M. Tech. Business Information Systems / Legacy systems are standalone computer applications mostly based on old technologies used in many organizations notwithstanding the availability of more streamlined systems and newer applications. The systems are in place due to the fact that it is costly to replace them, and or they respond adequately to users' requests towards the function they are designed to do. Legacy systems play an important role in today's business because they consist of application programs that may not be upgraded and old data which may not be reformatted to suit new systems. Further, these systems are still alive because of their good pedigree and distinct characteristics. If used in silos, the Legacy systems as part of information systems make the sharing of information, security and management controls, a nightmare. As a result, this affects the process of decision making at the operation and top management levels. Synchronization of reports from the different business units becomes a problem and in the long run the whole business is rendered ineffective and inefficient. This study is calling for the need to integrate legacy systems into enterprise resource planning system. Much as this is so, there is still limited understanding of the factors that contribute to the users' acceptance of the integration of these Legacy systems into an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP SYSTEM). This study therefore sought to determine factors influencing users' acceptance of Legacy systems' integration into an ERP System by taking a case of the National Department of Human Settlements.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Informal settlements in South Africa are home to a large proportion of the country’s population and many of these people live in atrocious conditions which infringe on their basic human rights. It is imperative that the problems synonymous with informal settlements be addressed. Kayamandi is situated on the outskirts of Stellenbosch, a town with abundant financial and human capital and resources. In relation to other informal settlements throughout South Africa, Kayamandi is relatively small. Thus, the progression towards sustainability and development would be deemed to be an easier prospect here than in many other urban areas in South Africa. Evidently, this has not been the case. This thesis identifies the shortcomings in the way that various proponents of development, such as the private and public sectors as well as non-profit organisations, approach development and sustainability in Kayamandi. The research was conducted through an extensive literature review, case study analysis and qualitative research methods. The aim was to: Identify what the main social, environmental and economic issues are in Kayamandi; To analyse policy, plans and programs and to assess whether these have been practically achieved in relation to the stipulated objectives, and; To assess some of the sustainable development initiatives and programs that have been implemented in Kayamandi with the aim of identifying why sustainable development has as yet not been achieved. An extensive literature review sheds light on the nature of poverty and informal settlements, while explaining concepts surrounding sustainable development, good governance and how sustainability as a paradigm holds the key to addressing issues synonymous with informal settlements. It also focuses on how sustainable development can unlock the potential of deprived and informal communities. Subsequent chapters give insight on what is prescribed in national policy, plans and programs; what the current situation in Kayamandi is with regards to environmental and socioeconomic issues, as well service delivery, housing and infrastructure delivery; and how the proponents of development have approached development in Kayamandi. From the research conducted it was found that: There is a lack of good governance; Policy implementation is poor; Developmental initiatives tend to be linear and reactive; There is a lack of innovation; There is poor communication between stakeholder and developmental proponents, which is further exacerbated by tedious bureaucratic procedures, and; There is no clear and comprehensive sustainability framework or plan in place. However, the research indicates that this can be resolved via several mechanisms and through the implementation of several strategies: By building and developing public and community leadership as well as recognising the importance of knowledge in fostering sustainable development; Improving communication and developing appropriate communication networks and feedback loops between stakeholders and proponents of development; Implementing unbiased, proactive and innovative initiatives which address the triple bottom line of sustainability and; By making use of suitable assessments and indicators alongside an appropriate, inclusive and holistic sustainability plan or framework. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Informele nedersettings in Suid-Afrika is die tuiste van 'n groot deel van die land se bevolking en ‘n groot hoveelheid van die mense woon in haglike omstandighede wat inbreek maak op hul basiese menseregte. Die toenemende probleme wat gepaard gaan met informele nedersettings moet aangespreek word. Kayamandi is geleë op die buitewyke van Stellenbosch, 'n dorp met 'n oorvloed van finansiële en menslike kapitaal. Kayamandi, in vergelyking met ander informele nedersettings in Suid-Afrika, is relatief klein. Dus, sou die vordering na volhoubaarheid en ontwikkeling makliker bereikbaar weesgeag word as in ander stedelike gebiede in Suid-Afrika. Klaarblyklik Duidelik is dit egter nie die geval nie. Hierdie proefskrif identifiseer die tekortkominge in hoe die verskillende voorstanders van ontwikkeling, soos die private en openbare sektore tesame met nie-winsgewende organisasies, ontwikkeling en volhoubaarheid in Kayamandi nader. Die navorsing is gehartig deur middel van 'n uitgebreide literatuuroorsig, gevallestudie-analise en kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetodes. Die doel was om: Te identifiseer wat die belangrikste sosiale, omgewings en ekonomiese kwessies in Kayamandi is; Beleide, planne en programme krities te ontleed in verhouding tot die vasgestelde doelwitte en of hulle in werklikeid bereik was, en; Om deur kritiese beoordeling van die volhoubare ontwikkelings inisiatiewe en programme wat in Kayamandi geïmplementeer is, vas te stel waarom volhoubare ontwikkeling as sulks nog nie bereik is nie. 'n Uitgebreide literatuuroorsig werp lig op die aard van armoede en informele nedersettings, en brei uit oor begrippe rondom volhoubare ontwikkeling, goeie regering en hoe volhoubaarheid as 'n paradigma die sleutel hou tot die aanspreek van kwessies wat sinoniem is met informele nedersettings en hoe dit potensieël opgelos kan word. Daaropvolgende hoofstukke gee insig oor wat in nasionale beleid, planne en programme voorgeskryf word; Wat die huidige situasie in Kayamandi is met betrekking tot die omgewing en die sosioekonomiese kwessies soos goeie dienslewering, behuising en die toestand van infrastruktuur versakaffing, en; Hoe die voorstanders van ontwikkeling tot dusver ontwikkeling genader het in Kayamandi. Daar is gevind dat: Daar 'n gebrek is aan goeie bestuur; Implementering van beleid is swak; Ontwikkelingsinisiatiewe is geneig om lineêr en reaktief te wees; Daar 'n gebrek is aan innovering; Daar swak kommunikasie is tussen belanghebbendes en ontwikkelings voorstanders, wat verder vererger word deur langduige burokratiese prosedures, en; Daar is geen duidelike volhoubaarheids-raamwerk of plan nie. Maar die navorsing dui ook daarop dat die kwessies opgelos kan word deur 'n aantal meganismes, asook die implementering van verskeie strategieë: Deur die opbou en ontwikkeling van openbare en gemeenskapsleiers sowel as die erkenning van die belangrikheid van kennis in die bevordering van volhoubare ontwikkeling; Die verbetering van kommunikasie en die ontwikkeling van toepaslike kommunikasie-netwerke en terugvoerlusse tussen belanghebbendes en voorstanders van ontwikkeling; Implementering van onbevooroordeelde, pro-aktiewe en innoverende inisiatiewe wat die driedubbele lyn van volhoubaarheid aanspreek, en; Deur gebruik te maak van geskikte evaluering en aanwysers saam met 'n gepaste, inklusiewe en holistiese volhoubaarheid plan of raamwerk.

