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1
Cruywagen, Marie. "Knowledge-centric capabilities : a configurational approach." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/5245.
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Thesis (PhD (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
During the past 15 years knowledge management has emerged as a key new organisational
practice with numerous organisations implementing processes aimed at facilitating
knowledge creation, integration and sharing. With knowledge management positioned as a
strategic imperative, numerous studies have explored its resource-base and management
alternatives. These studies have played an important role in establishing knowledge
management as a field of inquiry within the business sciences, but a number of weaknesses
put knowledge management at risk of becoming another passing fad. Previous research tends
to prescribe a tool, method or way of looking at knowledge while disregarding any
differences in organisational context and displaying little attempt to differentiate
organisations in a meaningful way. This assumed homogeneity constitutes a deficiency in
knowledge management research.
The knowledge-based view of the firm emphasises distinct knowledge as the key source of
firm heterogeneity, and the role of the organisation as that of knowledge creation. This view
largely ignores the personal and social nature of knowledge, and the role of the firm in
providing the organisational context for creating, sharing and integrating knowledge.
Knowledge management, as an embodiment of the knowledge-based view, thus also fails to
explore organisational context as a possible source of competitive advantage, thereby limiting
the potential of knowledge management initiatives.
The central theme of the study is that the capacity to provide an institutional context for the
creation, sharing and integration of knowledge, henceforth the knowledge-centric capability,
rather than distinct knowledge, is the key strategic resource of the organisation. The objective
of the study therefore is to understand how different knowledge-centric capabilities configure
in different organisational contexts. The objective is achieved by addressing three research
questions, namely what dimensions can be used to describe a knowledge-centric capability,
what configurations of knowledge-centric capabilities emerge in different organisational
contexts, and why do specific configurations of knowledge-centric capabilities emerge in
specific organisational contexts?
Considering the philosophical foundations of the study, namely knowledge as personal, social
and context-specific and the organisation as an open, adaptive system, the study follows a
social constructionist research philosophy. The study’s focus on identifying emerging patterns or configurations of knowledge-centric
capabilities necessitates a configurational research approach. This allows the study to move
beyond uncovering relationships that hold across all organisations, affording the opportunity
to identify multi-dimensional constellations of conceptually distinct characteristics that
commonly occur together.
A sequential mixed-method research methodology is employed to address the research
objective and research questions. First a conceptual framework is developed from the extant
literature in order to identify the dimensions of a knowledge-centric capability. Next a theorydriven
survey, based on the dimensions of the conceptual framework, is employed to obtain
data from which the configurations of knowledge-centric capabilities are derived using
cluster analysis. Finally, four case studies are presented to explain the emergence of the
configurations within specific organisational contexts.
This research is important for two main reasons. First, it addresses the identified shortcoming
of existing research by providing a mechanism to explore an organisation’s knowledgecentric
capability following a context-sensitive approach. Second, the research demonstrates
that knowledge-centric capabilities can indeed be used to differentiate between organisations
at a strategic level.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING:
Die afgelope 15 jaar het kennisbestuur as ‘n belangrike nuwe besigheidspraktyk ontwikkel,
met talle ondernemings wat prosesse implementeer wat daarop gemik is om die skepping,
integrasie en deel van kennis te fasiliteer. Met die posisionering van kennisbestuur as ‘n
strategiese noodsaaklikheid, het verskeie studies die hulpbron-basis en bestuurs alternatiewe
ondersoek. Hierdie studies het ‘n belangrike rol gespeel om kennisbestuur as ‘n
navorsingsveld te vestig in die bestuurswetenskappe, maar ‘n aantal gebreke laat
kennisbestuur die gevaar loop om net ‘n verbygaande gier te word. Bestaande navorsing neig
om ‘n instrument, metodiek of manier voor te skryf om na kennis te kyk. Maar terselfdetyd
word enige verskille in organisasies se konteks geïgnoreer en is daar min aanduiding van ‘n
poging om organisasies op ‘n sinvolle wyse te onderskei. Hierdie veronderstelde
homogeniteit vorm ‘n gebrek in kennisbestuur navorsing.
Die kennis-perspektief van die organisasie beklemtoon unieke kennis as die belangrikste bron
van firma heterogeniteit, en die rol van die organisasie as dié van kennis skepping. Hierdie
uitkyk ignoreer grotendeels die persoonlike en sosiale aard van kennis en die rol van die
firma in die voorsiening van ‘n organisasie konteks vir die skep, deel en integrasie van
kennis. Kennisbestuur, as ‘n vergestalting van die kennis perspektief, faal dus ook om
organisasie konteks to ondersoek as ‘n moontlike bron van mededingings voordeel. Sodoende
word die potensiaal van kennisbestuur inisiatiewe beperk.
Die uitganspunt van die studie is dat die kapasiteit om ‘n institusionele konteks te voorsien
vir die skeppping, deel en integrasie van kennis, of te wel die kennis-sentriese vermoë, eerder
as unieke kennis die kern strategiese helpbron van ‘n organisasie is. Die doel van die studie is
dus om te verstaan hoe verskillende kennis-sentriese vermoëns konfigureer in verskillende
organisasie kontekste. Die doel word behaal deur drie navorsingsvrae te adresseer, naamlik
watter dimensies kan gebruik word om ‘n kennis-sentriese vermoë te beskryf, watter
konfigurasies van kennis-sentriese vermoëns tree na vore in verskillende organisasie
kontekste en waarom tree spesifieke konfigurasies van kennis-sentriese vermoëns na vore in
spesifieke organisasie kontekste?
Met inagneming van die filosofiese grondslag van die studie, naamlik kennis as persoonlik,
sosiaal en konteks-spesifiek en die organisasie as ‘n oop, aanpasbare stelsel, volg die studie
‘n sosiaal konstruksionistiese navorsingsfilosofie.
Die studie se fokus op die identifisering van patrone en konfigurasies van kennis-sentriese
vermoëns, noodsaak ‘n konfigurasionele-benadering tot die navorsing. Dit laat die studie toe
om verder te gaan as om bloot verwantskappe te identifiseer wat vir alle organisasies geld, en
stel die studie in staat om multi-dimensionele konstellasies van konseptueel-unieke
eienskappe wat tipies saam voor kom te identifiseer.
‘n Sekwensieële gemengde metode navorsingsmetodologie is gebruik om die navorsingsdoel
en navorsingsvrae te addresseer. Eerstens is ‘n konseptuele raamwerk uit die bestaande
literatuur ontwikkel om sodoende die dimensies van ‘n kennis-sentriese vermoë te
identifiseer. Volgende is ‘n teorie-gedrewe vraelys, gebaseer op die dimensies van die
konseptuele raamwerk, gebruik om die data te versamel waaruit die konfigurasies van kennissentriese
vermoëns met die gebruik van trosanalise. Laastens is vier gevallestudies ontwikkel
om die figurering van die konfigurasies binne spesifieke organisasie kontekste te verduidelik.
Hierdie navorsing is belangrik vir twee bepaalde redes. Eerstens adresseer dit die
geïdentifiseerde tekortkoming van bestaande navorsing deur ‘n meganisme te voorsien
waarmee ‘n organisasie se kennis-sentriese vermoë ondersoek kan word, deur ‘n kontekssensitiewe
benadering te volg. Tweedens demonstreer die navorsing dat kennis-sentriese
vermoëns inderdaad gebruik kan word om op ‘n strategiese vlak tussen organisasies te
onderskei.
2
Swindells, Fox. "A Capabilities Solution to Enhancement Inequality." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Philosophy, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/10454.
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Human enhancements will dramatically alter individuals' capabilities and lead to serious harm if unregulated. However, it is unclear how states should act to mitigate this harm. I argue that the capabilities approach provides a useful metric to determine what action states should take regarding each enhancement technology. According to the capabilities approach, states are responsible for ensuring their citizens are able to function in certain ways that are essential to human life. I consider the impact of a range of enhancements on individuals' capabilities in order to determine what actions states should take regarding each technology. I find that in order to be just and prevent harmful inequality, states will need to ensure many enhancements are available to their citizens. I also explore a range of other regulations aimed at harm prevention. Considering the impact of enhancement technologies on human capabilities, and the appropriate regulatory options for states, under the guide of the capabilities approach allows me to demonstrate that the capabilities approach can provide valuable, realistic, advice to guide public policy in response to enhancement technologies.
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Coates, Dermot Peter. "Housing, the capabilities approach and life satisfaction." Thesis, Open University, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.664514.
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This thesis examines the relationships between housing, housing satisfaction and quality of life using the capabilities approach developed by Sen and others as a theoretical framework. This approach is used to engage with housing-related themes and as a way of thinking about how housing contributes to quality of life. It also analyses the scope for heterogeneity in these relationships by looking at the housing experiences of migrant communities in Western Europe and the Irish Traveller community. Despite, the growth of interest in the capabilities approach as a way of structuring social science and policy analysis, there is relatively little substantial research that applies the capabilities approach to housing. This is surprising in view of the fact that the neighbourhood in which a person lives and other characteristics of their housing are likely to be associated with their experienced quality of life as well as the opportunities a person has, objectively speaking. Consequently, this thesis is an attempt to address this gap by applying the capabilities approach to the field of housing research. The thesis is divided into four substantive chapters, each one dealing with a specific aspect of the relationship between housing, housing satisfaction and quality of life. Chapter 2 sets the scene for this study by presenting the results of a critical, broad-based review and summary of the literature with regard to housing, happiness and capabilities. The following chapters build on the foregoing in an empirical context; Chapters 3 and 4 do so primarily with quantitative analyses and Chapter 5 uses a mixed-methods approach including offering some original qualitative research. Chapter 6 summarises what has been achieved and the main contribution of the thesis whilst offering some remarks regarding what might be done in future research and the policy implications of these findings.
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Kleist, Chad. "Developing capabilities| A feminist discourse ethics approach." Thesis, Marquette University, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10154790.
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<p> This dissertation attempts to preserve the central tenets of a global moral theory called “the capabilities approach” as defended by Martha Nussbaum, but to do so in a way that better realizes its own goals of identifying gender injustices and gaining cross-cultural support by providing an alternative defense of it. Capabilities assess an individual’s well-being based on what she is able to do (actions) and who she is able to be (states of existence). Nussbaum grounds her theory in the intuitive idea that each and every person is worthy of equal respect and dignity. The problem with grounding a theory in a version of intuitionism is that it runs the risk of authoritarian moral reasoning. I argue Nussbaum, in fact, is the final arbiter who decides which intuitions are mistaken, which are not, and how to interpret what people say to fit into her own framework. This method of justifying capabilities is most problematic in cases of social inequality whereby dominant group members do not feel they need to check their intuitions against non-dominant group members, and even if they did, they are not forced to take the non-dominant group’s intuitions seriously. </p><p> I find capabilities as a global moral theory to be very promising, and I agree with Nussbaum that a list of capabilities is beneficial for identifying people who are not able to live a truly dignified human life. However, I am also sympathetic to the criticism of defending capabilities using a version of intuitionism. So, I offer an alternative method of justifying the capabilities rooted in the discourse ethics tradition. This method seeks all persons that are affected by the outcome to freely and equally share their opinion. This avoids the charge of authoritarian moral reasoning, because (1) it seeks perspectives other than simply one’s own, but unlike traditional ethics, it (2) pays special attention to the ways in which power relations shape dialogue. Ultimately, I hope to have preserved the central tenets of the capabilities approach while better realizing Nussbaum’s commitment to defending a theory that is gender sensitive and has gained cross-cultural support.</p>
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Josefsson, Cecilia, and Emma Berg. "Enabling Digital Transformation - a Dynamic Capabilities Approach." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för ekonomisk och industriell utveckling, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-157341.
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This report is built on a theoretical literature study within the areas of digital transformation and dynamic capabilities. An empirical study has been made on the provider of the mission of this study, Propia, and a case study has been made on the case company Tekniska verken, in order to verify the theoretical findings and results. The study was performed by two master students of Industrial Engineering and Management at Linköping university during the period from January to May 2019. The study was performed as a master thesis within the master's orientation Strategy and Management Control, and aims to explore how organizations can develop a dynamic digital capability, which is seen as the key to success when it comes to managing digital transformation in a successful way. The study was performed iteratively, by first examining the area of digital transformation, defined as the transformation of business and strategy through digital technology and organizational changes. Three areas where organizational changes are needed were identified, namely the areas of Leadership & Vision, Culture & People and Corporate Processes & Structures. Further, three factors within each area were defined as critical in order to succeed with digital transformation. These nine critical factors laid the foundation for the second part of the study, where the area of dynamic capabilities was studied and applied onto the findings on how to manage dynamic transformation in a successful way. Dynamic capabilities can shortly be described as routines for change and can be further disaggregated into three capacities: Sense – the ability to know what opportunities exist and can be matched with the internal prerequisites; Seize – the ability to capture the right opportunities and successfully integrate them into the business; Reconfigure – the ability to, when needed, perform changes of structures and resources. Within these three capacities, microfoundations to build the previously mentioned critical factors in a dynamic way were identified. The result of the study was a generalizable framework, consisting of these nine critical factors and 31 microfoundations required to build the factors in a dynamic way. By developing the dynamic capability microfoundations and, thereby, continuously work with all factors, the development of a dynamic digital capability in the organization will be facilitated. The framework can thereby be used as a checklist of what is already in place in the organization, and what is lacking and must thereby be obtained. Worth noticing is that factors and microfoundations as well as dynamic digital capability in itself is perishable, hence “checking the box” of a factor or microfoundation once does not mean it is obtained forever, but it requires continuous work and development of all parts of the framework. Dependencies and interrelationships between the factors have been identified, as well as the effect of other organizational aspects such as size, industry and how far the organization has proceeded in their digital transformation journey. These dependencies are discussed in the report, but no relative importance or order of how and when the factors and microfoundations should be obtained and developed has been further explored or confirmed. This is due to the desired generalizability of the framework.
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Atkinson, David. "Measuring and modelling dynamic capabilities : a holistic approach." Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.496331.
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This thesis investigates the concept of dynamic capabilities at both the macro and micro levels, using the study's findings at the micro level to explain phenomena determined at the macro level. In doing so, this provides more of a holistic approach to the discipline. Based on a 'black box' theme, this investigation provides an assimilated macro and micro operationalisation of dynamic capabilities from which it empirically examines such entities at the macro level using a general regression artificial neural network based procedure and at the micro level using an adaptec action research methodology. The findings suggest dynamic capability heterogeneity is as a result of differences in managers' ability to detect and comprehend the significance of incidents, differences in their ability to learn through trial and reflection and the degree of prudence managers demonstrate when implementing resource modification ideas.
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Thomas, Jared S. R. "A Capabilities Approach to the Non-Identity Problem." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1027.
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Most recent attempts at solving the Non-Identity Problem have focused on providing a deontological solution to the problem, often by giving special attention to rights. In this paper, I argue for a solution that focuses on highlighting the morally permissible second-personal reasons and claims that nonidentity victims may have. I use a natural marriage between a Kantian conceptualization of what it means to be free and equal—being one’s own master—and Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach to identify the rights that all individuals, current and future are assigned. I claim that these rights, or capabilities, are what all are entitled to master for themselves in the Kantian sense. I conclude with a solution that produces intuitively correct results and dissolves the nonidentity problem altogether.
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Alinaghian, Leila Sadat. "Operationalising dynamic capabilities : a supply network configuration approach." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2015. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.708789.
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Byron, Christopher. "Critically Developing Real Capabilities." UNF Digital Commons, 2014. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/485.
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Critical Realism, the Capabilities Approach, and Marxism, all have underdeveloped theoretical problems. For Critical Realism, the ceteris paribus clause, which is used to asses an ideological critique, does not properly specify what other things warrant the dismissal or acceptance of said critique. For the Capabilities Approach, a proper ontology or metaphysics is missing, and the claim that the Capabilities Approach can be metaphysically neutral is false. Finally, Marxism is good at describing the more onerous aspects of capitalism (e.g., alienation, exploitation, crisis), but it does not provide normative force for seeing these descriptions as bad. I argue that these three schools of thought, when connected through the ontology of Critical Realism, can be rendered mutually inclusive, and each theory can help address the lacuna in its respective counterpart. Critical Realism gives to Marxism and the Capabilities Approach ontological justification, and the Capabilities Approach gives to Critical Realism and Marxism normative force. And finally, Marxism gives to the Capabilities Approach a more radical, but consistent twist that furthers the goal of realizing our shared human powers.
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Chen, X. "Can Sen's and Nussbaum's capabilities approach be justified as an approach to social justice?" Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.597514.
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My thesis offers an internal critique of Sen’s and Nussbaum’s versions of the capabilities approach (CA hereafter) as an approach to social justice. First, I examine the justifications that Sen and Nussbaum provide for their approaches to justice. I argue that neither Sen nor Nussbaum succeeds in providing a successful justification. Their approaches fail to make a good case for certain departures from or kinship with Rawls’ theory. Their justificatory strategies rely on some deficient conception of public reason (or lack thereof). Second, I try to defend a conception of public reason that can provide reasoned justification, which does not assume unjustified boundaries. I examine two dominant models of public reason (i.e., the political liberal model and deliberative model) in contemporary political philosophy and argue that neither can provide reasoned justification for CA. They either assume a very restricted conception of <i>public</i> or fail to give any account of <i>reason-giving</i>. Instead, I argue that a version of Kant’s conception of public reason – which requires that principles that <i>cannot</i> be universalised <i>must </i>be rejected – has the potential to reach the public in the world at large and sets requirements on what counts as reasoned. As such, it may be suitable to provide a reasoned justification for CA that aspires to a cosmopolitan scope. Third, I argue that although Kant’s conception of public reason has only thin modal requirement, it can have substantive implications for social justice. The modal requirement states that a justifiable approach to justice <i>must</i> reject principles that <i>can </i>destroy normative agency – understood as the capacity to choose and pursue a conception of worthwhile life – because they cannot be principles for all. Then, I sketch a vulnerability approach to social justice, which is anchored in protection of normative agency. Finally, I argue that a focus on vulnerabilities tells us more sharply about what social justice requires than Sen’s and Nussbaum’s versions of CA do. The latter suffer from fatal problems and are not adequate approaches to social justice. By contrast, my vulnerabilities approach under the constraints of Kant’s conception of public reason can avoid these problems. It also retains the most important insight of CA (i.e. its focus on the real possibilities for human action) and redirects CA’s philosophical focus on issues of <i>basic</i> justice that Sen vigorously argues for from the very beginning. I conclude that Sen’s and Nussbaum’s versions of CA contain unjustifiable claims of social justice and that my vulnerability approach is a more defensible version of CA.
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Craig, Robert H. "Accessibility and the capabilities approach : towards an aid to decision taking." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2014. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=215219.
