This graduation thesis focuses on analyzing a tour operator's supply and it's comparison with the results of empirical research. Trends of demand in tourism industry, preferences and expectations of clients will be compared with the vision of the tour operator on the base of theoretical knowledge and the results of empirical research. To reach improvement of the supply the needed measures will be advised in the end of the thesis. The thesis is divided into two parts, the theoretical base and the empirical research.

abstract: 当前各个城市都在努力推动“互联网+政务”的公共服务新模式，打造政府公共服务平台，提供“一站式”的服务资源，以民众需求为中心，解决民众信息查询、政府办事预约、政策咨询等公共活动的需要。可以看出，政务平台给民众的生活带来极大的便利，是当前各地政府响应中央建立“智慧城市”“数字中国”的重要举措。 本课题发现当前的政务平台逐步引入PPP模式，借助社会资源开发政务平台。但是，PPP模式是否有利于政务平台的建设，受到哪些因素的制约，如何更好地利用PPP模式进行开发工作，这些问题在现前的研究中没有得到很好地探索。带着这些问题，本课题对PPP模式在政务平台建设中的作用进行了深入剖析。主要研究内容如下： 在第一部分中，本课题政府公共服务和政务相关理论进行了全面整理，发现政务平台要想走出一条健康发展之路，需要借助社会资源进行市场化，而PPP模式符合当前政务平台建设的需要。本文对PPP模式在国内外电子政务的应用进行了分析，提出了本文的研究主题。 在第二部分中，本文对华东地区50座城市的政务平台进行了调研，对常见问题进行了整理，发现PPP模式已经广泛应用于政务平台建设中，且主要有四种模式，本文对50座城市的政务平台建设情况进行了数据采集，并进行了深入分析。 在第三部分中，结合调研现状和文献研究成果，提出了PPP模式影响政务平台建设的相关假设，并构建了计量模型。通过短面板分析验证假设，并进行了Robust分析，证实结论的普适性。 在第四部分中，本文分析了研究结果，认为政务平台采用PPP模式能够有效促进政务平台的建设水平，提高用户满意度；并且PPP模式与合作企业的估摸、信息的透明程度和平台的交互能力存在显著的交互作用，共同影响用户对政务平台的评价。政府引入PPP模式，充分对接可利用资源，并加强盈利控制，对当前政务平台的建设是具有积极意义的。 / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2019

This dissertation addresses the topic of manufacturing strategy, especially the manufacturing capabilities and operational performance of manufacturing plants. Manufacturing strategy research aims at providing a structured decision making approach to improve the economics of manufacturing and to make companies more competitive. The overall objective of this thesis is to investigate how manufacturing companies make use of different manufacturing practices or bundles of manufacturing practices to develop certain sets of capabilities, with the ultimate goal of supporting the market requirements. The thesis aims to increase the understanding of the role of operations management and its immediate impact on manufacturing performance. Following the overall research objective three areas are identified to be of particular interest; to investigate (i) the relationship among different dimensions of operational performance, (ii) the way different performance dimensions are affected by manufacturing practices or bundles of manufacturing practices, (iii) whether there are contingencies that may help explain the relationships between dimensions of manufacturing capabilities or the effects of manufacturing practices or bundles of manufacturing practices on operational performance. The empirical elements in this thesis use data from the High Performance Manufacturing (HPM) project. The HPM project is an international study of manufacturing plants involving seven countries and three industries. The research contributes to several insights to the research area of manufacturing strategy and to practitioners in manufacturing operations. The thesis develops measurements for and tests the effects of several manufacturing practices on operational performance. The results are aimed at providing guidance for decision making in manufacturing companies. The most prominent implication for researchers is the manifestation of the customer order decoupling point as an important contingency variable to consider when studying manufacturing operations.

