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The present work analyses the double problem that off-shoring gives rise to from the company¿s perspective: the decision making whether to delocalize or not and where. It has to do not only with the decision making according to market competitiveness but also with a more relevant point; the decision should be the right one as it commits the company¿s future. The company is considered in this work as an organization that intends to go ahead within a competitive background and justifies this delocalization by getting competitive advantages that allow the company to find a place in its market. In a first stage, the theoretical setting, it is made an interesting review about the classic and present doctrine, emphasizing the off-shoring benefits and prejudices within a higher frame such as globalization. It studies the off-shoring phenomena from the company¿s perspective as well as from the country of origin and the country of reception, with advantages and disadvantages for both countries and the off-shoring incidence on both economies. Moreover, it analyses the managerial and industrial models with capacity to take part in a global economy and to use the chances that the space flexibility provides in front of their competitors in a market more and more global and thus, more and more competitive. Beginning with the true premise that off-shoring is a fact that commits the company, its future and its survival. A mistake in choosing its location can give rise to its disappearance. Nevertheless, we often act without objectivity, without a methodology that helps us to minimize the risks with some self-security. We ask about the answer of a manager in front of the need to choose a new location for his company. About the kind of information needed for this election and how to minimize the risks that any option brings about. In summary, which country or countries should be selected with maximal guarantees? The research job included in this thesis is focused in developing a model of analysis that let us help with the strategic decisions of the company with regard to his off-shoring politics. This aim is fulfilled by a statistic analysis that after a process, takes 88 variables applied to a total of 139 countries. Within the variables are included relevant values to evaluate the possibility to off-shoring in a determined country; institutions, infrastructures, economic and legal background, financial market, labor market, managerial structure, human resources and training, technology and innovation, social aspects and costs, among others. The magnitude of the research work guarantees its own validity. Methodology is applied in the chemical industrial frame with variables and specific fields such as environmental, manufacturing, logistics and energy and considering one of the most complex for off-shoring with decisive positive and negative consequences. The result is that the suggested model is valid and can be useful for companies that are in the off-shoring process and that need a scientific, trusty tool that reduces the risk when making a decision. We consider the work quite singular. At present, there is not anyone else that runs after the same targets, involving such a large scope and multivalency. With a newly exposition of conceptual and theoretical originality and methodology that brings about a positive contribution, enough for the Thesis. We have created a model and compound percentage that helps to solve an important problem and opens the way for future studies and research lines on this subject. ; El trabajo que presentamos se centra en la elaboración de un método que facilite la toma de decisiones de las empresas en la elección de un país para deslocalizar su producción, servicios o la propia empresa. En un mundo globalizado, en el que la deslocalización es una práctica cada vez más recurrente en la búsqueda de una ventaja competitividad por parte de las corporaciones, la selección del destino puede presentarse, y de hecho así ocurre, como una de las decisiones, o la decisión, más difíciles y a veces comprometida de la empresa. Un error puede significar un enorme coste o el mismo fin de la empresa, por lo que los gerentes de la misma deben tomar decisiones claves para el futuro de su corporación sin, hasta el momento, un método fiable que les ayude a decidir el nuevo emplazamiento. Nuestro trabajo consiste en elaborar este método que permita una elección estadística utilizando un elevado número de variables, en nuestro ejemplo 88, que abarquen todos los factores importantes relacionados con la selección del país de nueva localización y ofrezcan el más idóneo objetivamente por una parte y una selección de los más idóneos por otra para que la empresa pueda elegir. Este método es válido para cualquier sector industrial o de servicios intercambiando el grupo de variables relacionadas con la actividad sectorial y manteniendo el resto como sustrato general del análisis. Por esto dado que nuestro interés, como se indica en el título de este trabajo, estaba centrado en el sector químico‐industrial, sobre el mismo hemos realizado el análisis e investigación de deslocalización. ; Postprint (published version)

本研究是一項關於北京中年抑鬱症患者主觀經驗的敘事分析。研究的目的在於探尋患者對於自身患病歷程的主觀詮釋,他們的服務需求以及對於中國大陸精神衛生社會工作進行反思。研究的參與對象為目的性抽樣所得到的來自北京的一個抑鬱癥自助團體的八名中年抑鬱癥患者。 ; 患者回顧了他們不同階段的經歷:發病期、住院期以及康復期。然後他們對於這些經歷做了詮釋。基於不同領域的社會服務需求,對於醫院、社區、大眾傳媒以及政府,他們都給出了寶貴的意見。 ; 研究發現,既有的理論觀點對於關著對自身經歷的詮釋有著重要的影響,尤其是生物醫學模型。認知觀點和性別觀點也可以在患者們的敘事中找到蹤跡。精神科醫生在患者的整個經歷中都處於重要的地位,他們的觀點和行為對患者也產生了重要的影響。 ; 患者還受到社會和歷史因素的影響。他們的詮釋會受到社會觀念和文化價值的影響,比如命運、面子、孝順以及性別角色等等。而歷史事件諸如文化大革命以及天安門事件也會對他們的人生經歷以及他們的主觀詮釋造成影響。而中國目前的社會情境也是另一項重要的影響因素。 ; 從他們的故事中,我們可以看到,最重要的主題就是他們在患病過程中認知模式的轉變,包括對待抑鬱癥本身,所接受的服務以及自身的看法。在他們的敘述中,另外兩個主題也是非常值得注意的,那就是和抑鬱症有關的"喪失以及醫院裡非人道的治療方式。 ; 他們的故事為我們對於北京中年抑鬱症患者經歷的理解提供了非常豐富詳實的材料。這些發現對於知識理論的發展、政策的制定以及針對抑鬱症患者的臨床社會工作實踐都有著很大的啟示。整個社會以及不同領域的精神衛生專業人士都應該攜起手來幫助他們,共同去創造一個更加包容和諧的社會。 ; This research was a narrative analysis of the subjective experiences of the depressed middle-aged adults in Beijing, China. The purposes of the research were to explore the clients' subjective interpretation of their lived experience of depression, their service needs and reflect on the improvement of mental health social work in Mainland China. A purposive sample of eight depressed clients from a self-help group in a mental health hospital in Beijing participated in this study. ; The clients talked about their experiences at different stages: the onset, in the hospital and the rehabilitation, and interpreted their experiences. They also gave some advice to the hospital, the community, the mass media and the government based on their social service needs. ; The theoretical perspectives influenced the clients' interpretations of their experiences, especially the biomedical model. The cognitive perspective and the gender perspective could also be found in the client's narratives. The psychiatrists were very important in the whole process of the clients' experiences. Their perspectives and behaviors also influenced the clients. ; It is found that the clients were also influenced by social and historical factors. Their interpretations were affected by social beliefs and cultural values such as fate, face, filial piety and ...

本文以明初官定程朱理學讀本《四書五經性理大全》的成書和思想反應為中心,旨在探討朱子學在14、15世紀流衍、官學化乃至自我更新的過程。作為士人參加科舉考試的必讀之書,《四書五經性理大全》原則上締造著明代士人的思維結構乃至行事方式,成為他們為學從政的依據和根基。全文主要分為三個部份:第一部份重點討論此書萌生於14世紀的主要學術背景,指出它是在元代浙江、江西、徽州三地朱子學並競發展的多元化局面中醞釀而生的。第二部份首先檢討了明初洪武、永樂兩朝帝王一脈相承卻又有不同的理學取態。同樣尊信理學可以幫助治國,太祖樂於以務實態度來修正和完善朱子學並顯現出他淩駕於道統的情形,而明成祖則將程朱理學視作其政權合法性的依據進而操縱了儒家道統,《大全》正是在明初政治文化微妙而重大轉變中應運而生的。本文接著考察了《大全》的編纂、取材與影響,從中指出編纂地選在北京對成祖遷都部署的配合作用,並分析《大全》內容取材的地域特色,及此特色所受敕撰要求、書籍流通、人事安排等因素的影響;統計其刊行情況以證實《大全》地位在有明一代從未被動搖,在晚明乃至成為商業出版中有利可圖的公共文化資源的情形。本文第三部份重點以15世紀持續出現的多種《大全》反應性著作為分析對象,從中觀察《大全》被作為舉業的讀本、行道的載體、救正時弊乃至變革士人思想的必由取徑,而在地方學官、著名儒者以及土木之變後學者型官員中引發的激烈迴響和對其批評、質疑、修正的相應行動。透過這些討論,本文期望檢討14世紀朱子後學的多元化發展與並競局面、明初帝王的理學取態對於明初理學的官學化進程的實際影響,以及15世紀的菁英士大夫如何運用"統一"後的理學學說來應對現實危機與朱子學發展困境等議題。 ; This dissertation studies the formation of and intellectual responses to the Sishu Wujing Xingli Daquan( Great Compendia of the Four Books, Five Classics and Human Nature and Heavenly Principle), which were compiled in the Yongle period (1403-1424), in the context of the spreading and self renewal of Zhu Xi's philosophical school in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. As must-read books for the imperial examinations, the Compendia affected Ming scholars' mode of thinking and their way of doing things. They also formed the basis of their classical learning and political participation. ; The study begins with an analysis of the intellectual background of the Compendia in the fourteenth century. It points out that there were three types of development and competition patterns of Yüan Neo-Confucianism in Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Huizhou. ; The research then reviews the important changes of attitude from the Hongwu emperor to the Yongle emperor towards Neo-Confucianism. Although both emperors believed that Neo-Confucianism could help them better govern the country, the Hongwu emperor was keen to see revisions of Zhu Xi's classical exegesis. To meet his realistic needs he even ignored the Neo-Confucian orthodoxy. The Yongle emperor, however, used Neo-Confucianism as the basis of his political legitimacy and thus ...

