A B S T R A C T Deregulation of the South African fruit export industry in 1997 caused fragmentation in the supply chain. This led to significant inefficiencies and difficulty in responding to increasingly stringent legal and traderelated traceability requirements. Currently, the South African fruit export industry does not provide a sufficient level of traceability at supply chain level. The consumer packaged goods industry has developed e-commerce building blocks based on global standards. These building blocks offer automated traceability of fruit exports, as well as significant benefits impacting the bottom line, to companies of all sizes. The e-commerce building blocks also provide solutions to the two main challenges faced by the fresh produce supply chains, namely traceability requirements and the need for additional efficiencies. The e-commerce building blocks are available to the South African fruit export industry to enable traceability, as well as to provide significant efficiency benefits. It has been found that early adoption of the e-commerce building blocks will result in a strategic advantage over the southern hemisphere competitors and that automated traceability is feasible for the South African fruit export industry. This article describes the cohesiveness, willingness to participate and supportive thinking of representatives from the important fruit export industry in South Africa, which are necessary to create the critical mass for the implementation of such an automated traceability system.

Taiwan was famous for ¡§Taiwan Miracle¡¨, ¡§Four Dragon in Asia¡¨, ¡§The Role Model of the Developing Countries¡¨ with the rapid economic development. The most remarkable achievement of Taiwan was her continuous adjustment and transformation of the industrial structures. The development of the industrial structures in Taiwan usually follows the steps of the developed countries. With having a series of changing process, from the agricultural era to the industrial, service and high-tech industry, it produced a lot of impact effects, especially the unfairness of the income distribution. Hence, this thesis is going to combine the both and discusses that from the change of the industrial structures if it would be the main factors of influencing the source and level of income and then lead to the unfair distribution of wealth. From the dividing time period of 1987, the government opened our citizens to visit their relatives in Mainland China. We analyze the impact of income distribution from the change of Taiwan industrial structures by three phases of ¡§manpower investment¡¨, ¡§intensive degree of capital and technology¡¨ and ¡§export industry structure¡¨. First of all, in the phase of manpower, according to employee structure of three- level industry, service has got the first place, industry got the second place and agriculture got the last place. As a long trend view, the gap of the industrial structure is getting close and the manpower distribution is getting stable. However, the adjustment of the industrial structure has caused unemployment problem for the non-transferred low-tech labors. Especially from the 1997, the main reason of the unemployment in Taiwan is the change of the industrial structure. Moreover, Taiwan businessmen who invest a lot in Mainland China have caused magnetic effect to speed up the structural unemployment. In the phase of the intensive degree of the capital and technology, we utilize industry to observe and discover that most of the high labor-intensive industry move abroad in order to lower the labor cost. However, electric, electronic and communication commodities are toward the development of the capital intensive commodity and invest abroad to replace domestic manufacture. Moreover, according to the change of industry investment, we discover that the establishment of southern industrial park, Kaohsiung industrial park and the government incentive policy have not only speeded up the growth of high-tech industry but also promoted metal and chemical development of the mid and lower material. In the phase of the export industry structure, the Mainland China has already surpassed other countries to be the trade main area in Taiwan. In the part of the export commodity, owing to the investment of abroad, it leads to the export chain effect of domestic mechanical commodity and promotes the export of domestic material. Low-labor intensive, high-capital intensive and high-tech intensive commodities have the highest occupied rate. From the above three different phases, we discover that in the impact of change for the industry structure, it not only has significant effect for the macro economy but also deeply affects the gap of the high and low family income. According to the model of variation, if we continue to develop, the distribution of the family income is going to be an enlarged trend year by year.

