Dissertationen zum Thema „Workplace Control“

This study investigated methods to characterise nanoparticle emission and transport associated with the operation of laser printers and selected nanotechnology processes in workplace settings. Results showed particle number and mass concentration emission varied by orders of magnitude amongst the different processes, from submicrometre to supermicrometre size. Therefore, a multi-metric particle assessment method must be utilised. Analysis of both real-time particle measurement instrumentation and off-line particle analysis, temporal and spatial particle number and mass concentration, surface area, size, morphology and chemical composition of airborne particles was utilised to develop and validate a three-tiered assessment method designed to assess and control worker exposure.

Organizations are increasingly devoting interest towards understanding the causes of workplace deviance behaviors, which include interpersonal aggression, theft, violence, vandalism and sabotage. These behaviors are particularly relevant to organizations, in that the yearly losses due to theft are estimated at over 40 billion dollars for U.S. businesses (Coffin, 2003), and acts of workplace deviance could cost as much as 200 billion dollars annually (Murphy, 1993).In this research, I integrated theoretical perspectives from psychology and organizational behavior with neurocognitive evidence in order to examine the effects of sleep deprivation on workplace deviance behavior. In particular, I argue that cognitive resource theories offer explanatory power for the proposed linkage between sleep loss and deviant behaviors. Specifically, sleep deprivation was expected to reduce cognitive capacity and self-regulatory ability, and as a result decrease individuals' self-control, increase hostility, and impair moral decisions, which would in turn increase workplace deviance. Finally, proposed methods are presented for two studies. The first study utilized a field sample of shiftworkers with irregular sleep schedules (i.e., nurses). The second study utilized a lab sample of university students who were subjected to sleep deprivation conditions in a controlled environment.Results largely supported the model in both samples, with the exception of moral reasoning, which was unrelated to sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation affected self-control and hostility, which were in turn related to deviance, with the exception of self-control and interpersonal deviance in Study 2.

