There was a long history of Jim Crow laws in the State of Georgia, which permeated in social, educational, and economical ways that prohibited African American business owners from competing for the state contracts. In 1982, there was a shift in state policy that implemented an outreach programs to seek out African American businesses and ensure that those interested businesses were enrolled as registered vendors for procurement. Yet little is known about the success of those outreach efforts over the last 35 years. Using Swearing and Plank's work on survival of minority business programs as a conceptual framework, this study evaluated (a) the association between the registration status (registered, non-registered, unknown) with the Georgia Minority Business Enterprise Program (GMBE Program) and gender, and (b) descriptive information about the outreach efforts of the MBE Program. Data were collected from 108 randomly selected African American small business owners in the State of Georgia through an online survey. A chi-square test revealed a significant association (p = .08) between gender and enrollment of registered vendors, with women more likely to register as vendors than were men. Descriptive data also revealed that nearly half (48% percent) of respondents had not registered with the MBE Program and were not aware of the educational and economic opportunities offered through the program. Contracts were awarded 4 times more frequently to vendors registered with the MBE Program as compared to businesses not registered. The positive social change implications of this study include recommendation to the state of the Georgia MBE Program to collaborate on outreach efforts to African American business owners to encourage economic development in minority communities and minorities-owned businesses.

The purpose of this study is to determine the value of a master's degree in construction management in southern Idaho. A telephone and Internet survey was employed to determine the value that members of the construction industry in southern Idaho place on construction management (CM) degrees, both graduate and undergraduate. The survey included 27 self-described general contractors who are members of The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) in regions 3 and 4 in the state of Idaho. Regions three and four include Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Ketchum, Burley and surrounding communities. Following the compilation of surveys, it was found that the group of participants 1) knew there was a bachelor's degree in CM; however, some didn't realize there was a master's degree in CM; 2) felt that education is sometimes over rated; 3) perceived no difference in hiring an undergraduate v. a graduate in terms of monetary value. There was a perceived value in a master's degree itself.

This thesis investigates the adoption of digital technologies to improve logistics processes in construction projects. The focus is on the main contractor firms and construction projects, but first-tier suppliers, transportation firms, and technology vendors are also considered. The logistics processes that are studied are order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics. Order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics play a critical role in ensuring the availability of goods for the construction process, in the right amount and time, at the right location, and without damage. Inefficient logistics processes that do not support construction projects with the right resources (materials, tools, and machinery) are one reason for low construction project performance. Inefficient logistics processes cause disruptions to construction projects, such as material stockouts, material surpluses, unavailability, idle waiting and searching time, and waste (e.g., damages). On a larger scale, inefficient logistics processes cause significant project delays and cost overruns. Therefore, improving logistics processes can improve construction project performance. To address the inefficiencies of logistics processes, main contractor firms face increased pressure to adopt digital technologies. It is known that adopting digital technologies can improve communication between project stakeholders, construction automation, and data acquisition, visualization, and analytics. The adoption of digital technologies has also been reported to improve the construction process, such as design, production, logistics, and procurement of materials and services. However, the adoption of digital technologies is a complex and inter-organizational process, and the industry's decentralized, project-driven nature makes many efforts ad hoc and one-of-a-kind endeavors. Moreover, there needs to be more clarity in the path of digital technology adoption for increasing construction project performance. A knowledge gap in this context has been a lack of actionable recommendations to practitioners, such as main contractor firms. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to formulate recommendations for the adoption of digital technologies that enable the main contractor firms to improve logistics processes. Based on this, the following research questions guide the research: RQ1: What are the drivers and barriers for the adoption of digital technologies at the project level from a main contractor perspective? RQ2: What are the effects on logistics processes when adopting digital technologies in construction projects? RQ3: What are the lessons learnt from the adoption of digital technologies in construction projects? The findings identify drivers and barriers to adopting digital technologies at the project level from a main contractor perspective, the effects of adopting digital technologies, and lessons learnt from adopting digital technologies in construction projects. Furthermore, a successful technology adoption process is driven by identifying the drivers and needs of the project and the stakeholders/individuals involved. It is also found that the effects of adopting digital technologies are: (a) re-designing the order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics and (b) accessibility and monitorability of information. Moreover, this thesis proposes an enhanced understanding of the process undertaken by the main construction firms in adopting digital technologies. The thesis complements the knowledge of digital technology adoption by focusing on construction projects. The thesis fills in a knowledge gap by formulating actionable recommendations to main contractor firms and bringing clarity to the path of digital technology adoption for increasing construction project performance. / Denna avhandling studerar införandet av digital teknik för att förbättra logistikprocesser i byggprojekt. Avhandlingens fokus ligger på byggentreprenören och dess byggprojekt, men även leverantörer, transportföretag och teknikleverantörer beaktas. De logistikprocesser som studeras är order-till-leveransprocessen och arbetsplatslogistiken. Order-till-leveransprocesser och arbetsplatslogistiken spelar en avgörande roll för att säkerställa tillgången på resurser i produktionsskedet där de behöver levereras i rätt mängd och tid, på rätt plats och utan skador. Produktiviteten i byggprojekt är låg. En orsak till den låga produktiviteten är ineffektiva logistikprocesser som inte förser byggarbetsplatsen med rätt resurser (material, verktyg och maskiner). Ineffektiva logistikprocesser orsakar störningar i byggprojekt till följd av materialbrist, materialöverskott, otillgänglighet, outnyttjad tid (t.ex. vänte- och söktid), samt andra former av slöseri (t.ex. skador på material). Ineffektiva logistikprocesser leder också till betydande förseningar och kostnadsöverskridningar i byggprojekt. Därmed kan förbättrade logistikprocesser bidra till att öka produktivitet i byggprojekt. Samtidigt som att byggentreprenörer behöver ta itu med ineffektiva logistikprocesser står de även inför ett ökat tryck att ta till sig digital teknik. Användning av digital teknik kan förbättra kommunikationen mellan projektintressenter, automatisera byggprocesser samt underlätta datainsamling och visualisering och analys av denna data. Användandet av digital teknik har även rapporterats förbättra hela byggprocessen i termer av projektering, produktion, logistik och upphandling av material och tjänster. Att ta till sig digital teknik är däremot en komplex process som spänner över organisationsgränser. Branschens decentraliserade, projektdrivna karaktär försvårar för byggentreprenörer att ta till sig ny teknik, vilket leder till att insatserna är fragmenterade och görs ad hoc. Dessutom saknas en tydlig bild av för hur byggentreprenörer bör ta till sig ny digital teknik för att öka produktiviteten i byggprojekt. En kunskapslucka i detta sammanhang har varit bristen på praktiska rekommendationer för branschaktörer, till exempel byggentreprenörer. Syftet med denna avhandling att formulera rekommendationer för att ta till sig digital teknik som gör det möjligt för byggentreprenörer att förbättra sina logistikprocesser. Följande forskningsfrågor ska besvaras för att uppfylla avhandlingens syfte: RQ1: Vilka är drivkrafterna och hindren för att införa av digital teknik på projektnivå utifrån byggentreprenörens perspektiv? RQ2: Vilka effekter har införandet av digital teknik på logistikprocesser i byggprojekt? RQ3: Vilka är lärdomarna från att ta till sig av digital teknik i byggprojekt? Resultaten visar på drivkrafter och hinder för att ta till sig digital teknik på i byggprojekt ur ett byggentreprenörsperspektiv, effekterna av att ta till sig digital teknik och lärdomar från att ta till sig digital teknik i byggprojekt. Resultatet visar på att en framgångsrik process för att ta till sig digital teknik kan främjas av att identifiera drivkrafterna och behoven för projektet och de involverade aktörerna/individerna. Det har också visat sig att effekterna av att anta digital teknik är: (a) förändringar av order-till-leveransprocessen och arbetsplatslogistiken och (b) en förbättrad tillgänglighet och översikt av information. Dessutom bidrar denna avhandling till en ökad förståelse av hur en byggentreprenör tar till sig digital teknik med ett speciellt fokus på kunskap om att ta till sig digital teknik på byggprojekt. Avhandlingen bidrar även genom de praktiska rekommendationer som formulerats för byggentreprenörer och genom att tydliggöra tillvägagångssättet för digital teknikanvändning i syfte att öka byggprojektens produktivitet.

