The need for delivery grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic because people avoided activities in public to limit the spread of the virus. The purpose of this research was to evaluate how the pandemic influenced many individual's delivery preferences through the administration of a stated preference survey targeted at residents in the New River Valley, Virginia. Conclusions revealed from the survey show that people want more efficient and accessible delivery services. A new delivery ecosystem called Delivery as a Service (DaaS) was developed using the input from the survey, existing service-based models being widely implemented in many industries, and emerging technologies. This thesis details a framework for DaaS derived by defining major actors, characteristics, and a method to measure the effectiveness of a DaaS system. This comprehensive definition of integrated delivery services illustrates areas for future research to further optimize the DaaS system. DaaS has the potential to significantly change the current delivery ecosystem through increased delivery accessibility and efficiency. Goods can be brought to users at a faster rate and on a larger scale. Autonomous vehicle and drone delivery technologies can significantly reduce the cost while correspondingly reducing the time of delivery. DaaS is a concept that is needed for people to thrive in modern times and brings the opportunity to provide added benefits to even rural areas. / Master of Science / The need for delivery grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic because people avoided activities in public to limit the spread of the virus. The purpose of this research was to evaluate how the pandemic influenced many individual's delivery preferences through the administration of a stated preference survey targeted at residents in the New River Valley, Virginia. Conclusions revealed from the survey show that people want more efficient and accessible delivery services. A new delivery ecosystem called Delivery as a Service (DaaS) was developed using the input from the survey, existing service-based models being widely implemented in many industries, and emerging technologies. This thesis details a framework for DaaS derived by defining major actors, characteristics, and a method to measure the effectiveness of a DaaS system. This comprehensive definition of integrated delivery services illustrates areas for future research to further optimize the DaaS system. DaaS has the potential to significantly change the current delivery ecosystem through increased delivery accessibility and efficiency. Goods can be brought to users at a faster rate and on a larger scale. Autonomous vehicle and drone delivery technologies can significantly reduce the cost while correspondingly reducing the time of delivery. DaaS is a concept that is needed for people to thrive in modern times and brings the opportunity to provide added benefits to even rural areas.

Bakgrund: Den agila projektmodellen har under de senaste två decennierna vuxit fram som en utmanare till den traditionella vattenfallsmodellen. En av de stora skillnaderna mellan projektmodellerna är att i det agila arbetssättet involveras kunden kontinuerligt. Frågan är vad som då händer med överlämningen av den sista versionen av produkten, när utvecklingen är färdig? Samtidigt har bankbranschen på senare år utmanats av nya aktörer vilka profilerar sig som just digitala och IT-inriktade, och både dessa moderna banker såväl som de traditionella storbankerna har anammat det agila arbetssättet för att kunna konkurrera om kundernas uppmärksamhet. Dessa banker arbetar inte agilt till lika hög grad, och frågan är om överlämningen påverkas av det? Syfte: Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för hur överlämningen av det slutliga projektresultatet i agila projekt ser ut på svenska banker. Vidare ska studien undersöka om den skiljer sig mellan banker med olika agil mognad samt vilka konsekvenser som kan uppkomma i samband med överlämningen. Genomförande: Studien är genomförd som en flerfallstudie där två fall - storbanker och nischbanker, undersöks. Vidare har en fenomenologisk ansats och ett kvalitativt angreppssätt använts. Empirin har samlats in genom ett målstyrt urval varpå semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med tio projektledare. Slutsats: Studien resulterar i slutsatsen att en överlämning av en slutlig produkt i agila projekt inte genomförs på ett formellt sätt, till skillnad från vad teorin tidigare har antytt. I synnerhet lämnar aldrig ansvaret för produkten någonsin det team som har utvecklat den. Vidare visar studien att storbanker arbetar med en lägre grad av agil mognad än vad nischbanker gör, men att detta inte påverkar hur överlämningen ser ut. Slutligen bidrar studien till insikter om konsekvenser kring att överlämningen inte existerar på ett formellt sätt. Detta leder till en reflektion kring att organisationer behöver anpassa sin agila projektmetodik till sin egen kontext. Projektledare generellt bör dessutom fundera över hur organisationens arbetssätt påverkar organisationen i stort samt vara medveten om de konsekvenser som dyker upp vid förändringar i arbetssättet. / Background: During the last two decades, the agile project methodology has grown as a competitor to the more traditional waterfall methodology. One of the biggest differences is, with an agile methodology the customer is involved throughout the project. But what happens in the final handover, when the development is finished? At the same time, the Swedish banking industry has been challenged by new actors whom profile themselves as digital focused and IT centred. Both types of banks have developed an agile way of working to be able to compete about the customers. However, the two types of banks does not work agile with the same maturity, and we wonder if the handover is affected by that? Purpose: The purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of what the handover of the final product in agile projects at Swedish banks looks like. Further, the study will examine if the handover differ between banks with different agile maturity, and which consequences that may arise in connection to the handover. Completion: The study was conducted as a multiple-case study in which two cases - traditional banks and specialised banks were examined. Further, a phenomenological and a qualitative approach has been used. The empirical data has been conducted through a targeted selection, where semi-structured interviews have been held with ten project leaders. Conclusion: The study concludes that the handover of the final product in agile projects does not exist in the formal way previous research has suggested. Specifically, the responsibility of the product does never leave the team developing it. Further, the study show traditional banks work with a lower degree of agile maturity in comparison to specialised banks. However, this does not affect the characteristics of the handover. Finally, the study contributes to insights about the consequences of the handover not being as formal. This contributes to a discussion about the need for organisations to be able to adapt their agile methodology to their own context. In general, project leaders also should reflect upon how their way of working affect the organisation as a whole, as well as being aware of the consequences that appears when changing the organisation’s way of working.

