The development of e-government systems in South Africa has raised major concerns when coming to the systems development methodology used. Through the literature review conducted and the data collected, the study has indicated that there is lack of uniformity, isolated cost, models for choosing project teams and the overall control of the whole process of e-government systems development. As a result, this research investigates the use of systems development methodologies in the development of e-government systems. The study followed the qualitative research method; interviews were conducted in four case studies involved in the development of e-government systems. The collected data were then analysed using a software analytical tool called Atlas ti. 6.1. Subsequently a cross-case analysis was performed on the four case studies. The research findings of this study indicated that the appropriate use of systems development methodologies in the development of e-government systems helps improve the quality of e-government systems, reduces development costs, and also makes the development process effective and efficient. Based on the information gathered from the four case studies, developers in government find it difficult to select a suitable systems development methodology to use when developing e-government systems. Therefore the study proposes a conceptual framework that can be used to select the appropriate systems development methodology when developing e-government systems. This framework is made up of characteristics of e-government systems and different types of systems development methodologies. / MSc (Computer Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

A growing demand for services and expensive innovative technologies is threatening the sustainability of healthcare systems worldwide. Decision makers in this environment struggle to set priorities appropriately, particularly because they lack consensus about which values should guide their decisions; this is because there is no agreement on best practices in priority setting. Decision makers (or ‘leaders’) who want to evaluate priority setting have little guidance to let them know if their efforts were successful t. While approaches exist that are grounded in different disciplines, there is no way to know whether these approaches lead to successful priority setting. The purpose of this thesis is to present a conceptual framework and an evaluation tool for successful priority setting. The conceptual framework is the result of the synthesis of three empirical studies into a framework of ten separate but interconnected elements germane to successful priority setting: stakeholder understanding, shifted priorities/reallocation of resources, decision making quality, stakeholder acceptance and satisfaction, positive externalities, stakeholder engagement, use of explicit process, information management, consideration of values and context, and revision or appeals mechanism. The elements specify both quantitative and qualitative dimensions of priority setting and relate to both process and outcome aspects. The evaluation tool is made up of three parts: a survey, interviews, and document analysis, and specifies both quantitative and qualitative dimensions and relates to both procedural and substantive dimensions of priority setting. The framework and the tool were piloted in a meso-level urban hospital. The pilot test confirmed the usability of the tool as well as face and content validity (i.e., the tool measured relevant features of success identified in the conceptual framework). The tool can be used by leaders to evaluate and improve priority setting.

ABSTRACT The theoretical argument that emerges from my empirical study argues that food provisioning systems in Johannesburg, as a potential lens to further investigation of food supply systems in the developing south cannot be classified within a traditional-modern dichotomy. This dissertation proposes a new conceptual device – a food provisioning continuum – which should inform research on African food supply systems in the future. The process of locating this rich case within a broader theoretical paradigm to validate it and to provide it discursive space, however, is not objective or without friction. I argue that it is possible to choose to locate rich empirical material in different conceptual frameworks, related not only to its applicability, but also to how the research may be valued and seen to extend knowledge. The expectation of the research community and the epistemological demand of new research, for a Masters dissertation is that the scholarly work will build on and extend existing knowledge. It is assumed that thorough research will challenge the boundaries of knowledge and that the candidate, after having undergone this academic rite of passage, will graduate from being a student to being a colleague within a research community. However, the process of creating new theory and advancing existing theory is not quite an objective or frictionless process as it first appears. Research in the south is validated more highly if it is located within, or builds upon international/northern theory even by research forums in the south like the NRF. The pressure for researchers from the south to locate their research in conceptual frameworks from the north – in order to be validated – appears to be one of the rules of the game. While this is validation as part of an academic exercise may be necessary, the practise entrenches spatial or geographical hierarchies within academia and academic discourse. The epistemological process of forging new theoretical frontiers is thus a constructed, unnatural space fraught with less critical valuing systems than are expected to be present within academia, no less within the discipline of geography.

Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία πραγματεύεται το ρυθμιστικό ή κανονιστικό πλαίσιο των διαδικασιών που σχετίζονται με την παραγωγή λογιστικών πληροφοριών. Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι να αναλύσει τις μορφές ρύθμισης σε επίπεδο Χρηματοοικονομικής Πληροφόρησης σε διεθνές πλαίσιο. Η μεθοδολογία που ακολουθήθηκε για την διεξαγωγή της έρευνας αυτής βασίστηκε στην ανάλυση της διεθνούς βιβλιογραφίας. Μερικά από τα κυριότερα συμπεράσματα που προέκυψαν από την έρευνα είναι ότι δίνεται ρυθμιστική καθοδήγηση στα λογιστικά πρότυπα, η οποία πρέπει να εφαρμόζεται σε όλους τους λογαριασμούς προκειμένου να παρουσιάσουν μια “αληθινή και δίκαιη εικόνα”. Τα IFRS ξεκίνησαν μια προσπάθεια εναρμόνισης της λογιστικής σε ολόκληρη την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση, η αξία της εναρμόνισης γρήγορα έγινε ελκυστική σε ολόκληρο των κόσμο. Το IASB , το οποίο βασίζεται στα IFRS, πήρε τη σκυτάλη για τον καθορισμό των Διεθνών Λογιστικών Προτύπων, αναπτύσσοντας τα πρότυπά του λαμβάνοντας υπόψη μια οικονομική προσέγγιση, που εστιάζει στη γενική οικονομική ευημερία. Το Εννοιολογικό Πλαίσιο της Οικονομικής Αναφοράς του IASB, επιδιώκει να αναπτύξει μια υποκείμενη φιλοσοφία ως βάση για συνεχείς λογιστικές αρχές, έτσι ώστε κάθε πρότυπο να ταιριάζει με το υπόλοιπο πλαίσιο. Έχει προχωρήσει πέρα από τις προϋποθέσεις των υπαρχόντων λογιστικών προτύπων. Στηρίζεται στη θεωρεία Balance Sheet Approach και τοποθετεί στο επίκεντρο τα στοιχεία του ισολογισμού, τα οποία αποτελούν τον πυρήνα του ως ρυθμιστική βάση για τη ρύθμιση προτύπων. Τα ποιοτικά χαρακτηριστικά της σχετικότητας, της πιστής απεικόνισης και της συγκρισιμότητας που αναγνωρίζονται στο Εννοιολογικό Πλαίσιο είναι μερικά από τα γνωρίσματα που κάνουν τις οικονομικές πληροφορίες χρήσιμες στους διάφορους χρήστες των οικονομικών καταστάσεων. Πέρα από τα οφέλη της τυποποίησης που παρέχουν, επειδή στηρίζονται σε οικονομική θεωρία, δηλαδή σε επιστημονικές αρχές – θα είναι δύσκολο να αμφισβητηθούν. Η πιθανότητα για την επιρροή του ΙΑSB σε αυτό τον τομέα είναι σημαντική επιδιώκοντας αρίστευση στα πρότυπα με απόλυτη αυστηρότητα. / This research discusses the regulatory framework or regulatory procedures related to production accounting information. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the forms of regulation at the financial reporting internationally. The methodology used to conduct this research was based on an analysis of the literature. Some of the key findings that emerged from the research is that given regulatory guidance in accounting standards, which must be applied to all accounts in order to present a "true and fair view". The IFRS began an effort to harmonize accounting across the E.U, the value of alignment quickly became attractive in the whole world. The IASB, based on IFRS, took the baton for the establishment of the International Accounting Standards Board, developing its standards, taking into account an economic approach that focuses on the overall economic prosperity. The Conceptual Framework of the economic report of the IASB, seeks to develop an underlying philosophy based on continuous accounting principles so that each template to match the rest frame. It has gone beyond the requirements of existing accounting standards. Based on the theory Balance Sheet Approach and puts the focus on balance sheet, which form the core of a regulatory basis for setting standards. The qualitative characteristics of relevance, faithful representation, comparability and recognized in the conceptual framework are some of the features that make financial information useful to various users of financial statements. Beyond the benefits of standardization provide, because based on economic theory, namely on scientific principles will be difficult to challenge. The chance to influence the IASB in this area is important in pursuing excellence standards with absolute rigor.

