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1
van, Dijk Sander Gerrit. "Informational constraints and organisation of behaviour." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/15436.
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Based on the view of an agent as an information processing system, and the premise that for such a system it is evolutionary advantageous to be parsimonious with respect to informational burden, an information-theoretical framework is set up to study behaviour under information minimisation pressures. This framework is based on the existing method of relevant information, which is adopted and adapted to the study of a range of cognitive aspects. Firstly, the model of a simple reactive actor is extended to include layered decision making and a minimal memory, in which it is shown that these aspects can decrease some form of bandwidth requirements in an agent, but at the cost of an increase at a different stage or moment in time, or for the system as a whole. However, when combined, they do make it possible to operate with smaller bandwidths at each part of the cognitive system, without increasing the bandwidth of the whole or lowering performance. These results motivate the development of the concept of look-ahead information, which extends the relevant information method to include time, and future informational effects of immediate actions in a more principled way. It is shown that this concept can give rise to intrinsic drives to avoid uncertainty, simplify the environment, and develop a predictive memory. Next, the framework is extended to incorporate a set of goals, rather than deal with just a single task. This introduces the task description as a new source of relevant information, and with that the concept of relevant goal information. Studying this quantity results in several observations: minimising goal information bandwidth results in ritualised behaviour; relevant goal and state information may to some point be exchanged for one another without affecting the agent’s performance; the dynamics of goal information give rise to a natural notion of sub-goals; bottlenecks on goal memory, and a measure of efficiency on the use of these bottlenecks, provide natural abstractions of the environment, and a global reference frame that supersedes local features of the environment. Finally, it is shown how an agent or species could actually arrive at having a large repertoire of goals and accompanying optimal sensors and behaviour, while under a strong information-minimisation pressure. This is done by introducing an informational model of sensory evolution, which indicates that a fundamental information-theoretical law may underpin an important evolutionary catalyst; namely, even a fully minimal sensor can carry additional information, dubbed here concomitant information, that is required to unlock the actual relevant information, which enables a minimal agent to still explore, enter and acquire different niches, accelerating a possible evolution to higher acuity and behavioural abilities.
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Petersen, Bernice. "The relationship between organisational commitment, organisational citizenship behaviour and turnover intentions at a retail organisation." University of the Western Cape, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/8458.
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Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS)The South African employment industry is facing exhaustion as the demand for talented workers is higher than supply (Bakos, 2005) and it has become imperative that the employer no longer simply focus on the commitment of employees, but more so on the extra efforts that are exerted by these employees in order to ensure their sustainability (Netswera, Rankhumise & Mavundla, 2005). Extensive research has been conducted on organisational commitment because of its importance in predicting individuals' behaviour outcomes such as absenteeism and turnover (Popoola, 2005). Findings of studies conducted by Bolon (1997) and Maharaj (2006) indicate that there is a positive relationship between organisational commitment (OC) and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Bolino and Turnley (2003) posit that it is important for organisations and managers to have a better understanding of the factors that make employees willing to go the extra mile in order to enhance organisational performance and sustain a competitive edge. The alms of the study are to investigate the relationship between organisational commitment, organisational citizenship behaviour and turnover intentions. Furthermore, it also investigated the relationship between biographical variables (namely, gender, age, tenure and race) and organisational commitment as well as that of organisational citizenship of human resource professionals A sample of 138 human resource professionals employed at a retail organisation completed a self-developed biographical questionnaire, the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire, the Citizenship Behaviour Questionnaire and the Turnover Intention Questionnaire. Results of the study indicate the existence of a significant relationship between organisational commitment and organisational citizenship and turnover intentions for human resource professionals. The statistical analysis suggests that organisational commitment has a significant relationship with organisational citizenship, whilst turnover intentions did not have a significant impact on organisational commitment. The biographical variables (namely, gender, age, tenure and race) appear to have a significant impact on organisational commitment, with gender having the strongest relationship with organisational commitment. The biographical variables (namely, gender, age, tenure and race) appear to have a significant impact on organisational citizenship behaviour, whilst race appeared to be unrelated to citizenship behaviour. Previous studies were reviewed to support the findings of the current study. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research were put forth in addition to recommendations for the organisation.
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Grigoriou, Eleni. "Graded organisation of fibronectin to tune cell behaviour." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2017. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/8523/.
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Cells are in constant and dynamic interactions with the extracellular environment. They receive several inputs involved in the regulation of cell behaviour. Fibronectin, an abundant protein of the ECM, contains multiple binding domains and binds to cell receptors, growth factors and other ECM proteins. FN undergoes conformational changes through cell-generated contractile forces which consequently affects cell response. Tissue engineering aims at engineering biomaterials that recreate the in vivo ECM. In addition to biomaterials, stem cells have emerged as a promising source due to their inherent differentiation potential. In this work, the role of poly acrylates in controlling human mesenchymal stem cell behaviour (hMSCs) was explored. Particularly, a series of copolymers with specific ratio of ethyl(acrylate), EA, and methyl(acrylate), MA, were used. It is known that poly(ethyl)acrylate, PEA, triggers a network-like conformation of FN upon adsorption, whereas poly(methyl)acrylate, PMA, elicits a globular conformation. It was found that a different degree of FN organisation can be obtained dependent on the EA/MA ratio, with the network being more connected with increased EA ratio. This differential conformation was shown to affect the availability of critical binding sites. This system was further used to study hMSCs response in terms of adhesion and osteogenic differentiation. All surfaces support cell growth and focal adhesion formation. However, increased cell size and spreading was promoted on surfaces with higher EA concentration. Next, the potential of the surfaces after sequential adsorption of FN and the growth factor BMP-2 to drive osteogenic commitment was explored. Enhanced expression of the osteogenic markers RUNX2 and OCN was found with higher concentration of EA whereas the opposite was observed with ALP expression. Another part of this work involved investigating cell migration on PEA and PMA. Higher cell speed was found on PEA where FN adopts a more extended conformation. Moreover, the protein composition of focal adhesions was evaluated by proteomic analysis. The findings of this work give further insights into how the surface with well-defined chemical properties can modulate FN conformation and how these changes affect cellular processes.
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Dockery, E. "Management control in local government : organisation and economic behaviour." Thesis, University of Essex, 1989. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.280786.
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Arabiat, Ahmad. "Modelling construction client risk performance using organisation behaviour parameters." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2013. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/14887.
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The role of client in inducing project risk has not been adequately covered and the construction industry. A focus on this aspect of risk should enable construction to square up the 'risk circle' for managing projects and contribute to the general development of risk management strategies for construction organisations. The thesis investigates the client role from an organisational behaviour perspective. The aim of the thesis is to determine whether organisational characteristics influence risk management behaviour for the client, and whether these characteristics affect the project risk performance positively or negatively. The objectives of the research that underpin the thesis were three-fold. First it was to explore the organisational characterisation of the construction client in the management of risk within the project environment. Second, it was to establish the effect of the client's risk behaviour on the project. Third, to identify the dominant parameters which affect client risk management, and to investigate the interaction between the parameters and the client's risk management practices and attributes. Establishing such interaction will show how the parameters explain the nature and extent of risk transfer from the organisational into the project. It also facilitate the provision of a guidance to define the client organisational attributes that are sensitive to project risk, or those attributes that are not. The study adopted a competing values framework on organisation behaviour that resulted in an elicitation instrument for testing the relationship between organisational characteristics and risk performance. Data was obtained by surveying a sample of client organisations who are actively engaged in procuring projects in the UK construction industry. The outcome of the research showed that the parameters that are represented in the competing values framework (namely, Open system, Rational model, Internal process, and Human resources) affected the risk practices and attributes of the client in different ways. The outcome specifically showed that the Rational Model has a significant positive influence on risk performance while the Internal Process has a significant negative influence on risk performance. Both the Open system and Human resources showed insignificant influence. This supports the notion that construction risk is part of a functional system that extends to the client risk performance and that the client organisational characteristics contribute to the risk behaviour within the construction project. The thesis offers two very significant contributions to the body of knowledge that underpins the management of risk in project and construction organisations: namely, the contribution to the level of risk made by the client organisations should form part of the considerations in any project appraisal; and the risk contributions by the client should address the Rational model and Internal process contexts of their organisation.
