This thesis discusses the work of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the field of conflict prevention, management and resolution, from 1990 until late 1998. Two theoretical perspectives, neo-realism and neo-liberal institutionalism, provide a framework for analysis. Both theories are able to highlight different strengthsa nd weaknesses in the OSCE's approach which are described in three case studies. However, neither theory can fully explain the findings of the case studies. In the thesis's conclusion the shortcomings of both theories are discussed and the gaps in explanation are explored by reference to constructivist approaches. Three case studies are described in order to demonstrate different facets of the OSCE's work. Macedonia provides an example of the OSCE's work in conflict prevention (it is in the field of conflict prevention that the OSCE is seen at its most successful). The second case study, Nagomo-Karabakh, examines the OSCE's handling of an ongoing conflict and attempts to arrange both a peace conference and a peacekeeping mission. The issues surrounding the conflict here demonstrate the complexity of external involvement in mediation and negotiation processes, and the difficulties of trying to find solutions that are acceptable to the parties in a context complicated further by the interests of external actors. The third case study is an analysis of the OSCE's engagement in the post-conflict reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This reveals the problems of implementing aspects of an unsatisfactory peace agreement. The case study highlights the enormity of the tasks assigned to the OSCE and the lack of coherent international support for the organisation's work. It also discusses the effects of the interplay of both external and internal power political struggles on the OSCE's operations. The thesis concludes that the OSCE has in limited ways performed valuable work in all three case studies but that its real strengths are most apparent in the field of conflict prevention.

Context. There are several methods of developing software in a systematic, engineering way. One of them are traditional methods such as waterfall. Nowadays, more common are becoming agile methodologies. Agile aims at addressing and improving a communication in software projects. However, customer - supplier communication in software projects still causes many difficulties. Objectives. In this study I wanted to identify basic customer – supplier communication problems that agile practitioners encounter in agile software projects. I also wanted to provide basic guidelines based on identified, prioritized problems and identified, prioritized solutions. Methods. Using recently published journal articles and conference proceedings  I identify customer – supplier communication problems that agile practitioners encounter in agile software projects. In order to identify solutions, and also prioritize the identified problems I used a survey. Then, based on analysis of results of the survey foreseen guidelines were synthesized.  Results. Literature study resulted in the identification of eight customer – supplier communication problems that agile practitioners encounter in agile software projects. The survey provided critical weighted evaluation of the problems and also suggested solutions to the problems. The obtained weighted results were used to develop the basic guidelines together with suggested solutions to each of them. Conclusions. The research was designed to help agile practitioners in their communication with a customer. The obtained results provide basic and starting guidelines that are based on the experience of the agile practitioners. That can be further extended based on future local and individual experience of agile practitioners.

How do organizations build trust under varying degrees of uncertainty? In this article, we propose that different degrees of uncertainty require different bases of trust. We distinguish between three different forms of trust production (process-based, characteristics-based and institution-based) and develop hypotheses regarding their relative effectiveness under low versus high levels of product and performance uncertainty. Using survey data on 392 interorganizational buyer-seller relationships, we find support for our position that a high degree of uncertainty favours process-based trust production, whereas characteristics-based trust production is relatively more effective when uncertainty is low. The effectiveness of institution-based trust production is not significantly affected by uncertainty. We derive implications for organizational trust production under different degrees of uncertainty, which should encourage new research on trust.

D.Litt et Phil. (Public Management and Governance) / Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are contractual arrangements between the public and private sector, which are generally long-term in nature. If correctly implemented PPPs can mobilise socio-economic goals. The implementation of PPPs is to permit the delivery of continued, lucrative public organisation or services, by mobilising private sector proficiency and conveying a substantial amount of risk to the private sector, towards value for money. The incentive of the research is centred on the guiding principles of PPPs and the challenge of risk-sharing. The aim of this study is to encourage the systematic management and strategic control of PPPs in South Africa. In doing so, this study aims to determine how the PPP model can be improved to necessitate effective risk management in PPPs, and to provide for improved strategic control. The study supplies recommendations for improved practice, in both the public and private sectors, through strategic planning and shared apparata in PPP arrangements. Furthermore, the study suggests guidelines for effective risk sharing and management in PPPs, through integrated systems management. Integrated systems management proposes that the strategy, structures, systems and culture of PPPs are entrenched in organisational settings, in both the private and public sector, as well as in the PPP arrangement, to encourage capacity development and more developed institutions in South Africa. Effective risk management in PPPs necessitates the anticipation of risks; sufficient planning to address these risks and achieve project objectives; and, lastly, the entrenching of risk management within the organisation and project structures. The study commences with an overview of the development of public management and conceptual approaches of governance, providing a contextual synthesis of past and current theoretical perspectives. The study conceptualises the theoretical standpoints relevant to PPPs and the labelling of peripheral approaches. The research provides a synopsis of the role and functions of PPPs, international best practices in PPPs, and the nature of risk management in PPPs. This affords a foundation for investigating the trials and issues associated with PPPs and the challenges experienced in managing risks in PPPs. This is augmented with a systematic breakdown of the research design and methodology, to structure the research. In addition, a preliminary quantitative survey assessment is conducted, in order to derive preliminary findings for the primary analysis in the research.

