Managing relations with customers has been a main concern for business organisations from different sizes and fields. Such a concern has grown rapidly in the last few decades for a number of reasons such as the development of new technologies especially in the field of information technology (IT). Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a newly emerged concept in the fields of IT and business that aims to strengthen the relationships between an organisation and its customers. Despite the promising expectations of implementing such a concept by many organisations, a significant number of CRM projects fail or result in disappointing outcomes that fall far short of expectations. This motivated researchers and practitioners to study the sources of failure and the factors of success in CRM implementation. Although CRM existed first in western organisations, it has spread almost all over the world as an increasing number of firms are implementing or planning to implement CRM. This research designed an integrated framework for investigating and evaluating the implementation of CRM in developing countries. The design of this framework was based on previous studies in the field of CRM implementation especially in the area of studying CRM success and failure. It is also based on the common sense and knowledge of the researcher in the field of CRM. To help identify successful implementation of CRM and to provide organisations with a guide to implement CRM projects, the research reviewed and organised the literature on CRM success and failure as well as the previous studies in CRM frameworks. Subsequently, the research designed a framework for CRM implementation that integrates CRM implementation phases/stages, CRM components, and CRM success factors. To assess the feasibility of the framework in developing countries, the research developed in-depth case study methodology that focused on two large communication companies which operate in Saudi Arabia and are implementing CRM projects fully and partially. The questions of the case study were developed to assess the feasibility of the framework based on the comparison between the conceptual framework and the practical implementation of CRM by the case companies, and the case study protocol was developed accordingly. Data was collected through multiple sources such as in-depth interviews, observations, documentations and archival records. The results of the case study support the feasibility of the framework in implementing CRM in general. The assessment stage was highly supported by the results. In addition, the success factors and their importance in implementing CRM were supported by the results with variation of importance of the success factors. However, cultural issues were significant to the CRM implementation and required modification to the framework to be more effective when implemented in developing countries.

Online grocery shopping is one of the Internet business applications that received much attention in the last few years. Online grocery shopping has grown at a fast scale in the developed countries, where customers and retailers have benefited from it. However, this service remains in its infancy stage in developing countries. Groceries are one of the most difficult objects to sell online mainly, because of sensory and delivery issues. Online customers still worry about product quality, and they demand optimum logistical services, convenience, reliability and timely delivery service. Therefore, retailers have to respond to these expectations by developing convenient logistical services while keeping this process cost-efficient as much as possible. The main aim of this research is to design an e-commerce logistical decision support system for grocery retailers in Jordan as a case study of applying online grocery shopping in a developing country. Grocery retailers will be exposed to this model, and will be able to determine the most suitable logistical delivery system in the future. In order to achieve this aim, the designed system incorporates a web ordering system to collect customer orders, embedded map source (Google Maps) and a database system. The collected data then exported to one of the available routing and scheduling online solutions in order to identify, analyze and statistically compare the cost efficiencies of the available delivery alternatives. Moreover, two specially designed questionnaires were distributed among a group of customers and grocery retailers in Jordan, asking about their attitudes towards online grocery shopping and its delivery service. The results from analyzing the questionnaires data statistically were also used as input parameters for the designed system evaluation process. The findings from the questionnaires data statistical analysis indicated that Jordanian customers and retailers have positive attitudes towards online grocery shopping. The results also showed that customers and retailers have serious concerns towards the delivery service in Jordan. Customers are mainly worried about the availability of a suitable delivery service, while retailers are worried about the market size for the delivery service. The findings from implementing and statistically testing the proposed model over three delivery alternatives showed that there are differences between the mean values of the delivery alternatives among their key performance indicators (cost, distance and time). The questionnaire respondents indicated that they both prefer the pickup point service after home delivery for customers and after shop pickup for retailers. Depending on the level of investments that grocery retailers would like to implement and according to the experiment results, it could be concluded that pickup point solution is the best logistical strategy for retailers to start with.

No description available.

This thesis examines the EU arms embargo on China as a case-study, analysing the apparent paradox of the EU’s foreign and economic external policy mechanisms internally and the American involvement in the EU’s foreign and economic external policy with regard to China. The thesis firstly introduces the uniqueness of the Chinese arms embargo in contrast to the other 22 arms embargoes issued in EU’s history. In terms of the case-study, the EU’s arms embargo on China did not become a key contentious issue until the initial moves by the EU Commission to lift it surfaced in 2004. The analysis of the EU foreign and economic external policies towards China and the arms embargo focuses on the political, legal, and economic foundations of EC/EU policy and seeks to offer explanations of the evolution of events at EU institutional level, the EU member states’ level, and the wider international level. The thesis examines the evolution of the EC/EU – Chinese relationship. It also examines how the key political issue of the embargo eventually came to become a technical matter, which lost some of its importance to the Chinese. In this evolution, the thesis picks up on Chinese scholars’ fascination with the EU – the relationship between its institutions, and the member states relationship with each other and the EU institutions with regard to the arms embargo. It notes that some Chinese scholars have seen the EU as a potential role model for the developments in China and the region of Asia. The thesis notes the role of the outsider player, the United States of America, which influenced the making and implementation of foreign and economic external policy of the EU. The thesis proves that China is fully aware of the continuous influence exerted by the US onto the EU-Chinese relationship. In sum, the arms embargo is an ideal test case to examine: a) the evolution of the EU’s coherence, consistency and independence and b) the evolution of Chinese thinking about the EU model.

