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Quintal, Vanessa Ann. "An investigation into the effects of risk and uncertainty on consumers' decision-making processes : a cross-national study." University of Western Australia. Graduate School of Management, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0038.
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[Truncated abstract] Global tourism accounted for US$623 billion in 2004, representing 6% of the world's exports of goods and services (World Tourism Organisation, 2005). In the last decade, natural and man-made disasters have adversely affected the tourism industry. Consequently, the risk and uncertainty associated with travel have increased, potentially impacting on tourists' behaviour. However, while travel motivators have received a great deal of research attention, travel constraints have not been examined to the same degree. The present study explores risk and uncertainty and their roles in people's decisionmaking processes in a tourism context. In doing so, attempts were made to clarify the distinction between the risk and uncertainty constructs, which in prior research often have been used interchangeably, leading to some confusion about their roles. The distinction between the perceptual and attitudinal constructs also was clarified, as prior research into their differential impacts has been limited. To achieve these objectives, data were collected from online research panel members in Australia, the United States (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), New Zealand, South Korea, China and Japan, as part of a larger tourism study. While the majority of the country samples were drawn from the general population, the Japan sample constituted an international
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Brunt, Paul R. "Tourism trip decision making at the sub-regional level." Thesis, Bournemouth University, 1990. http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/449/.
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Tourism Trip Decision Making at the Sub- Regional Level: with special reference to Southern England The research investigated aspects of the decision making processes which influenced the choice of day trip tourism destinations for a sample of the population within the Southern Tourist Board area. The aims were to understand characteristics of day trip activities, to assess the effect of socio-demographic constraints on day trip behaviour, to examine the reasons for day trips, to develop household profiles and to reveal likely patterns of day trip activity. The final aim was to construct a model of day trip decision making. 71be research is based on two questionnaire surveys which produced a range of quantitative and qualitative information. Results from the first survey indicated that social class, age, group type and location of residence were important in understanding general trip \characteristics because of their particular influence on activities, cost, distance and reasons for a trip. The second survey was a longitudinal study of residents of the sub-region. The results showed that there were seven dominant reasons for a day trip, namely, for exercise, to visit friends and relatives, to act as host to friends and relatives, to be with the family, for the children, for a specific purpose and for personal reasons. The results of the diary survey allowed the production of household profiles based on day trip types. Socio- demographic variables which were found to be important influences on trip behaviour were social class, age of the household and the presence of children. A final development of the research was the construction of a model of decision making which showed the relationships of the various aspects which led to a day trip visit.
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Park, Young A. "Investigating online decision-making styles." [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1611.
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Holmes, Mark Edward, and n/a. "Fraud against governments in Australia : reviewing rational and political decision making processes." University of Canberra. Administrative Studies, 1993. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060725.150531.
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Croy, William Glen, and n/a. "The role of film in destination decision-making." University of Otago. Department of Tourism, 2008. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20080404.155622.
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The purpose of this research is to create a method and measure the influence of fictional film media in potential tourists� destination decision-making, using a quasi-experimental method. Film tourism researchers have implied that film plays a direct role in generating tourism. In this research, however, it is proposed that film plays an indirect role through the construction of meaning of place, and therefore destination awareness, availability and evaluation.
A two-part multiphase quasi-experimental method was created and implemented to identify change in a destination�s image due to watching a film. Part One. was qualitative in nature and implemented to discover destination image attributes (evaluative components and decision-making factors) used in destination selection (survey n=202, in-depth interviews n=10). Part One concluded with the compilation of a list of relevant, clear and efficient attributes for Part Two. The list maintained sufficient diversity to define destination image, and was composed of 21 decision-making factors and 40 evaluative components. Part Two then measured the destination�s image, and change in that image due to watching a feature film (pre and post survey n=67). Change in this quasi-experimental method was assessed by the importance of the attributes being measured, the influence of the film on these attributes and most importantly the combined effect of the film on these attributes.
The Vertical Ray of the Sun, a film set in Vietnam, was used to apply and test this innovative quasi-experimental method. The application assessed not only the effect of the film on Vietnam�s image, but also the applicability of the method. The film positively influenced the respondents� image of Vietnam. The film had a measured effect on more than half of the attributes. That noted, the actual number of attributes affected to the marked level were 17 out of 61 for the difference in means and only 11 for the eta� value. Consequently, whilst the film positively affected the image of Vietnam, most of the attributes still needed significant change to modify tourism demand.
The thesis importantly contributed to the study of destination image methodologically by asserting the need to assess the importance, influence and effect. This new method can and should be implemented to assess and monitor the effects of many events. This research also contributed by introducing a quasi-experimental cumulative importance-influence measure of effect. The contribution was highlighted in that those attributes with a large influence did not always have a large effect on the destination�s image. Neither performance by itself, nor importance by itself, can be used as a final effect measure.
Finally, this research supports other film-induced tourism studies: film does influence destination image. As presented in more recent studies film-tourism is more likely to be an incidental experience than a reason to visit a place. These more recent studies too may underplay the role of film by focusing on film as an attraction or activity, rather than its role in the actual decision to visit. This research has contributed to film tourism research by highlighting that film can still play a role in the decision-making process, even though it may not be an attraction or a desired experience in itself.
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Rivers, Gary James. "University selection in Singapore : a case study of students' past and intended decision-making." University of Western Australia. Graduate School of Management, 2005. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2005.0072.
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This research focussed Singaporean student decision-making when choosing an institution for university studies. It is contended that if a university does not understand the dimensions of how prospective students make decisions when choosing an institution it cannot meaningfully offer representation to these potential customers. Fittingly, this thesis drew on past research from buyer behaviour and college choice studies. Adapting an established model of consumer decision-making (Engel, Blackwell and Miniard, 1990), the study investigated the degree of compliance with the Extended Problem Solving concept (Howard, 1963), including what factors determined and influenced choices, and whether students learn from past decisions. To this end, an exploratory / descriptive study used mixed methods (Creswell, 1994) to map out the dimensions of student decision-making within an Australian University and Singaporean Association case. Results indicated students? decision-making was closely aligned to simple models and their decision-making steps could be best described as (1) having a need, (2) searching and gathering information, (3) evaluating alternatives, (4) making choice/s, and (5) accepting an offer and enrolling in a university program. Further, respondents did not necessarily engage in extensive searching and gathering activities, as theorised, demonstrated limited learning and had few discernible influences on their choices. The implications for the University-Association case included the need to guide students through their decision-making processes by providing relevant data on which they could make informed choices, relative to career and income advancement. For those indicating that they would choose an institution for postgraduate studies, ensure undergraduate post-choice regret is minimised and offer more choices of management programs so that respondents would consider continuing their studies with the same institution. The study contended that, despite delimits and limitations, contributions to both theory and practise had been made and concluded with several ideas for future research, including proposing two alternative hypotheses.
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Armstrong, Douglas Bruce, University of Western Sydney, of Science Technology and Environment College, and School of Environment and Agriculture. "CEO characteristics, organisation characteristics, decision making and CBIS success in regional small business." THESIS_CSTE_EAG_Armstrong_D.xml, 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/773.
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The research conducted for this thesis had two broad aims. The first was to provide descriptive information about the use of computer-based information systems (CBIS) in regional small business. The second of the aims was to examine the relationships among key constructs identified from the literature and to explore how they contributed to predicting CBIS success in regional small business.In the second phase of the analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to examine the factorial constructs underlying the data. Constructs were identified that measured CEO characteristics, two measuring organisational characteristics, four measuring aspects of decision-making, and five measuring perceived CBIS success. Correlations among the constructs were examined prior to relationships among the constructs being explored using hierarchical regression analysis. The constructs were also examined in a single measurement model to determine their collective effect and relationships with the constructs measuring CBIS success based on structural equation modelling. Notwithstanding the limitations of the research, it resulted in the identification of relationships among key variables that predict CBIS success. The identification of items associated with decision-making processes, and the identification of the factorial constructs underlying the data is a major contribution to a portion of the literature that was non-existent. The final measurement model is also a significant contribution in identifying and specifying the relationships constructs measuring CEO characteristics, organisational characteristics, decision-making and CBIS success in regional small business.Doctor of Philosphy (PhD)
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Kotzé, Frederik Christiaan. "The role of print media in travel decision-making / Frikkie Kotzé." Thesis, North-West University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/584.
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The primary goal of this study was to determine if print media (newspapers and
magazines) play a role in tourist decision to visit a destination. Four objectives were
derived from the primary research goal.
The first objective was to analyse newspapers and magazines by means of a literature
study. This was achieved by looking at the strategic component of media planning in a
media strategy in the delivering of the advertising message. The problems facing media
strategies as well as the marketing mix for print media were briefly discussed. It was also
found that there are certain advantages as well as disadvantages in using newspapers and
magazines as advertising medium.
The second objective was to look at the process of travel decision-making. This was done
by looking at two models of travel decision-making. The process was discussed and it is
indicated where print media plays a role in each of the phases of the process. It was found
that pint media does play a role in each of the phases of the travel decision-making
process. This information is of great value for marketers of travel destinations to be
incorporated in their marketing plans.
The third objective was to reflect the result of the empirical research and to determine the
key success factors in print media that influenced tourist decision to travel. It was achieved
by collecting data in which structured questionnaires were completed by international
tourists in order to determine the role print media played in their decision to visit South
Africa. The questionnaires were distributed amongst 145 international tourists from all over
the world at Sun City in the Northwest Province of South Africa. Editorials in newspapers
and magazines seem to be more popular with the respondents than advertising but that
could be mainly because editorials are seen more credible than advertising.
The fourth objective was to make recommendations for effective use of print media to
attract tourist to visit a destination. Newspapers and magazines should play an important
role in the motivation phase of the decision-making process because it has a direct bearing
on the tourist decision to act. Newspapers and magazines are considered one of the
principal means to influence tourist's decision-making. Because newspapers and
magazines are usually not expensive, their high information content can motivate a tourist
to visit a destination. Magazines and newspapers can play an important role when
searched for additional information. The latter is high in information content and are mostly
credible.Thesis (M.A. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.
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Barton, John Edward Built Environment Faculty of Built Environment UNSW. "A spatial decision support system for the management of public housing." Awarded by:University of New South Wales, 2007. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/35209.
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Kork, Yuri. "The influence of film genres on the tourist's decision making process." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/14868.
