Innovation is extremely important for companies to gain and sustain competitive advantage in the modern business environment. Nowadays ability to adapt and evolve is crucial for any company willing to survive. The key to effective adaption and evolvement is innovation. New products are commonly seen as an output of innovation whereas new product development process is considered to be a sub-process of innovation.  The thesis focuses on development of a new product in the company the author has been working for. It aims at assessing the methods that the company is employing to develop new products. The goal is to determine the flaws in the new product development process of the company and the negative effects on performance and output the flaws have.  The thesis describes the generic new product development process, a certain form of which is used by majority of the companies involved in new product development. It contains a narrative literature review of articles documenting research in the field of best practices of new product development. It also reviews studies of critical factors of new product success, which separate the best performing companies from the others.  The thesis uses the best practice research and success factors studies as a reference point to assess the methods and evaluate the process that the company used to develop the product the thesis is focused on. The thesis also describes the market and the competition that the company is facing. In the end it gives a number of recommendations. The company can use the results as guidelines for improvement.

Background: Breastfeeding protects against a variety of adverse health outcomes for mothers and babies. Global best practices, known as the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), have been developed to support the initiation and exclusivity of breastfeeding during the post-delivery hospital stay. The aims of this study were to explore the literature related to the impact of the BFHI on breastfeeding disparities in the U.S.; compare the impact of exposure to these best practices on exclusive breastfeeding rates in Appalachian and non-Appalachian hospitals; and to understand knowledge, perceptions, and barriers to breastfeeding of postpartum mothers receiving care in a Northeast Tennessee OB/GYN clinic and regional International Board Certified Lactation Consultants’ (IBCLCs®) knowledge, perceptions, and barriers to implementation of the BFHI. Methods: A scoping review was completed to explore literature related to exposure to the BFHI and breastfeeding disparities using the Levac, Colquhoun, and O’Brien methodology. A linear regression analysis of Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) breastfeeding best practice scores and breastfeeding rates at discharge was conducted comparing this relationship in Appalachian and non-Appalachian hospitals. Finally, a qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to gather information from postpartum mothers and regional IBCLCs®. Results: The BFHI has been found to reduce both geographic and racial/ethnic disparities in the U.S., but there are limited studies examining this topic. While there was a significant negative relationship between Appalachian hospitals and exclusive breastfeeding rates at discharge (p=0.0003), there was no significant difference in the relationship between total mPINC scores and exclusive breastfeeding rates at hospital discharge between the two designations (0.4539). Furthermore, both postpartum patients and regional IBCLCs® reported that support, education, and self-efficacy were all necessary to assist mothers on their infant feeding journey. Implications: These findings highlight the need for studies examining the impact of the BFHI on breastfeeding disparities. Research also needs to be conducted to better understand breastfeeding rates in economically distressed, rural areas of the country. Ultimately, risk-stratified interventions supporting the specific needs of a population should be identified or developed to support and empower postpartum mothers to achieve their infant feeding goals.

Coaching is an actionable way for adults to learn. For purposes of this study, learning was conceptualized  by UNESCO\'s five pillars of learning to know, do, live together, be, and learning to transform oneself and society. The practice of coaching was defined as a social enterprise where, through a process of inquiry and reflection, coaches help coachees achieve their personal and professional goals through learning, self-awareness and behavior change. As an application of learning for adults, coaching may be considered a reflection of andragogy "the art and science of helping adults learn" a la Knowles. The following questions guided the inquiry: 1. To what extent is there a relationship between andragogy in practice and coaching in practice as demonstrated by coaches? 2. Specifically, which principles and processes of andragogy are reflected in the practice of coaching? 3. What are the best practices of coaches who use andragogy in their practice? Using a mixed method, sequential explanatory strategy, business and life coaches were surveyed, with follow-up interviews to high scorers, to see which principles and processes of andragogy informed their coaching practices. An instrument, originally developed by Henschke (1989) for teachers, was modified for use with coaches, and measured the extent to which coaches used the philosophy of andragogy in their practices. Knowles\' six principles and eight processes of andragogy formed the operational framework. Findings indicated that 98% of the coaches reported using andragogy on an average or above basis, with 48% of the group at above average or high above average levels. Andragogical elements of empathy, trust and accommodating coachee uniqueness were revealed at above average or high above average levels. Of those interviewed, 100% of the coaches reported using the principles and processes of andragogy in their practices. Based on their stories, best practices (88) for engaging andragogy in the practice of coaching were developed. The overarching themes from the study were: Andragogy is a way of being in coaching; the processes of andragogy go beyond the context of coaching; and an emergence of a conceptual framework that embraced the pillars of learning, andragogy and the practice of coaching. / Ph. D.

