This research explores to what extent the community newspaper, Fourways Review, which is distributed to a geographically demarcated area in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs, is fulfilling the community’s expectations; how community members use the newspaper and how Fourways Review’s community journalists define their roles. The research uses a qualitative approach to collect data through face-to-face, in-depth interviews with a sample of 30 community members and eight news team members; and one week of participant observation in the newsroom. Data is analysed through a constant comparative technique. The research finds Fourways Review is accepted in the community but is not as community-minded as a community newspaper should be, which affects how the community members use the publication. Community member respondents attribute the criticism to the influence of a market-driven approach to reporting. This is echoed by the news team respondents who say news production is influenced by community, advertising and inter-departmental pressures. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication Studies)

The aim of the diploma thesis is to give a partial characterization of speech of several age groups: ninth grade students, people aged 19-24 years, people aged 44-50 years and people aged 65 or more years and also draw a comparison between them in certain areas. The thesis contains the theoretical part, which focuses on simple functional communication style in general, non-verbal communication elements, symptoms suprasegmental speech marks and vocabulary range. The practical part is divided into two chapters. The first one describes necessities and areas of research. The second one provides a summary of speech specifics of individual age groups and mutual comparison of them. The practical part focuses on expression quality, ie., accuracy and linguistic correctness. It is also focused on the periphery of the vocabulary range.

Der tatsächliche Erfolg einer Immobilieninvestition wird maßgeblich von der zukünftigen Entwicklung des wirtschaftlichen Umfeldes bestimmt. Im Rahmen einer Immobilieninvestition sind für Investoren z. B. die zukünftigen Mieteinnahmen oder die allgemeine Wertentwicklung der Immobilie entscheidend. Da jedoch Entscheidungen in der Immobilienwirtschaft langfristiger Natur sind, kommt der Zukunftsorientiertheit und des damit verbundenen Risikos eine große Bedeutung zu. Die Entstehung von Immobilienzyklen kann nicht nur mit realen und monetären Fundamentaldaten (z. B. Bruttoinlandsprodukt, Zinsentwicklung) erklärt werden, sondern auch mit psychologischen Faktoren, wie beispielsweise Erwartungen und Einstellungen der Marktteilnehmer. Da mathematisch-statistische Prognoseverfahren diese Komponente nur unzureichend abbilden können, soll die Dissertation einen Beitrag zur Erforschung der Expertenbefragung als Prognoseinstrument darstellen. Ein weiterer Grund besteht darin, dass in der bisher veröffentlichten Fachliteratur der Expertenbefragung als Prognoseverfahren nur eine geringe oder gar keine Bedeutung beigemessen wurde. Ziel ist es herauszustellen, ob und unter welchen Voraussetzungen und Bedingungen Expertenbefragungen zur Prognose von Immobilienwerten geeignet sind und ob die Kombination der Ergebnisse der Expertenbefragungen mit den Ergebnissen mathematisch-statistischer Prognoseverfahren eine Erhöhung der Prognosegenauigkeit ermöglicht. Hierzu wird die zukünftige Entwicklung verschiedener Immobilienwerte für 2 bis 3 Jahre und für 5 Jahre durch Expertenumfragen und mit Hilfe ausgewählter mathematisch-statistischer Prognoseverfahren prognostiziert. Um die Güte der Expertenschätzungen beurteilen zu können, werden die Prognoseergebnisse mit der tatsächlichen Entwicklung und mit den Ergebnissen der mathematisch-statistischen Prognoseverfahren verglichen. In einer abschließenden Gegenüberstellung sollen Aussagen darüber getroffen werden, ob Expertenbefragungen für Prognosezwecke geeignet sind. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auch auf psychologischen Aspekten bzw. endogenen und exogenen Einflussgrößen, welche sich auf das Antwortverhalten der Experten auswirken können. Ziel ist es deshalb weiterhin, eine Handlungsempfehlung für die Durchführung von Expertenbefragungen - speziell für die Abgabe von mehrjährigen Trends und auch für Zwecke der Verkehrswertermittlung - zu geben.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / No organisation has an endless and unlimited supply of money, especially in a recessive economy, and therefore decisions have to be made as to which areas an organisation will invest in. As organisations, such as YZ1 financial services organisation, are focused on seeing returns on investment (ROI), implementing software that is not being used will not render any benefits to the organisation. Research problem: Project Managers (PMs) in YZ organisation’s IT department need to perform mandated processes, as defined in their centralised repository. PMs need to use Financial and Planning Software (FPS)2 software to perform certain project management activities, as required by their job function. However, it was found that MPP3 software, another tool, was used for more detailed project schedules, as well as activities that were not strictly enforced by management, the Project Office or the Quality Assurance team. Therefore, from this discovery, it was not clear whether the intended benefit of implementing this mandatory software (FPS) was being realised – since implementing software that is not being utilised fully would not deliver the intended benefits to the IT department (Devaraj & Kohli 2003), even if the software is termed ‘mandatory’. Objective: The primary objective of this research was to explore and optimise the key success factors for an effective implementation of mandatory software in a department, in order to derive the intended business benefits. Literature Review: Literature was reviewed in the search for models or theories that explore the relationship between the use of mandatory software and the achievement of business benefits. The Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK) was selected as this framework defines the relationship between IT and the realisation of business benefits, and ultimately the achievement of any business strategy. The literature review focused predominantly on the level of user involvement, change management, as well as factors that influence the usage of mandatory software by individuals. 1. The name of the organisation utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration 2. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms 3. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms. Focus was given to organisational factors affecting usage, such as top management support and organisational processes. A model was compiled using unique constructs in the Technology Acceptance Model (and TAM2), the Motivational Model (MM) and the Model of PC Utilisation (MPCU) – in order to test user acceptance of mandatory software. The literature study concludes with a review of an approach to benefits management including five stages, namely: identifying and structuring benefits, planning for the realisation of benefits, executing the plan, in addition to the evaluation and the review. Research design and methodology: A case study was used in this research, as it examined the phenomenon in its natural setting, employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from a few entities (groups and data sources). In this way, it was not limited to only qualitative or quantitative approaches, but utilised mixed methods instead. A mixed methods approach was used in order to elaborate, enhance and clarify the results from the qualitative research through the results of the quantitative analysis. Findings: The main finding, based on the compilation of three models of user acceptance, proved that FPS was not being utilised as intended. There was also no evidence of an improvement in business operations. Therefore, benefits management was negatively impacted. Organisational processes were dentified as the most important organisational factor, influencing the usage of FPS software. Own technological capability was considered to be the least important factor, as respondents believed that they had sufficient IT skills in order to learn how to use FPS software. Change management was rated negatively; and as a result, it impacted the usage of FPS, as users were not involved in the decision to implement, and had limited interaction in the implementation process. In addition, there was no evidence found that benefits management was conducted in the IT department; and therefore, the impact of using alternative software could not be quantitatively assessed. Recommendations: In concluding this research, it is recommended that the “best practice”, derived from the pertinent literate should be followed more diligently if YZ organisation is to benefit from the implementation of mandatory software. For example, in this research, it was found that top management’s support of FPS (second most important organisational factor influencing use) was lacking, despite the literature suggestion that senior management involvement in changing technology is crucial for organisational commitment. It is suggested that a more formal approach to benefits management should be implemented. It is also recommended that further study should be conducted – in order to explore the applicability of the Japanese framing (achieving benefits from IT software through the concept of strategic instinct, rather than strategic alignment) in the context of a developing country (such as South Africa). / South Africa