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The principal purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationships between film genres and the decision-making process of the tourist. Within the tourism industry, the specific type of tourism-Film Tourism-has recently been recognised and approached in several research projects and case-studies. As a result of these efforts, the researchers agree that, in certain conditions, a film may influence the decision of the viewer to travel to the destination that such film portrays. However, due to the recent recognition of this type of tourism and consequent low number of explanatory research in this area, there is an evident lack of understanding about the underlying reasons why films may have such a stimulating effect on tourist decisions. To develop deeper understanding of this newly emerged type of tourism, it is vital to research different elements of the film and their possible effects on tourism-related decisions of the viewer. This pioneering study focuses on the previously neglected “genre” element of the film and the role of this element in the overall influence of the film on the tourist’s decision making process. Accordingly, an extensive survey (n=241) was conducted, implemented via the Internet and to randomly selected Exeter residents. The survey was followed by a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews (n=10) of randomly selected respondents from Exeter. The results suggest that film genres may affect the motivational factors, such as Exciting and Achievement (Yoon and Uysal, 2005). Moreover, emotions are an important factor in the decisions of Film Tourists (Kim, 2012), and films of specific genres may infuse destination with such emotions, alter the destination image and create an interest in the destination. The major contribution of this study is the discovery that the effect of film genres on the Film Tourist is but a small subconscious part of the overall film influence, which encompasses a wider range of elements such as visual beauty, plot, actors, credibility and the atmosphere. Moreover, it would appear that, for most tourists, film is an additional and not a primary factor which creates a wish to travel. The visual portrayal of the destination is the key element which determines whether the film will affect the decision of the viewer to travel, but the genres of the film may allow the prediction of tourist type and possible travel behaviour.
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Pu, Hsin-Hui. "A methodology for exploring tourists' choice of holiday destinations : the case of English seaside resorts." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2000. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/667/.
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Finlay, Gillian C. "The role of image in the promotion of a region as a visitor destination." Thesis, Robert Gordon University, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.245619.
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Hung, Kam. "Developing an alternative model for travel decision-making." [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-3245.
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Taghian, Mehdi, and mikewood@deakin edu au. "Market fit, market orientation, and business performance: An empirical investigation." Deakin University. Deakin Business School, 2004. http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au./adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20050915.135152.
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This thesis investigated the congruence of an organisation to its intended target markets. It was hypothesised that the internal activities of an organisation are, potentially, structured in response to its market dynamics with the ultimate aim of achieving the organisational objective(s). Market fit has been conceptualised to represent the fit of an organisation to its operating market environment. The information for this study was collected from senior marketing decision makers, using a self-administered questionnaire. The sample comprised 216 companies from a mix of industries and organisational sizes in Australia.
There is evidence to suggest that the association of market orientation and business performance is inconsistent under different business operating circumstances, due to the exclusion of the influence of key environmental moderators. The model of market fit attempts to overcome this condition. The results suggest that market fit is associated with measures of business performance, and the levels of association are different from those related to the market orientation measures, reflecting the influence of moderators. The categories of environmental moderators contributing at different levels to the market fit measure include: (1) marketing planning, (2) implementation of marketing decisions, (3) market orientation, (4) market strength, (5) generic strategies, (6) organisational culture, (7) familiarity with the marketing audit, and (8) the external environment. The marketing audit procedure has been recommended as a tool to assist with the establishment and maintenance of market fit. The results of this study indicate that organisational familiarity with, and the conduct of, the marketing audit periodically are low, and that market fit may be a better predictor of business performance, than is market orientation.
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Stokes, Robyn L., and n/a. "Inter-Organisational Relationships for Events Tourism Strategy Making in Australian States and Territories." Griffith University. School of Tourism and Hotel Management, 2004. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20040218.160232.
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This research examines the impact of inter-organisational relationships of public sector events agencies on events tourism strategy making within Australian state/territories. The global expansion of events tourism and sustained interest in networks and relationships as conduits to strategy underpin this topic. Although public sector institutional arrangements exist in many countries including Australia to develop events tourism, there is no known empirical research of inter-organisational relationships for strategy making in this domain. Against this background, the research problem of the thesis is: How and why do inter-organisational relationships of public sector events agencies impact upon events tourism strategy making within Australian states and territories? Based on a review of themes and issues within the two parent theories of tourism strategy and inter-organisational relationships, a theoretical framework and four research issues are developed. These issues are: RI 1: How does the public sector institutional environment impact upon events tourism strategies and the inter-organisational relationships that shape them, and why? RI 2: How do events tourism strategy forms and processes reflect and influence events agencies' inter-organisational relationships, and why? RI 3: What are the forms and characteristics of events agencies' inter- organisational relationships for shaping events tourism strategies, and why? RI 4: What are the incentives and disincentives for events agencies to engage in inter-organisational relationships for events tourism strategy making, and why? Because this research explores a new field within events tourism, it adopts a realism paradigm to uncover the 'realities' of events agencies' inter-organisational relationships and strategies. Two qualitative methodologies are adopted: the convergent interview technique (Carson, Gilmore, Perry, and Gronhaug 2001b; Dick 1990) and multiple case research (Perry 1998, 2001; Yin 1994). The convergent interviews serve to explore and refine the theoretical framework and the four research issues investigated in the multiple case research. These cases are represented by the inter-organisational relationships of events agencies in six Australian states/territories. Findings about the public sector institutional environment (research issue 1) show that events tourism strategies are influenced by different public sector policies and influences, the organisational arrangements for events tourism, the roles of events agencies and the lifecycle phase of events tourism in each state/territory. In relation to events tourism strategy forms (research issue 2), reactive/proactive strategies that respond to or address arising events or opportunities are common with a limited application of formal planning strategies. However, events agencies' strategy processes do reflect a range of strategic activities of importance. Inter-organisational relationships of events agencies (research issue 3) are typified by informal, government-led networks that influence, rather than develop, events tourism strategies. Finally, the importance of a number of incentives and disincentives for agencies to engage in inter-organisational relationships for events tourism strategy making is established. The final conceptual model depicts the themes within all four research issues and links between them to address the research problem. The conclusions of this research make a major contribution to events tourism theory and build upon theories in tourism strategy and inter-organisational relationships. Further research opportunities are presented by these conclusions and the conceptual model which may be explored using other methodologies or alternative research contexts. Practical implications of the research for policy makers and agency executives relate to policy-strategy linkages, public sector organisational arrangements for events tourism, strategy forms and processes and frameworks to engage stakeholders in inter-organisational relationships for strategy making. Knowledge of incentives and disincentives for these inter-organisational relationships also provides a platform for events agencies to reflect upon and revise their modes of governance for events tourism strategy making.
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Sukkar, Malak, and sukkarm@stvmph org au. "Executives' Decision Making in Australian Private Hospitals: Margin or Mission?" RMIT University. Graduate School of Business, 2008. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20081031.162754.
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This thesis examines decision making at executive level in Australian private hospitals as a social phenomenon, since individuals draw meaning from their own biographical and social environmental experiences. The researcher interpreted the constructed realities of the factors influencing executives' decisions within the context of private hospitals - a field that is rarely examined through the lens of social research. Using an Interpretivist research paradigm, the researcher conducted semi- structured and in-depth interviews with sixteen executive members who are experts in their field and represent both sectors of the private hospital industry: private for-profit and private not-for-profit. The data generated was transformed into technical accounts using an abductive research strategy and adopting Schütz's notion of first-order and second-order constructs. Using Giddens' Structuration Theory, that stressed the fundamental role of the human agent, the structure and their mutual dependence, the researcher moved beyond the interpretation of individuals' meanings, to incorporate the structure as an entity that can be formed and reformed. The researcher interpreted social actors' constructed meanings of these social phenomena in their work environment to form the elements of a two-dimensional decision making model at organisational level, incorporating the present with the future and the internal with the external factors. On an individual level, three different approaches to decision making were identified, based on whether executives perceived the decision making phenomenon as intuition, as a reasoned process or as an expected outcome. While being from a limited research sample, the findings of this study suggest that the paradox of mission / economic decisions restrained executives in the not-for-profit sector from strengthening their hospitals' financial performance, putting at risk, therefore, their ability to achieve social dividends as a way to proclaim their mission. On the other hand, in the for-profit sector, shareholders' dividends appeared to be a strong catalyst for attaining profit maximisation when making decisions. In both settings, the findings suggest that the role of stakeholder theory is questionable, particularly when executives remained hesitant to involve medical specialists, whom they considered to be major stakeholders and profit generators for private hospitals. This attitude appeared to be constant, despite the changes identified in executives' individual approaches to decision making. However, early signs of shifts towards adopting more commercially and socially accountable decisions were apparent in not-for-p rofit and for-profit sectors respectively. The thesis sets out recommendations to assist executives in managing the different factors that interplay to form executives' decisions. The importance of having a mission in business longevity and the integration, as opposed to alignment, of strategic goals with business operations when making executive decisions in private hospitals was highlighted. The implications for both sectors are described and recommendations for further research are suggested.
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King, Andrew Stephen. "Staying ahead of the game : a framework for effective aquaculture decision-making." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12011.
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Globally, Atlantic salmon aquaculture is faced with a critical challenge: How best to deliver long-term sustainable growth, whilst optimising the opportunity for the expansion of the industry presented by an increasing global seafood demand? The thesis presents a novel framework of complementary decision support approaches to enable decision-makers to better understand the factors influencing aquaculture development, and examine alternative production (growout) technologies that more effectively address the challenges associated with intensification and expansion. The framework was developed through a combination of fieldwork (international data-gathering), key stakeholder discussions, and the application of targeted qualitative and quantitative analytical approaches; using the Tasmanian industry as a Case Study. The initial research focused on shorter-term (tactical) decision support. A situational analysis defined the business environment, and appraised viable expansion options (offshore, closed-containment and extractive bio-remediation). An economic analysis of selected options then provided a comparison of financial performance and risk. The outputs of this initial component next informed strategic decision-making approaches; employing scenario analysis to explore plausible strategies for the adoption of land-based recirculating aquaculture systems; and qualitative modelling to understand the causal dynamics driving and regulating the industry, and their impact on technology selection. Whilst it was clear that business economic viability is paramount, the results suggested that societal acceptance (the Social License to operate) is playing an increasingly important role in influencing business decisions. There is no single ‘right' technological solution; social acceptance, in particular considerations regarding human wellbeing, trust, and animal welfare concerns, will shape the business environment and therefore technology selection. The research emphasised the importance of employing a balance of tactical and strategic decision-making techniques, and of engaging with a broad range of industry stakeholders. It also highlighted the complexity and dynamic nature of the industry and that key variances (economic, regional, strategic, technological, and temporal) must be included in decision-making.
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Hewlett, Denise. "Community participation in local decision-making in protected areas : the case of the New Forest National Park, Hampshire, England." Thesis, Bournemouth University, 2010. http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/16055/.
