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No abstract / Decision Sciences / M. Sc. (Operations Research)

Information security has become a key concern for organizations conducting business in the current electronic era. Rapid technological development continuously creates novel security threats, making IT an uncertain infrastructure. So the security is an important factor for the vendors as well as for the consumers. To fulfill the security needs, IT companies have to adopt some standards to assure some levels that concern with the security in their product. Common Criteria (CC) is one of the standards that maintains and controls the security of IT products. Many other standards are also available to assure the security in products but like these standards CC has its own pros and cons. It does not impose predefined security rules that a product should exhibit but a language for security evaluation. CC has certain advantages due to its ability to address all the three dimensions: a) it provides opportunity for users to specify their security requirements, b) an implementation guide for the developers and c) provides comprehensive criteria to evaluate the security requirements. On the downside, it requires considerable amount of resources and is quite time consuming. Another is security requirements that it evaluates and must be defined before the project start which is in direct conflict with the rapidly changing security threat environment. In this research thesis we will analyze the core issues and find the major causes for the criticism. Many IT users in USA and UK have reservations with CC evaluation because of its limitations. We will analyze the CC shortcomings and document them that will be useful for researchers to have an idea of shortcomings associated with CC. This study will potentially be able to strengthen the CC usage with a more effective and responsive evaluation methodology for IT community. / Rana Aamir Raza Ashfaq (0046-76-2473148)

This is the study of how theology can contribute its insights and perspectives to the current debate on how economic development should be conducted. It argues that the philosophy of economics is underpinned by the notion of scarcity as a point of departure for the solution of relative scarcity. This notion has guided the major economic systems - capitalism and socialism - around the world. In spite of unprecedented wealth in the last two hundred years, especially in developed countries, relative scarcity characterised by, inter alia, poverty, unemployment, and homelessness, continues in the modern world unabated. In addition, scarcity-guided economic systems have contributed to massive environmental degradation on a world scale.With the fall of socialist command systems, the market economy as the surviving economic system has, in many ways, contributed to the disruption of the moral fibre of society due to its exclusive emphasis on market virtues. The impact of the notion of scarcity can be illustrated in the specific case of Zambia with regard to its economic evolution and local ecclesial participation in this revolution. Zambia's political economy in all its phases in the period 1964 to 1999, was founded on the notion of scarcity. Apart from the well-known failures and weaknesses in the implementation of economic development programmes, the adherence to scarcity contibuted to the compromisation of social and enviromental imperatives. During the period under review, Zambian churches did not provide an alternative basis for economic development. They were content to contribute their pastoral and social tasks to society and to the economic development of Zambia within a social environment which was defined by the ethos of scarcity. In the light of the inadequacy of scarcity, this thesis argues that Christian theology needs to develop a new point of departure and model for economic development founded on stewardship. In order to do this well, Christian theology needs to spell out clearly relevant moral criteria. These moral criteria need to be expressed within the philosophy of stewardship as a feasible framework for economic development. Stewardship is not simply another moral criterion, but a workable Biblical metaphor and mechanism that calls on all humans to begin to manage well the resources of the earth for the sake of the human family and non-humans. Even though there were certain aspects of stewardship in the implementation of economic development programmes in Zambia, too little was done to achieve a social context defined by the ethic of stewardship. In this regard, Zambian churches should re-assert themselves and promote new values for economic life by appropriating this framework within their ecclesial structures. This ecclesial appropriation ought to be extended to their local economies, local businesses and to the state as a whole. This study humbly contributes to the emergence of stewardship-guided economic processes and systems which respect the interests of human communities and the environment as the basis of all life. / Thesis (PhD(Dogmatics and ethics))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / unrestricted

Relevance is a core concept in the field of Information Science and a common term in everyday vernacular that generally refers to the usefulness of information. However, relevance has not been sufficiently or consistently defined or explored in the information science literature. Relevance criteria are the factors that information users employ when determining whether information they encounter is relevant. Identifying relevance criteria is a crucial step to understanding relevance. Relevance criteria employed with newer information formats like online video are especially important to study. Online video is now widespread, and people are increasingly likely to rely on video for information. This study identifies relevance criteria employed during relevance assessments of online video through a explanatory sequential mixed-methods study of frequent online video users including students, faculty, librarians, and video professionals. Methods included an online survey and interviews.

Dissertation thesis focuses on principles of multi-criteria decision-making in public contracts. The theoretical section of the thesis introduces principles and methods of multi-criteria decision-making including the determination of their suitability for public contracts. It also cover characteristics and specifics of purchasing via public contracts and findings of previous research conducted in the Czech Republic and foreign countries. Own empirical research comprises two parts. The first part of research is based on data about public contracts from the Czech Republic between 2011 and 2013 announced via the Information System on Public Contracts. The data allow investigating criteria and their weights used by contracting entities in relationship to characteristics of the public contracts; especially the subject-matter and the value of the contract. The second part of the research is based on sample data file of contract announcements for contracts evaluated according to the economic advantageousness of the tender. The data allow investigating methods of multi-criteria decision making and approaches to qualitative criteria. Findings from the theory and the conducted research were source for a normative model for selection of criteria and methods of multi-criteria decision-making. The goal of the model is to enhance the quality of decision-making in the field of public contracts. The most important contribution of the model is the connection of the three key parts of multi-criteria decision-making; criteria, its weights and methods of multi-criteria decision-making.