[ES] Al Berto es un poeta trágico y moderno que encierra en su obra: O Medo (1974-1997) el "itinerario lírico de su vida", bajo un tono autobiográfico y testimonial. Una escritura que pone en marcha tras su regreso a Portugal, coincidiendo con un régimen democrático después de una estancia de autoexilio en Bruselas de ocho años. Las nuevas condiciones de su país le permitirá expresar sus ideas libremente a través de sus obras, tan diferentes como alternativas en el panorama de las letras lusas de aquel final de los años 70, con un radical narcisismo que se halla presente en todos sus libros, hasta el extremo de fracturar en dos partes su nombre: Al Berto, en los albores de su carrera literaria. Una escisión que lleva al poeta a convivir entre dos identidades, la del "sujeto real" (Alberto) y la ficticia de un "yo lírico imaginario" (Al Berto), cada vez más sólidas en el discurso poético, diluyéndose sus límites y siendo difícil separarlos. Su escritura rebosa de emoción por el atractivo lenguaje de una cálida belleza surrealista, y sus impactantes y conmovedoras metáforas. Del mundo underground de sus primeros libros, enmarcados en una etapa de rebeldía, excesos y transgresión, influenciado por la beat generation, y por los poetas malditos franceses, W.S Burroughs o Jean Genet (cuyos núcleos temáticos predominantes son homoerotismo, drogas, noches sórdidas, rock, escenas cinematográficas…), pasando luego a una etapa marítima en la que recupera su juventud a orillas del Atlántico, por medio de la memoria. Una etapa en la que su escritura es más serena, menos vertiginosa, no ausente de temores y de diversos "miedos" que el poeta vive en su experiencia errante, en su inquietud y en su desasosiego, por no querer anclarse ni permanecer arraigado a ningún lugar, fiel a sus encuentros pasionales fugaces, nombrando lo efímero del momento en su poesía para darle de este modo una categoría de eternidad a cada instante. La melancolía se apodera de sus versos largos, de rima irregular, ajenos a puntuaciones y a reglas sintácticas, cada vez más solemnes a medida que pasa el tiempo y el poeta es consciente de un mundo de ausencias (de amores y deseos), de pérdidas (de espacios) que le provocan un irremediable sufrimiento. Este "miedo" se precipita cuando mira de frente la condena de una enfermedad que le conducirá hasta la desaparición, hasta "el fuego que calcina sus versos", como tratándose de una escena cotidiana más, en donde Al Berto representa el drama de su vida y de su muerte y lo poetiza de manera singular ; [EN] Al Berto is a modern tragic poet who, in his emblematic work O Medo (1974-1997), circumscribes "the lyric itinerary of his life" using a unique testimonial and autobiographical tone. Upon his returning to Portugal, after an eight years self imposed exile in Brussels, he sets in motion his poetic career just as the new democratic regime was ushered in – this presented an opportunity to freely express his ideas in a literary work clearly alternative and different in the landscape of the late 70's. His radical narcissism is present right from the beginning in all his books. Even to the point of fracturing his own name as if consisting in two separate units: Al Berto. This is an underlying drive that pushes the author to coexist in between two distinctive identities. That of the "real subject" (Alberto) and another fictional of an "imaginary lyric one" (Al Berto). Both, increasingly differentiated in his poetic discourse – blending their boundaries, at times, to the point of making them indistinguishable – and, all this, using a profound, emotional surrealistic language knitted together with disturbing and deeply moving metaphors. From the underground world of his first writings, a rebellious phase of excess and transgression is present showing influences from the Beat generation, proscribed French poets together with W.S. Burroughs, Jean Genet (homoerotism, drugs, sordid nights, rock, film scenes., thematic core of his work) continuing with a maritime stage in which he recovers his early adult life by the Atlantic. At this point, his writings evolve into a more serene, less accelerated pace. Nonetheless, a different kind of "miedos"/ fears and apprehensions still persisted. Fears that the poet experiences in his drifting experience, in his restlessness and distress; in his desire of avoiding to stay put in any given place, but still faithful to his swift encounters. The way he describes these ever changing moments in his poetry gives them, undoubtedly, a transcendent dimension of eternity. Melancholy impregnates his long verses of irregular rime, foreign to punctuation and syntactic rules, gradually more solemn with the passing of the time - in which the poet is aware of a world of absences (love and desire) as well as losses (spaces) that triggers pain and suffering. This "miedo"/fear precipitates itself when he confronts the threat of a disease which will take him to oblivion - until this "fire that consummates his verses" as if it were one more ordinary fact of life; one in which Al Berto represents he drama of his life and death. Drama that he expresses in a singular and utterly poetic manner

El presente artículo tiene como propósito acercar al lector-investigador a que analice y profundice en el tema de la Formación Ciudadana en el contexto actual colombiano a partir de la presente caracterización que desde nuestro entorno laboral, escolar y pedagógico hemos logrado detectar. Según Freire, como el mundo está siendo, la Formación del sujeto está en constante construcción; por tanto, la realidad social no es algo acabado que marcha en un único sentido y si el poder se construye, podemos comprender que la construcción de un mundo diferente, un mundo inclusivo, globalizado pero no mercantilizado ni estandarizado, que no elimine los rasgos particulares, es posible. En esa dirección, el contexto social es creado por la propia praxis a través de la concreción de patrones de conductas colectivas cotidianas; por lo que la identidad es un factor de cohesión que permite estructurar las comunidades desde el sentimiento de pertenencia y la solidaridad recíproca. Las identidades son puntos de inclusión que proporcionan seguridad, empatía, autoestima e intercambio colectivo. Teniendo en cuenta la situación social colombiana por la que casi la mayoría de los niños y niñas sufren a diario, se ubica nuestro problema de investigación dentro deldebate político, social y pedagógico del quehacer docente en miras de Formar Ciudadanos desde el reconocimiento de la identidad sociocultural local. En Colombia la educación cívica fue una preocupación muy temprana de nuestra historia, y los estudiantes han debido aprender, desde hace casi 200 años, en buena parte como un catecismo que se memoriza, las reglas de conducta cívica, mientras las prácticas reales en la escuela o la sociedad contradecían esas reglas. Desde ese fin: el de Formar Ciudadanos, el problema de investigación lo formulamos de la siguiente manera: ¿Cuál es la caracterización de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la formación ciudadana para el reconocimiento de la identidad sociocultural local en el curso novecientos uno de educación básica secundaria, de las instituciones educativas Carlos Ramón Repizo Cabrera de San Agustín y Jesús María Aguirre Charry de Aipe en el departamento del Huila? Y establecidos tres momentos los puntos de convergencia entre el marco teórico y la información hallada se ha podido caracterizar el problema de investigación en a través de la técnica: "triangulación de la información". El primer momento, corresponde a la etapa descriptiva de la investigación, en el segundo se hará referencia al aspecto metodológico del análisis y, en un tercer momento se caracteriza desde los hallazgos, cómo está la situación de la formación ciudadana en nuestras instituciones educativas en las que trabajamos y así dar luces de cuáles podrían ser los fines, los contenidos y las estrategias para pensar en una Formación para la ciudadanía desde el reconocimiento de la identidad sociocultural local. ; This article is intended to bring the reader and researcher to analyze and delve into the topic of Citizenship Education in the current Colombian from this characterization from our workplace, school and teaching have been detected. According to Freire, as the world is, the formation of the subject is under constant construction, so the social reality is not finished marching in one direction and if the power is built, we understand that building a different world, an inclusive world, but notcommercialized globalized and standardized, do not delete the particular features, is possible. In this sense, the social context is created by the very practice through the realization of collective daily behavior patterns, so that identity is a cohesive factor for structuring communities from the feeling of belonging and mutual solidarity. Identities are points included that provide security, empathy, self-esteem and collective exchange. Taking into account the social situation in Colombia for almost most of the children suffer every day, lies our problem of research within the political debate, social and pedagogical teaching work in order to train citizens from the recognition of identity sociocultural. In Colombia, civic education was a concern early in our history, and students have had to learn, for almost 200 years, largely as a catechism to be memorized, the rules of civic behavior, while actual practices in school society or contradicted those rules. From this purpose: to train citizens, the research problem formulated as follows: What is the characterization of teaching and learning of citizenship education for the recognition of socio-cultural identity in the course of nine hundred and one education basic secondary educational institutions Repizo Carlos Ramon Cabrera of St. Augustine and Jesus Maria Aguirre of AipeCharry in the department of Huila And set the points of convergence between the theoretical and the information found has been able to characterize the research question three times through the technique: "triangulation of information." The first moment corresponds to the descriptive phase of research, the second will refer to the methodological aspect of the analysis and, in a third stage is characterized from the findings, what is the situation of civic education in our educational institutions in we work and thus shed light on what might be the purpose, content and strategies to think of a training for citizenship since the recognition of cultural identity.

