process characteristics, openness to job changes, role-breadth self-efficacy and resistance to change. The result showed that resistance to change had a negative relation to information, participation and trust in management. It also showed that there was a negative correlation between resistance to change and individual approach to its own range of knowledge on the staff of the future Linnaeus University. And the staff of the University College of Kalmar in general showed greater support for the merger.

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of scale of change and behaviors of change leadership on employee job psychological stress and employee affective commitment to change, and to explore the job psychological stress in the organizational change strategy and affective commitment to change, whether in relations with intermediary results. Besides, this research also explores the moderating effects of employee positive psychological capital on organizational change strategy. Five hundred and eleven effective surveys were received by employees of Taiwanese banks. The data was analyzed by factor analysis, reliability analysis, using the LISREL model to measure the relationship amongst the constructs. Results showed that organizational change strategy and employee positive psychological capital had significant positively influence on employee affective commitment to change. Furthermore, job psychological stress had a significant negative influence on employee affective commitment to change. The mediating effects of employee job psychological stress towards organizational change strategy can negatively influence employee affective commitment to change. We also found that employee positive psychological capital could moderate the relationship between behaviors of change leadership and affective commitment to change. As a result, it is suggested that by improving psychological factors at work, it is possible to promote employee affective commitment to change as well as positive organization change.

This study is focusing on the conflict-induced internally displaced Kurdish women&rsquo / s experiences. There has been an ongoing internal armed conflict in Turkey since 1984 and one of the consequences of this conflict is the internal displacement that occured in 1990s. In the displacement process, women and other family members were victimized. They did not only loose their homelands, but they also had to struggle in the city centers with poverty and discrimination. After they started to live in the city centers, women may become both marginalized and empowered. The aim of the study is to understand the situations that lead Kurdish women to be marginalized and/or empowered in the cities to which they have been forced to migrate. After the displacement process, which is one of the major victimization processes for these women, some of them may be trapped in ethnic and gender-based discrimination and may become more marginalized in the city centers. But marginalization and empowerment are not fixed categories and there is always a possibility for these women to transform their marginalized position into empowerment. By political engagement, working outside house and/or being head of the househod these women may break the cycle of their marginalization and becomes empowered in the city centers.