RIASSUNTO Introduzione Il fenomeno del mobbing, la cui frequenza si stima essere di circa il 15% a livello mondiale, è ampiamente riconosciuto come uno dei maggiori fattori di stress nelle organizzazioni di lavoro. Il mobbing comporta una serie di conseguenze negative per chi ne è vittima ma anche per i testimoni ed i colleghi, con costi rilevanti per le organizzazioni lavorative e la societa’ nel complesso. Alla luce della “work environment hypothesis” del mobbing - un approccio teorico che enfatizza lo stretto legame tra la presenza di un ambiente di lavoro psicosociale sfavorevole e l’emergere del mobbing -diversi studi hanno identificato una serie di antecedenti lavorativi del fenomeno quali ad esempio il carico di lavoro eccessivo, lo scarso livello di autonomia, il conflitto e l'ambiguità di ruolo e la qualita’ della leadership. In particolare, il ruolo di quest’ultima quale fattore antecedente il mobbing costituisce un' area di indagine molto recente, sebbene Leymann - il precursore nello studio del mobbing - gia’ ne avesse riconosciuta l'importanza fin dagli albori della ricerca sul fenomeno. Nonostante il substrato teorico alla base della relazione leadership-mobbing sia solido, tutti gli studi empirici condotti sinora si sono basati su un disegno di studio cross-sectional, limitando in tal modo la possibilita’ di effettuare inferenze causali. Inoltre un importante gap nella letteratura corrente è costituito da una scarsa conoscenza dei possibili meccanismi (moderatori o mediatori) alla base della relazione tra ambiente di lavoro psicosociale e mobbing. Obiettivo Alla luce dello stato attuale della ricerca sul mobbing, l'obiettivo di questa tesi è duplice. Il primo obiettivo è quello di studiare la relazione tra alcune caratteristiche rilevanti dell’ambiente psicosociale di lavoro, ossia pressione lavorativa e mancanza di autonomia (primo articolo) e scarsa qualita’ della leadership (secondo articolo), e presenza di mobbing sul posto di lavoro. Il secondo obiettivo è quello di indagare la presenza di moderatori o mediatori nella relazione tra ambiente psicosociale di lavoro e mobbing, al fine di individuare alcuni possibili meccanismi alla base di questo fenomeno. In particolare, viene esaminato il senso di coerenza - una caratteristica individuale - come potenziale moderatore (primo articolo) e il senso di comunità sociale sul posto di lavoro - una caratterstica del contesto lavorativo - come potenziale mediatore (secondo articolo). Metodi La tesi si basa su dati raccolti nell’ambito di uno studio prospettico a due tempi di misura (2006-2008) denominato Workplace Bullying and Harassment Cohort (WBH), condotto tramite questionario autosoministrato su un campione di lavoratori impiegati in diverse organizzazioni di lavoro in Danimarca. Il campione utilizzato e' costituito da 3363 lavoratori nel 2006 (primo articolo) e da 1664 lavoratori nel 2008 (secondo articolo). Il campione e' composto per lo più da donne (67,2%), con un'età media di 45,7 (SD = 10.11) e una anzianità media nel posto di lavoro attuale di 11,1 anni (SD = 10.1). Circa due terzi del campione risulta impiegato in organizzazioni pubbliche come ospedali (22%), istruzione superiore (13,8%), settore assistenza agli anziani (8,6%), pubblica amministrazione e servizi (7,2%), scuole pubbliche (4,3%), scuole superiori (3,8%), ecc.; circa un terzo risulta invece impiegato in ambienti di lavoro privati, quali trasporti (11,6%), industria (10,8%), edilizia (3%), finanza e servizi alle imprese (2,3%); all’incirca il 2,5% lavora infine come medico, dentista o veterinario. Risultati Nel primo articolo, basato su un disegno di studio cross-sectional, regressioni lineari gerarchiche hanno rivelato che le due dimensioni del modello job demand-control, ossia elevata pressione lavorativa e scarsa autonomia decisionale, sono significativamente associate ad una maggiore presenza di mobbing. Sebbene dal punto di vista statistico livelli piu’ elevati di senso di coerenza siano risultati ridurre significativamente la relazione tra ambiente psicosociale di lavoro sfavorevole (elevata pressione lavorativa e scarsa autonomia sul lavoro) e mobbing, tale effetto di moderazione si e’ rivelato di scarso impatto a livello pratico. Cio’ suggerisce che condizioni psicosociali negative sul posto di lavoro possano essere associate al mobbing indipendentemente dalle caratteristiche personali dei soggetti target, almeno in termini di senso di coerenza. Nel secondo articolo, basato su un disegno di studio longitudinale, i risultati delle regressioni lineari gerarchiche mostrano che la scarsa qualità della leadership svolge un ruolo significativo nella creazione di condizioni di lavoro favorenti il mobbing. Inoltre, l’analisi di mediazione ha mostrato che il senso di comunita' sociale sul posto di lavoro opera come mediatore totale dell'effetto esercitato dalla scarsa qualità della leadership sul mobbing. Conclusioni/implicazioni pratiche Una prima conclusione è che condizioni di lavoro psicosociale sfavorevoli portano ad un maggiore rischio di mobbing sul posto di lavoro. Il primo studio sottolinea in particolare l'importanza di progettare posti di lavoro in modo tale che ai lavoratori siano assegnati carichi di lavoro ragionevoli e un adeguato grado di autonomia nello svolgimento dei compiti lavorativi. Il secondo studio, confermando il ruolo di una scarsa qualita’ della leadership nel creare condizioni di lavoro favorenti il mobbing, indica l'importanza di pianificare programmi di formazione per i leader in modo da aumentare in questi la consapevolezza di come i loro comportamenti possano avere influenza sui subordinati. Inoltre, la mediazione totale del senso di comunita’ sociale sul posto di lavoro rilevata in questo studio nella relazione tra scarsa qualità di leadership sul mobbing, suggerisce che le organizzazioni di lavoro dovrebbero operare forti investimenti nel miglioramento delle relazioni sociali sul posto di lavoro allo scopo di promuovere un ambiente di lavoro a ridotto rischio mobbing. Originalità dello studio Il primo articolo contribuisce in maniera originale alla ricerca sul mobbing in quanto non esistono studi precedenti sul ruolo del senso di coerenza come moderatore della relazione tra ambiente psicosociale di lavoro e mobbing. Inoltre, il problema metodologico relativo alla significativita' statistica vs valore pratico dell’effetto di moderazione è stato raramente affrontato e discusso in letteratura. Il secondo studio, essendo di natura longitudinale, porta un sostanziale contributo alla letteratura sul mobbing in quanto conferma, mediante un disegno di studio robusto, precedenti studi cross-sectional sul ruolo sostanziale svolto dai leader nel processo di mobbing. Inoltre, nella relazione tra leadership e mobbing, il senso di comunità sociale sul posto di lavoro agisce come mediatore totale, risultato che contribuisce significativamente al dibattito scientifico attuale sui meccanismi - a tutt’oggi poco noti - coinvolti nel processo di generazione del mobbing.
SUMMARY Background Broadly recognized to be one of the major stressors in organizations, with a global estimate of about 15%, workplace bullying has detrimental consequences for victims, witnesses, organizations, and the society at large. Within the work environment hypothesis of bullying, which emphasizes the important link between a stressful and poorly organized work environment and bullying, a large number of antecedents have been identified, such as workload, low level of autonomy, role conflict, role ambiguity, and leadership. In particular, the role of leadership as antecedent of bullying is a relatively recent research area, although Leymann - the pioneer in the study of bullying - has recognized its importance since the origins of research on the phenomenon. Despite the existence of a solid theoretical basis for the relationship between leadership and workplace bullying, almost all empirical studies conducted so far are based on a cross-sectional study design, thereby limiting the possibility to draw causal inferences. In addition, to date there is scarce evidence concerning the possible mechanisms (moderators and mediators) involved in the relationship between the psychosocial work environment and workplace bullying. Aims In light of the current state of the art in the research on workplace bullying, the aim of this thesis is twofold. The first objective is to investigate the relationship between some important characteristics of the psychosocial work, such as work pressure and lack of autonomy (Paper I) and poor quality of leadership (Paper II), and the occurrence of bullying at work. The second objective is to examine moderators and mediators of the relationship between the psychosocial work environment and workplace bullying and identify possible mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. In particular, my thesis examines sense of coherence - an individual feature - as a potential moderator (Paper I), and social community at work - a characteristic of the work environment - as a potential mediator (Paper II). Methods The thesis is based on the Workplace Bullying and Harassment Cohort (WBH). This cohort consists of 3,363 employees at baseline (2006) (Paper I and Paper II) and 1,664 employees at follow-up (2008) (Paper II). At baseline, the sample was composed mostly of female employees (67.2%); the mean age was 45.7 years (SD = 10.11) and the mean job seniority in the current workplace 11.1 years (SD = 10.1). Approximately two thirds of the sample were employed in public organizations such as hospitals (22%), high education (13.8%), the eldercare sector (8.6%), public administration and services (7.2%), public schools (4.3%), high schools (3.8%), etc.; approximately one third were employed in private workplaces such as transportation (11.6%), industries (10.8%), construction (3%), finance, and business service (2.3%) or as doctors, dentists, vets (2.5%) etc. Results In Paper I, based on a cross-sectional study design, hierarchical linear regressions revealed that the two dimensions of the job demand-control model, i.e. high work pressure and low decision latitude, are significantly associated with an increased presence of bullying at work. Moreover, a higher sense of coherence was found to significantly moderate the relationship between higher job demands and higher work-related bullying, and that between lower job control and higher person-related bullying. However, the effect size of these interactions was very low. This suggests that negative psychosocial conditions in the workplace are likely to be associated with bullying regardless of the personal characteristics of the targets, at least in terms of sense of coherence. In Paper II, based on a longitudinal study design, the results of hierarchical linear regressions showed that poor quality of leadership plays a significant role in the creation of conditions favouring bullying. Furthermore, the mediation analysis showed that social of community at work operates as a full mediator of the effect exerted by poor quality of leadership on workplace bullying. Conclusions/practical implications My first conclusion is that adverse psychosocial working conditions may lead to an increased risk of bullying at work. Paper I highlights in particular the importance of designing jobs so that workers are assigned reasonable workloads and an appropriate degree of autonomy in their work tasks. Paper II, confirming the role of poor quality of leadership in creating working conditions that favour bullying, indicates the importance of planning training programs for leaders so as to increase their awareness of how their behaviours may affect subordinates. In addition, the full mediation of social community at work in the relationship between poor quality of leadership and workplace bullying suggests that organizations should improve social relations at work in order to promote work environments with a low risk of workplace bullying. Originality of the study Paper I gives an original contribution to the existing literature on workplace bullying since there are no previous studies on the role of sense of coherence as a moderator of the relationship between the psychosocial work environment and bullying. Moreover, the methodological problem concerning the statistical vs practical value of the moderating effect has been rarely addressed and discussed in the literature. Paper II, based on a longitudinal study, gives a substantial new contribution by supporting, through the adoption of a robust design, previous cross-sectional studies on the important role played by leaders in the process of workplace bullying. Moreover, the finding that social community at work acts as full mediator of the relationship between quality of leadership and workplace bullying contributes significantly to the scientific debate over the poorly known mechanisms involved in the generation of bullying.