This study sets out to investigate the causal relationship between concentration and exports in the Saudi economy, to explain the pattern of diversification over time in relation to planning periods, to examine the effectiveness of the diversification policy in achieving growth, and to consider the implications of the GCC groupings on the diversification argument. In the course of this investigation, the theoretical foundations of trade policy and economic integration are discussed and the economic features of Saudi Arabia and the GCC countries. The Saudi Government has sought to diversify the economy, and these efforts have been reinforced by greater regional integration with the GCC member countries. Yet, attempts at diversification do not appear to have produced substantial effects on the pattern of production and trade. The study employed the Gini-Hirschman coefficient to measure concentration and has related values of these coefficients to measures of fluctuations in total earnings. In addition, the study applied a proportionate contribution statistics model, which is based on the Markowitz-type model, to investigate more directly the extent to which instability in total export earnings of Saudi Arabia is related to concentration. For this purpose, the work focused on Saudi GDP, exports and markets for a period of 26 years from 1970 to 1994. The general conclusion of this study was that there is ample theoretical and practical justification for diversification policies in terms of commodity and geographic markets. When the concentration and instability measures were applied to the Saudi economy, the following were indicated: (a) while the thrust of policy is based on a widening of the composition of export products and market zones to achieve a fall in export instability, it is found instead that the level of instability has been falling in the more recent part when Gini-Hirschman coefficients indicated increasing levels of commodity concentration and decreasing levels of geographic concentration; (b) according to the results from the proportionate contribution statistic, Saudi oil exports and traditional markets contributed disproportionately to total earning instability; and, (c) the GCC market is more stable than other markets, although there are several impediments that delayed the establishment of customs union among member countries.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / The advent of the NATO Response Force (NRF) is the result of the call for NATO to create a warfighting capability to meet the security threats of the 21st Century. The NRF is a joint force comprised of air, land and maritime assets designed to conduct operations across the full spectrum of conflict. Missions include opposed entry scenarios, counter-terrorism, crisis response and peace enforcement, embargo operations, interdiction, and human relief and non-combatant evacuations, meeting the need called for in the U.S. National Security Strategy as well as the European Union Security Strategy. The NRF will also serve as a catalyst for transformation, encouraging European nations to downsize and retool their legacy forces in order to participate in the NRF. Political influences and operational constraints threaten to limit the NRF. The tangible effect the NRF will have on the Air Force will be its disproportionate need for Air Force assets to meet its required operational mandate. The result of the EU's inability to readily address their capability shortfalls will be the NRF's dependence upon Air Force to provide strategic airlift, air refueling, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), and the procurement and use of Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) for the foreseeable future. / Major, United States Air Force

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / This systematic review focuses on improving recognition and treatment of acute medical conditions in pregnant women, infants and children in low and middle income countries by Community Health Workers (CHWs). By examining critically selected articles from different electronic databases, this review seeks to organize and present the important characteristics of a training program aimed at reducing maternal, neonatal and childhood mortality. Data in the form of peer‐reviewed and published articles were collected using three public databases – PubMed, Ovid and EMBASE – using specific search terms. Greater than 300 articles where found using the specific search terms. Those articles were then processed through a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria resulting in a cohort of papers which were then individually analyzed for content. After critical analysis of all 15 publications included in the study, it becomes clear that training programs are incredibly diverse. These four aspects of training programs appear to be the most variable between the studies: size of the training program, length of the training program, training assessment and follow‐up refresher courses. Training programs that are shorter in duration or greater in class number do not seem to be any less effective than longer programs with fewer participants. Future studies should be performed in which one training program with identical training techniques, lengths, and focuses is taught in different regions. The impact that this study has on the literature is as follows: Training programs of shorter duration seem to be as effective as their longer counterparts. Finally, there is a clear need for more robust, standardized and geographically and culturally diverse training programs to more effectively study training methods.

