Digital Commons Network^™

To What Extent Can Knowledge Management Systems Build And Reinforce Consensus Around Initiatives For Change?: A Self-Reflective Analysis Of Professional Practice, Guy A. Duczynski

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis reports on my attempts to 're-align' the purpose, behaviour and underlying culture of a large military organisation through heuristic, self reflective enquiry - to 'find its future' - with and through its people. I use the word re-align with great care as I recognised that change would have been too ambitious and would (probably have) result(ed) in failure. Whilst I cannot claim total success, I have made new and valuable discoveries in knowledge elicitation and methods of integrating the views of a large number of people to 'build and reinforce consensus around initiatives for change'. In the process …

The Mind Of Christ? A Phenomenological Explication Of Personal Transformation And Cosmic Revision In Christian Converts In Western Australia, Stuart Cranford Devenish

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Religious converts routinely report differences in the way they attribute meaning as a consequence of religious conversion. Previously known objects, events and persons are perceived differently as a result of a new plausibility structure being brought to bear. Converts experience themselves and their lives as fundamentally problematic due to their limitations in the face of seemingly insurmountable physical, moral or spiritual crises, and set out in search of a resolution to their anguished existence. The resolution comes as they encounter God, the one whom-it is thought-holds within his hands the resolution to their problem and the seeds of their transformation …

The Management Of Performance By Volunteers: The Use Of Performance Feedback, Megan Paull

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of feedback by managers and co-ordinators of volunteers in the management of performance by volunteers. Research into the use of feedback in the paid workforce was examined extensively. Additionally, research dealing with the application of human resource management theory to volunteers is discussed. A foundation study conducted to examine the performance management practices in use with volunteers in Western Australia forms the basis for a multi-phase qualitative and quantitative examination of the topic. The perceptions of the managers and coordinators of volunteers, and the volunteers themselves about what constitutes poor …

Communicative Interaction In The English Language Classroom : A Field Study Of A Western Teacher As Change Agent In Two Chinese Primary Schools In Zhong Shan, People's Republic Of China, Monika Trittibach-Andres

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a 'Change Agent' in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Chinese primary schools, and to determine whether changes were perceivable in the number and type of communicative interactions that occurred in EFL classrooms. The Department of Education of Zhong Shan, People's Republic of China, welcomed this research as the communicative approach to teaching English is sanctioned by the authorities. However, the formality of the actual classroom in primary schools often precludes much use of this method. An Investigation of the influence of a Westerner in the role …

Small Business Owners' Measures Of Success, Elizabeth A. Walker

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Small business plays a significant part in the economy of all nations because of its revenue contribution and as a generator of employment. In the Australian context, small businesses account for 85% of all businesses, employ 40% of the total workforce and contribute $75 billion annually to Industry Gross Product. All of these numerical indicators highlight the financial importance of small business, which is also how small business success has traditionally been measured. These traditional success measures have been by increases in financial performance criteria, such as return on investment, turnover or profit, or by increases in number of staff.

Factors In The Development Of Early Childhood Distance Education Curriculum Materials For Language And Literacy In Western Australia, Elisabeth Turner

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many factors influence the changing nature of education: family structures, cultural diversity, rapid technological change, social conditions. In response to these changes the Curriculum Framework for Western Australian schools has been developed to establish the learning outcomes expected of all students from K-12. Students in isolated and distance education settings are supplied curriculum materials designed to meet their diverse educational needs. This study presents one snapshot of an ongoing research project in which new language and literacy curriculum materials for early childhood distance education learners were developed, trialled and further developed. Some factors that appear to be important in the …

The Relationship Of Pastoral Leadership Style And Church Growth In Nazarene Churches, Michael S. Tinnon

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Discipleship Out Of Transition : A Study Of The New Membership Policies And Procedures Of The Free Methodist Church And Its Impact On Discipleship, Barton T. Herndon

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Spiritual Formation Practices Currently Being Used By Itinerant Evangelists In The Church Of The Nazarene, Usa, Michael Wallace Benson