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The concept of accessibility (hereafter “accessibility”) encapsulates the relationships between the availability of opportunities; an individual's ability to access, engage with and ‘benefit' from such opportunities, and; the problem of social exclusion. However, while “improving accessibility” has been a policy objective in the United Kingdom since 1997, an emphasis on economic and environmental considerations at the expense of social considerations has become a cause for concern. This thesis helps address that concern by exploring why and how accessibility should and could be made more directly relevant to people's everyday lives; and by proposing a form of and an approach to the implementation of accessibility that supports the provision of social interventions, irrespective of the origin and scale of the same. Consequently, this thesis critically reviews extant ideas of accessibility and redefines the concept using Amartya Sen's Capabilities Approach. It then explores the operationalization of that redefined concept through an action research case study in North-East Scotland. Finally, it examines the potential role of digital information and communication technology (ICT) in managing the accessibility related data needed to support decision taking in providing social interventions. The key findings are: (1) the capabilities approach enables the redefinition of accessibility as a holistic, more socially representative and agent centric concept; (2) that definition could be usefully related to the concept of social exclusion through the notion of risk; (3) this emerging theory and practise of accessibility requires further development to achieve broader acceptance; (4) that notwithstanding the philosophical arguments underpinning action research, the participation of ‘local' people in research can build stronger, more informed and productive (research) relationships, and; (5) the use of digital ICT is central to realising the full potential of accessibility.
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Canales, Cristian Alejandro Munoz. "The development of opportunity identification capabilities : a tacit knowing approach." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.539189.
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Ovuakporie, Oghogho D. "Open Innovation Practices and Innovation Performance: A Dynamic Capabilities Approach." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/18394.
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Craven, Luke Kimber. "Toward a Theory of Food Insecurity: Capabilities, Complexity, and Public Policy." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/17208.
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Household food insecurity is a complex problem. It is the product of a wide range of individual, environmental, social, and economic determinants, which themselves interact with and affect one another. This dissertation is about how we can and should relate to this complexity, and the ways in which it is accepted, produced or performed. Connecting a synthesis of capability and complexity theories to an empirical study of food insecurity in three urban Afghan communities, it outlines a new political theory of food insecurity. The resulting theory is both explanatory and normative, emphasising the importance of understanding the everyday experience of food insecurity if we are to develop strategies to address it. I develop the dissertation in four parts. Part 1 presents my retheorisation of food insecurity as capability deprivation inside a complex system of causal determinants. This emerges from a critique of existing scholarship that increasingly seeks to incorporate ‘systems’ and ‘complexity’. Part 2 outlines the various ways in which this retheorisation of food insecurity presents challenges to methodological approaches in political theory and empirical social science. It outlines alternative approaches to each that can more effectively engage with how the empirically plural and complex world is experienced by those who live within it. Part 3 applies these theoretical and methodological developments to practice, showing how they resonate with the nascent complexities of food insecurity in the lives of my participant-collaborators. Part 4 explores the normative and practical implications of this rethorisation for policy design and implementation in the food insecurity space, before showing how disadvantage more broadly can be theorised as a complex manifestation of capability deprivation. In sum, this dissertation presents a new political theory of food insecurity, and puts forward proposals to help governments and other policy makers or NGOs respond in an effort to put good food on the table. It suggests that we take complexity as a given in our theories, methods and practical responses to real world problems if we are to promote positive change in the lives of the disadvantaged.
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Daniel, Larsson. "Capabilities and Civil Disobedience : A comparative analysis of The Capability Approach." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för kultur och kommunikation, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-117885.
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This essay investigates whether Amartya Sen’s or Martha Nussbaum’s version of the capability approach is better suited to justify civil disobedience. The theoretical framework of my study is critical discourse analysis. This aims to establish the most significant conditions for the justification of civil disobedience. An interpretation of the conception of civil disobedience is presented. The investigation assumes that civil disobedience is justified when people advocate for a change in a policy or a law that limits the securing of basic capabilities. A major part of the essay is devoted to clarifying how the idea of basic capabilities relates to civil disobedience. I also emphasize the importance of human dignity as a universal value. I argue that this value is crucial to realizing why some capabilities are more basic than others. I show that Nussbaum is in a better position than Sen to explain when civil disobedience can be justified. This is because Sen lacks a framework of basic capabilities leaving it up to each nation to assess which capabilities ought to be secured.
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Quintero, Monroy Christian G. "Introspection on control-grounded capabilities. An agent inspired approach for control." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Girona, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/7741.
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Introspecció sobre la dinàmica dels agents té un important impacte en decisions individuals i cooperatives en entorns multi-agent. Introspecció, una habilitat cognitiva provinent de la metàfora "agent", permet que els agents siguin conscients de les seves capacitats per a realitzar correctament les tasques. Aquesta introspecció, principalment sobre capacitats relacionades amb la dinàmica, proporciona als agents un raonament adequat per a assolir compromisos segurs en sistemes cooperatius. Per a tal fi, les capacitats garanteixen una representació adequada i explícita de tal dinàmica. Aquest enfocament canvia i millora la manera com els agents poden coordinar-se per a portar a terme tasques i com gestionar les seves interaccions i compromisos en entorns cooperatius. L'enfocament s'ha comprovat en escenaris on la coordinació és important, beneficiosa i necessària. Els resultats i les conclusions són presentats ressaltant els avantatges de la introspecció en la millora del rendiment dels sistemes multi-agent en tasques coordinades i assignació de tasques.<br>Introspective reasoning on physical agents' dynamics will have an important impact on both individual and cooperative decisions in multi-agent environments. Introspection, a cognitive ability coming from the agent metaphor, allows agents to be aware of their capabilities to perform correctly the tasks proposed by other agents. Introspection, mainly on capabilities related to dynamics, provides agents a reliable reasoning for achieving sure commitments in cooperative systems. To that end, control-grounded capabilities guarantee an appropriate and explicit agent-oriented representation of the physical agents' dynamics.<br/>This approach changes and improves the way how agents can coordinate with each other to perform the proposed tasks and how they manage their interactions and commitments in cooperative environments. The approach is tested on several scenarios where coordination is relevant, beneficial and necessary. Experimental results and conclusions emphasizing the advantages of introspection in the improvement of multi-agent performance in coordinated tasks and task allocation problems are presented.
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Adam, Janet Elizabeth. "Equal educational opportunity in Scotland's comprehensive secondary schools : a Capabilities Approach." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2015. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6770/.
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Despite the laudable inclusive policies in Scotland such as Getting it Right for Every Child and Curriculum for Excellence, it is clear that some young people still do not experience equal access to educational opportunity. With education at its heart, the Capabilities Approach is a theory of social justice that starts with a commitment to the equal dignity of all human beings and focuses on choice or freedom. Offering an alternative means of measuring wellbeing or advantage rather than the traditional measurements such Gross National Product, the Capabilities Approach, particularly Martha Nussbaum’s list of capabilities, is a useful framework to assess how pupils and teachers in Scotland’s schools are faring. Using complementary sociological and philosophical perspectives and a literary thread of fictional characters from texts taught in Scottish schools, this dissertation shows how Scottish educational policies are deeply concerned with social justice and equity. However, there are barriers standing in the way of equal access to educational opportunity for some young people. As well as individual and micro structures addressed by the Capabilities Approach, macro structures in our society also play a role in perpetuating social injustice. A critical sociological perspective enriches the account by considering the economic and political institutions of society: unequal class structures and possession of the various forms of capital; austerity; precarity; the attainment agenda and the deficit ideology. Bourdieu’s notion of the various forms of capital is threaded through the dissertation, highlighting how possession of capital is advantageous to upper and middle class families whereas lack of capital can be disadvantageous to young people from working class and disadvantaged backgrounds. Bourdieu’s theory of habitus illuminates the inherited reproduction of social conditions and how some young people adapt their choices in accordance with what they think is appropriate for them. Oppressive societal structures and lack of agency can influence and disempower young people but there is scant recognition of this in educational policies. Teachers can and do make a difference in young people’s lives and current educational reforms such as Curriculum for Excellence are aimed at achieving better educational outcomes for all children in Scotland. However, teachers too face obstacles in achieving equality of educational opportunity, such as challenges to teacher autonomy, hegemony, crisis discourse and the attainment agenda. I argue that the Capabilities Approach can shed new light on what teachers, school management teams, local authorities and the government need to do in order to work successfully towards educational equality in twenty-first century Scotland.
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Ansari, Amna. "Children's capabilities and education inequality : how types of schooling play a role in Pakistan." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/274874.
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This research is an application of the Capabilities Approach to a southern educational context, aiming to answer how children’s capabilities differ across different types of schooling (public, private and religious) in Pakistan. While conventional research on education in the country dwells on aspects like economic returns to education or qualitative differences in public and private provision, a broader perspective addressing the institutionalization of a tier-ed education structure and its consequences for school-going children remains missing. The current study is an incubation of the same perspective; it asks: how do primary school going children’s educational capabilities differ across different types of schooling in Pakistan?, and by re-framing the question of education equality as a capabilities one, sheds light on appropriate ways of conceptualizing and measuring educational capabilities in a developing country context. Since the use of capabilities with respect to Pakistan’s school diversity is an innovative research area, it justifies the choice of a mixed-methods research design. The qualitative phase comprises focus groups with children and their parents aimed at balancing universal lists of educational capabilities with local insights. The quantitative phase involves a capabilities questionnaire for children built using both theoretical and local valuations as well as a household survey to obtain richer information on each child participant. Qualitative findings for the study reflect on contextualized dimensions of theoretically relevant educational capabilities as well as two new capability categories – Religion and Values and Etiquettes – valued by participants. Quantitative findings for the study discuss (i) differences in children’s educational capabilities across school types in Pakistan, and (ii) the individual, family and household factors potentially explaining such variation. Together, the two sets of findings highlight the complexities in development and evaluation of educational capabilities amidst school diversity in Pakistan and reveal important conclusions for the country’s education policy planning and development.
