This is an investigation of the enthusiasm, scenes and cultural industry of contemporary modified-car culture in Australia, based on fieldwork research with an online-based car club – where I participated as an enthusiast – and archival research of 30 years of enthusiast magazines and other texts. I develop a post-Kantian event-based conception of enthusiasm by drawing on the previous scholarship on modified-car culture read through post-structuralist theories of the ‘event’ and ‘affect’. The oeuvre of Gilles Deleuze is a key theoretical influence on this work, which also draws on the historical method and philosophy of Michel Foucault, the practical social theory of Pierre Bourdieu, and develops Theodor Adorno’s work on the cultural industry by examining its biopolitical dimension. Enthusiasm is often thought of as a charismatic relation between the enthusiast subject and the enthusiast object modified cars. But here, enthusiasm is understood as the event of a multiplicity of affects that exists on transversal scales from the personal to the scene and beyond. I argue that the charismatic relation of enthusiasm is a reduction that enables the enthusiasm of a given scene to become a resource for cultural industries servicing that scene. The event of enthusiasm is defined by the affects that circulate across bodies and which are actualised in the capacities of enthusiasts, the objects engaged with, and practices performed. The scene is defined by the character of the cultural events which populate it and the enthusiasts who participate in the events. The cultural events include cruising, working on cars, racing, showing, and consuming or participating in the enthusiast media. I draw on my fieldwork to examine the affective composition of some of these events. Transformations to the cultural identity of scenes and enthusiasms correlate with broader social changes exemplified by the processes of globalisation. The event of enthusiasm is repeated in different ways that make connections between the scales of the subjectively experienced affects of cultural events to the global-level transformations of the automotive industry and scene. The cultural industries and social institutions enable the enthusiasm by investing in the infrastructure of the scene and facilitating the existence of cultural events through sponsorship or practical support. Archival research on enthusiast magazines allows me to map the transformations to the composition of power relations (dispositif) between the state (governmental regulatory bodies), social institutions (online and offline car clubs, and federations), enthusiast cultural industries (magazines, event promoters, and later importers) and different populations of enthusiasts (from interested public to highly skilled and devoted enthusiasts). The periods roughly delineated include the militancy of street rodding era (the 1970s), the spectacle of street machining era (1980s through to the present), and the immanent online-sociality of the import era (mid-1990s through to the present). The power relations of the three eras of contemporary modified-car culture in Australia are contrasted and I argue that the current dominant set of relations involve spectacular cultural events. In the context of 1980s street machining, I examine the way elite level vehicles built by highly skilled enthusiasts following spectacular head turning styles of modification are used by event promoters and magazines to collectively individuate a population of the interested public. The ‘head turner’ is a singularity that organises the social spaces of the street and car shows and the discursive space of magazines. I argue that the emergent synergistic relation between magazines and event promoters is organised around the capacity of ‘head turners’ to mediate relations between different populations of enthusiasts so that enthusiasm is reduced to a charismatic relation and cultural events become spectacular. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The introduction of a vehicle destined for world-wide export brought mass customization to BMW SA. This, together with a 29% headcount reduction, a model range increase, stringent profitability targets and increased customer satisfaction demands, made the previous, un-integrated quality systems used in the Sales&Marketing Division obsolete. A quality management system was required to provide structure to the processes supporting a product which was becoming more and more complex. The implementation of a quality management system is described. This system for the first time, described some of the procedures used in the mass customization process of the BMW SA Sales&Marketing Division. The quality management system is evaluated based on the principle that customer satisfaction and the failure of internal processes need to be measured. Various are identified and recommendations are made. Some of the recommendations described have already been implemented successfully. An integrated mass customization procedure was established. Recommendations regarding customer satisfaction are in the process of being implemented. The effectiveness of these recommendations will be evaluated by future customer satisfaction survey results. / Dissertation (MEng (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