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This research sought to establish the extent of and reasons for community participation and non participation in local decision-making practices in the New Forest National Park, a protected area, in Southern England. Following a critical examination of the literature and previous research the concepts and theories of government, governance and of social capital were identified as being critical for an understanding and explanation of community engagement and disengagement. Primary data was collected through a series of qualitative interviews with representatives of institutions and of the local community in the area together with two concurrent quantitative surveys, one a random household survey and the other of individuals registered on an existing citizen's panel. Unlike studies of participation in society at large, the findings show a high level of participation is occurring. The nature and characteristics of this participation are examined in terms of non participation and three levels of participation categorized as; individual, collective, and leadership. Distinguishing characteristics of these four categories include the respondents' 'level of education', 'length of residence in the area' and their views of their local community. It was also demonstrated that the varying levels of engagement and disengagement can additionally be differentiated by an individual's perception as to their political efficacy and their degree of cynicism towards institutions. These views on governance question the depth and quality of participation occurring in the New Forest and are further related to the systems of engagement identified. This research addresses gaps in previous studies conducted in protected areas in that it focuses upon the range of participation and non participation demonstrated in a western protected area context. The results of this research raise questions as to just how transferable best practices are and how feasible wider community engagement is to achieve in the New Forest or other protected areas where participatory principles are practiced in what are fundamentally centralized governmental systems based on representative democratic regimes. These findings have implications for the design of community engagement strategies and for additional research into community participation. They suggest that if further progress is to be made in understanding community participation in protected areas two challenges need to be confronted, namely agreement on a definition of 'good' governance and on the constituents of wider community engagement which recognise the particular characteristics of the 'protected area' context. Suggestions for future research based on single, comparative and longitudinal case studies in other protected areas are proposed. More specifically research on non and limited participation is particularly encouraged due to the potential such an inquiry holds for informing the design of innovative and effective forms of participation aimed at increasing wider community engagement. Keywords: community participation, local decision-making, characteristics and reasons for engagement and disengagement, social capital, governance, best practice, wider community.
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Van, Eyk Marlé. "Analysis processes as antecedents for decision-making related to growth strategies of South African Game Ranchers." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1546.
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Game ranching offers an economic alternative to conventional stock farming and is a means of supplementing income derived from agricultural activities. Competition is intensifying as ranchers continuously look for ways to improve and expand their businesses and gain a competitive advantage. Ranchers consequently have to find strategies that can ensure growth. Since a reciprocal relationship and dependency exists between a game ranch and the environment in which it operates, it is essential that ranchers take cognizance of aspects in the marketing environment that can either limit, and hence encumber the choice of growth strategy, or stimulate the growth potential of game ranches. As the objective of marketing is to offer customers superior value, it is pertinent for ranchers to know and understand the needs, requirements and motivations of visitors. Failure to do so will cause visitors to patronise other game ranches, or alternative tourism offerings that meet their expectations. A literature review was conducted to define strategy and assist in identifying growth strategies available to a game ranch. The literature review assisted in categorising elements in the external, internal and customer analysis phases of strategic marketing management. Surveys were conducted by means of self-completion questionnaires which were distributed throughout South Africa. Two sets of questionnaires were distributed - one to respondents with prior experience of a game ranch, and one to respondents with no-prior experience. A qualifying question directed the fieldworker to decide which questionnaire should be completed by the respondent. The surveys were constructed in such a way as to determine to what extent various factors would persuade respondents to visit a ranch or extend their stay. Based on a factor analysis, an eight factor structure emerged which represented the personal values of respondents and their levels of expectation for each of the factors. The eight factors were stimulation, universalism, tradition, security, hedonism, power, socialisation, and self-direction. The study revealed the following. - The majority of respondents with no-prior experience of a game ranch is either unaware of the offerings of game ranches, or perceives them as too expensive. - The sustainable use of natural resources is not only essential for the existence of a game ranch, but is also an important motivator for respondents to either visit a game ranch or extend their stay at a ranch. - Staff play a critical role in the overall experience of visitors and act as an important motivator to either visit/revisit a game ranch or extend their stay at the ranch. - Clean and comfortable overnight facilities are deemed important by all respondents. - Respondents have a strong desire to relax and spend time with family and friends. A decision-making framework from which game ranches can select applicable growth strategies resulted from the study. The decision-making framework comprises a three-phase process; phase 1 is the identification of a game ranch's target market; phase 2 is the use of a simplistic framework to determine a possible growth strategy for a game ranch; phase 3 is the identification of ways to implement the selected strategy. As the game ranch industry makes significant contributions to the economic, social and ecological welfare of South Africa, this study added to the body of knowledge of game ranching in South Africa, particularly with regard to the growth options available to game ranches. Recommendations for consideration of future research included the following. - As the current study investigated hunting and tourism, future research on growth strategies for game ranches could also include other aspects of game ranching such as the sale of live game and game products. - More focused empirical research into external and internal strategic analysis should be considered to supplement the empirical research into customer analysis resulting from the current study. - Finally, additional information obtained on the external and internal strategic analysis process could lead to expanding the decision-making framework developed in this study into a more holistic tool to be used in selecting a growth strategy, or combination of strategies for a game ranch3.
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Bolitho, Jane Johnman Social Science & Policy UNSW. "Creating space for young people, dialogue and decision making : youth justice conferencing in New South Wales Australia." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. Social Science and Policy, 2005. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/20780.
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Juvenile justiceAdministration ofNew South Wales.Juvenile delinquentsRehabilitationThis study examines the process of Youth Justice Conferencing in New South Wales within the context of the theory and aims of the restorative justice movement. Analysis of relevant literature and theory suggests that restorative justice is a broad and encompassing movement that entails a decision making process where victims, communities and offenders come together in a joint response to an offence. Although this breadth has allowed and encouraged a proliferation of programs that respond to particular needs and particular demands of culture and social context, the consequence is that both understandings and practices of restorative justices are variable. When theoretical understandings are so varied there will necessarily be a lack of commonality in the way principles are articulated. If practice is not linked directly to principled theory it is inevitable that processes will be vulnerable at all levels to the interaction between context, situations and participant characteristics that may easily deflect the focus from the true purpose of restorative justice. This thesis attempts to clarify the restorative principles relevant to the NSW program with reference to Braithwaite and Pettit???s republican theory (1990) and their notion of dominion. In turn these principles are used to identify five practical elements to be used as a framework to guide youth conferences. Such a framework highlights potential areas for improvement in conference preparation and practice. A case study approach was used to collect data and involved the observation of eighty five Youth Justice Conferences in three New South Wales conferencing regions. As well, one hundred and fifty two currently practising Youth Justice Conferencing practitioners (Police, Conveners, Managers) in New South Wales completed a mail out questionnaire. Findings from the study suggest that conference processes are influenced by the presence or absence of five particular elements: the attendance of victims, the attendance of communities, the attendance of offender support, reparation to victims, communities and offenders and the experience of non-domination during the conference space. However, findings also suggest that ???situational??? factors may mediate these key elements to enhance or compromise the overall process. This thesis suggests that many of the issues arising in NSW conferences result from the failure to articulate the links between restorative justice theory and practice. While in NSW such links may intentionally have been unarticulated in order to encourage a freedom within the process, in reality the lack of clarification has led to a freedom in discretion that sometimes diminishes the chance of success. Therefore it proposes the need for a more articulated translation of theory into principles that will in turn frame practice. In this way the thesis uses the normative theory proposed by Braithwaite and Pettit (1990) to provide an explanatory and ideal framework for best practice in NSW Youth Justice Conferencing.
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Martyn, Karen. "Decision-making in a corporate boardroom: Inside the black box." Massey University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/986.
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The lack of empirical studies on board process represents a serious knowledge gap in the governance literature. To date there has been little research on how boards actually make decisions, the factors that contribute to effective board decision-making, and what tools and techniques may be used to improve board decision-making. Effective board processes are identified as leading to effective board outputs, and subsequently more effective organisational outcomes. This study explored the internal factors under the control of the board (or those selecting board members) that contribute to effective board decision-making processes. The perspective of small group decision-making research was applied to explore board decision-making processes. The three aims of the study were to investigate those factors that directors thought contributed to their board's successful and unsuccessful decision-making, to observe how a board actually makes decisions; and to determine whether training and usage of a normative decision-making methodology (including the use of a reminder role) might improve that board's decision-making process. Data collection included direct, in situ, observation of a board; semi-structured interviews with all board directors, the CEO and four executive team members; three surveys; and emotional intelligence testing (MSCEIT). The board was found to use normative decision-making procedures. These decision making procedures appeared to contribute to better decision-making processes and consequently better decision-making outputs. The task intent of acting in the best interest of the company and the relationship intent of trust were found to permeate the board inputs and processes examined during this research. Other input and process variables observed to influence board decision-making were classified as being task (structure, process, communication) and/or relational (relationships, director attributes and emotions) factors. Task factors included rational decision-making procedures; clarity of goals and roles; use of external advisors as critical evaluators; quantity and quality of information; consensus decision-making; post-decision evaluation and learning. Relational factors included homogeneity of directors through careful selection; socialising with management; board norms of a safe environment, supporting the doubtful director and the obligation to share contrary views; adequate business knowledge; emotional intelligence; and commitment. The results of emotional intelligence testing revealed levels sufficient to assist in positive board dynamics. The study results support the application of small group decision making research to aid in board process research, and further empirical exploration of board inputs using psychometric measures.
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George, Richard. "The personal and situational factors influencing decision-making by long-haul travellers' in relation to crime-risk : an empirical investigation." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5885.
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Rivers, Cheryl Janet. "Ethical Decision Making in Negotiation: A Sino-Australian Study of the Influence of Culture." Queensland University of Technology, 2003. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15843/.
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This thesis presents the results of three studies that extend understanding of ethical decision making in negotiation. First, by comparing how Chinese and Australian negotiators think about contextual variables in an interpretive study, an extended model of ethical decision making in negotiation is offered. This study suggested differences in how codes of ethics and perception of the other party were understood as well as a shared understanding of the influence of the legal environment across the two cultures. Importance of organisational goals and personal and business reputation also emerged as important variables in negotiators' ethical decision making. The next study began testing the extended model with an investigation of the interaction between culture and closeness of the relationship with the other party using the SINS scale (Robinson, Lewicki, & Donahue, 2000). It was found that Chinese negotiators generally rated ethically ambiguous negotiation tactics as more appropriate than Australians, and that Chinese differentiated more in their ratings of appropriateness according to the social context. In the test for metric equivalence of the SINS scale, this study found that the existing approach of inductively deriving types of ethically ambiguous negotiation tactics based on ratings of perceived appropriateness is flawed since patterns of ratings are likely to vary across groups of negotiators. In light of this, a new typology of ethically ambiguous negotiation tactics is offered based on an a priori identification of conceptually distinct types of tactics. This new inventory of items represents the first step in the process of producing a cross-culturally generalisable scale of ethically ambiguous negotiation tactics.
