A system of systems (SoS) framework is proposed for policy design that takes into account the value systems of multiple participants, harnesses the complexity of strategic interactions among participants, and confronts the risks and uncertainties present in participants’ decision making. SoS thinking provides an integrative and adaptive mindset, which is needed to tackle policy challenges characterized by conflict, complexity, and uncertainty. With the aim of putting SoS thinking into practice, operational methods and tools are presented herein. Specifically, SoS engineering methodologies to create value system models, agent-based models of competitive and cooperative behaviour under conflict, and risk management models are developed and integrated into the framework. The proposed structure, methods and tools can be utilized to organize policy design discourse. Communication among participants involved in the policy discussion is structured around SoS models, which are used to integrate multiple perspectives of a system and to test the effectiveness of policies in achieving desirable outcomes under varying conditions. In order to demonstrate the proposed methods and tools that have been developed to enliven policy design discourse, a theoretical common-pool resources dilemma is utilized. The generic application illustrates the methodology of constructing ordinal preferences from values. Also, it is used to validate the agent-based modeling and simulation platform as a tool to investigate strategic interactions among participants and harness the potential to influence and enable participants to achieve desirable outcomes. A real-world common pool resources dilemma in the provisioning and security considerations of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore is examined and employed as a case study for applying strategic conflict models in risk management. Overall, this thesis advances the theory and application of SoS engineering and focuses on understanding value systems, handling complexity in terms of conflict dynamics, and finally, enhancing risk management.

Diploma thesis named: "The college student from the point of view of his or her personal development" is dealing with the personality of a college student, his or her motivation to studies, value orientation and internal and external factors which can have its influence during the studies. One part of my work is dedicated to legislation which concerns college students, the law 111/1998 about colleges and some conceptual documents of MŠMT. In the empiric part of my thesis is presented quantitative research which with help of a questionnaire was investigating motivation, value orientation and subjective point of view of chosen students on their personal development.

Den svenska skolans fostransuppdrag, det vill säga att överföra värden som samhället anser vara viktiga till eleverna, är enligt de nu gällande styrdokumenten en viktig del av undervisningen. I läroböcker i religionskunskap skrivna för gymnasiet har dock detta uppdrag hamnat i skymundan. I denna uppsats undersöks tre läroböcker i religionskunskap skrivna för gymnasieelever för att identifiera eventuella brister inom värdegrundsarbetet i läroböcker. Enligt iakttagelserna i denna undersökning är det största problemet att värdepedagogiken ständigt kommer i andra hand och att fokus ständig vilar på förmedlandet av kunskap. En konsekvens av detta är att värdepedagogiken tycks ha inkluderats i läroböckerna som en eftertanke. Det verkar som om merparten av stoffet i läroböckerna primärt har valts utifrån dess potentiella bidrag till kunskapsuppdraget, även om det ibland innebär att det undergrävt fostransuppdraget. Slutsatsen i denna uppsats är att värdepedagogiken måste vara en aktiv och medveten del i skapandet av textbaserade läromedel för att läroböcker på allvar ska bidra till fostransuppdragets förverkligande. / Civic education is an important part of the education of teens in Sweden. When reading high school textbooks of religious studies it is noticible that the use of civic education is lacking. This thesis examined three high school textbooks of religious studies in order to identify the shortcomings of civic education in textbooks. The major issue regarding civic education, according to the findings of this thesis, is the fact that traditional education, i.e. the transfer of knowledge, is the main purpose of these textbooks. As a result civic education is often included in textbooks as somewhat of an afterthought. The majority of the material included in textbooks seem to be primarily selected on the basis of what it contributes towards thegoals of traditional education, even if that material sometimes undermines the goals of civic education. The conclusion of this thesis is that civic education must become something that authors reflect upon as a conscious part of writing textbooks if the civic educational goals of the swedish educational system are to be achieved.

