Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1981.

This master’s report is an assessment of a theoretical process by which the concepts of sustainability can enter into the conventional system of development, primarily focusing on the physical development and growth of the urban environment. A context-specific definition of sustainability is first derived and then inserted within the classic theory of Diffusion of Innovations in an attempt to articulate the concept of sustainable innovation diffusion. The redevelopment of the Seaholm Power Plant in Austin, Texas is then used as a case study. Specifically, carrying forward previous research on a conceptual plan for adapting the power plant’s dormant condenser infrastructure into a commercial-scale rainwater harvesting system is presented as a demonstration project for promoting sustainable innovations. Applying a systemsthinking approach to resolving the challenges of implementing alternative technologies and practices into the Seaholm case study reveals both the mechanisms for encouraging and the barriers limiting the adoption of sustainable development strategies. / text

Intensive care delirium prevention is currently a practice improvement goal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Delirium increases morbidity, mortality, time mechanically ventilated, length of stay, and health care spending. The Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Pain, Agitation, and Delirium in Adult Patients in the Intensive Care Unit (PAD guidelines) were revised and published in 2013. The ICU Delirium and Cognitive Impairment Study Group at Vanderbilt University have developed the ABCDEF Bundle protocol as a way of operationalizing the 2013 PAD guidelines. Implementation of the ABCDEF Bundle protocol has been shown to decrease occurrence and duration of delirium while improving morbidity and mortality therefore decreasing length of stay. The purpose of this project is to develop an implementation and evaluation plan of the ABCDEF Bundle for a community hospital's TSICU in Arizona. The Squire guidelines for quality improvement reporting are followed for this project. Implementation and evaluation of the ABCDEF bundle are explained in detail.

Många länder går mot ett samhälle där kontanter används till en mindre grad vilket har lett till en ökning av elektroniska betalningsmetoder. Utöver kortbetalningsmetoder har andra mer hög teknologiska betalningsmetoder vuxit fram. Bland dem är Bitcoin ett nytt system som vuxit sig relativt stor under de senaste åren. Bitcoin är både kritiserat och hyllat i olika medier. Utifrån de två väletablerade teorierna; Diffusion av innovation och Teknologi acceptans modellen avser studien att identifiera betydande faktorer i Svenska företags adaption av Bitcoin. Denna kvalitativa studie bygger på strukturerade telefon- och mailintervjuer i samband med samling av sekundärdata vilket tillsammans skapar empirins underlag. Studien består av åtta telefonintervjuer och tre mailsvar Studien är av deduktiv natur då den undersöker innovationen utifrån redan befintliga teorier. I användandet av teorin återfinns ingen undersökning av innovationen, istället har innovationer av närliggande karaktär studerats för stödjande av faktorernas vikt för adaptionen av innovationen. Resultaten visar att relativa fördela, kompatibilitet, svårighet att använda och uppfattad risk bör vara de främsta faktorerna. Utöver dessa faktorer finns bevis som pekar på att sociala influenser och tekniskt intresse även är viktiga för Bitcoins adaption.

This research examines the integration of electronic book (e-book) technology within an academic library. The University of Ottawa library is explored as a qualitative case study. The perceptions of use and communication pertaining to e-book adoption from the perspectives of students, faculty members, and librarians are combined with other documentation to provide a comprehensive examination of the case. Rogers (1962; 2003) Diffusion of Innovations provides the theoretical framework to guide the study and structure its analysis. Main findings revealed the following: (1) participants preferred print books, (2) inadequate communication occurred between students, faculty members, and librarians, and (3) information literacy training initiatives were insufficiently standardized. This study contributes to communication research by examining adoption of e-book technology and the spread of ideas within a social environment. It also furthers Diffusion of Innovations by confirming that even when individuals acknowledge advantages of a communication technology, it is not necessarily adopted.

Focusing on the potential use of telemedicine among other efforts for better treatment of stroke patients, this study explored the role of telemedicine in the management of stroke patients and knowledge sharing among health care providers in Afghanistan. To this end, fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with physicians, specialists, neurologists, and decision makers from the Afghan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH). Actor-network and diffusion of innovations theories provided a theoretical framework for this exploratory qualitative study. The study was intended: 1) to find out about the major challenges and problems associated with managing stroke patients in Afghanistan; 2) to explore the perceptions of Afghan health professionals about the application of telemedicine as a means of improving the delivery of health services for stroke patients in Afghanistan; and 3) to understand the perceived barriers to knowledge sharing and to ascertain the potential role of telemedicine in knowledge sharing among health care providers in Afghanistan. The findings of this study demonstrated that almost all of the participants were optimistic about the potential positive role telemedicine could play in the management of stroke patients and knowledge sharing among health care providers in Afghanistan. Some important existing organisational, socio-economic, geographical, security, and cultural barriers to the management of stroke patients and knowledge sharing among health care providers in Afghanistan were revealed. To the best knowledge of the researcher, there has been no study of this kind conducted in Afghanistan yet; thus, the findings of this study will likely contribute to the development of health communication in the context of Afghanistan, and could likely be used as a resource for future research about the applications of telemedicine in various medical specialities.