Im Bildungs- und Trainingsbereich erfolgen immer häufiger Evaluationen von Trainings, Workshops usw. Der Messung des Lernerfolgs der Interventionsteilnehmer kommt dabei im Rahmen von Mehr-Ebenen-Konzepten eine wichtige Rolle zu. Diese Evaluationen sind jedoch von formal-methodischen Problemen flankiert, wie dem Kriteriendilemma (Müller, 1987), das die Ambivalenz zwischen der Exaktheit von Datenerhebungen und deren Repräsentativität bezüglich der Programminhalte thematisiert. Des Weiteren ist Wissen domainenspezifisch und muss oft aktualisiert werden. Zuweilen fehlt eine vollständige Wissensbasis zur Konstruktion von Messinstrumenten. In diesem Fall wird häufig auf Selbsteinschätzungen zurückgegriffen. Diese praktikablen subjektiven Einschätzungen sind einerseits etablierte Messzugänge, z.B. in der Selbstkonzeptforschung (z.B. Moschner & Dickhäuser, 2006; Stiensmeier-Pelster & Schöne, 2008). Andererseits werden ihnen verschiedene Verzerrungstendenzen zugeschrieben (z.B. Mummendey & Grau, 2008). Metaanalytische Befunde (z.B. Moser, 1999) geben mittlere Zusammenhänge zwischen Selbsteinschätzungen und objektiven Leistungskriterien an und explizieren Kriterien für eine hohe Validität von Selbsteinschätzungen. Dabei stellt die Erwartung der Validierung der Selbsteinschätzungen das wichtigste Validitätskriterium dar. Alternativ zu subjektiven Messzugängen können so genannte objektive Messzugänge zur Erhebung des Lernerfolgs eingesetzt werden. Darunter versteht man u.a. Wissenstests mit offenem oder geschlossenem Antwortformat, die jedoch einen deutlichen höheren Konstruktions- bzw. Auswertungsaufwand erfordern. In der vorliegenden Arbeit sollen nun zwei methodologische Aspekte im Rahmen der Lernerfolgsmessung untersucht werden: die Differenzierungsfähigkeit und die Änderungssensitivität von Items, Subskalen und Skalen. Dabei sollen diese zwischen verschiedenen subjektiven und objektiven Messzugängen verglichen werden. Unter der Differenzierungsfähigkeit wird die Streuung der Items bzw. je Item verstanden (Lienert & Raatz, 1998). Muellerbuchhof & Zehrt (2004) nutzen für den Vergleich zwischen den Messzugängen den Experten-Novizen-Vergleich, wobei sich im objektiven Kompetenzmaß eine höhere Differenzierung zwischen den bekannten Gruppen zeigt als in den Selbsteinschätzungen. Die Änderungssensitivität gibt die Fähigkeit z.B. eines Items an, reale Veränderungen der jeweiligen Variablen widerzuspiegeln (Krauth, 1995). Für verschiedene Fremd- und Selbsteinschätzungsskalen und -items finden sich Hinweise auf die Änderungssensitivität derselben (z.B. Burlingame et al., 2006; Vermeersch et al., 2004). Es fehlen jedoch vergleichende Studien zu objektiven Messzugängen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird nun zuerst geprüft, ob sich subjektive und objektive Messzugänge hinsichtlich ihrer Differenzierungsfähigkeit und ihrer Änderungssensitivität unterscheiden. Weiterhin soll bestimmt werden, welcher Messzugang in welchem Ausmaß besser differenziert und interventionsbedingte Veränderungen sensitiver abbildet. Des Weiteren soll nach der Art des erhobenen Wissens (Faktenwissen oder Anwendungswissen) unterschieden werden. Anschließend sollen verschiedene objektive Messzugänge entsprechend verglichen werden. Zuletzt erfolgt ein Vergleich von zwei Arten von Selbsteinschätzungen. Im Ergebnis sollen jeweils praktikable Empfehlungen für den Einsatz in Evaluationsvorhaben abgeleitet werden. Die globalen Fragestellungen zur Differenzierungsfähigkeit werden anhand von zwei Studien an Studierenden geprüft: in einer methodologischen Analyse einer quasiexperimentellen Trainingsevaluationsstudie (Clasen, 2007; Winkelmann, 2009) (Studie1) sowie in einer experimentellen Studie einer Kursevaluation (Studie 2). In Studie 1 werden dabei der Bestimmung der Differenzierungsfähigkeit Veränderungswerte und in Studie 2 Statuswerte zugrunde gelegt. Die Fragestellungen zur Änderungssensitivität sowie zur Differenzierungsfähigkeit der subjektiven und objektiven Messzugänge untereinander werden anhand von Studie 2 bearbeitet. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass der objektiv offene Messzugang am besten in der Lage ist, zwischen Personen zu differenzieren und treatmentbedingte Veränderungen abzubilden. Dieser ist jedoch auch am aufwändigsten in der Durchführung und besonders in der Auswertung, welche inhaltliche Fachkompetenz des Auswertenden voraussetzt. Die praktikablen Selbsteinschätzungen (einzelne Einschätzungen, die aggregiert werden, sowie Globaleinschätzungen) der Studierenden nehmen den zweiten Platz ein, dicht gefolgt vom objektiv geschlossenen Messzugang, der z.T. auch bessere Ergebnisse liefert als die Selbsteinschätzungen. Sobald in einer Evaluationsstudie jedoch Zweifel an der Validität der Selbsteinschätzungen gerechtfertigt sind, ist ein objektiver Messzugang zu bevorzugen. Innerhalb des objektiv geschlossenen Messzugangs verfügt die weniger übliche Darstellung als Block von „stimmt- stimmt nicht“- Antworten über eine bessere Differenzierungsfähigkeit und Änderungssensitivität als das Multiple Choice- Format. Des Weiteren differenziert die Subskala Anwendungswissen für jeden untersuchten Messzugang tendenziell besser als die Subskala Faktenwissen. Diese Ergebnisse werden in den Forschungskontext eingeordnet, Kritikpunkte der Studien werden thematisiert. Für den Evaluator werden aus den Ergebnissen der vorliegenden Arbeit jeweils praktikable Empfehlungen zum Einsatz der verschiedenen Messzugänge in Evaluationsvorhaben abgeleitet.

<p>Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka de anställdas vid blivande Linnéuniversitetet stöd för fusionen av Växjö universitet och Högskolan i Kalmar. Vidare undersöktes bland annat vilken effekt olika faktorer som information, möjligheten att delta samt tilliten till högsta ledningen hade på stödet för fusionen. En enkätundersökning gjordes med ett slumpmässigt urval med 185 deltagare varav 95 var från Växjö universitet och 90 från Högskolan i Kalmar. Enkäten var baserad på fem mätinstrument: a) Leader-Member Exchange, b) information, deltagande och tillit till högsta ledningen, c) öppenhet för jobbförändringar, d) individens uppfattning av sin egen kunskapsbredd<em> </em>och e) motstånd mot förändring. Resultatet visade att motstånd mot förändring hade negativa samband med information, deltagande och tillit till högsta ledningen. Det visade även att det fanns ett negativt samband mellan motstånd mot förändring och individens syn på sin egen kunskapsbredd på de anställda vid blivande Linnéuniversitetet. Samt att personalen vid Högskolan i Kalmar generellt uppvisade ett större stöd för fusionen.</p> / <p>The aim of this study was to examine employees of the prospective Linnaeus University support for the merger of Växjö University and University College of Kalmar. It was further examined including the impact of various factors such as information, the ability to participate and trust in management had the support of the merger. A survey was made with a random sample of 185 participants of which 95 were from Växjö University and 90 from the University College of Kalmar. The survey was based on five instruments: leader-member exchange, change process characteristics, openness to job changes, role-breadth self-efficacy and resistance to change. The result showed that resistance to change had a negative relation to information, participation and trust in management. It also showed that there was a negative correlation between resistance to change and individual approach to its own range of knowledge on the staff of the future Linnaeus University. And the staff of the University College of Kalmar in general showed greater support for the merger.</p>