The influence of private actors within armed conflict is becoming increasingly relevant, as the market for private military and security companies (PMSC’s) is growing in tandem with new opportunities within the sector. Their involvement in many conflicts around the world suggest the demand for private actors is not likely to go away any time soon, as their professional approach to offering an advantage in settling conflicts might appeal to many contracting parties. Despite this however, there exists relatively little research on the influence of PMSCs on armed conflict dynamics. This study aims to investigate how PMSCs might decide to involve themselves in state-based armed conflicts in weak states and how these in turn would influence the overall intensity of that conflict. This thesis provides a causal explanation which suggests that conflicts where PMSCs provide direct combat support have higher levels of conflict intensity in terms of an increased number of battle-related deaths than those where PMSC involvement is limited to non-combat/assisting roles. This is motivated by a theoretical framework which suggests direct combat involvement leads to a higher number of battle-related deaths. The quantitative study includes a number of control variables which have previously been used in studies on conflict dynamics in terms of the onset of armed conflict, conflict duration and with theoretical frameworks applicable to conflict intensity. The quantitative section of the thesis involves a regression analysis which ultimately does not provide significant results for the proposed hypothesis. Lastly, some considerations are made for future research that could potentially improve the reliability and accuracy of studies that intend to incorporate private actors and their influence on conflict dynamics.

The topic of this thesis is to evaluate Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) integrations in order to create a set of guidelines to help ease the integration of SaaS systems into internal in-house developed systems. It was achieved by performing a case study on a successful SaaS integration to locate relevant success factors to incorporate into upcoming SaaS integrations. The primary findings included a focus on the usage of standard solutions, experienced cooperation from the SaaS contractor and tactical usage of technical debt that extends the whole life cycle. While there are many success factors that aided to create a successful integration, there are still drawbacks to certain techniques that will have to be decided by the specific integrations requirements if the trade-off is worth it. There were other success factors that weighted in but was not crucial to the success, and certain factors that should be treated with caution due to the harmful effect it might have upon the project. Using the factors found in the case study, a set of guidelines with a focus on the processes and work methodology were created to ease future SaaS integrations for organizations and institutions. / Ämnet för detta arbete är att utvärdera Software-as-a-Service-integrationer (SaaS) för att kunna skapa en uppsättning av riktlinjer för att underlätta framtida SaaS-integrationer till internt utvecklade system. Detta uppnåddes genom att utföra en fallstudie på en framgångsrik SaaS-integration för att kunna lära sig vilka relevanta framgångsfaktorer förekom och kan användas i generalla SaaS-integrationer. De främsta resultaten inkluderade ett fokus på att använda standardlösningar, erfarna SaaS-leverantörer som underlättar implementering samt ett taktiskt användande av teknisk skuld för att möta deadlines och funktionella krav. Även om det finns flera framgångsfaktorer som hjälpt till att skapa en framgångsrik integration så har även vissa av dessa faktorer nackdelar med vissa tekniska egenskaper, där prioriteringarna i projektet måste besluta ifall nyttjande av dessa faktorer är värt konsekvenserna. Det fanns även andra framgångsfaktorer som vägde in men som inte var avgörande för framgången och vissa motgångsfaktorer som bör undvikas på grund av de negativa effekter som kan förekomma. Med hjälp av faktorerna som funnits i fallstudien skapades en uppsättning av riktlinjer med fokus på processen och arbetsmetodiken i syfte att underlätta framtida SaaS-integrationer för organisationer och institutioner.