Magistro baigiamasis darbas "Lietuvos energetikos ūkio administravimas“ parašytas Annos Tatarnikovos, vadovaujant viešojo administravimo katedros profesoriui dr. Vladimirui Obrazcovui. Pasirinktos temos aktualumas tame, jog Lietuvos šilumos ūkis dar vystymosi stadijoje ir tinkamai įvertinus esamą energetikos ūkio administravimo patirtį galima pakeisti bei įtakoti šilumos sektoriaus ateitį. Darbo naujumą ir praktinį reikšmingumą sudaro tai, jog greta teorinės ir praktinės analizės, bus atliekamas ir Lietuvos šilumos ūkio administravimo efektyvumo tyrimas. Būtina akcentuoti, jog pokyčiai energetikos sektoriuje neišvengiami, pasitelkus kvalifikuotus šios srities specialistus, remiantis moksliniais tyrimais, atlikus atitinkančią realiai padėčiai SWOT analizę galima užtikrinti sklandžią šilumos ūkio veiklą bei skaidrų finansinių išteklių panaudojimą. Darbe analizuojant mokslinę literatūrą pateikiamos kapitalo pritraukimo alternatyvos šilumos ūkio modernizavimui. Pagrindinės alternatyvos yra: banko kreditai, įmonės koncesija-nuoma, dalinis įmonės privatizavimas. Siūlomos ir kitos alternatyvos: paslaugų sutartis ir administravimo sutartis, tačiau jų galiojimo terminas daug trumpesnis ir jos gali būti panaudotos tik kaip laikinos priemonės. Darbe naudojami istorinis ir lyginamasis tyrimo metodai naudojami ištirti šilumos ūkio administravimo raidą Lietuvoje, bei jai darančius įtaką veiksnius, restruktūrizavus šilumos ūkį. Apibendrinant rezultatus, teikiant rekomendacijas... [to full text] / Actuality of the chosen topic is in the fact that the Lithuanian heating network is going under development. Having estimated the existing administration experience correctly, one can change or influence upon the heating sectors future. The novelty and practical meaning of the work consists in the research of the effectiveness of the Lithuanian heating system administration to be performed, alongside with the theoretical and practical analysis. The accent is put upon the inevitability of changes in the energy sector. The changes are inevitable if being deeply investigated by researchers and scientific specialists doing profound SWOT analysis to reinforce the heating system activities using transparent financial sources. The scientific literature has been analyzed concerning (alternative) capital investments alternatives for heating systems modernization. The main alternatives are: bank credits, concession companies rentals and privatization of companies. The other alternatives are: service argument; administration agreement. However, the validity term of such services is by for shorter, so they com serve as temporary means alone. Summarizing the results the method of analytical criticism has been used. AB “Vilniaus energija” the Vilnius energy sector of the beginning of 2002 has been analysed. This company signed a rental concession agreement with a foreign society. To find out the advantages and disadvantages of the heating system rentals to the private sector, the... [to full text]

The aims of this research were to investigate, by means of both literature review and empirical research, the incidence and manifestation of conduct disorders among adolescents growing up in the Vaal Triangle townships, with a view to suggesting a psycho-social intervention programme to help them learn life-skills which will decrease their susceptibility to depression and anxiety. According to the literature findings, depression and anxiety co-occur with conduct disorders during adolescence. An intervention progamme can therefore help these learner adolescents develop effective coping skills to help them deal with environmental factors that cause stress, depression and anxiety. The findings from the literature review revealed that adolescence is the highest risk period for the onset of conduct disorders such as, inter alia, substance use disorders, aggressiveness, destruction of property, defiance of authority, frightening and disturbing of adults, fighting, bullying, lying, destructiveness and defiance. The conduct problems also include the more or less troublesome and involuntary behaviours commonly associated with adolescence such as tempertantrums, bouts of screaming and crying, surliness and episodes of commanding or pestering behaviour. The co-occurrence of depression, anxiety and conduct disorders in adolescents was, according to various researchers, also associated with more severe alcohol and drug-related problems, more prolonged depressive and anxiety episodes and increased frequency of behavioural problems, more severe impairment in interpersonal and academic competencies, increased utilization of mental health services, as well as elevated risk of suicide. The literature also revealed that the period of adolescence is also marked by conflicting feelings about security and independence, rapid physical changes, developing sexuality, peer pressure and self-consciousness. This becomes a time of rapid physiological and psychological changes, of intensive re -adjustment to the family, school, work and social life and of preparation for adult roles. These changes are noticeable for their conduct disorders and behavioural accompaniments, and problems arising at this time may attract attention because the adolescent"s conduct and behaviour become obtrusive in the school and the home or elsewhere and evoke a sense of urgency for response. Effective support programmes such as individual educational support and group educational support were regarded by the literature as having the efficacy to prevent the development of conduct disorders. The empirical research findings revealed that adolescent participants who formed the population sample of this research were aggressive; characterized by risky behaviour such as staying with friends until very late at night and coming to school carrying a knife and bullying other children in class; deceitfulness or theft which manifested in the form of stealing from other children's schoolbags, stealing food and pens, and lying; serious violation of rules such as being disruptive in class, bunking school, and not coming to school regularly, conflict with parents, educators and others which manifests in the form of always being in trouble for beating up other learners in class, especially those that are younger, and being rebellious at home, mood disruptions such as bursting in anger, aggressive, being happy one moment and then angry and sad the next, and poor performance at school resulting in failing grades. Recommendations for educational practice and further research were made. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