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Mitsche, Nicole. "Digital destination promotion : understanding and maximizing the use of digital and cultural assets to enhance tourists' decision making and destination marketing strategies." Thesis, University of Sunderland, 2016. http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/7105/.
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With the overarching research question “how Information and Communication Technologies can be used to support a destination in improving tourists’ information search and decision making through the use of its digital and cultural assets” this thesis connects the three themes of eTourism, destination marketing and heritage tourism through a user-centric approach and the application of innovative technologies. The eight papers provided utilise and investigate the application of technology to improve the effectiveness and promotion of destination marketing and destination marketing organisations whilst, at the same time, improving user experiences. Interdisciplinary research focuses on the opportunities provided by digital and cultural assets of destinations to enhance destination marketing efforts. This research recognises and discusses the importance and challenges of the commodification process of tangible and intangible heritage as part of the marketing process. Methodologies appropriate to each of the research purposes were applied and data was triangulated to improve understanding. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaires, web crawlers and log files enabling the research to draw on analytical methods such as correspondence and cluster analysis, as well as data envelopment analysis (DEA). Qualitative methods such as workshop cycles, observations, and interviews were used to provide rich narratives analysed through content analysis. The results from the eight papers enhance destination marketing efforts by providing a better understanding of user behaviour and preferences based on travel personalities, travel and search pattern. They provide a clearer representation of the technologies, digital assets and e-Services available, discussing web site content and effectiveness. Strategies and innovative ideas to improve the current utilisation of digital technologies are provided based on the outcomes of the studies presented. Furthermore, a reflection on the use of intangible cultural heritage assets within destination marketing supported through the use of technologies is explored to enhance opportunities for destination marketing. V The research presents innovative and new ways to a destination to create new meanings and unique selling points (USPs) through cultural heritage assets and user-centric technologies. It introduces an interpretative strategy within destination marketing, and ideas to make the tourists’ holiday choice process more engaging. It enhances the understanding of on-line destination presentation, enabling comparisons between providers and improving their competitiveness. The main contribution of this work is new and enhanced insights how to improve on-line destination presentation by understanding its current representation and users’ search and behaviour patterns online and during travelling. It provides examples for the usefulness of ICT and cultural heritage in order to improve destinations’ marketing efforts. It also adds to the debate of the application of technologies for heritage interpretation and the commodification of (local) cultural heritage assets for destination marketing and tourism purposes.
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Robinson, Jeffrey Brett, University of Western Sydney, of Science Technology and Environment College, and School of Environment and Agriculture. "Understanding and applying decision support systems in Australian farming systems research." THESIS_CSTE_EAG_Robinson_J.xml, 2005. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/642.
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Decision support systems (DSS) are usually based on computerised models of biophysical and economic systems. Despite early expectations that such models would inform and improve management, adoption rates have been low, and implementation of DSS is now “critical” The reasons for this are unclear and the aim of this study is to learn to better design, develop and apply DSS in farming systems research (FSR). Previous studies have explored the merits of quantitative tools including DSS, and suggested changes leading to greater impact. In Australia, the changes advocated have been: Simple, flexible, low cost economic tools: Emphasis on farmer learning through soft systems approaches: Understanding the socio-cultural contexts of using and developing DSS: Farmer and researcher co-learning from simulation modelling and Increasing user participation in DSS design and implementation. Twenty-four simple criteria were distilled from these studies, and their usefulness in guiding the development and application of DSS were assessed in six FSR case studies. The case studies were also used to better understand farmer learning through models of decision making and learning. To make DSS useful complements to farmers’ existing decision-making repertoires, they should be based on: (i) a decision-oriented development process, (ii) identifying a motivated and committed audience, (iii) a thorough understanding of the decision-makers context, (iv) using learning as the yardstick of success, and (v) understanding the contrasts, contradictions and conflicts between researcher and farmer decision culturesDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Hyun, Yongho, and n/a. "Consumer behaviour on the internet : a critical analysis of the extensive decision-making process of online holiday travellers." University of Canberra. Communication & Education, 2002. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060801.130043.
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Both tourism destination marketing and the characteristics of holiday travellers have
recently undergone radical changes driven by the rapid progress of computer technology. In
particular, the advent of the Internet has had a great impact on holiday travellers as well as
on the development of tourism promotion and distribution channel strategies.
While holiday travellers benefit from the characteristics of Internet use, for example,
unlimited information retrieval, flexible accessibility, and direct interactivity with
destination marketing organizations (DMOs), the Internet provides DMOs with the critical
factor of an increase in operational costs incurred by running all possible online promotional
activities and online distribution channels.
This paper attempted to discover which Internet functions are popularly used by
existing/potential online travellers or which ones are not by testing the Canberra Tourism & Event Corporation (CTEC) web site. As a result, this research intends to provide CTEC with
a way to operate its website cost-effectively, which can also lead to increasing the usage
satisfaction of CTEC web visitors. Online travellers visiting the CTEC website were
surveyed through non-probability self-selected web survey by using segmentation procedure;
two key online travel groups: direct and indirect online access groups.
Based on the research methodology, this study has discovered several findings. Firstly,
CTEC web visitors preferred to use the CTEC website for the purpose of gathering travel
information rather than that of online booking or reservations for travel products on the
CTEC website. Secondly, comprehensive travel information tailor-made to online
individuals was found to be desirable through interactive online activities, while the
multimedia, booking, and comparability function were not significant in helping the CTEC
online visitors choose the travel destination. Based on their preferences for particular
Internet functions, it is evident that web visitors wish to have comprehensive and tailormade
online travel information and interaction with the CTEC. Finally, it was revealed that
the demographics of the CTEC web visitors were very similar to Internet users identified by
previous researchers. Therefore, this study provides insights into website development
strategies.
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Silva, João Pedro dos Santos. "Decision-making process in Portuguese Erasmus student mobility: case study." Master's thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/15742.
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Mestrado em GestãoWith the evolution of nowadays knowledge-based economies, the labour class becomes more competitive. As a way of getting skills that bring benefits to their careers, university students take advantage of the many opportunities available and go abroad to study. This study develops and empirically tests a structural model that examines the antecedents that influence the decision-making process of an Erasmus student under mobility for studies (EMS) in Aveiro, Coimbra and Porto (2014-2015). Reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis and linear regressions were used to evaluate the model. Based on a survey with a sample of 872 valid responses, this study has demonstrated that EMS students are also influenced by touristic factors, which gives support to what has recently been approached by other authors. Conclusions and suggestions can be applied by other organizations, mainly Higher Education Institutions in order to attract more EMS students.
Com a evolução das atuais economias do conhecimento, o mundo do trabalho torna-se mais competitivo. Como forma de ganhar competências que tragam benefícios para as suas carreiras, os estudantes universitários aproveitam as diversas oportunidades existentes e vão estudar no estrangeiro. Este estudo desenvolve e testa empiricamente um modelo estrutural que examina os antecedentes que influenciam a tomada de decisão de um aluno Erasmus em mobilidade de estudos (EMS) em Aveiro, Coimbra e Porto (2014-2015). A análise de fiabilidade, a análise fatorial exploratória e as regressões lineares foram utilizadas para avaliar o modelo. Com base num questionário com uma amostra de 872 respostas válidas, este estudo demonstrou que os estudantes EMS são também influenciados por fatores turísticos, dando assim seguimento ao trabalho que recentemente tem vindo a ser abordado por outros autores. As conclusões e sugestões podem ser utilizadas pelas Instituições de Ensino Superior como meio de atrair mais estudantes EMS.
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Reje, Anders, and Elena Dreger. "Marketing Sustainability in Charter Tourism : The Influence of Brands, Eco-Labels and their Combination on the Swedish Charter Tourist´s Decision Making." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-91035.
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Tourism as one of the biggest industries in the world has been changing continuously and rapidly. The publishing of the Brundtland Report in 1987 has accelerated the discussion about combining economic, social and environmental factors – the so-called triple-bottom line – in order to secure long-term sustainable living conditions on a finite planet for both business and society. This has lead to occurring pressure from different stakeholder groups as for example policy makers or non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) urging for more sustainable business practise within the industry whereas one important pressure group appears to be missing out in this context: the customers of mass tourism products and therefore the demand side within the economic equation. Tourists have been observed to be overall reluctant to pay price premiums for more sustainable travel alternatives and seem to “take vacation” from their everyday green behaviour. Hence at the current point of time eco-tourism appears to be a market niche in which mainly small-scale providers and NGO’s like Nature’s Best in Sweden operate. However integrating mass tourism into the consideration can be seen as a promising opportunity and from an environmental standpoint an urgent necessity as it can be argued that within an industry of this scale, even small improvements towards more sustainable behaviour bear the potential for a substantial impact. The purpose of this study therefore lies in researching the two marketing tools of brands and eco-labels and the influence they can have individually and in combination on the tourist’s decision making delimitated to the context of charter tourism in Sweden. Through the research of this study it was found that currently no directly applicable theory about the combination of brands and eco-labels seems to exist for marketing neither in general, nor for the tourism industry in particular. This strongly indicates the novelty of the topic of combining brands and eco-labels and points out research opportunities. In order to achieve this purpose, a mixed-method research design was used combining qualitative expert interviews from direct business representatives and a quantitative data collection utilizing the scholarly acknowledged marketing research method of conjoint analysis in one of its most up-to-date forms of an adaptive choice-based conjoint analysis. Theory from different fields of study as consumer behaviour and decision making, branding and eco-labelling as well as sustainability marketing was combined and translated into the new and emerging service category of sustainable tourism. From this a conceptual framework was developed combining the data collection results from the mixed-method approach. This leads to the identification of ways for improving current charter tourism companies’ marketing based on the customers’ current view on utilities within certain aspects of the tourism package. Overall this study therefore contributes to the discussion on how demand for sustainable products evolves and can likely be increased. This is seen as a valuable theoretical, practical and societal contribution as it helps improving tourism companies’ understanding of their customer base and supports offering products/services with an improved perceived individual and societal value for charter tourism companies that aim for a higher degree of sustainability in their objectives.
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Gallego, Gisselle. "Access to High Cost Medicines in Australian Hospitals." University of Sydney, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1008.