It is argued in this thesis that the stigmatization of menstruation and the atypical product features of the menstrual cup constitute a unique marketing challenge for vendors of the menstrual cup. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate these issues and the ways in which Scandinavian vendors approach them. Further, the possible effects of this approach on the rate of adoption of the menstrual cup are analyzed. In order to do so, interviews with four Scandinavian vendors of the menstrual cup were conducted. The main findings are that the stigmatization of menstruation is the most influential factor in the marketing of the menstrual cup as it hinders the spreading of knowledge about menstruation and the menstrual cup. It is found that the vendors take an educational approach in order to spread information, which in turn enables learning. Information is spread primarily through word-of-mouth.

In the first essay, I examine value created through external acquisition of nascent technology innovation. External acquisition of new technology is a growing trend in the innovation process, particularly in high technology industries, as firms complement internal efforts with aggressive acquisition programs. Yet, despite its importance, there is little empirical research on the timing of acquisition decisions in high technology environments. I examine the impact of target age on value created for the buyer. Applying an event study methodology to technology acquisitions in the telecommunications industry from 1995 to 2001, empirical evidence supports acquiring early in the face of uncertainty. The equity markets reward the acquisition of younger companies. In sharp contrast to the first essay, the second essay examines the diffusion of negative innovations. While destruction can be creative, certainly not all destruction is creative. Some is just destruction. I examine two fundamentally different paths to information security compromise an opportunistic path and a deliberate path. Through a grounded approach using interviews, observations, and secondary data, I advance a model of the information security compromise process. Using one year of alert data from intrusion detection devices, empirical analysis provides evidence that these paths follow two distinct, but interrelated diffusion patterns. Although distinct, I find empirical evidence that these paths both converge and escalate. Beyond the specific findings in the Internet security context, the study leads to a richer understanding of the diffusion of negative technological innovation. In the third essay, I build on the second essay by examining the effectiveness of reward-based mechanisms in restricting the diffusion of negative innovations. Concerns have been raised that reward-based private infomediaries introduce information leakage which decreases social welfare. Using two years of alert data, I find evidence of their effectiveness despite any leakage which may be occurring. While reward-based disclosures are just as likely to be exploited as non-reward-baed disclosures, exploits from reward-based disclosures are less likely to occur in the first week after disclosure. Further the overall volume of alerts is reduced. This research helps determine the effectiveness of reward mechanisms and provides guidance for security policy makers.

Aim: The overall aim of the present thesis was to describe and evaluate IT support in dementia care from the perspectives of staff and relatives. More specifically, it was to examine staff members’ satisfaction with work, life satisfaction and sense of coherence before and after increased IT support, to describe staff members’ opinions and perceptions of IT support during the process of implementation, to describe relatives’ opinions of IT support and to compare relatives’ perceptions of their irritations with care and life satisfaction before and after increased IT support. In addition, three questionnaires were further developed and tested among staff working in elderly care, and then used in the staff evaluation. Methods: A quasi-experimental design with baseline assessments and follow-ups and experimental and control groups was used in two studies to investigate the outcomes of IT support. A descriptive design was used to study staff views on IT support, and a correlative design was used in the methodological study. Participants were 33 staff members and 22 relatives in the evaluation, 14 staff members in the descriptive study and 299 staff members in the methodological study. Data collection methods were questionnaires and group interviews. The IT support consisted of passive passage alarms, fall detectors, sensor-activated night-time illumination of the lavatory, movement detectors, email communication, an Internet website and additional computers. Findings and conclusions: Staff job satisfaction and perceived quality of care increased in the experimental group. The relatives were generally positive about the IT support, and the experimental group showed a decrease in practical/logistical irritations. Staff described ‘moving from fear of losing control to perceived increase in control and security’ and ‘constant struggling with insufficient/deficient systems’. Conclusions are that IT support can be a resource in dementia care as perceived by caregivers if IT support is incorporated into the care system.

In the last few years the demand for organic products has increased rapidly, resulting in a strong growth of the organic industry worldwide. Organic certification is used globally to guarantee that organic labelled producers follow the principles and standards of organic agriculture set by international and national organic certification bodies. Currently the lengthy and complex process of organic certification is entirely paper based, requires organic primary producers to have access to the certifying body, and involves precise data capture and transfer over a long period of time. The paper based organic certification process has some significant disadvantages such as being time-consuming, error-prone (particularly transcription errors) and complex. Any improvement of the paper based organic paper certification process can lead to higher efficiency, lower costs and time savings for primary producers and certifying bodies. / Australia is a major supplier of organic produce, holding almost half of the organic farmland worldwide. However, Australia's unique geography provides challenges due to huge distances and poor rural telecommunication coverage for the sustainable agriculture sector. Up until now there has not been a software solution supporting organic primary producers in their certification process, let alone a mobile software solution. There are many farm management software solutions available but they do not take into account the specific issues in organic agriculture such as soil management, pest control, or fertilisation. / The Mobile Organic Certification (MobiCert) project was created to overcome these disadvantages by focussing on the development of a mobile information portal which can be accessed through mobile Internet using GPRS or 3G technology, thus enabling primary producers to access organic certification related information in the field using their mobile phones. / The results of the proof-of-concept MobiCert project suggest that organic primary producers can benefit from a mobile information platform to access and provide information in rural and remote areas. The benefits and acceptance of the MobiCert solution have to be affirmed in follow-on field studies incorporating other issues such as the underlying business models. / Thesis (PhDInformationTechnology)--University of South Australia, 2007.