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Kerby, G. "The social organisation of farm cats (Felis catus)." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1987. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.382641.
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Jakobsson, Maria. "Empirical studies on merger policy and collusive behaviour /." Stockholm : Department of Economics, Stockholm University, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-1400.
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Anderson, Carl. "The organisation of foraging in insect societies." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.286576.
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Legarra, Herrero Borja. "Mortuary behaviour and social organisation in Pre- and Protopalatial Crete." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2007. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1445176/.
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The mortuary record of Pre- and Protopalatial Crete comprises the main corpus of data available for the study of these periods on the island. Although the evidence from funerary contexts has been the object of study for over a century, most of the work produced so far has not been founded upon clear methodological and theoretical approaches. This has resulted in an underachievement in the extraction of information from the record, and a failure to take the intricate relationship between the study of the mortuary record and the understanding of the social organisation of living communities into proper consideration. The aim of this work is to produce a new, comprehensive study of the entire mortuary record of Pre- and Protopalatial Crete. It revises the published data in accordance with a new methodology that applies a bottom-up, comprehensive approach to the record. Combining monographic studies of Cretan material culture with newly published data into the context of the tomb and the cemetery allows a more accurate and rich understanding of the archaeological evidence from burial sites. Consequently, the detailed picture of spatial and temporal variations and patterns in mortuary behaviour that this study produces can be used to create a more complex model for the use and role of cemeteries for Cretan communities. A clear new theoretical and methodological approach permits to use the new fluid and complex model of the mortuary behaviour for re-examining Cretan communities during the Pre- and Protopalatial periods and understanding them both in terms of both horizontal and vertical organisation and within a complex spatial and temporal framework.
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Welford, Richard. "Aspects of the organisation and behaviour of U.K. producer cooperatives." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1990. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/35528/.
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Reflecting the fact that the cooperative sector in the U.K. has experienced record growth over the past fifteen years, this thesis forms an investigation of the organisation and behaviour of producer cooperatives. The theoretical literature surrounding the labour — managed firm is examined and subjected to testing and empirical observation. In this way a fuller understanding of the cooperative sector and of participatory arrangements in general is achieved. The theory and issues underlying this approach are based on Williamson's (1980) notion of hierarchy, the neoclassical literature surrounding perverse supply effects and extensions of that, examining the nature of the cooperative objective function, growth, managerialism and degeneration, and the nature of self— exploitation in an economy dominated by large capital. The empirical contributions are derived from a data set of 78 producer cooperatives collected by the author. In the analysis contained in this thesis it has been possible to question accepted theory, to offer some alternative modelling approaches, largely based on the use of probit analysis and to seek to describe and explain more fully certain aspects of the organisation and behaviour of U.K. cooperatives. In doing so some attempt has been made to extend the analysis beyond the boundaries of pure economics and to consider facets of participation provided in other disciplines. Many different measures have been used in the thesis which indicate that whilst cooperatives, like many small businesses, will face problems surviving in the market place, they nevertheless seem largely successful in pursuing their stated objectives. Many of the 'accepted' negative aspects of the cooperative form of organisation, such as perverse supply — side responses, have been shown to be based on restrictive assumptions about the labour — managed enterprise. Assertions about the existence and survival of cooperatives based on ideas of degeneration and self— exploitation have been shown to be questionable. Perhaps surprising to some, it is shown that management does play an important role in the organisation and behaviour of many cooperatives. For example, the existence of some sort of management structure seems important in those firms with high growth aspirations. Much of the discussion in this thesis suggests that worker involvement can bring about productivity increases. In effect, it is argued that participation can lead to augmentation of the production function. Traditional businesses in general might therefore be advised to consider adopting participation in the workplace. On the other hand cooperatives should also realise that success in conventional terms can often enable them to better pursue their political motivations.
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Chen, Yiqiang. "Sediment size effects on self-organisation behaviour of rip channels." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2014. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/834a7ed4-ca29-4057-b269-15833ae2ede5.
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Rip channels are frequently observed morphological pattern on the sandy beach, which are critical to the erosion of beaches as well as the safety of beach visitors. Field observations indicate the wave conditions and sediment characteristics exert the controlling effects on the states of beaches and determine the development of rip channel system. Although the role of wave conditions on the rip channel dynamics has been extensively studied, little attention has been paid to the effects of sediment characteristics. In this thesis, the impacts of grain size of both uniform and non-uniform sediments on the formation and nonlinear evolution of rip channels have been investigated using a nonlinear morphodynamic model that is adapted from the open source program XBeach. To quantitatively describe the impacts of sediment grain size, a number of indicators that represent the dynamical and geometrical characteristics of rip channels have been used. Specifically, the indicators that related to the dynamical properties of rip channels include growth rate, migration speed, response time and saturation time. The indicators that related to the geometrical characteristics of rip channels include predominant spacing and rip channel three-dimensionality. For beaches that consist of uniform sediment, the grain size can affect number aspects of rip channel dynamics. It is found that when the grain size increases, both alongshore migration speed and growth rate decreases significantly, while the response and saturation time increases. On the other hand, the influence of grain size on the geometrical properties of the rip channel is much less pronounced, as the predominant wavelength of rip channels hardly changes and the rip channel three-dimensionality only vary slightly, depending on either the variation of grow rate or saturation time. The “global analysis” method that takes the variables over the whole modelling domain into account is then applied to investigate the mechanism underlying the variations of growth rate and migration speed. The results of calculation using “global analysis” method reveal that the variations of growth rate and migration speed are mainly caused by the amount of sediments being stirred up into the water column which is clearly grain-size-dependent. Previously, all modeling studies assume that the heterogeneous sediment on sandy beach can be represented by single homogeneous sediment, which implicitly suggest that the actual dynamics of rip channels for heterogeneous sediment are either similar to those within an environment comprised of uniform sediment or equivalent to the linear summation of dynamics determined for individual grains. However, our results of simulations that using heterogeneous sediment show that in some occasion this assumption is not valid, as the values of indicators that concern to the temporal evolution properties of rip channels for heterogeneous sediment can locate outside of the range that restricted by prediction using uniform sediment. This is because the gradient of sediment concentration depends on the spatial distribution of sediment size and is not always the linear summation of the gradient of sediment concentration calculated using uniform sediment grains. Therefore, our results suggest that special care for the spatial distribution of sediment size should be taken when predicting the development of rip channels.
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Whitfield, Douglas Philip. "Social organisation and feeding behaviour of wintering turnstone (Arenaria interpres)." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/14660.
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Prinsloo, Hayley. "Organisational culture, safety climate, supervisory accountability and engagement as drivers of safety behaviour in a platinum mining organisation." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/79643.
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The mining industry plays a significant role in the South African economy. In 2019, the sector contributed R360.9 billion (8.1%) to the total gross domestic product (Minerals Council South Africa, 2020). With almost half a million employees reporting to work in the South African mining industry each day, a relentless commitment to safety and health compliance is required to manage the inherent risks and hazards associated with the sector.
Previous research has shown that frontline supervisors have a direct impact on the safety behaviour of individuals and that their leadership significantly influences team safety performance. The objectives of this study sought to contribute to the body of research on organisational culture, frontline supervisory engagement and accountability as levers for enhancing organisational performance and creating sustainable competitive advantage through resilient safety behaviour.
Quantitative, confirmatory research methods were used to gain insights into the effect of organisational culture and safety climate on safety behaviour, while examining the influencing effects of frontline supervisory engagement and accountability on safety behaviour in the process division of a single platinum mining organisation in South Africa. A total of 104 survey based responses from frontline supervisors were analysed using factor analysis and multiple regression tactics.
The key findings indicate that the tendency of a supervisor to hold herself and her team accountable is positively correlated to good safety behaviour, and is the strongest predictor of safety behaviour when considering safety climate and supervisory engagement and supervisory accountability. Furthermore, safety climate was found to be a significant contributor to safety behaviour. All three organisational culture factors – organisational practices, supervisory support and work attributes – were found to be strong predictors of safety climate, with only work attributes contributing to predicting supervisory accountability. These results indicate a significant influence between organisational culture, safety climate, supervisory accountability and safety behaviour. Supervisory engagement, although found to be positively correlated, was not a statistically significant predictor of safety behaviour. The findings from this research add to the literature on safety behaviour, frontline supervisory behaviours and organisational culture.Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
pt2021
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MBA
Unrestricted
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Thorne, M. L. "Engendering culture : The dynamics of organisation culture, gender and managerial behaviour." Thesis, University of Bath, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.383608.