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Doctor of Philosophy(PhD)In the public hospital sector in Australia there is no dedicated scheme to offset costs associated with high cost medications (HCMs) to the institution or the public. (1) Concerns exist as to the equity of access and appropriate mechanisms to manage access to HCMs in public hospitals. (2) There are gaps in the literature as to how decisions are made, and in particular, decision-making processes by which ethical, clinical and economic considerations maybe taken into account. To date, limited work has been conducted regarding the use and funding of HCMs in public hospitals. There are no published data on perceptions, concerns and attitudes, among health care decision-makers or among the community-at-large about access to HCMs in public hospitals. The research reported in this thesis describes the decision-making process and criteria used by health care decision-makers to allocate resources to HCMs in public hospitals. The investigation triangulated quantitative and qualitative methods used to collect and analyse data. Four studies were conducted to describe the decision-making process and explore the perceptions, concerns and attitudes of health care decision-makers and the perceptions of members of the general public regarding access to HCMs in public hospitals. The first study, reported in Chapter Three, was a review of individual patient use (IPU) requests for non-formulary HCMs. This study showed that these requests had a significant impact on the capped expenditure of a public hospital. Subsequent to this review, a new policy and procedure for managing requests for HCMs for IPU was established. A high-cost drugs subcommittee (HCD-SC) operating under the auspices of the Drug and Therapeutics Committee (DTC) was created. The second study, reported in Chapter Four, described the operations of the newly formed HCD-SC. This study also evaluated the decision-making process using the ethical framework “accountability for reasonableness”. (3) Different factors were involved in decisions about access to HCMs and decisions were not solely based on effectiveness and cost. HCD-SC members considered it was important to have consistency in the way decisions were being made. The evaluation of this process allowed identification of good practices and gaps which were considered as opportunities for improvement. The third study, reported in Chapter Five, found that health care decision-makers in an Area Health Service echoed the concerns and agreed about the problems associated with access to HCMs expressed by the HCD-SC members. These studies concluded that the majority of decision-makers wanted an explicit, systematic process to allocate resources to HCMs. These studies also identified tensions between funding systems and hospital decision-making. According to participants there were no mechanisms in place to systematically capture, analyse and share the lessons learned between the macro level (ie. Federal, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme - PBS) and the meso level (ie. Institution, public hospital) regarding funding for HCMs. Furthermore, decision-makers considered there are strong incentives for cost-shifting between the Commonwealth and the States. Health care decision-makers also acknowledged the importance of public participation in decision-making regarding allocation of resources to HCMs in public hospitals. However the results of these studies showed that those decisions were not generally made in consultation with the community. Decision-makers perceived that the general public does not have good general knowledge about access to HCMs in public hospitals. A survey of members of the general public, reported in Chapter Six, was then conducted. The survey aimed to gather information about the knowledge and views of members of the general public about access to HCMs in public hospitals. Results of this fourth study showed that respondents had good general knowledge but were poorly informed about the specifics of funding of hospitals and HCMs in private and public hospitals. The results also offered support for the development of a process to involve community members in discussion on policy on the provision of treatment and services within health care institutions and specifically, to seek the views of members of the public on the provision of HCMs and expensive services within public hospitals. In summary, the research reported in this thesis has addressed the gaps in the literature as to how decisions are made, and in particular, the decision-making process and criteria used by health care decision-makers to allocate resources to HCMs in public hospitals. In a move towards more explicitness in decision-making regarding the allocation of scarce health care resources, the findings from these studies provide an evidence base for developing strategies to improve decision-making processes regarding access to HCMs the public sector.
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Wan, Jiangtao. "An investigation of the factors that influence the decision-making of Chinese tourist travelling to South Africa." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/411.
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The growth of the Chinese economy represents a significant opportunity for global travel and tourism and it has raised the expectation that the South African tourism industry will explore and benefit from the Chinese outbound market growth. Since international travel and tourism is becoming a significant component of the South African economy, it is important to understand the factors that influence consumer decision-making in tourism. The main objective of this study was to determine the factors that influence the decision-making of Chinese tourists that travel to South Africa. The research gives a systemic review of the Chinese outbound market, starting with the Chinese outbound travel history, and the impact of the social-economic issues on Chinese travel and tourism. An overview is provided of the size, growth and the regulation of the Chinese outbound market, as well as the main characteristics of Chinese outbound tourists. The factors that influence decision-making are compartmentalised into two categories: internal and external factors. Internal and external factors relate to the concept that people travel due to the fact that they are pushed by their own internal forces and pulled by the external forces such as the social environment, reference groups, social class, the restrictions from government regulations and the attraction of travel destination countries. The empirical findings reflect that the factors that have the most significant impact on the decision-making process of Chinese outbound tourists travelling to South Africa are perception about safety, lack of knowledge about South Africa and a growth in the use of the Internet as a source of tourist information. The study also reflects a tendency towards individualism and a shift away from traditional group decision-making. Based on the findings of the empirical study, South Africa tourism needs to offer a safe travel environment, provide greater access to information featuring South Africa as a tourist destination, and offer discounted travel packages
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Sardana, Deepak, and deepaks@agsm edu au. "Empirical insights into the black box of decision-making in new ventures : a study based on biotechnology companies in Australia and India." The Australian National University. National Graduate School of Management, 2007. http://thesis.anu.edu.au./public/adt-ANU20080115.153853.
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Wood, Rebecca Danielle. "Why do high court judges join? joining behavior and Australia's seriatim tradition /." Diss., Connect to online resource - MSU authorized users, 2008.
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Ekonde, Cathy Nanyongo. "Tourism destination marketing : a comparative study, between Gotland Island, Sweden and Limbe city, Cameroon." Thesis, Gotland University, Institution 2, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hgo:diva-489.
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This research is carried out to explore the factors that influence visitors to choose a particular destination for a visit or the attributes visitors consider necessary to quality a place as a potential destination for a visit. This research is a comparative study on tourism destination marketing conducted in a town in a developed country; Gotland Island in Sweden and a town in a developing country; Limbe city in Cameroon. This research tries test two hypothesis, which were formulated by the researcher.
Hypothesis I; visitors consider particular attributes in a destination before they visit it.
Hypothesis II; some attributes are inevitable in any destination choice decision.
The research contains ideas from 200 respondents, 100 visitors of Gotland Island, and 100 visitors of Limbe City, and the results support both hypothesis. The research also contains a comparison of the attributes visitors consider in Gotland Island and Limbe city. This brings out the factors that would be considered by visitors in a developed country and visitors in developing country.
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D'Emden, Francis Herbert. "Adoption of conservation tillage : an application of duration analysis." University of Western Australia. School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2006. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2006.0067.
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The global adoption and diffusion of conservation tillage has made considerable progress over the last 20 years. No-till and zero-tillage could be seen as representing the current technological end-point of the conservation tillage movement. This thesis uses descriptive statistics and both logit and duration regressions to analyse the influence of cross-sectional and time-dependent factors on the probability of no-till adoption by growers in Australia’s southern grain growing regions. Cross-section and time-series data on individual adoption decisions was gathered through interviews and employed in conjunction with generic time series data from various government agencies in a duration analysis modelling framework. Descriptive statistics suggest that weed management and herbicide resistance are important considerations for growers in their tillage decisions, predominantly due to the substitution of herbicides for the physical weed control provided by cultivation. Logit and duration regressions identify a number of significant factors influencing growers’ adoption decisions. These include growers’ perceptions of herbicide efficacy and sowing timeliness in no-till systems; the declining price of glyphosate relative to diesel; average annual rainfall and growers’ proximity to other adopters and opportunities to observe the beneficial effects of no-till. The results suggest that research and development of integrated weed management practices that are compatible with no-till systems is highly important if no-till systems are to be sustained in Australia’s southern wheatbelt. Such research and development should acknowledge the high value which growers place on locally generated information and the channels used to acquire such information, namely local extension events and consulting services. This thesis shows how duration analysis, with its ability to take account of both cross sectional and time-varying factors, can provide a statistical modelling framework better suited to the study of adoption decisions than traditional cross sectional methods based on logit and tobit analyses.
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Plantin, Josefin, and Lisa Wendt. "Purchase and Market in the Airline Industry facing an uncertain society : An exploratory research through a multimethod study." Thesis, Jönköping University, Internationella Handelshögskolan, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-51239.
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Background: Several crises have passed and today, the world is witnessing the pandemic Covid-19. As a consequence, society is affected at large where new insights and attitudes are born. Existing literature suggests that a crisis may be a crucial determinant in shaping one’s attitudes and actions, and therefore marketing needs to adapt to these new attitudes and expectations. Involving consumers' perception of this issue, together with companies’ views within the industry, lies the foundation for this research to investigate any changing consumer attitudes towards the airline industry during Covid-19. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how consumer attitudes have changed within the airline industry in Sweden due to the Covid-19 pandemic, applying both consumers’ and companies’ perspectives to provide managerial implications for marketers. Method: With an interpretive nature, the study is qualitative added by quantitative measures, hence stated as multi-method. Primary data is collected through an analytical survey and four semi-structured interviews. Findings: Investigating attitudes from economic, social and environmental perspectives, the study concludes that consumer attitudes have changed in several perspectives while some attitudes stay consistent with pre-crisis attitudes, hence not directly affected by the crisis. The empirical findings are coherent with the conceptual framework, explaining the complexity of the tourism airline industry and how new attitudes that arise from the Covid-19 pandemic is a predictor of future behavior during the crisis, which may be useful for future crises to come.
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Kangasmäki, Heini, and Maja Koskelainen. "How Important Is an Image? : Dutch Travel Agencies' Perception of Sweden as a Travel Destination." Thesis, Karlstad University, Division for Business and Economics, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-59.
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Nowadays, when the world feels smaller as a result of the increasing flow of information, the competition of tourism between countries is getting bigger. This has caused that the marketing of the country has become vital. It is important for the country to send out the right signals so that the tourists have the right image of a destination. Once the image has been created, it might be hard to change it.
Scandinavian Travel Agent AB is a company arranging different trips around Scandinavia. They work as incoming agent for foreign tour operators, which they help with different types of travel arrangements in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Now they want to expand their business to other countries, and at the same time they want to identify how Sweden is seen as a tourist destination. We helped them with this by investigating travel agencies and tour operators in the Netherlands.
Our purpose with this thesis was to find out what kind of picture the Dutch travel agencies and tour operators have about Sweden. Furthermore, we wanted to know how the Dutch market looks like considering the trips to Sweden. To be able to analyze the phenomena of image we have taken closer look at the decision- making process, which was originally created by Mathieson and Wall (1984). It contains four areas (tourist profile, travel awareness, destination resources & characteristics and trip features) that have effect on the decision making process. Since we thought that image also has a big influence on the tourists’ decision, we chose to investigate that subject as well.