This study utilizes a hypercube innovation model to analyze the changes in both healthcare informatics and medical related delivery processes based on the innovations from Tele-health care, E-health care, to M-health care. Further, the critical impacts of the E-health innovations on the stakeholders: healthcare customers, hospitals, healthcare complementary providers, and healthcare regulators are identified. These results indicate that the innovation from Tele-health care to E-health care is architectural for healthcare customers, radical for both hospitals and healthcare complementary providers, and architectural for healthcare regulators. From E-health care to M-health care, innovation is architectural for both healthcare customers and hospitals, racial for healthcare complementary providers, and modular for healthcare regulators. Thereafter, the critical capabilities and suggestions for adopting each innovation are discussed

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to identify the perceptions of general and special education teachers currently participating in collaborative co-teaching team models regarding the leadership practices of principals in support of co-teaching as a service delivery model in high schools. The literature review findings indicated the importance of administrative leadership and support being essential for the implementation of co-teaching. Therefore, the two research questions for this qualitative study focused on administrative practices that support co-teaching. The two research questions for this qualitative research study were a) What are the leadership practices of principals, as perceived by general education teachers, in support of co-teaching as a service delivery model in high schools? and b) What are the leadership practices of principals, as perceived by special education teachers, in support of co-teaching as a service delivery model in high schools? This research study utilized a qualitative phenomenological research approach which was an interview protocol used to collect data from high school general and special education teachers participating in the study. The criteria for participation included: a) high school general and special education teachers currently participating or had participated in a collaborative co-teaching team model servicing students with disabilities, and b) high school general and special education teachers participating or had previously participated in a collaborative co-teaching team model servicing students with disabilities in core-content areas. The findings for school divisions and high school principals are common vision, expectations for co-teaching, ongoing, job-embedded professional development, and amenities that support co-teaching. The findings in this study resulted in five implications for school divisions and high school principals. Implications for practice were provided at the conclusion of the study and focused on identifying the practices of principal leadership, as perceived by general and special education teachers, in support of co-teaching in high schools. Also, suggestions for future research were addressed in this study. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to identify perceptions of high school general and special education teachers regarding principal leadership practices in support of co-teaching as a service delivery model in high schools. During this basic qualitative study, the researcher investigated the perceptions of eight high school general and special education teachers by conducting one-on-one interviews to collect data on the participants' perceptions of principal leadership practices in support of co-teaching in high schools. This basic qualitative study resulted in five findings. The high school general and special education teachers indicated a) principals conveyed a common vision for co-teaching with all staff members, b) professional development was provided by the principal to support implementing a co-teaching model, c) principal collaboration and communication with co-teaching teams was provided for the co-teaching model, d) co-teaching expectations were communicated by the principal to all staff members to foster a collaborative environment, and e) administrative support is fundamental for effective co-teaching. The five findings resulted in five implications for high school general and special education teachers perceptions of principal leadership practices in support of co-teaching a) school divisions should provide school leaders with support to develop and articulate a common vision for co-teaching based on research and best practices, b) the school division can allocate funds to provide job embedded co-teaching (for both the general and special educator) professional development, training, and conferences for full co-teaching implementation, c) principals should provide scheduled collaborative opportunities with general and special education teachers working in co-teaching teams, d) principals should convey co-teaching expectations with all staff members in an effort to strengthen collaborative environments, and e) principals should provide general and special education teachers continuous support in co-teaching collaborations.