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Joshi, Abhilasha. "Behaviour-dependent activity and synaptic organisation of septo-hippocampal GABAergic neurons." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2017. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:28b4b2bc-f782-4bc9-87af-233527171e60.
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Animal behaviour is coordinated by biological rhythms over multiple timescales. In the temporal cortex, rhythmic oscillatory activity in the 5 to 12 Hz theta frequency range supports behaviour through temporal windows of changes in excitability and circuit computation. Subcortical inputs, including those from the medial septum are thought to generate the theta oscillatory activity. However, the rules of innervation of identified types of cortical cells in different cortical regions by a diverse population of septal neurons are largely unknown. During my DPhil studies, I tested the hypothesis that medial septal GABAergic neurons which exhibit distinct activity patterns would express distinct molecular marker combinations and have distinct synaptic partners. In Chapters 1 and 2, I formulate my research questions and explain the methodology used. My main findings are presented in chapters 3 to 7. In Chapter 3, I present the strategy used to identify four populations of rhythmic medial septal neurons based on their spike-train dynamics in the mouse in vivo. In Chapter 4, I present a detailed analysis of the spike-timing and molecular parameters of a specialised population of rhythmic neuron, the Teevra cells. Teevra cells are PV+, do not change their firing rate from rest to running and fire short bursts of action potentials preferentially at the trough of both CA1 theta and slow irregular activity recorded in stratum pyramidale. In Chapter 5, I show that Teevra cells selectively innervate axo-axonic cells and CCK-immunopositive interneurons in hippocampal area CA3, bypassing CA1, CA2, and the dentate gyrus. In Chapter 6, I show that Teevra cell axons terminate in restricted septo-temporal segments of CA3 according to their rhythmicity. Finally, in Chapter 7, I present the Komal cells, which fire long bursts of action potentials at the peak of theta, increase their firing rate during running, and preferentially innervate extrahippocampal cortices. I discuss the broad relevance of my observations in Chapter 8. Overall, my results show an unexpected specialisation in the organisation of medial septal GABAergic inputs to the temporal cortex. Teevra cells fire maximally at the trough and preferentially innervate the CA3 whereas Komal cells fire maximally at the peak and target extrahippocampal cortices, thereby coordinating the timing of converging glutamatergic inputs to CA1 via disinhibition. This cortical-region-specific GABAergic innervation by physiologically distinct septal neuronal types suggests a general mechanism for the coordination of network activity, both during regular theta oscillations and irregular large amplitude waves, providing windows of computation through synchronisation of neuronal activity in the cortex.
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Westrip, James Robert Samuel. "Organisation & development of anti-predator behaviour in a cooperative breeder." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/25389.
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In order to reduce their predation risk, species have evolved a range of anti-predator behaviours. One co-ordinated anti-predator behaviour present in some group-living species is sentinel behaviour. In this behaviour individuals take up an elevated position and scan for threats, providing an alarm when one is spotted. However, this behaviour can lead to social conflict. Sentinel behaviour is a public good, i.e. the benefits are felt by all group members, but the costs only accrue to the actor. Thus it may be open to free loading, requiring individuals to monitor collaborators to prevent cheats. Additionally, individuals may vary in their alarm call reliability, which may select individuals to alter their behaviour based on caller ID. Monitoring others requires individuals to be closely associated, yet individuals may be spread out. For instance, foraging groups may be some distance from their nest, yet nestlings are particularly vulnerable. Adults should reduce their number of nest visits if a threat is nearby, so individuals returning from the nest may be selected to communicate about any perceived threats. Additionally, when perceiving threats, species need not use only conspecific information, because heterospecifics can also provide relevant information. In this thesis, I test these ideas in the Southern Pied Babbler (Turdoides bicolor), and I show that a) pied babblers monitor the quantity and quality of group-mates’ anti-predator behaviour; b) babblers accompany naïve sentinels and I investigate whether this may be related to anti-predator teaching; c) babblers do not appear to actively communicate about perceived nest threats because they do not alter their provisioning rate based on heterospecific derived anti-predator information; while d) avian heterospecifics are more prevalent in the presence of pied babblers, and can be attracted to areas by playback of pied babbler calls. These results show that species monitor both conspecifics and heterospecifics, and alter their behaviour based on the information they collect.
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Bornett, Hannah. "The effects of social organisation on feeding behaviour in growing pigs." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/28543.
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Group housed pigs make less frequent feeder visits of a longer duration, and eat at faster rate than pigs housed individually. They also have lower growth rates which may be due to elevated stress associated with aggression and social stress. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the stability of feeding patterns in individual pigs, the effect of grouping and group composition on feeding patterns and to assess the consequences of this shift in feeding behaviour for the welfare and performance of grouped pigs. The flexibility of feeding behaviour was assessed by restricting the time of access to food of previously ad libitum fed pigs to 2 hours per day and then returning them to 24 hr access. When pigs had restricted access to food they made fewer daily feeder visits, of a longer duration, with a higher food intake per visit than the control pigs that had 24 hour access to food throughout. Flexibility was assessed by comparing feeding behaviour before and after restriction. The pigs that experienced a period of restricted feeding either resumed their previous behaviour or showed the same trend as the controls. It was concluded that feeding behaviour was flexible. A second experiment investigated the effect of grouping on feeding behaviour. Pigs were housed individually for 3 weeks after which they were combined into groups of 4 for 3 weeks, before being returned to individual housing for a further 3 weeks. When grouped, pigs made fewer visits to the feeder of a longer duration than when they were housed individually. Possible explanations for the changes in feeding behaviour are competition, group cohesion, or that the high frequency of feeder visits when the pigs are housed individually is a consequence of a lack of social stimulation. The results suggest that group cohesion is most likely to have been causal in the observed changes in feeding behaviour.
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Brumme, Janet Kathleen. "The role of organisational behaviour in establishing a corporate academy in the construction industry." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/39927.
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The purpose of the study was to explore the role of organisational behaviour in establishing a corporate university in a large corporate in the construction industry. Studies have been conducted regarding the process steps in establishing a corporate university but a gap exists in the cohesive presentation of the various relationships and the behaviours that drive the successful implementation and sustained operation of a learning academy. An understanding of organisational behaviour at three levels (individual, group and organisational) is a critical success factor that provides the superstructure to the firm foundation provided by the right process steps.
An in-depth, single case study research design was used by the researcher taking a qualitative approach from a complete member researcher perspective with an analytic autoethnographic orientation. Data collection comprised archival document review and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with senior executives and leadership on other levels in the organisation. Analysis was conducted with the assistance of a qualitative data analysis computer software package as well as through iterative coding and memo writing to surface patterns and themes.
The study resulted in a framework reflecting a complex web of relationships and roles that included: context as a catalyst; leadership as a critical role player; academy structure as a key driver of learning; individuals as recipients and beneficiaries; key stakeholders and internal role players in the implementation of learning; and finally, organisational culture as the normative domain. The study concludes with propositions that encapsulate these relationships.
The framework presenting a complex web of relationships and roles has expanded the existing theory of organisational learning by integrating and incorporating organisational behaviour theory to understand the role that behaviour on individual, group and organisational levels plays when establishing a corporate university. In addition, the framework provides insight into the role of an academy in promoting a culture of learning.
Organisations can benefit from an insight into the behaviours which underpin the establishment of a corporate academy because such insight will more readily lead to successful implementation and the avoidance of costly mistakes. A corporate academy plays a key role in assisting organisations to build essential skills and capabilities particularly in times of increasing demand for competent and capable employees to execute strategy. The single ‘revelatory’ case study approach was conducted due to the unique opportunity presented when the researcher was tasked with establishing a corporate university in a large corporate in the construction industry.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
gm2014
Human Resource Management
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Guttridge, Tristan. "The Social Organisation and Behaviour of the juvenile lemon shark, Negaprion brevirostris." Thesis, Leeds Beckett University, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.515529.