This thesis is a social history of workplace Australian football between the years 1860 and 1939, charting in detail the evolution of this form of the game as a popular phenomenon, as well as the beginning of its eventual demise with changes in the nature and composition of the workforce. Though it is presented in a largely chronological format, the thesis utilises an approach to history best epitomised in the work of the progenitors of social history, E.P. Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm, and their successors. It embraces and contributes to both labour and sport history-two sub-groups of social history that are not often considered together. A number of themes, such as social control and the links between class and culture, are employed to throw light on this form of football; in turn, the analysis of the game presented here illuminates patterns of development in the culture of working people in Victoria and beyond. The thesis also provides new insights into under-re searched fields such as industrial recreation and the role of sport in shaping employer-employee relations. In enhancing knowledge of the history of grass roots Australian football and demonstrating the workplace game's links with the growth of unionism and expansion of industry, the thesis therefore highlights the complexity and interconnectedness of economic development, class relations and popular culture in constructing social history.

This study employed an experimental design intended to be an analog to the workplace to examine a person by situation interactive effect on OCBs, which were evaluated as prosocial behaviors. This study also sought to provide initial empirical support for the two-stage social cognitive model of OCBs proposed by Hauenstein and Kalanick (2008). Participants were 194 undergraduates. The study was a 2 (Helpfulness) by 2 (Fairness) design. After completing distracter tasks 1 and 2, participants received either a helpfulness prime or a control prime (task 3). Participants then either experienced either a fair manipulation or an unfair manipulation. Results indicated a distinction between the decision to help and helping effort, which has not been thoroughly examined in literature on OCBs. Results revealed main effects for the helpfulness prime and fairness manipulation on the decision to engage in helping. The nature of these effects was that participants helped more when they were primed with helpfulness and when they experienced fairness. However, once helping commenced, there was an interactive effect between helpfulness and fairness such that the helpfulness prime had a stronger effect on participants treated unfairly. Implications for future research on OCBs are discussed.
Ph. D.

While the literature surrounding the negative effects of stress on health and well-being is plentiful, there is a distinct lack of research applying stress frameworks to an organisational safety context. This study investigated the impact of stressors and strains on safety in the workplace, using the Job Demand-Control model as a research framework. In order to maintain a proactive approach to safety management, safety climate, safety compliance and safety participation were used as study variables as they have been established as antecedents to accidents and injuries in the workplace. From questionnaire data from employees with regular safety issues it was found that a positive relationship exists between safety climate and safety behaviours. Satisfaction was found to mediate the relationship between safety climate and one dimension of the safety compliance measure used. Providing support for the buffer hypothesis of the Job Demand-Control model, safety control moderated the relationship between safety climate and safety participation. Control over work scheduling, and decision latitude moderated the relationship between safety climate and safety participation but were indicative of an enhancing effect, rather than a buffering effect. The results suggest that control is an important variable to consider in terms of safety.

This research is based on the challenge in the field of thermal comfort between the steady state and adaptive comfort theories. It challenges the concept of standard ‘comfort zone’ and investigates the application of ‘adaptive opportunity’ in the workplace. The research question is: ‘Does thermal control improve user satisfaction in cellular and open plan offices? Norwegian vs. British practices’. Currently, centrally controlled thermal systems are replacing individual thermal control in the workplace (Bordass et al., 1993, Roaf et al., 2004) and modern open plan offices are replacing traditional cellular plan offices in Scandinavia (Axéll and Warnander, 2005). However, users complaint about the lack of individual thermal control (Van der Voordt, 2003), which is predicted as an important asset to the workplace in the future (Leaman and Bordass, 2005). This research seeks users’ opinion on improving their satisfaction, comfort and health in two environments with high and low levels of thermal control, respectively the Norwegian and British workplace contexts. Two air conditioned Norwegian cellular plan offices which provide every user with control over a window, blinds, door and the ability to adjust the temperature are compared against two naturally and mechanically ventilated British open plan offices with limited thermal control over the windows and blinds for occupants seated around the perimeter of the building. Complimentary quantitative and qualitative methodologies are applied, with a particular emphasis on grounded theory, on which basis the research plan is formulated through a process of pilot studies. Occupants’ perception of their thermal environment within the building is recorded through a questionnaire and empirical building performance through thermal measurements. These traditional techniques are further reinforced with semi-structured interviews to investigate thermal control. A visual recording technique is introduced to analyse the collected information qualitatively regarding the context and meaning. The ASHRAE Standard 55-2010 and its basis do not apply to the case study buildings in this research. This thesis suggests that thermal comfort is dynamic rather than fixed. Occupants are more likely to prefer different thermal settings at different times, which is in contrast with providing a steady thermal condition according to the standard ‘comfort zone’. Furthermore, the occupants of the Norwegian cellular plan offices in this research report up to 30% higher satisfaction, comfort and health levels compared to the British open plan offices, suggesting the impact of the availability of individual thermal control. This research suggests that rather than providing a uniform thermal condition according to the standard ‘comfort zone’, office buildings are recommended to provide a degree of flexibility to allow users to find their own comfort by adjusting their thermal environment according to their immediate requirements.