The aim of this research were to investigate by means of both the literature review and empirical research, the nature of externalising and internalising of AIDS orphan learners, to investigate the ideas of Ubuntu, Bathe, Vumunhu communitarianism in the context of AIDS orphans suffering as a result of the death of their parents, to investigate the nature what kind of the death of their parents, physical and social problems, to determine which social systems are available in communities to render psychological, physical and social support to AIDS orphan learners, to determine the nature and extent of the educator's knowledge about psychological, physical and social difficulties that AIDS orphan learners experience; and to develop a program with Ubuntu, Bathe and Vumunhu communitarian ideas for supporting AIDS orphan learners in various communities. Findings from the empirical research revealed among others, that orphans in most cases are not aware of the parents' status before they pass away, orphans after they had heard their parents' status, tend to get affected psychologically, socially and emotionally. Orphans are usually not coping with the circumstances they find themselves in, orphans tend to have fear of disclosing causes of death of their relatives, orphans of HIV/AIDS are normally stigmatised and discriminated against by their relatives and members of the community. Orphans usually blame themselves or are blamed by their relatives and community members for being affected and infected with HIV/AIDS. Orphans normally do not have support from their communities, orphans in most cases do not cope financially and materially and they need financial and materialistic support. Most of the orphans do not receive grants from Social Development because they do not have the necessary documentation. Most of the orphans, teachers are usually aware of their situations at homes as well as their parents. Caregivers in most cases are aware of what causes the death of their relatives, caregivers usually know the status of their relatives before they pass away. Caregivers usually do not tell their family members that they are staying with HIV/AIDS orphans, caregivers are normally devoid of family support as well as community and caregivers tend to struggle to survive with financial support. Educators in most cases know the orphans in their classes. Educators usually are aware of the orphan's social problems and orphans usually have a lot of problems that educators do not get help for, because educators have a lot of work to do. Social workers usually have challenges when working with HIV/AIDS orphaned learners. The recommend future research is that it should consist of a larger sample, including participants form different provinces in South Africa. This will help to provide more exact information about the nature and extent of lived experiences of HIV/AIDS orphan learners. There is a need to investigate ways in which educators can be trained by the Department of Education to support learners in the inclusive classroom setting. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

The aims of this research were to investigate, by means of both literature review and empirical research, the incidence and manifestation of conduct disorders among adolescents growing up in the Vaal Triangle townships, with a view to suggesting a psycho-social intervention programme to help them learn life-skills which will decrease their susceptibility to depression and anxiety. According to the literature findings, depression and anxiety co-occur with conduct disorders during adolescence. An intervention progamme can therefore help these learner adolescents develop effective coping skills to help them deal with environmental factors that cause stress, depression and anxiety. The findings from the literature review revealed that adolescence is the highest risk period for the onset of conduct disorders such as, inter alia, substance use disorders, aggressiveness, destruction of property, defiance of authority, frightening and disturbing of adults, fighting, bullying, lying, destructiveness and defiance. The conduct problems also include the more or less troublesome and involuntary behaviours commonly associated with adolescence such as tempertantrums, bouts of screaming and crying, surliness and episodes of commanding or pestering behaviour. The co-occurrence of depression, anxiety and conduct disorders in adolescents was, according to various researchers, also associated with more severe alcohol and drug-related problems, more prolonged depressive and anxiety episodes and increased frequency of behavioural problems, more severe impairment in interpersonal and academic competencies, increased utilization of mental health services, as well as elevated risk of suicide. The literature also revealed that the period of adolescence is also marked by conflicting feelings about security and independence, rapid physical changes, developing sexuality, peer pressure and self-consciousness. This becomes a time of rapid physiological and psychological changes, of intensive re -adjustment to the family, school, work and social life and of preparation for adult roles. These changes are noticeable for their conduct disorders and behavioural accompaniments, and problems arising at this time may attract attention because the adolescent"s conduct and behaviour become obtrusive in the school and the home or elsewhere and evoke a sense of urgency for response. Effective support programmes such as individual educational support and group educational support were regarded by the literature as having the efficacy to prevent the development of conduct disorders. The empirical research findings revealed that adolescent participants who formed the population sample of this research were aggressive; characterized by risky behaviour such as staying with friends until very late at night and coming to school carrying a knife and bullying other children in class; deceitfulness or theft which manifested in the form of stealing from other children's schoolbags, stealing food and pens, and lying; serious violation of rules such as being disruptive in class, bunking school, and not coming to school regularly, conflict with parents, educators and others which manifests in the form of always being in trouble for beating up other learners in class, especially those that are younger, and being rebellious at home, mood disruptions such as bursting in anger, aggressive, being happy one moment and then angry and sad the next, and poor performance at school resulting in failing grades. Recommendations for educational practice and further research were made. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

