Final thesis discusses about the influence of overtime and motivation to manage projects. The thesis highlights the positive characteristics about connection between the system dynamics and the project management. Includes basic theoretical definition of motivation, management control and overall project management. Analyze the possibility of using different methods, especially motivation to influence or stimulate the work flow. Highlights the positive qualities of the use of dynamic modeling and simulation to solve IS/ICTprojects. It examin the real situation of overtime influence on solving the problem. This situation is portrayed in the relevant diagrams of system dynamics and it is modeled in the program Powersim. The text also contains a detailed procedure for the entire solution.

abstract: Over the past century, the world has become increasingly more complex. Modern systems (i.e blockchain, internet of things (IoT), and global supply chains) are inherently difficult to comprehend due to their high degree of connectivity. Understanding the nature of complex systems becomes an acutely more critical skill set for managing socio-technical infrastructure systems. As existing education programs and technical analysis approaches fail to teach and describe modern complexities, resulting consequences have direct impacts on real-world systems. Complex systems are characterized by exhibiting nonlinearity, interdependencies, feedback loops, and stochasticity. Since these four traits are counterintuitive, those responsible for managing complex systems may struggle in identifying these underlying relationships and decision-makers may fail to account for their implications or consequences when deliberating systematic policies or interventions. This dissertation details the findings of a three-part study on applying complex systems modeling techniques to exemplar socio-technical infrastructure systems. In the research articles discussed hereafter, various modeling techniques are contrasted in their capacity for simulating and analyzing complex, adaptive systems. This research demonstrates the empirical value of a complex system approach as twofold: (i) the technique explains systems interactions which are often neglected or ignored and (ii) its application has the capacity for teaching systems thinking principles. These outcomes serve decision-makers by providing them with further empirical analysis and granting them a more complete understanding on which to base their decisions. The first article examines modeling techniques, and their unique aptitudes are compared against the characteristics of complex systems to establish which methods are most qualified for complex systems analysis. Outlined in the second article is a proof of concept piece on using an interactive simulation of the Los Angeles water distribution system to teach complex systems thinking skills for the improved management of socio-technical infrastructure systems. Lastly, the third article demonstrates the empirical value of this complex systems approach for analyzing infrastructure systems through the construction of a systems dynamics model of the Arizona educational-workforce system, across years 1990 to 2040. The model explores a series of dynamic hypotheses and allows stakeholders to compare policy interventions for improving educational and economic outcome measures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Systems Engineering 2020

In recent decades, water systems worldwide are under crisis due to excessive human interventions particularly in the arid and semi-arid regions. In many cities, the water quantity situation has become more and more serious, caused either by absolute water shortage or water pollution. Considering population growth and fast urbanization, ensuring adequate water supply with acceptable water quality is crucial to socio-economic development in the coming decades. In this context, one key point is to (re-)address various water problems in a more holistic way. This study explores the emerging water crisis events in Beijing Municipality so as to have a better understanding of water systems changes and to make more sustainable water-related decisions. The changes of water quantity and water quality in the region are analyzed in a systems perspective; and opportunities towards improved performance of Beijing’s water systems are discussed. In order to aid in water systems analysis, a conceptual framework is developed, with a focus on identifying the most important interactions of the urban water sector. The results of the study show that the emerging water crisis events in the Beijing region are caused by a variety of inter-related factors, both external and internal. The external factor is mainly the decreasing upstream surface water inflow into the Guanting and Miyun reservoirs. The internal factors include precipitation variation, excessive water withdrawals, increasing water demands for different purposes and a large amount of pollutants discharged to the receiving water bodies. These factors together have caused tremendous water systems changes in Beijing Municipality from both the water quantity and water quality perspectives. In order to alleviate the serious water situation in Beijing Municipality, many further efforts are required in the dynamic socioeconomic and ecological context. Although tremendous work has been carried out by water-related institutions to prevent flood and ensure water supply, water resources development, planning and management must be addressed employing systems thinking and in a more holistic way. This is crucial for balancing the tradeoffs of water quantity and water quality in the Beijing region. Besides the experimental inter-basin water transfer activities, water demand management and pollution reduction and prevention should be the top priority on the agenda of the Beijing government in the long term. Moreover, only at a river basin level may various upstream-downstream conflicts be alleviated by wiser water allocation among administrative regions, as well as taking the ecological water demand into consideration. Finally, considering the current water situation and water management system, the following three aspects of improvement are emphasized in the present study, including a promoted water centric value, institutional capacity building and employing economic principles for water resources management.

