Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-101).

Thesis (M. P. H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007.

Thesis (M. Med. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M. P. H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Med. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

The efficient processing of defective or nonconforming hardware and paperwork is important to both defense contractors and the government. Management's concern of excessive costs in this area initiated an investigation into the actual activities, personnel, and computer systems involved in such processing. Applicable military specifications and an assortment of corporate and divisional procedures were reviewed to obtain baseline data. Additional information was sought through personal interviews and visits to the manufacturing areas. The activity flow was documented in block diagrams and time estimates and labor requirements were applied. The detailed labor estimates were input to a LOTUS123 spreadsheet and used to determine average labor cost per disposition type, i.e., rework, scrap, return-to-vendor, or repair. The spreadsheet facilitates quick cost analysis of proposed management changes to the procedure and system. The estimates were merged with actual distribution of dispositions in an expected cost probability network to identify high cost areas and potential savings. Suggested improvements are evaluated by using the expected cost network and the electronic spreadsheet. Library research on recent publications form industry and academe provide further information in an area rich with potential savings: the white collar worker and quality assurance.

The project involved the development and evaluation of a prototype individual performance measurement system. The system was designed to be used on research personnel in a technical consulting firm. Before the system was developed, literature in the field of performance appraisal and the company corporate mission was reviewed. The prototype instrument was then developed based on Behavioral Observation Scales and the Critical Incident Technique. The data necessary to form the prototype was gathered through the use of Nominal Group Technique sessions. The prototype was then evaluated by research personnel in a two month trial appraisal period. Results of this experiment showed that portions of the project were useful to be implemented in the company's current performance appraisal system A description of the prototype system research, development and evaluation is included. / Master of Science

No class has created more controversy than the middle class and nowhere has it produced more controversy than in Latin America. No class has been so poorly understood. No class has been so weakly analyzed in historical terms. Moreover, no class has had so many preconceptions and "myths" attached to it. I try to fill this historiographic gap by looking at the construction of empleado identities, as a part of the middle class, between the 1930s and the 1950s in Bogotá, Colombia. By using a diversity of primary sources - diaries, empleado handbooks, manuals, employment forms, historical statistics, government publications, personal archives, oral history and a set of novels - this thesis attempts to look at how empleado identities were "made" by means of the combination of the historical structures and the experiences lived at the very center of daily life. / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

'Corporate warriors' and 'company animals' are common terms used to describe Japanese sarariman ( salarymen ), the former referring to salarymen as the samurai of Japan's post - war economic miracle and the latter suggesting servile creatures of Japanese corporations. This thesis explores Japanese salaryman masculinity, that is, the 'hegemonic masculinity' in Japan. The study collects the life - histories of 39 men across three generations of salarymen, so that the oldest men in my sample were in their 70s and the youngest in their 20s. While research on Japanese masculinities has expanded rapidly in recent years, no other study, to the author's knowledge, explores generational changes. This generational approach allows exploration of maintenance of and changes in hegemonic masculinity over time. This thesis pays attention to the phases of salarymen's lives. In the period of growing up, participants were continually confirmed in their self - worth through a hierarchy grounded on age and gender in the settings of the family, school and neighbourhood. Across the three generations, participants grew up in a homosocial and heterosexual world, barely mixing with the opposite sex and focusing on educational outcomes for successful careers after their schooling. Despite their immersion in comradeship, most participants ensconced themselves comfortably in the institution of marriage. While a few unconventional families emerged in the sons' generation, the traditional gendered division of labour is reproduced across the three generations. Many participants rejected equal opportunities for women in the workforce and participated very little in housework and childcare, claiming that providing the family income was their 'childcare'. Participants understood themselves as corporate warriors, or elite male workers, rather than company animals. Nevertheless, some young respondents evinced a tinge of jealousy for increasing number of ' freeters ' ( part - time workers ). Moreover, several men in the grandfathers' generation regretted their current minimal contact with their children and grandchildren as a result of their absence from home while children were growing up. Thus Japanese salarymen in this study expressed aspects of both the corporate warrior and the company animal in reflecting on their experiences. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Social Sciences, 2006.