Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 263-277).

Thesis (MCom (Communication Management))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Abstract in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Rhode Island, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-117).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 1993.

Thesis (M.A.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Sept. 26, 2006). "Language and Communication"--T.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.(Research Psychology))-University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (MTech (Public Relations Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011. / The purpose of this limited scope research study is to investigate the research question "What are the internal communication needs of the Cape Town based employees at Metropolitan Health Group?" The research will investigate whether the current internal communication practise/s and communication content at Metropolitan Health Group satisfy the needs of employees. The research will be informed by the Downs and Hazen (1977:72) factor analytic study of communication satisfaction which concluded that "the concept of satisfaction can be a useful tool in an audit of organisational communication."

Virtual teams are defined as geographically dispersed teams who work together across time and space using information and communication technologies to accomplish one or more organisational tasks (Piccoli, Powell, & Ives, 2004). As virtual team members are physically distributed, they often need to work together as teams without ever meeting each other using only technology and electronic communication to collaborate, communicate and share information. Previous studies have shown that electronic tools are ineffective and do not aid in building trust and common understanding in a virtual team environment. This study challenges these previous findings and assesses the use of unified communication as a tool for leading virtual teams. Many organisations use different tools such as e-mail, instant messaging, IM presence, conference calls, voice calls and video calls. The concept around unified communications is the integration of data, voice and video into a single tool. Is unified communication an effective tool for leading virtual teams? This research paper defined the sample population as any team member working in a virtual team anywhere in the world. Data was collected from one large multinational with offices in 112 countries as well as virtual team members around the globe. The sampling technique used was based on non-probability (subjective) sampling. The sample size of 220 individuals, representing virtual team members was originally targeted for this research. Data was collected over a three month period with two hundred and thirteen (213) responses received from thirty seven (37) countries using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study found that effective communication is vital for the success of virtual teams. It found that even though communication tools are vital, a unified communication toolset was not necessary as only some components of a unified communication tool were used on a day to day basis. Some components in a unified tool were regarded as nice to have but not vital. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Most optical fibre-based ambient refractive index sensors (including individual long-period gratings) rely on spectral attributes obtained in transmission. However, a probe refractometer has been proposed that is based on self-interference of a long-period grating (LPG), thus providing reflectance spectra containing the relevant data. This sensor operates as a Michelson interferometer by virtue of the fact that its constituent LPG acts as both a mode converter and coupler. Its construction is such that optical power coupled into the cladding (when light impinges on the LPG) is reflected at a fibre mirror and returns towards the grating, where it is re-coupled into the fundamental guided mode. Since light waves propagating along the core and cladding material of the fibre cavity beyond the LPG experience different optical path lengths (due to differing mode indices), a phase difference exists between these modes upon recombining at the grating location. This causes interference, which is manifested as a characteristic fringe pattern in the sensor’s reflectance spectrum (analogous to that obtained in the transmission of a twin LPG cascade operating as a Mach-Zehnder interferometer). Research was conducted towards implementing a unique method of temperature compensation in this LPG-based Michelson interferometer. Sensing attributes of individual LPGs were investigated first, with specific emphasis on the temperature characteristics of two different types of host fibre. It was found that LPGs manufactured in conventional ATC SMF-28 fibre (previously hydrogen-loaded to inscribe the grating and annealed after fabrication) and B/Ge co-doped PS1500 fibre from Fibercore exhibited temperature characteristics of opposite polarity. This led to the implementation of a compound-cavity Michelson interferometer whose constituent LPG is written in one type of fibre, while a specific length of the other type of fibre is fusion spliced onto the host fibre section. Experiments verified the success of this temperature-compensation technique, which caused a measured reduction in temperature sensitivity of up to in interferometer phase shift. Measurements of the refractive index of the test substance surrounding the cladding material of the Michelson interferometer’s fibre cavity (and not the LPG itself) could therefore be done without being adversely affected by environmental temperature fluctuations. This was demonstrated experimentally by comparing the interferometer’s phase shift – devoid of temperature-induced effects – due to increasing refractive index of the analyte (as a result of escalating temperature) with index of refraction readings from a temperature-controlled Abbe refractometer. Numerical gradients of linear curves fitted to these results differed by two orders of magnitude less than the resolution of readings obtained from an Abbe refractometer – proof of the success of the temperature compensation technique applied in this LPG-based Michelson refractometer. / Prof. C. J. Jooste

This research examines the role of electronic messaging in business firms. The study presents a taxonomy of electronic mail uses, develops a theoretical framework for analyzing electronic mail impact, and investigates risks and advantages of electronic messaging. The research focus is intermediate-size firms.