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The purpose of this qualitative research is to gain a deeper understanding of the knowledge attributes that influence how South African business leaders get things done. Knowledge is described as the social and emotional skills that allow leaders to enact behaviours. Therefore the components of the knowledge necessary for leaders to get things done are based on an understanding of their skills (learned capacity) and their abilities (the natural talents). The research assessed the relative importance of knowledge and the relationship with personal traits and leadership behaviour through fifteen indepth interviews. Knowledge was seen as relatively less important than personal traits and behaviours although it provides a crucial link between these leadership attributes. The importance of key knowledge attributes, including an awareness of the mechanisms to acquire knowledge, enable emerging leaders to be more effective and achieve sustained results. Therefore, the value of knowledge may be seen as the process of acquiring the body of information, concepts and principles required to lead and get things done. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Darbo objektas – kariūnų blauzdą tiesiančių ir lenkiančių raumenų funkcinių ypatybių nustatymas ir palyginimas metų eigoje. Tikslas – nustatyti, kaip pasikeičia kariūnų blauzdos raumenų funkcinės ypatybės per 6 mėnesių trukmės fizinio rengimo ciklą. Uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti blauzdą tiesiančių ir lenkiančių raumenų susitraukimo vidutinį galingumą, maksimalią jėgą, susitraukimo kampą, nuovargį ir atsigavimo kaitą. 2. Palyginti blauzdos raumenų nuovargio ir atsigavimo skirtumą, tarp pirmojo ir antrojo testavimo, esant dinaminiam raumens susitraukimui. Hipotezė - manome, kad atliekant antrąjį testavimą kariūnai po 6 mėn. studijų turi būti fiziškai pajėgesni, labiau turi pasireikšti blauzdą tiesiančių ir lenkiančių raumenų nuovargis ir atsigavimas. Išvados: 1. Abiejų testavimų metu blauzdą tiesiančių ir lenkiančių raumenų susitraukimo vidutinė galia krūvio metu sumažėjo, o praėjus 5 min. po krūvio atsigavo. 2. Blauzdą tiesiančių raumenų maksimali jėga bei atliktas darbas I-ojo testavimo metu yra didesnis negu blauzdą lenkiančių raumenų, tačiau II-ojo testavimo metu pastebimas didesnis nuovargis abiejų raumenų. 3. Blauzdą tiesiančių raumenų maksimalios jėgos kampas abiejų testavimų metu yra vienodas, tačiau blauzdą lenkiančių raumenų II-ojo testavimo metu yra didesnis. 4. Pastebimas ryškus blauzdos raumenų atsigavimas abiejų testavimų metu. / Object of this work – to determine function features of cadets’ shank straighten and bend muscle and to make comparison in the course of year. Aim – to find out how function features of cadets’ shank muscle are changing during 6 months physical training period. Tasks: 1. To establish contraction average power, maximum power, peak torque, tiredness and recuperation alternation of shank straighten and bend muscle. 2. To compare the difference between 1st and 2nd test of shank muscle tiredness and recuperation when there is dynamic contraction of the muscle Hypothesis – it is thought that during 2nd test after 6 months cadets should have more physical power, there should be displayed more intense tiredness and recuperation of shank straighten and bend muscle. Conclusions: 1. During 1st and 2nd test muscle contraction average power in the course of strain has decreased and after 5 min. it has recuperated. 2. Maximum power of shank straighten muscle and work done during the 1st test is bigger than of bend muscle, but during 2nd test there is seen larger tiredness of both muscle. 3. Peak torque of shank straighten muscle during both tests is the same, but peak torque of shank bend muscle is bigger during the 2nd test. 4. There is seen a distinct shank muscle recuperation during both test.

Submitted by Pedro Henrique Rodrigues (pedro.henriquer@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-04T17:46:47Z No. of bitstreams: 2 dissertation_dmc4_final.pdf: 2547061 bytes, checksum: 37ab52f20fadfed5e6ba1cfb7649f971 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-04T17:46:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 dissertation_dmc4_final.pdf: 2547061 bytes, checksum: 37ab52f20fadfed5e6ba1cfb7649f971 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-16 / Since the very first graphical user interfaces, progress indicators have been widely used to provide feedback regarding the execution of a system long-running tasks. In fact, practical experience and formal experiments suggest that such indicators are an important user interface tool, as they enhance the attractiveness and effectiveness of the programs that incorporate them. However, in order to make progress feedback possible, the system services involved must provide on-line monitoring capabilities. As the software systems become increasingly larger and more complex — often involving complex interactions between various different components and abstraction layers —, the crosscutting nature of monitoring concerns can introduce several inherent challenges to the software development: (1) code quality degradation with respect to tangling and scattering; (2) costly software evolution and maintenance difficulties; (3) absence of specific development patterns and regular standardized process guidance; (4) loss of development productivity; and (5) inconsistent monitoring results. In this context, this work provides an analysis of monitoring requirements, possible approaches towards its implementation along with an analysis of the main benefits and weaknesses involved. Furthermore, it is proposed and evaluated a solution to aid the software development by overcoming the monitoring-related inherent challenges, rather by mitigating or completely eliminating the problems. The solution consists of a framework, extended libraries, and generic software process guidelines regarding the monitoring requirements, with focus on the Rational Unified Process (RUP), for exemplification purpose, but not limited to it.

