For most Smaller Manufacturing Enterprises (SMEs), how to manage customer enquiries at the customer enquiry stage is of great importance to maintain the competitive advantage and secure future customer orders. A lack of co-ordination between marketing/sales and production at this stage often leads to confirmed orders being delivered later than promised and/or being produced at a loss. In the paper, the problems and the solutions for managing customer enquiries faced by many SMEs are addressed. A general process for dealing with customer enquiries at the customer enquiry stage and a corresponding DSS approach are presented in detailed. The SMEs would benefit from the proposed DSS in which the considerations of current material and production capacity are given to the customer enquiry management process. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Magister Educationis - MEd / The research explores the effects of Community of Enquiry practices on the teaching and learning of Mathematics and Literacy in two local primary schools. After the 1994 elections, both the government and education system changed in South Africa. With the introduction of Outcomes Based Education (OBE), critical outcomes that emphasized thinking and collaboration became a vital part of the curriculum. Soon after, the Education system adopted the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and thereafter the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS), which maintained these outcomes. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was introduced to the Foundation Phase in 2012 and to the Intermediate Phase in 2013 with the Critical Outcomes, (which emphasizes thinking) now stated as the aims of CAPS. However, no guidelines are provided regarding classroom practice. The approach to teaching these aims is not made clear. Lipman’s Philosophy for Children (P4C) is one way of working towards these aims, and promoting thinking and is consistent with many of Vygotsky’s ideas. He initiated ideas about cognitive development in which he refers to the importance of dialogue in which one is able to talk and communicate with others. Vygotsky also emphasised scaffolding where the teacher provides the learner with clues and suggestions in order to develop better problem- solving techniques and thinking habits. His concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) refers to the individual’s ability to accomplish more or to perform a challenging task with the proper assistance. The development of language is considered important within his theory as Vygotsky believes that individuals are born only with lower mental processes and develop their thinking ability (higher mental processes) by acquiring the thinking tools developed in a particular culture, the most important of which is language. The research followed a qualitative research methodology. The study explored the perceptions of both educators and learners after an intervention based on Philosophy for Children. Qualitative data involved two group interviews with teachers, one with the Cognitive Education Co-ordinator and interviews with four focus groups of selected Grade 5 and 7 learners (12 per group) whose teachers implemented Lipman’s Community of Enquiry pedagogy in the classroom the previous year. Quantitative data included a learner self-rating scale. All the educators of the two schools, who were involved in the classroom Community of Enquiry training, were invited to participate in the study, as were selected learners from the two Grade 5 and 7 classes at each school. I made use of thematic analysis of the interview data from both learners and teachers. Themes within the interviews were identified. Themes pertaining to teacher perception of self-change, teacher perception of learner change, and learner perceptions of self change were identified. During thematic analysis, the three research sub-questions were underlined. These were: (1) What are the teachers’ perceptions of self-change? (2) What are the teachers’ perceptions of learner change? (3) What are the learners’ perceptions of self-change? The conclusion of the study was that P4C has the potential to affect the teachers professionally and to influence the learners positively in Mathematics and Literacy classrooms. Ongoing support in cognitive education is vital in order to reach the aims required for the new CAPS curriculum.

Yes / This paper introduces a special issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science that considers the current state and future directions in lithic microwear analysis. There is considerable potential for lithic microwear analysis to reconstruct past human behaviour as it can provide direct insight into past activities. Consequently, it is a technique worthy of significant additional investment and continued development. To further the cause of methodological maturation within microwear analysis and to promote standardization, calibration, and innovation, the following collection of papers present various approaches and perspectives on how greater methodological refinement and increased reliability of results can and should be achieved. Many of these papers were part of a session held at the 2011 Society for American Archaeology Meeting (SAA) in Sacramento, California, while others were selected from the 2012 International Conference on Use-Wear Analysis in Faro, Portugal. The purpose of the SAA session and this special themed issue is essentially two-fold. The first is to promote awareness of the need for methodological standardization, calibration, and continuing innovation. The second is to open a serious dialogue about how these aims could be pursued and achieved. / AAE was supported by the AHRC (AH/J007935/1). HJL was supported by L’Équipe Archéometrie at the Laboratoires d’ Archéologie, a part of the Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études sur les Lettres, les Arts et les Traditions (CELAT) at Université Laval. DAM was supported by Fondation Fyssen and the University of Toronto. WJS was supported by Faculty Development Grant from Keene State College.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1966 P499 / Master of Science

