Ph.D.

Kokybės vadyba yra tokia jos kategorija ir metodai, kuriuos pasirinkusi organizacija nuolat tobulėja, siekdama kuo veiksmingiau patenkinti vartotojų poreikius, gerindama paslaugas ir mažindama kaštus. Tai viena naujausių ir efektyviausių vadybos koncepcijų, kuri leidžia nuolat tobulinti organizavimo procesus(Stancikas, Bagdonienė, 2004). Ikimokyklinis ugdymas yra reikšmingas ne tik sėkmingai vaikų socializacijai, bet ir tėvams kaip rinkos dalyviams., bet ir tėvams kaip rinkos dalyviams. Tačiau reikia pripažinti, kad nors ikimokyklinio ugdymo svarba yra nenuginčijama, šios paslaugos nėra visapusiškai prieinamos šeimai ir vaikui. Darbo mokslinę problemą - kaip užtikrinant ikimokyklinių ugdymo paslaugų šeimai ir vaikui prieinamumą, užtikrinti kokybišką ikimokyklinių paslaugų valdymą ir kokybę. Darbo tikslas: ištirti ikimokyklinių ugdymo paslaugų kokybę šeimai ir vaikui prieinamumo principo kontekste. Uždaviniai: išanalizuoti prieinamumo esmę, atskleisti užsienio šalių kokybiškų ikimokyklinių paslaugų tiekimo patirtį, atlikti empirinį tyrimą ir nustatyti ikimokyklinių ugdymo įstaigų vadovų patirtį, teikiant kokybiškas ugdymo paslaugas šeimai ir vaikui prieinamumo principo kontekste. Nustatyta: Ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugos kokybė teoriškai gali būti grindžiama bendrosiomis kokybės valdymo ir paslaugos koncepcijomis, bei Lietuvos Respublikos švietimo dokumentuose suformuluotais kokybės valdymo kontekstais. Empiriniu tyrimu buvo atskleista į kokias ikimokyklinio ugdymo paslaugas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Quality management is such category and methods and if it was chosen by an organization it helps organization to constantly develop, satisfy needs of consumers more efficiently and improves services and decreases costs. This is one of the most resent and effective management conceptions that allow constantly develop organizational processes (Stancikas, Bagdonienė, 2004). Preschool education is important not only for successful socialization of children but also for parents as participants of the market. However, these services are not entirely available to families and children even if preschool education importance is undeniable. The scientific problem of the work is the question of ensuring availability of preschool education services for families and children and ensuring management and quality of preschool services. Purpose of work is to examine quality of preschool education services for families and children. Tasks: to analyze essence of availability, to reveal experience of foreign countries providing quality preschool services, to perform empirical research and indicate experience of heads of institutions of preschool education in providing quality education services for families and children in context of principle of availability. It was determined that quality of preschool education services theoretically can be based by general conceptions of quality management and services and quality management contexts formulated in educational documentation of the... [to full text]

This thesis is concerned with the development of a new measurement device for the realistic assessment of braking capability of landing airplanes for winter runways. Landing represents one of the most safety-critical phases of aircraft operation. Aircraft runway excursion incidents occur due to the unpredictability of the runway pavement condition. This is especially true during winter time when the runway is often covered by deformable contaminants. Several accidents are discussed that list the deteriorated condition of the runway pavement and the inability to accurately report this condition as the main causes for the excursions. The accuracy of the approaches currently adopted by the airport authorities around the world to monitor the condition of the runway pavement are evaluated. The conventional and current practice of runway condition monitoring is focused on identifying the maximum tire-pavement frictional drag mu value and often neglects the characteristics of actual aircraft brake control system as well as the comprehensive effects coming from various factors such as deformable contaminants on the winter runway. The braking availability tester discussed here is designed to take a different approach for the realistic assessment of braking availability of landing aircrafts. The main idea of this device is to mimic the braking operation of actual aircrafts as closely as possible by incorporating the same brake mechanism and the brake control system used in existing aircrafts. The architecture of the device from the ground-up including the suite of sensors, the structure of the wheel, important actuators, and the real-time brake control system are discussed in detail. More importantly, the operational principles of the braking availability tester (BAT) are outlined which help one understand how the system works together. A new method to quantify the braking availability on the runway using the BAT is explained. The testing and data collection strategy for implementing this technique is also outlined. Additionally, the results from preliminary tests are presented to verify the functionality of the BAT. The results are used to verify that the BAT operates with the brake control system of an aircraft. Finally, experimental data sets from dry and contaminated pavement testing are presented to show the effect of different weather conditions on the operation of the BAT.

Surgical services contribute to a large proportion of a hospital’s costs and revenues thus it is important to understand key performance drivers so that resources can be distributed in an informed way. Organizational policies can affect the performance of the peri-operative process, however, there is a lack of knowledge within the health services literature regarding how the organizational policies of a surgical service affect surgeons’ availability to perform operations. Additionally, simulation-based research has largely focused on operating room planning and scheduling, not on how surgeons’ operating time may be affected by organizational policies. The objective of this simulation study was to estimate the effects of organizational policies on surgeons’ availability to operate in the context of cardiac surgical care. The major finding was that surgeons’ availability to operate declines if surgeons are not permitted to be on-call and scheduled in the OR for non-emergency operations on the same day.