Magister Legum - LLM / This paper addresses the issue of the primary Prototype Carbon Fund objectives , which are High-Quality Emmissions reductions ; knowledge dissermination; Public-private parterships. The researcher further invesigates whether, eight years after its creation, the Prototype Carbon Fund is a success. / South Africa

Wireless sensor networks are emerging as effective tools in the gathering and dissemination of data. They can be applied in many fields including health, environmental monitoring, home automation and the military. Like all other computing systems it is necessary to include security features, so that security sensitive data traversing the network is protected. However, traditional security techniques cannot be applied to wireless sensor networks. This is due to the constraints of battery power, memory, and the computational capacities of the miniature wireless sensor nodes. Therefore, to address this need, it becomes necessary to develop new lightweight security protocols. This dissertation focuses on designing a suite of lightweight trust-based security mechanisms and a cooperation enforcement protocol for wireless sensor networks. This dissertation presents a trust-based cluster head election mechanism used to elect new cluster heads. This solution prevents a major security breach against the routing protocol, namely, the election of malicious or compromised cluster heads. This dissertation also describes a location-aware, trust-based, compromise node detection, and isolation mechanism. Both of these mechanisms rely on the ability of a node to monitor its neighbors. Using neighbor monitoring techniques, the nodes are able to determine their neighbors’ reputation and trust level through probabilistic modeling. The mechanisms were designed to mitigate internal attacks within wireless sensor networks. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated through extensive simulations. The dissertation also addresses non-cooperation problems in multi-user wireless sensor networks. A scalable lightweight enforcement algorithm using evolutionary game theory is also designed. The effectiveness of this cooperation enforcement algorithm is validated through mathematical analysis and simulation. This research has advanced the knowledge of wireless sensor network security and cooperation by developing new techniques based on mathematical models. By doing this, we have enabled others to build on our work towards the creation of highly trusted wireless sensor networks. This would facilitate its full utilization in many fields ranging from civilian to military applications.

This research was conducted to assess cultural diversity in the institutionalisation of the African Union (AU). Most researchers have found interest on the subject of cultural diversity that edifice the African Union because “Africa does not have a single culture not in religions, not in economic systems, and especially not in languages, the number of different languages spoken on the continent, numerous dialects not included, range as high as 2,000 or more languages. While some languages, such as Swahili, are spoken by millions, other languages may be spoken by only a handful” (Robert & Feldman, 2008: 267) The AU member states heads are quiet aware of the forces of cultural diversity in the Union, hence several workshops were carried out between member states heads to put together the cultural policy for the Union. There are also numerous policies on African cultural diversity that were approved previously by different organisations that intended to unify Africa before the African Union was formed. Those policies are aligned within the AU cultural policy - The Charter for African Renaissance that will be reviewed in length in Chapter 3 in the literature review. What comes as a mystery is that, even though the Charter for African Renaissance has unified and adopted various policies ethnic and religion segregations within states and between states is still visible in most African countries (ethnicity, language and religion will also be evaluated and a sample of various cultures found in African countries will also be discussed in Chapter 3 under literature review). The Charter for African Renaissance contains guiding principle and objectives of the AU pertaining cultural diversity and these objectives needs to be met. However the biggest well known challenge about policies is that in most cases they remain on paper and shelved, they never make that much difference to the society that they intend to change. As Cloete and Wissink (2000) will put it that “policies only exist because they need to bring about change, however, it is also possible to change policies on paper, whilst effecting no real social change" (2000: 239). African cultural diversity policies are as well littered with failed institutions and initiatives that have not been followed through to completion, or of promises that have been broken. The driving force for this research is that Africans has seen many false starts in the last few decades and they are desperate for change, they need to see democracy, development and institutional building in the African countries. African Union on the other hand has existed for a decade but it has not yet achieved its objectives. How do we know that this is not just another focus for a misplaced enthusiasm? Will the current initiatives of the AU fall by the wayside? Will the world continue to mock Africa as the land of broken promises, of criminalized and failed states that inevitably subvert the best intentions of their peoples and their development partners? Unfortunately these questions has influenced this investigation but cannot be answered by this paper. However this paper intends to find out if cultural diversity has an impact in the missed opportunities and broken promises of Africa and this will be examined in the structures of the African Union.