Luxury hotels are service workplaces with high aesthetic, emotional and affective expectations. However, from a critical perspective, hotel workplaces and their labour processes, including issues of control and resistance from below, remain relatively unexplored. Little research has directly examined the subjectivities, perceptions, critical thoughts, plots, interactions and responses of workers in both the hotel’s ‘frontstage’ and ‘backstage’. Therefore, consistent with the concerns of Labour Process Theory (LPT) and theories of aesthetic, emotional and affective labour, this thesis examines workplace control and resistance through an ethnographic study of a luxury hotel in Cyprus. A number of influences, such as employee relations, immigrant mobility and labour markets, seasonality and management attitude, are also discussed in relation to worker resistance or consent. Also, in seeking to contribute to a more detailed examination of resistance, this thesis provides an extensive A to Z catalogue of oppositional forms and practices. My observations produced rich findings that revealed how a number of managerial strategies and mechanisms are in place to monitor, process and discipline worker performance. My evidence advocates that workers challenge the labour process through various forms of opposition, sometimes hidden and sometimes confrontational. Even though some resistance was fragmented by elements of consent, at other times it was challenging, effective and continuous. It also suggests that resistance in an organization can be mapped as a continuum and each practice should not be examined singularly or unconnectedly, but in relation to the previous practices that generated this practices, as well as those that followed. In this direction, even hidden and passive forms of resistance are important because they can produce an escalating effect that may lead to more confrontational resistance.

The study's purpose is evaluating the relationship between locus of control and selfesteem in relation to the registered nurse's experience and perception with lateral and vertical incivility. There is a lack of research concerning nurse-to-nurse incivility within the nursing profession. The hypothesis examined whether dynamics of locus of control and self-esteem could provide insight into the personality dynamics influencing incivility in the workplace. This non-experimental quantitative study used 2 self-evaluation tools and 1 demographic survey tool to collect data via Survey Monkey, a commercial data collection company. Participants were 65 randomly selected faculty (n = 36) and graduate students (n = 29) from schools of nursing in Southern California, all active practitioners. Descriptive statistics provided the demographic data and RNs' experience of incivility analysis. Inferential statistics, t-test, and Pearson's correlation analyzed the relationships between study variables. Study results indicated no significant negative relationship between RNs' perceived experience with lateral and vertical incivility, and RNs' level of self-esteem and locus of control. Participants indicated a greater than 80% experience with incivility in the work place either directed at the participant or towards a colleague. The study results will be of interest to health provider managers as a means of insight into the pervasiveness of incivility in the workforce. The study indicated the problem of professional incivility is widely encountered, it rules out the hypotheses that self-esteem and locus of control are related to the problem, and it encourages the need for further study as to the etiology and dynamics of the problem.

Commercial buildings consume at least 18% of the total electrical energy used in the United States. Over 2.8 billion dollars are wasted every year due to computers being left on during the night and weekend. Yet up to 40% of the plug-load energy consumption can be reduced by behavior change. In the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), recent intervention studies have identified that monitoring and controls can motivate more environmentally-focused behavior in residences, where the occupants also have a financial interest. These studies, however, have not adequately addressed behavior in office environments, neither been thoroughly quantified for impact nor fully explored control strategies. This dissertation addresses these limitations through the development of an Intelligent Dashboard for Occupants (ID-O) that provides diverse feedback (selfmonitoring, advice, comparison) and control (remote and automated control) features. With an ID-O, through a variety of interventions, one can explore 1) energy conservation, 2) energy awareness, and 3) persistent energy savings. Three intervention strategies are considered in this dissertation in the following order: • Feedback; • Feedback and on-line control; • Feedback, on-line control and automated control The first two give rise to the following expectation, namely, that there is an increase in energy conservation, energy awareness and persistent energy savings, even after the intervention has been removed. The third strategy suggests that it will (relatively) provide the greatest increase in energy conservation with a (relative) reduction in energy awareness and persistent energy savings, after the intervention has been removed. These then are the hypotheses that underlie this dissertation. To thoroughly investigate the effectiveness of feedback and control interfaces, the ID-O dashboards were deployed in a large office building over a period of nine months. Eighty employees were recruited and their baseline data was collected for fourteen weeks. With four groups of 20 employees, three different configurations were tested alongside one control group – one with only feedback (self-monitoring, advice, and comparison), one with feedback and on-line control, and one with feedback, on-line and automated control. The dashboards were in place for thirteen weeks, and then removed for eleven weeks, allowing for measurements of user electricity consumption before, during and after the availability of an Intelligent Dashboard. During the interventions, the more features that were offered, the greater savings that were achieved. After the interventions were removed, all dashboard groups persistently saved energy with only a slight decrease in savings. Surveys were conducted at the end of the pre, during and post interventions. Between the during- and post-interventions, the biggest awareness increase was found for the group with only feedback and the group with feedback and on-line control. A relatively low increase was measured for the group with feedback, on-line and automated control. The following results were demonstrated: • Provision of feedback (self-monitoring, advice, and comparison) through energy dashboards increases 1) energy conservation, 2) energy awareness, and 3) persistent energy savings, even after the intervention has been removed. • Introduction of feedback and on-line controls have greater 1) energy conservation, 2) energy awareness and 3) persistent energy savings, even after the intervention is removed. • Added intervention by automated calendar controls demonstrated the highest energy savings, after the interventions had been removed. As expected, there is reduced energy awareness, but not reduced persistent energy savings. Beyond its main contribution on energy conservation, awareness and persistent savings, this dissertation contributes to the increasing field study literature on HCI interface choices specifically focused on energy and behavioral impacts. It also adds to the expanding breadth of existing HCI intervention studies in office environments with greater participant numbers over a longer duration; and provides quantified energy savings from technology-specific plug load management in offices through behavioral change.

This thesis examines cultural production focusing on the workplace. It explores the representations of changes that have taken place over the last four decades against the backdrop of globalisation at the end of the post-war economic boom. By assessing the mechanisms of control in terms of pedagogy and political re-appropriation, it looks at the way writers and film-makers have scrutinised the emergence of a globalised France in which the working classes are less inclined to confront capital. Its key argument is that the raison d’être of these contemporary ‘whistleblowers’, as they shall be referred to throughout this work, is to give visibility and purpose to the voices of workers and employees who, despite deunionisation and the subsequent crisis of representation and transmission, manage to resist in a socio-economic era disconnected from previous socio-historical landmarks such as the predominantly Marxist grand narrative. It argues that the films and writings analysed share the same purpose, which is to examine the human cost resulting from insidious forms of control and to highlight strategies of atomised yet inspiring deeds of resistance. This thesis has two focal points. Firstly, it outlines the transformations that have occurred: job losses, casualization and outsourcing, intensification of inequality, just-in-time production, neo-managerialism and bullying. Secondly, it examines how the subject of the workplace is developed in film and literature with an emphasis on character exploration. It comprises four chapters. Chapter One assesses the mechanisms of control of managerialism induced by neo-liberalism and concentrates on their consequences in the workplace and on the workers. The subsequent three chapters look at the way film-makers and authors tackle the same mechanisms through documentaries, cinema and literature in terms of social significance.