Surgical services contribute to a large proportion of a hospital’s costs and revenues thus it is important to understand key performance drivers so that resources can be distributed in an informed way. Organizational policies can affect the performance of the peri-operative process, however, there is a lack of knowledge within the health services literature regarding how the organizational policies of a surgical service affect surgeons’ availability to perform operations. Additionally, simulation-based research has largely focused on operating room planning and scheduling, not on how surgeons’ operating time may be affected by organizational policies. The objective of this simulation study was to estimate the effects of organizational policies on surgeons’ availability to operate in the context of cardiac surgical care. The major finding was that surgeons’ availability to operate declines if surgeons are not permitted to be on-call and scheduled in the OR for non-emergency operations on the same day.

This report is about how accessibility in Eskilstuna's central trade street Kungsgatan can be improved, based on my background as spatial configuration designer, and by Eskilstuna's residents' opinions. In this report I explain what methods I have used, and how I attained my results. The goal of this project was to create ideal accessibility in the central part of Kungsgatan in Eskilstuna. Since Fristadstorget was rebuilt, and since the city is growing in terms of housing and residents, accessibility will in the near future be even more limited for visitors than it is today. My design proposal is designed based on street conditions, residents' opinions and Eskilstuna's existing ideas. / Denna rapport handlar om hur framkomligheten på Eskilstunas centrala handelsgata Kungsgatan kan förbättras utifrån min bakgrund som rumslig gestaltare samt efter Eskilstunas invånares åsikter. I rapporten redovisar jag vilka metoder jag använt mig av och hur jag kommit fram till mitt resultat. Syftet med arbetet var att skapa den ultimata framkomligheten på den centrala delen av Kungsgatan i Eskilstuna. Genom att Fristadstorget byggs om och innerstaden växer i form av bostäder och invånare så kommer framkomligheten bli än mer begränsad för besökarna än vad den är idag. Designförslaget är utformat utifrån gatans förutsättningar, invånarnas åsikter samt Eskilstuna kommuns befintliga idéer.

The face of the workplace has changed dramatically over the past decade and most organisations have to survive in a fiercely competitive global economy. The impact of the changing world of work is most evident in changes in the psychological contract (agreement) between employees and organisations. Employees are expected to give more in terms of time, effort, skills and flexibility, whereas they receive less in terms of career opportunities, lifetime employment and job security. It is in view of the above work complexities that employee engagement has become a focus area. in particular, to understand the mediating effects of certain psychological conditions in relation to work engagement. "Why do some employees stay engaged at work, even whilst being challenged with consistent change and greater job insecurity and why do others' disengage at work?" The objective of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of three psychological conditions, namely psychological meaningfulness, psychological safety, and psychological availability on employees' work engagement. A survey research design was used with a questionnaire as data-gathering instrument. Stratified random samples (N=171) were taken from employees of a multinational oil company. The Work Engagement Scale and the Work Experiences Scale were administered. Descriptive statistics (e.g. means and standard deviations) were used to analyse the data. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationships between the variables. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the effects of the variables in this study. The results confirmed that psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability were significant predictors of work engagement. Meaningfulness displayed the strongest positive relation with engagement. The relation of work role fit with engagement was fully mediated by the psychological condition of meaningfulness. Cognitive, emotional and physical resources had the strongest effect on psychological availability. Feelings of self- consciousness impacted on psychological availability, implying that someone who is less self-conscious is psychologically more available to engage at work. It was therefore confirmed that psychological meaningfulness fully mediated the effects of work role fit on engagement and psychological availability fully mediated the effects of resources and self-consciousness on engagement. Limitations in the research are identified and recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

Thesis (M.A. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The industrialised world of today is characterised by transformation and concepts such as downsising, rightsising and restructuring have become a reality. South Africa is not excluded from this worldwide phenomenon. Economic and political changes as well as the shrinking labour market are also aggravating circumstances, which lead to increased job insecurity. This phenomenon might have a negative impact on employees' work engagement Due to all these changes, most organisations have to survive in a competitive global economy. Their survival depends on their ability to satisfy customer needs, while achieving quality, flexibility, innovation and organisational responsibility by the engagement and commitment of employees. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between antecedents (work role fit, co-worker relations, supervisor relations, co-worker norms, self-consciousness, resources and growth), psychological conditions (i.e. psychological meaningfuhaess, psychological availability, and psychological safety) and work engagement in a financial institution. A cross-sectional survey design was utilised. Employees (N= 132) in a financial institution, more specifically the branch-banking unit of FirstRand Group in the Free State Province, were included in the study. The Work Experience Scale and the Work Engagement Scale were administered together with a biographical questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results showed that psychological meaningfuhaess and psychological availability were significant predictors of work engagement. Cognitive, emotional and physical resources had the strongest effect on work engagement. Multiple regression analyses showed that psychological meaningfuhaess partially mediated the relationship between work role fit, co-worker relations, growth and work engagement. A total of 5% of the variance in psychological meaningfulness and a total of 2% of the variance in psychological availability were predicted by work role fit. Psychological availability partially mediated the relationship between resources, self-consciousness and work engagement. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Thesis (M.A. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.