本文之目的，是要探討兩岸人民關係條例第二十一條限制設籍台灣地區未滿十年之原大陸地區人民不得出任公務人員規定之合憲性，並擇定以平等權觀點作為切入論述的角度。全文共分為六大部分：第一部分確認大陸地區人民與設籍台灣地區未滿十年之原大陸地區人民在我國之法律地位為得享有平等服公職權之主體。第二部分確立平等權審查之基準，包括事務本質、憲法整體價值、體系正義及比例原則，是為檢證系爭條文合憲性及貫穿本文之核心價值標準。第三部分分析各國及我國公務員法制中，以忠誠度為考量來設定之審核申請出任公務員者「適任性」之法定任用條件之立法目的及法則，以找出與申請者適任公務人員與否重要相關之本質要素為何。第四部分則是分析設籍台灣地區未滿十年之原大陸地區人民之本質屬性，是否具有不適出任公務人員之重要本質要素。第五部分檢討系爭條文所採差別待遇之手段及內容，是否符合比例原則。最後，本文就系爭條文是否符合憲法平等保障人民基本權利之意旨作一綜合評析，並嘗試提出修正系爭條文之具體建議。 / The Mainland Chinese people have become Taiwan people since they settled down in Taiwan area. However, Article 21 of the Statute Governing the Relations between People in Taiwan Area and People in Mainland Area stipulates that the former Mainland Chinese people registered residences in Taiwan area within 10 years (hereafter “former Mainland Chinese people” ) couldn’t serve as civil servants. It is debatable whether said stipulation constituting a discriminatory treatment to part of nationals serving in public service violates Article 7 of the Constitution guaranteeing the right of equality. To begin with, this paper defines the legal status of Mainland Chinese people as nationals from Constitution point of view. Then, the paper looks into the subject from several points of view, including the nature of the addressed subject, the value system of the Constitution, and the purpose of enactment. It is find that the preclusion of the former Mainland Chinese people serving as civil servants is in harmony with amendment to the Constitution. It is furthermore not in conflict with the equal protection of law provided in Article 7 of the Constitution. However, part of the measure of the above said statute not in accord with the principle of Proportion should be amended in order to concur with preservation of state security and the adequate exercise of rights to serve in public service of the people. The Germany’s civil service law, which provides conditions of reappointment of former civil servants under German Democratic Republic after German unification serves as a most valuable reference model.

所有權結構、支付制度與競爭係影響醫院績效之關鍵因子，本研究援用相關文獻之發現，推論出三項因素對醫院績效之關係，並以我國獨特之總額預算制度為研究對象，蒐集、串連與合併不同來源之資料，實證檢視衝量競爭與所有權結構對醫院營運績效與醫療品質之聯合效果。 台灣於民國91年7月實施醫院總額預算制度後，浮動點值制度之設計為醫院間引入了衝量競爭(即虛假價格競爭)，而結算後之點值則係反映出醫院間衝量競爭後之結果，醫院除了需面對支付點值所致之財務衝擊外，尚須面對自全民健保實行後，備受醫院詬病之核減制度之衝擊，因此，本文首先嘗試估算醫院受到核減與支付點值所致之財務衝擊程度。無論是國外或國內之研究，對於不同所有權結構醫院之績效表現是否有差異性，一直無法獲得一致性之結論，除了納入營運效率之績效指標外，本研究亦採用疾病別與醫院層級別之醫療品質指標來檢視不同所有權結構醫院之績效表現。更以考量核減與支付點值所致之財務衝擊程度，取代目前文獻僅以總額前、後之二元變數，評估財務衝擊程度對營運效率、醫療品質與財務績效之影響。最後，則是檢視總額預算制度下，醫院受到之財務衝擊度是否會縮小不同所有權結構醫院之營運效率與醫療品質表現之差距。 實證研究發現，不同所有權結構醫院之營運效率並未有顯著差異，但不同所有權結構醫院在某些疾病別品質指標(子宮肌瘤切除手術之住院超過7日機率與再入院率)與醫院層級品質指標(院內感染率與淨死亡率)表現上則有差異性；且公立或非營利醫院受到核減與支付點值之財務衝擊高於私立醫院，因此不同所有權結構醫院之行為與績效存有某些差異性。台灣的醫院在總額預算制度下，若受到之財務衝擊程度愈大，其營運效率會變差、醫療品質也受到負面之影響、財團法人醫院之醫務利益率與稅後淨利率也會降低，但現金流量比則會增加，故財務衝擊愈大，醫院之績效愈低。若同時考量財務衝擊度對不同所有權結構醫院之營運效率與醫療品質之聯合效果後，可發現財務衝擊雖然不會縮小公立(或非營利)醫院與私立醫院營運效率之差距，卻縮小公立(或非營利)醫院與私立醫院醫療品質之差距，故以台灣資料可部分支持「不同所有權結構醫院績效差距縮小之因素係競爭力量之崛起」之論點。 / Hospital ownership, payment system and competition are all key drivers to influence hospital performance. This research infer and depict the association of these three drivers from the related literature and empirically examined the effects of fictitious price competition due to the floating point-value system and ownership on hospital operational performance and quality of care by combing and merging different sources of data. Deduction rate of claim and the floating point-value system are the two controversial debates to the payment system. I attempt to estimate hospital financial pressures as precipitated by deduction rate of claim and floating point-value system. To investigate whether for-profit, not-for-profit, and government hospitals differ in operating performance and quality of care, five diagnose-level and two hospital-level quality indicators are selected. Different from prior research, the financial pressure is captured by hospital data instead of a binary variable (pre and post global budget) and I examine the effect of financial pressure on hospital operational efficiency, quality of care and financial performance. Finally, we test whether differences in operational efficiency and quality care among hospitals with different ownership forms will mitigate or narrow, as hospital financial pressure increases. The results show that for-profit, not-for-profit and government hospitals are far more alike than different in operational efficiency, but ownership affects not only the rate of readmission and the rate of the length of stay larger than 7 days of uterine myomectomy, but also the hospital-level quality indicators: the rate of nosocomial infection and hospital mortality rate. I also find higher financial pressure incurred at government or not-for-profit hospitals than for-profits hospitals. Given my findings, we conclude that hospital ownership status affect performance in terms of quality of care and financial pressure from rate of deduction and float point-value system. The study shows that financial pressure adversely affects operational efficiency and quality of care. As not-for proprietary hospital financial pressure increases, the profit margin and net profit ratio will decrease, but the cash flow ratio will increase. Nonetheless, deduction rate of claim and global budget has a negative impact on hospital performance. This research further considers the joint effect of financial pressure on difference between quality of care and efficiency of for-profit hospitals and the other two types. My results indicate that hospital financial pressure mitigates the difference of quality of care between for-profit hospital and not-for profit (or government) hospitals, but does not narrow the difference in quality of care between for-profit hospital and not-for profit (or government) hospitals. This finding partly supports that increased competition should force not-for-profit (or governmental) hospitals to be increasingly similar to their for-profit counterparts.