Mining operations negatively impact the environment and, as a result, South African legislation requires that, as part of an Environmental Impact Assessment, an Environmental Management Programme (EMPRs) be developed and implemented to manage all the impacts identified. The Coal Mining Sector was selected for this research because of the important role it plays within the South African economy. In this research, the quality of Environmental Management Programmes within the Coal Mining Sector of South Africa was reviewed. Based on Lee and Colley’s method for reviewing the quality of Environmental Impact Reports, a review package was developed and used for the evaluation of the quality of the Environmental Management Programmes. According to the results, 62% of the Environmental Management Programmes achieved satisfactory quality grades despite omissions and inadequacies still being present. Distinct areas of weaknesses were found, such as confusion about what is required from an EMPR according to the guidelines and regulations of Department of Mineral Resources. Some EMPRs were generic documents with action plans presented that could not practically manage the impacts identified, and in some cases the Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) did not possess the technical knowledge of the mining operation to develop effective action plans to manage the impact identified. All these factors influenced the outcome of the quality evaluation of the EMPRs reviewed. / Master of Environmental Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Mining operations negatively impact the environment and, as a result, South African legislation requires that, as part of an Environmental Impact Assessment, an Environmental Management Programme (EMPRs) be developed and implemented to manage all the impacts identified. The Coal Mining Sector was selected for this research because of the important role it plays within the South African economy. In this research, the quality of Environmental Management Programmes within the Coal Mining Sector of South Africa was reviewed. Based on Lee and Colley’s method for reviewing the quality of Environmental Impact Reports, a review package was developed and used for the evaluation of the quality of the Environmental Management Programmes. According to the results, 62% of the Environmental Management Programmes achieved satisfactory quality grades despite omissions and inadequacies still being present. Distinct areas of weaknesses were found, such as confusion about what is required from an EMPR according to the guidelines and regulations of Department of Mineral Resources. Some EMPRs were generic documents with action plans presented that could not practically manage the impacts identified, and in some cases the Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) did not possess the technical knowledge of the mining operation to develop effective action plans to manage the impact identified. All these factors influenced the outcome of the quality evaluation of the EMPRs reviewed. / Master of Environmental Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This research project identifies some factors for the justification in having parallel network links of similar reliability. There are two key questions requiring consideration: 1) When is it optimal to have or create two parallel paths of equal or similar reliability? 2) How could a multi-criteria selection method be implemented for assigning expenditure? Asset and project management always have financial constraints and this requires a constant balancing of funds to priorities. Many methods are available to address these needs but two of the most common tools are risk assessment and economic evaluations. In principal both are well utilised and generally respected in the engineering community; when it compares parallel systems both tend to favour a single priority link, a single option. Practical conception also tends to support this concept as the expenditure strengthens one link well above the alternative. The example used to demonstrate the point that there is potential for parallel paths of equal or similar reliability is the Wellington link from near the airport (Troy Street) up the coast to Paekakariri. Both the local and highway options have various benefits of ease of travel to shopping facilities. Investigating this section provides several combinations from parallel highways to highway and local roads, so will have differing management criteria and associated land use. Generalised techniques are to be applied to the network. Risk is addressed as a reliability index figure that is preset to provide a consistent parameter (equal reliability) for each link investigated. Consequences are assessed with multi-criteria selection focusing on local benefits and shortcomings. Several models are used to build an understanding on how each consequence factor impacts on the overall model and to identify consequences of such a process. Economics are briefly discussed as the engineering community and funding is almost attributed to financial constraints. No specific analytical assessment has been completed. General results indicate there are supporting arguments to undertake a multi-selection criteria assessment while comparing parallel networks. Situations do occur when there is benefit for parallel networks of equal or similar reliability and therefore equal funding to both can be supported.

The investigation reported in this dissertation attempts to determine the feasibility of using a distance-based approach like compromise programming for discrete-time dynamic programming problems with multiple objectives. In compromise programming, a function measuring the distance from a generally infeasible ideal solution to the feasible set of the problem is the single objective acting as a surrogate for the set of multiple objectives. Since, in general, there is no single best solution to a multiple objective problem, a framework to generate a family of compromise solutions interactively on a computer is proposed. Various quantities relevant to dynamic compromise programming are defined in precise terms. Dynamic compromise programming problems are computationally difficult to solve because in order to make the distance function decomposable over stages, dimensionality of the state-space must be increased by the number of objectives. To generate compromise solutions, quasi-Newton differential dynamic programming (QDDP), a recently developed variable-metric method for discrete-time optimal control, was employed. QDDP is attractive because no second order or Hessian information is required as input. Instead, Hessian matrices are approximated by first order or gradient information. Since very little is known about its numerical properties, computational experiments were conducted on QDDP. A new strategy for updating Hessian matrix approximations was computationally tested. A constrained QDDP algorithm is proposed, computationally tested, and applied to solve a multiobjective dynamic programming problem with inequality constraints at each stage. The algorithm has the potential for application to the more general discrete-time optimal control problem with stage constraints. The framework for generating compromise solutions interactively was implemented for prototype problems. Because decision maker interaction is crucial in a multiple objective situation, special attention was paid towards developing a man-machine interface using on-screen windows. All implementation and computational testing were done on a UNIX based personal computer.