The article concentrates on the Government's strategy for the promotion and improvement of public library services in England. It does not examine the role of public libraries in the information society or well-known programmes such as The people's network and the National Grid for Learning. It rather focuses on initiatives recently undertaken by the Secretary of State for Culture, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in relation to their functions, under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, to secure that local authorities fulfil their statutory duty to "provide a comprehensive and efficient library service for all". Following a period of budget cuts and closures of local branches, the DCMS and other central departments and agencies decided to put emphasis on management issues for the sector, with special attention devoted to three key elements: criteria for the planning process; modernisation of local government; proposal of nationwide agreed levels of service. Social inclusion is also of high importance in the government's agenda. One of the co-ordinated actions by central government in recent years was the development of a common framework for planning. Since 1998, the Secretary of State has asked all library authorities to produce an Annual Library Plan, including background information on the area they serve, a mission statement of the library service, along with data regarding access, opening hours, buildings, services for adults, children and special groups (ethnic minorities, people with disabilities), levels of expenditure, staff management and training, ICT systems. In particular, the plan must contain: a performance appraisal for the last financial year, a medium term strategy for the next three years, and details of the action plan and performance targets for the same period. Each year authorities get confidential feedback on the quality of their plan, and the DCMS publishes an overall appraisal of plans, and guidelines for preparation of the plan for the following year. Best Value framework, defined in the Local Government Act 1999, is another relevant factor of development in the public library system in England and Wales. All local authorities must ensure a suitable combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness in exercising their functions, so they have to prepare a Best Value Performance Plan each financial year for all services, showing past and current performance and addressing priorities to achieve higher quality, and conduct a service-specific Best Value Review covering all functions over a five-year planning cycle. Four principles (called "the 4Cs") guide authorities in carrying out their reviews: Challenge the reasons for the service provided, reconsidering strategies and practices; Compare outcome indicators in relation to their own performance over time and with other authorities; Consult users through regular surveys and research on community needs; Compete with other service providers, exploring alternative means of delivering services effectively. Best Value legislation confers on the Audit Commission powers to inspect each authority's Best Value plans and reviews and their impact on the outcomes. It also sets performance indicators to help authorities with self-assessment, and with keeping both users and the Government informed. In May 2000, the Culture Secretary announced the new draft Public Library Standards. Following wide-ranging consultation and revision, they were finally agreed and published in April 2001. As a consequence, the indicators have undergone important changes, with an overall result of simplification in the final version. Now library users have a clear idea of what they can expect from the public service. Library managers and stakeholders should gain a realistic framework for setting new targets for improvements. The DCMS hopes that the 19 PLS should bring about substantial improvements in services provided by library authorities. The threshold is fixed at the upper quartile by the year 2004. Service areas include: suitable access, adequate opening hours, provision of electronic workstations, issuing and reserving of books, encouraging physical and virtual visits, ensuring user satisfaction, choice of books and other materials, overall quality of book stocks, fund for purchasing new items, qualified staff. Library authorities are further requested to assess their performance against Best Value indicators and the PLS in the annual library planning process. Social inclusion issues are at the heart of Government policies for the public library service too. Libraries are seen as the essence of inclusion, being secure, respectful, non-competitive and welcoming places, where everyone, irrespective of their age, sex or social background, can access a wide range of information, knowledge and services. Libraries for all is the most relevant policy document by DCMS on the matter. It takes into account the challenges that libraries have to face; it considers the different kinds of barriers that may result in social exclusion; and it encourages library authorities to adopt a long-term, sustainable strategy, based on community consultation and partnership, cultural change, specific staff training, performance evaluation and demonstration of benefits and outcomes. More recent documents by the DCMS concentrate on a cross-cutting social inclusion policy, in which the leading role of libraries is recognised, along with galleries, archives and museums, in tackling social exclusion and acting as agents for social change.

Alberta's Mine Financial Security Program (MFSP) establishes the procedures for determining and administering financial security for reclamation of oil sands and coal mining operations. The program establishes more transparent and consistent methods for determining the financial security amount required to cover the mine's suspension, abandonment, remediation and surface reclamation liabilities should the operator fail financially – while considering the value of the resource as assets against the liabilities. For oil sands mining operations, total MFSP liabilities can run in the hundreds of millions of dollars. To determine financial security amounts, mine operators self-report estimates of the liabilities and assets in the operation. Accuracy of the asset and liability estimates is important to provide public assurance that the program is providing appropriate levels of financial security. Within the MFSP, certain mechanisms are used to improve regulator and public confidence in the accuracy of these estimates. Under analysis here is the corporate certification requirement: a high-level representative – either the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a corporate mine operation or a designated financial representative (DFR) of a joint venture – must certify that appropriate procedures were used to determine the estimate values and that the estimates are reasonable. By investigating the legal and regulatory setup for the MFSP, this paper assesses the expectation of increased confidence from the certification requirement by describing its legal implications and the impetus it places on corporations to ensure appropriate procedures for generating estimates. In short, the corporate certification requirement ensures documentary evidence of officer involvement in any misreporting by mining operators. For any misreporting that constitutes an offence under the governing legislation – the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA) – this could raise individual officer liability under the Act. EPEA has enforcement provisions to penalize misreporting under the MFSP, which can be applied to companies as well as individuals. The individual penalties, which can include imprisonment or monetary penalties, can be applied to a corporate officer where he or she had some minimum level of involvement in the misreporting. With respect to some of the most important estimates, there is a link between the MFSP calculations and values reported under disclosure obligations in securities law. This is another mechanism for improving regulator and public confidence in the MFSP estimates and includes a similar certification requirement. While the effectiveness of this mechanism is not within the scope of this analysis, it provides a comparator against which to analyze the effectiveness of the MFSP corporate certification requirements, particularly in terms of the penalties available under each regime. In light of the relatively small magnitude of the monetary penalties available under EPEA and important barriers to investigation and enforcement of misreporting violations, the extent to which certification requirements incent better estimate procedures is not clear. This is particularly true given the small penalties under EPEA relative to those available under securities law. Nonetheless, the risk of reputational injury could provide a less formal but still very powerful incentive that certification bolsters by demonstrating officer involvement. Unfortunately, the absence of a role for civil society in the scrutiny of the estimates precludes a potentially stronger role for certification to incent enhanced estimate veracity. In conclusion, there is some expectation that the inclusion of the MFSP certification requirement provides an incentive for better procedures for asset and liability estimation in the MFSP Annual Report. It is difficult to assess the strength of this incentive, particularly because of uncertainties around the capacity to investigate reporting misconduct with respect to complex internal accounting procedures, on which the enforcement and, in turn, certification requirements rely for effectiveness. A few more conclusions are discussed further. First, there is a lack of clarity in industry around the potential for liability against the certifying authority arising from certification. This can have two negative consequences. For one, the potential liabilities that do exist are not having their full deterrent effect if they are not properly understood by the actors they are intended to impact. Also, reduced certainty with respect to any business decision, but particularly for potential monetary and imprisonment penalties, can undermine efficient business behaviour and lead to suboptimal policy results. This can be improved by: • more clearly explaining how individual liability attaches from the certification; • providing concrete hypothetical examples of misreporting infractions that can lead to individual officer liability; and • better linking the "effect" (wording) of the certification statement to EPEA's standards for individual officer/agent liability. Second, it is not clear what internal capacity or threshold triggers Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) employs to initiate a more concerted governmental audit or third-party audit of an MFSP Annual Report. The effectiveness of these procedures is critical to the mechanism through which certification engages potential legal liabilities or reputational costs for certifying authorities. Uncertainty around ESRD's capacity or procedures for pursuing more concerted investigations undermines clarity around the certification's effectiveness. This can be improved by: • providing more information to stakeholders around ESRD's review process and where and how ESRD chooses to exercise its audit powers and pursue enforcement measures; and • establishing clearer presumptions or default values for certain parameters of asset and liability estimation, such as minimum per-hectare reclamation costs, derivation from which requires an explanation from the operator.