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / No organisation has an endless and unlimited supply of money, especially in a recessive economy, and therefore decisions have to be made as to which areas an organisation will invest in. As organisations, such as YZ1 financial services organisation, are focused on seeing returns on investment (ROI), implementing software that is not being used will not render any benefits to the organisation.Research problem: Project Managers (PMs) in YZ organisation’s IT department need to perform mandated processes, as defined in their centralised repository. PMs need to use Financial and Planning Software (FPS)2 software to perform certain project management activities, as required by their job function. However, it was found that MPP3 software, another tool, was used for more detailed project schedules, as well as activities that were not strictly enforced by management, the Project Office or the Quality Assurance team.Therefore, from this discovery, it was not clear whether the intended benefit of implementing this mandatory software (FPS) was being realised – since implementing software that is not being utilised fully would not deliver the intended benefits to the IT department (Devaraj & Kohli 2003), even if the software is termed ‘mandatory’.Objective: The primary objective of this research was to explore and optimise the key success factors for an effective implementation of mandatory software in a department, in order to derive the intended business benefits.Literature Review: Literature was reviewed in the search for models or theories that explore the relationship between the use of mandatory software and the achievement of business benefits. The Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK) was selected as this framework defines the relationship between IT and the realisation of business benefits, and ultimately the achievement of any business strategy.The literature review focused predominantly on the level of user involvement, change management, as well as factors that influence the usage of mandatory software by individuals.1 The name of the organisation utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration 2 The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms 3 The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms Focus was given to organisational factors affecting usage, such as top management support and organisational processes. A model was compiled using unique constructs in the Technology Acceptance Model (and TAM2), the Motivational Model (MM) and the Model of PC Utilisation (MPCU) – in order to test user acceptance of mandatory software.The literature study concludes with a review of an approach to benefits management including five stages, namely: identifying and structuring benefits, planning for the realisation of benefits, executing the plan, in addition to the evaluation and the review.Research design and methodology: A case study was used in this research, as it examined the phenomenon in its natural setting, employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from a few entities (groups and data sources). In this way, it was not limited to only qualitative or quantitative approaches, but utilised mixed methods instead. A mixed methods approach was used in order to elaborate, enhance and clarify the results from the qualitative research through the results of the quantitative analysis.Findings: The main finding, based on the compilation of three models of user acceptance, proved that FPS was not being utilised as intended. There was also no evidence of an improvement in business operations. Therefore, benefits management was negatively impacted. Organisational processes were identified as the most important organisational factor, influencing the usage of FPS software. Own technological capability was considered to be the least important factor, as respondents believed that they had sufficient IT skills in order to learn how to use FPS software.Change management was rated negatively; and as a result, it impacted the usage of FPS, as users were not involved in the decision to implement, and had limited interaction in the implementation process. In addition, there was no evidence found that benefits management was conducted in the IT department; and therefore, the impact of using alternative software could not be quantitatively assessed.Recommendations: In concluding this research, it is recommended that the “best practice”,derived from the pertinent literate should be followed more diligently if YZ organisation is to benefit from the implementation of mandatory software. For example, in this research, it was found that top management’s support of FPS (second most important organisational factor influencing use) was lacking, despite the literature suggestion that senior management involvement in changing technology is crucial for organisational commitment.It is suggested that a more formal approach to benefits management should be implemented. It is also recommended that further study should be conducted – in order to explore the applicability of the Japanese framing (achieving benefits from IT software through the concept of strategic instinct, rather than strategic alignment) in the context of a developing country (such as South Africa).