Patients experience some degree of pain accompanying all surgical procedures. If this pain is not adequately treated, it will cause severe physiological and psychological damage. It will even affect patients' postoperative recovery. However, if preemptive analgesia is administered before noxious stimuli arise, rather than afterwards, it is significantly more effective. The purpose of this study is to recognize that reasonable effort and time should be spent to determine a patient's tolerance level towards pain before surgery. Then, the appropriate dosage of analgesia can be given immediately after surgery to alleviate pain. By administering effective pain relief, it will improve patient¡¦s satisfaction with medical services. Using classic experimental design (which consists of an experimental group and a control group), this study focuses on cases of patients who had hemorrhoid surgery in a certain hospital in southern Taiwan. The experimental group and the control group consist of a total of 75 valid samples. The experimental group received customizing analgesic postoperative care, while the control group received conventional analgesic postoperative care. Patient¡¦s satisfaction questionnaires were gathered from patients on the day they were discharged from the hospital. Instruments used in the experiment include VAS, PThM, and patient¡¦s satisfaction questionnaires.To examine the basic characteristics of the samples in both the experimental group and the control group, two statistical methods, Chi-square test and independent T test, were adopted. For patient¡¦s satisfaction questionnaires, Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test of nonparametric method was adopted to examine if obvious differences in satisfaction levels existed between the two groups. The result of the experiment shows the analgesic effect from customizing analgesic postoperative care is far better than conventional care. The patient¡¦s satisfaction toward the doctor's professional skill was higher as well. On the other hand, the patient¡¦s satisfaction level toward the whole medical process had no obvious improvement. This study proves that customizing analgesic postoperative care can effectively prevent postoperative pain from occurring. However, to raise patient¡¦s satisfaction towards the whole medical process, better professional medical skill is required as well as improved medical services.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:42:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pedro de Almeida Latorre.pdf: 2795470 bytes, checksum: 230d89dc26d61644b66d62f69b8cf298 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-01-31 / Discusses the mythical study of the car through the movies passing at the same time by the history of cars using like main basement the theory of Roland Barthes. Reports, understands and gives form to the myth by exploring it as a cultural phenomenon, establishing a relation-ship between the mythical of the car and movies. Shows how the vehicle has an important role in helping to build the characters and the atmosphere of the film. Presents and analyzes vari-ous trends in automotive customization, relating them to the context of contemporary culture and showing them as tools for automotive creation myth. Emphasizes the questions discussed earlier, culminating in a proposal to use the myth as creative element in the design process. Relates to the current design process for permeating concepts as form and function, Gestalt, design thinking, experience design, emotional design, and semantics in product design. It also demonstrates a possible interdisciplinary methodology based on emotional design that adds to existing concepts and methodologies to facilitate the identification or production of myth / Este trabalho aborda o estudo da mítica no carro através do cinema simultaneamente passan-do pela história dos automóveis, utilizando como principal embasamento a teoria de Roland Barthes. Relata, entende e dá forma ao mito, explorando-o como fenômeno cultural, estabele-cendo uma relação entre a mítica do automóvel e o cinema. Mostra como o veículo tem um papel importante no cinema ajudando a construir os personagens e a ambientação do filme. Apresenta e analisa diversas tendências de personalização automotiva, relacionando-as ao contexto da cultura contemporânea e demonstrando-as como ferramentas para a criação do mito. Enfatiza as questões anteriormente abordadas, culminando em uma proposta de utilizar o mito como elemento criativo no processo de design, relacionando-o com o atual processo de design, por meio de conceitos como: forma e função, Gestalt, Design Thinking, Design de Experiência, Design Emocional e semântica no design de produto. Demonstra, também, uma possível metodologia interdisciplinar baseada no design emocional que se soma às metodolo-gias e conceitos existentes no intuito de facilitar a identificação ou a produção do mito

Cette thèse a pour objectif global l’étude des significations du DD et de la RSE dans le contexte marocain. La projection sur ces concepts, considérés sémantiquement flous et détenant un caractère malléable, génère plusieurs débats autour de leurs significations etic. Le contexte global de notre thèse est la prise de conscience du Maroc, des soucis environnementaux et sociaux entravant le pays et l’ouverture sur les tendances et pratiques nouvelles à l’échelle universelle. Aussi la résolution des problématiques sociales et environnementales et la préparation d’une structure favorable pour l’adoption et l’adaptation avec les mouvements internationaux. La conjugaison de ces événements bouleversera les systèmes économiques et sociaux et permettra l’apparition de nouvelles conceptualisations dépendantes des valeurs et croyances locales. Trois postulats principaux émanent de notre étude. Il s’agit d’abord d’analyser le niveau d’institutionnalisation du DD et de la RSE dans les idéaux ; il est question par la suite de savoir comment les marocains s’approprient ces concepts et d’analyser les différentes significations qui en ressortent en présence des particularités contextuelles locales ; et enfin analyser les perceptions et traductions qui leur sont attribuées dans la sphère managériale. Par une méthodologie qualitative à visée compréhensive basée sur la découverte, nous avons investi notre terrain, pour examiner les significations du DD et de la RSE avancées par les marocains et pour collecter tout matériau susceptible de générer un sens à ces concepts. Nous avons également procédé par altération afin de confronter les données saillantes etic avec les résultats emic pour enfin ressortir les définitions marocaines du DD et de la RSE. / The overall objective of this thesis is to study the significations of SD and CSR in the Moroccan context. The reflection upon these concepts considered semantically vague and of a malleable nature, generates several debates around their etic significations. The overall context of our thesis is shaped by the Moroccan realization of environmental and social concerns that impeding the country and the exposure to new and universal trends and practices. Also solving social and environmental issues and setting up a structure that supports the adoption of and adaptation to international movements. The manifestation of these events will disrupt both the economic and social systems and will allow the emergence of new conceptualizations that depend on local values and beliefs. Three main assumptions arise from our study. First of all, it is about an ideal analysis of the level of institutionalization of SD and CSR; then it is a question of knowing how Moroccans adopt these concepts and analyze different significations that emerge therefrom along with the local contextual particularities; and finally analyze their perceptions and interpretations attributed to them within the managerial field. In order to examine the significations of SD and CSR claimed by Moroccans and to collect all materials that are liable to generate a sense to these concepts, we adopted a qualitative methodology with a comprehensive scope based on the findings. We have also proceeded by alteration in order to combine the salient etic meanings and the emic findings to finally come up with the Moroccan definitions of SD and CSR.

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Goal of this thesis is to describe the warehouse management systems with focus on the engineering solution, software development and innovation. The evolution of warehouse management systems is very similar to that of many other software solutions. Initially a system to control movement and storage of materials within a warehouse, the role of WMS is expanding to including light manufacturing, transportation management, order management, and complete accounting systems. General point of view of this thesis is suggest the method how to implement modular (standard) solution on the premises. Project is specialized on PDA terminals and wireless access points settings. Introductory chapter of thesis offer extensive background, which reach out reader with system SAP and logistics processes. Practical part of project can divided to two parts. First one analyze software and develop system in cooperation with supplier and ITC department of ABB corporation. Follow part describe reports and dynamic programmes in programming language ABAP with a view to adoption architecture of system SAP. In fine author intend about future development of modern technology in ABB corporation and potential development of object identification method.