The aim of this research were to investigate by means of both the literature review and empirical research, the nature of externalising and internalising of AIDS orphan learners, to investigate the ideas of Ubuntu, Bathe, Vumunhu communitarianism in the context of AIDS orphans suffering as a result of the death of their parents, to investigate the nature what kind of the death of their parents, physical and social problems, to determine which social systems are available in communities to render psychological, physical and social support to AIDS orphan learners, to determine the nature and extent of the educator's knowledge about psychological, physical and social difficulties that AIDS orphan learners experience; and to develop a program with Ubuntu, Bathe and Vumunhu communitarian ideas for supporting AIDS orphan learners in various communities. Findings from the empirical research revealed among others, that orphans in most cases are not aware of the parents' status before they pass away, orphans after they had heard their parents' status, tend to get affected psychologically, socially and emotionally. Orphans are usually not coping with the circumstances they find themselves in, orphans tend to have fear of disclosing causes of death of their relatives, orphans of HIV/AIDS are normally stigmatised and discriminated against by their relatives and members of the community. Orphans usually blame themselves or are blamed by their relatives and community members for being affected and infected with HIV/AIDS. Orphans normally do not have support from their communities, orphans in most cases do not cope financially and materially and they need financial and materialistic support. Most of the orphans do not receive grants from Social Development because they do not have the necessary documentation. Most of the orphans, teachers are usually aware of their situations at homes as well as their parents. Caregivers in most cases are aware of what causes the death of their relatives, caregivers usually know the status of their relatives before they pass away. Caregivers usually do not tell their family members that they are staying with HIV/AIDS orphans, caregivers are normally devoid of family support as well as community and caregivers tend to struggle to survive with financial support. Educators in most cases know the orphans in their classes. Educators usually are aware of the orphan's social problems and orphans usually have a lot of problems that educators do not get help for, because educators have a lot of work to do. Social workers usually have challenges when working with HIV/AIDS orphaned learners. The recommend future research is that it should consist of a larger sample, including participants form different provinces in South Africa. This will help to provide more exact information about the nature and extent of lived experiences of HIV/AIDS orphan learners. There is a need to investigate ways in which educators can be trained by the Department of Education to support learners in the inclusive classroom setting. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