The dissertation thesis focuses on information systems and communication technologies and ways they are provided (sourced) in healthcare. The aim of this dissertation thesis is to design and verify a model of IS/ICT sourcing strategy for healthcare as a factor leading to the improvement of patient care, taking into account different categories of healthcare facilities and other specifics resulting from the application in medicine. The introductory section of the thesis (Section A) defines the areas of health care and identifies their specifics. Moreover, categories of healthcare facilities are defined and therapeutic, nursing and IS/ICT processes are identified. Sourcing is defined for the needs of the designed sourcing strategy model and the current trends are analysed as well as the offered outsourcing services. In the next section of the thesis (Section B), requirements on the IS/ICT sourcing strategy model are defined. Theories of sourcing strategies are analysed including assessment of the current practices of healthcare facilities. Identification of specific factors affecting sourcing in healthcare is an essential part of this section. The most important section of the thesis is a design of the IS/ICT sourcing strategy model and its verification in practice at a real healthcare facility, which is described in the final part (Section C). The designed model employs two layers to cover the whole spectrum of healthcare facilities. The base layer defines the types of objects used in developing the sourcing strategy. The specific layer takes into consideration the differences between the various categories of healthcare facilities and provides the actual implementation. Successful implementation of the model including its two layers was achieved in an independent outpatient healthcare facility.

Gradual construction in individual parts of the city has its own characteristics. Each period brings different general requirements for construction based on the lifestyle and needs of the population at certain time. This difference in construction, whether the real estate itself, or the overall layout of buildings in the landscape, including different architectural elements, affects the determination of their value. However it is often not possible to provide a sufficiently large database of comparable objects in medium-sized municipalities when applying the comparison method. Analysing of individual types of construction and, in particular, quantifying their impact on the usual cost is a new contribution and a view of building assessment. The dissertation thesis deals with the analysis of the problematic locality, the mapping of the individual construction stages, including defining individual characteristics of buildings and their surroundings. The construction influence was quantified based on the created database of realized housing units and selected methods. The realised facts in this dissertation thesis can be used as a basis for experts and valuers in the securing of database elements but also as a basic information for state administration authorities and for the public when buying and selling commodities, choosing a place for housing or information about their age.

This dissertation is focused on the identification and evaluation of specific factors affecting the price of agricultural land. It should be mentioned that the market for agricultural land, especially arable land and permanent grasslands, is not fully developed in the Czech Republic and this area is not fully explored. The thesis describes the factors on the basis of which the investor decides when buying these plots. The data needed for this work have been obtained from professional literature, real estate servers, two polls, actual sales, etc. In the conclusion of this thesis all findings are summarized and evaluated. It includes the development of prices in the years 2014 – 2016 based on sales actually realized in the Olomouc Region, Moravian – Silesian Region, South Moravian Region and Vysočina Region. The outcome of the thesis is a proposal of an expert standard. It is necessary to realize that, above all, agricultural land is a specific commodity, as it is unreproducible, indivisible and its offer is limited.

This diploma thesis deals with the development of the real estate market in selected urban areas of Brno and its surroundings. First of all, it defines the basic terms and definitions that relate to the real estate market and real estate valuation. The development of factors that affect the real estate market is examined. In the next part there is an analysis of the development of realized purchase prices of flats in Brno and also a thorough analysis of the development of average offer prices of flats in Brno and in the cities of Rousínov, Šlapanice and Slavkov u Brna to compare price differences. To compare prices, three basic criteria are set, on which the development is noticeable. The last part of the work presents a comparison and evaluation of realized purchase prices and offer prices of apartments according to selected criteria in selected city districts of Brno in the years 2018-2020.

The dissertation is focused on current issues in the connection with the rental price of land and construction land maps, which are addressed to practice. It deals with an overview of the development of rental and price charts in the Czech Republic and abroad. The basic precondition of the dissertation is the existence of data dealing with the relationship between rents and the usual (market, global) price of land in the price map in the Czech Republic. This area, the relationship of rents and land prices, has not yet been fully explored. The unavailability of this data can result in questioning the expert opinions for example in court proceedings. The conclusions of the dissertation illustrate, how interdependent ground rent with the price specified in price map constructions of land. The percentage of the relation I have determined to both individual cities (Prague, Brno, Olomouc), and all the Czech Republic as a whole.