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The effectiveness of the referral system in primary health care in the West Rand region : a normative-ethical study with special emphasis on traditional healersMolepo, Edward R. 12 1900 (has links)
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this research is to identify the various levels of health care units, their
relationships and the problems hindering an effective referral system. To achieve
this goal, use is made of a case study of the West Rand area in Gauteng. The
standpoint is that, to achieve Primary Health for all South Africans referral
systems within health care units and levels must be reciprocal. It is argued that
for Primary Health Care to be successful, it must satisfy the goal of affordability
appropriateness and accessibility. Results from the research revealed that four
health care levels, namely traditional healers, health NGOs, Clinics, and
Hospitals. Though there is some degree of referral in the study area, it was
observed that referrals in the study area were not reciprocal. Amongst the major
problems identified as hindering an effective referral system in the study area,
include lack of cooperation between health institutions, poor health infrastructure
and communication network as well as lack of other health paraphernalia. The
research also found that government policy towards some of the health
institutions (Traditional healers) contributes to the inefficiency of proper referrals
in the study area. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die oogmerk van hierdie ondersoek is om die verskillende vlakke van
gesondheidsorgeenhede, hulonderlinge verbande en die probleme wat
doeltreffende verwysings in die wiele ry, te identifiseer. Dit word gedoen
aan die hand van 'n gevallestudie van die Wes-Randarea in Gauteng. Die
uitgangspunt is dat doeltreffende Primêre Gesondheid vir alle Suid-
Afrikaners afhang van resiprokale verwysingsisteme tussen
gesondheidsorgeenhede en -vlakke. Suksesvolle Primêre Gesondheidsorg
vereis bekostigbaarheid, toepaslikheid en toeganklikheid. Die ondersoek
het vier gesondheidsorgvlakke aan die lig gebring: tradisionele genesers,
gesondheids-nie-regerings-organisasies, klinieke en hospitale. Hoewel
daar 'n mate van onderfinge verwysing in die studie-area bestaan, was dit
nie wederkerig nie. Onder die vernaamste struikelblokke vir 'n doeltreffende
verwysingsisteem tel swak samewerking tussen gesondheidsinstellings,
gebrekkige gesondheidsinfrastruktuur en kommunikasienetwerk, en
'n skaarste aan ander gesondheidsmiddelle. Die ondersoek het ook bevind
dat regeringsbeleid aangaande sommige van die gesondheidsinstellings
(tradisionele genesers) bydra tot die ondoeltreffendheid van verwysings in
die studie-area.
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Optimization and verification of changes made to US-EPA 1623 Method to analyse for the presence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in waterKhoza, M. N. L. (Mtetwa) 03 1900 (has links)
Thesis. (M. Tech. (Dept. of Biosciences, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences))--Vaal University of Technology, 2010 / Methods for detecting the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts have been developed and continuous improvement is being done to improve the recovery rate of the target protozoa. Rand Water has adopted their method for isolation and detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts in water from United State Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) Method 1623, 1999. In 2005 changes were made by US-EPA to the Method 1623.
A study was done to improve the performance of the Rand Water Method 06 (2007) used for isolation and detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts. Three methods namely: Rand Water Method 06 (2007), US-EPA Method 1623 (2005) and Drinking Water Inspectorate standard operating procedures (2003) were compared and key different steps in the methods were identified (wrist action speed, centrifuge speed, immunomagnetic separation procedures and addition of pre-treatment steps). Different experiments were conducted to verify and evaluate the difference between two wrist action shaker speeds, three different centrifuge speeds, two slightly different immunomagnetic separation procedures and when a pre-treatment step was included in the method.
Three different types of water matrices (reagent grade water, drinking water and raw water) were used for the experiments and secondary validation. Data obtained from the experiments and secondary validation was statistically analyzed to determine whether there was a significant difference in the recovery of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts. Secondary validation of the Rand Water Method 06 (2007) was performed by implementing the study experiments‟ findings into the method.
The results indicated an increase in the recovery rate of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts when data was compared with the previous secondary validation report. The mean recovery of Cryptosporidium oocysts in reagent grade water samples increased from 31% to 55%, drinking water samples increased from 28% to 44% and raw water decreased from 42% to 29%. The mean recovery of Giardia cysts in reagent grade water samples increased from 31% to 41%, drinking water samples increased from 28% to 46% and raw water decreased from 42% to 32%.