In South Africa there are great polarities in terms of needs in resource–poor communities versus communities with available resources. This is evident during visits to Sir Lowry's Pass Village and when available statistics on trends in the community are taken into account. A potentially valuable resource in resource–poor communities is outreach programmes by a faith–based organisation (FBO) such as Jabulani Africa Ministries (JAM). JAM is a Christian FBO with a strong community focus. This study focuses on the resource–poor community of Sir Lowry's Pass Village, situated in the Helderberg Basin in the Western Cape. Sir Lowry's Pass Village is just one of a few resource–poor communities to whom JAM reaches out on a weekly basis since through their outreach programme aimed at middle–childhood children. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the content of this outreach programme of JAM in Sir Lowry's Pass Village aimed at middle–childhood children in order to provide guidelines to more specifically target the needs of the particular group of children. Data were collected from various sources according to principles of participatory action research. Data were organised through thematic data analysis to identify themes. Two core themes emerged; one theme is a mutual lack of understanding of the broader field by JAM members and the target of their interventions, middle–childhood children. The other theme centred on the moral value system of the particular group of children. The central theoretical argument of this study is that outreach programmes by faith–based organisations (such as JAM) in resource–poor communities should be directed as effectively as possible to meet the needs of middle–childhood children. / http://hdl.handle.net//10394/7006 / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