This study assesses the applicability of the Making Markets Work for the Poor approach, as described by Sida, to meet sustainability challenges in the textiles- and clothing industry in Ethiopia. While Sweden has been ranked one of the most sustainable countries in the world, exported emissions and impacts have stained this reputation. As Swedish corporations look to Ethiopia as a new potential sourcing market for textile and clothing products, this interview study uses systems- and scenario analysis to assess the applicability of the market system approach Making Markets Work for the Poor, M4P, to answer to the sustainability challenges in the market system of the textile industry in Ethiopia. The results reveal that while sustainability challenges are numerous in regards to economy, environment and society, governance is the central leverage point when addressing systemic change for sustainability. The study concludes that while M4P can address specific sustainability challenges within the system, such as market access for poor and workers’ health issues, the approach does not answer to the fundamental systemic problems. Instead, it builds on a focus on GDP growth, which this study shows to be part of the problem of neglecting environmental and social aspects.

Prison management and key stakeholders lack an understanding of how institutional obstacles interfere with probation officers and parole agents' ability in managing offenders to reduce recidivism in a Midwestern state. In 2014, 1 out of 52 adults in the U.S. were under the supervision of probation officers or parole agents. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to identify the institutional obstacles that exist for probation officers and parole agents in terms of their lived experiences in their jobs. The participants were 5 probation officers and 6 parole agents from a municipal district in a county in a Midwestern state. The conceptual framework that grounds this descriptive phenomenological study is Meadows' three concepts of systems thinking (elements, interconnections, and purpose). The data collection process involved in-depth interviews and field notes. One hundred percent of the participants identified several themes as institutional obstacles including: lack of community programs, lack of jobs, and heavy caseloads. The implications for positive social change for the key stakeholders identified in the study to reduce recidivism in the criminal justice system were to remove the institutional barriers outlined in the themes and improve institutional practices. Making policy reforms that included drug and alcohol treatment, addressing the issue of prison authority and the creation of rehabilitation programs that feature cognitive development would aid in reduction of recidivism.

Teacher implementation of school reforms varies widely and often results in inconsistent student outcomes. Teachers adopt or resist change for complex reasons that are not fully understood. This qualitative study explored how veteran teachers described their experiences with school reform and changes in classroom practices that occurred over the course of their careers; it also examined factors that teachers identified as having positive and negative influences on their adoptions of change. The conceptual framework was based on Senge's systems theory as applied to learning organizations and Goleman's emotional intelligence theory. The research questions focused on: (a) How veteran teachers described their experiences with various school reforms and changes in classroom practices that have occurred over the course of their careers, and (b) What internal and external factors veteran teachers identified as having a positive or negative influence on their adoptions of change. Eight veteran K-12 public school teachers from a northeastern state were interviewed using a semi-structured, open-ended questionnaire. Data were analyzed using first and second level coding in order to identify emerging patterns and themes and discrepant data. Key findings indicated that the teachers who reported successful implementation of school reforms also reported that the internal factors of self-assessment, self-confidence, initiative, adaptability, and empathy, and the external factors of shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking were important to implementing change. When administrators supported teachers through quality professional development, adequate collaboration time, and respect for their professional judgment, participants embraced school reforms and changed their classroom practices.