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Western Cape Education Department (WCED), through the Department of Public Works (DTPW), launched the Grade R classroom programme in 2009 to increase primary school enrolment in less privileged communities. Due to the low construction contract values the programme has attracted SME contractors. These SMEs have stalled the programme by either not delivering on time or by going insolvent whilst building Grade R classrooms. This research investigated the challenges encountered by SME contractors in delivering Grade R classrooms. The objectives of the research were achieved by means of a questionnaire administered through telephonic interviews and face-to-face interviews. Thirteen contractors have taken part in the programme since 2009. All contractors who have built the classrooms in the Cape Metropole region were contacted for a telephonic interview of which 12 agreed to participate in the telephonic interviews. Descriptive statistics were used to collate and discuss the challenges reported by the contractors. The findings are similar to other studies of SME contractors. SME contractors that took part in the survey confirmed that financial factors, economic and external environment, management skills and expansion and growth factors have been affecting their businesses. The fifth factor, which is the project specific factor, had the most interesting data. Nine out of twelve contractors interviewed indicated that they were not satisfied with the grade R contract working environment. If it was not for scarcity of work, they would not tender for Grade R classrooms. Nine out of twelve contractors interviewed indicated that the DTPW and its agents hindered the successful delivery of Grade R projects through their actions. The main reasons given were the late handover of sites, incomplete construction information, unreasonable construction period, numerous specification changes and delays in processing information. What emerges from the data collected is that the DTPW needs to address the challenges highlighted in this research report. Addressing the challenges will ensure the success of the Grade R programme. This will be beneficial to both the SME contractors and the DTPW. The study also makes recommendations on how to address the challenges.

Na construção civil dois agentes são os responsáveis pela materialização das obras. O primeiro deles são as construtoras. Porém, a maior parte dos trabalhos nos canteiros de obras é delegada a empresas executoras de serviços de obras (EES), ou subempreiteiras, o segundo de tais agentes; em uma prática conhecida como subcontratação. Quando as EES possuem recursos e competências, ou ativos, que lhes permitem executar adequadamente os seus serviços, caracterizam um subconjunto de EES. Este subconjunto é denominado empresas de execução especializada de serviços de obras (EEE). Adicionalmente, no Brasil, a maioria das EES são micro e pequenas empresas, e muitas delas carecem dos ativos adequados para desempenhar os seus serviços. Para piorar esta situação, as EES são maiormente contratadas em condições desfavoráveis, tanto comerciais quanto na produção. Complementarmente, os resultados do setor da construção civil são produzidos por diferentes agentes que atuam nos sistemas de produção da construção, dos quais também dependem os resultados das EES. Não obstante, alguns agentes, principalmente as construtoras, contribuem com as EES, ajudandoas a obterem melhores resultados. Contudo, seus resultados, como os da construção civil no geral, não são os melhores, afetando a competitividade do setor. Dada a sua função nas obras, para melhorar o setor, precisa-se de EEE. O objetivo desta tese é discutir estratégias para desenvolver empresas de execução especializada de serviços de obras. Para tanto 56 entrevistas foram realizadas usando o método de teoria fundamentada em dados (Grounded Theory). Os resultados desta tese dizem respeito à descoberta dos processos de Habilitação e Acondicionamento dos sistemas de produção. Mediante tais processos se habilitam ativos e condições adequadas para os agentes, entre eles as EES, alcançarem o melhor desempenho dos seus papéis nos sistemas de produção da construção civil. Com base em tais processos, são propostas oito estratégias para desenvolver EEE. O desenvolvimento de melhores ativos e condições, bem como o seu acondicionamento nos sistemas de produção da construção civil foram identificados como fontes de melhoria para o setor. / In Construction Industry two agents are responsible for the realization of onsite works. The first of these are contractors. However, most of the work at construction sites is delegated to trade contractors (EES), or subcontractors, the second of such agents, in a practice known as subcontracting. When EES have the resources and skills, or assets that allow them to properly perform their services, they feature a subset of ESS. This subset is called specialty contractors (EEE). Additionally, in Brazil, most of the EES are micro and small enterprises, and many of them lack the adequate assets to perform their services. Compounding this, the EES are most mainly engaged in unfavorable conditions, both commercial and in production. In addition, the results of the construction sector are produced by different agents working in the construction production systems, from which the results of the EES also depend on. However, some