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Character Development: A Study During Evening Worship At Sardis Chapel, Theodore Eugene Beam

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Gender And Nonfinancial Matters In The Ali Principles Of The Law Of Family Dissolution, Katharine B. Silbaugh

Faculty Scholarship

The question for this issue is gender issues in the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution. Overall, the Principles are an impressive effort to create clarity and coherence, given the disorganized and evolving state of family law. This commentary raises a few questions about the Principles’ treatment of nonfinancial issues, and suggests that this treatment should raise concerns about women’s interests upon divorce. First, I will briefly review the ALI’s position on nonfinancial matters. Second, I will discuss why the limitation to financial losses should matter to women; that is, I will investigate the costs of …

Making Clinical Trials Safer For Human Subjects, Michael S. Baram

Faculty Scholarship

Clinical trials, in which new biotech and other medical products are tested on human subjects, provide much of the data used by the FDA to determine whether the products are suitable for routine use in health care. Thus, the trials are of obvious importance to medical progress and improvement of public health, and to those who have career and financial interests at stake. But clinical trials are also important to the human subjects involved because the products being tested on them may remedy their illnesses, but may also pose risks since the products have usually not been previously tested on …

Slouching Toward Managed Care Liability: Reflections On Doctrinal Boundaries, Paradigm Shifts, And Incremental Reform, Wendy K. Mariner

Faculty Scholarship

Following the seemingly endless debate over managed care liability, I cannot suppress thoughts of Yeats’s poem, “The Second Coming.” It is not the wellknown phrase, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold,” that comes to mind; although that could describe the feeling of a health-care system unraveling. The poem’s depiction of lost innocence — “The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity” — does not allude to the legislature, the industry, the public, or the medical or legal profession. What resonates is the poem’s evocation of humanity’s cyclical history of expectation and disappointment, with ideas as …

Cleaner Production Among Multinational Corporations In Southeast Asia, Nguyen Phan Duy Nguyen

Theses

Cleaner Production (CP) represents the change from a conventional end-of-pipe treatment attitude to a proactive approach to pollution prevention and increased production efficiency. CP has been successfully implemented in developing countries, including the countries of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN is becoming an economic development center in Asia, attracting a large amount of foreign direct investments from multinational corporations during the last two decades. However, success in economic development has been accompanied by environmental problems. Understanding the level of CP practices among ASEAN's multinational corporations (MNCs) and National Cleaner Production Centers/Cleaner Production (NCPCs/CP) organizations is important to …

On The Classical Ramsey Number R(3,3,3,3), Susan Fettes

Theses

The classical Ramsey Number R(3, 3, 3, 3), which is the smallest positive integer n such that any edge coloring with four colors of the complete graph on n vertices must contain at least one monochromatic triangle, is discussed. Basic facts and graph theoretic definitions are given. Papers concerning triangle-free colorings are presented in a historical overview. Mathematical theory underlying the main result of the thesis, which is Richard Kramers unpublished result, i?(3,3,3,3) < 62, is given. The algorithms for the com putational verification of this result are presented along with a discussion of the software tools that were utilized to obtain it.

Emigration, Yuhay-Raymond Ng

Theses

A descriptive narration of a project to create a 3-D computer animated film, "Emigration," about the lives of people of different social classes in a high-rise apartment building in Hong Kong right around the time of the Chinese takeover in 1997. In particular it focuses on a rich family and a poor family who both try to emigrate from Hong Kong.