Alberta's Mine Financial Security Program (MFSP) establishes the procedures for determining and administering financial security for reclamation of oil sands and coal mining operations. The program establishes more transparent and consistent methods for determining the financial security amount required to cover the mine's suspension, abandonment, remediation and surface reclamation liabilities should the operator fail financially – while considering the value of the resource as assets against the liabilities. For oil sands mining operations, total MFSP liabilities can run in the hundreds of millions of dollars. To determine financial security amounts, mine operators self-report estimates of the liabilities and assets in the operation. Accuracy of the asset and liability estimates is important to provide public assurance that the program is providing appropriate levels of financial security. Within the MFSP, certain mechanisms are used to improve regulator and public confidence in the accuracy of these estimates. Under analysis here is the corporate certification requirement: a high-level representative – either the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a corporate mine operation or a designated financial representative (DFR) of a joint venture – must certify that appropriate procedures were used to determine the estimate values and that the estimates are reasonable. By investigating the legal and regulatory setup for the MFSP, this paper assesses the expectation of increased confidence from the certification requirement by describing its legal implications and the impetus it places on corporations to ensure appropriate procedures for generating estimates. In short, the corporate certification requirement ensures documentary evidence of officer involvement in any misreporting by mining operators. For any misreporting that constitutes an offence under the governing legislation – the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA) – this could raise individual officer liability under the Act. EPEA has enforcement provisions to penalize misreporting under the MFSP, which can be applied to companies as well as individuals. The individual penalties, which can include imprisonment or monetary penalties, can be applied to a corporate officer where he or she had some minimum level of involvement in the misreporting. With respect to some of the most important estimates, there is a link between the MFSP calculations and values reported under disclosure obligations in securities law. This is another mechanism for improving regulator and public confidence in the MFSP estimates and includes a similar certification requirement. While the effectiveness of this mechanism is not within the scope of this analysis, it provides a comparator against which to analyze the effectiveness of the MFSP corporate certification requirements, particularly in terms of the penalties available under each regime. In light of the relatively small magnitude of the monetary penalties available under EPEA and important barriers to investigation and enforcement of misreporting violations, the extent to which certification requirements incent better estimate procedures is not clear. This is particularly true given the small penalties under EPEA relative to those available under securities law. Nonetheless, the risk of reputational injury could provide a less formal but still very powerful incentive that certification bolsters by demonstrating officer involvement. Unfortunately, the absence of a role for civil society in the scrutiny of the estimates precludes a potentially stronger role for certification to incent enhanced estimate veracity. In conclusion, there is some expectation that the inclusion of the MFSP certification requirement provides an incentive for better procedures for asset and liability estimation in the MFSP Annual Report. It is difficult to assess the strength of this incentive, particularly because of uncertainties around the capacity to investigate reporting misconduct with respect to complex internal accounting procedures, on which the enforcement and, in turn, certification requirements rely for effectiveness. A few more conclusions are discussed further. First, there is a lack of clarity in industry around the potential for liability against the certifying authority arising from certification. This can have two negative consequences. For one, the potential liabilities that do exist are not having their full deterrent effect if they are not properly understood by the actors they are intended to impact. Also, reduced certainty with respect to any business decision, but particularly for potential monetary and imprisonment penalties, can undermine efficient business behaviour and lead to suboptimal policy results. This can be improved by: • more clearly explaining how individual liability attaches from the certification; • providing concrete hypothetical examples of misreporting infractions that can lead to individual officer liability; and • better linking the "effect" (wording) of the certification statement to EPEA's standards for individual officer/agent liability. Second, it is not clear what internal capacity or threshold triggers Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) employs to initiate a more concerted governmental audit or third-party audit of an MFSP Annual Report. The effectiveness of these procedures is critical to the mechanism through which certification engages potential legal liabilities or reputational costs for certifying authorities. Uncertainty around ESRD's capacity or procedures for pursuing more concerted investigations undermines clarity around the certification's effectiveness. This can be improved by: • providing more information to stakeholders around ESRD's review process and where and how ESRD chooses to exercise its audit powers and pursue enforcement measures; and • establishing clearer presumptions or default values for certain parameters of asset and liability estimation, such as minimum per-hectare reclamation costs, derivation from which requires an explanation from the operator.