The aim of this study was to explore and describe HIV and AIDS workplace programmes and policies (WPPs) in the tourism industry of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) in South Africa. This study adopted a quantitative and qualitative approach, in other words, a mixed approach. The reason for using more than one method of inquiry was to obtain a deeper understanding of the tourism industry of NMBM in terms of examined behaviour, and of the meaning of occurrences in the industry. To gather qualitative data concerning HIV and AIDS programmes, key informant stakeholders in the tourism industry at global, national, provincial, and local levels were identified to conduct in-depth interviews. These respondents were selected using the non-probability sampling method of quota sampling. This is a type of stratified sampling in which the selection of the strata within the sample is not random, but rather is typically left to the discretion of the interviewer (Wienclaw, 2015). One respondent for each level of the industry was selected, resulting in four key informant stakeholders participating in the qualitative research component of this study. The initial criterion for participation in the quantitative portion for this study was that tourism businesses based in NMBM must be able to produce robust evidence of HIV and AIDS WPPs. The researcher selected the probability sampling method of stratified random sampling with proportional allocation. This technique considers the known characteristics of the population (Wienclaw, 2015). A database of tourism businesses was obtained from the local tourism organisation, who are members of the governing body for local tourism. This database was cleaned, to eliminate any data that did not meet the participation criterion for the study. Ten per cent of the total number of businesses in the cleaned database were sampled. The simplest approach to sampling is to merely randomly select from the population by, for example, having a computer choose names at random from a list, or by selecting names from a hat (Wienclaw, 2015). Therefore, every fifth business listed on the sampled database was selected to participate. Unfortunately, surveys tend to have notoriously low return rates, and people are frequently reluctant to give out information over the phone. This was also the case for most of the tourism businesses in the sample. When emailed or telephoned, they refused to participate for various reasons. Some stated that HIV does not affect their business; others reported that their businesses were too small and therefore they could not afford to implement these programmes. Some businesses were hearing about the WPP for the very first time, while several others responded with simple disinterest in participating. The findings of the study are that although tourism is viewed as an important industry that contributes to the economy, tourism businesses do not include any intervention programmes with which to respond to the threat of HIV and AIDS to their businesses. Additionally, there is neither leadership nor support from any level of the tourism industry, to create a conducive environment for the adoption of HIV and AIDS WPPs by tourism businesses. The primary reason for the lack of uptake of these programmes is ignorance across cascading levels of the tourism industry, which includes tourism businesses. Additionally, a number of perceived barriers, such as size of business, are cited as the reasons why tourism workplaces in the NMBM fail to participate in HIV and AIDS WPPs. It is anticipated that this study will create further awareness of HIV and AIDS WPPs, in an industry that seems to have limited knowledge about such programmes. This study will also provide guidance regarding the requirements to implement effective HIV and AIDS WPPs.

Emergency department nurses are at high risk for violence in the workplace (Keely, 2002; Fernandez et al., 1998; Nachreiner et al., 2005; Mayer et al., 1999). It is estimated that between 52% and 82% of emergency nurses will experience physical violence and 100% of emergency department nurses will experience non-physical violence in their careers. Despite this fact, there are limited studies examining workplace violence among this vulnerable group (Fernandez et al., 1998; Levin et al., 1998). Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to examine the experiences of emergency department nurses with workplace violence. Levin et al.’s (2003) Ecological Occupational Model (EOHM) was used to guide this study. Four focus groups were conducted with 27 nurses who represented different types of emergency departments (rural community facility to large urban Level 1 trauma center). Results of the study suggested that the majority of participants (96%) experienced some form of work-related violence and 75% had attended at least one violence education class. The major themes of frustration and powerlessness emerged from the data. Sub themes included professional conflict while caring for violent patients, personal detachment as an emotional survival mechanisms, and feelings of victimization. Additional factors contributing to workplace violence included: personal attributes of the nurse, the workplace, and the community where the emergency department was located. These study results have potential to guide intervention development aimed at reducing workplace violence in the emergency department setting.

Smartphones används allt mer i arbetslivet. De här har bland annat resulterat i att gränsen mellan arbetsliv och vardagsliv sakta börjat suddas ut. Användningen kan leda till att användare upplever stress, alternativt får en ökad känsla av kontroll. Vi har undersökt vad som påverkar användarens upplevelse av stress respektive kontroll. Utifrån en litteraturstudie kunde vi identifiera tolv olika nyckelpunkter som kan summera användares stress och kontrollpåverkan från smartphones. Genom en intervjuundersökning urskildes sedan fyra stycken olika teman, som kunde delas upp i nyckelpunkter. Nyckelpunkterna från resultatet kunde sedan jämföras med de tolv nyckelpunkterna från litteraturstudien. Det resulterade i att tre nya stress och kontrollpåverkningar kunde identifieras.
Smartphones have with their ability to handle many different types of communication on the go, become a big part of the workplace. This has led to a distortion between home and work life, making the line between them blurry. The result of this is that many users feel an increment in stress, alternatively control. This paper aims to find out what affects the users experience of stress and or control. On the basis of a literature study, twelve key points were identified that could describe users experience of stress and control with smartphones. We could through a interview study make out four themes which also could be divided into key points. The key points from the result where compared to the twelve key points from the literature which led to the result that all of the twelve key points from the literature could be confirmed, as well as four new effects on stress and control could be identified.

xvi, 117 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
Energy and environmental concerns warrant reconsideration of operable windows as a means of ventilating and cooling office environments. To design for optimal window use and performance, architects must understand human interaction with operable windows and the factors that influence occupant participation in their thermal environment. This thesis examines workers' personal control of operable windows in their office space through the lens of the following attributes: proximity, orientation, and accessibility to operable windows, office floor height, and the operational methods of windows. Three sites in the Minneapolis metro area were examined through site visits, informalinterviews, collection of physical traces, and a questionnaire. Research data reveal that proximity is the greatest determinant of window use. Other attributes have varying degrees of influence on use of windows. Surprisingly, workers valued operable windows significantly more for fresh air than for cooling.
Committee in Charge: Professor John Rowell, Chair; Professor Brook Muller; Professor G.Z. Brown

Flexibility in the workplace is no longer perceived as a benefit to employees but as a requirement for organizations to remain competitive. Financial compensation alone may be insufficient to encourage employee retention. The purpose of this qualitative, single case study was to explore the strategies that corporate accounting and finance leaders implement to promote workplace flexibility for increasing accountants' retention. The conceptual framework for this study was Karasek's demand control support framework. The research sample consisted of 6 corporate accounting and finance leaders who had a history of successfully implementing a workplace flexibility program. Data analysis consisted of compiling the data, coding for emergent and a priori codes, disassembling the data into common codes, reassembling the data into themes, interpreting the meaning, and reporting the themes. The major themes from the findings of this study were leadership support and commitment, organization-wide tailored flexibility, clear communication of expectations, trust and cooperation, employee evaluation based on results and deliverables, and the use of technological advances to enhance team collaboration. Organizations and business leaders can use the findings from this study to create competitive advantage by enhancing their existing flexibility policies or to implement formal workplace flexibility policies that may help to reduce the stress and strain that employees experience in attempting to balance their personal and professional life. The implications for social change include creating a balance between employees' jobs and other responsibilities that allows employees to contribute positively to their family and the local community.

Continuous learning and development has become increasingly important in the information age. However, employees with limited formal education in lower status occupations may be disadvantaged in their opportunities for development, as their jobs tend to require more limited knowledge and skills. In mature age, such workers may be subject to cumulative disadvantage with respect to work related learning and development, as well as negative stereotyping. This thesis concerns work related learning and development from a lifespan development psychology perspective. Development across the lifespan is grounded in biocultural co-constructivism. That is, the reciprocal influences of the individual and environment produce change in the individual. Existing theories and models of adaptive development attempt to explain how developmental resources are allocated across the lifespan. These included the Meta- theory of Selective Optimisation with Compensation, Dual Process Model of Self Regulation, and Developmental Regulation via Optimisation and Primary and Secondary Control. These models were integrated to create the Model of Adaptive Development for Work Related Learning. The Learning and Development Survey (LDS) was constructed to measure the hypothesised processes of adaptive development for work related learning, which were individual goal selection, individual goal engagement, individual goal disengagement, organisational opportunities (selection and engagement), and organisational constraints. Data collection was undertaken in two phases: the pilot study and the main study. The objective of the pilot study was to test the LDS on a target population of 112 employees from a local government organisation. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the pilot version of the survey to 38 items encompassing eight constructs which covered the processes of the model of adaptive development for work related learning. In the main study, the Revised Learning and Development Survey (R-LDS) was administered to another group of 137 employees from the local government organisation, as well as 110 employees from a private healthcare organisation. The purpose of the main study was to validate the R-LDS on two different groups to provide evidence of stability, and compare survey scores according to age and occupational status to determine construct validity. Findings from the main study indicated that only four constructs of the R-LDS were stable, which were organisational opportunities – selection, individual goal engagement, organisational constraints – disengagement and organisational opportunities – engagement. In addition, MANOVA studies revealed that the demographic variables affected organisational opportunities and constraints in the workplace, although individual goal engagement was not influenced by age. The findings from the pilot and main study partially supported the model of adaptive development for work related learning. Given that only four factors displayed adequate reliability in terms of internal consistency and stability, the findings suggest that individual goal selection and individual goal disengagement are less relevant to work related learning and development. Some recent research which emerged during the course of the current study has suggested that individual goal selection and individual goal disengagement are more relevant when goal achievement is impeded by biological constraints such as ageing. However, correlations between the retained factors support the model of adaptive development for work related learning, and represent the role of biocultural co-constructivism in development. Individual goal engagement was positively correlated with both opportunity factors (selection and engagement), while organisational constraints – disengagement was negatively correlated with organisational opportunities – selection. Demographic findings indicated that higher occupational status was associated with more opportunities for development. Age was associated with fewer opportunities or greater constraints for development, especially for lower status workers.

The history of HIV/AIDS dates back to 1985, when it was thought to be a disease affecting animals. Later, HIV/AIDS was regarded as an illness which affected gay individuals. However, research world-wide has shown that HIV/AIDS is a disease that affects everyone irrespective of race, gender, social status and sexual orientation. Research regarding the psychological well-being (coping, sense of coherence, locus of control and general health) of HIV infected persons in the workplace seems appropriate and relevant. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between sense of coherence, locus of control, coping, and general health. A cross-sectional survey design was used to achieve research objectives. For the purpose of this study, an availability sample of (n = 91) HIV infected individuals in the workplace was used. Four questionnaires were employed in the empirical study, namely the General Health Questionnaire, the Coping Orientations to the Problems Experienced Questionnaire, the Work Locus of Control Scale, and the Orientation to Life Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, skewness and kurtosis) were used to analyse the data. Pearson correlations and canonical analysis were used to assess the relationships between sense of coherence, locus of control, coping strategies and general health. Approach coping strategies such as active coping, planning, seeking support for instrumental reasons, seeking support for emotional reasons, positive reinterpretation and growth, and acceptance were positively related to a strong sense of coherence and a low external locus of control. Avoidance coping strategies, such as focus on and ventilation of emotions, denial, behavioural disengagement, and mental disengagement were negatively related to sense of coherence and positively related to an external locus of control. HIV infected employees who measured high on planning, low on focus on and venting of emotions, and low on mental disengagement, experienced less anxiety and fewer somatic problems. Recommendations for future research were made.
Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Arbetsplatsmobbning har omfattande konsekvenser för individer i arbetslivet och samhället. Observatören har en viktig roll i arbetet mot mobbning, då dennes ingripande kan influera andra att göra detsamma. Denna studie undersökte om observatörens kön, locus of control och erfarenhet av observerad mobbning har en påverkan på intentionen att ingripa vid en mobbningssituation. Detta prövades utifrån sex hypoteser och frågeställningen hur relationen ser ut mellan ovangivna variabler i förhållandet till intentionen att ingripa vid mobbning. 165 individer i arbetslivet, varav 114 kvinnor, besvarade en enkät vilken innehöll Rotters The internal-external scale, en justerad Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised och ett instrument inspirerat av Hektner och Swensons påstående om intentionen att ingripa. Materialet anlyserades med hjälp av tvåvägs-ANOVA och Pearsons korrelationskoefficient. Studiens resultat var att erfarenhet av observerad mobbning, både enskilt och i kombination med kön och locus of control, påverkar intentionen att ingripa. Kön och locus of control visade inte på signifikanta huvudeffekter.

Power-control theory provides one of most comprehensive theoretical explorations of the gender gap in delinquency to date. The theory posits that the relative power of husbands and wives in the workplace translates directly into their relative power within the home. Household power relations, in turn, are played out in the relative control of sons and daughters, influencing ultimately the gender gap in delinquency through social psychological processes of familial control and socialization toward risk. This paper reformulates power-control theory in two important ways. First, it borrows from the family and gender literature on status-reversal and single mother households to critique the simplistic discussion of the translation of gendered power relations from workplaces to households. In doing so, the paper specifies an alternative discussion of power relations and family structures. Second, the paper draws upon criminological research and theorizing on gender and delinquency to posit a more thorough discussion of the social psychological mechanisms linking gendered power differentials to the gender gap in delinquency. Thus, the paper presents a reformulation of power-control theory that reconsiders both structural-level power differentials between mothers and fathers and individual-level processes of control and socialization of sons and daughters. From this reformulation, I derive and test hypotheses using a nationally representative sample of youths. The results suggest that further consideration of how power translates from workplaces to households is necessary and also provide some support for recent theorizing about gender differences in the social psychological mechanisms leading to the gender gap in delinquency.

This thesis is based on observation and interviews carried out in two engineering firms in the West Midlands between October 1978 and May 1980. Besides presenting and analysing a core of empirical material, it seeks to develop a general argument concerning the material and social bases of control over labour in the workplace. In doing so, this research points out some of the ways to link two major trends in the literature: the institutional approach to the study of labour relations and the more recent studies of the labour process. During the 1970s, the two companies studied implemented a reform of labour relations which appears to be typical of developments which took place in engineering and, more generally, in the manufacturing sector of British industry over the decade following the publication of the Donovan Report. The problem under study is the impact of this institutionalisation of workplace labour relations on the control workers have over the utilisation of their labour power in the work process. The fieldwork showed that, behind similar organisational and institutional features, sharply different work relations had developed. The degree of control imposed by manual workers over issues such as assignment of labour, labour mobility, manning levels, job demarcations, immediate intensity and distribution of effort, was significantly higher in one of the two case studies. At Firm A, the institutional reform helped management to confine job control within narrow limits while, at Firm B, similar changes did not help management to reduce worker control over effort but rather contributed to stabilise it. In seeking to explain this social process, attention is given to management strategies and to the strength of workers' organisations. It is also argued that the nature and contours of the work process sets the material basis for control over labour utilisation, the pattern of control also being shaped by social relations in the workplace. The main implications of the research for theory and policy are discussed in the final chapter. It is suggested that although job control resisted changes in the structure of labour relations, in a context of economic recession, it might be more vulnerable to market pressures.

Despite the rapid growth in nanotechnology, very little is known about the unintended health or environmental effects of manufactured nanomaterials. The development of nanotechnology risk assessments and regulations requires quantitative information on the potential for exposure to nanomaterials. In addition, to facilitate life-cycle assessments and inhalation toxicology studies, robust methods are needed to generate aerosolized engineered nanoparticles. We conducted a set of field studies to measure the fine particle mass concentrations (PM2.5) as well as nanoparticle number concentrations and size distributions in two nanomaterial manufacturing facilities. Measurements were performed near the reactor, in the breathing zone, and at a background site. Increases in PM2.5 and particle number concentrations were associated with physical handling of nanomaterials. The highest PM2.5 concentration observed was 2700 ug m-3 during sweeping of the reactor in the commercial plant. In most cases, an increase in the number of sub-100 nm particles accounted for the increase in total number concentrations. The results of this research can be used to develop guidelines for workplace regulations to minimize workers' exposure to nanoparticles. Furthermore, we used an atomizer to aerosolize C60 aggregates from a fullerene-water suspension. Measurement of particle size distributions and number concentrations showed that increasing the initial fullerene concentration resulted in increased number of aerosolized particles, while the average size of particles remained relatively constant. To return the aerosolized fullerenes into water, we passed the aerosol sample through an impinger. Reducing the flow rate through the impinger resulted in an increase in the collection efficiency of airborne nanoparticles.
Master of Science

In the early 1990s, South Africa’s re-entry into the competitive global marketplace and the first non-racial elections brought significant changes to an industry previously plagued by the racialisation of the labour process. South Africa’s post-apartheid work order led to the restructuring of the gold mining workplace, with a greatly increased emphasis on efficiency, productivity and equity. This period saw a number of gold mines reorganising work through new forms of working practices aimed at creating new kinds of workers who could identify with the goals of the company by expending rather than withdrawing effort at the point of production. There was a shift in the attitude of worker responses to managerial practices, from coercion to consent in the day-to-day running of the production process. This thesis examines worker responses to the reorganisation of work and their impact on worker and workplace productivity in a deep-level gold mine. At the core of this thesis are the perceptions, views, experiences and reactions displayed by underground work teams to management initiatives. The thesis highlights the significance of worker agency in managerially defined work structures – the capacity of underground gold miners to reshape and adapt management strategies in ways that make sense and enable them to maintain control over production and the effort-bargain. The findings presented in this thesis, particularly the gold miners’ informal or coping strategy of making a plan (planisa), reveal that underground work teams are not merely passive or docile reactors to management initiatives. They find opportunity to manipulate (and where necessary, avoid) new forms of management control in a variety of innovative ways that enable them to reassert their power and autonomy over their working day. Underground gold miners are not simply appendages to nor alienated beings in the production process but are able to take control of the production process, independent of management prescriptions, in ways which may embody resistance, consent or a subtle combination of the two. The thesis calls attention to workers’ subjective orientation, agency and resilience to new work structures – not just as recipients but also as shapers of such new work structures within the politics, limits and contradictions of capitalist production systems.

Productivity loss occurs in organizations that experience high levels of personal Internet use by employees on company time, which includes employees using smartphones to surf without needing the firm's Internet connection. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore reliable ways for organizational leaders to monitor or limit their employees' use of smartphone technology for personal use (cyberloafing) while on the job to minimize wasted work time. Social cognitive theory, which includes an emphasis on human behavioral changes based upon the environment, people, and behavior, served as the conceptual framework. The general research question was as follows: How can managers minimize wasted work time by limiting the personal Internet activity of employees who use personal mobile devices while on the job. Data collection involved gathering information from interviews with 20 frontline supervisors, human resource managers, and information technology managers and specialists in 2 U.S. industries: education and telecommunications. Data analysis included examining word frequencies, keyword coding, and identifying themes. Four management themes emerged: create mobile device usage policy, enforce monitoring technology, create a deterrence strategy, and customize monitoring and tracking technology. This study may be important because the analysis revealed effective ways to prevent or minimize employees from Internet surfing and wasting time at work. The findings could lead to positive social change through increased employee productivity and responsibility by providing managers with information to control or limit cyberloafing activities and by fostering an increased commitment to comply with an organization's Internet use policy.

With the growing use of teams in organizations and schools there is a need to better understand the individual differences of employees that might potentially increase performance and improve attitudes. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of locus of control, which was the individual difference of interest in this study, and incentives on team performance and job satisfaction.

Workplace design practitioners and organizational managers are increasingly noticing all the various aspects in which the workplace affects organizations and their employees. The studies on the relationships between the workplace, organizations and their employees are more focused on psychology or facility management than the socio-spatial perspective. Workplace design, configuration and spatial features impact how well and how much a company can benefit from its human capital. Although the concept of the relation of workplace to an organization is not new, it is relatively unexamined. This thesis introduces a new set of spatial variables to workplace studies, following the concept of personal control. The discussed spatial variables effectively describe the features of workplace floor plan and the characteristics of a workstation. Furthermore, this dissertation develops a method that creates the link between workplace spatial setting and a sense of belonging, organizational outcomes – organizational commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and work performance. Based on the detailed statistical analyses of a field survey that included 336 participants from 16 organizations, a model of spatial features influence sense of belonging and organizational outcomes was identified within this study. The research findings provide evidence for creating a workplace with a sense of belonging and better organizational outcomes through spatial design. This dissertation is comprised of six chapters. Chapter 1, an introduction, provides a general study background, discusses the problems to be solved in the study, and proposes an approach to deal with the target problems. Chapter 2 firstly reviews the current workplace studies related to spatial features. Secondly, it discusses the influence of workstation design on the human muscle system. Thirdly, it discusses the most relevant psychological issues at a workplace as stated by previous researches. Finally, the chapter reveals how a workplace affects the work of an organization. Chapter 3 specifies how workplace influences an employee’s sense of belonging and environmental control, and introduces the conceptual model. It also introduces the independent and dependent variables, generates research hypotheses. Chapter 4 describes the field survey design, procedures and the participants. It also covers the initial data analysis of the field survey: how the survey instrument, the questionnaire, was developed, commenting on all the aspects it includes – spatial experiences, work motivation, commitment, sense of belonging, job satisfaction and work performance. Chapter 5 is data analysis. This chapter discusses the research findings on workplace design features in relation to employees’ sense of belonging, satisfaction with ambient physical environment, and organizational outcomes – commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and individual work performance. The final chapter summarizes the findings, comments on design implications of the research results, and draws conclusions. The dissertation ends in admitting the limitations of this research and discussing practical implications for future investigation.

The new international division of labour has transformed the economic structure of Turkey from an import-substituted to an export-oriented economy. Starting from the early 90s, many Moldovan migrants began to come to Turkey in order to work temporarily in the informal economy. They worked in clothing and shoe ateliers until the beginning of this century. Nowadays many Moldovan migrants work in clothing shops as Russian-speaking sales assistants and in the cargo firms as carriers. Based on this historical context, this study explores the changing labour market position and workplace interactions of irregular Moldovan migrants, who are working in the textile/clothing sector in Istanbul, Turkey. I firstly try to understand the mechanisms of the changing labour market positions of irregular migrants by focusing on the factors and agents behind these dynamic processes. Secondly, I intend to analyze the labour process control regimes and resistance in the workplaces where migrants work. With this aim in view, I conducted field research in Istanbul consisting of 35 in depth and informal interviews with Moldovan migrants, Turkish employers and Turkish employees. As a result of the analyses of my findings, I first observed that although foreign workers cannot change the exploitative working conditions, they can find ways of escaping from exploitative working conditions in a context. Secondly, the level of exploitation in informal working conditions are not only determined by the necessities of capitalist accumulation regimes and the migration policies of the state but also by the preferences of employers based on economic and cultural motives but also.

It is an accepted practice in any business organisation that the opportunities and threats facing organisations must be examined and plans drawn up to take advantage of the opportunities and to deal effectively with the treats. Surely HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest threats and challenges that organisations in South Africa are facing. The study is an exploratory research into an important issue facing many organisations today and is adequately supported by a proper and detailed literature study supported by an empirical study on the relevant research topic. A number of interviews were also conducted to determine what specific viewpoints, suggestions and limitations there were, or could be, toward the evaluation of existing structures and strategies and what alternative actions could be used and implemented, to effectively manage as well as control the disease and its various impacts within the workplace. The literature review within the scope and limitations of the study, therefore, concentrated on the specific nature and various impacts of AIDS as a starting point, followed by a detailed investigation why organisations need to implement sufficient action programmes, policies and strategies. The reality is that AIDS know no gender, race or class boundaries but is actually influenced by socio-economical factors such as poverty, violence and rapid urbanisation, with the potential to disrupt economic stability and growth for the country. The empirical part of the study consisted of a questionnaire that was completed by various respondents (organisations) which included a minimum number of 500 employees and more within the area of study. The objective was to establish if current structures within organisations, are effective and suitable enough or lacking. The research finding clearly indicated the various impacts that organisations are currently facing and what specific action programmes, policies and strategies needs to be implemented. It was the intention of this study to cover a wide variety of aspects related to the impact of AIDS within the workplace, so that proper insight and clear understanding of the epidemic and its nature could be formulated with all its facets and various impacts on the organisation land its resources.
Thesis (DCom (Business Management))--University of Pretoria, 2001.
Business Management
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