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Drapalo, Kamila. "The art of imagining: Martha Nussbaum between vulnerability and autonomy." Phd thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2021. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/download/bda7ab9706e342c9809583ef0a0bae31e49458445d2eef380721267b999ef9b9/2131122/Drapa%C5%82o_2021_The_art_of_imagining_martha_nussbaum_%5BREDACTED%5D.pdf.
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Vulnerability is one of the key notions in contemporary sciences and humanities, as well as in the self-understanding of a human being. It encompasses our ontological fragility and the existential mutability and unpredictability of the world, our relationships, and ourselves. The multidimensionality of the notion is a subject of intense academic research. In this thesis, I discuss whether vulnerability should assume more importance in philosophical anthropology than autonomy, or whether they are equally important. The writings of Martha Nussbaum offer a particularly rich perspective from which to reflect upon this problem. In my thesis I set the following aims: 1) to systematise and critically evaluate the notion of vulnerability in the works of Nussbaum; 2) to examine its relation to the notion of autonomy; 3) to identify and evaluate the advantages and challenges that stem from thinking of the two together. In Nussbaum’s early writings, ontological vulnerability is a starting point for her anthropological reflections. The analysis of her later writings unveils that a profound understanding of vulnerability requires that we distinguish between various forms of vulnerability, and consider it in tandem with – and not in opposition to – the notion of autonomy. Drawing closer attention to Nussbaum’s understanding of imagination, enriched by a reflection on the relationship of imagination to autonomy, appears fruitful in addressing the challenges that stem from the intertwining of autonomy and vulnerability. Apart from imagination’s role in intersubjective understanding, it is central for an understanding of oneself as a subject who, despite his/her limitations, has agency. Imagination conditions the capacity to strive for freedom within the context of our fundamental vulnerability, to reach beyond our immediate conditioning but within the context of such conditioning. Imagination thus becomes extremely important for an ethics between vulnerability and autonomy.
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Mahadi, Alizan. "Adopting the Capabilities Approach in Developing a Global Framework on Sustainable Development." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-187614.
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The Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development is expected to result in the launching of a process to devise a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2015. Whilst indicators are perceived to be a good vehicle of monitoring progress, currently there is no universally agreed method of measuring sustainable development. This thesis addresses this issue through assessing whether the capabilities approach can be adopted for a global framework in measuring sustainable development. In order to determine this, both theoretical and practical implications will have to be understood. The former is addressed through reviewing the compatibility between the key concepts of sustainable development and the capabilities approach. The latter is addressed through obtaining empirical evidence on the key drivers in selecting indicators via focus group discussions and a quantitative survey with key individuals involved in the Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) project in Malaysia. It was found that a weak conceptual basis can be attributed as the major challenge for establishing global sustainable development indicators. Whilst recognising that a range of mechanisms are required for operationalization, it was concluded that the capabilities approach provides a sound conceptual basis, framed on the basis of justice and equity in expanding and sustaining the capabilities of current and future generations to pursue their needs.
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Tsephe, Lifutso. "A Capabilities Approach to African Women’s Success in Doctoral Programmes in South Africa." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/80526.
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There are many documented reasons why both men and women fail to complete their doctoral studies such as insufficient funding, family responsibilities as well as demotivation due to lack of progress in their research (Herman, 2011c, Gardner, 2008, Magano, 2011). However, it is arguable that men are at an advantage of completing their doctoral studies at a higher rate compared to women, partly due to the masculine culture within higher education institutions, which includes aspects such as having more male senior lecturers/academics (Brown and Watson, 2010, Ismail, 2011, Haake, 2011). Several studies have shown how African women’s experience and performance in doctoral studies are impacted by several relations within the learning environment such as lack of role models, mentorship, insufficient funding, dual identities and masculine environment (Brown and Watson, 2010, Johnson-Bailey, Velentine, Cervero, and Bowles, 2008). Despite such obstacles, it is important to mention that there are some women, who successfully complete their doctoral studies. This study, therefore, aims to focus on African women who have successfully completed their doctoral studies in South Africa in order to bring forth positive narratives of African women’s success in doctoral education. Using the capabilities approach as the analytical framework, and in-depth interviews with fourteen selected African women doctoral graduates from a South African university, this study examines women’s experiences of accessing, participating and progressing through doctoral programmes in higher education. The research adopts an interpretative model, which results in principles that are necessary for interpreting the actions and behaviours of people, such as agency, opportunities, and beings and doings in seeking to answer the following questions: 1) What capabilities using the capabilities approach enabled African women, doctoral students’ success in higher education? 2) What functionings did African women, doctoral graduates hope for after completion of their doctoral studies? 3) How did African women use their agency to develop capabilities (opportunities and freedoms) for academic success? 4) What conversion factors enabled or constrained African women’s success in their doctoral journeys?<br>Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2021.<br>Education Management and Policy Studies<br>PhD<br>Unrestricted
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Hearl, Chris M. "Synergistic approach integrating joint capabilities for USSOCOM contingency contracting: construction management module." Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/10493.
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MBA Professional Report<br>As a leader in front-line asymmetric threat operations, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has recently increased its presence around the world in support of military and national security objectives. Its mission demands flexibility and adaptability at the highest extent allowable under the law. Contingency Contracting Officers (CCOs) supporting this mission are often looked upon as logistics facilitators, business advisors, resource managers, and general tactical experts in achieving contractual requirements and arrangements supporting the USSOCOM mission. As key enablers of this mission, CCOs are often asked to fulfill construction contract requirements in austere locations with little or no training in construction terminology and concepts. This project investigates the effectiveness of CCOs in executing construction requirements within the USSOCOM area of responsibility (AOR). The study provides strategic and tactical recommendations to address identified weaknesses, such as: proper training and manning of personnel, inadequate acquisition planning and contract management processes, and a lack of integration among a splintered platform of cross-functional stakeholders. One such tactical recommendation is the development of a prototype Construction Management Module (CM2) to better manage the contingency contracting process for construction requirements. This recommendation is provided to improve specific problems realized with inadequate acquisition planning, insufficient oversight of work, and failure to include the appropriate funding considerations, clauses and evaluation factors in construction contracts.
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Mahadi, Alizan. "Adopting the Capabilities Approach in Developing a global Framework for measuring Sustainable Development." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-187609.
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The Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development is expected to result in the launching of a process to devise a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2015. Whilst indicators are perceived to be a good vehicle of monitoring progress, currently there is no universally agreed method of measuring sustainable development. This thesis addresses this issue through assessing whether the capabilities approach can be adopted for a global framework in measuring sustainable development. In order to determine this, both theoretical and practical implications will have to be understood. The former is addressed through reviewing the compatibility between the key concepts of sustainable development and the capabilities approach. The latter is addressed through obtaining empirical evidence on the key drivers in selecting indicators via focus group discussions and a quantitative survey with key individuals involved in the Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) project in Malaysia. It was found that a weak conceptual basis can be attributed as the major challenge for establishing global sustainable development indicators. Whilst recognising that a range of mechanisms are required for operationalization, it was concluded that the capabilities approach provides a sound conceptual basis, framed on the basis of justice and equity in expanding and sustaining the capabilities of current and future generations to pursue their needs.
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Marshburn, David G. "Agile Software Development Approach and Firm Performance: Exploring Dynamic Capabilities as the Missing Link." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1589465728412254.
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Guerini, Elena. "Animal Rights and Human Responsibilities: Towards a Relational Capabilities Approach in Animal Ethics." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2018. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1157548/.
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In this thesis, I analyze some of the most important contributions concerning the inclusion of animals in the moral and political sphere. Moving from these positions, I suggest that a meaningful consideration of animals' sentience demands a profound, radical political theory which considers animals as moral patients endowed with specific capabilities whose actualization needs to be allowed and/or promoted. Such theory would take human-animal different types of relationships into account to decide what kind of ethical and political responsibilities humans have towards animals. It would be also based on the assumption that animals' sentience is the necessary and sufficient feature for assigning moral status. I start from the consideration that in the history of political philosophy, most theorists have excluded animals from the realm of justice. I then propose an examination of utilitarianism, capabilities approach, and relational-based theories of animal rights (in particular the works by Kymlicka and Donaldson, and Clare Palmer) and borrow essential elements from each of these approaches to build my theory. I claim that a political theory which attaches high importance to individual capabilities, as well as to the various types of relationships we have with animals, is the most appropriate to tackle the puzzle of human responsibilities to animals.
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Hunter, William Mitchell Graham. "Measuring capabilities : an empirical investigation of the Sen-Nussbaum approach to well-being." Thesis, Open University, 2010. http://oro.open.ac.uk/54225/.
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This thesis argues for the view that Amartya Sen's capabilities approach is a preferable approach to the measurement of welfare by addressing three questions: Can the capability approach be operationalised? What is the relationship between capabilities and satisfaction with life? How do capabilities respond to changes over time? Chapter 1 provides a discussion of a widely used economic evaluation model of welfare focussing on some of its key problems and concludes with a discussion of Sen's alternative capabilities approach. Chapter 2 discusses the three key relationships that Sen uses in evaluating wellbeing and discusses the identification of capabilities based on the account developed by Martha Nussbaum.