With the help of our theories we created two different questionnaires, one to Dutch travel agencies/ tour operators having Sweden as a travel destination, and one to Dutch travel agencies/tour operators not currently offering trips to Sweden. After receiving the answers we interpreted them together with our theories and we found out that the respondents have a correct image of the reality. Sweden’s nature with the forests, water and snow were some of the most common parts of their image. Stockholm was also a prominent feature together with beautiful and clean nature. Sweden was also seen as a modern and safe country with high quality. Some respondent also mentioned space, but it was not as common answer as we expected.
Regarding the image, we found out that an image handles both a person’s affective and cognitive images, which arises from many different sources and influences. After doing this research our believes, about the image as a part of the decision making process, were strengthened. Therefore we saw the need to change the already existing model.
Our suggestions to the Scandinavian Travel Agent AB, is to first contact the travel agencies/tour operators who are currently offering Sweden, since they seem to be most interested in expanding to Sweden. Among the other travel agencies/tour operators an interest has to be aroused. This can depend on the fact that companies with Sweden can see the demand and the opportunities better than the companies who do not have Sweden.
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Koo, Fung Kuen. "Disharmony between Chinese and Western views about preventative health : a qualitative investigation of the health beliefs and behaviour of older Hong Kong Chinese people in Australia." University of Sydney, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1610.
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Doctor of PhilosophyThis study explores the health beliefs and preventive health behaviours of older Hong Kong Chinese people resident in Australia. Participation in physical activity was used as the case study. There were two frameworks used to shape the research. Because of their perceived influence on the health beliefs and practices of Hong Kong Chinese people, the traditional Chinese philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism provided the philosophical framework. The Theory of Planned Behaviour provided a theoretical framework for understanding the target group's preventive health behaviour. Data was collected by means of in-depth interviews, participant observation and case study. Twenty-two informants were interviewed, their transcripts analysed, summarised and typologised, identifying six states of physical activity participation. Findings demonstrated that this target group possessed a holistic view of health, with food taking a special role in preventive care and self-treatment at times of illness. The Cantonese terms used to denote “physical activity” caused confusion among the target group. Most interpreted it as meaning deliberate planned body movement, strength-enhancing activities or exercise, although some did see it as including mundane daily activities and chores. Lack of time, no interest and laziness were reported as the main reasons for low participation in deliberate planned physical activity. Cultural, social and environmental determinants were the intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing attitudes toward physical activity, as well as perceived social supports and perceived control over physical activity participation barriers. To a large extent, these interactive determinants of health were rooted in the three traditional Chinese philosophies mentioned above. The thesis concludes by arguing that rather than simply advocating activities designed for other populations, health promotion strategies and education need to create links to the traditions of this target group and also clarify their conception of physical activity.
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Hall, Edward John. "The influence of occasion on consumer choice: an occasion based, value oriented investigation of wine purchase, using means-end chain analysis." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2003. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phh1756.pdf.
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Includes list of Supplementary refereed publications relating to thesis; and of Refereed conference papers, as appendix 1 Includes bibliograhical references (p. 316-343) Focusses particularly on the purchase of wine and the factors that influence consumer choice and the values that drive the decision process across different consumption occasions. The effectiveness of occasion as part of the theoretical model of means-end chain analysis is investigated, as well as the feasibility of occasion in the Olsen and Thach (2001) conceptual framework of consumer behavior relating to wine.
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Lau, Maren Anja. "Decision-making in relation to climate and climate change in the Peopleś Republic of China : from adaptation to sea-level rise to destination choice in chinese tourism /." [S.l. : s.n.], 2006. http://swbplus.bsz-bw.de/bsz279091486inh.htm.
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Ho, Kwok Ming. "Use of prognostic scoring systems to predict outcomes of critically ill patients." University of Western Australia. School of Medicine and Pharmacology, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2009.0101.
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[Tuncated abstract] This research thesis consists of five sections. Section one provides the background information (chapter 1) and a description of characteristics of the cohort and the methods of analysis (chapter 2). The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scoring system is one of commonly used severity of illness scoring systems in many intensive care units (ICUs). Section two of this thesis includes an assessment of the performance of the APACHE II scoring system in an Australian context. First, the performance of the APACHE II scoring system in predicting hospital mortality of critically ill patients in an ICU of a tertiary university teaching hospital in Western Australia was assessed (Chapter 3). Second, a simple modification of the traditional APACHE II scoring system, the 'admission APACHE II scoring system', generated by replacing the worst first 24-hour data by the ICU admission physiological and laboratory data was assessed (Chapter 3). Indigenous and Aboriginal Australians constitute a significant proportion of the population in Western Australia (3.2%) and have marked social disadvantage when compared to other Australians. The difference in the pattern of critical illness between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and also whether the performance of the APACHE II scoring system was comparable between these two groups of critically ill patients in Western Australia was assessed (Chapter 4). Both discrimination and calibration are important indicators of the performance of a prognostic scoring system. ... The use of the APACHE II scoring system in patients readmitted to ICU during the same hospitalisation was evaluated and also whether incorporating events prior to the ICU readmission to the APACHE II scoring system would improve its ability to predict hospital mortality of ICU readmission was assessed in chapter 10. Whilst there have been a number of studies investigating predictors of post-ICU in-hospital mortality none have investigated whether unresolved or latent inflammation and sepsis may be an important predictor. Section four examines the role of inflammatory markers measured at ICU discharge on predicting ICU re- 4 admission (Chapter 11) and in-hospital mortality during the same hospitalisation (Chapter 12) and whether some of these inflammatory markers were more important than organ failure score and the APACHE II scoring system in predicting these outcomes. Section five describes the development of a new prognostic scoring system that can estimate median survival time and long term survival probabilities for critically ill patients (Chapter 13). An assessment of the effects of other factors such as socioeconomic status and Aboriginality on the long term survival of critically ill patients in an Australian ICU was assessed (Chapter 14). Section six provides the conclusions. Chapter 15 includes a summary and discussion of the findings of this thesis and outlines possible future directions for further research in this important aspect of intensive care medicine.
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Bennetts, Helen. "Environmental issues and house design in Australia : images from theory and practice /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2000. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phb472.pdf.
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Moloney, Lawrence, and l. moloney@latrobe edu au. "JUDGEMENTS AS SOCIAL NARRATIVE: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF APPEAL JUDGEMENTS IN CLOSELY CONTESTED PARENTING DISPUTES IN THE FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA 1988 � 1999." La Trobe University. Institute for Education, 2002. http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au./thesis/public/adt-LTU20070411.144416.
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The thesis is divided into two sections. Section 1 explores the psycho-social and legal constructions of family, parenting and children that have influenced judicial decision-making in parenting disputes following separation and divorce. Particular attention is paid, first, to the circumstances surrounding the shift from paternal to maternally-based presumptions about the parenting of children; and second, to the more recent and somewhat puzzling shift to a presumption of gender neutrality. The extent to which fault has continued as a less overt decision-making criterion is also considered.
In Section 2, judgements in recent closely contested parenting cases in the Family Court of Australia are analysed as contemporary socio-legal narratives. A systematic, in-depth examination of a heterogeneous sample of publicly accessible cases revealed that gender-based assumptions continue to dominate judicial thinking about parenting and family structure. In particular, it was found that outcomes that favoured mothers correlated with perceived evidence of conformity to a maternal stereotype of self-sacrifice on behalf of the child(ren). Outcomes favouring fathers usually resulted from situations in which mothers were judged to fall short of these stereotyped expectations. Fathers� roles, even in cases in which their applications were successful, generally continued to be equated with breadwinning and support. Their capacities as nurturers to their children were either not mentioned or treated with scepticism.
In the light of the findings, tensions between continuing gender-based roles in families, public attitudes to parenting and preferred family structure, and recent changes in our scientific knowledge base regarding gender and parenting are reviewed. Implications of the persistence of the breadwinning/nurturing dichotomy both within the Australian culture and family court judgements are discussed. Particular attention is drawn to the impact of the confused circumstances in which gender-neutral parenting principles came about in the 1970s.
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Martínez, García Miriam. "Enhancing the ELECTRE decision support method with semantic data." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/665102.
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Prendre una decisió quan les opcions es defineixen mitjançant un conjunt divers de criteris no és fàcil. Aqueta tesi es centra en ampliar la metodologia ELECTRE, que és el mètode del tipus "outranking" més utilitzat. En aquesta tesi ens centrem en problemes de decisió que involucren informació no numèrica, tal com els criteris semàntics multivaluats, que poden prendre com a valors els conceptes d'una ontologia de domini determinada.
Primer proposo una nova manera de manipular els criteris semàntics per evitar l'agregació de les puntuacions numèriques abans del procediment de classificació. Aquest mètode, anomenat ELECTRE-SEM, segueix els mateixos principis que el clàssic ELECTRE però, en aquest cas, els índexs de concordança i discordança es defineixen en termes de la comparació per parelles de les puntuacions que indiquen l'interès de l'usuari sobre diferents conceptes de l'ontologia. En segon lloc, proposo crear un perfil d'usuari semàntic mitjançant el emmagatzemant de puntuacions de preferències a l'ontologia. Es vincula una puntuació d'interès numèrica als conceptes més específics, això permet distingir millor les preferències de l'usuari, i també s'incorpora un procediment d'agregació per inferir les preferències de l'usuari considerant les relacions taxonòmiques entre conceptes.
La metodologia proposada s'ha aplicat en dos casos d’estudi: l'avaluació de plantes de generació d'energia i la recomanació d'activitats turístiques a Tarragona.Tomar una decisión cuando las opciones se definen sobre un conjunto diverso de criterios no es fácil. Esta tesis se centra en ampliar la metodología ELECTRE, que es el método del tipo "outranking" más utilizado. En esta tesis nos centramos en problemas de decisión que involucren información no numérica, tal como los criterios semánticos multi-valuados, que pueden tomar como valores los conceptos de una ontología de dominio determinada. Primero propongo una nueva forma de manejar los criterios semánticos para evitar la agregación de puntuaciones numéricas antes del procedimiento de clasificación. Este método, llamado ELECTRE-SEM, sigue los mismos principios que el clásico ELECTRE, pero en este caso los índices de concordancia y discordancia se definen en términos de la comparación por pares de unas puntuaciones que indican el interés del usuario sobre distintos conceptos de la ontología. En segundo lugar, propongo crear un perfil de usuario semántico mediante el almacenamiento de puntuaciones de preferencias en la ontología. Se asocian puntuaciones numéricas a los conceptos más específicos, lo cual permite distinguir mejor las preferencias del usuario, y se incorpora un proceso de agregación para inferir las preferencias del usuario mediante las relaciones taxonómicas entre conceptos. La metodología propuesta ha sido aplicada en dos casos de estudio: la evaluación de las plantas de generación de energía y la recomendación de actividades turísticas en Tarragona.