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Allen, Penelope J. "Molecular analysis of grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) breeding behaviour and social organisation." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.388854.
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Edwards, Robert Andrew. "Essays in industrial organisation : price competition, strategic obfuscation, advertising & consumer behaviour." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2017. http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3007004/.
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Lee, Jin-Won. "Behaviour, Genetics and Social organisation of the Vinous-throated Parrotbill Paradoxornis webbianus." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.489672.
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This thesis aimed to detennine the interactions between social structure, genetic relationships and individual behaviour in a passerine bird, the vinous-throated parrotbill Paradoxornis webbianus. During the breeding season, nest dispersion was not random in tenns of distribution pattern or genetic relationship; more related males tended to breed closely together, especially in tre second laying peak. This relatedness was positively related to subsequent juvenile recruitment (Chapter 2). Local breeding density also influenced parental provisioning behaviour. When they had fewer neighbours, parents tended to coordinate their provisioning and the provisioning rate increased as local breeding density increased. Furthennore, parents breeding in the high local density appeared to meet more efficiently an experimental increase in chick demand (Chapter 3). However, parental provisioning behaviour was not affected by the extrapair paternity (EPP). Furthennore, the pattern of EPP (8% of offspring in 26% of broods) was not related to either local breeding density, breeding synchrony or male characteristic. However, most EPP (95%) occurred in the first laying peak and extrapair males were not always neighbouring males. In addition, there was no difference between within-pair and extrapair chicks in body condition and recruitment rate to their first winter flock (Chapter 4). Juveniles showed moderate rate of dispersal; about 40% of juveniles moved from natal flocks to neighbouring winter flocks and sibling coalitions including both sexes seemed to be the rule in these movements (Chapter 5). Once juveniles settled in their first winter flocks, they had a strong fidelity to the winter flocks throughout their life (Chapter 6). Overall, these demographic patterns generated significant genetic differentiation and a pattern of isolation by distance among winter flocks at a fine spatial scale and kin association within a winter flock. Despite these demographic and genetic circumstances, however, inbred mating was relatively infrequent (Chapter 6).
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Schuster-Cotterell, Caroline. "Leadership behaviour & corporate success how leadership behaviour can influence the performance and the success of an organisation." Saarbrücken VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2003. http://d-nb.info/986631469/04.
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Wu, Gang. "Functional organisation and population behaviour of human peripheral nerve fibres : a microneurography study /." Stockholm, 1997. http://diss.kib.ki.se/1997/91-628-2720-0.
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Wilkinson, Marcelle. ""Sustainability of behaviour" : a qualitative study of employees in a financial services organisation." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11094.
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Bibliography: leaves 108-129.In the currently competitive business environment, organisations are placing an everincreasing emphasis on their employees as a source of competitive advantage. It is believed that they possess a level of skills, knowledge, attitudes or behaviours upon which the organisation can draw as it grows and develops. Paradoxically, employees cannot always sustain the competencies that dictate an organisation's success in the contemporary work environment due to the significant levels of change that exist. This research explores sustainability of behaviour in an organisational setting, and develops a conceptual framework for understanding this phenomenon. The research follows an exploratory, qualitative design. Data was collected through in-depth and semi-structured interviews with fourteen employees in a large financial services organisation in the Western Cape. The data was analysed using techniques of analysis provided by grounded theory. Results indicate a multi-dimensional relationship between certain causal conditions, intervening conditions, contextual conditions and action/interaction strategies which all influence whether or not behaviour is sustained in the workplace. These findings have implications for human resource practices in the contemporary organisation.
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Tjeku, Mkhambi Shadrack. "Empowerment and job insecurity in a steel manufacturing organisation / Mkhambi Shadrack Tjeku." Thesis, North-West University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/2472.
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Sailer, Kerstin. "The Space-Organisation Relationship." Doctoral thesis, Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2010. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-38427.
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Spatial structures shape human behaviour, or in the words of Bill Hillier – human behaviour does not simply happen in space, it takes on specific spatial forms. How staff interacts in a cellular office differs significantly from the patterns emerging in an open-plan environment. Therefore the dissertation ‘The Space-Organisation Relationship’ analyses how exactly spatial configuration shapes collective behaviours in knowledge-intensive workplace environments. From an extensive literature review it becomes clear that only few insights exist on the relationship between spatial structures and organisational behaviour, despite several decades of intensive research. It is argued that the discourse suffers from disciplinary boundaries; a lack of rigorous research designs; as well as incoherent and outdates studies. Founded on this diagnosis, the dissertation puts up two contrary hypotheses to explain the current state of knowledge: on the one hand it could be argued that hardly any coherent results were found due to the incoherent use of methods and metrics. If this was true it would mean that different organisations would react comparably to similar spatial configurations, if the same methods were used. On the other hand it could be hypothesised that it was inherently impossible to achieve coherent results even with the use of consistent methods, since each space-organisation relationship was unique. To investigate these ideas further, the dissertation employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, embedded within an explorative research design. Both a comparative analysis of different cases and an in-depth study to understand specific organisational behaviours were aimed at by conducting three intensive case studies of knowledge-intensive workplaces: 1) A University, 2) A Research Institute, 3) A Media Company, all of them accommodated in varying spatial structures. Based on a multi-layered analysis of empirical evidence, the dissertation concludes that the relationship between spatial configuration and organisational behaviours can be described by two principles. Firstly, evidence of generic function was found for example between spatial configuration, the placement of attractors, and collective movement flows. These influences are based on general anthropological behaviours and act independently of specific organisational cultures; yet they are rarely found. Secondly, the majority of evidence, especially on more complex organisational constructs such as knowledge flow, organisational cultures and identity suggests that the space-organisation relationship is shaped by the interplay of spatial as well as transpatial solidarities. This means that relationships between people may be formed by either spatial or social proximity. Transpatial relations can overcome distances and are grounded in social solidarities; as such they are not motivated by spatial structures, even though they often mirror spatial order. In essence organisations may react uniquely to comparable spatial configurations. Those two principles – generic function as well as spatial and transpatial solidarities – come in many different forms and jointly shape the character of the space-organisation relationship. This means both hypotheses are true to a degree and apply to different aspects of the space-organisation relationshipRaumstrukturen beeinflussen menschliches Handeln, oder in den Worten von Bill Hillier – menschliches Verhalten findet nicht nur zufällig im Raum statt, sondern nimmt eine spezifisch räumliche Form an. Das Interaktionsverhalten von Mitarbeitern in einem Zellenbüro beispielsweise unterscheidet sich grundlegend von den Mustern, die sich in einem Großraumbüro entwickeln. Die vorliegende Dissertation „The Space-Organisation Relationship“ beschäftigt sich daher mit der Frage, wie sich die Verbindung zwischen Raumkonfiguration und kollektivem Verhalten einer Organisation in wissensintensiven Arbeitsprozessen gestaltet. Aus der Literatur wird ersichtlich, dass trotz einiger Jahrzehnte intensiver Forschung nur wenige gesicherte Erkenntnisse existieren zur Frage, wie sich Raumstrukturen auf organisationales Verhalten auswirken. Der Diskurs zeigt deutliche Schwächen durch disziplinäre Grenzen, einen Mangel an wissenschaftlich fundierten Studien, sowie inkohärente und teils veraltete Ergebnisse. Um den aktuellen Kenntnisstand zum Verhältnis von Raum und Organisation zu erklären, stellt die Arbeit zwei entgegengesetzte Hypothesen auf: zum einen wird angenommen, dass der Mangel an vergleichenden Studien sowie methodische Schwächen verantwortlich sind für die uneindeutige Beweislage. Sollte dies der Fall sein, müssten in vergleichenden Studien mit gleichem Methodenansatz übereinstimmende Ergebnisse zu finden sein. Dies würde nahe legen, dass jede Organisation als Kollektiv gleich oder zumindest ähnlich auf vergleichbare Raumstrukturen reagiere. Zum anderen wird die entgegengesetzte Hypothese aufgestellt, dass der Charakter und die inhärente Komplexität des Wissensgebietes exakte Aussagen per se unmöglich mache. Dies könnte verifiziert werden, wenn unterschiedliche