台灣本身製造、設計、研發能力對於世界高科技產業的貢獻來說，已成為不可或缺的國際分工供應鏈體系，台灣製造的品質與聲譽，影響全世界各地消費者在採購時的決策。 本研究的主題是探討台灣國家品牌價值傳遞模式的過程，台灣政府、產業、企業與相關組織，致力於往建立台灣國家品牌的道路上前進，但到目前為止，整體台灣國家品牌的建立概念並未被強調，因此本研究從Michael Porter教授（1990）提出的價值鏈延伸到品牌價值傳遞模式，以同樣建立核心競爭力的觀點，不同於Porter應用於企業的分析觀點，套入Simon Anholt (2005)提出的國家品牌指標六要素，探討台灣國家品牌價值傳遞模式，並以Milan Zeleny教授（2006）提出的輔助資本型態：人為資本、人力資本、社會資本與自然資本重視與累積的相關成果，觀察台灣國家品牌建立過程中，著重台灣製造、創新台灣、品牌台灣、文化創意與地方城市的不同提升台灣國家品牌形象的活動，建構台灣國家品牌發展的價值傳遞模式。 研究結果建構出概念性的台灣國家品牌價值傳遞模式，並發現在台灣國家品牌價值傳遞模式的發展，須憑藉台灣本身的自然資本、人為資本、人力資本、社會資本四項輔助資本；目前台灣國家都會樣態的發展型態，逐漸強調自然資本與社會資本的重要性。 而台灣國家品牌價值傳遞模式的過程中，政府須扮演強大角色，建立由上到下規畫統籌，多元性的鼓勵與資助台灣國家品牌發展，由統一的發展單未來統合國家發展品牌的資源，但目前尚無一致的共識與主要的推動單位來規畫執行。 其中必須注意的是，打造國家品牌不是虛浮其外表，要建構強而有力的國家品牌前，要有國家品牌價值傳遞模式的過程，強化國家品牌塑造時的特色與競爭力。因此，各階段的未來發展應向下扎根、連結左右資源，並向上提升以建立台灣國家品牌形象，打造台灣國家品牌競爭 / Taiwan has been playing an important role in the world supply chain. Not only the capability of manufacture, but also design and the R&D are the reputation of “Made in Taiwan” which implants and affects the process of decision making in every customers’ mind. The main purpose of thesis is to develop and discuss Nation Brand of Taiwan, from the view of the Taiwan government, corporate and related institutions, in order to figure out whether the new emerging Nation Brand has been emphasized or not. After research framed the concept of Taiwan Nation Brand Net, extending from the theory of value chain of Prof. Michael Porter (1990), research selected five main activities: Made in Taiwan, Innovative Taiwan, Brand Taiwan, Culture and Creative Taiwan and City and District Taiwan, and Support Capital: Human Capital, Intelligence Capital, Social Capital and Nature Capital to analyze Taiwan Nation Brand Strength and Weakness by using the Nation Brand Hexogen proposed by Simon Anholt (2005). The finding of the thesis that Taiwan has been toward the way of building Taiwan Nation Brand and Taiwan has been increasingly emphasized the importance of the Social Capital and Nature Capital since Taiwanese government promoted the development of culture and creative industry. However, Taiwanese government is still in the beginning stage to build up the Taiwan Nation Brand. The necessary step for Taiwanese government has to leverage all resources from the related institutions of the government and reach the consistent concept of Taiwan Nation Brand to plan and execute overall process. Finally, the Branding Taiwan Nation Brand process would increase the competitiveness and Taiwan Nation Brand image of Taiwan.

Lack of trust between nonprofit organizations and the communities in which they are located is a well-documented problem in the academic literature. The nature of this mistrust is far less understood, and little is known how community-nonprofit collaborations can overcome these gaps in trust. Guided by Simmel's theory of trust, this study examined the role of collaborative trust between public and non-profit organizations with a focus on better understanding how trust evolves. The research questions focused on how trust was defined and the factors that enhanced and inhibited trust evolution within the context of collaborations between nonprofit organizations and communities. Data were gathered through structured, in-depth interviews with 14 staff and stakeholders, a focus group of 4 management committee members, and the examination of partnership documents.Data from the interviews and documents were inductively coded and then organized around key themes. The themes from the content analysis indicated that the 3 chief executive officers in the partnership embraced the concept of collaboration, invested time at trust building activities, and obtained stakeholder support. This study contributes to positive social change by providing information for policy makers and administrators of public and nonprofit organizations facing similar contexts about how the development of trust can remove the barriers and sustain collaboration to deliver social program services efficiently and equitably.

