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abstract: Effective collection and dissemination of project information, including best practices, help increase the likelihood of project performance and are vital to organizations in the architecture-engineering-construction (AEC) industry. Best practices can help improve project performance, yet these practices are not universally implemented and used in the industry, due to the following: 1) not all practices are applicable to every project or organization, 2) knowledge lost in organizational turnover which leads to inconsistent collection and implementation of best practices and 3) the lack of standardized processes for best practice management in an organization. This research, sponsored by National Academy of Construction, the Construction Industry Institute and Arizona State University, used structured interviews, a Delphi study and focus groups to explore: 1) potential benefit and industry interest in an open repository of best practices and 2) important elements of a framework/model that guides the creation, management and sustainment of an open repository of best practices. This dissertation presents findings specifically exploring the term "Practices for Excellence", its definition, elements that hinder implementation, the potential value of an open online repository for such practices and a model to develop an open repository. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Engineering 2014

Performance management is used as a tool not only to justify government expenses, but also to help public managers in terms of better planning, accountability, resource allocation, goal focusing, and many other benefits (Poister, 2003; Redburn, et al., 2007; Behn, 2003 etc.). As interest in and concerns about performance management systems continue to grow, scholars have increasingly suggested methods to better design and implement these systems in the public sector organizations, with the underlying assumption that they will help public organizations perform better. Using a management model proposed by Meier and O’Toole (1999, 2001), I explored the efficacy of following recommended practices in designing and implementing performance management systems for local police departments in the US. I used the 2012 Uniform Crime Report (UCR) dataset prepared by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and original surveys of the chiefs of various police agencies for this undertaking. I used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis to compare the performance of police agencies (measured in terms of number of crimes per 100,000 people) to the extent to which they follow recommended practices while designing and implementing performance management systems in their respective agencies. The results from this study suggest do not suggest a link between the recommended practices and police performance, as only the practices of using performance information and providing discretion to officers were found to be supporting the hypotheses for only one out of the eight crime categories. These two significant results might be attributed to chance alone. The results, hence, raise questions about the effectiveness of the recommended practices in improving organizational performance. Justification of the use of recommended practices, however, can still be traced to goal-setting theory.

Best practices have previously been developed for beef slaughter and further processing operations with input from academic and industry leaders. Best practices for pork processors have not been developed, and those developed for the beef industry may not always be applicable to the operations of Small and Very Small establishments. Small and Very Small establishments warrant unique consideration in terms of financial and technological capabilities. While larger processors utilize multiple capital-intensive microbial interventions, smaller establishments often must rely on sanitary practices and more traditional interventions. In order to develop best practices for Small and Very Small pork slaughter and further processing establishments, a survey instrument seeking information on establishment and facility characteristics as well as current sanitary practices was distributed to Small and Very Small establishments in the Southwest region. Additionally, microbiological baselines were established for six Small and Very Small pork slaughter and/or further processing establishments to allow the efficacy of best practices to be assessed following implementation in each of the six plants. Survey responses revealed areas where best practice recommendation efforts may be focused, and microbiological baseline data provided insight to the condition of carcasses and environmental surfaces using current sanitary practices. Combined, the data reveal the opportunities for improvement in the food safety systems of Small and Very Small pork processing establishments.

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Thirty-eight clinicians were surveyed regarding their current clinical practices in assessing, tracking treatment and determining discharge criteria for clients with resonance disorders. When these results were compared with recommendations from the literature for best practices, it was found that: (a) most clinicians were using low-tech assessment tools (such as perceptual assessment) at least some of the time, (b) many clinicians were not using high-tech assessment tools (such as videofluoroscopy) simply because they lacked access to such tools, and (c) clinicians are remarkably similar in their clinical practices across a wide variety of circumstances (such as age, and employment setting). The primary recommendation accruing from these findings was that more high-tech assessment tools should be routinely available to clinicians practicing in this area. More consistent use of sophisticated assessment devices would exemplify contemporary thinking about transfer of knowledge to practice in the area of resonance disorders assessment and improve patient outcomes.

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This research developed a process to improve the systematic deployment of best practices in unfamiliar countries in response to rapid globalization in the engineering and construction industry. The engineering and construction industry needs processes, metrics and tools to improve the deployment of best practices in unfamiliar countries to help facilitate project success, as new challenges are encountered. The research identified issues that are commonly encountered when deploying best practices in unfamiliar countries. The issues were identified using content analysis and verified by experts using the Delphi Method. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was used to establish weightings for the importance of each issue. The weightings were then used to create a scoring metric for companies to measure their readiness for projects. In order to overcome the issues identified in the research, a series of processes and mitigation strategies to overcome the issues were developed, through a series of interviews and focus groups. The International Readiness Passport (IRP) is a tool created to support the use of the metric and the mitigation strategies. This tool utilizes a self-scoring section which is applied to the metric. The tool then generates a report with the relevant mitigation strategies related to each issue, based on the score. To ensure that the IRP provides a meaningful benefit to the systematic deployment of best practices in unfamiliar countries, it was validated through a series of retrospective tests. These tests have confirmed the accuracy and relevance of the process, metric, and tool, as well as the tool\'s capabilities. / Master of Science

This qualitative study focuses on the faculty engaged in the preparation of secondary teachers at North East University (NEU). It seeks to discover how they see themselves as professionals and assess their work preparing future teachers in "Best Practices" of teaching so that they can effectively teach all students, particularly low achievers. To achieve the goal of this study, I conducted semi-structured individual interviews with those faculty who are engaged in preparing teachers at the secondary program. Eight participants were interviewed for this study, among them six participants were fully engaged in the teacher preparation. Once I collected the data from the interviews, then I transcribed, coded, analyzed the data, and identified similarities, differences, patterns, and themes from the interviews. The findings of this study indicate that these faculty have a strong commitment to preparing outstanding teachers that is rooted in their belief in social justice and equality. They expressed they have dreams about their teaching, about their student-teachers and about their program. The faculty are highly confident of their ability to educate secondary teachers and believe that they make a difference in the academic performance of those children their graduates serve in the schools. This study also concluded that the teacher educators at NEU's secondary program think they are successful in introducing "Best Practices" of teaching, especially helping their student-teachers in differentiating instructions, dealing with disabilities, teaching ELL students, employing technology in teaching, understanding diversity, culture and traditions, and preparing their student-teachers in examining issues relating to prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping, race, poverty, gender, social class and ethnicity.