Section 51 Actions Against Private Racial Profiling, Peter Zablotsky, Sa'id Vakili

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Regulatory Distortions Of Local Exchange Telecommunications Infrastructure, Gregg Sayre

Theses

This thesis presents a history of United States telecommunications regulation in the 20th Century with a view toward explaining the economic motivations of the involved parties and exploding economic myths such as "natural monopoly" and "cross subsidization" by the application of common sense. The relative success and failure of antitrust and economic regulation are analyzed on a subjective but quantitative scale, with antitrust regulation as the clear winner in terms of the author's standard of "public interest." The thesis examines specific economic incentives resulting directly from economic regulation, in particular, rate-of- return regulation and the FCC's interpretations of the Telecommunications …

Segmented Face Detection Using Clustering, Gunturi Srimanth

Theses

Perception forms a very important part of learning. The way we perceive things has a lot to do with how we understand. It forms a very crucial link in our build-up of knowledge. Living organisms have a remarkable ability of understanding spatial information. It is due to their inherent ability of generating native organizations, models, etc, and most importantly, their ability to generalize and infer - based upon symmetry, probability, familiarity, etc, that allows them to instantly adapt their knowledge to the given surroundings. It forms a very basic step in survival. When trying to make machines intelligent, one of …

Cyclic Olefin Copolymer: An Alternative Plastic Film For Pharmaceutical Blister Packages, Kurt Trombley

Theses

This thesis paper will provide data to show that cyclic olefin copolymer blister film can be used as a beneficial alternative to polyvinyl chloride film which is more commonly used in the pharmaceutical market today. Polyvinyl chloride continues to be a highly controversial packaging material due to potential environmental concerns. Cyclic olefin copolymer is shown to have properties which result in fewer environmental concerns and also can provide the added benefit of an improved barrier to moisture permeation when compared to polyvinyl chloride film. This paper documents a summary of the data on both sides of the polyvinyl chloride environmental …

Methods For Removing Gases From Hot-Filled Liquid Food Products Prior To Packaging, Stephen Hellenschmidt

Theses

This paper investigates the impact that free, disbursed and dissolved air in liquid food products has on the per formance of packaging lines. Specific focus is put on high-speed hot- fill beverage lines that rapidly increased in number of installations in the 1980' s and 1990' s. This' paper investigates the sources of gases in liquid food products, the negative operational impacts of excess gas in liquid food products, and the commonly available types of systems used to reduce gas levels prior to packaging. A specific new technology, atmospheric hot degassing, is described. This new technology is evaluated in a …

Evaluation Of Bond Graph Based Object Oriented Approach To Determination Of Natural Frequencies Of Packaging System Elements, Vladimir Jaram

Theses

Packaged items passing through distribution system encounter vibrations. It needs to be examined what happens to an object, packaged or unpackaged, in the distribution environment when it is subject to outside vibrations, so that we may predict its behavior resulting from distribution vibrations. To prevent product loss from both static and dynamic forces encountered in distribution, corporations are turning in increasing numbers to services of package engineering. This work evaluates the application of Bond Graphs Based Object-Oriented Approach to Determination of Natural Frequencies of Packaging System Elements. Using the Bond Graph, a model of the Package-product system under testing was …

Free Agency And The Organization, Gregg Chalmers

Theses

Corporate downsizing has become a common occurrence in today's business world. As a result, many employers and employees no longer believe and cannot sustain the concept of lifetime employment. Several views on the breaking of this psychological contract and its implications on workplace loyalty and trust are offered from both the manufacturing and service industry's perspectives. The way we live and work is changing at an alarming rate. Rapid technological advancements enable employees to work from remote locations while communicating with their organization and coworkers in real-time. These break-through capabilities bring new challenges to the organization and the employee. In …

Process Mapping Framework For Small Business Consultants: A Case Study Approach, Nicole Kmicinski

Theses

Objective To develop a Process Mapping Framework for Small Business Consultants and to evaluate its effectiveness on a case study organization. Design Current literature was reviewed to establish protocol for the framework. The framework was followed to test its efficacy. Subject Weight No More, Inc., of Lyndonville, NY, was selected as the case study small business. Results The developed framework proved useful for gathering information, maintaining consistency, and assimilating research into well-versed findings for the case study organization. Applications Small business consultants now have a guiding framework which promotes use of strong customer service skills, consistency, organization, and evaluation of …

Reciprocity, Utility, And The Law Of Aggression, Anita Bernstein

Vanderbilt Law Review

The themes of incursion and boundary-crossing unite disparate legal domains. Wherever human beings cross paths and share space, law or law-like traditions develop to regulate this terrain by distinguishing permitted from proscribed intrusion.' Crimes and torts, regulation and liability, claims and defenses to claims, private law and public law all use a variety of measures--punishments, administrative rules, equitable remedies, professional discipline, and informal or extralegal sanctions-to condemn undue aggression. Concern about aggression may be found in the law of every jurisdiction in the United States.