agents, especially the contractors, contribute to the EES, helping them to achieve better results. However, their results, such as construction in general, are not the best, affecting the sector\'s competitiveness. Given its role in the works to improve the sector, EEE are needed. The objective of this thesis is to discuss strategies to develop specialty contractors. For this purpose 56 interviews were conducted using Grounded Theory method. The results of this thesis concern the discovery of Enabling and Conditioning processes of production systems. Such processes enable adequate assets and conditions for agents, including the EES, achieve the best performance of their roles in the construction production systems. Based on these processes ten strategies are proposed to develop EEE. The development of better assets and conditions as well as their conditioning in construction production systems have been identified as sources of improvement for the sector.

Nesta pesquisa é estudada a atuação de um importante agente no funcionamento na cadeia produtiva do setor da construção civil, quais sejam as Empresas executoras de serviços de obras (EES), geralmente denominadas subempreiteiras (SE) ou empresas especializadas na execução de obras (EEE). Apesar de existirem várias pesquisas relacionadas com o estudo das suas características, existe pouca informação sobre como as EES estão organizadas. Nesse sentido, um marco analítico foi desenvolvido, analisando às EES segundo as capacidades possuídas para entregar seus resultados nas condições de competição encontradas. Para tanto, as causas que, por um lado, provocam o encerramento das atividades ou, por outro, a sua liderança no mercado foram estudadas sob a ótica de várias linhas do marketing relacionadas com a chamada lógica de serviço e com as correntes de vantagem competitiva sustentável (VCS). Tal marco empregou a noção de valor entregue no serviço prestado pelas EES a partir das suas fontes de VCS. Tais fontes foram discutidas em função dos ativos que as EES possuem. Tais ativos são compostos dos recursos tangíveis (como produtos, ferramentas, materiais, etc.) e intangíveis (como sistemas de gestão gerenciais e operacionais), que lhes permitem desenvolver uma estratégia de criação de valor de forma sustentável, também chamados de ativos estratégicos. Para seu desenvolvimento foi utilizado o método teoria fundamentada nos dados, entrevistando-se 6 representantes dos contratantes das EES, um consultor especialista em gestão empresarial, e 24 EES de 11 diferentes especialidades técnicas. As entrevistas ocorreram conjuntamente com a revisão bibliográfica e a análise dos resultados. A utilização do marco permitiu distinguir as EEE, um subconjunto das EES, em função das suas competências e acesso a recursos para produzir os seus serviços. Finalmente, espera-se que a abordagem desenvolvida nesta pesquisa seja utilizada para melhor entender as capacidades que as EES possuem para competir, servindo de base para futuras pesquisas sobre como melhorar as capacidades e condições de competição destas empresas. / This research studied the performance of an important agent in the construction industry, which are the trade executors (EES), usually called subcontractors (SE) and specialty contractors (EEE). Although there are several studies related to the study of their characteristics, little information exists about how EES are organized. In this sense, an analytical framework was developed to analyze the possessed ESS capabilities to deliver their results within the competition bounds. For this, the root causes of the closure activities and market leadership have been studied from the perspective of several lines of marketing related to call service logic and to sustainable competitive advantage (VCS). This framework used the concept of service value delivered by EES from their sources of VCS. These sources are discussed in terms of assets that have EES. Such assets consist of tangible assets (such as products, tools, materials, etc.) and intangible (such as management systems and operational systems) that allow them to develop a strategy to create sustainable value, also called strategic assets. The research method was \'grounded theory\', interviewing 6 representatives of their contractors, an expert consultant on business management, and 24 ESS of 11 different technical specialties. The interviews took place in conjunction with the literature review and analysis of results. The use of this method allowed us to distinguish the EEE, a subset of EES, depending on their possession of skills and access to resources to produce their service. Finally, it is expected that the approach developed in this research is used to better understand the capabilities that EES have within their competition, providing the basis for future research on how to improve the capacity and the competition of these firms.

