Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988.

published_or_final_version / Civil and Structural Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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This thesis systematically identifies the building blocks of a knowledge based system for simulation and modelling. We present the design and implementation of Controlled Environment Simulation System (CESS), which bridges a discrete event simulation system (DEVS-SCHEME) and a continuous simulation system (TRNSYS). The rationale behind the approach is that a discrete or a continuous model can be abstracted to a level at which the uniform treatment on these two kinds of models is possible. A top-down approach to model creation (abstraction) is proposed, in contrast to the traditional bottom-up approach. CESS is implemented on an object-oriented programming environment (SCOOPS on TI-SCHEME). A knowledge representation scheme known as System Entity Structure is employed for MODEL management, recording system structural knowledge, and the utilization of techniques in Artificial Intelligence. Some prospective research topics are also brought up.

An analysis of the organizational field of B.C. agriculture was conducted to explore the politics of the innovation process. Agricultural innovations in organic farming, synthetic agrichemicals and biogenetic engineering were studied at the individual, organizational and interorganizational levels. Research questions regarding the innovation decision—making process, innovation championship, organizational politics, organization theory and interorganizational networks were explored. A total of 137 persons (organic and conventional farmers, BCMAFF employees, farm organization employees) were interviewed in this research study. Data was collected via semi—structured interviews, questionnaires, and analysis of publications to investigate a total of 28 research questions. Similarities and differences between organic and conventional farmers in respect to their socioeconomic characteristics, motivations, actions and environmentalist beliefs were identified. Organic farmers basis for their innovation adoption decisions was found to be largely informed by their environmentalist philosophy whereas the primary motivating factor for conventional farmers was economic rather than ideological. Case studies of 33 farm organizations (20 conventional and 13 organic) were conducted. Organizational fields were found to be defined not only in terms of products, services and geographic location but also in terms of ideology. Within the conventional agriculture organizational field there was a high degree of homogeneity in organizational structures and decision making processes as well as close collaboration with government policy makers. Within the organic agriculture organizational field there was homogeneity in production practices, but heterogeneity in organizational structures, goals and decision making processes based on the radicalness of the environmentalist philosophy of an organization’s membership. The formation and operation of interorganizational networks in each organizational field confirmed previous findings of the critical problems in overorganized and underorganized networks. A longitudinal analysis of organizational politics in the organic agriculture organizational field revealed that institutionalization processes engender political contests among competing interests. The successful championship of an innovative government regulatory system was attributed to the early use of a wide variety of collaborative and competitive political games. Opponents’ efforts to neutralize champions’ escalation of commitment during the later stages of the innovation development process proved to be ineffective.

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In this thesis the Semantic Web and its core technology---Web Ontology Language (OWL)---were studied. Considering the features of the different units involved in the dairy industry, OWL, in its capacity as an ontology description language, can be used to encode and thus exchange ontology among the units in the dairy industry. After creation of OWL file using Protege, an OWL parser was programmed to decode the ontology and data contained in the OWL file. Based on these investigations, it was determined that OWL can be used to encode, exchange, and decode data between farms and the units that interact with them, although large volumes of data among the service agencies pose certain challenges in terms of transfer size. A structure of the Semantic Web services in the dairy industry is proposed for Semantic Web Service registration, search and usage related to certain farm-management tasks. With the help of the Semantic Web and OWL, one can expect a more efficient data processing in the future dairy industry.

This thesis provides the rationale for the necessity of a redefining of the holistic back into nursing after the consequences of technological restructuring. This study revealed that the impact of modern technology-based, prescriptive changes on professional nursing practice in Canada has resulted in an increasing alienation of labour for nurses, including direct interference with patient-based nursing care, authority, necessity for broader knowledge systems, stability and fragility in job security. The implications of this examination have demonstrated that this shift has not been the result of mechanical technologies alone, but the science-based management philosophies and communicative nature of technologies as well. / This project has verified that more importantly than the advancing technological shift itself the danger for professional nursing has been in what these systems are actively replacing. Namely, prescriptive technologies work to establish a managerial or 'expert' presence and authority within the practice of nursing serving to change professional understandings for nurses as well as to decrease value in the judgement and holistic care skills of registered nurses.