This dissertation addresses the topic of manufacturing network strategies, with a particular focus on the plant perspective. Research on manufacturing networks aims at contributing decision support on how to set up and how to coordinate factories that act in a global setting. Manufacturing networks are networks consisting of wholly owned plant, as opposed to supply chains management where also plants belonging to other organisations are considered. Research on the role of the plant in manufacturing networks can help to gain insights in how the network works and how to achieve network-related competitive advantages. Over the last two decades there has been a trend in increased globalisation and when companies expand beyond their home markets there is a leap in complexity that needs to be handled. A survey of Swedish plants shows that a large majority of medium and large sized plants are part in some kind of manufacturing network, making research on such networks highly relevant. The overall objective of this dissertation is to investigate how factories fit into the network in terms of roles, strategic autonomy and market configurations. Much research has either focused on networks as a whole, often assuming similar or identical plants, or the focus has been on plant internal decision. This research addresses the borderland between plant and network. This dissertation addresses two research objectives. The first is to investigate the relationship between networks and plants roles with particular focus on Swedish based networks and plants and the second is to test and further develop the theory on plant roles. The empirical data that was used in the dissertation was the product of a mail survey and a case study at a manufacturer of heat exchangers. The survey was sent to 563 Swedish factories and included information on competitive priorities, processes, plant roles, performance, suppliers, risk as well as general product and company information. Using focus groups, the case company was followed from the start of the project in January 2006. Following the case company during five years gave the opportunity to study networks in transformation. The research contributed to several insights to the area of plant roles and manufacturing networks as well as to practitioners in manufacturing. Internal and external suppliers are handled differently in terms of selection criteria, which indicates different roles in the network. Detailed exploration of individual site competences has lead to an improved model based on competence themes and links between the plant level and the network level have been established. Additionally we contribute to the manufacturing strategy process area by investigating and suggesting a model for strategic decision autonomy in manufacturing networks. The results are aimed at providing guidance for decision making in manufacturing networks as well as providing an improved foundation for further research in the area.

Este trabalho propõe discutir o planejamento da execução instrumental (piano) na área de Práticas Interpretativas. Foram examinadas as diferentes abordagens e os posicionamentos de especialistas na área proposta através da reflexão crítica do conhecimento produzido pelas pesquisas empíricas. O objetivo foi examinar as temáticas, as estratégias de estudo, o campo teórico, os procedimentos metodológicos, a sistematização do processo de aprendizagem do repertório pianístico e as relações interatuantes ocorrentes nas pesquisas descritivas de delineamento experimental, nos estudos de caso, estudos com entrevista e levantamentos selecionados. Foi realizada uma análise crítica sobre as investigações que abordaram o comportamento da prática e as estratégias de estudo, além de uma reflexão sobre a construção dos referenciais dos trabalhos empíricos e os elementos envolvidos no processo de pesquisa. O presente trabalho estabeleceu seus pilares centrais no estudo crítico sobre as pesquisas empíricas na área do planejamento da execução instrumental (o pilar teórico) e a sua conexão com a experiência pessoal deste autor como sujeito de um estudo de caso durante seu Estágio de Doutorado no Exterior (o pilar prático, vivenciado). No estudo de caso, duas estratégias de estudo para resgatar as informações musicais da memória de longa duração foram elaboradas pelo sujeito para melhorar seu desempenho no Teste Experimental II. A partir da inter-relação entre os pilares e de seus reflexos na construção crítica sobre a estruturação dos processos investigativos, buscou-se discutir diversos pontos nevrálgicos nas pesquisas empíricas, como as relações hierárquicas entre pesquisador e sujeito e as possíveis lacunas investigativas. Foi sugerida uma proposta de modelo para maior interação entre as áreas da Psicologia da Música e da área de Práticas Interpretativas. Desse modo, buscouse examinar as implicações pedagógicas provenientes do profundo conhecimento das etapas do planejamento e do entendimento de como se constrói uma execução instrumental em nível de excelência. / The present thesis discusses the research line in piano performance planning. It examined different research approaches and points of view of specialists in the music field through a critical reflection about the knowledge produced by empirical research. The goal was to investigate the subjects, especially the strategies, the theoretical framework, methodological procedures, learning process and the relationship between experimental research, case studies, survey and studies with interview. A critical analysis of the research studies considering the behavior of the musicians during practice, their strategies, the construction of the theoretical references and the elements involved was undertaken. The present work established two pillars: (1) theoretical, focused on the empirical research, and (2) practical, related to the personal experience of the author as the subject in a case study during his doctoral internship. During that time, the present author elaborated two practice strategies to reinforce memory retrieval and to aid him in succeeding in the Experimental Test II. As a result of relationship between these two pillars of construction in the investigative processes, the present work discusses basic points relating to empirical research, such as the investigative problems and the hierarchy between the experimenter and the subject. The author proposed a model of interaction between the Psychology and Music areas. It is aimed at examining the pedagogical implications based on the profound understanding of performance planning, as well as how to construct an instrumental performance at a level of excellence.