The purpose of this thesis is to disseminate research work done towards a higher degree and report on the findings of the research that was conducted relative to South African Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects. The research investigated perceptions of PPP actors on the performance of operational PPP projects. The aim of the research was to fulfil the requirements for the award of the degree of philosophiae doctor in construction management; contribute to the PPP body of knowledge; contribute further understanding of the performance of PPP projects in South Africa; and develop a systemic model for a sustainable PPP system within the country and beyond. All the aforementioned have been achieved, despite the research limitations as indicated in Chapter 1. A case study approach was adopted to examine various performance aspects of operational South African PPP projects. The research was a multi-case study design. Each individual case study consisted of a ‘whole’ study, in which facts were gathered from the selected PPP projects and conclusions drawn on those facts. A web-based questionnaire was used to capture the experiences and perceptions of various actors involved directly, or indirectly in selected PPP projects. The sample stratum consisted of all operational PPP projects registered in accordance with Treasury Regulations as of December 2005 and other projects that reached financial closure before the Public Finance Management Act of 1999 became effective. PPPs involve highly complex procurement processes, are relatively new in South Africa and to date have attracted limited investigation to refine our understanding of the operational performance of PPP projects. This is notable, as significant financial and other resources are involved, and the perception exists that service delivery in most parts of the country is poor. Key empirical evidence from the research indicates that South Africa has developed a robust policy and regulatory framework for PPPs; has an inadequate level of PPP awareness and training; and lacks the project management capacity to facilitate deal flow. It is suggested that further research be conducted on a yearly basis, preferably every six months, so that trends can be established concerning various aspects of other operational PPPs. Further, it is recommended that the PPP Unit commission sector-specific studies that will conduct further research, to compare research across PPP and non-PPP contracts. The choice to conduct a multi-case study required extensive resources and time beyond the means available to the researcher. Further, the sensitive nature of PPP projects made it difficult to obtain required data at the first attempt. However, the researcher made several follow up calls and reminders before eventually obtaining the required data from the respondents. A systemic PPP model has been developed for PPP implementation and management. This model was tested for appropriateness by conducting a further survey on PPP participants attending an international conference on 'Financing of Infrastructure Development in Africa through Public Private Partnerships’ staged in August 2007, in the St. George Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa. The findings from this research make an invaluable and original contribution to the PPP body of knowledge, provide insight for further research in this important field, refine the understanding of operational PPP projects, and provide direction for policy and decision makers in the public and private sectors, within South Africa and beyond.

No abstract included. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

There is a growing concern among both scholars and laymen for the diminishing resources of the world. This thesis examines the political geographic implications of transnational resource management. The hypothesis is a dual one: firstly, that man's past and present uses of transnational resources have led, in some cases, to the necessity for international political control, and secondly, that problems related to transnational resource management have been, for the most part, ignored by political geographers, but should be the subject of future research. The use of three transnational resources is reviewed: the blue whale, the North Pacific salmon, and the polar bear. Through an examination of the past uses of the blue whale, and the International Whaling Commission's lack of legislative powers, a case is built supporting the hypothesis. This case is further supported by the past uses of the North Pacific salmon, and the on-going dispute between the American and Japanese governments. Lastly, the Federal Provincial authority established to regulate the hunting of polar bear adds further support to the hypothesis. A brief look back into the discipline establishes this thesis as part of the environmental concerns within geography, and the material presented in the text clearly shows the political geographic implications of the problems of transnational resource management. The results of the inquiry would suggest that there is a need for further political geographic research on similar topics, and that man's past and present uses of transnational resources have, in fact, led to the necessity for international political control for these resources at least. There is, however, no claim made to the feasibility of such an international authority. The urgency for enforceable legislation is, nevertheless, clearly evident. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate