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1
Hovey, Martin, and n/a. "Corporate Governance in China: An Empirical Study of Listed Firms." Griffith University. Griffith Business School, 2005. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20061018.143503.
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Corporate governance has gained considerable prominence in the last decade as it has become a much more widely discussed and debated issue. The debate as to which model of corporate governance China should adopt continues as China forges a new era of interaction with the global market, especially since its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. The state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector in China is a significant contributing factor in China's endeavour to continue to develop its economy, provide employment and reduce poverty. Therefore, the success of SOE reform is important to China's future economic prosperity and ability to contend with social justice issues. The commencement of the reform process began in the late 1970s and many SOEs have attained significant progress in some important areas. However, all too many SOEs experience poor overall performance. Thus, the consequence of the corporate governance model and corporate structure selected will be considerable, especially as the country's market economy gains momentum. This thesis contributes to the ongoing body of work relating to corporate governance in China, and some clear results have been found. It also reviews the institutional setting in China and elements of the corporate governance literature in detail. As the ownership of firms is considered to be one of the key elements to enhance corporate governance, the empirical study considers issues relating to changes in ownership, concentration and ownership structures. It conducts an empirical study of the ownership and performance of listed corporations in China and based on these analyses, the thesis provides policy recommendations as to which model of corporate governance may best be suited to China during this transitional phase. The findings suggest that the ownership structure is a key element to enhancing corporate governance in China. The wealth affects of changes in listed firm ownership, which for the most part had the effect of reducing state ownership, were found to be positive. Concentration ownership structures per se were not found to enhance listed firm performance. The most significant findings were the following. Firstly, that institutional ownership, through the Legal Person holding companies, have a positive bearing on listed firm performance and thus by implication, upon improving corporate governance. Secondly, medium levels of Legal Person ownership were found to be the most effective. Thirdly, foreign institutions and individual investors were found to be positively correlated to performance. Similar results were found for offshore ownership, but to a lessor extent. Conversely, state ownership was found to be negatively correlated to performance. Other issues that were identified in the empirical analysis are that size does matter, in that large firms were found not to perform as well as smaller firms. Leverage appears to matter also, as highly leveraged firms were found not to perform well. The industry in which a firm operates was also found to have an affect on performance. The policy recommendations are based on the findings and observations of this thesis. The assumption is made that the present gradualist approach and regime will continue. As state ownership is shown to have a negative bearing on listed firm performance, the recommendation is that the state, at its various levels, should divest its holdings. This could be achieved through a privatization program in which the state denationalises a large proportion of its holdings. One of the keys would then be managing the change of ownership. Based on the observations and findings of this study, it is recommended that a privatization program should be instigated that supports blockholders and institutions, and does not focus purely on dispersing large proportions of holdings to diverse small shareholders. In addition, mergers and acquisitions that embrace economic efficiency should be encouraged and supported. The empirical study demonstrates that the ultimate ownership and control of tradeable shares ought to be channelled to pension funds, private institutional investors that should be encouraged to take strong stakes in the firms, to strategic investors, especially minority blockholders, and a proportion to international investors. This strategy would be in China's best interests in its present stage of development.
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Hovey, Martin. "Corporate Governance in China: An Empirical Study of Listed Firms." Thesis, Griffith University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365859.
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Corporate governance has gained considerable prominence in the last decade as it has become a much more widely discussed and debated issue. The debate as to which model of corporate governance China should adopt continues as China forges a new era of interaction with the global market, especially since its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. The state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector in China is a significant contributing factor in China's endeavour to continue to develop its economy, provide employment and reduce poverty. Therefore, the success of SOE reform is important to China's future economic prosperity and ability to contend with social justice issues. The commencement of the reform process began in the late 1970s and many SOEs have attained significant progress in some important areas. However, all too many SOEs experience poor overall performance. Thus, the consequence of the corporate governance model and corporate structure selected will be considerable, especially as the country's market economy gains momentum. This thesis contributes to the ongoing body of work relating to corporate governance in China, and some clear results have been found. It also reviews the institutional setting in China and elements of the corporate governance literature in detail. As the ownership of firms is considered to be one of the key elements to enhance corporate governance, the empirical study considers issues relating to changes in ownership, concentration and ownership structures. It conducts an empirical study of the ownership and performance of listed corporations in China and based on these analyses, the thesis provides policy recommendations as to which model of corporate governance may best be suited to China during this transitional phase. The findings suggest that the ownership structure is a key element to enhancing corporate governance in China. The wealth affects of changes in listed firm ownership, which for the most part had the effect of reducing state ownership, were found to be positive. Concentration ownership structures per se were not found to enhance listed firm performance. The most significant findings were the following. Firstly, that institutional ownership, through the Legal Person holding companies, have a positive bearing on listed firm performance and thus by implication, upon improving corporate governance. Secondly, medium levels of Legal Person ownership were found to be the most effective. Thirdly, foreign institutions and individual investors were found to be positively correlated to performance. Similar results were found for offshore ownership, but to a lessor extent. Conversely, state ownership was found to be negatively correlated to performance. Other issues that were identified in the empirical analysis are that size does matter, in that large firms were found not to perform as well as smaller firms. Leverage appears to matter also, as highly leveraged firms were found not to perform well. The industry in which a firm operates was also found to have an affect on performance. The policy recommendations are based on the findings and observations of this thesis. The assumption is made that the present gradualist approach and regime will continue. As state ownership is shown to have a negative bearing on listed firm performance, the recommendation is that the state, at its various levels, should divest its holdings. This could be achieved through a privatization program in which the state denationalises a large proportion of its holdings. One of the keys would then be managing the change of ownership. Based on the observations and findings of this study, it is recommended that a privatization program should be instigated that supports blockholders and institutions, and does not focus purely on dispersing large proportions of holdings to diverse small shareholders. In addition, mergers and acquisitions that embrace economic efficiency should be encouraged and supported. The empirical study demonstrates that the ultimate ownership and control of tradeable shares ought to be channelled to pension funds, private institutional investors that should be encouraged to take strong stakes in the firms, to strategic investors, especially minority blockholders, and a proportion to international investors. This strategy would be in China's best interests in its present stage of development.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
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Victor, Paul. "Change management : an integrative approach." Thesis, University of Salford, 2008. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/26954/.
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This thesis explores the nature of organisational change and proposes that the majority of change programmes are unsuccessful due to their interventionist orientation. The inherent complexity of organisational change is such that the change needs to be understood from a range of perspectives and that many factors need to be fully integrated if the change is to be managed effectively. The original proposition was a vertically integrated methodology called the Five Dimensions of Change that stratified and integrated organisational activity from strategic planning to operational processes. This was fundamentally a prescriptive and positivistic model of change management, that was subsequently developed into a more interpretive, question-based approach called the Six Dimensions of Change, which included a focus on the person-centred and socio- cultural aspects of an organisation and proposed a more integrated and generative methodology. This approach was further refined to encompass the critical learning of the author that a change agent must take full cognisance of the personal and symbiotic relationship they have with the change programme. This holistically integrative methodology is explored through the use of the DNA helix, representing the importance of direction, task focus, people focus and the nature of engagement of the change agent. Three case studies explore the development and refinement of the methodology and these are explored from three perspectives: researcher, change agent andlearner, thus providing epistemological relativism and ensuring that the essential elements of action, learning and research were the focus of the work. Action Learning was central to the development, and critically to the refinement, of the integrative methodology and this is documented within the thesis, as is the personal and professional development of the author. Action Learning Sets provided opportunity for constant challenge and critical evaluation of the work and resulted in a significant personal exploration of the manner in which the author as a change agent interacts and engages with a change programme.
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羅左華 and Cho-wa Law. "Change management: a people-oriented approach." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1996. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31267348.
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Humphreys, Debora Sholl. "An entrepreneurial approach to significant change." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 1990. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1054735438.
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Law, Cho-wa. "Change management : a people-oriented approach /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1996. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B18003771.
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servati, mohsen. "game of change; a game theoretic approach to organizational change management." Thesis, Jönköping University, JTH, Industrial Engineering and Management, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-12707.
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Organizational change and game theory were separately investigated over time. Due to lack of scientific research on the relationships of those two fields of knowledge, an investigation of the game theoretic applications in managing change was performed in this research. Game theoretic applications were structured concerning the analytical use of game theory, strategic formulation with game theory and equilibrium analysis. By a qualitative flexible research method, main problematic areas of organizational change were identified with suitable game theoretic applications. Those problem areas are: making cooperation and coalition in change, group dynamic difficulties and the problem of incentive rewards. In each problem area, game theoretic solutions were discussed to help managers to make better decisions. Four mechanisms were inferred to support the game theoretic analysis of change management problems. Those mechanisms are: sub games, practical games, specific modeling and behavioral studies of games. Finally, an instructional framework was developed to conclude findings and illuminate the game theoretic approach in organizational change.
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Randle, Hanne. "A partnership approach : strategies for organisational change." Licentiate thesis, Karlstad University, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Communication and IT, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-2409.
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The research described in this report aimed to describe “best practice” for partnership based work in the labor market in the steel and metal industry as a response to the process of restructuring in the European steel and metal sector. It is based on case studies at two companies manufacturing goods to a global market and presents how the blue-collar workers union has dealt with the management of organizational change in the steel and metal industry in Sweden. The results in this report show that both companies have been successful when it comes to responding to the restructuring in the steel and metal sector; however there are some differences. The author discusses the differences in the report and search for answers in the trade unions involvement in the change process. Trade unions that have a higher level of participation and a stronger influence on the management of organisational change are more successful in creating sustainable conditions for change - that means creating conditions that are good for their members.
Hanne Randle is working as a researches assistant at the R&D centre APeL in Lindesberg in Sweden and she is currently involved in two different research projects. The first project is to evaluate investments in the public sector to lower employee sick rates and the second is to take part in a transnational project with the ambition to develop a European standard for employee vocational training and education for the explosives sector.
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Arthurs, David. "An evolutionary approach to modelling technological change." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/nq22441.pdf.
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Elzen, Michael Gerardus Jacobus den. "Global environmental change an integrated modelling approach /." Utrecht : Maastricht : International Books ; University Library, Maastricht University [Host], 1994. http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=5746.
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O'Neill, Saffron Jessica. "An iconic approach to representing climate change." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2008. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/10616/.
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In order to meet the UK Government's 60% greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, there is a need for non-experts to be meaningfully engaged with the issue of climate change. This thesis investigates the value of engaging non-experts with climate change at the individual level. Research demonstrates that individuals perceive climate change as temporally and spatially remote, and not of personal concern. There are psychological, social and institutional barriers to meaningful engagement with climate change. More effective methods for engaging the public with climate change are needed which address the psychological barriers to change. An 'iconic' approach was developed to harness the emotive and visual power of climate icons with a rigorous scientific analysis of climate impacts under a different climate future. 'I~ons' are defined as tangible entities which will be impacted by climate change, considered worthy of respect by the viewer, and to which the viewer can relate to and feel empathy· for. Such icons already exist: for example, melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet or Thermohaline Circulation shutdown. However, these 'expert-led' icons have failed to engage non-experts. The selection of nonexpert icons enables individuals to engage with climate change through their personal perceptions and values. A robust sourcing for 'non-expert icons' was carried out using focus groups and online survey methodologies. A suite of icons representative of the reasoning behind individuals' non-expert icons was selected. Expert-led icons were identified from 'Sleeping 9iants' emerging from the Exeter Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change conference. Impact assessments were then carried out for the suite of expert-led and non-expert icons under a specified greenhouse gas emissions scenario and to an imaginable timescale. Methodologies used to investigate climate impacts on the icons included a survey of expert opinion, quantitative modelling and spatial analysis using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The cognitive and affective impact of the non-expert and expert-led icons upon individuals was investigated through an evaluative pre/post test workshop. The expert-led icons· generally disengaged individuals. Expert-led icons had little personal impact and invoked emotions such as helplessness or boredom, and were considered too scientific or complex. Conversely, non-expert icons tended to impact upon the individual, the local area or nature; and invoked affective and cognitive engagement with climate change.
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Clark, Lynn. "Variation, change and the usage-based approach." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/3241.
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The potential for synthesis between variationist sociolinguistics and theoretical linguistics has been recognised by researchers in both sub-disciplines (e.g. Henry 1995; Adger and Smith 2005) but it has been difficult to move beyond a description of this unified approach towards an account of variation that can explain both ‘social’ and ‘linguistic’ phenomena in the same theoretical framework. Chambers (2005: 217) suggests that such a synthesis is currently “well beyond our reach and hardly even foreseeable”. I argue that this is partly because most of the theories on which attempts to address this issue are modelled are fundamentally asocial in their design and in order to improve the synthesis between sociolinguistics and theoretical linguistics, it is necessary to first begin with a theory in which social and linguistic knowledge are inherently and inextricably linked in cognition. The aim of this thesis is therefore to consider to what extent it is possible to synthesise variationist sociolinguistic methods of data collection and analysis with usage-based models of interpretation. Using the ethnographic technique of participant observation, the data for this thesis were collected over a 2 year period from a group of 54 speakers who play together in West Fife High Pipe Band (WFHPB). These data form a corpus of 38 hours of conversation (roughly 360,000 words). Two different phonological variables are discussed in this thesis: th-fronting, which is a consonantal change in progress in this community, and variation in the BIT vowel, which is reported to be a stable variable in this variety. Using quantitative methods that are typically considered appropriate in variationist sociolinguistics (i.e. varbrul and multiple regression), this thesis correlates variation in both of these variables with a number of different ‘social’, ‘linguistic’ and ‘cognitive’ factors and shows that this is one way to explore the potential for synthesis. However, it is vital not only to incorporate these factors into a quantitative analysis of variation; it is also necessary to be able to explain the outcome of the quantitative analysis by invoking principles of the theoretical framework. By adding the theoretical assumptions of the usage-based approach to an analysis of variation that is already grounded in current sociolinguistic practices of data collection and interpretation, I suggest that it is possible to reach a more unified and insightful explanation of linguistic variation and change in this community and a more unified and insightful approach to linguistic theory; one in which “everything fits, and everything fits together” (Langacker 1987: 32).
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Stickland, Francis. "The nature and dynamics of change : a systems approach to exploring organisational change." Thesis, City University London, 1995. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/7777/.
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There has been a significant increase in interest in the area of organisational change over the past thirty years. A multitude of approaches and methodologies have been proposed, developed and applied by organisational and management theorists, as well as systems and social scientists. Business practitioners and consultants have also not been hesitant in devising their own approaches to organisational change - undoubtedly attracted by the lucrative commercial gains they are capable of generating. It is the author's belief that much of this work focuses upon issues of change management: how to initiate, control and implement effective change within organisations. Yet the proliferation of such approaches in recent years belies an acute lack of any clear understanding of the very nature and essence of change itself. This thesis seeks to explore the concept of change, as it is manifested and described across the sciences. Firstly, it surveys the organisational change literature, highlighting the dearth of research devoted to analysing change from a conceptual and theoretical perspective. A cross discipline approach based upon General Systems Theory is proposed, as a means of further investigating the phenomenon and concept of change. The basic premise being that a deeper understanding of what change is, will better inform and guide our attempts to manage it. In applying the approach, a number of views, definitions, paradigms and phenomena of change are examined from across the natural, physical and social sciences. The recurring themes, principles and unifying ideas from this review are used to construct an initial change framework. This framework is not meant to be prescriptive, but rather is proposed as a qualitative analytical and descriptive tool with which to study change within organisations. To this end, two organisational case studies are documented, during which the framework is applied in an attempt to assess its analytical utility. The thesis concludes with some suggestions for further research, including ways in which the framework can be developed conceptually, and further applied practically within an organisational context.
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Kwaśnicka, Dominika. "Novel multi-method approach investigating behaviour change maintenance." Thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/3010.
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Background: Behaviour change, if maintained, can lead to significant health improvements. The aim of this thesis was to advance psychological theory of behaviour change maintenance and the design of behavioural interventions to improve health. This thesis used a novel multi-method approach to explore behaviour maintenance, with a particular focus on weight loss maintenance (WLM). Methods: A three stage, multi-method approach included: (1) A systematic review of behavioural theories to identify theoretical explanations for behaviour maintenance and to examine the relationships between these explanations; (2) An N-of-1 study of WLM assessing theoretical predictors of maintained behaviour based on the systematic theory review, which employed ecologic momentary assessment, wireless body scales, and activity monitors in 12 obese people who had lost at least 5% weight in the previous year, analysed through cross-correlations of time series; (3) Data-prompted semi-structured, longitudinal interviews with individuals who participated in the N-of-1 study to explore their experiences of WLM, prompted by personal data including summaries of N-of-1 data, pictures, notes and graphs, analysed using the Framework method. Findings: (1) Systematic review: out of 117 identified behaviour theories, 100 met the inclusion criteria. The main theoretical themes identified to underpin behaviour change maintenance included maintenance motives, self-regulation, habits, psychological resources and environmental/social influences; (2) N-of-1 study: for 12 participants a range of maintenance-related theoretical variables showed differential impact on ability to maintain weight, engage in physical activity and x follow a personal WLM plan. The combination of predicting variables that had significant impact on outcome variables was unique for each individual; (3) Data-prompted interviews: most of the theoretical explanations from the systematic theory review adequately accounted for participants’ experiences. Additional emergent themes included: competing goals, prioritising, and preparatory strategies that enhanced self-regulation. Using personal data summaries proved valuable in evoking narratives regarding unique experiences of WLM. Discussion: A range of theoretical explanations were identified and proved useful in explaining behaviour maintenance in the area of WLM. The main conclusion derived from the thesis is that behavioural interventions need to tap into relevant behavioural explanations and deliver intervention components in a timely manner to support individuals to maintain behaviour change. Interventions should include elements of choice and customisation and should be adaptable to personal needs. The main study strengths included employment of novel methods and technology. The main limitation included N-of-1 analytical challenges and scalability of the applied design. Future research should develop behaviour maintenance theory further and explore which combinations of WLM strategies, in which individuals, support effective WLM.
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Robbins, Michael. "The likelihood approach in precipitation change-point testing." Connect to this title online, 2006. http://etd.lib.clemson.edu/documents/1175185482/.
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Alden, James G. Hopeman Amber L. Neff Jodi A. "Transforming change in the military a systems approach /." Monterey, Calif. : Naval Postgraduate School, 2007. http://bosun.nps.edu/uhtbin/hyperion-image.exe/07Jun%5FAlden.pdf.
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Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2007.Thesis Advisor(s): Erik Jansen, George Lober. "June 2007." Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-81). Also available in print.
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Katsma, Christiaan Pablo. "An organizational change approach for enterprise system implementations." Enschede : University of Twente [Host], 2008. http://doc.utwente.nl/59091.
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Ritchie, Ian. "African theology and social change : an anthropological approach." Thesis, McGill University, 1993. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=41148.
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The dissertation documents the rise of African Christian theology in anglophone and francophone Africa, exploring the possibility that following the development of the two long-recognized phases of "adaptation" and "incarnation" there has been a "third phase." In the period since 1980 we find an explosion into theological diversity and maturity, marked by serious wrestling with all the social problems facing Africans in contemporary African life. Since 1980 there is a proliferation of new Christological paradigms, and increased inter-religious tensions have brought new urgency to inter-faith dialogue, with a growing number of theological responses. An explosion in the numbers of African women theologians brings a new voice on women's roles. Economic and ecological crises bring increasing reflexion on justice, peace and the integrity of creation.The paradigmatic diversity is strongly linked with changes in the concrete social conditions in which the various theologians live. This discovery confirms the thesis that theology in Africa is always related to social context.
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Dilley, Luke Tobias Martin. "Governing pro-environmental behaviour change : a governmentality approach." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/1538.
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Academics and policy makers alike have shown an increasing interest in the concept of ‘pro-environmental behaviour’. Central to this concept is the understanding that tackling environmental problems will necessitate behaviour change by individuals. Much research to date has sought to understand how attempts to encourage people to change their behaviour can be made to work more effectively. This research takes a different approach. Drawing upon Foucault’s work on ‘governmentality’, this research examines pro-environmental behaviour change as a practice of government. The research draws on an ethnographic study of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Sustainable Behaviours Unit (SBU). It examines proenvironmental behaviour change as a particular problem, object and end of government. It is argued that the SBU hopes to govern the way we ‘choose to behave’ by acting on the psychic ‘stuff’ thought to drive and inhibit various forms of behaviour. The thesis examines the ways in which behaviour is sought to be governed ‘at a distance’ by working through ‘community’ and the ‘Third Sector’. The thesis also analyses how behaviour change is mobilised at the local level by exploring a particular green communities initiative – Wenfield Energy Saving Together (WERG). It is argued that the discourse and practice of behaviour change is modified and limited as it is inserted into a particular context and set of social relations. The themes of modification and limitation are explored in more depth in the final section of the thesis. It is argued that attempts to govern are met with resistance, contestation and strategic counter moves. It is suggested that rather than being a block to the exercise of government, such ‘counter conduct’ triggers processes of governmental reform. Finally, despite some evident difficulties in fostering pro-environmental behaviour; it is contended that, as a form of government, behaviour change may become less of a policy experiment and instead a more stable strategy of the state.
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Neff, Jodi A. "Transforming change in the military a systems approach." Thesis, Monterey California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/3491.
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Why are military organizations resistant to change? In an attempt to answer this question, this thesis proposes the use of systems thinking to evaluate the military and its ability to effect change. Rather than investigate individual components of the environment, systems thinking dictates the study of the relationships between system components. We offer two frameworks to examine these relationships. The prescriptive framework, developed via literature, illustrates how each of the military subsystems of strategy, doctrine, and organization should interact. The theoretical framework shows how these subsystems interact in reality. A study of the theoretical framework illustrates differences from the prescriptive framework and where resistance to change within the military system actually occurs. We find there are many barriers to change to include doctrinal rigidity and a legacy force structure that is preserved by a dominant culture, the misuse of history, and the inability to learn from past failures. Systems thinking, as seen through these frameworks, can apply to every military organization and be very useful in not only realizing the need for change but understanding how these changes affect the entire system. More importantly, through systems thinking, the inhibitors to change can finally be realized and understood.
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Abbey, Graham P. "Making sense of organizational change : a storytelling approach." Thesis, University of Bath, 2010. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.519023.
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This thesis aims to analyse organizational change, focusing on the meanings attributed by participants in planned and unplanned processes of organizational change, in a large, UK hospitality company. Framed within the narrative meta-paradigm, this research employs a qualitative, interpretive, social-constructionist perspective, and considers change in organizations as constituted by alterations in people’s understandings, encoded in narratives, and shared in conversations. The thesis draws on prior publications in the fields of narrative and organizational change, including the sensemaking, power and identity literatures. Data was co-created through sixty-six semi-structured interviews in a single, multi-site case study, augmented by informal observations and assessment of written materials. The research account tells the stories of: organizational change; the responses from members to change; and the shifts in power, control and autonomy. These narratives of change were prepared through an interpretive analysis of the interview transcripts, and the study provides a reflexive commentary on the research, through vignettes of the researcher’s experience. In the discussion, three readings interpret the case study from a narrative, an organizational change and an autoethnographic perspective. The primary contribution of the thesis is empirical, providing an in-depth case study that describes a complex organizational landscape, at two luxury hotels, into which a managerial initiative, Shine, was launched, and addresses the limited presence of narrative case studies on change. Through the application of existing theory to this empirical resource, the thesis contributes to understandings of sensemaking, power and identity during continuous change. The study argues for the significance of reflexivity in storytelling research, and the need for practitioners to embrace the socially constructed nature of ‘realities’ in working with organizational change. More generally, the thesis has demonstrated the value of a storytelling approach to understanding the complexities of organizational change, while identifying limitations to plurivocal storytelling as a research method.
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Uspenskiy, Dmitry. "Change management approach for enterprise transformation and improvement." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/83807.
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Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, February 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. "September 2012."
Includes bibliographical references (pages 80-82).
Enterprises, companies and organizations around the world strive to achieve competitive advantage by designing and implementing more advanced business and organizational architectures, streamlined and robust processes and structures, and effective and scalable management systems and practices. Industry, academia and management consulting companies have developed a variety of organizational models, change frameworks and transformation roadmaps to facilitate and to support business improvement activities and initiatives. The overall change management landscape, however, remains rather vague, overlapping and fragmented at the same time. To reduce this ambiguity and to be able to make a better-educated choice of models and frameworks to use, a close examination, classification, mapping and analysis of leading models and frameworks is conducted here. Common themes and distinct features are identified. An alternative high level organizational model is proposed. The coupled nature and duality of organizational models and change frameworks are identified and explored. Macro and meso levels of change management are considered and bridged via the classification of change management actions and interventions and the decomposition of change management planning and transformation design phases. To complement high level change management frameworks with applied tools, a change management projects scoring approach called "BLUE-over-RED" is proposed. In addition, an attempt to formulate a formal problem of organization transition trajectory optimization using the apparatus of operations research and graph theory is made.
by Dmitry Uspenskiy.
S.M.in Engineering and Management
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Meola, Joseph. "A model-based approach to hyperspectral change detection." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1320847592.
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Davies, Chris. "Sustained organisational change : a hearts and minds approach." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2008. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/13856.
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This thesis explores the 'Hearts & Minds' approach to managing organisational change. It is based on the author's extensive experience as a management consultant over a period of approximately ten years working with companies that range from small to medium size enterprises to large multi-national organisations. The thesis presents a coherent discourse on some of the problems associated with organisations undergoing significant changes due to a range of factors including, downsizing, restructuring, take-overs, and so on. Within the context of a rapidly changing business environment driven by a global economy, the thesis provides a number of case studies, focusing on the Hearts & Minds approach to developing an appropriate management infrastructure that is best suited to a given organisation. The thesis reports on a number of field studies that provide evidence of the Hearts & Minds approach to change management in terms of introducing an open and transparent approach to personal motivation and team building. This includes the development of a quantitative model for understanding the underlying structures which define organisations of all types irrespective of their size. The model helps to quantify the principles that are inherent in the 'dynamics' of an organisation to which change management is applied and is based on understanding an organisation in terms of a non-stationary self-affine system .for which a computational measure (the Hurst dimension) can be used to measure the coherence of information flow through an organisation. The applications of the model, results and conclusions of the thesis are wide ranging and in principle, should be applicable to a number of organisations and businesses; for industry, commerce and the financial sector. Above all, the thesis attempts to provide a unified account of the issues associated with change management that are becoming vital in industry and commerce and are of international significance as we are required increasingly to function with increased efficiency in an international arena that is undergoing continuous and rapid change.
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CAVALCANTI, Yguaratã Cerqueira. "An automated approach to assign software change requests." Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 2014. https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/12391.
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The efficient management of Change Requests (CRs) is fundamental for successful software maintenance; however the assignment of CRs to developers is an expensive aspect in this regard, due to the time and expertise demanded. To overcome this, researchers have proposed automated approaches for CR assignment. Although these proposals present advances to this topic, they do not consider many factors inherent to the assignments, such as: developers’ workload, CRs severity, interpersonal relationships, and developers know-how. Actually, as we demonstrate in this work, CR assignment is a complex activity and automated approaches cannot rely on simplistic solutions. Ideally, it is necessary to consider and reason over contextual information in order to provide an effective automation. In this regarding, this work proposes, implements, and validates a context-aware architecture to automate CR assignment. The architecture emphasizes the need for considering the different information available at the organization to provide a more context-aware solution to automated CR assignment. The development of such architecture is supported by evidence synthesized from two empirical studies: a survey with practitioners and a systematic mapping study. The survey provided us with a set of requirements that automated approaches should satisfy. In the mapping study, in turn, we figured out how state-of-the-art approaches are implemented in regarding to these requirements, concluding that many of them are not satisfied. In addition, new requirements were identified in this mapping study. For the implementation of the proposed architecture, we developed a strategy to automate CR assignments which is based on two main components: a Rule-Based Expert System (RBES) and an Information Retrieval (IR) model. The strategy coordinately applies these two components in different steps to find the potential developer to a CR. The RBES takes care of the simple and complex rules necessary to consider contextual information in the assignments, e.g., to prevent assigning a CR to a busy or unavailable developer. Since these rules vary from one organization/project to another, the RBES facilitates their modification for different contexts. On the other hand, the IR model is useful to make use of the historical information of CR assignments to match CRs and developers. Results from the validation study showed that our solution is promising. It is, by comparing the solution with an approach that uses only a machine learning algorithm, such as the Support Vector Machine (SVM), we could improve the accuracy of assignments by almost 50%. The analysis of the solution’s payoff also pointed that such an accuracy is able to pay for the efforts necessary to deploy the solution.-------------------------------------O gerenciamento eficiente de solicitações de mudança (SM) é fundamental para o sucesso das atividades de manutenção e evolução de software. Entretanto, a atribuição de SMs a desenvolvedores é um aspecto custoso desse gerenciamento, pois demanda tempo e conhecimento apropriado do projeto de software. Várias pesquisas já propuseram métodos de atribuição automática de SMs. Embora representem avanços na área, existem fatores inerentes a atribuição de SMs que não são considerados nessas pesquisas e são essenciais para a automação. Como demonstrado nesse trabalho, a atribuição automática deve, por exemplo, considerar a carga de trabalho, a experiência e o conhecimento dos desenvolvedores, a prioridade e a severidade das SMs, a afinidade dos desenvolvedores com os problemas descritos nas SMs, e até mesmo os relacionamentos interpessoais. Para tornar esse cenário ainda mais complexo, esses fatos podem variar de acordo com o projeto de software que está sendo desenvolvido. Assim, uma solução para o problema de atribuição de SMs depende de informações contextuais. Assim, esse trabalho propõe, implementa e valida uma solução arquitetural sensível ao contexto para atribuição automática de SMs. Dado o aspecto contextual da solução, a arquitetura considera diversas fontes de informações presentes na organização, assim como a necessidade de se desenvolver algorítimos que implementem diferentes estratégias de atribuição. Nossa proposta de solução é embasada em resultados de duas pesquisas quantitativas: um estudo de mapeamento sistemático da literatura, e uma pesquisa de questionário com desenvolvedores de software. Esse último forneceu um conjunto de requisitos que a solução automatizada deve satisfazer para que as estratégias de atribuição sejam atendidas, enquanto o mapeamento da literatura identificou técnicas, algoritmos, e outros requisitos necessários a automação. A implementação da arquitetura segue uma estratégia de automação, definida nesse trabalho, que possui dois componentes principais: um sistema especialista baseado em regras (SEBR); e um modelo de recuperação de informação (MRI) com técnicas de aprendizagem. Em nossa estratégia, esses dois componentes são executados alternadamente em momentos diferentes a fim de atribuir uma SM automaticamente. O SEBR processa regras, considerando informações contextuais do projeto de software e da organização que o desenvolve. O MRI é utilizado para fazer o casamento entre SMs e desenvolvedores de acordo com o histórico de atribuições. Os resultados do estudo de validação apontaram que a solução é promissora. Isto é, ao compararmos nossa solução com uma abordagem que utiliza apenas um algoritmo de aprendizado de máquina, como o Support Vector Machine (SVM), pudemos melhorar em quase 50% a acurácia de atribuição. Já a análise de custo de implantação apontou que a acurácia atingida pela solução possui um bom custo benefício.
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Horrigan, Leonie Maree. "A Paradox-Based Approach to the Study and Practice of Organisational Change." Thesis, Griffith University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367737.
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This thesis examined the usefulness of a paradox-based approach to the study and practice of organisational change. Lewis (2000) defines paradox as contradictory yet interrelated elements that seem logical in isolation but absurd and irrational when appearing simultaneously. Given that organisational change is inherently complex and contradictory (e.g., Cameron & Quinn, 1988), paradox is proposed as a means of providing researchers, practitioners, and organisational members with a new way of thinking about, and working with, the complex nature of change. Three studies were undertaken to investigate the contribution of paradox to the study and practice of organisational change. The first study was concerned with identifying a comprehensive set of the paradoxes relevant to organisational change. This study utilised an interview-based methodology to identify change-related paradoxes for three organisational stakeholder groups, namely managers, change agents, and change participants. Ten managers, ten change agents, and ten change participants working in professional and administrative roles within a large Australian University participated in the study. Results identified 16 different change-related paradoxes, 15 of which were similar to organisational paradoxes that had been previously identified in the literature. There were both similarities and differences in paradox identification between the three stakeholder groups. Three of the 16 paradoxes were identified by all three stakeholder groups, while others were identified by two out of the three groups, or by just one group independent of the other two. Change agents demonstrated a unique ability to identify paradoxes that had also been identified by either managers, or change participants. The paradoxes uniquely identified by the different stakeholder groups seemed to be consistent with the role expectations and role identities for the groups. This study builds on existing literature by using empirical methods to specify exactly which paradoxes are relevant to the study and practice of organisational change. It also demonstrates that all three organisational stakeholder groups are able to identify change-related paradoxes. The purpose of the second research study was to better understand how each of the three stakeholder groups interpret the paradoxes relevant to organisational change. Twenty managers, 19 change agents, and 19 change participants in professional and administrative positions within a large Australian University completed a 307-item paired-comparison questionnaire suitable for multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS). The items in the questionnaire were generated using 13 of the 16 paradoxes identified in the first study.
MDS was used to reveal the underlying structure of the data set for all three stakeholder groups. Results found four-dimensional solutions for all groups. The dimensions were sufficiently similar across the groups to produce a fourth solution using the three groups combined. The four paradoxical dimensions identified in this solution were: approach to change (participative versus directive); scope of change (incremental versus transformational); attitude to change (acceptance-oriented versus action-oriented), and focus of change (local-level versus system-level). The first two of these dimensions had been identified previously in the literature while the third and fourth dimensions add to the existing literature. This four-dimensional solution offers a practical framework to aid the study and practice of organisational change. External unfolding analysis was used to aid in the interpretation of the MDS solutions. This analysis considered the extent to which each of the items in the questionnaire were perceived to result in resistance to change, achieving the intended outcomes of the change, and achieving satisfying change outcomes. For all four solutions, results were significant for approach to change. Participative change was associated with more satisfying change outcomes, and directive change was associated with greater change resistance, and greater likelihood of achieving the intended outcomes of the change. The third research study was concerned with demonstrating that identification and resolution of change-related paradox is a learnable skill and can therefore be improved through training. Sixty-three participants (29 men and 34 women) occupying professional and administrative roles at a large public sector organisation participated in the study. Participants were allocated to either a control or experimental group. Case studies were used to provide time 1 and time 2 measures of both groups' ability to identify and resolve paradox. A training intervention methodology was developed based on a review of the adult learning and training literatures, as well as previously-utilised methodologies of paradox identification and resolution identified from the literature. The four-dimensional schema of change-related paradox developed in the second research study was used to define the four paradoxes in the training intervention. A 2 x 2 repeated measures MANOVA was used to test whether training improved the ability to identify paradox. Results found that training improved participants' ability to identify the approach to change and scope of change paradoxes, but not the focus of change paradox. Eight Wilcoxin Signed-Ranks tests were used to determine whether training improved ability to resolve change-related paradox. Results showed that training improved the ability to resolve the approach to change, scope of change, and attitude to change paradoxes, but not the focus of change paradox. Resolution was also found to be relatively infrequent among participants, suggesting that it is a difficult undertaking.
It was concluded that a paradox-based approach to the study and practice of organisational change is useful in that it offers a new framework to inform change theory and enhance change implementation.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Psychology
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Coppin, Darren. "A psychosocial stage of change approach to unemployment: A psychosocial, stage of change approach to improve employment outcomes for the unemployed." Thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2018. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/a32d0047127fe68955837360512f8fb849e4be1878c942fad03d8f706d75d139/2739112/Coppin_2018_A_psychosocial_stage_of_change_approach.pdf.
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Unemployment has been found to have a detrimental impact on an individual’s well-being and mental health. This thesis aims to enhance our understanding of whether all jobseekers are truly jobseeking and explore what can be done to support behaviour changes in those who are not initially committed to returning to work. A first study tested the predictive validity of a stage of change measure on the re-employment success of 1,247 unemployed Australians. The study evidenced that different stages of commitment to jobseeking exist, and re-employment success rates corresponded to the predictions of the transtheoretical model of change. The stages are precontemplation (not considering getting a job), contemplation (not yet trying to get a job), preparation (wanting a job, but lacking confidence) and the action stage (actively seeking a job). This study uncovered a new stage of change, labelled unauthentic action (going through the motions of seeking a job without genuine commitment or confidence in gaining one). A second study tested the hypothesis that interventions focused on building well-being, resilience and self-efficacy may be packaged into a single psychosocial workshop (PS) to improve re-employment rates in a treatment group of 16- to 25-year-old unemployed Australians (N=75) versus a comparison group who received treatment as usual (TAU. N=257). The treatment group achieved significantly higher re-employment and sustained employment (13 weeks+) outcomes. A third study applied this PS intervention on a larger scale to adult jobseekers (N=2,459, with 549 randomly assigned to the PS program and 1,910 to TAU), measuring responses to the treatment corresponding to different stages of change. An important focus of the study was evaluating the extent to which the PS intervention effects were moderated by key variables in addition to the jobseeker’s stage of change. These variables included gender, age, location and length of time unemployed. As hypothesised, the PS intervention had varying effects corresponding with different stages of readiness to change. It was more effective than TAU among people classified as being in the precontemplation, contemplation, unauthentic action and preparation stages. However, the PS intervention added no value above TAU for those classified in the action stage (actively seeking a job). Study IV sought to build on Studies II and III by adding a customised one-to-one coaching program that was stage-matched to a jobseeker’s readiness for change, in addition to the group workshops. Given the ineffectiveness of the PS intervention for those in the action stage, and for pragmatic reasons, this group was provided only with the stage-matched coaching treatment. Variables were tracked to establish whether demographics such as age, gender, region, government jobseeker classification (‘stream’) and ethnicity impacted the efficacy of the intervention. This study involved 20,057 jobseekers who were randomly assigned to either the PS intervention (N=8,028) or TAU (N=12,029). The intervention, comprising both the PS intervention and stage-matched coaching, was more effective than TAU regardless of stage of change, age, gender and ethnicity (e.g. indigenous versus non-indigenous). The intervention was not effective for those living in remote areas and may have even had a negative influence. In this thesis, we discuss the importance of considering stage of change and context when utilising positive PS interventions to improve re-employment rates for the unemployed.
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Ginyigazi, Zanele. "Application of a conceptual change approach to teach the Quantitative aspects of chemical change." University of the Western Cape, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/5922.
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Magister Educationis - MEd (Mathematics and Science Education)The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a conceptual change approach to improve learners" understanding of the quantitative aspects of chemical change. The poor performance in physical science in the National Senior Certificate examination in the Eastern Cape was the catalyst for the study. This study is underpinned by the theories of constructivism and conceptual change. A purposive sample of a Grade 11 physical science class of 50 learners was selected. Twelve learners from the class were selected to be interviewed. A case study and mixed approach with qualitative and quantitative instruments were used in the data collection process. A pre-test was used as a baseline evaluation of the misconceptions. Intervention in the form of a lesson presentation was administered to address the four stages of the conceptual change approach. A post-test was given immediately after the lesson presentation to evaluate whether conceptual change had occurred. Analysis of the pre-test and post-test results showed an improvement on learners" scientific understanding of the concept quantitative aspect of chemical change. This study provided evidence that a Conceptual Change Framework was effective in changing learners" misconceptions and facilitated greater conceptual understanding. Thus, syllabi should be developed and implemented to ensure that all learners have the opportunity to learn and understand difficult concepts using the conceptual change framework. This key recommendation promotes the use of a well-designed Conceptual Change instructional approach that leads to significantly better acquisition of scientific concepts.
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Lipin, Tan. "Climate Change in China : Exploring Informants' Perceptions of Climate Change through a Qualitative Approach." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Tema Miljöförändring, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-129326.
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Climate change is not only a natural phenomenon, but also a global social issue. Many studies try to explore the mechanisms behind climate change and the consequences of climate change, and provide information for developing the measures to mitigate or adapt to it. For example, the IPCC reviews and assesses climate-change-related scientific information produced worldwide, thus aiming to support decision-making from a scientific perspective. However, though various international and regional climate change policies are developed to combat climate change, yet the implementation of climate change policies need to be further improved, especially requiring active public engagement in taking actions on climate change. The policies regarding saving energy and reducing emissions are closely related to people’s daily life, which requires the public actively change their consumption habits and lifestyle. China, as the biggest GHG emitter, is stressed to reduce its emissions during previous climate negotiations. This thesis emphasizes the severity of climate change in China through reviewing relevant studies and visualizing China’s future climate change, which meanwhile points out the necessity of addressing climate change in China. In addition, China’s climate change policies and the achievements thereof is critically reviewed, which reveals the existing problems and difficulties of policy implementation, and thereby emphasizes the importance of public engagement in implementing climate change policy. Moreover, 26 informants have been interviewed through China’s biggest social media – Tencent QQ, through which informants’ perceptions of climate change, expressed attitudes to and reported actions of addressing climate change is analysed. Furthermore, barriers to informants’ engagement with climate change is exposed. Accordingly, this thesis discusses several suggestions for enhancing public engagement with climate change.
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Sherman, Jessica Rose. "NGOs, evaluation, and social change: A case study approach." Diss., Connect to online resource, 2005. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/colorado/fullcit?p1430193.
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Trost, Parnell Stirling. "A broad approach to the study of rural change." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Geography, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/4705.
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This thesis contributes to the growing debate within rural geography as to the role of broader social theory. The debate centres upon the need for a broader, more structural approach to the analysis of rural change. An increasing number of geographers are campaigning for this perspective as it enables researchers to explore the wider processes within society and to develop an understanding of how communities are tied together, in both a social and an economic sense. Traditional, applied research has not provided a high degree of insight into the forces at work within rural society. The tendency has been to examine the changes in land use and settlement in isolation, rather than setting them within a broader framework.
The majority of this thesis will be used to outline the argument for a broader research perspective within rural geography. It will look at why a broader context is important and how this approach can contribute to our understanding of societal change. The major reason for incorporating a broader perspective into rural analysis is to develop a better understanding of the whole environment in which farmers, business leaders, and households operate. It enables geographers to explore the political pressures on rural communities, as well as the socio-economic conditions within each region. This insight is critical for understanding the direction of rural activity, and for identifying the trade-offs that decision makers are compelled to make. In particular, it helps to clarify the role played by national and international conditions in the rural community. It sheds light on how changing international commodity markets effect farm behaviour and how modifications in national planning policy influence the pattern of new development. A broader perspective is also important for studying the class and power relations within society. It enables geographers to identify which classes dominate the political process and control access to resources, and why.
The thesis will also be used to demonstrate that a broader research approach can be brought into rural geography without sacrificing the essential elements of the discipline, principally the traditional focus on ‘place’ and ‘spatial diversity’. This point is highlighted in a detailed case study of Canterbury. The study shows how general and are specific trends can be analysed to create a comprensive picture of the Canterbury economy and its development over time. This is a critical issue, as one of the major reservations geographers have had about broader structural approaches is their tendency to eschew local conditions. If geographers can be shown that it is possible to retain a local perspective alongside a structural approach, then there should be an increased willingness to accept the necessity for a broader perspective on rural change.
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Clark, Sarah Helen Elizabeth. "Holocene environmental change in northeast Scotland : a palaeonentomogical approach." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.247191.
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Dimond, Anthony James. "Systems thinking in technical change : an analogical modelling approach." Thesis, City University London, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.276617.
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Strohmaier, David. "Problematic situations, preference change, and negotiations : a philosophical approach." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2018. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/20911/.
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For many of the large-scale problems facing humanity, individuals lack the power to address them on their own. We might call upon group agents such as states or corporations to solve them for us. Problems such as climate change, however, are of such a scope and magnitude that no single group agent can deal with them effectively. To achieve a cooperative solution, groups must negotiate with one another on how to address these problems. Contributing to our understanding of how humanity can deal with such large-scale problems, the present thesis offers a theory of negotiating group agents. After an introduction, chapters two, three, and four offer a philosophical reconstruction of the sociological Negotiated Order approach. At the core of these chapters is a pragmatist theory of motivational change in social contexts, which I contrast with standard rational choice theory. The Negotiated Order approach argues that many social phenomena, such as organisations, function based on motivational change occurring in the context of informal negotiations. Chapter five discusses group agency and argues that functionalist accounts of group agency are a promising approach for extending the Negotiated Order approach. The sixth and final chapter returns to the original motivation for developing a theory of negotiating group agents. It shows that in the case of climate change negotiations, the Negotiated Order account offers a different and promising perspective than standard rational choice models. In addition, the thesis includes an appendix which discusses Dewey’s theory of choice and proposes a way of formalising its pragmatist take on preference change.
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Dickinson, Maria Grace. "Climate change impacts on species : a trait-based approach." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/39389.
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O'Connor, Maureen. "Understanding sensemaking in organisational change : a cognitive mapping approach." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2017. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7164/.
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In this thesis I argue for consideration of an anticipatory level of sensemaking that influences how individuals think about and respond to organisational change. In asking how knowledgeable agents understand an altered environment, I adopt a holistic view of organisational and cognitive sensemaking literatures, to produce a sensemaking template identifying four key relational influences: Equilibration, Intentionality, Temporal Context, and Knowledge Structures. The sensemaking template is used to inform the design of an interpretive study. A single local authority in the West Midlands region of England is the setting for the field research which was working to meet increasing demands for local services against a backdrop of austerity budgets and decreasing resources in 2012-2013. I employ cognitive mapping as part of a multi-method approach to identify previously tacit frames of reference used by research participants in making sense of self-selected episodes of change in the organisation. In arguing that organisational change emerges through the enactment of cognitive agency, I use empirical data to expound on a previously invisible sensemaking process that is complex and nuanced, and which offers methodological, theoretical and analytical contributions to knowledge.
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Richardson, Thomas Benjamin. "Regional prediction of rainfall change : an energy budget approach." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2017. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/17860/.
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Changes in the hydrological cycle are one of the most important aspects of climate change prediction. Globally, precipitation change is well understood in terms of the atmospheric energy budget, whereby the latent heat released is balanced by net atmospheric cooling. As a result, forcing agents affect precipitation directly through forcing-dependent adjustments, as well as through temperature-driven feedbacks. However, the physical processes driving regional precipitation changes are less understood, particularly over land, and regional projections exhibit significant uncertainties. The global energetic perspective can be extended to regional scales through incorporating horizontal transport of dry static energy. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to utilize analysis of the local atmospheric energy budget to improve understanding of how forcing agents affect regional precipitation patterns through both forcing-dependent adjustments and temperature-driven feedbacks. The precipitation response to a range of atmospheric forcing agents was analysed using the Met Office Hadley Centre climate model, HadGEM2, as well as output from a large number of the latest generation of global climate models. Land-mean precipitation was shown to have a weak sensitivity to global temperature change. Therefore, adjustment processes have a strong influence on land-mean precipitation trends. During the historical period temperature-driven intensification of land-mean precipitation has been entirely masked by negative adjustments in response to anthropogenic sulphate and volcanic forcing. However, as projected sulphate concentrations decline, temperature-driven changes will soon dominate. The rapid land surface response to forcing was found to play a key role in driving regional precipitation adjustment patterns. Adjustment processes were found to be particularly important for precipitation in the eastern Amazon. Projected drying of the eastern Amazon was shown to be dominated by the physiological effects of CO2 on plant stomata, through reducing evapotranspiration. These results highlight the importance of short-timescale adjustment processes in understanding historical and future precipitation changes over land.
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Fry, Ellen Louise. "Climate change implications for grassland ecosystems : a biodiversity approach." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/9076.
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Grassland species assemblages are vulnerable to changes in rainfall patterns, with consequences of change including less species-rich communities, and changes in carbon, nitrogen and hydrological cycles. Research has indicated that increasing species diversity can lead to better resource and water use efficiency, and experiments are now targeted at identifying species characteristics that can modify ecosystem responses to climate change. This thesis aimed to evaluate the extent plant functional diversity can modify the effect of climate change in a field experiment on acid grassland in South-East England. Other climate scenarios, namely spring and summer drought, and highly variable rainfall were tested concurrently, and a modelling technique was developed to predict ecosystem functions from abiotic and plant trait-based variables. Climate change treatments generally decreased rates of ecosystem processes such as mineralisation and ecosystem respiration. Plots dominated by perennial plant species exhibited lower rates of processes such as net ecosystem CO2 exchange and soil respiration under climate stress. Results suggest annual plants are adapted to take advantage of very small rainfall input, and are less affected by climate change, thus generally maintaining overall ecosystem function through times of drought. A spring and summer drought regime was associated with slowing of ecosystem processes. This treatment was more deleterious to ecosystem function than increasing rainfall variability, where process rates did not differ discernibly from ambient, although plants suffered a higher level of dieback in general. While climate change could have detrimental effects on all aspects of ecosystem function, using information regarding species traits which are more resistant to climate change may aid grassland management in order to preserve more vulnerable species. Experiments such as these are vital to further understanding of the links between plant community composition and ecosystem function in order to target management schemes and policy to reduce the effects of climate change.
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Marks, Lori J., E. Ralston, and L. McCammon. "Partners in Change: A Collaborative Approach to Personnel Preparation." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 1994. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/3577.
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Williams, Ken, of Western Sydney Hawkesbury University, and Faculty of Agriculture and Rural Development. "From the change without to the change within : a group dynamic approach to action research." THESIS_FARD_XXX_Williams_K.xml, 1992. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/88.
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This thesis details an action research project conducted into the theme of 'improving the functioning of a Faculty of Agriculture'. The Faculty had been changing to an experiential paradigm of learning over a period of ten years when the research began. The initial impetus for the research was a feeling of concern by many members of the Faculty about the impacts of this change. A research team of six members, which met regularly for 12 months, was organised. The research began with the assumption 'that an Action Research team can intervene in the life of an organisation for the benefit of that organisation, to bring about situation improvement'. There was an initial expectation that issues of accountability, responsibility and management within the Faculty, would be the focus of the research team. However, during the course of the research, the personal professional practice of the researchers became the focus. Analysis of the data highlighted a link between the technical, practical and emancipatory modes of Action Research, and the four stages of group development - dependency, conflict, cohesion and interdependency. The role of facilitation in the conduct of Action Research was highlighted, and the nature of the 'client' role was subjected to scrutiny. The wider ramifications of this research are discussed, particularly as they relate to the role of Action Research in improving large organisations, and as a tool to improve farming communities. In both cases, the concept of the 'critical community' was emphasised as an ideal to be aimed for in Action Research teams. To achieve such a group, the belief systems of members need to be brought out, to enable a group to develop in its interactions to a stage where issues can be properly dealt with, rather than only the assumed symptoms of underlying issues. A process of critique and reflection in an immediate and ongoing way has been shown to assist in this process of group development towards a critical communityMaster of Science (Hons)
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Branch, Laurie A. "ATTENTIONAL CHANGE: EXPLORING THE ROLE OF ATTENTION IN SHAPING CHANGE DECISIONS: A MIXED METHODS APPROACH." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1417763129.
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Erkal, Hakan, and Sinan Kebapci. "Resistance to Change : A Constructive Approach for Managing Resistant Behaviors." Thesis, University of Kalmar, Baltic Business School, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hik:diva-1813.
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This study aims to understand, describe, and analyze the factors that lead employees resist organizational change efforts. More specifically, by locating various types of roots and symptoms of resistance, we have developed a framework which managers or individuals, who plan to initiate a change program, can use to manage resistance and to benefit, if exist, from the constructive value of resistant behaviors of employees. Findings are drawn from the reinterpretation of two case studies which were conducted on the area. While the first one involves introduction of activity-based costing system in a Portuguese telecommunications company, second one analyzes implementation of a new management program, called BATON, in a university funded research organization. By relying on these case studies, existing models and concepts related to resistance were tested, reinterpreted and an alternative framework to manage resistance is developed. As a result of the study, it is found that despite the amount of theoretical concepts and tools, there is still an important deficiency in terms of resistance management, and managers usually tend to employ pre-set methods to overcome resistance in change management. Findings of the thesis provide those who plan to start and implement change programs with a comprehensive framework to locate, understand and analyze resistance and to take appropriate managerial actions in organizational change efforts.
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Onder, Ismail. "The Effect Of Conceptual Change Approach On Students&." Phd thesis, METU, 2006. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12607345/index.pdf.
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The main purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of instructions one based on conceptual change approach and the other based on traditional chemistry instruction on tenth grade high school students’
understanding of solubility equilibrium concept. In addition, students&
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attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject and toward conceptual change texts were investigated. Moreover, students&
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science process skills were also investigated. 125 tenth grade students from four classes of a chemistry course taught by three teachers in Kocatepe Mimar Kemal High School in 2004-2005 spring semesters were enrolled in the study. Quasi-experimental research design where intact groups were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, was applied since it was difficult to arrange students randomly to experimental and control groups. Students in experimental group instructed by conceptual change approach in which conceptual change texts were used. On the other hand, in control group students were instructed by traditionally designed chemistry instruction. Solution concept test was administered as a pre test before the study to all groups. In addition, science process skill test and attitude scale toward chemistry as a school subject were also administered to students before the study. Solubility equilibrium concept test was administered as a post test to all groups. Moreover, each group also received attitude scale toward chemistry after the treatment and the students in experimental group also received attitude scale toward conceptual change texts after the treatment. The hypotheses were tested by using correlation analysis, t-test, ANOVA and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The results indicated that instruction based on conceptual change approach caused significantly better acquisition of concepts related to solubility equilibrium than the traditionally designed chemistry instruction. In addition, no significant difference was found between experimental group and control group students with respect to attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject. However, significant mean difference was found between male and female students with respect to both their attitudes toward chemistry and their attitudes toward CCTs. Moreover, no relationship was obtained between attitudes toward CCTs and understanding of solubility equilibrium concept. In addition, students&
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science process skills and prior achievements were strong predictor of understanding of concepts related to solubility equilibrium. On the other hand, no significant effect of interaction between gender difference and treatment with respect to both students&
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understanding of solubility equilibrium concept and their attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject was found. Results obtained revealed that students have several misconceptions that hinder learning, related to solubility equilibrium concept. Therefore, it is important to find ways for remediation of those misconceptions. Therefore, the effectiveness of instruction based on CCA in which CCTs were used in this study on remediation of misconceptions and enhancing understanding of solubility equilibrium concept compared to instruction based on traditional methods was investigated and instruction based on CCA was found more effective.
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Molson, Margo Antonie 1955. "Staff development : facilitating change within classrooms using a constructivist approach." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/31242.
Full textAbstract:
Staff developers are facing new challenges in the 1990's in British Columbia as secondary education is criticized not only for what it teaches, but also, for how it is being taught. This project addresses the very complex nature of improving the learning situation of students by focusing on staff development. This study documents the inservice, implementation and teacher responses to a model for staff development at a secondary school which included:
1. the introduction of new teaching strategies which supported learner-focused classroom practice
2. teacher collaboration and peer support
3. the theory of constructivism and its incorporation into classroom practice.
To gain some insight into teachers' perceptions of new teaching strategies and skills, collaboration, and a constructivist approach to classroom practice was one major research strand. Another strand of the research investigated the process of change as facilitated through staff development. Specifically, the intent of the study was to identify and elaborate on those factors which are liberating and prone to influence in a process known as staff development and to recognize those factors which are resistant and tend to act as barriers to change.
Data for this study was gained by following a study group of six secondary teachers from three curricular disciplines over a time period of three months. Group interviews during the study and individual interviews at the end of the study were collected and transcribed. The responses of the participants to the research questions are reported in detail in an effort to preserve the contextual influences. Through these responses the reader can enter into the individuals' thought processes as participants reflect upon their personal experiences with the challenge of change.
The findings of this study support and extend the literature on important components and influences to staff development. In particular, this study gained further insight into:
1. how a constructivist approach can be translated into a model of staff development
2. how influences, such as peer collaboration and peer support enhanced a change in classroom practice.
3. how a change incorporating a constructivist approach to teaching is more likely to be assimilated by an individual who has a transactional or transformational orientation to curriculum. A transmissive orientation to teaching acts as somewhat of a barrier to the conceptual change of a constructivist approach.
4. how the motivation and teacher satisfaction for participating in change is determined to a degree by perceived improvements in learning by students.
5. how all participants experienced change but the nature of that change was very individual, gradual, and incremental in nature along the continuum from teacher to learner-focused education.
The study concludes with recommendations for individuals planning staff development which incorporates the research findings.Science, Faculty of
Mathematics, Department of
Graduate
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Powney, Gary. "Understanding drivers of species distribution change : a trait-based approach." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/39367.
Full textAbstract:
The impacts of anthropogenic environmental change on biodiversity are well documented, with threats such as habitat loss and climate change identified as causes of change in species distributions. The high degree of variation in responses of species to environmental change can be partly explained through comparative analyses of species traits. I carried out a phylogenetically informed trait-based analysis of plant range change in Britain, discovering that traits associated with competitive ability and habitat specialism both explained variation in range changes. Competitive, habitat generalists out-perform ed species specialised to nutrient-poor conditions; a result which can be attributed to the impact of agricultural intensification in Britain. A limitation of the comparative approach is that the models do not directly test the impact of environmental change on species distribution patterns, but instead infer potential impacts. I tested the potential of comparative analyses from a spatial context by conducting a spatial analysis of plant distribution change in Britain, examining the direct impact of environmental change on the spatial distribution of the trait characteristics of species that have gone locally extinct. I discovered a loss of species associated with nitrogen poor soils in regions that had an increase in arable land cover, a result that supports the results from the trait-based analysis of plant range change and demonstrates that comparative studies can accurately infer drivers of distribution change. I found that the cross-region transferability of trait-based models of range change to be related to land cover similarity, highlighting that the trait-based approach is dependent on a regional context. Additionally, I discovered that traits derived from distribution data were significant predictors of range shift across many taxonomic groups, out-performing traditional life history traits. This thesis highlights the potential of the data accumulated through the increased public participation in biological recording to address previously unanswerable ecological research questions.
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Males, Jeanne. "Art therapy as an approach to change in mental handicap." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1986. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/804393/.
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Mello, Luiz Reis de. "Technological change in capital requirement matrices : a balanced growth approach." Thesis, University of Kent, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.334042.
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Gooday, John M. "A transition-based approach to reasoning about action and change." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.260699.
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O'Donnell, Hoare Nicholas. "Disruptive Futuring : a new design approach to addressing climate change." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2018. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/86428669-6bf5-498d-a47c-ae3f85788b2b.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis outlines the notion of 'Disruptive Futuring' as a new design methodology to addressing climate change. It is founded on making a connection between our behaviour as individuals and the environment. Since the publishing of 'Our Common Future' (Brundtland Commission.1987) major bodies have been publicly documenting the damage that climate change is having on the planet. This has been followed by the creation of United Nations Climate Change Conference international incentives including the Kyoto Protocol and national attempts including government departments and NGO projects. All have been directed to address the issue of climate change but have seen minimal success. Psychology plays a significant role in understanding and promoting human behavioural change and how we prioritise particular decisions or actions. However, until recently it has carried less weight in a design approach to solving behavioural problems in climate change. The primary issue is that climate change isn't a normal behavioural problem, and numerous psychologists including Stoknes (2015) highlight its incompatibility with innate human motivation. Newly explored areas within psychology and behavioural economics expose some of the reasons we may react to climate change with lower importance then other less damaging problems. Disruptive Futuring provides a new methodology based on thinkers such as Fogg (2002), Gilbert (2015), Dubner and Levitt. (2009), Marshall(2014), Pink(2009) and Stoknes (2015) to improve quantitative and qualitative adoption of designed interventions aimed at changing behaviours in order to accelerate human actions affecting climate change. This thesis takes a research through design approach that incorporates reflective practice. The research builds upon a literature review evaluating our connection with climate change, resulting in combining behavioural psychology with mapping and lens methods. Disruptive Futuring is presented as anew design methodology that develops new types of behavioural change using what Thaler & Sunstein (2009) describe as "Nudge" as a process to reroute people to new actions and flows in their everyday lives. These behavioural changes are achieved through framing climate change in ways humans are motivated by. Three practice-based projects pilot the methodology of Disruptive Futuring by exploring the topics of energy, water and food. These areas were selected because of their significance to our physiological requirements as highlighted by Maslow (1943). The projects result in three systems-based interventions aimed at changing behaviours that negatively impact climate change. It is observed through reflection that this methodology provides a context for designers to work in an oblique way; it has a preference to influence thinking and designing in systems; and that complex psychological concepts can be applied through designed interventions that reduce the conflict between our psychological composition and the human perception of climate change. This research explores the capability and capacity for Disruptive Futuring to bring climate change psychology into a unified way for designers to use during the conception and research stages of designing interventions, technology or services that target behavioural change, decisions making and create new ways of living to have less impact on climate change.
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Fjellstedt, Lyndsey. "Examining Multidimensional Resistance to Organizational Change| A Strong Structuration Approach." Thesis, The George Washington University, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3729974.
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This case study examines response to organizational change and the structuring interactions between knowledgeable agents and organizational context. The conceptual framework for this study combines Piderit’s (2000) concept of multidimensional resistance to change and Stones’ (2005) strong structuration theory in order to investigate external and internal structures and active agency. The research site was a small regional hospital within a large mid-Atlantic health system. The health system introduced a new online reporting system (ORS) in February 2014. This empirical study examined the file manager’s response to ORS change within the organization. Data was collected through observations, documents and interviews with the health system leadership, ORS change agents, and file managers. Stones’ (2005) methodological bracketing approach guided the data collection and analysis.
The study identified the organizational contextual features that shaped the file managers response to organizational change. The findings present the structuring interactions between the internal and external structures as displayed through the active agency of the file managers. By examining the active agency between structures, five primary structuring interactions were identified as shaping the file managers’ response to the ORS change: (1) alignment of values, (2) prioritization, (3) influence, (4) engagement, and (5) managing tension. This study demonstrated that structuring interactions influence the active agency of the file managers related to the ORS change, and shaped file managers multidimensional response to the ORS change across cognitive, emotional, intentional and behavioral dimensions.