The present work analyses the double problem that off-shoring gives rise to from the company¿s perspective: the decision making whether to delocalize or not and where. It has to do not only with the decision making according to market competitiveness but also with a more relevant point; the decision should be the right one as it commits the company¿s future. The company is considered in this work as an organization that intends to go ahead within a competitive background and justifies this delocalization by getting competitive advantages that allow the company to find a place in its market. In a first stage, the theoretical setting, it is made an interesting review about the classic and present doctrine, emphasizing the off-shoring benefits and prejudices within a higher frame such as globalization. It studies the off-shoring phenomena from the company¿s perspective as well as from the country of origin and the country of reception, with advantages and disadvantages for both countries and the off-shoring incidence on both economies. Moreover, it analyses the managerial and industrial models with capacity to take part in a global economy and to use the chances that the space flexibility provides in front of their competitors in a market more and more global and thus, more and more competitive. Beginning with the true premise that off-shoring is a fact that commits the company, its future and its survival. A mistake in choosing its location can give rise to its disappearance. Nevertheless, we often act without objectivity, without a methodology that helps us to minimize the risks with some self-security. We ask about the answer of a manager in front of the need to choose a new location for his company. About the kind of information needed for this election and how to minimize the risks that any option brings about. In summary, which country or countries should be selected with maximal guarantees? The research job included in this thesis is focused in developing a model of analysis that let us help with the strategic decisions of the company with regard to his off-shoring politics. This aim is fulfilled by a statistic analysis that after a process, takes 88 variables applied to a total of 139 countries. Within the variables are included relevant values to evaluate the possibility to off-shoring in a determined country; institutions, infrastructures, economic and legal background, financial market, labor market, managerial structure, human resources and training, technology and innovation, social aspects and costs, among others. The magnitude of the research work guarantees its own validity. Methodology is applied in the chemical industrial frame with variables and specific fields such as environmental, manufacturing, logistics and energy and considering one of the most complex for off-shoring with decisive positive and negative consequences. The result is that the suggested model is valid and can be useful for companies that are in the off-shoring process and that need a scientific, trusty tool that reduces the risk when making a decision. We consider the work quite singular. At present, there is not anyone else that runs after the same targets, involving such a large scope and multivalency. With a newly exposition of conceptual and theoretical originality and methodology that brings about a positive contribution, enough for the Thesis. We have created a model and compound percentage that helps to solve an important problem and opens the way for future studies and research lines on this subject. ; El trabajo que presentamos se centra en la elaboración de un método que facilite la toma de decisiones de las empresas en la elección de un país para deslocalizar su producción, servicios o la propia empresa. En un mundo globalizado, en el que la deslocalización es una práctica cada vez más recurrente en la búsqueda de una ventaja competitividad por parte de las corporaciones, la selección del destino puede presentarse, y de hecho así ocurre, como una de las decisiones, o la decisión, más difíciles y a veces comprometida de la empresa. Un error puede significar un enorme coste o el mismo fin de la empresa, por lo que los gerentes de la misma deben tomar decisiones claves para el futuro de su corporación sin, hasta el momento, un método fiable que les ayude a decidir el nuevo emplazamiento. Nuestro trabajo consiste en elaborar este método que permita una elección estadística utilizando un elevado número de variables, en nuestro ejemplo 88, que abarquen todos los factores importantes relacionados con la selección del país de nueva localización y ofrezcan el más idóneo objetivamente por una parte y una selección de los más idóneos por otra para que la empresa pueda elegir. Este método es válido para cualquier sector industrial o de servicios intercambiando el grupo de variables relacionadas con la actividad sectorial y manteniendo el resto como sustrato general del análisis. Por esto dado que nuestro interés, como se indica en el título de este trabajo, estaba centrado en el sector químico‐industrial, sobre el mismo hemos realizado el análisis e investigación de deslocalización. ; Postprint (published version)

[deu] Gegenstand der Dissertation ist die eingehende Beschäftigung des katalanischen Dichters Joan Maragall i Gorina (1860-1911) mit Goethe, Nietzsche und Novalis. Diese Rezeption prägt in großem Maße auch seine Überlegungen zu Fragen individueller und nationaler Identität und reflektiert insgesamt einen Prozess der Selbstfindung und Positionierung im Identitätsdiskurs der europäischen Moderne um 1900. Dementsprechend entfaltet Maragall einen Diskurs, der sich zum einen auf das kulturelle und gesellschaftspolitische Feld Kataloniens bezieht und zeitkritische Themen (Phänomen der Masse, Naturalismus- und Dekadenzkritik etc.) aufgreift, zum anderen aber auch Raum für Identitätsentwürfe schafft, die seine persönlichen Lebensprojektionen und sein Dichtungskonzept betreffen. Darüberhinaus impliziert sein Identitätsdiskurs eine zivilisationskritische Perspektive, da seine Reflexionen immer auch Aspekte der Menschheitsentwicklung allgemein berühren. – Die vorliegende Untersuchung erörtert Maragalls Lektüre deutscher Schriften nicht nur im Hinblick auf sein dichterisches Schaffen, sondern insgesamt als bestimmenden Faktor seiner intellektuellen Tätigkeit, und fragt nach Bedeutung und Funktion seiner produktiven Rezeption im kulturellen Neuerungsprozess Kataloniens. Die Arbeit fokussiert in diesem Zusammenhang sowohl die von Maragall rezipierten Primärtexte als auch seine Lektüre von Sekundärtexten (Rezensionen, Einleitungen, zeitgenössische Literaturkritik) zu deutschen Autoren und Werken, denen er vor allem in französischen Zeitschriften begegnete. Der Rückgriff auf diese Quellen erlaubt, Maragalls Identitätsdiskurs mit einem in der Maragall-Forschung bisher wenig beachteten intellektuellen Feld in Verbindung zu bringen. Dazu zählen einflussreiche Chronisten und Literaturkritiker der Epoche, die mit Nietzsche, Goethe und Novalis ihre eigenen weltanschaulichen Überzeugungen exponierten. Sie brachten Maragall nicht nur mit den irrationalen Strömungen einer neuen Spiritualität und dem zeitgenössischen Monismus, sondern auch mit dem Goethekult des Kaiserreichs in Berührung. – Dabei ist festzustellen, dass Maragalls Nietzsche-Rezeption, ungeachtet des viel zitierten Artikels von Ludwig Stein (Deutsche Rundschau, 1893), in großem Maße von den Nietzsche- Bildern der französischen Kritiker Henri Albert, Theodor de Wyzewa und Georges Valbert sowie von den Kommentaren des Zarathustra-Herausgebers Peter Gast (d.i. Heinrich Köselitz) beeinflusst wurde. Auch die von Maragall verfassten Artikel zu Goethe und Novalis tragen Spuren der zeitgenössischen Rezeption dieser Autoren: Einerseits bezieht sich Maragall auf den Goethe-Philologen Herman Grimm und den Nietzscheaner Heinrich von Stein, dessen Studie über Goethe und Schiller er besonders schätzte, andererseits zitiert er längere Textabschnitte aus Bruno Willes Einleitung zu Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1898). – Diese erweiterte Rezeptionsperspektive führt zu einer kritischen Betrachtung des »direkten« Vergleichs zwischen Maragall und den rezipierten Autoren (vgl. Titelformulierungen wie z.B. »Maragall und Novalis«), da dieses Verfahren Maragalls Rezeptionshabitus vorwiegend im Rahmen persönlicher Entwicklungsphasen fokussiert und den offensichtlichen Einfluss der Rezeptionstendenzen um 1900, insbesondere die thematischen Verschränkungen von Nietzsches Zarathustra, Goethes bzw. Emersons Persönlichkeitskult und Novalis' Dichterimago, unberücksichtigt lässt. Diese spezifische Themenkonfiguration prägte jedoch auch Maragalls Vorstellungen von einem dem zwanzigsten Jahrhundert entsprechenden Katalonien, von einer dem Leben gehorchenden Literatur, sowie von einem ethisch und ästhetisch gelungenen Leben. – Die eigene Kultur diagnostiziert der katalanische Dichter im Spiegel des Fremden und Universalen. Seine entschiedene Hinwendung zu deutschen Autoren und sein großes Interesse an der deutschen Bildungkultur impliziert aber nicht uneingeschränkte Empathie. Aus der Perspektive des Mediterranen distanziert er sich von ausgeprägt deutschen Eigentümlichkeiten, bewundert allerdings die im Kaiserreich gewonnene Dimension kultureller Repräsentation. Als Intellektueller bemüht er sich, die katalanische Kultur an der Schwelle zum 20. Jahrhundert für ein neues Selbstverständnis zu öffnen und einer kosmopolitischen Dimension zuzuführen, genauso wie er versucht, im subtilen inneren Ich-Diskurs das Paradigma der Moderne zu durchleuchten und – ähnlich wie andere Zeitgenossen der europäischen Moderne – seine innere persönliche und poetische Bildung an Nietzsche, Goethe und Novalis auszurichten, um den Unbestimmtheiten des neuen Jahrhunderts sowie dem unaufhaltsamen materiellen Fortschritt mit einer entschiedenen geistigen Haltung begegnen zu können, denn der menschliche Fortschritt ist nach Maragall nur in der unendlichen Vergeistigung der Materie zu verorten. In seiner Dichtkunst treten Gefühl und Intuition (»paraula viva«) an die Stelle der ästhetischen Konstruktion. ; [eng] "Joan Maragall's Reception of German Literature within the Discourse of Identity of the Modern Age" This dissertation addresses the Catalan author Joan Maragall i Gorina's (1860-1911) extensive preoccupation with Goethe, Nietzsche and Novalis. His reception of their works greatly shapes his reflections on questions of individual and national identity and generally reflects a process of self-discovery and positioning that was taking place in the discourse of identity in European modernism around 1900. Accordingly, Maragall develops a discourse that relates, on the one hand, to the cultural and socio-political concerns of Catalonia and to contemporary issues (the phenomenon of crowds, criticism of naturalism and decadence, etc.), while, on the other hand, creating room for models of identity which affect his personal life as well as his concept of literature. Furthermore, his discourse on identity implies a perspective that is critical of civilization, since his reflections always touch upon aspects of the development of humanity. This study discusses Maragall's reception of German texts not only with respect to his literary output, but also as a determining factor in his intellectual activity in general, and it searches for the meaning and function of his productive reception in the cultural regeneration of Catalonia. In this regard, this work focuses both on the primary texts which Maragall read as well as on his readings of secondary texts (reviews, introductions, contemporary literary criticism) about German authors and works, most of which he encountered in French magazines. Focusing on these sources, one is able to link Maragall's discourse of identity with an intellectual field that, thus far, has scarcely been examined in the research on Maragall. Very influential literary critics and commentators who introduced their own world view by interpreting Nietzsche, Goethe and Novalis, brought Maragall into contact with the irrational tendencies of a new spirituality and with contemporary monism, as well as with the Goethe cult of the empire. This expanded perspective of reception leads to a critical view of "direct" comparisons (i.e. titles such as "Maragall and Novalis"), since this treatment does not take into account the obvious influence of contemporary patterns of reception, particularly the thematic interconnections of Nietzsche's Zarathustra, Goethe's or Emerson's personality cult and Novalis' representation of the poet. This specific configuration of themes also influences Maragall's idea of a nation in the twentieth century, as well as what determines that literature complies with life, and what is life when it is successfully lived ethically and aesthetically. He defines his own culture through the mirror of the foreign and the universal, in the same way as he consistently tries to measure himself spiritually as a poet and a person via a subtle inner discourse. Therein lies his modernity.