雲端運算為近年來新興的熱門話題，強調只要透過網路就可以讓使用者依據實際需求彈性地使用計算資源並按照使用量的多寡計費。許多研究報告認為這種將計算、儲存資源以服務形式提供給使用者的租用模式，將有助於節省資訊投資成本而備受企業主矚目；除了節省成本誘因之外，採用雲端運算服務後可能衍生資訊安全、保密的疑慮，也是大家所關注的焦點，因此使用者如何於採用雲端運算服務的決策過程中取得利弊的平衡點相當重要。 本研究將以企業使用者的觀點，探討影響其使用雲端運算服務的決定因素內涵，範疇侷限於台灣的進出口業者。研究根據過去文獻資料，彙整出五個影響使用者決策因素的構面：知覺效益、安全與信任、創新認同程度、知覺有用性以及知覺易用性，並以問卷調查方式進一步瞭解影響企業使用決策的因素；經由問卷調查的結果發現，上述考量構面足以解釋台灣進出口業者使用雲端服務意願百分之六十的變異，而其中影響業者使用意願程度最高的因素為知覺有用性。 / Cloud computing which emphasizes cloud users can elastically leverage computing resources on demand through the internet has recently become a hot issue. Many studies claimed that this rental model of providing storage resources as a service to users would be good for business to save the cost of investing in information technology which attracts lots of business owners. On the other hand, adoption of cloud computing service may arise several concerns like data security, service reliability and so on. In all, it is really hard to strike a balance during the decision-making process whether should business adopt cloud services. In this research, we explored the determinants of using cloud service form business users’ viewpoints which limited to the import/export industry in Taiwan. Based on past literature, we adopted five dimensions in decision-making: perceived benefits, security and trust, recognition of innovation, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Investigating the findings through questionnaire survey, we found that the above dimensions can explain 60% variation of the causes of adopting cloud services to business users and the most sufficient impact factor is perceived usefulness.

Cette recherche traite de la vulnérabilité des paysans cotonniers au Burkina Faso face aux évolutions du marché et aux changements institutionnels de la filière. En effet, la filière coton a subi depuis une dizaine d'années une crise généralisée, dont la chute des prix fut le caractère le plus visible. Cette crise sans précédent est symptomatique du démantèlement des filières d'exportation, mises en place progressivement depuis la période coloniale, dans le cadre des politiques d'ajustement structurel. La filière coton étant reconnue comme un succès historique de développement agricole, ses difficultés actuelles sont donc un bon révélateur de l'impact du retrait des États et de la coopération internationale dans le secteur de l'agriculture. Les résultats s'appuient sur le traitement d'enquêtes par questionnaire menées auprès de paysans dans l'Est du Burkina Faso et sur la réalisation d'entretiens semi-directifs auprès des acteurs de la filière. Ces analyses de terrains sont ensuite confrontées aux stratégies de sortie de crise proposées par les sociétés cotonnières, l'Union des Producteurs de Coton Burkinabé et l'État. Cette échelle d'analyse est intégrée dans une étude à différentes échelles, de la région, au marché global en passant par l'État. Cette approche multi-scalaire originale est la seule capable de mettre en relation efficacement les conclusions fondées sur niveau unique d'analyse. Les conclusions montrent que le devenir de la filière coton et la stabilité des régions concernées dépendent de l'action des producteurs, des États et de la coopération internationale en faveur de l'agriculture familiale. Enfin, ce travail souligne l'intérêt de l'approche géographique qui intègre l'emboîtement des échelles en tant qu'élément majeur de la pérennité des filières agricoles dans les pays en voie de développement. / The aim of this Phd is to understand the vulnerability of Burkina Faso’s cotton farmers confronted to the current market and institutional changes in this economic sector. Indeed, the cotton industry has gone through a generalized crisis over the last decade – the fall in prices being the most tangible outward sign. Such an unprecedented crisis is symptomatic of the dismantling of export channels that have been introduced ever since the colonial period, under the pressure of structural adjustment policies. The cotton industry being generally acknowledged as a historical success of agricultural development, its current difficulties testify to the direct consequences of the withdrawal of both States and international cooperation from the agricultural sector. Results are based on the treatment of questionnaire surveys conducted among farmers in Eastern Burkina Faso and on half-directed interviews with all the industry participants. These field surveys are then contrasted with the strategies propounded by the cotton companies, the National Union of Burkinabe Cotton Producers and the government itself to get out of the crisis. This scale of analysis is integrated, through a multi-leveled study of the region, to the global market through the state. This multi-scalar, original approach is the only one likely to draw a productive connection between the several approaches based on a single level of analysis. Conclusions establish that the future of the cotton sector, and the stability of the area, depend on the joint actions of producers, State and international cooperation to support family farming. Finally, this study also demonstrates the interest of a geographical approach incorporating different scales of analysis as a major element of the sustainability of agricultural industries in developing countries.