Much of our current research about volunteering in later life has been conducted with respondents who dedicate their time and effort to volunteer in their home communities. Some, however, choose to travel to developing countries to volunteer in a number of initiatives. Little research has been done that focuses on what influences their desire and motivation to volunteer in this particular context, what meaning is derived from it, and how it impacts their perception of wellbeing and health in later years. Using an interpretative phenomenological methodology, this project attempted to discover how older Canadians experienced the phenomenon of volunteering in developing countries, asking the questions: What are the factors that lead some older people to choose to travel to volunteer in a developing country at this particular time in their lives? What were the circumstances in their lives that enabled them to be able to make this choice? What meaning did/do they derive from it? In what ways did this experience impact their perceived life satisfaction, health and well-being? The data gathering strategy involved collecting information directly from those who have participated in this phenomenon: interviews with 12 participants, ranging from age 62 to 80, were conducted. In order to understand the context of this experience, the research design also involved gathering demographic data about the participants’ life situations. Interview data gathered from the study were initially analyzed using coding techniques of the constant comparative method. The interpretative phenomenological analysis led to the discovery of core categories in the data, which were then clustered into a conceptual framework. A wealth of concept-rich data emerged to form four key properties that contribute significantly to further understanding about this phenomenon: a significant, disruptive event had occurred in their lives, at a time preceding their volunteer experience; the conviction of being led or guided into pursuing this choice; the discovery of feeling instantly welcomed into a place of belonging, where each felt instantly at home and connected in meaningful ways; and an experience of marginalization, isolation and loss of meaning upon their return home, necessitating a need to ‘re-balance’ their lives and find ways to continue to find meaning. This research study will inform the discourses about elder health and wellbeing, and volunteering in later life, particularly about the social movement of elder volunteering in developing countries. It will contribute to theories of how, and in what ways, older adults achieve meaning and purpose by positively negotiating life transitions, re-inventing themselves, learning and adopting new roles, and creating new behaviours and identities, all of which can contribute to healthy aging in later life. / Graduate

There has been an increasing amount of investment in Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) interventions in developing countries under the premise of accelerating the process of social, economic and political development. These interventions are usually driven by the symbolic power of ICTs which signify progress and upon which the governments of developing countries try to draw to modernise the functioning of the state and to further enhance public service delivery to citizens. However, in this thesis it is argued that the actions and events that lead to the design and implementation of ICT4D tend to be politically motivated because ICT4D are simply interventions used by powerful actors and institutions to achieve their goals. These powerful actors include international donor agencies, politicians, top bureaucrats and private entities. In addition, it is argued that, due to these politically motivated agendas, ICT4D projects tend to be implemented in a top-down fashion and within an economic development perspective that appears to isolate the concerns of the country itself and the wellbeing of its citizens. In an attempt to try and redress social exclusion and imbalance, the capability approach drawn from the work of Amartya Sen (1999) stresses the enhancement of human capabilities and the moral aspects of development. Theoretically, the study is based on the key concepts of Sen’s Capability Approach. However, Lukes’s (1974) concepts of power are also drawn upon to address the limitation of the capability approach in addressing the concept of power. The research questions guiding this thesis are as follows: (1) How do the underlying motivations of different actors drive the design and implementation of ICT4D initiatives in developing countries? (2) How can researchers usefully conceptualise the relationship between ICT and development given the complexities in which ICT4D initiatives are undertaken? What conceptual framework could help theorise the complex relationship between ICT and development? Epistemologically, the study was conducted by following an interpretive research approach. The research was carried out in two states of Nigeria, Abuja and Plateau, and took place during the period of 2010-2011. The case-study centres on the initiation and implementation of the Computerised Electricity Management System (CEMS). Empirically, data collection techniques include 65 individual interviews, field observations and document analysis. The following are key findings of this thesis: ICT4D interventions are a complex process shaped at two levels. At the international level, they are shaped by donor agendas such as privatisation, and at the national or local level they are shaped by political and private interests. These agendas and interest are driven by powerful actors such as international donor agencies that often impose such interventions as a condition of aid, politicians who often use such interventions as campaign tools, and other top public and private actors who often use such interventions for personal gain. Hence, the beneficiaries of these projects usually have no say in the design of ICT4D projects but are rather forced to accept these interventions. Corruption is a major obstacle that hinders the expected ICT4D contributions in terms of individual opportunities and freedoms of living better lives inscribed in ICT4D interventions. Corruption exists as a “network” involving different actors present at three levels of ICT4D projects, namely the design, implementation and usage stages. Viewed from this perspective, the findings of this study show that international donor agencies, politicians, public bureaucrats and private entities are equally responsible for promoting corrupt practices in the context of ICT4D interventions. Theoretically, this thesis progresses the operationalisation of the capability approach (CA) by encapsulating the central aspect of the approach and Lukes’s (1974) concept of power. This is an innovative way of operationalising the capability approach by addressing its limitations in explaining the notion of power; the study thereby contributes to the field of IS using the capability approach and expanding the scope of theoretical analysis of contemporary ICT4D studies. Practically, to make the relationship between ICT and development more effective in meeting broader development goals, it is necessary for government policies to move beyond the mere provision of technology to also concentrate on the cultural, institutional, social and political aspects in ensuring the effective use of ICT resources, which should serve to improve people’s opportunity to participate more in social, political and economic activities.

The thesis surveys and analyses Commonwealth Bills of Rights. It examines the content of these Bills of Rights and considers their origin and political implications. The first chapter reviews the political history of Bills of Rights generally. This is followed by a chapter dealing with the initiation and introduction of Commonwealth Bills of Rights. Particular attention is given to the attitudes and influences of British officials and advisors. The third chapter considers the general forms of Commonwealth Bills of Rights and the ways in which such guarantees are qualified. The next three chapters examine the substance of the particular guarantees and note judicial cases that are of particular interest. In the seventh chapter some of the political implications of these Bills of Rights are considered. The eighth chapter concerns judicial attitudes toward the enforcement of a Bill of Rights. This is followed by concluding remarks.