The nature of Dutch democracy, once considered a highly stable product of cooperation, compromise and consensus-seeking practices across socioeconomic and sociocultural lines, has changed. Whereas the accessibility and levels (not forms) of participation have changed little, autocratically led protest parties have won ground and in the polls draw support from a stable 15% – 17% of the electorate. Corruption prevention in politics, especially regarding party finances, appears to fall under the bar of international standards. Political rhetoric has grown increasingly polarized (or politicized) as the political middle is waning and extreme positions on either side are on the rise. The Dutch media landscape remains highly pluralistic, although there are some concerns about the growing concentration of media ownership, a situation aggravated by the present financial economic crisis, rapid commercialization, and international ownership of national media outlets. In legal arrangements, citizens" right to privacy is subject to pressures from the information revolution and the massive use of information technology (IT) in all kinds of policy fields, primarily relating to internal and external security. In addition, some conspicuous miscarriages of justice have spawned a public debate on the quality of the justice system, including the need for a special court charged with handling mistrials. Anti-terrorism and integration policies have put considerable pressure on the exercise of basic political liberties, such as the freedoms of speech, religion and press as well as protection against unreasonable search and seizure actions. Tough immigration laws have come under international legal scrutiny, in particular where the rights of children and family reunion are concerned. In short, although the quality of Dutch democracy remains satisfactory, it has suffered several blows in several areas. Policy-specific performance during the Balkenende IV government – the coalition cabinet formed by the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Labor (PvdA) and Christian Union (CU) parties – was in general incremental, save for the proposal to phase-in an extension of the pension age to 67 that was adopted by the cabinet in 2009. Policy performance in matters relating to internal and external safety remained adequate, although at rising public cost. The Health Care Insurance Act (Zvw) of 2006 was continued, although its impact on cost control issues and enhancing market-like competition between health care providers remains unclear. Stagnation continues to characterize environmental, research and development, and innovation policies alike. No changes have been made to education Netherlands report SGI 2011 | 4 policy, although it is now generally judged to be in crisis. Serious concerns have been raised about the lack of good teachers, literacy and numeracy skills among elementary students, and high attrition rates at all levels of education. As is the case in most other European countries, the financial and banking crisis (followed by the euro crisis) has proven detrimental to economic policy performance, which negatively affects prospects in almost all other policy areas. Strategic Outlook The long-term viability of the D utch polity depends on the acumen with which the three following challenges are treated: the state"s weakened fiscal position; facilitating technology innovation in order to develop an ecologically modernized and sustainable economy; and societal integration and coherence. (1) Improving the state"s weakened fiscal position. The state"s financial problems can in large part be attributed to recent bailouts of Dutch banks and financial businesses, as well as individual euro zone countries and the euro itself. An effective long-term solution to these fiscal problems therefore requires (domestic as well as European-level) reforms involving stricter regulation and oversight in order to improve risk-management. The Dutch government must also undertake substantive reforms in the banking and financial sector. (2) Improve technology innovation in order to ensure an ecologically modernized and sustainable economy. The Dutch government must invest more wisely in efforts targeting the transition to renewable and alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar energy. The government will also need to pursue a structural reform of the education system, which is in a state of crisis. (3) Facilitate societal integration and coherence while implementing flexicurity policies. The Dutch welfare state urgently needs reforms that ensure continued investment in human capital while protecting workers and families from the brunt of structural adjustments. Opportunities for combining work and family life ought to be expanded and improved. The pension system and the moribund state of its financial underpinning must also undergo reforms. Social coherence will not be advanced through tighter immigration and citizenship policies. Instead, policies focused on urban and residential area renewal should be sustained through adequate funding. Netherlands report SGI 2011 | 5 A sound, functional democracy requires clearly structured forms of issue-specific, interactive policy-making in which citizens" voices are represented. In tripartite governance structures like that of the Netherlands, the primacy of politics vis-à-vis markets and civil society ought to be reconfirmed. Where possible, politics should respect the self-regulation of citizen life and markets. But as the only institution capable of regulating tripartite relations, the state must also live up to its responsibilities in maintaining the framework in which democratic decision-making takes place.

This dissertation investigates Danish hearing health care and the rehabilitation of working-age people with onset hearing impairment. The focus is on the structure and function of Danish hearing health care and its impact on the hearing impaired, in terms of their experiences of the impairment and their conduct in relation to the rehabilitation service offered. The dissertation is based on a report from the Danish National Centre for Social Research (SFI) on the effect of reduced hearing on labour-market attachment and working life, which raises the ostensible issues that there is a large group who seem reluctant to acknowledge their hearing impairment, and that many hearing- impaired persons do not continue to use hearing aids after the fitting, and that those who do use them continue to report communication difficulties in everyday life. By considering audiological rehabilitation from different qualitative sociological perspectives, the dissertation brings new insights into the continuing paucity of sociological literature around hearing disability, and into the construction of hearing disability and hearing disabled identities in clinical settings. In the dissertation, I present five articles that explore the research question in different ways. The articles are based on empirical data constructed by means of text analyses, observations, and interviews at two public hearing clinics in Denmark. In the first article, co-authored with Agnete Parving, we trace the history of those forms of rationality that comprise the present situation in hearing clinics. The article briefly describes the history of Danish audiology during the last 60 years, starting from the 1950s when audiology became a public service. The formation of the field of audiology is framed according to Bourdieu's conception of fields, which means that there are medical, technological, and rehabilitative subfields with different agents, roots, and interests. In the second article, I explore the patients' reasons for attending the hearing clinic, as up to 40 % of hearing-impaired people do not use their hearing aid as prescribed. The article describes how the reason for people seeking help at the clinic is often due to significant others who assist them in defining their 'need'. The theoretical basis of the article is theories of normality and meanings of normality, and is based on interviews with patients. In the third article, drawing on Foucault's theories on power/knowledge and Goffman's theory of interaction rituals, the article analyses 41 video-recorded encounters between audiologists and first- time users of hearing aids in two public hearing clinics in Denmark. The article identifies a ritualised pattern in the interactions, which helps explain how only some of the patients' experiences are allowed to be brought to the audiological encounter. In the fourth article, I explore how governmental rationalities and techniques for mobilising the elective consumer translate into audiological practice by 'studying though' policy. The article investigates the way in which neoliberalism can claim empirical validity and concludes that, on the conceptual level, a change has occurred from having been viewed earlier as passive clients of welfare to now being mobilised as active consumers. In present-day hearing clinics a co-presence of multilevel ways of governance has transpired and few of the hearing-impaired patients feel able to embrace the new consumer ethos. In the fifth article, I explore how working-age people confront and handle the medical diagnosis of the onset of hearing impairment, and what it means for their sense of identity. Based on interviews with hearing-impaired people, the article describes how, in order to overcome potential stigmatisation, 'passing' as normal becomes predominant for the impaired. Wearing a hearing aid works against the contemporary attempt to create socially ideal bodily presentations of the self, as the hearing aid is considered to be a symbolic extension of the body's lack of functionality. ; This dissertation investigates Danish hearing health care and the rehabilitation of working-age people with onset hearing impairment. The focus is on the structure and function of Danish hearing health care and its impact on the hearing impaired, in terms of their experiences of the impairment and their conduct in relation to the rehabilitation service offered. The dissertation is based on a report from the Danish National Centre for Social Research (SFI) on the effect of reduced hearing on labour-market attachment and working life, which raises the ostensible issues that there is a large group who seem reluctant to acknowledge their hearing impairment, and that many hearing-impaired persons do not continue to use hearing aids after the fitting, and that those who do use them continue to report communication difficulties in everyday life. By considering audiological rehabilitation from different qualitative sociological perspectives, the dissertation brings new insights into the continuing paucity of sociological literature around hearing disability, and into the construction of hearing disability and hearing disabled identities in clinical settings. In the dissertation, I present five articles that explore the research question in different ways. The articles are based on empirical data constructed by means of text analyses, observations, and interviews at two public hearing clinics in Denmark.