Organisationen unterschiedlich auf vergleichbare Raumstrukturen reagieren würden, obwohl dieselben wissenschaftlich fundierten Methoden angewendet wurden. Um dies zu überprüfen benutzt die vorliegende Dissertation eine Kombination aus quantitativen und qualitativen Methoden, eingebettet in einen explorativen Forschungsaufbau, um sowohl vergleichende Analysen zwischen Organisationen durchführen, als auch tiefergehende Interpretationen zu spezifischem organisationalem Verhalten anstellen zu können. Die Arbeit stützt sich auf drei intensive Fallstudien unterschiedlicher wissensintensiver Tätigkeiten – einer Universität, einem Forschungsinstitut, und einem Medienunternehmen, die in jeweils unterschiedlichen räumlichen Strukturen agieren (Zellenbüros, Gruppenbüros, Kombibüros, Großraumbüros). Aufbauend auf der vielschichtigen Analyse empirischer Ergebnisse kommt die Dissertation zur Erkenntnis, dass sich das Verhältnis zwischen Raumkonfiguration und organisationalem Verhalten durch zwei Prinzipien beschreiben lässt. Einerseits sind so genannte generische Einflüsse festzustellen, zum Beispiel zwischen Raumkonfiguration, der Platzierung von Ressourcen und Bewegungsmustern. Diese generischen Einflüsse gehen auf grundlegende menschliche Verhaltensmuster zurück und agieren im Wesentlichen unabhängig von spezifischen Organisationskulturen. Allerdings sind sie selten, und nur wenige Faktoren können als generisch angenommen werden. Andererseits ist die überwiegende Mehrheit der Raum-Organisations-Beziehungen bestimmt vom Wechsel zwischen räumlicher und so genannter trans-räumlicher Solidarität, das heißt Beziehungen zwischen Individuen können sich entweder auf räumliche oder soziale Nähe stützen. Trans-räumliche Beziehungen, die sich aufgrund von sozialer Nähe entfalten können beispielsweise Entfernungen überwinden, und sind daher in erster Linie nicht räumlich motiviert, auch wenn sie sich oft in räumlichen Ordnungen widerspiegeln. Diese beiden Prinzipien – generische Einflüsse sowie räumliche und trans-räumliche Funktionsweisen – treten in vielschichtigen Formen auf und bestimmen den Charakter des Verhältnisses zwischen Raum und Organisation. Damit treffen beide der aufgestellten Hypothesen auf unterschiedliche Aspekte und Teilbereiche des Raum-Organisations-Zusammenhangs zu
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Hunter, Bridget. "Leadership, role clarity and psychological empowerment within a petrochemical organisation / Bridget Hunter." Thesis, North-West University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/3113.
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In an era characterised by economic recessions, technological change and intensified global competition, the worldwide organisational landscape has been transformed. Organisations are positioning themselves closer to their customers and have begun adopting more cost effective practices in order to remain competitive. In addition, the ability of organisations to compete internationally is largely dependent on their ability to find, develop and retain talent by providing challenging and meaningful work, and advancement opportunities for talented people to remain at their place of work. The responsibility of leadership in talent retention is crucial. They must ensure that they exercise empowering behaviour, clarify roles and in so doing psychologically empower employees within their work contexts. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour, role clarity, and psychological empowerment.
Employees from a business unit in a petrochemical organisation were targeted for this research. The study population included employees from managerial, non-managerial and specialist categories. A cross-sectional design was used to achieve the research objectives. The Leadership Empowerment Behaviour Questionnaire (LEBQ), Measures of Role Clarity and Role Ambiguity Questionnaire (RCAQ), Measuring Empowerment Questionnaire (MEQ) and a biographical questionnaire were administered for the study. The statistical analysis was carried out with the help of the SPSS program. The statistical method employed in the study consisted of descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression analyses. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine the significance of differences between the experience of psychological empowerment of demographic groups. Results indicated that when leadership empowerment behaviour increases, self determination increases. When role clarity increases, meaning will increase. Psychological empowerment is predicted by leadership empowerment behaviour and role clarity. Role clarity was found to mediate the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour and two factors of psychological empowerment, namely meaning and competence. MANOVA analysis indicated no differences between different demographic groups in terms of levels of psychological empowerment experienced. Recommendations were made for future research.Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.
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Tahko, Tuuli. "Making sense of dance-making : interaction and organisation in contemporary choreographic processes." Thesis, University of Roehampton, 2016. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/making-sense-of-dance-making(aeac116c-62e1-4ca6-b3b2-6c258a084128).html.
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The relationship between dancers and choreographers has often been described as problematic, with the dancer as the silent victim of the powerful choreographer. On the other hand, contemporary choreography has been presented as an inherently collaborative process in which the dancer participates in the creation of movement material, even if she is not credited as a co-author. My thesis explores what we can learn about the social organisation of contemporary choreographic practices by shifting our methodological focus from dance studies to the study of organisational behaviour and interaction. This interdisciplinary approach is based on an understanding of professional dance companies as work organisations with goals to achieve and resources to manage. Professional dance-making is a work activity, and therefore dance companies must be to some extent comparable with other organisations functioning in the same cultural and societal framework. I suggest that by using theories of organisational behaviour to contextualise dancers’ and choreographers’ work relationships we can better understand how their professional identities are implicated in choreographic practices. The data for this research come from two ethnographic case studies of professional contemporary dance companies in the process of making new work. Thematic analysis has been combined with close readings of communicative events to shed light on how choreographic processes are socially constructed and organised through multimodal embodied interaction between the participants. The study shows that in order to understand the dancer’s agency and sensemaking in a choreographic process it is crucial to understand that communication encompasses all aspects of behaviour, not just verbal activity, and that the choreographer’s leadership is dependent on the dancers’ cooperative followership. Organisational concepts such as sensemaking and communities of practice, and theories of leadership, followership and communication, were found to be in many ways applicable to contemporary choreographic processes, suggesting that this perspective could be useful for dance practitioners and scholars alike.
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Wacher, T. J. "The ecology and social organisation of fringe eared oryx on the Galana ranch, Kenya." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1986. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.379898.
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Reilly, Michael T. "Corporate values, managerial behaviour and planned culture change - British Telecommunications plc 1991-1994." Thesis, University of Brighton, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.323406.
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Stanislas, Perry. "Models of organisation and leadership behaviour amongst ethnic minority communities and policing in Britain." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2006. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1901/.
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This thesis examines how the cultural, social and economic characteristics of the African-Caribbean community shape the type of policing problems experienced, and its response to these issues. Central to the problems encountered by this community is the historic role played by racism in shaping important aspects of its ethnic group behaviour. In order to elucidate these issues, a comparison of Jews and Hindu communities was undertaken. Drawing from cultural history, sociologies of race and ethnicity, organisational theory and criminology, the research highlights how the African-Caribbean community has evolved a particular tendency towards specific models of organisations and leadership strategies, premised on notions of group identity. The Jewish and Hindu communities also have developed preferred ways of approaching issues, which are examined in turn. Each approach seeks to address complex problems which leaders are called to tackle and have important implications for the strategies adopted. The second part of the study presents evidence collected between 1993-1995 in a North West borough of London, and highlights the similarity of concerns between particular ethnic communities and the role played by the African-Caribbean community as a source of much of these problems, as well as being a victim of a range of difficult policing problems of its own. The research found that while particular ethnic groups were able effectively to address specific policing concerns, the African-Caribbean had some unique constraints limiting its effectiveness. The principal set of constraints affecting them was found to be the greater number of structural problems it faced, and highlights the intrinsic relationship between the problems experienced by this ethnic community and how this is determined by broader political considerations. These difficulties were exacerbated by the group's own internal differences creating ongoing communal and organisational instability.
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Mendes, Fallen. "Positive organisation :|bthe role of leader behaviour in employee engagement and retention / Fallen Mendes." Thesis, North-West University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/4784.
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Organisations are constantly undergoing major changes. These changes can have negative consequences on organisational functioning and employee well-being. It is therefore vital for organisations to focus on the elements of a healthy organisation so that a positive organisation can be built and the negative consequences avoided. A healthy organisation pays attention to six intenelated dimensions namely; organisational attributes, organizational climate, job design, job future, psychological work adjustment and negative outcomes (like that of turnover, absenteeism, alcohol and substance abuse, self-reported health, and psychological health). The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between leader empowering behaviour, role clarity, psychological empowerment, work engagement and intention to leave. A business unit consisting of managers, specialists, supervisors and administrative staff participated in this research. A cross-sectional design was used to attain the research objectives. The Leader Empowering Behaviour Questionnaire (LEBQ), the Measures of Role Conflict and Ambiguity Questionnaire (MRCAQ), Measuring Empowerment Questionnaire (MEQ), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (U\VES), and Intention to Leave Scale (ILS) were administered for the study. The statistical analysis was carried out by utilising the SPSS program. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a three factor structure for LEBQ, a two factor structure for MRCAQ, a four factor structure for MEQ, a three factor structure for UWES and since ILS only consists of two items a factor analysis was not necessary. All the scales showed
acceptable reliabilities. The results showed that leader empowering behaviour, role clarity and psychological empowerment predict engagement. Moderation effects showed that role clarity interacted with competence and meaning to affect employees' dedication, and role clarity interacted with the developing of employees (as a facet of leader empowering behaviour) to affect absorption. Finally, a regression analysis showed that work engagement predicts employees intention to leave.
Once conclusions for the study were drawn, recommendations for the organisation as well as for future research were made.Thesis (M.Comm. (Industrial Psychology)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.
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Davidson, Evans Ogbukoromudo Nwoke. "Budget related behaviour : the moderating impact of management style, corporate culture and organisation policies." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.400445.
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Parrott, David. "Social organisation and extra-pair behaviour in the European black-billed magpie Pica pica." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.268533.
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Baxter, David. "Perception of organisational politics and workplace innovation : an investigation of the perceptions and behaviour of staff in an Australian IT services organisation /." Swinburne Research Bank, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/46062.
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Thesis (D.B.A.)--Swinburne University of Technology, Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, 2004.A thesis submitted to the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University of Technology, 2004. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-230).
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Sellars, Christian. "The organisation and behaviour of interest groups: a theoretical review and application to South Africa." South African Network for Economic Research, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/75949.
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In recent years. South Africa’s business and union leaders have often been called on to replicate the country’s substantial political achievements, in the economic sphere. Two important documents released in mid 1996 discuss the establishment of structures to facilitate dialogue between government, labour and business. The purpose of this would be to try to find ways of generating the growth and employment sorely needed in the country if democracy is to lead to any improvement in the living conditions of the majority. The government’s macroeconomic strategy paper - ‘Growth, Employment and Redistribution,’ commonly referred to as GEAR, was released first, followed by the report of the Labour Market Commission (LMC) convened by the President to investigate labour policy. The GEAR document proposes ‘a broad national agreement to create an environment for rapid growth, brisk investment and accelerated delivery of public services’ (1996: 26). The agreement would be needed to prevent the recent depreciation of the Rand from triggering a vicious cycle of wage and price increases which would destabilise financial markets and undermine the competitiveness of local industry. This could be achieved, GEAR argues, if labour and business were willing to consider the restraint of wages and prices. The idea of a national agreement is further elaborated in the LMC report, which proposes a ‘National Accord’ (1996). This proposal follows from the LMC’s belief that the negotiation of economic issues through institutional structures, as opposed to direct regulation by government statute, is both socially desirable and economically efficient (ibid, 219). Price restraint, wage restraint and investment decisions, together with tangible commitments from government on training, social welfare provision and industrial promotion would be the main issues covered by the accord. South Africa’s economic policy framework has been subject to heated debate since the release of GEAR. The union movement has expressed serious reservations about the market orientation of the government’s macroeconomic strategy. Given this position, together with the complex and fragmented structure of interest organisation in South Africa, the prospects for an accord or national agreement are not promising. Yet, the government has expressed the desire to set one up. This paper provides a review of political theory on interest groups. The purpose of this is to draw concepts and ideas from contributions in this area to see if they can shed any light on the nature of interest group interaction in South Africa, particularly with respect to the possibility of establishing a social accord. The review draws from two bodies of thought. The first is the theory of corporatism and the second that of public choice (often referred to as rational choice). Corporatist theory has enjoyed a fair degree of popularity amongst South African social scientists. However, the debate between them has not progressed very far, mainly due to confusion over terminology. Further, as argued Section 1, some local contributions have misread the international literature, ignoring aspects which might be of relevance to South Africa. These omissions are re-examined, but the section concludes that there are limitations in the extent to which corporatist theory is able to explain the dynamics of interest group formation and behaviour. Section 2 tries to find alternative explanations in the theory of public choice. The methodological integrity and general value of public choice theory has been strongly questioned (Green & Shapiro, 1994). While the paper provides a synopsis of public choice literature and a review of its critics, the focus is on the analysis of collective action. Despite the shortcomings which it shares with general public choice, this analysis provides useful theoretical pointers which can assist in developing an understanding of interest group dynamics which goes beyond corporatist theory. In the third section, the paper comes back to South Africa and looks at the recent history of interest organisation to establish whether any of the theoretical tools picked up in previous sections are helpful in understanding the local experience. After a general background, the section goes into the discussion of three particular issues, being: community participation in policy formation, trade policy and the labour market. Section 4 acknowledges that there is potential to build the capacity of interest organisations in South Africa and to restructure their interaction in socially beneficial ways. However, a number of issues are identified which mitigate against the conclusion of an effective social accord. These include the weaknesses evident in interest group organisation, the alliance between the African National Congress and the union federation Cosatu,1 and the absence of competition in South Africa at party political level. It is concluded that electoral reform might be a better means of democratising the country’s political environment than attempts at managing interest groups.Working paper (South African Network for Economic Research) ; v. 1
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Ellis, Samuel. "The organisation of polydomous nesting in wood ant colonies : behaviour, networks, foraging and resource redistribution." Thesis, University of York, 2015. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/9741/.
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Social behaviours are an important component of evolutionary success. This is perhaps most evident in the societies of social insects: the interactions between individuals underlie the organisation of their highly complex, and highly successful, societies. An important socially organised determinant of ecological success for social insects is nesting strategy. Many ant species can have a polydomous nesting strategy: a polydomous colony inhabits several spatially separated, but socially connected, nests. How this complex nesting strategy is organised is largely unknown. I undertook a series of studies to investigate how polydomous colonies of the ecologically important red wood ant Formica lugubris are organised at the individual, nest and colony levels. I found that resources are redistributed locally, between nests, within polydomous wood ant colonies. Further investigation showed that this local resource redistribution is mediated by individual workers treating other nests of the colony as food sources. I also investigated the role that nests which do not appear to be foraging are playing in polydomous wood ant colonies. I found that these non-foraging nests, rather than having a specialised role, are part of the colony expansion process. I explored the importance of resource acquisition to individual nests by investigating the effect that position in the colony nest-network has on the survival, reproduction and growth of nests within a polydomous colony. I found that position within a dynamic nest-network was an important determinant of life-history success for individual nests in wood ant colonies. My results suggest that little behavioural innovation is needed for a colony to become polydomous, and indicate benefits a polydomous nesting strategy may provide a colony. These results highlight how understanding the proximate mechanism and development of a social behaviour, can give important insights into the ultimate function and evolution of a life-history strategy.
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Beukman, Theunis Lodewyk. "The effect of selected variables on leadership behaviour within the framework of a transformational organisation paradigm." Thesis, Pretoria : [s.n.], 2005. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-11082005-083347.
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Thesis (D. Com. (Human resources management))-University of Pretoria, 2005.Summaries in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.
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Jordaan, Sonet. "Leadership empowerment behaviour, job insecurity, engagement and intention to leave in a petrochemical organisation / S. Jordaan." Thesis, North-West University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/2261.
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The significant change that organisations must endure in order to survive, let alone prosper, has grown tremendously in the past two decades. The lack of talent, especially amongst the previously disadvantaged groups, is one of numerous challenges South African organisations are confronted with. Organisations are therefore required to determine indicators of intention to leave as it is argued to be the single most important predictor of actual quitting behaviour. Variables found to relate to intention to leave include a sense of powerlessness and a lack of engagement.