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Sundqvist, Joanna. "A cup of freedom? : A study of the menstrual cup's impact on girls' capabilities." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsstudier (SS), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-39445.
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Managing menstrual hygiene is a problem for many women around the world, especially in developing countries. The lack of access to sanitary products, clean water, knowledge and other necessary resources leads to taboos and health implications, as well as have negative impacts on girls’ education. This thesis investigates if this problem may be improved by the distribution of menstrual cups, by seeking to answer the two following questions; can the usage of the menstrual cup strengthen girls’ participation in education? And; can the usage of the menstrual cup have a positive impact on girls’ possibilities of engaging in social interactions during menstruations? In order to answer these questions, 15 recipients of menstrual cups in Tanzania have been interviewed. The thesis’ point of departure is within the capability approach, to understand if the girls’ capabilities within the spheres of health, education and social interactions have been strengthened or not. With this approach, the thesis can fully explore the girls’ well-being and opportunities, as the theory defines this as the opportunities they have, not only the ones they choose to pursue. The findings show that all interviewed recipients chose to continue to use their menstrual cups as they felt that it improved either their economy, health or gave them increased confidence in school as it lowered the risks of visible leakage. Nearly all girls felt less restricted in school and more able to participate in class, talk and play with classmates regardless of menstruating or not. Furthermore, the thesis concludes that the living conditions of the recipients may have affected the positive result, and that it cannot be ruled out that a similar result would have shown with any other sanitary product used correctly.
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Bernabe, Rosemarie. "An Investigation on the Aristotelian Foundations of Martha Nussbaum's Capabilities Approach and the Disability Issue Utilizing Nussbaum's Earlier Works on Aristotle." Thesis, Linköping University, Centre for Applied Ethics, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-7025.
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<p>This is an investigatory work on the Aristotelian foundations of Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach and the disability issue. After an initial exposition of the capabilities approach and the application of the approach on the disability issue, the author makes a survey of the previous works of Nussbaum on Aristotle. That survey of the works of Nussbaum on Aristotle was utilized to evaluate the Aristotelian foundations of the capabilities approach (which Nussbaum claims is an Aristotelian approach). The conclusion was that Aristotle, as developed by Nussbaum, does not provide a sufficient foundation for the approach nor for the issue on disability.</p>
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Soffia, Magdalena. "Scope and limitations of a capability-based measure of Job Quality in Central America." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/284925.
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In Latin America, the debate on what constitutes a 'good' or 'bad' job has been dominated by the phenomenon of informality. Indicators like the 'informal sector size' or the proportion of workers in 'informal employment' give little attention to the intrinsic features of jobs that affect workers' well-being, thus misleading policy efforts. Validation of alternative and comparable human-centred measures of job quality (JQ) is needed. This study aims to evaluate the validity of a multi-dimensional measure of JQ in developing countries, and its usefulness against narrow indicators of formality/informality. To this end, Sen's capability-approach is used along with Green and Mostafa's operationalisation of JQ (Eurofound, 2012), which considers dimensions as varied as earnings, career prospects, autonomy, intensity, social environment, physical environment, and working time. With Central America as the research setting, I address four questions: (1) does Eurofound's indicator capture JQ inequalities at the individual level? (2) Can we draw meaningful comparisons between countries about their ability to provide good jobs? (3) Are the selected features of what constitutes a good job positively associated with Central American workers' well-being? (4) Is the concept of JQ attuned with what local experts conceive as a 'good job'? The research uses a mixed-methods approach to analyse the First Central American Survey on Working Conditions and Health - conducted in 2011 in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala - in addition to semi-structured interviews with selected informants from these six countries. The results obtained show, firstly, a reasonable distribution of JQ across groups of workers. They confirm that formal jobs are not ubiquitously the best quality jobs. Secondly, the results evidenced significant variation at the country level regarding earnings and intrinsic job quality, with Costa Rica often ranking at the top. Interestingly, JQ rankings do not always follow from countries' industrial structure, economic performance, informal sector size, or other developmental indicators of common usage; country differences in JQ appear associated with the practical enforcement capacity of labour institutions like trade unions, inspection systems, and the state itself. Thirdly, I corroborated that the selected job features have a positive impact on Central American workers' well-being (except, puzzlingly, for work-time related aspects). Moreover, the positive health effect associated with performing in an intrinsically good job proved to be greater than the effect of working formally. Lastly, I confirmed that local perspectives about what constitutes a 'good job' are in great part consistent with the features included in Green and Mostafa's JQ scheme, while other intrinsic dimensions of the framework have struggled to enter the public discourse. These findings indicate that a JQ framework is generally valid in the Central American context, and provides more information than a conventional indicator of informality. The study contributes to extend the capability approach to the realm of work and to stress its potential for international comparative research. It is recommended that countries collect richer data about those aspects of jobs that have been proven to affect workers' well-being significantly and are not revealed in unidimensional informality figures.
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Vogel, Kai. "Unveiling the Burqa Ban: An Examination of Humanitarian Intervention in Martha Nussbaum's Capabilities Approach." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2019. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2007.
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In Martha Nussbaum’s book Frontiers of Global Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership, she presents the capabilities approach, a new theoretical framework that in her view better responds to the urgent problems of social inequality than existing theories of social justice. This thesis evaluates her descriptive claim by applying the capabilities approach to the French burqa ban and assessing whether the ban is unjust, and if so, what forms of intervention are most appropriate. In doing this, I will argue that Nussbaum’s theory is unsatisfactory unless she extends it to include the obligation to criticize in cases where we are certain that an injustice is being committed.
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Sewell, Carolyn Marie. "Respecting Citizens, Protecting Capabilities: the Role of the State in a Liberal Society." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32618.
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The free exercise of religion as a basic human right is considered essential by those who are concerned about protecting and maintaining each person?s capability to live a good life.
Unfortunately, in protecting this right the fundamental rights of women are often violated or overlooked. In order to grant religious freedom, liberal states often permit discriminatory and oppressive practices.
Martha Nussbaum maintains that a balance must be struck between the protection of individual rights and the protection of religious freedom. She suggests the liberal state should not take a stand on disputed non-political issues concerning the good. The state should adopt political liberalism, thereby refraining from espousing religious or other ?comprehensive? views such as the view that men and women are innate moral equals. By doing so, Nussbaum says the political liberal state shows full respect for its citizens, and protects their ability to lead a good life.
This thesis presents the argument that the liberal state need not, and should not, go as far as political liberalism in order to protect and show full respect for its citizens. Although the state should not pressure or force religious groups to change their doctrines to fall in line with liberal principles, the state may assert the truth of some non-political liberal values that are essential to maintaining the liberal political system. Political liberalism ties the hands of the liberal state, leaving it handicapped in its ability to protect individual rights, especially the rights of women and minorities.<br>Master of Arts
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Winkler, Katja [Verfasser]. "Semantiken der Befähigung : Die Rezeption des Capabilities Approach in der theologischen Sozialethik / Katja Winkler." Baden-Baden : Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1122042906/34.
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Alkire, Sabina. "Operationalizing Amartya Sen's capability approach to human development : a framework for identifying 'valuable' capabilities." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.300548.
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Edwards, John Huw. "A capabilities approach to local and regional development in Europe : evidence from Alentejo, Portugal." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/1505.
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This thesis examines the potential of the Capabilities Approach for the study and practice of local and regional development in Europe. It is based on the work of Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize winning economist who has applied the approach most notably in the field of Development Studies. Sen argues that expanding people’s freedom to live a life they value is the principal means and end of development, a conceptual position that helps to fill a void in the current literature in Regional Studies. His focus on the expansion of freedoms (capabilities) is extended to the context of local and regional development: It is shown that Sen’s five “instrumental freedoms” can be used as a method for development and his “intrinsic freedoms” form a better framework to evaluate progress than traditional indicators. The goal of regional development should be to allow as many people to live a life they value in the largest number of places, not merely a rise in individual utility. Following Sen’s call for vigorous enquiry into how capabilities are experienced, the thesis draws on empirical fieldwork from the Portuguese region of Alentejo. It explores how geography affects capabilities and identifies a number of social, physical and scalar factors. Moreover it shows how these factors interact in particular places. Together with the finding that collective capabilities can largely determine individual capabilities, the notion of ‘net regional capabilities’ is elaborated. Yet, this is a sum of capabilities and a second crucial factor is how they are distributed within a region. Indeed, Alentejo demonstrates a strong heterogeneity in relation to the distribution of capabilities. As Evans suggests, Sen’s work is promising because of what it fails to answer as much as the groundbreaking framework that it develops and in this respect the thesis highlights several missing aspects to the Capabilities Approach. Based on the observation that individual capabilities often depend on collective action, it agrees with Corbridge that Sen underestimates the role of power and inevitability of conflict. It also finds that gains in individual capabilities do not always increase the overall sum; in other words there are trade-offs that have to be addressed in development dilemmas. The main contributions of this thesis are thus to adapt the Capabilities Approach to Regional Studies and add to Sen’s work through the consideration of geography as an important influence on capabilities.
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Liyala, Samuel. "Exploring performance ethnography to illuminate mobile banking capabilities in western Kenya : capability approach study." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/9024.