This master's thesis focuses on development of mini-applications for portal environments called portlets. Portal is an alternative type of web information systems used to dynamic portlet management, content personalization and aggregation of content from different data sources. The aim of this thesis is to try an alternative combination of technologies of portals, portlets and portlet bridges. This thesis is one of the first demonstrations of the described combination of technologies and will be used as an educational material by Red Hat company for development of portlets on their portal GateIn. The set of portlets manages user calendars, tasks and contacts. The theoretical part of this thesis compares existing tools for time management and mentions standards for data exchange in this domain. Subsequently it describes all important technologies used in this thesis. The practical part describes the design and the implementation of portlets and evaluates results of this work. The development of the described set of portlets proved that combination of technologies of portals, portlets and portlet birdges is fast and appropriate way how to develop information systems.

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This thesis starts with an overview of the historical record tied to the birth of a new nation studied by Alexis de Tocqueville and Henry Steele Commager. It singles out the works of Henry Nash Smith and Eugene D. Genovese for an understanding, respectively, of the "myth of the frontier" tied to the conquest of the American West and the "plantation myth" that sustained slavery in the American South. Both myths underlie the concept of hybridity or cross-cultural relations in America. This thesis is concerned with the representation or lack of representation of hybridity and the roles played by female characters in connection with the land in two seminal American novels and their film versions---James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, and Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind---and Alice Randall's rewriting of Mitchell's novel, The Wind Done Gone , as a point of contrast. Hybridity is represented in the mixed-race bodies of these characters.

Despite the past decade’s increased adoption of scientific methodologies by startups, most still fail to scale into large companies. The paralyzing plethora of advice, theory and models recommended to startups is poorly matched by practical advice on the applicability and implications of actually following the recommendations. In this action-based research I, an IT consultant for twelve years and founder/co-founder of several startups, try out and evaluate the applicability of methodologies for applying scientific management principles to innovation in early-stage startups. In the first part of my research, I use an naive explorative hands-on approach which results in insights into the limited applicability of popular methodologies such as Growth Hacking and The Lean Startup. These limitations are especially pronounced for early-stage startups who are yet to launch a minimum viable product (MVP), as well as those that have trouble to decide which hypotheses are the riskiest. Most actionable insights during this part stemmed from the engagement in various thought-experiments and reflections, and not from external customer feedback. To remedy this, and to thoroughly evaluate the applicability of a pre-launch market assessment method, I engage in market opportunity discovery following the recommendations set forth by Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI). This hands-on in-depth approach yielded seemingly high-quality actionable insights with direct implications for the product and marketing strategy of the studied early-stage startup. In the discussion part, I reflect over the applicability of the evaluated methodologies and argue that the main difference between applicable and non-applicable methodologies is whether they are manufacturing-based or needs-based. Finally, I reflect over possible implications and suggest that a startup community wide change of mindset from manufacturing-based methodologies such as The Lean Startup to needs-based methodologies such as Outcome-Driven Innovation will minimize the startup innovation-process variability and increase startup efficiency dramatically on a global scale.

The financial industry is and have been going through a transformation due to digitalisation and globalization, recently breaching the long unaffected investment banking sector. Together with the implementation of the MiFID II regulation, which has been a catalyst for investment banks, this has led to increasing competition in the sector.  Evidence suggests, through a cross-discipline consensus, that the traditional comprehension of competitive advantage is no longer sufficient, and that innovation is instead a key strategic issue in order to sustain a competitive position and to potentially strengthen it during change.  This study empirically investigates how investment banks can utilize a job-centric approach to innovation based on causality, i.e. the cause and effect mechanisms that cause customers to make the choices they do in given circumstances. The empirical data consists of interviews with existing and prospective clients to the case-company with regards to the service of commissioned research. A theoretical framework based on the literature is created and used to analyse the qualitative empirical data.  The findings of this thesis suggest that investment banks indeed can develop their services by incorporating a job centric approach in order to stay competitive during an industrial transformation. The passive data obtained as a result of the analysis can be utilized for development and innovation purposes. To competently use the results requires an adaptation to a certain culture of innovative thinking, one that focuses on the job to be done rather than internal processes. / Finansbranschen har genomgått en omvandling på grund av digitalisering och globalisering, som nyligen nått den länge opåverkade investment bank-sektorn som tillsammans med implementationen av MiFID II, som har varit en katalysator för investment banker, har lett till ökad konkurrens inom sektorn.  Bevis antyder, genom vetenskapligt samförstånd, att den traditionella förståelsen av konkurrensfördel inte längre är tillräcklig, och att innovation istället är en nyckelstrategisk fråga för att upprätthålla en konkurrenskraftig position och potentiellt stärka den i förändringstider.  Denna studie undersöker empiriskt hur investeringsbanker kan använda ett jobbcentriskt synsätt på innovation baserat på kausalitet, dvs de orsaks- och effektmekanismerna som får kunderna att göra de val de gör under givna omständigheter. Det empiriska materialet består av intervjuer med befintliga och potentiella kunder till uppdragsgivaren beträffande tjänsten uppdragsanalys. Ett teoretiskt ramverk baserat på litteraturen skapas och används för att analysera de kvalitativa empiriska uppgifterna.  Resultatet av denna studie tyder på att investeringsbanker verkligen kan utveckla sina tjänster genom att integrera en jobbcentrisk strategi för att förbli konkurrenskraftig under en industriell omvandling. Den passiva data som erhållits som ett resultat av analysen kan användas för utvecklings- och innovationsändamål. Att kompetent använda resultaten är dock beroende av att anta en viss kultur för innovativt tänkande, en som fokuserar på jobbet som ska göras snarare än interna processer.

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