The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between leadership empowerment behaviour, job insecurity, engagement and intention to leave in a petrochemical laboratory. The research method consisted of a brief literature review and an empirical study. A cross - sectional survey design was used. The entire population of employees working in a business unit of a petrochemical organisation, namely the Laboratory, was targeted. The Leader Empowering Behaviour Questionnaire, Job Insecurity Inventory, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and two questions measuring intention to leave were used. In addition, a biographical questionnaire was administered. The statistical analysis was conducted with the aid of the SPSS programme. The statistical method employed in the study consisted of descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlation and a multiple regression analysis. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine the significance of differences between the experience of leadership empowerment behaviour, job insecurity, engagement and intention to leave of demograpbic groups.
Results indicated that leadership empowerment behaviour was negatively correlated with cognitive job insecurity and that a negative relationship existed between leadership empowerment behaviour and intention to leave. Leadership empowerment behaviour was found to be positively correlated with engagement. A positive relationship existed between cognitive job insecurity and affective job insecurity, as well as between cognitive job insecurity and intention to leave. Cognitive job insecurity was found to be negatively correlated with engagement. A negative relationship was established between engagement and intention to leave. All these correlations were found to be statistically and practically significant with a medium to large effect. Regression analysis indicated that leadership empowerment behaviour and affective job insecurity did not show a significant amount of predictive value towards intention to leave. Cognitive job insecurity and engagement were found to be indicators of intention to leave. With regards to experiencing leadership empowerment behaviour, engagement and intention to leave, no significant differences were found between demographic groups. Participants in middle non -management positions, however, experienced higher levels of affective job insecurity than those in senior management positions.
Conclusions and limitations of the current research were discussed and recommendations for future research were made.Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.
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Buchanan-Smith, H. M. "The social organisation and mating systems of the red bellied tamarin (Saguinus labiatus labiatus) : Behavioural observations in captivity and in the wild." Thesis, University of Reading, 1989. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.235029.
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Dzokoto, Frank K. "Information behaviour of construction project actors." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2016. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/23173.
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Construction is one of the largest industry sectors in terms of size and output in the United Kingdom (UK). The sector contributes about 10% directly to the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and drives historical GDP growth. However, Construction projects and Organisations continue to underperform at significant levels which is underpinned by actors' Information Behaviours (IBs).
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Lejon, Elina, Linda-Marie Wahlund, and Jennie Berggren. "What Influences B2B Buying Behaviour? : An empirical study of Fläkt Woods and its customers." Thesis, Jönköping University, JIBS, Business Administration, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-282.
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This study has been conducted in cooperation with Fläkt Woods, an industrial supplier of ventilation systems. The study only concerned chilled beams which are an explicit group of ventilation products within Fläkt Woods’ product portfolio. The purpose of the study was to explore how Fläkt Woods’ customers perceive certain elements when choosing Fläkt Woods as a supplier of chilled beams and why they perceive them the way they do. The elements include quality, service, technical performance, technical knowledge, communication, time of delivery, installation, calculation program, flexibility, market adjustment, technical documentation, relationships and geographic distance. The study has been conducted employing a combination of both a quantitative and a qualitative approach in which a questionnaire has been sent out to Fläkt Woods’ customers in order to shed light on their opinions.
The results showed that most of Fläkt Woods’ customers are satisfied or even very satisfied with the elements that were investigated. The elements that the customers were most satisfied with concerning the chilled beams were quality, service and technical knowledge. They believe that Fläkt Woods’ products have a good finish, that they are easy to get in touch with, that they are able and willing to give quick answers and feedback and that they have great knowledge about their chilled beams. The element that the customers are least satisfied with and that Fläkt Woods need to improve is flexibility. Even if Fläkt Woods believe that their special solutions are flexible, their customers do not fully agree. The customers’ attitude towards the flexibility is that Fläkt Woods prefer to provide standard solutions of chilled beams rather than offering special solutions. The results also showed that Fläkt Woods’ competitors are one step ahead considering the design of chilled beams. Thus, design is an element of the marketing program that Fläkt Woods need to improve. Furthermore, the study showed that relationships and communication which represent the “soft” elements concerning human interaction are just as important as the rest of the elements. Thus, Fläkt Woods need to consider these elements as well as the others when outlining the marketing program.
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Sorsa, Ville-Pekka. "Pension fund capitalism in Europe : institutional organisation and governance of Finnish pension insurance companies." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:64a98d6a-92f8-4a7d-a00f-46785162125a.
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Pension capital is the single largest block of capital in the global domain of finance and a transformative social force. However, the studies on pension fund capitalism have been geographically limited. Although vast pools of pension capital have been generated outside the Anglo-American institutional environments, we still have little knowledge on the social construction of pension fund capitalism outside that context. The purpose of the study is to develop theoretical-methodological tools for studying the institutional differences in pension fund investments with habitual institutionalist theory at the level of organisation fields, and to apply these tools in an empirical case study that has theoretical relevance concerning the recent financialisation of European pension provision. The case study is focussed on the field of Finnish pension insurance companies that execute the nationally mandatory partly funded TyEL pension scheme. The case study includes a single case analysis at the organisation field level with embedded case analyses on the investment processes in two companies. The study is based on multiple sources of textual and interview data gathered and analysed with content analysis. It is argued that the institutional life of Finnish pension insurance company investments illustrates divergence from the Anglo-American pension fund capitalism and has reinforced elastic institutional solutions especially in domains of governance and regulation even under Europe-wide financialisation pressures. The Finnish case shows that there are alternative institutional solutions for various domains of pension fund capitalism, but the strong Europe-wide trends have all characterised recent institutional change in the TyEL field as well. It is concluded that although the European shift towards pension fund capitalism with the generation of increasingly independent portfolio investors with increasingly principle-based regulation and risk-based supervision has not necessarily implied strong institutional convergence, the European pension investors are likely to share a number of common questions in the future.
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Chumg, Hao-Fan. "Investigation of factors that affect the willingness of individuals to share knowledge in the virtual organisation of Taiwanese non-governmental organisations." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2015. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/19701.
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With the advent of knowledge-intensive economies, plus the ever-accelerating development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), organisational knowledge has become the key driver of an organisation's value and ultimately, an important source of an organisation's sustainable competitive edge. Thus, numerous organisations have started to invest heavily in establishing knowledge management systems (KMSs). Subsequently, they wish to access knowledge from individuals in order to enhance their acquisition of knowledge and ultimately transform this into organisational knowledge. Even though existing research studies have evidenced extensively the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators of individuals' knowledge-sharing behaviour in organisations from diverse perspectives (e.g. organisational behaviour, sociology and psychology), individuals still seem inclined to hoard their knowledge, rather than share it with others in organisations. To this end, this research aims to investigate and identify essential elements related to individuals' knowledge-sharing behaviour within the complex context of the virtual organisation of Taiwanese Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), comprising the whole system of Taiwanese Farmers' Associations, by integrating multilevel perspectives of individuals in organisations (the micro-level), workplace networks in organisations (the meso-level) and organisational culture (the macro-level).
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McTavish, Shona. "Towards the knowing organisation : an investigation into the information behaviour of trainee solicitors within a law firm environment." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2007. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/1839/.
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This PhD study was designed to characterise the nature and role of the information behaviour of trainee solicitors in the context of knowledge development within a law firm environment. The characterisations drawn and the propositions offered provide a deeper understanding of the information behaviour of trainee solicitors, and, of the relationship between information behaviour, knowledge behaviour and knowledge development. A constructivist approach to inquiry was adopted, where the research design emerged through 'doing'. As emergent design is unusual within Library and Information Science (LIS) an in-depth discussion of how the design emerged is included within this thesis. Six trainees formed the sample for the final presentation of the findings. The adoption of a narrative technique for the gathering of data, and the presentation of the analysis, taking a cross-trainee and cross-theme approach, enabled holistic, in-depth characterisations to be drawn. The themes emerged through an iterative process of analysis and were followed up through a review of the literature. Undertaking a more comprehensive literature review after data collection is a characteristic of the constructivist inquiry but is a unique approach within LIS research. Through the consideration and interpretation of the characterisations that emerged from the findings this research posits a set of theoretical propositions and practical solutions pertaining to the knowledge behaviour (incorporating information behaviour) and knowledge development of the trainee solicitors. These propositions alongside the practical solutions offered are transferable in that they can be taken by other firms or organisations and considered in relation to their own setting. In addition, a model depicting the knowledge behaviour and its role in the knowledge development of trainee solicitors is presented.