This thesis develops a new way of engaging emotion in a large organisation and develops a new form of organisational practice entitled “Reflective Emotional Practitioning.” The thesis argues that the concept of emotional intelligence as accepted in organisations represses rather than embraces emotion. The conceptual framework centres the inquiry on the problem of organisational power as an obstacle to the creative harnessing of emotion at work. The thesis reverses the organisations’ centralised power by placing the individual at the centre so that the individual learns to reflect upon and embrace emotion in collective and self inquiry, and demonstrates how this may lead to creative and ethical work. The thesis is divided into two parts: in the first, the author carried out action research workshops on emotional intelligence and performance management, but it became clear that power was an issue, repressing emotions. But through reflection this became a turning point after the author engaged in deep self-reflection in meditative supervisions, writing and reflective practice. This enabled the author to process experience into a methodological shift towards a self-ethnography and research action applied to the work situation in what became called Reflective Emotional Practitioning (REP). The REP model was used as a tool to venture further on a visceral pathway, uncovering the author’s relationship with emotion. The author began to recognise that the self and the other could be held in reflexive practice and writing. In the second part evidence comes through further vignettes representing the author’s pathway and shone a light on a dialogical process between the self and others. Freedom and space were revealed and the research began to demonstrate the inner- and outer-selves working through emotion. Through this process emotion became conceptualised as “felt energy”. Felt energy was triggered by the outer world, but also a place of knowing from which further action could be taken, and then further reflected upon. The reflexive writing process used vignettes to illustrate how emotion was engaged, fed back and stored as a “return to the self” in a continual learning process. Through illuminating a new way of both conceptualising and working with emotions, the author shows how, over several years of reflective practice, the method underpinned some major innovative and sustainable work projects. The thesis concludes by defining the contribution of this research as a transferable approach that can engage emotion in self-empowered actions within an organisation’s power regime. The contribution is to both methodology and knowledge about the way emotion is experienced, used and conceptualised, although the author acknowledges and discusses the difficulty of producing knowledge through writing the self, particularly within the confines of a large public sector organisation. However, the struggle to write the self has produced a rich text that conveys the possibilities of transferring the approach for other organisational researchers and reflective practitioners engaging emotion in their different personal and organisational contexts.

The thesis presents and inquires into a first person research story about the development of a ‘Community of Practice’ for asset-based rural development practitioners from across the UK and Republic of Ireland. It includes an account of how geographically remote members of the CoP were supported to come together over eighteen months to co-produce an online handbook called ‘Exploring Community Resilience’ (included as Appendix 1). Findings include: - Social networking and social media technologies can be powerful enablers of third and second person inquiry; - A compass tool (included here) can help hosts and curators make good design and facilitation choices as they host the emergence of complex, large scale social learning architectures (which this thesis calls ‘Digital Forests’); - Action researchers can benefit from developing skills as digital curators, producers of social media, and hosts of transformative learning processes; - Future generations of social media are likely to challenge the assumptions, methods and findings of this thesis. As we navigate our way into this fast changing future, it will be helpful to inquire into their impacts of new generations of digital technologies on our personal and collective psychological, cultural and social wellbeing.