Women accounted for 20% of the cumulative AIDS cases in the United States as of 2015. Although their incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has declined in recent years, the rates of new infections and AIDS diagnoses for women of color have remained high. Women with HIV tend to be more vulnerable than men with this disease. They are more likely to be poor, uninsured, depressed, and homeless; to have experienced interpersonal violence; and to be caregivers. Attention to psychosocial needs and building trust are fundamental to engaging HIV-positive women in care and helping them attain optimal health.

This program evaluation examines the effectiveness of a school-based dental clinic. A repeated-measures design was used to longitudinally examine secondary data from participants (N = 293). Encounter intensity was developed to normalize data. Multivariate analysis of variance and Kruskal–Wallis test were used to investigate the effect of encounter intensity on the change in decay, restorations, and treatment urgency. A Pearson’s correlation was used to measure the strengths of association. Encounter intensity had a statistically significant effect on change in decay (p =.005), restorations (p =.000), and treatment urgency (p =.001). As encounter intensity increased, there was a significant association with the decrease in decay (−.167), increase in restorations (.221), and reduction in referral urgency (−.188). Incorporating dental care into a school-based health center resulted in improved oral health in underserved children while overcoming barriers that typically restrict access. The collaboration of school nurses with the school-based dental clinic was an important element for maximizing student access to dental care.

Magister Legum - LLM / The research will evaluate and discuss the importance of Deposit Insurance Systems (DIS) and the necessity of having this system. Important to the evaluation is an analytical consideration of how the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the National Treasury (NT) and other global financial bodies proposed the approach thereof. Insofar as most jurisdictions had already adopted the DIS as encouraged by the international financial institutions, the study shall determine whether it is plausible for South Africa to derive guidance in her approach taking into account the potential risks posed by the safety-net.

Code smells are defined as poor implementation and coding practices, and as a result decrease the overall quality of a source code. A number of code smell detection tools are available to automatically detect poor implementation choices, i.e., code smells. The detection of code smells is essential in order to improve the quality of the source code. This report aims to evaluate the accuracy and quality of seven different open-source code smell detection tools, with the purpose of establishing their level of trustworthiness.To assess the trustworthiness of a tool, we utilize a controlled experiment in which several versions of each tool are scrutinized using the most recent version of the same tool. In particular, we wanted to verify to what extent the code smell detection tools that reveal code smells in other systems, contain smells themselves. We further study the evolution of code smells in the tools in terms of number, types of code smells and code smell density.

Social workers and other human services professionals helping families reintegrate after parental incarceration deal with multiple issues without a model of for facilitating family resilience. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore the essence of the perceived role, activities, and practices of a sample of social workers and other human service professionals engaged in the use of family group conferences (FGCs). FGCs are also referred to as restorative justice, as they inform and assist human service professionals in developing clinical interventions and best practices to support reintegration, family preservation, and stabilization. The framework for this study was built around restorative justice theory, resiliency theory, and a larger social ecological theory and focused on the use of FGCs as a developing practice within family systems and the community. The primary research questions investigated the practitioners' experiences using FGCs. Data came from interviews of participants (15) drawn from professional associations and included their own case notes and reflections. The data was sorted and analyzed with the assistance of qualitative analysis software (Atlas.Ti7) to search for themes that may assist in identifying the phenomenon. The findings suggest that the FGC model should consist of a training curriculum, consistent practice, and dedicated and committed financial resources to support programs. This study impacts social change by informing human services professionals of current best practices and may provide a model of FGCs that will help implement services to families.

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Low-code development is an alternative to regular software development where the developer is able to build software and websites using a drag and drop interface instead of writing code. Low-code development has gained popularity in recent years, one of the reasons for this is the broader targeted audience which is citizen developers, people with no previous knowledge and experience in programming and web development. However it is unclear if low-code development can uphold the standards set by software development best practices. The purpose of this study is to investigate how low-code development corresponds to best practices in software development. Maintainability, flexibility, portability, reusability, readability, and testability are the six best practices that are specifically investigated in this study. Design and creation was used as the methodology to investigate whether these best practices can be used in low-code development. A system and a website was built in partnership with CGI, using Microsoft Power Platform as the low-code development tool.  The findings of the study indicate that low-code development has a number of limitations when compared to best practices in software development. The limited ability to customize code makes it difficult to accomplish maintainability, flexibility, and testability in low-code development. Additionally, it might be challenging to accomplish portability because low-code development platforms are not always interoperable, and reusability is limited due to the differences in implementation between platforms. Furthermore, it is often difficult to follow the logic flow of a low-code system which makes readability a challenge in low-code development.  While some best practices can be adapted to low-code development, the study draws the conclusion that low-code development still has a long way to go before it can fully live up to best practices in software development. In summary, this study highlights the limitations of low-code development in comparison to best practices for software development and proposes that additional research is required to overcome these limitations.