依據全球能源趨勢分析新興市場能源需求逐年成長，然而國內市場飽和的衝擊下，台灣的工程業如何運用既有實績、知識、技術來拓展海外商機，是企業面對環境快速變化所採取的必要策略。縱使金融風暴及外在投資環境愈趨險惡，競爭對手亦都是國際級工程公司，國內工程業仍須就時代脈動及未來趨勢提前規劃訂定新目標及經營策略以確保永續經營。 本研究藉由台灣工程業生存環境的變化及政策發展目標改變，依據區域、產業、顧客、市場的變化來尋求潛在市場規模。以煉油石化工程為主要研究對象，其市場特性為進入門檻高，且大型統包型專案執行日漸複雜，台灣的工程公司應具備良好之業務、專業能力，熟悉全球化作業細節，才有機會積極跨入國際市場以提供完善服務。本研究藉由個案公司對國內、外市場趨勢的探討，公司所處的內外部環境，尋求一個企業如何找出其價值鏈來提升核心競爭力；並且藉由研究策略之關鍵因素，利用跨國行銷管理與經營績效進行分析，以構建個案公司的發展願景。 企業創新、組織改造與競爭策略是未來發展的解決方案。本研究利用工程資訊、文獻資料等剖析企業在面臨國際經濟、工業發展、政府政策，供應鍵變化等不確定因素下，要跨入國際工程市場，可採用的策略方法。運用競合策略SWOT分析、價值網、策略地圖、平衡計分卡等探討強化核心能耐及訂立短、中、長期策略目標。 隨著大陸、印度等煉油石化工程同業逐漸取得報價資格進入國際市場，當我們面對低價搶標，材料及人工成本的上漲壓力，個案公司需以極敏銳的隨機變動能力，掌握這一波產業發展契機並發掘在跨國管理上的問題以尋求提升整體營運績效，強化核心能耐與競爭力。

<p>The focus of this dissertation is on how communication regarding work environment and work related risks can be understood from an organizational communication perspective. Based on a case study of communication about work environment and work related risks in the Swedish forest industry, the present study discusses institutional influences on organizational sense making processes. A central question has been how to understand the organizational field as a cultural and communicative arena where concepts and ideas connected with issues in the field are communicated between different actors.</p><p>The empirical data was gathered using different methods. A questionnaire aiming at screening media habits and information gathering strategies of forest machine contractors was used. Based on information from that screening, mass media content was analysed, such as daily newspapers, trade press and advertisements for forest machines. Also, interviews with actors in the field were analysed thematically with respect to how to unveil hidden key symbols and cultural valuations of forest machine work, the work environment and how to handle work related risks in forest work. The key symbols that were identified to organise conceptions about forest work and occupational risks connected with it contained information about different attitudes towards how to handle risks and other problems in the work environment. Two main types of conceptions were identified, technologically oriented conceptions and person oriented conceptions.</p><p>The analysis revealed a fragmented picture of forest work. Yet, the picture was more or less common to the organizational field as a whole. Building on institutional theory and theories of sense making, the study results in a deeper understanding of sense making in relation to work environmental issues by applying an organizational dimension to risk communication in an organizational field.</p>