We compare the health needs between children and young adults with CL/P. Patient-reported experiences about the impact of a cleft are described. A service delivery model integrating quality of life into the ICF framework is presented. Lastly, transition of care for the young adult with CL/P is highlighted.

As a child approaches adulthood, many transitions take place; physically and psychosocially. There are new roles and responsibilities. For the young adult with cleft lip and palate (CLP), one of the most significant transitions is moving from the pediatric interdisciplinary team to the adult-centered health care system. There is a shift in focus from the cleft itself and clinician-reported outcomes to patient self-report about the perceived impact of the cleft on quality of life. Transition also befalls the parents and team providers who, through the course of some 18 years, were active participants in the young person's care. Their roles, too, have changed. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF; World Health Organization, 2001, 2004) is a conceptual framework for considering the totality of the cleft by addressing the interaction between the person and their personal and social environment. This model is suitably applicable to the transition of care of the young adult with CLP. In this paper, we propose an evidence-based person-centered delivery model of care using the concepts of the ICF to facilitate the transition of care for this population. A case example is presented highlighting the use of these concepts for the speech-language pathologist.

The educational rights of students with disabilities are supported through federal mandates, as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) safeguards a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Special education students encompass a wide range of individual and unique learning needs, thus the creation of educational environments that utilize fluid and flexible service delivery models is warranted. Furthermore, students with moderate to severe disabilities (MSD) require specialized academic instruction that promotes advancements across several developmental areas, which includes cognition, adaptive skills, communication, and emotional awareness. Exploring educational service delivery models that proficiently address the unique needs of students with MSD is essential, as limited research exists in this specific area. Utilizing a qualitative phenomenological research methodology, this study sought to explore an informal class reassignment program that provides educational instruction to students with MSD. Additionally, the intent behind this study was to explore how the informal class reassignment program influenced the special education teachers’ perspectives regarding learning outcomes for students with MSD, if at all. Moreover, this study sought to explore how moderate to severe special education teachers experience, define and describe an informal class reassignment program specifically designed to target the individual earning needs of students with MSD. This inquiry incorporated semi-structured interviews combined with reflective field notes to gain a deeper understanding of the participants’ lived experiences. Consequently, the findings shed light on factors that relate to optimal service delivery models for students with MSD.

In South Africa, the current movement towards the inclusion of children with disabilities, including children with hearing loss, is likely to have far-reaching consequences for both teachers and learners. Undoubtedly, needs will arise from teachers during the transition, especially in the areas pertaining to the audiological and educational management of children with hearing loss. A hearing loss often negatively impacts on the development of the child’s auditory, language, speech, communication, literacy, academic, and psychosocial skills. The educational audiologist is uniquely skilled in managing the effects of hearing loss on the child’s educational development, and is a crucial member on the educational team. The educational audiologist as specialist in the management of children with hearing loss, is able to offer a wide range of support and assistance to teachers as well as children with hearing loss in the inclusive educational system. When teachers receive appropriate educational audiology services, they are enabled to provide quality education that strives to reach the full potential of every child with hearing loss. Therefore, an urgent need existed to determine the needs of teachers of children with hearing loss regarding an educational audiology service delivery model for use within the inclusive educational system. In order to comply with this need, a descriptive research design was developed comprising of a questionnaire survey followed by focus group interviews. The questionnaire survey explored the needs of 664 teachers of children with hearing loss. Focus group interviews were conducted with 19 teachers of children with hearing loss and these results were used to substantiate findings from the questionnaire survey. The results of the study indicated that the needs of teachers differ according to the sub-groups found among teachers, namely those teachers who mainly promote the use of spoken language and those who mainly promote Sign Language. Findings revealed that, although participants realised the importance of various aspects of development of the child with hearing loss, they generally did not realise the importance of receiving support from an educational audiologist. With respect to specifics in term of support, participants strongly recommended that teachers receive support in the acquisition of knowledge re the trouble-shooting of hearing aids, advocacy for the implementation of FM systems in inclusive classrooms and the development of speech production skills of the child with hearing loss in the inclusive environment. In addition, various suggestions were made regarding the structure of services rendered within the educational context. These findings were utilised in order to propose an educational audiology service delivery model for South Africa in the current timeframe. / Thesis (DPhil (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / unrestricted