Mitigating energy poverty requires a multi-criteria decision protocol integrating socio-economic, cultural, environmental, and technical systems, influencing energy access, and consumption. Situations of energy poverty are typical in rural and urban poor households, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. These situations are commonly prevalent in informal settlements, sprawling across the periphery of South African metros. Majorities of informal households lack access to grid-electricity and consume local energy sources for their energy needs. There are ongoing government efforts directed to mitigating energy poverty among energy-poor households, such as informal households, through policies and subsidies. Socio-economic and cultural environments also redefine the extent to which energy poverty is mitigated in these households. At present, informal households are constantly and rapidly growing, and as a result, compromise policy effectiveness and other functional strategies, targeting to mitigating energy poverty in these households, and achieving universal energy access in South Africa. Accordingly, this research study adopted a multidisciplinary approach to understanding related matters of energy poverty based on energy policies; electricity access, and pricing; geospatial analysis; energy use and access; and management strategies, with emphasis on informal settlements in South Africa. The first part of the study reviewed energy pro-poor policies, relevant to improving energy access and energy-use efficiency in energy-poor households in South Africa. The study also investigated electricity access (access rates), connection costs (access costs), and electricity tariffs to understand historical precedents and forecast scenarios, and the relationships to gaining complete electricity access by 2030 in the City of Cape Town. The third part mapped and monitored informal areas to understand landscape processes and poverty with energy poverty propagations by Land Cover (LC) and Land-Cover Change (LCC) in the City of Cape Town. The fourth part of the research investigated energy-use patterns and other energy-related matters in a selected informal settlement - a typical case study of an energy-poor community in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. The last part proposed and designed a novel System Reinforcing Model (SRM), an Energy Access Sustainability (EAS) management scheme, applicable to mitigating energy poverty in any energy-poor community. The study review validated government efforts in improving energy access in energy-poor households through commissioned energy pro-poor policies but not without drawbacks and proposed recommendations to support future policy reforms. The research also revealed iv A novel systems approach to energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa: A South African informal settlement as case study. increasing patterns in historical trends of access rates, costs, and tariffs, and relationships between parameters within the assessment period (from 2010 to 2018). The forecast analyses (from 2019 to 2030) demonstrated that total electricity access could not be reached by 2030 without a shift in Business-As-Usual (BAU) patterns in the City of Cape Town. The LC conversions of informal areas revealed poverty with energy poverty propagations through landscape degradation processes - Persistence and Intensification - in the City of Cape Town. The research study further revealed poor energy use patterns and behaviour in the target Settlement. Informal households in the settlement mainly adopted local energy fuels and appliances in satisfying household energy needs. The novel part of the research study described the application of a systems approach - Systems engineering (SE) and Systems Thinking (SsT) - into energy poverty and access processes to developing the new SRM. SE and SsT concept analyses were employed in identifying and integrating four operating system interfaces in these processes into the new SRM. The new SRM simulated complex systems and elements within the interfaces and categorized them as design decisions and system designs. These systems and elements were grounded in energy-use patterns and behaviour, energy access, and EAS, as well as socio-economic, cultural, technical, and environmental features. Arrays of feedback loops in reinforcing patterns in the new SRM modelled the interactions between, and within, design decisions and system designs, for future energy access rebranding, based on significant sustainability outcomes of favourably coalesced system interfaces. SRM was applied in the target settlement, where the model’s significance was validated. Based on its multi-criteria decision approach, among its many features, SRM revealed system parts instigating energy poverty situations and limiting EAS in the target settlement. SRM tailored energy access solutions, whilst integrating significant outcomes of the whole research study, to advancing energy poverty mitigation and EAS in the target settlement. / Thesis (PhD (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / UP Postgraduate Bursary / International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / PhD (Technology Management) / Unrestricted