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This study is a qualitative examination on the impact of mobile banking, commonly known as MPESA on the lived experiences of the marginalised poor of Bukhalalire sub-location in western Kenya. Using Capability Approach as the guiding theoretical framework, this research project answers Denzin's (2003) call to performance, a performance which contributes to a more 'enlightened and involved citizenship'. It is 'revolutionary' in that it 'enlightens citizens to the possibilities' of MPESA by staging dramatic texts or performances rewritten from the interviews with the poor. These Performances make sites of oppression visible in the process, affirming an oppositional 'politics' that reasserts the value of self-determination and mutual solidarity. Here, the project explores Performance Ethnography to interrogate and evaluate specific, social, educational, economic and political processes as mechanisms that affect the adoption and successful implementation of MPESA as a poverty eradication strategy. The research work conducts focus groups to draw out dimensions of concerns which this research construes as a capability set, then interviews persons in poverty to establish, firstly, what the dimensions of concerns are and the relationship between them, effectively corroborating the findings from the focus group then secondly establish how MPESA is impacting on those dimensions of concern. The research then uses performances to bring to the front the voices of the poor, making visible sites of oppression in one sense and on another, sites of opportunities within MPESA. This exercise answers the research question in evidencing how Performance Ethnography illuminates dimensions of concerns within a Capability Approach study and as research tool it provokes the interviewer and the interviewee to self examination and reflection, seen thus, the performance becomes vehicle for moving persons, subjects, performer, and audience members in new, critical, 'political' spaces, a space of hope that transcends the conservative politics of neoliberalism rescuing the radical democracy. As such, it 'tells a true and previously untold tale' effectively calling for social transformation.
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Koparan, Ipek. "An Integrated Approach to Development of Dynamic Capabilities and Investments in Strategic Factor Markets." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1585823070940956.
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Cockerill, Maria Paz. "Enabling children and young people to flourish : the Capabilities Approach and its Aristotelian roots." Thesis, Durham University, 2012. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4462/.
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This thesis argues for the Capabilities Approach in education, based on Aristotelian philosophy, in preference to the performative approach of the present Standards Agenda in education. This agenda confines learning to reaching standardised numerical targets and considers persons predominantly as economic units. Instead, Aristotelian philosophy provides a renewed understanding of realising potential and well-being, thus strengthening education theory and practice. A particular contribution of the thesis is to make explicit the ethical dimension in education. Importantly, it explains the nature of this dimension and the theory that supports it. The thesis maintains that the basic shared human capacity for care, affiliation, and deliberation forms an essential part of the moral imperative that society must work to realise. It argues that the Capabilities Approach which has already influenced development in economics, health, and social policy, should also influence education. The Aristotle-inspired Capabilities Approach focuses on the essential role of the capabilities of practical reason and affiliation. It includes a flexible method of reflection which seeks a synthesis between emotion and reason, informed by an ethical framework about what human beings share. The development of these capabilities enables human activity to occur in complex interdependence, promoting deliberated trust and co-operation in society, which in turn supports meaningful discourse, understanding, and positive action between individuals and groups. This thesis argues that education should have a significant role in nurturing these capabilities, to enable children and young people to flourish during their school years and beyond. The ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate learning and life decisions with reference to their well-being requires these capabilities. Crucially, the Aristotle-inspired Capabilities Approach is inclusive of and sensitive to the needs of vulnerable groups and individuals in society. It redefines our understanding of realising potential which includes an ethical dimension, and offers practical ideas about how education can help young people live a fulfilled life.
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Yang, Feng. "An agent-based approach to battery management system with balancing and fault-tolerance capabilities." Thesis, Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017UBFCA005.
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Les avancées scientifiques et technologiques en matière de stockage d'énergie ont permis le développement d'appareils mobiles énergétiquement autonomes, tels que les smartphones et les véhicules électriques (EVs). Dans ces dispositifs, l'énergie est habituellement stockée sous forme électrochimique, souvent dans des batteries au lithium.Par rapport aux batteries au plomb classiques, les piles au lithium ont une densité d'énergie élevée, un faible taux d'auto-décharge et sont plus respectueuses de l'environnement. Cependant, ces batteries doivent être couplées avec des systèmes électroniques de gestion des batteries (SGBs), chargés d'en assurer la performance etla sécurité. En effet, la performance du « pack » batterie peut être affectée par de multiples mécanismes liés, par exemple, au vieillissement, aux défauts ou aux conditions de fonctionnement et ayant pour impact une réduction importante de l'autonomie du système. Grâce à un contrôle approprié de la structure de la batterie, un SGB est capable de compenser certains de ces mécanismes. De même, d'un point de vue sécurité, un SGB peut aider à prévenir les incendies et d'autres risques en isolant les éléments défectueux du reste du pack.Le sujet de cette thèse porte sur le développement d'un SGB innovant et adaptatif capable de prendre en compte des attentes des utilisateurs en matière de performance et de sécurité. Le SGB proposé s'appuie sur un mécanisme décisionnel distribué basé sur le paradigme des systèmes multi-agents (SMA), dans lequel chaque cellule est considérée comme un agent. Le mécanisme décisionnel proposé repose sur une topologie de câblage dédiée associée à des stratégies de communication et de contrôle adaptées. L'approche proposée améliore l'adaptabilité, la résilience et les performances du système et permet la reconfiguration de la topologie du paquet pour isoler des cellules défectueuses et, le cas échéant, utiliser des cellules de rechange pour recréer une structure de paquets complète ou équilibrer l'énergie entre les cellules. Le SGB permet ainsi une meilleure tolérance aux pannes de l'ensemble, ainsi que l'augmentation de son endurance démontrant ainsi une performance plus élevée que celle obtenu par des SGB classiques.Afin d'évaluer la validité des travaux proposés, une plate-forme de co-simulation est développée afin de valider expérimentalement la solution proposée. Trois catégories des tests ont été réalisées pour valider la fonction d'équilibrage des cellules, la fonction de tolérance aux pannes, et l'intégration de ces deux fonctions dans un système unique. Les tests ont également été exécutés avec un pack batterie de grande taille afin d'évaluer l'évolutivité de l'approche. Les résultats des simulations montrent que la méthode proposée est opérationnelle et fonctionne comme prévu. Bien que les coûts attendus soient plus élevés que pour les méthodes traditionnelles, l'approche proposée pourrait être utilisée pour des applications spécifiques où une fiabilité et une performance élevées sont nécessaires, comme pour les applications militaires par exemple<br>Progress in energy storage science and technology enables the development of mobile devices, such as smart-phones and electric vehicles (EVs). In these devices, energy is usually stored in electrochemical form, often in lithium-based batteries.Compared to classical lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries have a high-energy density, a low self-discharge rate and are environmental friendly. However, such batteries must be coupled with electronic Battery Management Systems (BMSs), aimed at ensuring the performance and the safety of the battery pack. The performance of the pack may be affected by multiple mechanisms, for example related to aging, faults, or operation conditions. Through appropriate control of the battery pack structure, a BMS is capable of compensating some of these mechanisms. Similarly, a BMS can help prevent fires and other risk hazards by isolating problematic portions of the pack.This thesis is concerned with the development of a novel and smart BMS, taking into account the concerns of users about performance and safety. The proposed BMS is made of distributed decision-making based on a multi-agent system, in which each cell is considered as an agent. A dedicated pack wiring topology is presented, together with the corresponding communication and control strategies. This approach improves the adaptability, resilience and performance of system, and enables the reconfiguration of the pack topology to either isolate cells and use spare cells to recreate a complete pack structure, or balance energy among cells. The BMS thus enables a better fault-tolerant operation of the pack, as well as increasing its endurance through a higher performance, compared to classical BMSs.In order to evaluate the validity of the proposed work, a co-simulation platform is developed to run multiple tests. Three categories of tests are used to validate the cell balancing function, the fault-tolerant control function, and the integration of both balancing and fault-tolerant functions in a single system. Tests are also run on a larger pack to evaluate the scalability of the approach. Simulation results show that the proposed method is operational and performs as expected. Although the expected costs are higher than those of traditional methods, the results of this work could benefit specific applications where high reliability and performance are required, such as military applications for instance
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Samandra, Ranjith A. "Enhancement of learning capabilities of students of all ability levels through a constructivist approach." Thesis, Curtin University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/144.
Full textAbstract:
This is an analytical examination of academic constructivism and a critical inquiry into the development of my own practice as a learner-educator. Therefore, this work invariably involved a punctilious look at the epistemological foundations of constructivism and an assiduous scrutiny of my own axiomatic belief system. In this wandering-pilgrimage, I have traversed from my Year 9 naïve academic constructivism to an ever-evolving plurality of epistemologies and academic approaches which are hopefully interwoven with right mindfulness.
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Austin, Annie. "Hard times and capabilities : the effects of economic crisis on well-being in the UK." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/hard-times-and-capabilities-the-effects-of-economic-crisis-on-wellbeing-in-the-uk(14edea4f-b2b8-4308-927b-0bd5238a10a1).html.
Full textAbstract:
The global economic crisis that began in 2007 affected the lives of many people in the UK. Most existing research into the effects of ‘the Great Recession’ on well-being takes an economic or subjective approach to assessing the impacts of hard times. This thesis takes an alternative perspective: the Capabilities Approach (CA) is used to assess the effects of economic crisis on people’s freedom to lead flourishing lives. The study develops a theoretical framework that combines the CA with concepts from Philosophy and Social Psychology - the theories of practical reason and personal values. These concepts are then operationalised using data from the European Social Survey and quantitative methods, including latent variable techniques and structural equation models. The study reveals that economic crisis had a two-fold effect on well-being, resulting in (1) reduced opportunities to achieve valuable outcomes and (2) diminished expectations, aspirations and goals. These effects were concentrated among socio-economically vulnerable groups, including those on low incomes and the long-term sick and disabled: the findings show that economic crisis compounded existing socio-economic inequalities. The research makes three main contributions. First, it demonstrates theoretically and empirically that subjective well-being is not a reliable indicator for evaluating the effects of hard times on well-being; nor is it, more generally, a suitable guide for public policy. Second, it demonstrates a new methodological approach to identifying latent ‘value orientations’ within Schwartz’s framework of personal values. Third, in combining the CA with theories of practical reason and personal values, this research offers a new approach to conceptualising and measuring the agency aspect of capability.
