Interactions driven by Information Communications Technologies (ICT) have gained significant acceptance and momentum in contemporary organisational settings, this is illustrated by their massive adoption and varied deployment across the various levels of an organisation’s hierarchy. ICTs such as mobile telephones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), videoconferencing, BlackBerries and other forms of portable and immovable computing technologies provide enduring bases for mediated interactions in human activities. This thesis looks into the dynamics of ICT-driven interactions and, distinctively, focuses on the manifestations and implications of mediated control in a collaborative environment. The study draws on the concept of administrative behaviour which leads to the observation that the nature of mediated control is not static, but evolutionarily dynamic that springs from highly unpredictable contexts of work. Thus, interactions driven by ICTs influence and change the dynamics of mediated control against the background of the rhythm, structure and direction of an organisation’s purposeful undertakings. Findings indicate, quite paradoxically, that networks set up through the instrumentality of technology mediated interaction discourage domination and inspire individual discretion in spite of their promise of electronic chains. The analysis reflects the notion that mediated control is not only about the predetermination of targets that are attained at the subordinate level. Indeed, the study advocates a fundamental conceptualisation of mediated control as double-sided concept, integrating the use of discretion that, occasionally, makes subordinates drive and initiate key control techniques that steer organisational life. Therefore, through the application of philosophical hermeneutics for a rigorous data interpretation, this study develops an innovative and holistic understanding of mediated control which not only adds to, but also extends, the current organisational perception of control by the incorporation of discretion and, in the process, makes a distinctive contribution to scholarship.

This professional report aims to develop a transportation performance measurement system that will evaluate and achieve the sustainability objectives for the Austin metropolitan area Activity Centers, while addressing the Federal Livability Principles. It employs the use of local data for the evaluation of performance measures, and provides a platform upon which both current and future development scenarios can be evaluated. Based on a literature review and other studies on travel behavior and transportation performance, it is possible to derive the appropriate indicator measurements according to the sustainability. The overarching purpose of this report is to develop a set of performance indicators that reflect sustainability concerns. These indicators will be appropriately quantified and benchmarked, and will address each objective, such as reduction of automobile vehicle miles travelled (VMT). The main challenge of this report is that many sustainability indicators are not practically implemented at the community level, but can be more easily considered at the aggregate level. / text

Sustainability has become a universal goal stated by communities and public agencies in visioning their future. However, when it comes to implementing sustainability, stakeholders often confront all sorts of barriers, ranging from different metrics of performance measures to competing local or agency-specific interests. This professional report (PR) introduces a tool developed through the Sustainable Places Project (SPP) for the Austin, TX region for collective visioning and practicing of sustainable development. SPP received a grant support from the federal program "the Partnership for Sustainable Communities", which was initiated jointly by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, and Environmental Protection Agency in 2009. Under SPP, the Capital Area Texas Sustainability (CATS) Consortium was formed. "Envision Tomorrow plus for Austin"(ET+Austin) is developed as both an analytical tool and a platform for public dialogue among CATS partners. The PR focuses on the development of transportation modules within ET+Austin. It VI first introduces the local setting in which SPP originated. Following the introduction, the PR describes a general policy context concerning sustainability and sustainable transportation. Next, it provides a review of the empirical and analytical context in which the transportation modules of ET+Austin are structured and built. The basis that transportation indicators are selected and grouped is presented in the subsequent section. The implementation of ET+Austin Transportation is illustrated through scenario analyses for four SPP demo sites from four communities in the region; they are Hutto, Elgin, Dripping Spring and Lorkhart. The PR ends with a brief summary and discussion of directions for tool improvements. / text

Global liner shipping companies experienced a huge fluctuation of freight rate and lost billions consecutively in recent years and the industry became very volatile and unsustainable. At this critical time, this dissertation aims to evaluate what extent the marketing strategies can optimize the overall sustainable competitive advantage of top ten liner shipping companies and contribute to the recovery and the sustainable development of liner shipping industry in the next five years. This dissertation met this objective through a study of literatures and the application of research. The research was conducted through an interview survey with seventeen executives of eight liner shipping companies and a questionnaire survey with twelve senior executives of logistics companies. This study produced the following key findings. First, six core competencies and two generic competitive advantages of top ten carriers are selected and evaluated. Financial strength is concluded from the interview discussion as the most important core competency to the overall sustainability and competitiveness of carriers, meanwhile, most of carriers concentrate on rate competitiveness rather than service differentiation competitiveness currently. Secondly, three key challenges in the current liner shipping industry are identified and analyzed: weak demand growth and sharp hikes in bunker fuel price which are the major challenges in the macro environment and out of the direct control of carriers’ management, therefore, leading carriers should concentrate on addressing the major challenge in the micro environment –structural oversupply and homogenous service. Thirdly, carriers are impatient to improve their unhealthy financial position by increasing freight rate and reducing costs due to billions financing needs. However, inferior reliability of liner service due to cost-cutting and the consecutive jump of freight rate cause a deeper contradictory relation between carriers and shippers. Lastly, leading carriers have to make their best efforts to be survived currently, but need to find the right ways to attain sustainable competitive advantages in the future. In short term, the main target of leading carriers’ marketing strategies is to ensure sustainable freight rate and rational capacity growth. Because leading carriers are involved in a “prisoner dilemma” situation in major tradelanes, they should be close with each other with the support of financial investors and government regulatory bodies to build a stable and reliable global sea trade infrastructure. Long-term agree-ment with shippers fixed ocean freight rate at sustainable level can contribute the sta-bility of the market and help carriers be capable to offer reliable service. In the long term, the main target of marketing strategies is to find the best balance between better service and lower costs. One important way is to differentiate carriers’ service by offering more value to shippers and to ease the fierce competition on freight rate. It needs carriers to collaborate with logistics partners to improve the cost-efficiency and reliability of global supply chain. Another way is to cooperate with R&D organizations to enhance operational efficiency and offer eco-friendly liner service by advanced and innovative technologies. / published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