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Dussutour, Audrey. "Organisation spatio-temporelle des déplacements collectifs chez les fourmis." Toulouse 3, 2004. http://www.theses.fr/2004TOU30242.
Full textAbstract:
This study deals with the organisation of collective movements in ants in presence of environmental heterogeneities, particularly in situations involving crowding. We chose two species of ants, characterised by different degrees of polymorphism, as well as by their mode of food transport. Our aim is to identify the link between the behavioural rules observed at the scale of the individual and the spatio-temporal organisation observed at the scale of the group. Ndependently of the species, we found that the regulation of traffic in crowding situations depends both on interattraction processes, via the communication through the chemical trail, and on dispersion phenomena. These latter vary as a function of the size of the individuals and of the task they achieve, but give rise to comparable organisations in the two species studied. The originality of this work lies in the fact that it shows that the mechanisms of dispersion allowing the regulation of the traffic and the prevention of crowding are a by-product of the interattraction processes.
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Hassan, Ahmed Mai. "Discovery and restoration of aberrant nuclear structure and genome behaviour in breast cancer cells." Thesis, Brunel University, 2013. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8847.
Full textAbstract:
The eukaryotic interphase nucleus is well organised and the genome positioned non-randomly. Nuclear structure is an important regulator of genome behaviour and function. Genome organisation and nuclear structure are compromised in diseases such as cancer and laminopathies. This study was to find out and to determine if there is any functional relationship between nuclear structure and genome mis-organisation in cancer cells. I have assessed the presence and distribution of specific nuclear structural proteins (A-type, B-type lamins and its receptor LBR, many of their binding proteins such as MAN1, LAP2α, LAP2, and Emerin and other nuclear proteins (PML, Nucleolin, and Ki67) using indirect immunofluorescence. From this study, it is found that the nuclear structure of breast cancer cells is often altered. The most severely affected proteins are the nuclear lamins B1 and B2 and they found as large foci within the nucleoplasm with little LBR expression to localise the lamin B. I also assessed the chromosome positioning (HSA 7, 10, 11, 14 and 17) and gene positioning (AKT1, CCND1, HSP90AA1, EGFR, ERRBB2/HER2 and PTEN) in breast cancer cell lines (T-47D, GI-101, Sk-Br-3 and BT-474) and in normal breast cell lines (MCF-10A) using 2D-FISH technique. I also assessed the position of the genes in nuclei and correlated with gene expression using qRT-PCR. Breast cell lines have treated with a drug named lovastatin and it was found that the cells have restored LBR expression and localisation of lamin B, leading to altered gene positioning and changed expression of breast cancer genes. Since the drug (lovastatin, 12 μM/48 hours) affects the prenylation as a post-translation modification process and lamins B biosythensis, it is found that B-type lamins and its receptor expression and distribution were improved and increased in expression by 2-fold in expression levels in the most affected cells (T-47D, and BT-474) compared to the normal cells (MCF-10A) and these cells also showed abnormal nuclei and dead cells. When analysing the nuclear positioning of the genes (AKT1, HSP90AA1 and ERRBB2/HER2), it is found that AKT1 was positioned periphery in BT-474 and T-47D cells and interiorly in the normal cells (MCF-10A) before treatment whereas the same gene was positioned periphery in T-47D and MCF-10A cells and interiorly in BT-474 after treatment with lovastatin. It is also found that HSP90AA1 was positioned periphery in MCF-10A and T-47D cells and interiorly in BT-474 cells before and after treatment (no change). Moreover, ERRBB2/HER2 gene was positioned periphery in T-47D and BT-474 cells and interiorly in MCF-10A cells before treatment whereas the same gene was positioned periphery in MCF-10A and T-47D cells and interiorly in BT-474 after treatment with the same drug. Regarding LMNB1, LMNB2, and LBR genes, the study focussed only on their expression levels and no work has done on their chromosome positioning as well as gene position before and after treatment. These three genes were over expressed when assessed by measuring the relative and fold changes in expression. Therefore, it is suggestive that 2D-FISH experiment to assess their localisation and their specific chromosome territories is required. The results shown in this thesis demonstrate the importance and roles of nuclear architecture specifically nuclear lamins and the integral nuclear membrane proteins (B-type lamins and LBR) in mediating correct genome organisation and function. The breast normal (immortalised cells) and cancerous cell lines showed different nuclear structures as lamin B affect the position of specific target chromosomes and genes. These results will strength the finding that the nuclear lamina is a significant nuclear structure which associates, organises, and regulates numerous vital nuclear processes and the stability of the genome.
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Adams, Samantha Pedro. "Examining graduate applicant intentions to apply to an organisation : the theory of planned behaviour in the South African context." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/80375.
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Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.The fiercely competitive nature of South Africa’s skilled labour market has necessitated a degree of awareness, from employers and researchers alike, of factors that potentially attract skilled graduates. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) the present study explored the formation of intentions towards job pursuit activities (i.e., submitting an application form) of the South African graduate. The proposed model of applicant intention that was tested in the present study is based on salient beliefs — an applicant’s attitude towards behaviour, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control — that determine the development and strength of intentions to apply for a job. The study was conducted in two phases using a mixed method approach. The first phase employed a qualitative design on a sample (N = 32) of students in order to elicit salient beliefs associated with applying to a chosen organisation. Next, we conducted interviews, administered open-ended questionnaires and conducted content analysis to identify applicants’ salient behavioural beliefs about applying. The second phase of the study employed a quantitative design to test the hypotheses that behavioural beliefs (attitudinal beliefs, normative beliefs and control beliefs) would influence intention to apply. We administered belief-based measures to a convenience sample (N = 854) of students from a tertiary institution in the Western Cape. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the measurement and structural models found that the hypothesised models fit the data reasonably well and significant relationships between perceived behavioural control and intention to apply were confirmed. Latent variable correlation analysis showed that all three behavioural beliefs (attitude towards behaviour, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control) were significantly related to intention to apply, but only normative and control beliefs showed significant path coefficients when all the beliefs were considered jointly in the structural model. Following the confirmatory factor analysis, we further explored socio-demographic group differences in the levels of, and relationship between, behavioural beliefs and intention to apply to an organisation. The results showed that perceived behavioural control had a significant relationship with intention to apply. The study makes three important contributions to the literature. First, TPB can be a useful framework to explain graduate applicant’s intention to apply. Second, the significant role of perceived behavioural control and subjective norm in the formation of graduate applicant intentions was highlighted. Third, the diagnostic utility of the TPB framework for applicant intentions was established. Finally, the results suggest there might be group differences in behavioural beliefs and intention to apply – a finding that calls for more research on graduate applicant decision-making in the South African context.
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Amuenje, Florentia. "The impact of diversity training on employee attitudes and behaviour with regard to diversity in work organisations: an analysis of a diversity-training programme in a Namibian work organisation." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002433.
Full textAbstract:
Diversity training programmes are formal efforts to prepare the workforce to work with individuals from different cultural backgrounds and to improve organisational effectiveness. Although many studies have described diversity training programmes in the workplace, only a few have been evaluated to assess their effectiveness and impact on job outcomes. This thesis describes a study that assessed the impact of a diversity management-training programme on employee attitudes and behaviour towards diversity in a manufacturing company in Namibia. Kirkpatrick’s (1959) four-level model, which examines the trainees’ reactions to the training, the learning acquired, the behaviour change and improvement in organisational results, was used to measure the impact of the training programme. Data was collected through pre-and post-assessment semi-structured individual interviews and a focus group was conducted two months after the training. Data analysis indicates that the first two levels of the evaluation model showed an impact. The participants had positive reactions towards the course and said that they had learnt from the course. The data also showed that the training did not have any impact on the behaviour of the participants and on organisational outcomes. The research also revealed that lack of improved productivity and organisational results might have been influenced by unrealistic expectations, past political conditions, job insecurity and unemployment and the training context. Some recommendations for both the diversity training programme administrators as well as the management of the company are made.