The possible change of outcomes-based education in the foundation phase classroom Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) has experienced a huge amount of criticism in South Africa during the past couple of years and the success thereof has been called into question daily. According to Spady, outcomes-based education has failed in South Africa and it should be stopped immediately. He is convinced that a too heavy administrative load is placed on teachers and that it has taken the focus off effective learning in the classroom. The quality of education in South Africa is not up to standard and teachers are very negative about the current situation in classrooms. Some of the most important problems teachers experience are the large classes, the huge amount of paperwork that should be done, that time is still a limiting factor, that there is no uniformity in the education system, that too much emphasis is placed on assessment, that there are too many learning outcomes and assessment standards to achieve in one year, that the training of teachers is unsatisfactory, that the needs of all the learners are still not taken into account in the classroom, that the government gives very little support in providing sufficient resources to schools and that, especially in the Foundation Phase, insuffi cient opportunity is provided for concrete learning experiences. The new minister of basic education in South Africa and the previous MEC for education in Gauteng, Angie Motshekga, is of the opinion that the burden OBE places on teachers is too severe. Minister Motshekga promises a radical change in the education system of South Africa and she aims at revising certain legislature. Minister Motshekga appointed a task team to advise the Department of Education regarding positive changes that need to be made to OBE. The curriculum policy, curriculum structure and support in the implementation of the proposed changes are taken into account in the task team's report. The conclusion that the task team came to is, that although OBE had some positive outcomes, it is necessary to put the emphasis back on the knowledge aspect of positive learning. Clear guidelines should be given for " . the what to teach and how to teach it". In the recommendations it is suggested that a five-year plan should be developed to clarify and simplify the education policy, that the role of subject advisors should be developed, that the workload of teachers should be made more productive, that assessment should be simplifi ed, that the transition from the Foundation Phase to the Intermediate Phase should be made easier, that the provision of learning material should be improved and that the training of teachers should be improved and made more practical. In this article the problems teachers experience with OBE are discussed, as well as what the possible change of the education system in South Africa will entail, how foundation phase teachers understand this possible change and fi nally, the effect of this possible change on the training of teachers. The qualitative research method was applied and the researcher gathered information by conducting interviews. It is clear that the teachers are in favour of the possible change, provided the main focus will once more be on reading, writing and arithmetic and the possible change lessens their workload and improves the quality of education in the Foundation Phase classroom. They feel that this possible change will empower teachers again and that, if the implementation is well planned and well-structured, education in South Africa will improve. Teachers will be able to start enjoying the teaching profession again and will be able to feel in control of the learning process. ; 'n Vergelykende studie van etiese persepsies tussen bestuur en werknemers binne die produksieafdeling van 'n multinasionale landboumaatskappy 'n Hele aantal punte van kritiek op die toepassing van Uitkomsgebaseerde Onderwys (UGO) in die Suid-Afrikaanse onderwys is die afgelope aantal jare geopper en die sukses daarvan word ernstig betwyfel. Volgens Spady, die vader van UGO, het UGO in Suid-Afrika gefaal en moet dit onmiddellik gestaak word. Hy is van mening dat die groot administratiewe las wat op onderwysers gelaai is, die belangrikste rede is waarom die onderwysers se aandag afgetrek is van effektiewe onderwys. Die nuwe Minister van Basiese Onderwys, Angie Motshekga, is van mening dat UGO 'n te groot las op onderwysers gelaai het. Motshekga het daarom 'n radikale verandering in die aard van onderwys in die vooruitsig gestel en belowe dat sekere wetgewing en beleid in hierdie verband sal verander. In hierdie artikel word spesifiek die onderwysers, van die Grondslagfase, self aan die woord gestel ten opsigte van die probleme wat met die implementering van UGO ondervind is, asook ten opsigte van die veranderinge wat voorgestel is. Die fokus word ook geplaas op die wyse waarop hierdie onderwysers die veranderinge verstaan en laastens hoe hulle die uitwerking van die veranderinge op die opleiding van onderwysers verstaan. Die kwalitatiewe navorsingstradisie is toegepas en die navorser het die verlangde inligting aan die hand van onderhoude ingesamel. Uit die navorsing is dit duidelik dat die onderwysers ten gunste is van die voorgenome veranderinge en dat hulle van mening is dat daar meer spesifiek op lees, skryf en wiskundige bevoegdhede gefokus moet word. Voorts het hulle die vertroue uitgespreek dat die voorgenome verandering wel hul administratiewe werkslading sal verlig. Hulle is ook bekommerd dat daar in die voorstelle baie min na die doeltreffende opleiding van onderwysers verwys word.

Das heute in der Westukraine gelegene Brody wurde im Zuge der Ersten Teilung Polens 1772 Teil der Habsburgermonarchie und war rund 150 Jahre lang die nordöstlichste Grenzstadt des Landes, zunächst zu Polen (bis 1795) danach zu Russland. Das vorliegende Buch behandelt die gesamte österreichischer Zeit exklusive des Ersten Weltkriegs. Die ersten beiden Teile analysieren Brody aus wirtschafts- bzw. gesellschaftsgeschichtlicher Sicht, während im dritten Teil die unterschiedlichen zeitgenössischen und heutigen Wahrnehmungen Brodys thematisiert werden. Die ersten beiden Abschnitte entsprechen einer klassischen historischen Herangehensweise, bestehend aus der Analyse von Archivmaterial (v.a. aus Lemberg, Wien, Krakau und Paris), publizierten Quellen (Statistiken, Schematismen, Reiseberichte) und Sekundärliteratur. Der letzte Teil ist hingegen literatur- bzw. kulturwissenschaftlich gearbeitet und umfasst eine Analyse von Erinnerungsbüchern, Reiseberichten und Belletristik, sowie einen Bildteil. Brody war im 18. und frühen 19. Jhd. eine der wichtigsten Handelsdrehscheiben Ost(mittel)europas. Erst in den letzten Jahrzehnten des 19. Jhd. entwickelte sich Brody von einer Handelsstadt europäischen Formats zu einer peripheren galizischen Kleinstadt an der österreichisch-russischen Grenze. Ob man diesen Bedeutungsverlust als Misserfolgsgeschichte wertet oder nicht, hängt vom jeweiligen Blickwinkel ab: Aus makroökonomischer Perspektive ist der Niedergang offensichtlich, da Brody den von Technisierung und Industrialisierung geprägten Urbanisierungs- und Modernisierungstendenzen der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jhd. diametral entgegen steht. Aus galizischer Sicht hingegen war die Redimensionierung Brodys wünschenswert, da die einstige internationale Ausrichtung Brodys zu einer gewissen Abkapselung der Stadt von ihrer Umgebung geführt hatte. Brodys Bedeutungsverlust war gleichsam der Beweis für die erfolgreiche Integration der Stadt in die gesellschaftlichen und politischen Verhältnisse des Kronlands. Brody hatte zu Beginn des 20. Jhd. Eigenheiten, die es von anderen galizischen Städten klar unterschied. Keine andere Stadt Österreich-Ungarns kannte ein derartiges Übergewicht der jüdischen Bevölkerung über die römisch-katholischen Polen und griechisch-katholischen Ukrainer. In der jüdischen Geistesgeschichte, sowohl als Ort rabbinischer Gelehrsamkeit, als auch als Zentrum der Haskala, so wie als Zufluchtsort für Pogromopfer, spielte Brody eine bedeutende Rolle. In den höheren Bildungsschichten dominierte die deutsche Sprache auffallend lange; erst Jahrzehnte später als andere jüdische Gemeinden Galiziens gaben die Brodyer Eliten ihre Orientierung am deutschsprachigen Zentrum zugunsten einer Selbstpolonisierung auf. Die starke Verankerung der russophilen Bewegung in Brody ist ebenfalls ungewöhnlich im Galizien des frühen 20. Jhd., wo die ukrainische Nationalbewegung rasant an Boden gewann. Die Gegensätzlichkeit zwischen dem ungewöhnlichen Brody und dem typisch galizischen Brody prägte, bewusst oder unbewusst, die damalige und heutige Wahrnehmung dieser Stadt in Reiseberichten, Belletristik und geistigen Bildern. Die Erinnerung an das habsburgische Brody ist nicht einheitlich und verläuft heute meist entlang nationaler Linien, was zuweilen den Eindruck erweckt es handle sich um gänzlich unterschiedliche Städte. Man findet im heutigen Brody neben sich teilweise überlagernden ukrainischen, polnischen, jüdischen, österreichischen