Tyrimo objektas – darbuotojų lojalumo sporto organizacijai įtaka ketinimui keisti darbą. Tyrimo problema – daugelis autorių tyrė ketinimo keisti darbą ryšį su įmonės įvaizdžiu (Wheeler et al., 2006), profesinio perdegimo sindromu (Lingard, 2003; Hughes, 2001), darbo vertės suvokimu (Van Vianen et al., 2007), darbo krūviu ir santykiais su vadovais (Firth et al., 2004). Taip pat buvo tirtos išėjimo iš darbo sąsajos su patirtu šoku darbe (Morell et al., 2004). Tačiau darbuotojų lojalumo raiškos sporto organizacijose tyrimų aptinkama mažai (Komskienė et al., 2009), ypač sporto organizacijų darbuotojų lojalumo ir ketinimo keisti darbą, todėl manome, kad darbuotojų lojalumo sporto organizacijai įtakos tyrimai ketinimui keisti darbą išlieka aktualūs. Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti darbuotojų lojalumo sporto organizacijai įtaką ketiniui keisti darbą. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Atskleisti lojalumo sąvoką ir lojalumo naudą organizacijai. 2. Nustatyti darbuotojų lojalumą sporto organizacijai. 3. Atskleisti darbuotojų lojalumo sporto organizacijai įtaką ketinimui keisti darbą. Išvados: 1. Mokslinėje literatūroje organizacinio lojalumo sąvoka apibrėžiama skirtingai ir vis dar kelia daugybę ginčų ir diskusijų, o tiriamuosiuose darbuose nėra vieningos nuomonės apie tai, kas yra organizacinis lojalumas. Visuose lojalumo apibrėžimuose vyrauja du svarbiausi elementai: ištikimybė ir atsidavimas. Žmogus sąmoningai ir racionaliai pasirenka būti ištikimas ir atsidavęs savo lojalumo objektui. Darbuotojų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Object of study – influence of employees‘ loyalty to sports organization on intent to change a job. Problem of study – many authors have studied relation of intent to change a job with the image of company (Wheeler et al., 2006), with professional burnout syndrome (Lingard, 2003; Hughes, 2001), with realization of work value (Van Vianen et al., 2007), with work load and relationships with the managers (Firth et al., 2004). Also relation between leaving a job and shock at work has been analyzed (Morell et al., 2004). However, there are few studies on expression of sports organization employees‘ loyalty (Komskienė et al., 2009), especially on loyalty and intent to change a job, therefore, we believe studies on influence of employees‘ loyalty to sports organization on intent to change a job remain actual. Aim of study – to determine influence of employees‘ loyalty to sports organization on intent to change a job. Objectives of study: 1. to reveal the concept of loyalty and importance of loyalty to organization; 2. to determine employees‘ loyalty to sports organization; 3. to reveal influence of employees‘ loyalty to sports organization on intent to change a job. Conclusions: 1. in scientific literature, the concept of organizational loyalty has different descriptions and still cause many arguments and discussions; what is more, investigative works do not contain a single opinion on the concept of organizational loyalty. All descriptions of loyalty include two main elements:... [to full text]

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Sexual assault in the United States continues to be a major societal problem which often results in serious long-term consequences for the survivors, with perpetrators most commonly being men. Sexual assault prevention programs for college men often lack theories to guide the research and demonstrate mixed results. Previous research has demonstrated that more traditional male gender role identity is linked to sexual assault supportive attitudes and behaviors, suggesting that masculine ideology could be a contributing factor to college men?s reactions to a sexual assault prevention program. The purpose of this study was to test a model of how male gender role identity constructs influence college men?s reactions to a sexual assault prevention program through the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Participants were 97 college men, ages 18 to 22. They completed measures of adherence to masculine ideologies, then participated in an hour long sexual assault prevention program focused on bystander prevention, and finally completed measures of central route processing and outcome variables. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of how masculine ideologies and central route processing contributed to outcome results. These results indicated that men who adhered to more traditional masculine ideologies were less likely to engage in central route processing, a thoughtful processing of the information provided in the prevention program. Additionally, less adherence to traditional masculinity predicted more behavioral intentions to change as a result of the program and less acceptance of rape myths. More engagement in central route processing also predicted more positive outcomes such as behavioral intentions to change and less rape myth acceptance. Results from hierarchical linear regression analysis indicated that central route processing was more influential on the outcome variables than masculine ideology. Implications for this research include support of sexual assault prevention programs based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model as being potentially effective regardless of the men?s existing masculine ideologies.