Reach a decision when options are defined on a set of diverse criteria is not easy. This thesis is focused on improving the methodology ELECTRE, which is the most used outranking-based method. In this dissertation, we focus on decision problems involving non-numerical information, such as multi-valued semantic criteria, which may take as values the concepts of a given domain ontology. First, I propose a new way of handling semantic criteria to avoid the aggregation of the numerical scores before the ranking procedure. This method, called ELECTRE-SEM, follows the same principles than the classic ELECTRE but in this case the concordance and discordance indices are defined in terms of the pairwise comparison of the interest scores. Second, I also propose to create a semantic user profile by storing preference scores into the ontology. The numerical interest score attached to the most specific concepts permits to distinguish better the preferences of the user, improving the quality of the decision by the incorporation of an aggregation methodology to infer the user's preferences by considering taxonomic relations between concepts. The proposed methodology has been applied in two case studies: the assessment of power generation plants and the recommendation of touristic activities in Tarragona.
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Henaien, Moncef, and Shalvi Sinha. "International conference site selection criteria : And a case study of Stockholm as an international conference city." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Turismvetenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-16162.
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The purpose of this thesis is to identify the destination site selection criteria for internationalconferences from the perspectives of the three main players of the conference industry,conference buyers (organizers and delegates) and suppliers. Additionally, the researchidentifies the strengths and weaknesses of the congress cities of Stockholm and Vienna.Through a comparison with Vienna, the top city for hosting international conferences, a roadmap for Stockholm has been designed, to strengthen its congress tourism opportunities, thus,obtaining a higher status as an international congress city. This qualitative research hascombined both primary and secondary data methods, through semi-standardized expertinterviews and secondary studies respectively, to fulfil the study’s aim. The data have beenanalysed by applying the techniques of qualitative content analysis; the secondary dataadopting an inductive approach according to Mayring (2003) while the expert interviewsusing a deductive approach according to Meuser & Nagel (2009). The conclusions of thesecondary data have been further compared and contrasted with the outcomes of the primarydata, to propose fresh discoveries, clarifications, and concepts related to the site selectioncriteria for international conferences, and for the congress tourism industry of Stockholm. Theresearch discusses the discoveries of the site selection criteria, the implications of thestrengths and weaknesses of Stockholm in comparison to Vienna, recommendations forStockholm via a road map, and future research areas in detail. The findings andrecommendation, not only provide specific steps and inceptions that Stockholm as aninternational conference city can apply, but also propose findings, which can aid conferencebuyers and suppliers to cooperate, to strengthen their marketing strategies and developsuccessful international conferences and destinations to help achieve a greater competitiveadvantage.
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Corne, Aurélie. "Performance et destination : outils d'aide à la décision pour les acteurs du secteur touristique : Le cas de la France." Thesis, Perpignan, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016PERP0038.
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Nous postulons que la destination touristique, objet de recherche de ce travail, est un système complexe d’éléments en interaction qui se doit d’être commercialisée et gérée. Ainsi, pour maintenir sa compétitivité et son attractivité dans un environnement concurrentiel fort, les Organismes de Gestion de la Destination (OGD) et les professionnels du secteur se doivent d’adopter des stratégies opérationnelles et des outils d’aide à la décision. Cette recherche consiste à analyser la performance, principalement via l’efficience, de la destination touristique, afin de distinguer les meilleures pratiques observables (« benchmarks » ou points de comparaison) et d’apporter des recommandations managériales aux décideurs. À travers divers acteurs et échelles du territoire touristique français, nous tentons de soulever plusieurs questions de recherche liées à l’optimisation de la performance, problématique centrale en sciences de gestion. Les principaux enjeux de ce travail résident dans la valorisation de méthodes quantitatives d’aide à la décision destinéesau management du tourismeWe postulate that tourism destination, which is the research subject of this study, is a complex system of interacting elements. Tourism Destination has to be marketed and managed. Thus, to maintain its position and attractiveness in a highly competitive environment, the Destination Management Organization (DMO) and professionals have to adopt operational strategies and tools for decision-making. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the performance, mainly through efficiency, of the tourism destination in order to identify the best practices (benchmarks) and provide managerial recommendations to decision makers. Through various actors and different scales of the French territory, we intend to raise several issues related to performance optimization, a core research problem in management. The main purposes of this thesis lie in the use of decision-making with quantitative methods for tourism management
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Mwebaza, Rose. "The right to public participation in environmental decision making a comparative study of the legal regimes for the participation of indigneous [sic] people in the conservation and management of protected areas in Australia and Uganda /." Phd thesis, Australia : Macquarie University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/22980.
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"August 2006"Thesis (PhD) -- Macquarie University, Division of Law, 2007.
Bibliography: p. 343-364.
Abstract -- Candidate's certification -- Acknowledgements -- Acronyms -- Chapter one -- Chapter two: Linking public participation to environmental decision making and natural resources management -- Chapter three: The right to public participation -- Chapter four: Implementing the right to public participation in environmental decision making : the participation of indigenous peoples in the conservation and management of protected areas -- Chapter five: The legal and policy regime for the participation of indigenous peoples in the conservation and management of protected areas in Australia -- Chapter six: The legal and policy regime for the participation of indigenous peoples in the conservation and management of protected areas in Uganda -- Chapter seven: Implementing public participation in environmental decision making in Australia and Uganda : a comparative analysis -- Chapter eight: The right to public participation in enviromental decision making and natural resources management : summary and conclusions -- Bibliography.
In recognition of the importance of public participation as a basis for good governance and democracy, Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary General to the United Nations, has noted that: "Good governance demands the consent and participation of the governed and the full participation and lasting involvement of all citizens in the future of their nation. The will of the people must be the basis of governmental authority. That is the foundation of democracy. That is the foundation of good governance Good governance will give every citizen, young or old, man or woman, a real and lasting stake in the future of his or her society". The above quotation encapsulates the essence of what this thesis has set out to do; to examine the concept of public participation and its application in environmental governance within the context of the participation of indigenous peoples in the conservation and management of protected areas in Australia and Uganda. The concept of public participation is of such intrinsic importance that it has emerged as one of the fundamental principles underpinning environmental governance and therefore forms the basis for this study. -- Environmental governance, as a concept that captures the ideal of public participation, is basically about decisions and the manner in which they are made. It is about who has 'a seat at the table' during deliberations and how the interests of affected communities and ecosystems are represented. It is also about how decision makers are held responsible for the integrity of the process and for the results of their decisions. It relates to business people, property owners, farmers and consumers. Environmental governance is also about the management of actions relating to the environment and sustainable development. It includes individual choices and actions like participating in public hearings or joining local watchdog groups or, as consumers, choosing to purchase environmentally friendly products. -- The basic principles behind good governance and good environmental decision making have been accepted for more than a decade. The 178 nations that attended the Rio Summit in 1992 all endorsed these nvironmental governance principles when they signed the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Rio Declaration) - a charter of 27 principles meant to guide the world community towards sustainable development. The international community re-emphasised the importance of these principles at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. -- The right to public participation in nvironmental decision making and natural resources management is one of the 27 principles endorsed by the nations of the world and is embodied in the provisions of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration.
Environmental decisions occur in many contexts. They range from personal choices like whether to walk or drive to work, how much firewood to burn, or whether to have another child. They encompass the business decisions that communities or corporations make about where to locate their facilities, how much to emphasise eco-friendly product design and how much land to preserve. They include national laws enacted to conserve the environment, to regulate pollution, manage public land or regulate trade. They take into account international commitments made to regulate trade in endangered species or limit acid rain or C02 emissions. -- Environmental decisions also involve a wide range of actors: individuals; local, state and national governments; community and tribal authorities such as indigenous peoples; civic organisations; interested groups; labour unions; national and transactional corporations; scientists; and international bodies such as the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Trade Organisation. -- Each of the actors have different interests, different levels of authority and different information, making their actions complex and frequently putting their decisions at odds with each other and with ecological processes that sustain the natural systems we depend on. -- Accordingly, this thesis aims to examine participation in environmental decision making in a way that demonstrates these complexities and interdependencies. It will explore the theoretical and conceptual basis for public participation and how it is incorporated into international and domestic environmental and natural resources law and policy. -- It will examine public participation in the context of the legal and policy framework for the conservation and management of protected areas and will use case studies involving the participation of indigeneous peoples in Australia and Uganda to provide the basis for a comparative analysis. -- The thesis will also faces on a comparative analysis of the effectiveness and meaningfulness of the process for public participation in environmental decision making in Australia and Uganda. There is extensive literature on the purposes to which participation may be put; the stages in the project cycle at which it should be employed; the level and power with regard to the decision making process which should be afforded to the participants; the methods which may be appropriate under the different circumstances, as well as detailed descriptions of methods; approaches and forms or typologies of public participation; and the benefits and problems of such participation.
However, there is not much significant literature that examines and analyses the meaningfulness and effectiveness of the contextual processes of such participation. This is despite the widespread belief in the importance and value of public participation, particularly by local and indigenous communities, even in the face of disillusionment caused by deceit, manipulation and tokenism. Accordingly, the thesis will use case studies to demonstrate the meaningfulness and effectiveness or otherwise of public participation in environmental decision making in protected area management. -- Increasingly, the terminology of sustainable development is more appropriate to describe contemporary policy objectives in this area, with an emphasis on promoting local livelihood and poverty alleviation within the constraints of ecosystem management. However, the domestic legal frameworks, and institutional development, in Australia and Uganda tend to reflect earlier concepts of environmental and natural resources management (referred to as environmental management in this thesis). There are some significant differences between a North (developed) nation and a South (developing) nation, in terms of the emphasis on economic objectives, political stability, resources and legal and administrative capacity. The thesis intends to explore these differences for the comparative analysis and to draw on them to highlight the complexities and interdependencies of public participation by indigenous peoples in environmental decision making, natural resources and protected area management.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
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Ernst, Wolfgang F. "The economic rationale for stochastic urban transport models and travel behaviour : a mathematical programming approach to quantitative analysis with Perth data." UWA Business School, 2003. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2005.0004.