Within American law, an extra increment of aggression can amount to the only difference between …

Stalking Secret Law: What Predicts Publication In The United States Courts Of Appeals, Deborah J. Merritt, James J. Brudney

Vanderbilt Law Review

For more than a quarter century, the United States Courts of Appeals have maintained two bodies of law. One is published, widely disseminated, and fully precedential. The other, now encompassing nearly 80% of all dispositions on the merits,' is unpublished, erratically distributed, and rarely precedential. What distinguishes these two sets of cases? Is it possible to predict why judges publish opinions in some cases while resolving others through unpublished opinions, memoranda, or judgment orders?

Each court has formal rules governing the publication of opinions, but those standards fail to account for variations in publication. Despite substantial overlap among circuit rules, …

Specific Crime Vs. Criminal Ways: Criminal Conduct And Responsibility In Rule 3e1.1, Matthew Richardson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The United States Sentencing Commission ("Sentencing Commission") drafted Rule 3E1.1 with an inherent ambiguity, one that concerns both the Rule's purpose and design. Rule 3E1.1 allows for a reduction in sentence if a criminal "accepts responsibility" for his offense.' As result of the Rule's ambiguous language, prior tensions in interpretation of its meaning have spilled over into the current debate over sentence reductions.

The inherent ambiguity results from the Rule's genesis. The Sentencing Commission enacted the Rule with the purpose of increasing predictability in sentencing by reducing judicial discretion. Before the enactment of the Rule, mitigating and aggravating circumstances allowed …

To Litigate Or Arbitrate - No Matter - The Credit Card Industry Is Deciding For You, Johanna Harrington

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This Comment posits that consumers lose their legal protections in the credit industry when arbitration policies are favored over consumer credit protection policies. Part II will examine the language of credit card arbitration clauses including a discussion of the circumstances under which a credit card holder might bring a claim. Part III will discuss barriers to challenging the arbitration provisions. Part IV will summarize how the courts have addressed mandatory arbitration clauses in credit cards. Part V will examine traditional consumer credit protection laws, specifically whether the Truth-in-Lending Act is able to protect consumers from mandatory arbitration clauses. Finally, Part …

Clarifying The Intent Of Congress: Are The Federal Arbitration Act's Venue Provisions Permissive Or Mandatory - Cortez Byrd Chips, Inc. V. Bill Harbert Construction Co., Darynne L. O'Neal

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Some circuits have taken the position that the venue provisions are mandatory, thus limiting venue for motions to confirm, vacate, or modify arbitration awards to the district where the award was made. Other circuits, however, have adopted the contrary position that the venue provisions are permissive, allowing such motions to be brought either in the district where the arbitration award was made or in any district that is proper under the general venue statute. This Casenote explores the split among the circuits on the nature of the FAA's venue provisions. Cortez Byrd Chips, Inc. v. Bill Harbert Construction Co. addressed …

To Investigate The Reasons For Moisture Ingress In Ready To Drink Mixes, Rahul N. Eklahare

Theses

The objective of this study was to determine the reasons for moisture ingress in ready to drink mixes. The containers for this product were supposed to be moisture resistant. However, after a certain period it was observed that the product inside was prone to caking and lump formation due to moisture ingress.

The dimensions of the containers were compared with the actual dimensions and the containers were exposed to accelerated aging to simulate a longer duration of shelf life. Several recommendations were made for new design of containers which were also tested for moisture ingress. Some observations were also made …