und sowjetischen Gedächtnisorte auch solche die auf das wirtschaftliche, kulturelle oder administrative Erbe der Stadt verweisen. ; Brody, a town today lying in Western Ukraine, became part of the Habsburg Empire following the First Partition of Poland in 1772. Until Austria-Hungary's collapse at the end of the First World War the town was right on the border with Poland (until 1795) and later with Russia (until 1918). This book embraces a timespan of almost 150 years, excluding the First World War. It examines Brody's economic and social history in the first two sections; the third section is dedicated to the perception of the town's Austrian past. The most important material which serves as the basis for this work are archival sources mainly holdings in L'viv, Vienna, Paris and Kraków as well as published sources such as statistics, administrative handbooks and travel reports. During the 18th and the early 19th century Brody was a major commercial hub in Central and Eastern Europe. Only in the last decades of the 19th century the city transformed from a centre of international trade and cultural importance into a peripheral town at the Galician-Russian border. Whether we should consider the case of Brody as a history of failure depends on one's perspective: From a macroeconomic point of view Brody's performance would not qualify as a success story, because the city failed to embrace an urbanisation and modernisation that was so characteristic for cities in this period. From the Galician perspective, however, the economical transformation of Brody was desirable, because the city's former international orientation had led to a certain self isolation from its Galician surroundings. Thus, from a regional point of view Brody's shrinking proved the city's successful integration into the social and political realities of the Crownland. Several features distinguished Brody from other Galician towns even at the beginning of the twentieth century. No other Austro-Hungarian town was so predominantly Jewish, with Roman-Catholic Poles and Greek-Catholic Ukrainians never accounting for more than a third of the total population. Moreover Brody continued to play a certain role in Jewish thinking, in Rabbinic-Talmudic scholarship as well as in the spread of the Haskalah in east central Europe. In close connection with the strong support of Brody's Jewish elites for the Enlightenment, the German language kept its importance many decades longer than in other Galician cities. However, by the outbreak of the First World War even Brody's Jewish elites had switched from an orientation towards the German-speaking centre of the Empire to a certain degree of auto-polonisation. Special to Brody was also the strong commitment of the city and its environs to Russophile currents, whereas in the rest of Galicia the Ukrainian national movement rapidly gained popularity at the turn of the century. The dichotomy between the extraordinary Brody and the typical Galician Brody wittingly or unwittingly shaped the city's perception in travel reports, literature and mental images. Today there are different ways of remembering Habsburg Brody. They mostly but not exclusively run along ethnic lines and omit the non-national. Sometimes the national narratives differ so much that we get the impression that they talk about completely different cities. Besides partly overlapping Ukrainian, Polish, Jewish, Austrian and Soviet lieux de mémoire we also find places where we can trace the town's former economic, administrative or cultural functions in present day Brody.

Los sistemas de potencia eléctrica han presentado un significativo cambio en sus estructuras, a nivel mundial. Durante los últimos años han evolucionado de esquemas monopólicos centralizados, donde el objetivo fundamental era minimizar el costo total esperado de la operación del sistema durante todo el horizonte de programación, a mercados en competencia -bajo algunas medidas regulatorias de los gobiernos-, donde cada una de las empresas del sector tiene como principal objetivo la maximización de sus propios beneficios. Como un aporte del autor, se desarrolla y aplica un nuevo criterio de optimización: la maximización de la eficiencia técnica de las unidades de generación hidroeléctrica. El propósito fundamental de esta tesis doctoral es el desarrollo de una metodología de apoyo a la toma de decisiones para la optimización de la operación y la evaluación de la eficiencia técnica de una empresa de generación hidroeléctrica en mercados de electricidad de corto plazo. Esta metodología se expresa como un conjunto de algoritmos implementados en prototipos de software con aplicaciones a varios casos relacionados con dos sistemas de embalses en cascada de dimensiones realistas: uno, a lo largo de la cuenca del rio Duero en España, y otro del Sistema Eléctrico Colombiano. Se desarrollan varios modelos de Programación No Lineal Entera Mixta (PNLEM) para la programación de la operación integrada a corto plazo de una Compañía de Generación Hidroeléctrica (H-GENCO) propietaria de una serie de centrales a lo largo de un sistema de embalses en cascada en un mercado de la electricidad basado en bolsa. El objetivo de la H-GENCO puede ser maximizar el beneficio, considerando la eficiencia técnica, o maximizar la eficiencia técnica, conservando un determinado nivel de beneficios. En ambos casos, la eficiencia puede ser precisamente obtenida a partir del "Diagrama Colinar" suministrado por el fabricante de la turbina. Mediante un análisis de regresión no lineal múltiple se estima la eficiencia técnica de la unidad como una función cuadrática de la cabeza neta y la descarga de agua. Los resultados indican que un modelo de PNLEM basado en beneficios produce mejores resultados que un modelo de Programación Lineal Entera Mixta, PLEM. Por otra parte, mediante el modelo basado en eficiencia se obtienen mayores eficiencias y ahorros de agua. Estos modelos podrían servir a una empresa de generación hidroeléctrica para la toma de decisiones relacionadas con preguntas del siguiente tipo: ¿Cuándo generar?, asociada al Problema de Asignación de las Unidades de generación. ¿Cuánto generar?, asociada al Problema del Despacho Económico. ¿Cómo ofertar?, asociada al Problema del Diseño de las Cantidades a Ofertar a la Bolsa de Energía para el mercado del día siguiente. Además, después de realizado el despacho, estos modelos podrían ser útiles para la auto-programación o auto-despacho de las unidades de generación. / Abstract: Electric power systems have shown a significant change in their structures worldwide. In recent years, they have evolved from centralized monopoly schemes, where the main objective was to minimize the expected total cost of the system operation throughout the scheduling horizon, to competitive markets, under some government regulatory action, where the main objective of each company in the sector is to maximize their own profits. As a contribution of the author, a new optimization criterion is developed and applied: maximizing the technical efficiency of the hydroelectric generating units. The main purpose of this doctoral thesis is to develop a methodology to support the decision making to optimize the operation and evaluation of a hydroelectric generation company technical efficiency in short term electricity markets. This methodology is expressed as a set of algorithms implemented in software prototypes with applications to several cases related to two cascaded reservoir systems of realistic dimensions: one, along the Duero River Basin in Spain, and other of the Colombian Electric System. Several Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) models are developed for the integrated operation programming in short-term of a Hydro Generation Company (H-GENCO) that owns a series of plants along a system of cascaded reservoirs in a pool-based electricity market. The purpose of the H-GENCO can be either to maximize profits, considering the technical efficiency, or to maximize the technical efficiency, while maintaining a certain level of benefits. In both cases, the technical efficiency can be precisely obtained from the "Hill Diagram" provided by the turbine manufacturer. Through a multiple nonlinear regression analysis, the unit technical efficiency can be estimated as a net head and water discharge quadratic function. Results indicate that a MINLP model based on benefits produces better results than a standard Mixed Integer Linear Programming, MILP. Moreover, using an efficiency-based model it is posible to obtain greater efficiency and water savings. These models could serve to a hydroelectric generation company for decision making about questions like the following: When to generate?, associated with the Unit Commitment Problem. How much to generate?, associated with the Economic Dispatch Problem. How to offer?, associated with the Bidding Design Problem in order to estimate the quantities to offer for the energy pool to the next day market. In addition, after the dispatch, these models could be useful for the self-programming or the auto-release of the generating units. ; Doctorado