Furthermore, even though the recovery rate of raw water decreased the use of pre-treatment buffer reduced the number of IMS performed per sample by reducing the pellet size. Enumeration of microscope slides was also easier as there was less background interference. The optimization of the Rand Water Method 06 (2007) was successful as the recovery rate of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts from water increased. All the changes that were verified and that increased the recovery rate were incorporated into the improved Rand Water Method 06.
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Dynamics of D-branes in curved backgroundsFredenhagen, Stefan 16 September 2002 (has links)
In den letzten Jahren hat die Erforschung von Branen zu vielen neuen Einsichten in String- und M-Theorie geführt. Ein Großteil dieser Forschung behandelte den Fall großen Volumens, wo geometrische Methoden zuverlässige Informationen liefern. Die Extrapolation in den Bereich, wo die endliche Ausdehnung des Strings wichtig wird (`stringy regime'), erfordert gewöhnlich neue Methoden aus der konformen Feldtheorie mit Randbedingungen. Branen auf Gruppenmannigfaltigkeiten ermöglichen einen guten Zugang zu diesem Problem. Obwohl sie nichttriviale Hintergründe beschreiben, was zu vielen interessanten Effekten führt, sind sie immer noch gut beherrschbar. Sie dienen auch als Bausteine bei den Restklassen- und Orbifoldkonstruktionen von im Wesentlichen allen bekannten konformen Modellen. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die Dynamik von Branen auf Gruppenmannigfaltigkeiten und Restklassenmodellen. In einem bestimmten Grenzfall wird die Dynamik von nichtkommutativen Eichtheorien regiert. Viele der Prozesse lassen sich in den Bereich extrapolieren, wo Stringeffekte eine Rolle spielen. Sie äußern sich als Renormierungsgruppenflüsse auf den zweidimensionalen Weltflächentheorien mit Rändern. Solche Flüsse sind auch von Interesse in der Festkörpertheorie, wo sie Randphänomene in eindimensionalen Systemen beschreiben. Wesentliche Daten über diese dynamischen Prozesse sind in Ladungen von D-Branen kodiert. Wir werden die Resultate, die wir über Prozesse zwischen verschiedenen Brankonfigurationen erhalten, mit der Vermutung vergleichen, dass die Ladungen Werte in getwisteten K-Gruppen annehmen. / In recent years, the study of branes has led to many new insights into string and M-theory. Much of this study was done in the large-volume regime where geometric techniques provide reliable information. The extrapolation into the stringy regime usually requires new methods from boundary conformal field theory. Branes on group manifolds give us a good handle on this issue. Although they describe non-trivial backgrounds leading to many interesting effects, they are still tractable. They also serve as building blocks in the coset and orbifold constructions of essentially all known conformal models. The present thesis investigates the dynamics of branes on group manifolds and coset models. In some limiting regime, the dynamics are governed by non-commuta\-tive gauge theories. Many of the processes can be extrapolated to the stringy regime. They manifest themselves as renormalization group flows on the two-dimensional worldsheet theories with boundaries. Such flows are of interest also in condensed matter theory where they describe boundary phenomena in one-dimensional systems. Essential data on these dynamical processes are encoded in D-brane charges. We will compare the obtained results on processes between brane configurations with the conjecture that the charges take their values in twisted K-groups.