This project started with the Taiwanese�s Cultural & Creative Industries Policy, which demands that all new products include local cultural content. However, little is known about Taiwanese cultures. This research looked specifically at one of the cultures, the Paiwanese Tribe. This thesis reports on the research journey; identifying what the Paiwanese knew about their culture and why they were unable to produce traditional products. It argues that the displacement of the tribe has made it materially impossible to continue traditional practices. This research then identified ways of capturing spirit of traditional culture using modern technology. A successful model of working with crafts people workshops in discussed. A case is made for the use of narrative enquiry and oral history to record Paiwanese understanding. These understandings were translated into a design outcome using a design method called narrative design. The success of this research suggests that such an approach is one model that can be used in design using new technologies and materials from the re-establishment method of traditional products. The understanding generated for regaining traditional craft knowledge is extended with the design of a tea set that draws on this traditional knowledge, narrative and culture. The tea set represents this knowledge for a global market. It is argued that the design process used can guide design that transforms the culture message and delivers it for a wide audience. This design concept process is a model that can be used to develop cultural products.

Voluntary and community organisations are fundamental to society because they are major stakeholders in building the social capital that underpins healthy and well-functioning communities. Yet many of these organisations are small and possess limited resources when measured against the challenges and needs that they address. This raises the issue of the capacity of organisations within the sector to operate effectively. Within the range of capacity issues, governance is consistently rated as an area requiring development. This research seeks to contribute to a better understanding of issues impacting on the governance capacity of voluntary and community sector organisations within the overall context of capacity building. A focused study in the Taranaki region examines the factors impacting on the governance of community organisations providing social services. The research identifies the level of governance capacity demonstrated within the organisations studied and also explores the level of awareness around the need to enhance governance capacity. The research examines a range of frameworks and models used to build governance capacity to see if they could be adapted for the Taranaki region. The study suggests that, although a number of frameworks and models are useful, every situation is different, and models must be responsive to the social and cultural context and the particular history and mission of each organisation. As a result, the study concludes that further work should be undertaken to develop a model of governance for the voluntary and community sector.

Voluntary and community organisations are fundamental to society because they are major stakeholders in building the social capital that underpins healthy and well-functioning communities. Yet many of these organisations are small and possess limited resources when measured against the challenges and needs that they address. This raises the issue of the capacity of organisations within the sector to operate effectively. Within the range of capacity issues, governance is consistently rated as an area requiring development. This research seeks to contribute to a better understanding of issues impacting on the governance capacity of voluntary and community sector organisations within the overall context of capacity building. A focused study in the Taranaki region examines the factors impacting on the governance of community organisations providing social services. The research identifies the level of governance capacity demonstrated within the organisations studied and also explores the level of awareness around the need to enhance governance capacity. The research examines a range of frameworks and models used to build governance capacity to see if they could be adapted for the Taranaki region. The study suggests that, although a number of frameworks and models are useful, every situation is different, and models must be responsive to the social and cultural context and the particular history and mission of each organisation. As a result, the study concludes that further work should be undertaken to develop a model of governance for the voluntary and community sector.

This research explores the implications of the practice of collaborative professional enquiry on professional re-formation and development. A series of case studies focuses on four aspiring Chartered Teachers as they lead collaborative enquiries in two schools. The case studies take account of the experiences of the teachers in the collaborative groups, as well as the managers in both schools. Using a Foucauldian theoretical framework, relations of power between all participants are explored. This reveals that active positioning is in operation. The Chartered Teachers are positioned in an ‘in-between’ space: neither teacher nor manager, and this appears to have allowed them to construct and negotiate new possibilities, contributing to their developing professional identities. While this challenged the established hierarchies in schools, the teachers reported that undertaking collaborative professional enquiry under the leadership of the Chartered Teachers, benefitted themselves and their pupils, appearing to offer opportunities to demonstrate an active professionalism which was in contrast to the expectations of their managers. The findings raise several issues for consideration by the profession. These include a recommendation that collaborative professional enquiry is encouraged as a core pedagogical resource. The research also highlights the need for policy makers to take account of the way power is exercised in and on schools when developing new policies and evaluating the success of current ones. It is argued that genuine and open dialogue is necessary and it is recommended that the national CPD framework should reconsider the current practice of supporting distinctive pathways within the profession.