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Jakobsson, Olivia, and Logani Talvin Kaur. "CAPABILITIES INSIDE FOUR WALLS : A qualitative field study on the capabilities and freedoms for women in a developing context challenging the approach of Amartya Sen." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsstudier (SS), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-80384.
Full textAbstract:
The ‘’capability approach’’, developed by the Indian economist Amartya Sen, has been widely used in the field of development and has contributed a perception of development that is different from the traditional understanding of it. Despite this, the theory has received a great amount of feminist critique and it has been concluded that the field lacks empirical data on how women in developing countries can be fully understood from the approach of Sen. This field study aims at filling this gap of empirical data as well as to examine how well Sen’s approach can contribute to the understanding of women in a developing context. Responses such as the one of Martha Nussbaum and other feminist critique of Sen is examined using a field study on poor women conducted in the state of Karnataka, India. The collection of data has been conducted through interviews with urban poor women as well as with women working with women empowerment at a local organization. Participant observation in the field has been complementary to the interviews. This study reveals that Sen’s capability approach is incomplete to some extent in order to understand the situation of women in a developing context. This lack of understanding is further completed with Nussbaum’s work. Finally, the modern feminist critique against both Sen and Nussbaum shows a lack of analysis in them both in terms of intersectionality and power.
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Fusek, Benjamin James. "Well-Being, Capabilities, and Health Measurement: Conceptual Similarities Between the Capability Approach and Daniel Hausman’s Liberal State." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1558.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis focuses upon the surprising connection between two separate bodies of work: the capability approach and Daniel Hausman’s 2015 book Valuing Health: Well-Being, Freedom, and Suffering. Proponents of the capability approach, such as Martha Nussbaum, have argued that the state has an important role to play in promoting well-being. Hausman seems to hold a position quite dissimilar from this, as he argues that standard practices in health economics are seriously flawed because the liberal state should not be promoting well-being. However, I argue that there exists an unexpectedly great degree of similarity between the two positions and suggest that it seems as though Hausman is, in fact, calling for the promotion of well-being. In illuminating conceptual similarities between the two views, I also point to areas where Hausman’s proposals might be strengthened or enhanced by work from CA theorists. This paper provides the foundation for further research to be undertaken exploring how these views might enhance one another.
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Meilleur, Sarazin Michèle. "Vulnerability and Agency: Reframing Disability through the Capabilities Approach. A Case Study of Women with Physical Disabilities in Lusaka, Zambia." Thèse, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/23534.
Full textAbstract:
This study explores the concepts of vulnerability, agency, and actors with relation to the capability development and deprivation of women with physical disabilities in Lusaka, Zambia. Based in the human development paradigm and Sen and Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach, it seeks to critically explore what impact being born, raised, and living as a woman with a physical disability in a developing country has on the development of capabilities. It also seeks to identify and analyze the involved processes, actors, and environmental factors. A main finding is that capability deprivation for women with physical disabilities is not simply caused by disability, or by gender, but by a multitude of factors. These include: the environment, social contexts, and relative poverty in which the women live; the particular cultural repertoires that surround them; and the actors with whom they interact. However, disability can, and often does, exacerbate the complex life situations in which the women find themselves.
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Matthews, Jason Anthony. "A constraint-based approach for assessing the capabilities of existing designs to handle product variation." Thesis, University of Bath, 2007. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.486841.
Full textAbstract:
All production machinery is designed with an inherent capability to handle slight variations in product. This is initially achieved by simply providing adjustments to allow, for example, changes that occur in pack sizes to be accommodated, through user settings or complete sets of change parts. By the appropriate use of these abilities most variations in product can be handled. However when extreme conditions of setups, major changes in product size and configuration, are considered there is no guarantee that the existing machines are able to cope. The problem is even more difficult to deal with when completely new product families are proposed to be made on an existing product line. Such changes in product range are becoming more common as producers respond to demands for ever increasing customization and product differentiation. An issue exists due to the lack of knowledge on the capabilities of the machines being employed. This often forces the producer to undertake a series of practical product trials. These however can only be undertaken once the product form has been decided and produced in sufficient numbers. There is then little opportunity to make changes that could greatly improve the potential output of the line and reduce waste. There is thus a need for a supportive modelling approach that allows the effect of variation in products to be analyzed together with an understanding of the manufacturing machine capability. Only through their analysis and interaction can the capabilities be fully understood and refined to make production possible. This thesis presents a constraint-based approach that offers a solution to the problems above. While employing this approach it has been shown that, a generic process can be formed to identify the limiting factors (constraints) of variant products to be processed. These identified constraints can be mapped to form the potential limits of performance for the machine. The limits of performance of a system (performance envelopes) can be employed to assess the design capability to cope with product variation. The approach is successfully demonstrated on three industrial case studies.
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Höcker, Filip, Carl-Oscar Sturén, and Jacob Troedsson. "Cross-Channel Integration Towards Omnichannel Retailing: A Dynamic Capabilities Approach : A case study on IKEA." Thesis, Internationella Handelshögskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, IHH, Företagsekonomi, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-39775.
Full textAbstract:
The rapidly changing consumer behaviour and the increasing demand of convenience has put pressure on corporations to utilise their various capabilities more dynamically. As a result, operating through channels that are not synergised is no longer as effective as it used to be, and businesses are struggling with combining their existing channels with the market development. For Multinational corporations (MNCs) traditionally based on brick-and-mortar retailing, this has proven to be especially difficult as the market develops towards electronic solutions, but with a significant demand still for physical stores. This study aims to, by the assistance of theory, investigate the practice of how MNCs can utilise their capabilities dynamically in order to make their cross-channel integration process more dynamic, and thus maintaining their competitive advantage. Empirical data has been gathered through a case study on a brick-and-mortar MNC that is, at the time of this research, going through the process of cross-channel integration. Primary data has been gathered through semi-structured interviews that has also resulted in providing the secondary data in regard to the process. The combined data has then been analysed, using a pattern matching method, together with literature within both cross-channel integration and dynamic capabilities. The findings indicate that resources that can be connected to theory within dynamic capabilities play a central role in successful cross-channel integration. Furthermore, being up-to-date in terms of trends & development, having clear, change encouraging, company values and making sure that the employees are actively participating in the process is indicated to be of especial importance.
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Lombard, Marise. "How can the experiences of stakeholders with doctors inform medical selection and education?" Thesis, Griffith University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/381375.
Full textAbstract:
The practice of medicine is complex and challenging. Medical practitioners
require a range of capabilities to practice effectively and consistently over a long
career. Selection for the capacity to develop these capabilities and education to
build them are becoming increasingly important in a rapidly-changing society
that demands a return on its investment in medical schools and post-registration
training.
Although the range of capabilities required for trainee and graduate doctors is
described in the medical student selection and education literature, the
viewpoints of privileged stakeholders have generally been favoured in
determining them, relative to those most affected by medical practice (and
malpractice). This study attempts to address this question from a more inclusive
stakeholder perspective, linking ‘capabilities’ to ‘doctor experiences’ in ways not
previously reported in independently-refereed research literature. A qualitative
phenomenological approach offered the most suitable paradigm for exploring
the ‘doctor experience’.
A pilot study was conducted to refine the research question and to inform the
main study. For the main study, a total of 107 participants were purposively
recruited to represent the diversity of stakeholders in medical practice. Thirtynine
(39) one-on-one interviews were conducted with doctors (13), patients (11)
and participants identified as ‘key stakeholders’ (15) because of their medical
student selection and education expertise and experience. The remaining 68
stakeholders each participated in one of eight group interviews (as health
professionals, medical educators, academics, health executive managers,
medical students, patients or community representatives).
The interviews focused on first-person accounts of stakeholders’ experience of
their interactions with medical practitioners, which were audio recorded,
transcribed verbatim, anonymised and imported into computer assisted
qualitative data analysis software. The analytical methodology utilised was
based on Smith’s (1996) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).
In order to accommodate the larger-than-usual number of participants for an
IPA study, Smith’s method was somewhat modified. All of the data were first
analysed descriptively to identify broad categories of experience with doctors
and the extent to which particular participants had provided vivid first-person
accounts of those experiences. Participants whose narratives were the most
deeply experiential and provided the richest accounts of particular doctor
capabilities or concerning behaviours were designated ‘signature’ stakeholders
for that category and their transcripts were interrogated with the full IPA
methodology. This involved meaning-making and interpretation through
application of the ‘hermeneutic cycle’. The analysis of these transcripts was
then supported by less intensive interpretation of accounts from other
stakeholders who had made sense of their experiences in similar ways.
Broadly speaking, experiences of doctors were evaluated by participants as
either positive or negative. Positively evaluated experiences focused on doctor
capabilities in the major domains of being ‘patient-centred’ and being a ‘good
communicator’. More specifically, these emphasised ‘ensuring patient safety’,
‘showing genuine concern for patients’, ‘combining competence with caring’,
‘being a good listener’, ‘allowing sufficient time’ and ‘being respectful’.