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Consistent description of radiation damping in transient soil-structure interaction / Konsistente Beschreibung der Abstrahldämpfung bei transienter Boden-Bauwerk InteraktionZulkifli, Ediansjah 31 July 2008 (has links) (PDF)
Dynamic soil-structure interaction problems are characterized by an unbounded soil-domain and thus by radiation damping. This radiation damping arises due to wave propagation from the excited structure into the subsoil and may lead to a reduction of the structural response. A consistent description of this radiation damping has been carried out by means of different concepts. A widely used approach truncates the unbounded medium by a special kind of absorbing boundaries which are free of artificial reflection. The resulting finite domain can be treated as usually by finite elements. In this report, an alternative method to represent an unbounded medium in a dynamic analysis is presented. In principle, it is a conjunction of the boundary element method (BEM) in the frequency domain to reproduce the far-field and the finite element method (FEM) in the time domain to analyze the near-field. This alternative procedure avoids the introduction of any artificial boundaries. The procedure is based on a rational approximation of the dynamic stiffness of the unbounded domain in the frequency-domain. In this report, the dynamic stiffness of the unbounded domain is obtained from the BEM. The matrix-valued coefficients of the rational approximation function are determined by means of a least-square procedure. The time-domain representation is achieved by splitting the rational force-displacement relation into a series of linear functions in the frequency-domain corresponding with first order differential equations in the time-domain. This splitting process has been demonstrated as numerically effective and in addition, no Fourier transformation is necessary. In this thesis, dynamic soil-structure interaction problems with a relatively large number of degrees of freedom have been examined. These degrees of freedom arise from the discretization of the coupling interface, internal variables from the splitting procedure and from modeling the structure. The new method is especially suitable for systems with transient excitations as arising from rotating machines at startup and shutdown. The theoretical part of the thesis contains elements of system theory and discusses particularly stability problems arising from the rational approximation. The practical part presents a large amount of convergence studies and numerical results for layered soil and finally represents the propagation damping as a kind of damping ratio which is typically used in elementary structural dynamics. / In der Dynamik der Boden-Bauwerk-Interaktion wird der Boden in vielen Fällen durch ein unbegrenztes elastisches Medium beschrieben, wodurch das Phänomen der Abstrahldämpfung begründet wird. Diese Dämpfung entsteht durch Energietransfer von der erregten Struktur in den Boden durch Wellenausbreitung und reduziert somit die Strukturschwingungen. Um das infinite Bodengebiet dennoch durch finite Elemente beschreiben zu können, werden üblicherweise als Hilfsmaßnahme künstliche sogenannte absorbierende Ränder eingeführt. In dieser Arbeit wird eine alternative Methode zur Darstellung des unbegrenzten Mediums in der Dynamik vorgelegt. Im Prinzip handelt es sich um eine Kopplung der Rand-Element-Methode (REM) für den unendlichen Boden (das sogenannte Fernfeld) im Frequenzbereich und der Finite-Element-Methode (FEM) für das Nahfeld im Zeitbereich. Dieses alternative Verfahren vermeidet die Einführung künstlicher Ränder. Das Verfahren basiert auf einer rationalen Beschreibung der dynamischen Steifigkeit des Fernfeldes im Frequenzbereich. Diese Steifigkeit wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit durch die Rand-Element-Methode erzeugt. Die Matrix-wertigen Koeffizienten der rationalen Frequenzfunktion werden durch Minimierung des Fehlerquadrates berechnet. Die Transformation dieser Frequenzdarstellung in den Zeitbereich gelingt durch algebraische Überführung der rationalen Funktion in ein in der Frequenz lineares Hypersystem mit einer zugeordneten Zustandsgleichung erste Ordnung im Zeitbereich. Dieser Prozess hat sich als numerisch effektiv erwiesen und erfordert darüberhinaus keine Fourier-Transformation. Das entwickelte Vorgehen wird in dieser Arbeit an Problemen der dynamischen Boden-Bauwerk-Interaktion mit einer großen Anzahl von Freiheitsgraden erprobt. Diese Freiheitsgrade folgen aus der Diskretisierung in der Koppelfuge zwischen Boden und Struktur, der Diskretisierung der Struktur selbst und aus der Überführung in das Hypersystem mittels interner Variablen. Das neue Verfahren eignet sich insbesondere für Systeme mit transienter Erregung, wie sie beim An- und Auslaufen von Rotationsmaschinen ensteht. Der theoretische Teil der Arbeit wird geprägt durch Elemente der Systemtheorie und setzt sich zudem mit typischen Stabilitätsproblemen auseinander, die aus der rationalen Beschreibung entstehen. Der praktische Teil präsentiert Konvergenzstudien und numerische Ergebnisse für Boden-Bauwerk- Interaktionsprobleme mit geschichtetem Boden bei transienter Erregung mit Resonanzdurchlauf. Zudem gelingt eine Darstellung der Abstrahldämpfung in Form des Dämpfungsgrades D, wie er in der klassischen Strukturdynamik verwendet wird.
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Analysis of the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) as a promotional tool for the South African automotive industry in the global automotive environmentLamprecht, Norman 30 June 2006 (has links)
The Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) was implemented on 1 September 1995 in the context of the country's political and economic liberalisation and the major structural shift in government policy and the trade regime. In an intensely competitive global environment, the strategies of a few dominant motor vehicle manufacturers, mainly operating from the Triad regions of North America, Europe and Japan, impact significantly on the developments of the global automotive industry.
Over the past decade the small, highly protected and inwardly focused South African automotive industry has become fully integrated in the global strategies of foreign parent companies. As South Africa's leading manufacturing sector, the automotive sector is contributing significantly to the country's economy in terms of exports, investment, employment and the gross domestic product.
The objective of the study was to establish and measure the relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool in the global automotive environment by capturing the responses and perceptions of direct automotive industry exporters and stakeholders for
* the South African automotive industry in general, and
* the companies forming part of the empirical survey.
To satisfy the objectives of the study, the research methodology incorporated an extensive primary and secondary research phase (qualitative and quantitative). A structured empirical survey was used to collect the primary data. The survey data were captured and processed by the Bureau for Market Research (BMR), Unisa.
The main findings of the study are that:
* The promotional relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool is embedded in the programme's ability to trigger interest in the South African automotive industry, to generate business and to attract investments.
* The MIDP is successful in contributing to the automotive sector's international competitiveness and is therefore a very important promotional tool for convincing foreign parent companies to consider South Africa as an investment destination.
* The South African automotive industry would not be able to cope with global competition without the MIDP.
* Different factors impact on the business operations of the South African automotive industry in general and the specific company in particular and the factors are viewed differently by the selected groups based on their demographic details.
The process of trade liberalisation is forcing many South African companies to encounter both intensified competition and new forms of competition. The South African government's target of a 6 percent economic growth rate by 2010 will largely depend on the ongoing successes achieved in priority sectors such as the domestic automotive sector. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)
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La comunicación de la moda sostenible a partir de la imagen de marca ecológica en Instragram: Caso InsectaMarín López, Geraldinne Hajaira 15 November 2019 (has links)
Entre el 2001 y el 2017, el Perú ha perdido 2 millones 130 mil 122 hectáreas de bosque debido a las prácticas de explotación de recursos (MAAP, 2017). Según el informe de Lima cómo vamos (2011), el 47.8% de limeños consideraron a la contaminación ambiental como un problema sumamente importante. La creciente toma de conciencia ambiental ha permitido el ingreso a más de 170 Pymes de moda ecológica que impulsan mediante sus productos contrarrestar el impacto negativo al medio ambiente (Economía verde, 2019). Una de ellas es Insecta que ha despertado el interés de usuarios de la red social de Instagram hacia el consumo de sus productos de elaborados de fibras de piña. El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo “ Demostrar si existe una valorización de importancia en el consumidor limeño en relación a la estrategia de comunicación de la marca Insecta compartida en Instagram como marca ecológica”. Como menciona Arseculeratne y Yazdanifard (2014) una marca ecológica debe reflejar su proceso productivo ecoamigable. Y para tener éxito comercial como ecológicos debe comunicarlo de manera efectiva” (Pickett et al., 1995). Los resultados de la investigación resaltan el poco conocimiento acerca de los procesos del producto de la marca Insecta que difunde a través de su intención medioambiental. Teniendo en cuenta que Instagram es una de las redes con gran audiencia joven, Insecta no logra transmitir un aspecto emocional hacia los consumidores limeños. / In period of 2001 and 2017, Peru lost 2 million 130 thousand 122 hectares of forest due to resource exploitation practices (MAAP, 2017). According to Lima's how we are going (2011), 47.8% of limeños considered environmental pollution to be a very important problem. The growing awareness of the environment has allowed the entry of more than 170 small and medium business of ecological fashion that promote through their products to counteract the negative impact on the environment (Economía verde, 2019). One of them is Insecta that has aroused the interest of users of the social network of Instagram towards the consumption of its products made of pineapple fibers. This research work aims to "Demonstrate whether there is an appreciation of importance in consumers in relation to the communication strategy of the Insecta brand shared on Instagram as an ecological brand". As Arseculeratne and Yazdanifard (2014) mentions, an ecological brand must reflect its eco-friendly production process. And to be commercially successful as ecological, it must be communicated effectively ”(Pickett et al., 1995). The research results are that people who buy his products and interact in his social media, they don’t know about product processes. Taking into account that Instagram is one of the networks with a large young audience, Insecta fails to convey an emotional aspect on Instagram. / Trabajo de investigación
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Consistent description of radiation damping in transient soil-structure interactionZulkifli, Ediansjah 16 July 2008 (has links)
Dynamic soil-structure interaction problems are characterized by an unbounded soil-domain and thus by radiation damping. This radiation damping arises due to wave propagation from the excited structure into the subsoil and may lead to a reduction of the structural response. A consistent description of this radiation damping has been carried out by means of different concepts. A widely used approach truncates the unbounded medium by a special kind of absorbing boundaries which are free of artificial reflection. The resulting finite domain can be treated as usually by finite elements. In this report, an alternative method to represent an unbounded medium in a dynamic analysis is presented. In principle, it is a conjunction of the boundary element method (BEM) in the frequency domain to reproduce the far-field and the finite element method (FEM) in the time domain to analyze the near-field. This alternative procedure avoids the introduction of any artificial boundaries. The procedure is based on a rational approximation of the dynamic stiffness of the unbounded domain in the frequency-domain. In this report, the dynamic stiffness of the unbounded domain is obtained from the BEM. The matrix-valued coefficients of the rational approximation function are determined by means of a least-square procedure. The time-domain representation is achieved by splitting the rational force-displacement relation into a series of linear functions in the frequency-domain corresponding with first order differential equations in the time-domain. This splitting process has been demonstrated as numerically effective and in addition, no Fourier transformation is necessary. In this thesis, dynamic soil-structure interaction problems with a relatively large number of degrees of freedom have been examined. These degrees of freedom arise from the discretization of the coupling interface, internal variables from the splitting procedure and from modeling the structure. The new method is especially suitable for systems with transient excitations as arising from rotating machines at startup and shutdown. The theoretical part of the thesis contains elements of system theory and discusses particularly stability problems arising from the rational approximation. The practical part presents a large amount of convergence studies and numerical results for layered soil and finally represents the propagation damping as a kind of damping ratio which is typically used in elementary structural dynamics. / In der Dynamik der Boden-Bauwerk-Interaktion wird der Boden in vielen Fällen durch ein unbegrenztes elastisches Medium beschrieben, wodurch das Phänomen der Abstrahldämpfung begründet wird. Diese Dämpfung entsteht durch Energietransfer von der erregten Struktur in den Boden durch Wellenausbreitung und reduziert somit die Strukturschwingungen. Um das infinite Bodengebiet dennoch durch finite Elemente beschreiben zu können, werden üblicherweise als Hilfsmaßnahme künstliche sogenannte absorbierende Ränder eingeführt. In dieser Arbeit wird eine alternative Methode zur Darstellung des unbegrenzten Mediums in der Dynamik vorgelegt. Im Prinzip handelt es sich um eine Kopplung der Rand-Element-Methode (REM) für den unendlichen Boden (das sogenannte Fernfeld) im Frequenzbereich und der Finite-Element-Methode (FEM) für das Nahfeld im Zeitbereich. Dieses alternative Verfahren vermeidet die Einführung künstlicher Ränder. Das Verfahren basiert auf einer rationalen Beschreibung der dynamischen Steifigkeit des Fernfeldes im Frequenzbereich. Diese Steifigkeit wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit durch die Rand-Element-Methode erzeugt. Die Matrix-wertigen Koeffizienten der rationalen Frequenzfunktion werden durch Minimierung des Fehlerquadrates berechnet. Die Transformation dieser Frequenzdarstellung in den Zeitbereich gelingt durch algebraische Überführung der rationalen Funktion in ein in der Frequenz lineares Hypersystem mit einer zugeordneten Zustandsgleichung erste Ordnung im Zeitbereich. Dieser Prozess hat sich als numerisch effektiv erwiesen und erfordert darüberhinaus keine Fourier-Transformation. Das entwickelte Vorgehen wird in dieser Arbeit an Problemen der dynamischen Boden-Bauwerk-Interaktion mit einer großen Anzahl von Freiheitsgraden erprobt. Diese Freiheitsgrade folgen aus der Diskretisierung in der Koppelfuge zwischen Boden und Struktur, der Diskretisierung der Struktur selbst und aus der Überführung in das Hypersystem mittels interner Variablen. Das neue Verfahren eignet sich insbesondere für Systeme mit transienter Erregung, wie sie beim An- und Auslaufen von Rotationsmaschinen ensteht. Der theoretische Teil der Arbeit wird geprägt durch Elemente der Systemtheorie und setzt sich zudem mit typischen Stabilitätsproblemen auseinander, die aus der rationalen Beschreibung entstehen. Der praktische Teil präsentiert Konvergenzstudien und numerische Ergebnisse für Boden-Bauwerk- Interaktionsprobleme mit geschichtetem Boden bei transienter Erregung mit Resonanzdurchlauf. Zudem gelingt eine Darstellung der Abstrahldämpfung in Form des Dämpfungsgrades D, wie er in der klassischen Strukturdynamik verwendet wird.
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Frank Miller's Ideals of HeroismJones, Stephen Matthew 18 May 2007 (has links)
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This project responds to previous available literature on the subject of heroism, which tends to deal with either an isolated work or with
genre- and archetype-specific analysis, and applies their concepts to case studies of Frank Miller’s various heroic models. In particular, this project addresses the film Sin City and the graphic novel The Dark Knight Strikes Again, arguing that DK2 serves as a departure of sorts from Miller’s ideals of heroism in his middle years (such as those presented in Sin City), as the protagonist becomes more of a revolutionary engaged in revamping society than the vigilante or “lone wolf” on the fringes of society. With the aforementioned sources as a general background, it is evident that Miller’s heroic ideals shift in their active capacity and scope but remain more or less steady in their strong individual sense of ethical duty. In addition, these sources aid in establishing the comparisons Miller actually invites to traditional, “archetypal” understandings of the hero as well as to the particular heroic form of Ayn Rand, which he explicitly references in DK2.
Miller’s response to these previous models bolsters the assertion that theories of heroic ideals are inherently political as they deal with representations of the kind of person a hero must be, in turn involving issues of gender, ethnicity and class.
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Counter-Terrorism: When Do states Adopt New Anti-Terror Legislation?Clesca, Princelee 01 August 2015 (has links)
The intent of this thesis is to research the anti-terror legislation of 15 countries and the history of terrorist incidents within those countries. Both the anti-terror legislation and the history of terrorist incidents will be researched within the time period of 1980 to 2009, a 30 year span. This thesis will seek to establish a relationship between the occurrence of terrorist events and when states change their anti-terror legislation. Legislation enacted can vary greatly. Common changes in legislation seek to undercut the financing of terrorist organizations, criminalize behaviors, or empower state surveillance capabilities. A quantitative analysis will be performed to establish a relationship between terrorist attacks and legislative changes. A qualitative discussion will follow to analyze specific anti-terror legislation passed by states in response to terrorist events.
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Integrating enterprise resource planning into electronic content management in a South African water utility companyMello, Vincent Malesela 12 1900 (has links)
Bibliography: pages 184-207 / Digital records are either stored in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system or
electronic content management (ECM), or managed without the benefit of either system.
In many countries, public and private organisations have implemented ECM systems, some
have implemented ERP systems and others generate digital records without the benefit of
any controlled system. In most organisations such systems are not integrated resulting in
duplication and fragmentation of records. The South African Water Utility company, Rand
Water, has implemented both ERP and ECM systems. Investing in these systems as an
organisation comes at a cost but it can add value when used optimally to improve the
organisation’s productivity and efficiency. To achieve high productivity and efficiency,
integration of an ERP system into an ECM system is a requirement but remains lacking.
This qualitative study utilised the Actor Network Theory to explore the integration of ERP
into ECM at the South African Water Utility company, Rand Water, with a view to
developing a framework for integration of the systems. The study utilised a system analysis
case design with fourteen interviews conducted at different levels in the organisation and
diverse business units using ERP and ECM to perform their operational deliverables in line
with the organisation’s business objectives. The interviews were augmented with data from
document analysis of policies, specifications and functionalities of the systems to
determine the feasibility of integration. The study established that the water utility
company has implemented ERP systems (SAP) since 1994 and ECM system since 1991
(Papertrail and later IBM FileNet) with only information flow module integrated. The study
suggested that to integrate ERP into ECM, human and non-human actors need to
collaborate to ensure that the actor network being integrated is achieved. The study also
presents a strategy discussion for integrating ERP into ECM. A further study on the transfer
of digital records in ECM into archival custody is recommended. / Information Science / D. Phil. (Information Science)
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