Since 2009 thousands of Eritreans, as well as other, sub-Saharan migrants have become victims of human trafficking in the Sinai Peninsula. These occurrences are linked to the newly coined notion of “Sinai Trafficking” which has been labeled as a new form of human trafficking. According to reports, released or escaped victims have disclosed information regarding collusion between traffickers and Egyptian security forces. Further, there have been reports that trafficking victims from the Sinai are put in detention centers, prisons and police stations in Egypt and are often charged or prosecuted for crimes committed in their capacity as victims of trafficking. Although Egypt is bound to respect and uphold its international law obligations national criminal law concerning human trafficking, the continuation of the situation in Sinai has demonstrated an unwillingness or inability to prevent, suppress and punish the crime. Consequently, the purpose of this thesis is to examine and interpret international law as well as Egypt’s national criminal legislation and policies, pertaining to human trafficking, to determine if there are any inadequacies or gaps in the international legal framework with regards to human trafficking or if it’s rather Egypt’s implementation of the law that is faulty. Moreover, a human rights perspective, relevant theories, literature related to the conceptual framework of human trafficking, the status and treatment of non-nationals and securitization of migration will be applied. With regards to the international law on human trafficking, it has been assessed that there are some inadequacies in relation to protection and support granted to trafficking victims. Egypt, has adopted relevant international instruments concerning human trafficking. Further, Egypt has enacted national legislation that corresponds to the Anti-Trafficking Protocol, which might indicate that it is not Egypt’s national legislation that is inadequate and rather that the international law concerning human trafficking. Increasingly restrictive immigration laws, policies and States conduct towards migrants indicate that migration has been securitized. The Egyptian authorities conduct and approach towards migrants could indicate that Egypt has securitized the migration issue. Further, the difficulty to distinguish smuggled migrants from trafficking victims could result in the possibility of trafficking victims being criminalized. The world of today remains globalized and thus the political order that follows and its accompanying conceptual and subsequent legal framework of human trafficking as an organized crime contributes to the trafficking situation in Sinai as well as to human trafficking in general.

A growing demand for services and expensive innovative technologies is threatening the sustainability of healthcare systems worldwide. Decision makers in this environment struggle to set priorities appropriately, particularly because they lack consensus about which values should guide their decisions; this is because there is no agreement on best practices in priority setting. Decision makers (or ‘leaders’) who want to evaluate priority setting have little guidance to let them know if their efforts were successful t. While approaches exist that are grounded in different disciplines, there is no way to know whether these approaches lead to successful priority setting. The purpose of this thesis is to present a conceptual framework and an evaluation tool for successful priority setting. The conceptual framework is the result of the synthesis of three empirical studies into a framework of ten separate but interconnected elements germane to successful priority setting: stakeholder understanding, shifted priorities/reallocation of resources, decision making quality, stakeholder acceptance and satisfaction, positive externalities, stakeholder engagement, use of explicit process, information management, consideration of values and context, and revision or appeals mechanism. The elements specify both quantitative and qualitative dimensions of priority setting and relate to both process and outcome aspects. The evaluation tool is made up of three parts: a survey, interviews, and document analysis, and specifies both quantitative and qualitative dimensions and relates to both procedural and substantive dimensions of priority setting. The framework and the tool were piloted in a meso-level urban hospital. The pilot test confirmed the usability of the tool as well as face and content validity (i.e., the tool measured relevant features of success identified in the conceptual framework). The tool can be used by leaders to evaluate and improve priority setting.

Since the establishment of the wireless sector, design has been playing a wide range of roles. Specialized literature has been extensively reporting the use of this discipline associated with NPD, focusing on hardware and software development in the mobile communications. On the other hand, evidences of its use to support forecasting are scarce and generic. Finally, formal publications addressing future forecasting from a design perspective in the context of mobile communications have never been reported, leading to a knowledge gap that needs to be addressed. This research investigates the strategic roles, applications and contributions of design and designers for future forecasting in the wireless telecom sector. As a comprehensive discipline, it is used to examine and identify a number of factors that might influence/impact in the development of visionary solutions supporting the design team of traditional handset manufacturers to make better decisions in order to ‘shape’ the future in the wireless industry. Considering these ideas, the aim of this research is to create a ‘design-led future forecasting model for mobile communications’ to assist and support traditional manufacturers’ design team. This PhD study relies on a qualitative methodology comprising a number of data collection and analysis tools (e.g. literature review, case studies analysis, in-depth experts’ interviews, workshops and Grounded Theory). To create the intended framework, extensive secondary and primary data; theoretical and practical inputs were brought together, analysed and combined. The proposed model was evaluated through two rounds of experts’ interviews complemented by two workshops with potential users (e.g. design students) to check and explore its practicalities when applied to design for the future. Finally, this study bridges future forecasting and the wireless telecom through the use of design to address the literature gap. The richness of the developed model provides practical assistance to traditional manufacturer’s design team informing about a broad spectrum of aspects that should be considered when designing for the future in the mobile telecom industry, supporting strategic decision making in different stages of the future-led design process.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / After suffering almost total collapse. Rwanda has made impressive post-genocide progress. Many children of school going age are now attending school, but regrettably, only half complete primary school. High numbers of orphans, disabled children and a growing number of children from child-headed households still suffer the consequences of the poverty inherited from the past. Health problems include HIV/Aids, STIs, malaria, tuberculosis, enteric diseases, mental health problems, hunger and malnutrition. Use of drugs and substance abuse, unwanted pregnancies, lack of support services, unavailability of teaching and learning materials, inflexible curricula and poor teaching methodologies also contribute to learning breakdown. It is against this background that this thesis was conducted to investigate the development of a health-promoting schools model to provide an appropriate strategy to address barriers to learning and to promote healthy development of school children in Rwanda. Two research questions were the focus of this research, first, how does a health-promoting schools model provide an appropriate strategy to address barriers to learning and to promote healthy development of school-aged children in Rwanda and second, what are the participants’ views on and understanding of the model and its potential use in their schools? A mixed methods research design that employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches was used. The study followed sequential implementation: Phase 1 was concerned with the identification of the components for the model. It was a case study of four schools, two rural schools and two urban schools in Kigali City. The sample included 60 teachers, pupils, principals and parents from schools and nine key informants who were policymakers from the Ministries of Education and Health and Social Welfare, line institutions and the UNICEF. Data collection strategies included focus group discussions, semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews, a transect walk and observations. Data analysis was through content analysis. Eight themes emerged out of the data: school leadership and management; school health policies; pupil wellbeing; school partnership with parents, families and local communities; school health services; factors affecting teaching and learning for all children; teacher wellbeing; and a healthy physical school environment. These themes became the components that informed the development of a health-promoting schools model. In Phase 2, the degree of understanding of this proposed model and its components were investigated in each school community.

The lack of parental support and the use of English as the language of teaching and learning are two of the main factors that influence poor learner performance in South Africa. Although a significant amount of research has been conducted internationally, the need for research tailored for the South African context still exists. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to contribute to knowledge about parental support concerning learner development of second language proficiency. An explanatory sequential design of mixed methods research, also known as two-phased model was used to guide the study. The first phase focused on the quantitative secondary data from Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2006 (PIRLS 2006). The source of the secondary data was the results of the parent questionnaire, administered to South African parents of the Grade 4 learners (n = 16 073). The International Database (IDB) analyser software and Statistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS) were used for data analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were computed. The quantitative results revealed that a significant percentage of parents (30%, SE =0.7) did not engage in literacy related activities with their children prior to Grade 1 compared to a low percentage (2%, SE = 1.21) of those who did the activities. However, a significantly higher percentage of parents (29%, SE = 0.65) did engage in literacy activities with their children in Grade 1, compared to 5% (SE =0.34) who never or almost never did the activities. A significantly higher percentage of parents (89%, SE = 0.67) agreed a lot with positive reading attitude statements compared to 2% (SE = 0.25) who disagreed a lot. The limited time spent by parents on reading and books at home were noted as a matter of concern. This concern was augmented by the low educational level and employment status of the parents. These results were used to inform the qualitative data collection in order to gain a deeper understanding of the experience of the parents. The second or qualitative phase of the study used convenience sampling to select participants, to gain an understanding of their experiences with regard to supporting the second language development of their children. The eight (8 participants) selected parents participated in two focus group meetings. Six themes emerged from thematic data analysis, namely: alternative parenting, parent-child activities, technology and Internet support, parental challenges, language usage and quality of education. The characteristics used for developing a conceptual framework for parental support on second language development were extracted from these aforementioned themes. The results revealed that parental support is a complex dynamic process that requires one to consider the interface of systems around the parent and the learner. Consequently, how this complexity requires a reconceptualisation of factors affecting parental support concerning second language development. The reconceptualisation can provide new avenues for theorising about parental support in second language learning context, particularly in multilingual and developmental countries. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Educational Psychology / PhD / Unrestricted

Environmental arrangement alters the physical, social, or programmatic aspects of classrooms to increase task engagement, facilitate prosocial behaviors, and reduce or prevent the challenging behaviors of children and youth. Research shows specific arrangements can affect student engagement and deportment, but this literature is not well integrated theoretically or empirically with other effective behavior change tactics. This article proposes that some environmental arrangements may serve as setting events for child behavior change. Setting events and environmental arrangement were defined and critically outlined. A total of 43 physical environmental arrangement articles were reviewed as to the specific type of arrangement and research methodology. Several methodological problems (e.g., lack of measurement or control of antecedents, consequences, or environmental arrangements, manipulation of more than one environmental arrangement) precluded conclusions about the setting event function of environmental arrangements. Suggestions for future research on setting events and environmental arrangements are proposed.