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[Formulae and special characters can only be approximated here. Please see the pdf version of the abstract for an accurate reproduction.] This thesis reviews, extends and applies to urban traffic analysis the entropy concept of Shannon and Luce's mathematical psychology in a fairly complex and mathematically demanding model of human decision making, if it is solved as a deeply nested structure of logit calculus. Recognising consumers' different preferences and the universal propensity to seek the best choice when going to some desired goal (k), a transparent mathematical program (MP) is developed: the equivalent of a nested multinomial logit model without its inherent computational difficulty. The MP model makes a statistical assessment of individual decisions based on a randomised (measurable) utility within a given choice structure: some path through a diagram (Rk, Dk), designed a priori, of a finite number of sequential choices. The Equivalence Theorem (ET) formalises the process and states a non-linear MP with linear constraints that maximises collective satisfaction: utility plus weighted entropy, where the weight (1/θn) is a behavioural parameter to be calibrated in each case, eg for the Perth CBD. An optimisation subject to feasible routes through the (Rk, Dk) network thus captures the rational behaviour of consumers on their individually different best-choice decision paths towards their respective goals (k). This theory has been applied to urban traffic assignment before: a Stochastic User Equi-librium (SUE). What sets this thesis apart is its focus on MP models that can be solved with standard Operations Research software (eg MINOS), models for which the ET is a conditio sine qua non. A brief list of SUE examples in the literature includes Fisk's logit SUE model in (impractically many) route flows. Dial's STOCH algorithm obviates path enumeration, yet is a logit multi-path assignment procedure, not an MP model; it is nei-ther destination oriented nor an optimisation towards a SUE. A revision of Dial's method is provided, named STOCH[k], that computes primal variables (node and link flows) and Lagrangian duals (the satisfaction difference n→k). Sheffi & Powell presented an unconstrained optimisation problem, but favoured a probit SUE, defying closed formulae and standard OR software. Their model corresponds to the (constrained) dual model here, yet the specifics of our primary MP model and its dual are possible only if one restricts himself to logit SUE models, including the ET, which is logit-specific. A real world application needs decomposition, and the Perth CBD example is iteratively solved by Partial Linearisation, switching from (measured) disutility minimisation to Sheffi & Powell's Method of Successive Averages near the optimum. The methodology is demonstrated on the Perth Central Business District (CBD). To that end, parameter Θ is calibrated on Main Roads' traffic count data over the years 1997/98 and 1998/99. The method is a revision of Liu & Fricker's simultaneous estimation of not only Θ but an appropriate trip matrix also. Our method handles the more difficult variable costs (congestion), incomplete data (missing observations) and observation errors (wrong data). Finally, again based on Main Roads' data (a sub-area trip matrix), a Perth CBD traffic assignment is computed, (a) as a logit SUE and - for comparison - (b) as a DUE (using the PARTAN method of Florian, Guélat and Spiess). The results are only superficially similar. In conclusion, the methodology has the potential to replace current DUE models and to deepen transport policy analysis, taking into account individual behaviour and a money-metric utility that quantifies 'social benefits', for instance in a cost-benefit-analysis.
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Prideaux, Lee-Ann, and n/a. "A Longitudinal Evaluation of a Theoretically Derived Adolescent Career Education Intervention." Griffith University. School of Applied Psychology, 2003. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20040701.093444.
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Theoretically derived career education programs are not well documented in the career development literature. This remains so, despite growing recognition of the negative effects of a schism between theory and practice. This thesis describes a research project that attempted to incorporate theory into practice. The two primary aims were to test and extend career development theory, and to evaluate a theoretically derived career education program. The participants were 296 Year 10 students (mean age = 14.5 years; 147 females & 149 males) attending a government high school in a low socio-economic area of a large Australian city. Career maturity, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career indecision were the key career development variables examined. Students' decision coping patterns were also investigated. There were three studies in all. The first gathered qualitative data from a stratified random sample (N = 30) of staff and parents at the school where the research took place. This study assessed the career decision-making development needs of the students. It also provided context specific information about the opportunity structure of these adolescents, including perceived barriers to making sound career-related decisions. Findings centred upon the belief that students lacked self confidence and were in need of training in life skills generally, and decision-making and goal setting skills in particular. The interviewees also painted a grim picture about students' complacency and sense of resignation to unemployment. The second study involved the cross-sectional examination of baseline survey data, which obtained measures of the career development variables under investigation as well as relevant demographic and contextual data including part-time work experience, school achievement level, and parents' education and employment status. A thorough review of the career development literature, combined with the qualitative data, and the findings of this cross-sectional study, served to guide the design of a career education intervention. Social cognitive career theory's choice model (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) was used as the framework for the career education intervention, which ran for six weeks with one 70 minute lesson per week. Relationships amongst the key variables established previously in the literature were reflected in the results of the cross-sectional study. Demographic and contextual variables were also found to impact upon students' level of career development and decision-making behaviour in anticipated ways. The third study was a longitudinal assessment of the intervention using the baseline survey and three more surveys administered during the same school year. The short and long term effects of the intervention were examined according to mode of delivery, and comparisons were made with controls. The researcher was the career development "expert" facilitator for the implementation of the intervention to 134 students between the first and second testing times. A wait-listed control group of 118 students undertook the intervention between the second and third testing times with regular classroom teachers facilitating it. The remaining students were enrolled in a generic school-based vocational course and were not given the intervention. There was a lapse of eight weeks between each of the first three testing times with the fourth test taken 12 weeks later. Despite its brief nature, the intervention was found to assist students' career development in a variety of ways. It led to gains in career maturity for females regardless of who taught them. However, males' career maturity was enhanced only if teachers facilitated the intervention. Levels of career indecision and maladaptive decision-making coping patterns were also reduced by the intervention with teacher facilitation. A matched sample of students who did the intervention exhibited significantly better outcomes than those doing the generic vocational course. The long term impact of the intervention was found to be generally beneficial, although some gains were not maintained 12 weeks later. Students' career decision-making self-efficacy and their resoluteness toward decision-making were not affected by the intervention. The research findings led to an appeal for the realignment of focus in career education. This has implications for career education curriculum development in Australia, which needs to shift from its ad hoc, information giving approach, to more comprehensive, long-term, and intensive programming. Career education that enhances the personal skills students need to meet the demands of the world of work in the twenty-first century is required. Career process skills are of paramount importance. Specialist training for career guidance officers is also recommended and more research incorporating theory and practice is advocated.
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Li, Shuo. "Does the ethnic consumer consider the relevance of the retailer in their decision to buy wine in Christchurch?" Diss., Lincoln University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10182/1028.
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The value of secondary brand associations has been discussed in the literature for decades. Companies are transferring their brand building to retailers (Bruwer, Li et al. 2002 ), therefore, it is very important to understand the impact of retailers on the product brand and consumers’ decision making processes when considering other relevant sources of brand associations. However, in the wine environment, few published studies have been carried out to examine the association with retailers. Thus, the primary aim of this study is to examine whether this association transfers value to the image of wine brand and influences consumers’ behaviour. Also, the impact of ethnicity on the consumer’s decision making process will be taken into account. This research specifically provides insight into Christchurch’s wine retailing industry. Owing to the limited time and resources, the wine drinking community in Christchurch has been divided into two groups (European and Non-European). Europeans (150) and Non-Europeans (50) were recruited for the sample. Two research models and six main hypotheses were established to analyze the relationships between brand associations, perceived brand image and consumer behaviour. Research was conducted to collect quantitative data by using questionnaires, including rating scales and multiple choice questions. Face to face interviews and self-administered methods were employed. Participants were recruited by using a combination of convenience sampling, quota sampling and random sampling. A statistical programme called the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data. From the results it was found that associations including the packaging, characteristics, quality, country of origin, producer of the wine, retailer or staff qualities have a positive impact on the spending on wine. In particular, the kinds of retailers make differences to consumers’ expected wine budgets. The results also suggested that the evaluation patterns and perceptions of wine are different in the two ethnic groups.
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Silva, Paulo Gustavo da. "O processo decisório do turista em ambiente virtual: fatores que influenciam as etapas de compra." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2017. https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/20552.
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Tourism is one of the biggest economic activities in the world and it has undergone changes in its management, especially in the perspective of marketing, a result of globalization and the internet. This dissertation has as its theme: "The Desion-Making Process of the Tourist in the Virtual Environment: Factors that influence the purchase stages", and it aims to analyze how the influencing factors of purchase are manifested in the physical and virtual environment in the decision-making process in the context of the hotel market. In the theoretical framework, this dissertation approaches the perspectives of digital marketing, decision-making process and tourism. This research was conducted with 330 Brazilian and foreign tourists who stayed in the coast of Rio Grande do Norte, through a hotel wherewith they made contact to shopping in a physical and/or virtual environment. Therefore, it is an exploratory descriptive study, in this dissertation the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), ANOVA and Discriminant Analysis (DA) for the treatment and analysis of the data were used it. It is concluded that, in relation to practical contributions to companies, is possible to infer that companies that operate in the hotel market must look for the changes that happen in the decision-making process in the virtual environment, considering variables that are important in the time of purchase by tourist, in which are: Satisfaction, Service, Ease, Credibility, Security, Price, Relationship, Post-sales and Communication. A company that markets hosting should not use the same way the marketing strategy for both environments (physical and virtual) because customers behave and evaluate differently depending on the environment in which they are inserted during the decision-making process
O turismo que é uma das maiores atividades econômicas do mundo e vem passando por mudanças na sua gestão notadamente na perspectiva do marketing, resultado da globalização e da internet. A presente tese tem como tema: “O Processo Decisório do Turista em Ambiente Virtual: Fatores que influenciam as etapas de compra”, e busca atender o objetivo de analisar como os fatores influenciadores de compra se manifestam no ambiente físico e virtual no processo decisório no contexto do mercado hoteleiro. No referencial teórico, o trabalho aborda perspectivas do marketing digital, processo decisório e turismo. A pesquisa foi realizada com 330 turistas brasileiros e estrangeiros que se hospedaram no litoral do Rio Grande do Norte, por meio de um estabelecimento hoteleiro com o qual realizaram contato para compra em ambiente físico e/ou virtual. Trata-se, portanto, de uma pesquisa exploratória descritiva, neste estudo a Análise Fatorial Exploratória (AFE), ANOVA e Análise Discriminante (AD) foram utilizadas para o tratamento e análise dos dados. Conclui-se que, no tocante as contribuições práticas para as empresas, é possível inferir que as organizações que atuam no mercado hoteleiro devem atentar para as mudanças que ocorrem no processo decisório no ambiente virtual, levando em consideração as variáveis que são importantes no momento da compra para o turista, sendo: Satisfação, Atendimento, Facilidade, Credibilidade, Segurança, Preço, Relacionamento, Pós-vendas e Comunicação. A empresa que comercializa hospedagem não deve utilizar da mesma forma as estratégias de marketing para os dois ambientes (físico e virtual), pois os clientes se comportam e avaliam de maneira diferente dependendo do ambiente o qual está inserido durante o processo decisório