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Public sector reform has been around since the 1980s and was a result of criticism against traditional public administration for being too slow and inefficient to address public needs. Although Public sector reform is common in developed countries, evidence of public sector reform has rarely been seen in developing countries. The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether there is any evidence of public sector reform in a developing country such as South Africa. The author divides public sector reform into three categories, namely: new governance, regulatory governance and new public management (NPM). Based on the theoretical information analysed, a list of qualifying criteria for public sector reform is compiled. The author then focuses on the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB), a statutory organisation acting as a service provider for the perishable products export industry and a regulator on behalf of the South African government. The author analyses the model on which South African perishable exports are based and studies the organisation‟s history, strategies, operational structure and its relationship with government. The information gathered is then compared to the list of qualifying criteria compiled for public sector reform. It was found that the model, and specifically service delivery strategies by the PPECB, provides conclusive evidence of new governance, regulatory governance and NPM. It was also found the model is a hybrid between traditional public administration and public sector reform, as it contains characteristics of both. The study takes the form of a literature review. Research was conducted through studying various literatures pertaining to new governance, regulatory governance and new public management. In addition, the author gathered relevant information from within the PPECB, the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the export industry. Further information was also collected by means of unstructured interviews with senior individuals employed by the PPECB. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Openbare hervorming bestaan sedert die jare tagtig en het basies ontstaan as gevolg van kritiek omdat tradisionele openbare administrasie te traag en onbevoeg was om openbare behoeftes aan te spreek. Hoewel openbare hervorming in ontwikkelde lande stewig gevestig is, is daar ook bewys daarvan in ontwikkelende lande. Die doel van hierdie ondersoek was om vas te stel of daar enige bewys van openbare hervorming in ‟n ontwikkelende land soos Suid-Afrika bestaan. Die outeur het openbare hervorming in drie kategorieë verdeel, te wete nuwe regeringsbestuur, regulatoriese regeringsbestuur en nuwe openbare bestuur. Op grond van ‟n analise van die teoretiese inligting, is ‟n lys van kwalifiserende kriteria – gerig op openbare hervorming – saamgestel. Die outeur het vervolgens op die Bederfbare Produkte Uitvoerbeheerraad (PPECB) gefokus – dit is ‟n statutêre liggaam wat as diensverskaffer vir die bederfbare produkte uitvoernywerheid en as ‟n reguleerder namens die Suid-Afrikaanse regering optree. Die outeur het ‟n analise gedoen van die model waarop Suid-Afrikaanse bederfbare uitvoere gebaseer is en voorts die organisasie se geskiedenis, strategie, operasionele struktuur en sy verhouding met die regering bestudeer. Die inligting wat ingewin is, is vervolgens met die lys van kwalifiserende kriteria – gerig op openbare hervorming – vergelyk. Daar is bevind dat die model – en spesifiek diensleweringstrategie by die PPECB – voldoende bewys lewer van nuwe regeringsbestuur, regulatoriese regeringsbestuur en nuwe openbare bestuur. Daar is ook bevind dat die model ‟n hibridisering is tussen tradisionele openbare administrasie en openbare hervorming aangesien dit karaktereienskappe van albei bevat. Die studie is in die vorm van ‟n literêre oorsig gedoen. Navorsing is uitgevoer deur die bestudering van verskeie geskrifte oor nuwe regeringsbestuur, regulatoriese regeringsbestuur en nuwe openbare bestuur. Daarbenewens het die outeur relevante inligting binne die PPECB, die Suid-Afrikaanse Departement van Landbou, Bosbou en Visserye en die uitvoernywerheid, ingesamel. Nog inligting is ook bekom deur ongestruktureerde onderhoude met senior werknemers van die PPECB te voer.