Negatively evaluated doctor experiences focused on behaviours in the major
domains of being ‘unprofessional’ and ‘compromising the safety of self and others’. More specifically, these related to ‘being disrespectful’, ‘being arrogant’,
‘having impaired judgement’, ‘being a poor communicator’ and ‘being
incompetent’.
The study’s findings were somewhat concordant with the existing literature. My
participants’ positively and negatively evaluated experiences pointed to
capabilities such as a patient-centredness and effective communication that had
previously been identified as desirable in competency frameworks derived from
the opinion of ‘privileged’ stakeholders such as ‘CanMEDS’ and the Australian
Medical Council Graduate Outcome Statements. The study adds to the
literature, however, in that the positively and negatively evaluated experiences
of the broader range of ‘less-privileged’ stakeholders I interviewed prioritised
different patterns of capabilities. They emphasised particularly patientcentredness,
good communication, professionalism and practicing safely,
characterising each of these domains in novel ways.
Potential limitations of the study related to the novelty of the modification to
Smith’s IPA method that I developed in order to balance respect for the
idiographic (distinct and detailed) accounts of my participants with the need to
manage data from a larger-than-usual number of participants for a
phenomenological study. The modified method appeared to serve its purpose,
however, and the range of measures taken to ensure the trustworthiness of its
findings is described. My experience as a health professional and medical
educator may have affected my degree of ‘reflexivity’ or ability to self-examine
the potential implications of these experiences for my research role. It may also
have influenced how participants viewed me, particularly those who were known
to me previously. A further range of measures taken to overcome this potential limitation is also described.
Implications of the study are discussed and recommendations made for future
medical selection and education research and practice. These include
strategies to refine the range and prioritisation of practitioner capabilities, on the
basis of the experience and needs of a broader range of stakeholders, to
enable doctors to practice effectively in today’s society.
The study adds to the existing body of medical selection and education
research. It also gives stakeholders an opportunity to be heard, particularly
those most affected by medical practice and malpractice.<br>Thesis (PhD Doctorate)<br>Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>School of Medicine<br>Griffith Health<br>Full Text
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Phakathi, Charity Sharon. "Policy and practice : enabling or disabling women's aspirations for secondary school principalship." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/60973.
Full textAbstract:
This study seeks to understand how policy and practice enables or disables women's aspirations for secondary school leadership. The study focuses on women deputy principals and woman principal who have applied for principalship and details their accounts of the resonances and dissonances of policy and practice. This qualitative study uses a narrative design. The data collected from three female deputy principals, one of whom was acting as a principal and one a newly appointed principal at the time of the interviews. The main form of data collection was a series of interviews with each participant. The findings confirm that the policy environment is favourable for women, but in its implementation, there are factors that constrain the aspirations of women for secondary school leadership. Gender stereotypical perceptions of women by the school governing bodies and a patriarchal social context are seen as significant constraints for women seeking leadership positions. It was also evident that prevailing school leadership frequently works with school governing bodies to undermine and thwart the ambitions of female deputy principals and those unions rarely play a supportive role to potential women leaders.
Data is analysed using the Capabilities Approach. In this study, the Capabilities Approach suggests that environmental and social conversion factors seem to be obstacles affecting women's agency to achieve the desired outcome of becoming a principal.<br>Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016.<br>Education Management and Policy Studies<br>MEd<br>Unrestricted
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Mahadew, Roopanand. "Land grabbing in Ethiopia and Madagascar: Balancing respect for human rights of victims with development needs through land investments." University of the Western Cape, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/7598.
Full textAbstract:
Doctor Legum - LLD<br>Many African states are in dire need of economic development to alleviate poverty, enhance the quality of life of peoples and bring development home. To meet this aim, land investments have been the preferred mode of development for a long time on the African continent with particular reference to Ethiopia and Madagascar as selected case studies of this study. Hectares of land are being given away to foreign investors involved in agricultural investments through investments treaties and contracts. The aim is primarily to attract foreign direct investments to boost the economy. Unfortunately, this seems to be a skewed vision of development, focusing exclusively on
economic development without any consideration to social, cultural and political development of people, especially local communities. Such a narrow mode of development is not in line with human rights principles and considerations with thousands of people of the two countries having their basic human rights being constantly and irreparably violated by the actions of foreign investors involved in land investments. Their lands are being grabbed and this is entailing a series of other major infringements of civil and political as well as socio-economic rights intrinsically linked to land. Ethiopia and Madagascar are both parties to major legal instruments on human rights at the UN and
the African level. They have legal obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights that are being violated on a daily basis by land grabbing. In addition, their domestic legal frameworks are supposed to confer adequate and effective protection to those human rights and protect them from the negative impacts of land grabbing. When such a mode of economic development is resulting in basic human rights violations, it is clear that such development is not aligned with an all-inclusive and encompassing mode of development. To this end, this study adopts Sen’s Capability Approach to development which advocates that development should render people free and capable.
Individuals have capabilities which must be enhanced and protected. In the context of land grabbing, land, water, food, culture and political participation have been identified as the human capabilities which require the utmost form of protection and respect. The thesis investigates the ways in which international and domestic legal frameworks on human rights can be used to protect the selected capabilities. While economic development in the form of investments and FDI is necessary in any country, there is a pressing need for such national
economic interests to be balanced with human rights of local communities who are the main victims of land grabbing. Accordingly, in terms of the central research question, the study, with references to the two selected jurisdictions, investigates how African states should take appropriate measures and steps to ensure that land investments are compliant with their obligations under international human rights normative framework in a way that renders local communities “capable” in line with Sen’s Capability Approach. In terms of methodology, desk research is used based on reports and data that international research institutions have presented on land grabbing. The common capabilities that are violated in the two jurisdictions are singled out and eventually analysed in line with international human rights framework including the right to development, the right to land, the right to food, the right to water, the right to culture and the right to political participation. The main aim is to examine how a balanced mode of development as proposed by Sen can be achieved using the international framework on human rights, the right to development specifically and the domestic legal framework of the countries.
The study concludes that the human rights framework protecting the identified capabilities is not being effectively complied with by the two selected states. In addition, their domestic legislative framework on human rights is not in conformity and harmony with international standards set by treaties and treaties bodies. Accordingly, the study proposes a number of measures that could be taken by states to achieve the balance between national development interests and human rights.
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Ghafar, Abdul. "Corporate social responsibility and social enterprises : an empirical study through the lens of Sen's capabilities approach." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/16044.
Full textAbstract:
Previous studies by Cornforth (2003, 2004), Cornelius et al. (2008), Cornelius and Wallace (2010), and Wallace and Cornelius (2010) highlight the need for further research in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for social enterprises and how their governance systems facilitate social outcomes when aligned to organisational mission. Against this backdrop, the main aim of this study is: to investigate the extent to which social enterprises (not-for-profit social providers) pursue ethical practices and social policies underpinned by their CSR agendas that enhance their stakeholders’ capabilities. The conceptual framework for the study is built on Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach (Sen 1991, 1999). Primary data were collected from face-to-face, in-depth, semi structured interviews with twelve owner-managers of small social enterprises from Bradford, UK. These were designed to understand their enterprise’s ethical views towards the development of deprived communities and the role this has in formulating their enterprise’s CSR agenda. The interview data were transcribed and analysed using constructivist grounded theory. The findings suggest that external CSR provision is often prompted as an immediate reaction to problematic issues arising in society. In general, it consequently lacks sustainability and is insufficiently evaluated for long term social impact. It is therefore argued that the CSR agenda for social enterprises should be based more on the organisation’s social ethos than the current process. Moreover, the findings emphasise the importance of social strategy emanating from governance mechanisms as this was identified as critical for the implementation of the CSR agenda so that social value is created in a structured and planned manner. These findings make a contribution to knowledge by providing conceptual and empirical insights regarding the consequences of social enterprises incorporating capabilities into their CSR policies and practices, and its social impact. Moreover, a conceptual model is developed that reflects the strategic importance of such a convergence in achieving this dual purpose.
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Ghafar, Abdul. "Corporate social responsibility and social enterprises: An empirical study through the lens of Sen’s capabilities approach." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/16044.
Full textAbstract:
Previous studies by Cornforth (2003, 2004), Cornelius et al. (2008), Cornelius and Wallace (2010), and Wallace and Cornelius (2010) highlight the need for further research in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for social enterprises and how their governance systems facilitate social outcomes when aligned to organisational mission. Against this backdrop, the main aim of this study is: to investigate the extent to which social enterprises (not-for-profit social providers) pursue ethical practices and social policies underpinned by their CSR agendas that enhance their stakeholders’
capabilities. The conceptual framework for the study is built on Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach (Sen 1991, 1999). Primary data were collected from face-to-face, in-depth, semi structured interviews with twelve owner-managers of small social enterprises from Bradford, UK. These were designed to understand their enterprise’s ethical views towards the development of deprived communities and the role this has in formulating their enterprise’s CSR agenda. The interview data were transcribed and analysed using constructivist grounded theory. The findings suggest that external CSR provision is often
prompted as an immediate reaction to problematic issues arising in society. In general, it consequently lacks sustainability and is insufficiently evaluated for long term social impact. It is therefore argued that the CSR agenda for social enterprises should be based more on the organisation’s social ethos
than the current process. Moreover, the findings emphasise the importance of social strategy emanating from governance mechanisms as this was identified as critical for the implementation of the CSR agenda so that social value is created in a structured and planned manner. These findings make a contribution to knowledge by providing conceptual and empirical insights regarding the consequences of social enterprises incorporating capabilities into their CSR policies and practices, and its social impact. Moreover, a conceptual model is developed that reflects the strategic importance of such a convergence in achieving this dual purpose.