The threat of global climate change has brought on the need for a transition towards renewable energy sources and electrification, thereby creating a significantly increased demand for energy minerals and metals. Despite being on a path towards an energy system with net-zero emissions, the European Union (EU) is currently highly dependent on the import of these minerals and metals from outside of the Union. In addition to constituting a supply risk, the sourcing of energy minerals and metals form outside of the EU also leads to the displacement of the impacts that mining has on the environment, society, and the economy in places where pre -existing environmental and social vulnerabilities often enhance these damages. This study sets out to explore how the mining industry of the EU could contribute to the sustainable supply of energy minerals and metals,considering the current state of the industry and the interactions of different associated environmental, social, and economic sustainability aspects on different spatial scales. It is empirically explored from the perspective of the potential mining of battery minerals and metals in Sweden. Media articles on the subject are reviewed and stakeholders of such a potential mining sector are interviewed. Both sets of data are analysed using the frameworks of systems theory and environmental justice, as well as theories on the resistance to and acceptance of mining. The analyses of the empirical findings suggest that there are some unavoidable trade-offs associated with mining, where the global need to mine is put against local concerns. It is concluded that while there is potential for the EU mining sector to produce energy minerals and metals more sustainably than is currently the case, some environmental, social, and economic damages cannot be avoided. To enable the energy transition, there is a need to make trade-offs between different aspects of sustainability. However, there is a lack of guidelines for how these trade-offs, which often involve more than one spatial scale, should be made.Ultimately, the sustainability contributions of a EU energy mineral and metals mining sector is dependent on how sustainable mining is defined and which spatial boundaries are applied. To deal with the limitations of the sustainability concept, it is proposed that the question is also approached from a perspective of justice.

South Africa as a country faces stark socio-economic development challenges, such as extreme levels of inequality and unemployment, and specifically youth unemployment. To assist with addressing some of these challenges associated with the history of apartheid, the South African government instituted Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE). One of the instruments to implement B-BBEE is Corporate Social Investment (CSI). CSI refers to projects that companies undertake that goes beyond their primary profit motive, to assist and empower disadvantaged individuals and communities. A number of CSI projects in South Africa has an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) focus, where companies spend their CSI budget to contribute to, among other things, ICT skills development. Research has revealed that these types of projects are often short-lived, and at times unsustainable. As a result, communities are not necessarily benefiting from such projects. The objective of this research is to analyse the impact of South African CSI projects with an ICT focus on poor urban communities. The study is further limited in scope to CSI ICT initiatives aimed at supporting disadvantaged youth. The study followed a qualitative research approach. Four case studies were performed in poor urban communities in Soweto, all four of them CSI initiatives that were aimed at providing ICT support to disadvantaged youth. A systems framework was developed using literature as a foundation from which to analyse the cases. The systems framework is primarily based on Checkland’s soft systems methodology, which facilitates an inquiry into the problem situation and context. The Ubuntu philosophy, which emphasises the belief systems in which people and communities reflect their experiences in a day-to-day life, further supports the framework. Lastly, autopoiesis was employed as part of the framework, as it describes the self-production and sustainability of the system of interest. The study sought to gather qualitative data to understand the problem situation and use as a basis for analysis. Through an iterative process, data was collected from interviews, focus groups, documentation, and observations at four learning centres in Soweto. The collected data pertained to the implementation of CSI ICT projects by learning centres between 2002 – 2016. The case studies were analysed by applying the social systems framework, which was based on SSM, Ubuntu philosophy, and autopoiesis concepts. The findings of the study indicate that companies derived some form of benefit for contributing to CSI in poor communities. These benefits included having a local presence, achieving a better B-BBEE rating that enables them to do business with the government, and to retain or attract new business. In addition, the communities and their members benefited from the CSI ICT projects; this demonstrated an essential element of Ubuntu, namely, that collectively everyone could benefit. The CSI ICT projects had a positive impact on the socio-economic situation of the communities. It contributed to the employability of the unemployed youth, as they were trained in ICT skills. The school children used ICT to do their schoolwork and for ICT training. In addition, the learning centres proved to be self-reproducing and selfmaintaining, and therefore sustainable. The contributions of the study include a systems framework and guiding principles that companies, systems thinkers, and ICT4D practitioners could use to assess the sustainability and the impact of similar projects that are geared towards achieving socio-economic development in poor urban communities. Further, the research findings were used to refine the theoretical framework to analyse the impact of CSI ICT projects in poor urban communities in South Africa. / Thesis (PhD (Information Technology))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Informatics / PhD (Information Technology) / Unrestricted

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