In South Africa there are great polarities in terms of needs in resource–poor communities versus communities with available resources. This is evident during visits to Sir Lowry's Pass Village and when available statistics on trends in the community are taken into account. A potentially valuable resource in resource–poor communities is outreach programmes by a faith–based organisation (FBO) such as Jabulani Africa Ministries (JAM). JAM is a Christian FBO with a strong community focus. This study focuses on the resource–poor community of Sir Lowry's Pass Village, situated in the Helderberg Basin in the Western Cape. Sir Lowry's Pass Village is just one of a few resource–poor communities to whom JAM reaches out on a weekly basis since through their outreach programme aimed at middle–childhood children. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the content of this outreach programme of JAM in Sir Lowry's Pass Village aimed at middle–childhood children in order to provide guidelines to more specifically target the needs of the particular group of children. Data were collected from various sources according to principles of participatory action research. Data were organised through thematic data analysis to identify themes. Two core themes emerged; one theme is a mutual lack of understanding of the broader field by JAM members and the target of their interventions, middle–childhood children. The other theme centred on the moral value system of the particular group of children. The central theoretical argument of this study is that outreach programmes by faith–based organisations (such as JAM) in resource–poor communities should be directed as effectively as possible to meet the needs of middle–childhood children. / http://hdl.handle.net//10394/7006 / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This diploma thesis deals with the theme of changing the life values in the context of the death and dying. The theoretical part is divided into two sections. First of them is focused on the attitudes to the death by the various disciplines, the second one is focused on the life values, specifics and experience with the process of dying. The practical part maps the attitudes to the death by the three groups of respondents ? the group of dying clients of hospices, the group of their family members and the last is the group of the staff (of residence and home hospice care). There are compared their responses with the results of another researches and thesis dealing with analogous topic in the Discussion. The main result of this thesis is that the most important values accented by the contact of the coming death are not the material values (like money, possesion), but the values connected with the quality interpersonal relations and family background like esteem, love, loyalty, devotion and gratitude is.

This study unveils the perceptions, real-life experiences and thought-processes of contract workers who dedicate their lives to the Christian faith, values and belief-system, but simultaneously endeavour to establish and follow a successful career in the volatile, cut-throat, non-Christian-based (“hedonistic”) occupational entertainment commerce. The researcher embarked on this study with a qualitative, interpretivist research approach. Data was gathered through in-depth, unstructured, face-to-face interviews with a sample of nine research participants. The sample consists of student entertainers; entertainers in the public eye, but not yet established; as well as entertainers who have successful established careers with loyal national and international audiences in the Entertainment Industry. The researcher explores and seeks to understand the core values and belief systems of the research participants with regards to their Christian religious orientation, which is statistically verified to be the most prevalent religious practise in South Africa (Nation Master, 2013; Religious affiliation by country, 2010). Hence, the research findings with regards to Christians’ approach and attitude towards their careers will contribute to a better understanding and management of the majority of the workforce in South Africa. Moreover, the expected norms, values and work ethic of the Entertainment Industry in South Africa are exposed in this study. Although existing literature upholds that the Entertainment Industry is an exceptionally unstable work environment compared to other corporate industries, this research study adds significantly to current literature as viable causes for the unstable occupational environment are also investigated and presented. Previous research only addressed several aspects of the effect on one’s career advancement if an individual’s core value system differs from the accepted norms in an organisation or industry in general. This study subsequently reveals the personal- and occupational challenges that Christian entertainers encounter in an Entertainment Industry in South Africa and how they subsequently aim to decrease the cognitive dissonance that they experience due to continuous role conflict between moral obligation and the vital necessity for employment and career advancement. The findings of this study correlate with previous research as it indicates that the research participants will generally choose and prioritise their personal core values- and moral belief system above contradictory social and professional career demands and expectations. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

MAAS / Centre for African Studies / The aim of the study was to examine the challenges experienced at male initiation schools in the Eastern Cape Province, Mthatha District. It is alleged that during the month of June every year, some boys die at initiation schools mostly in Eastern Cape Province. One of the reasons of the cause of death is because some of them attend illegal initiation schools. The overall objectives were to explore the role of initiation schools, to assess the regulations that govern the opening and running of initiation schools, to identify palliatives that can be put in place to curb negative implications at initiation schools. The study was founded on the following theoretical framework to attain its findings; the socio-cultural theory. This study utilised the qualitative research design. Data collection methods included one-on-one interviews, un-structured interviews and focus groups. The study informants were selected using purposeful sampling technique and snow-balling sampling. The study of examining the challenges experienced at male initiation schools submits appropriate recommendations which may help in the effective indigenous knowledge management, curb unethical practices and challenges associated with the running of male initiation schools and sharing strategies in South Africa, other African countries and the world at large, particularly communities that still follow the cultural practice of male initiation. The study recommends that parliamentary legislative framework (policy) on initiation rite should be standardised and promulgated. Also, traditional leadership must have the powers over all matters of initiation rite and initiation schools in particular. Lastly, the study recommends that for future research, the use of male researchers would be advisable to allow more probing.