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Automation will challenge our notions about communication between the vehicle and its surroundings. This thesis explores how an autonomous Peugeot vehicle could look like if the exterior design would be smart and aware about the world around it.  Using as reference the needs of a small family and inspired by ripple effects as a reaction to an impulse, the design process also included research, ideation and form development using analog and digital tools. Animation and video were also used for testing and visualising the ‘autonomous language’.  The result is a concept vehicle with an active skin and a unique sculpture reflecting its new architecture, enabled by an electric powertrain and autonomous driving technology. New light mode that lets the lights be projected towards the vehicle instead of the road will enhance the volume description of the vehicle to be visible especially at night. The design process included context research, needs of people inside and outside of the vehicle, interviews, ideation, package study, digital form development and physical model. It is important to me that my concept fits into a believable context of the future and creates a vision upon issues that we strive to develop today.

<p> Inefficient port drayage causes high costs in addition to congestion and pollution. To identify the causes of inefficiency in port drayage, we developed a mobile application, which utilizes a Global Point System (GPS), Bluetooth and some driver inputs to track the manner in which the drays move, such as picking up a loaded container or delivering an empty one. A web application is used to receive data from the mobile devices, interprets the data to determine whether or not the data points are in or out of range of port terminals, stores the data in a database and provides visualization of point locations on Google Maps. The collected data are then analyzed in order to pinpoint any trouble areas, find the cause, and recommend solutions where appropriate. In this work, we describe the software development process in both the mobile and the web applications and report results of our analysis based on the collected data.</p>

This thesis examines the understandings and meanings of personal blogging from the perspective of blog authors. The theoretical framework draws on a symbolic interactionist perspective, focusing on how meaning is constructed through blogging practices, supplemented by theories of mediation and critical technology studies. The principal evidence in this study is derived from an analysis of in-depth interviews with bloggers selected to maximise their diversity based on the results of an initial survey. This is supplemented by an analysis of personal blogging’s technical contexts and of various societal influences that appear to influence blogging practices. Bloggers were found to have limited interest in gathering information about their readers, appearing to rely instead on an assumption that readers are sympathetic. Although personal blogging practices have been framed as being a form of radically free expression, they were also shown to be subject to potential biases including social norms and the technical characteristics of blogging services. Blogs provide a persistent record of a blogger’s practice, but the bloggers in this study did not generally read their archives or expect others to do so, nor did they retrospectively edit their archives to maintain a consistent self-presentation. The empirical results provide a basis for developing a theoretical perspective to account for blogging practices. This emphasises firstly that a blogger’s construction of the meaning of their practice can be based as much on an imagined and desired social context as it is on an informed and reflexive understanding of the communicative situation. Secondly, blogging practices include a variety of envisaged audience relationships, and some blogging practices appear to be primarily self-directed with potential audiences playing a marginal role. Blogging’s technical characteristics and the social norms surrounding blogging practices appear to enable and reinforce this unanticipated lack of engagement with audiences. This perspective contrasts with studies of computer mediated communication that suggest bloggers would monitor their audiences and present themselves strategically to ensure interactions are successful in their terms. The study also points the way towards several avenues for further research including a more in-depth consideration of the neglected structural factors (both social and technical) which potentially influence blogging practices, and an examination of social network site use practices using a similar analytical approach.

<p> Intelligent transportation systems use in-pavement inductive loop sensors to collect real time traffic data. This method is very expensive in terms of installation and maintenance. Our research is focused on developing advanced algorithms capable of generating high amounts of energy that can charge a battery. This electromechanical energy conversion is an optimal way of energy scavenging that makes use of piezoelectric sensors. The power generated is sufficient to run the vehicle detection module that has several sensors embedded together. To achieve these goals, we have developed a simulation module using software&rsquo;s like LabVIEW and Multisim. The simulation module recreates a practical scenario that takes into consideration vehicle weight, speed, wheel width and frequency of the traffic.</p>

Despite the continued interest in transportation accessibility, it is still unclear how different types of accessibility measures relate to one another and which situations are best for each. The current study undertakes a statistical comparison among six transit accessibility measures (representing three main categories of accessibility models) to determine whether they are comparable and/or interchangeable. Specifically, this analysis considers a case study to measure individuals’ access to healthcare via paratransit. Results indicate that the three categories of accessibility measures provide drastically different interpretations of accessibility that cannot be duplicated by each other. Furthermore, the more closely accessibility models capture individuals’ perceptions and true access to activity opportunities, the more consistent and evenly distributed the results. / text