Poverty within forests is often acknowledged but poorly assessed through economic evi- dence. To some extent, this lack of evidence explains why even if forest conservation has positive effects on households' welfare, such benefits are quite limited. This thesis is aimed at investigating in three steps how forest conservation can help poor forest households to improve their welfare. A first chapter deals with assessing poverty of forest households in Bolivia looking at their asset accumulation and allowing for a poverty trap mechanism that may arise, preventing households to be better off. The empirical analysis does not find evidence for the exis- tence of a poverty trap. Households are slowly accumulating assets over time but such an accumulation does not lead to any improvements in their welfare. Households would remain persistently poor. A second chapter focuses on forest households' labour supply and allocations. Using primary data I collected in Cameroon, a non-separable agricultural household model is employed to identify factors influencing household labour supply and allocations into di- verse activities. The empirical results shows that leisure is an inferior good, households working more when having greater income. Furthermore, households participating in for- est activities have higher levels of welfare than households that do not. Increasing prices of forest resources helps households to improve their welfare. The last chapter deals with designing payments for forest conservation so as to encourage forest households to internalise externalities. These payments are theoretically analysed using a principal-agent game in order to define incentives such that a forest group plants and conserves a great number of trees. Payments are non-zero when observing such con- servation levels and equal to zero in all other cases. Doing so creates a virtuous circle on forest resources. Pro-poor conservation schemes as opposed to non-pro poor, are achiev- able with lower payments.

Diss. Helsinki : Helsinki Universitet. 2008.

Thesis (doctoral) - Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 2001. / This book is a slightly revised version of the doctoral dissertation the author completed in June 2001 and defended at the Faculty of Arts of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in October 2001. Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-285) and index.

This research study focuses on providing evidence that indicates that, making use of contemporary green building practices within a low cost subsidised housing project have more social, economical as well as environmental benefits than that of a conventional, non-green approach. Low cost subsidised housing units have become an everyday sight in the light of the global as well as the local economy. The increasing levels of unemployment and subsequent social problems lead to growing needs for this form of housing. As these projects consume a number of resources, steps need be taken to lighten the load – such as the carbon emissions - that is put on the environment. According to the United Nations, the key areas that are influenced by sustainability are environmental, economical as well as social. In South Africa, a number of government as well as local policies exist that regulates the planning and building practices of the low cost subsidised housing projects. These policies have been used as a foundation for this study. This study focuses on the Lufhereng project as a case study, and technology used in the Kuyasa as well as Cosmo City developments furthermore assisted in the groundwork for the comparison between the different construction approaches. The challenges facing the utilisation of a contemporary green building approach were researched, identified, discussed and recommendations were made. SAM (social accounting matrix) multiplier analysis on the Gauteng SAM obtained from the DBSA (Development Bank of South Africa), analysis and comparison of existing data as well as a qualitative questionnaire that was sent to industry stakeholders were utilised to obtain relevant information. The quantitative as well as qualitative data obtained from the primary as well as secondary research indicated that there are a number of aspects which has an influence on method of construction used in subsidised low cost housing units. The findings from literature as well as empirical research were analysed and discussed accordingly. Recommendations and suggestions regarding strategies that may be followed to increase the use of contemporary green approaches in these projects were made. These recommendations were based on the findings from literature as well as the research conducted for this study. The use of contemporary green approaches are vital for the social, economic as well as environmental sustainability of the country, and thus, ultimately of the world as a whole. It is, in this light, imperative that everything in our power should be done to preserve our resources by any means possible. / PhD (Urban and Regional Planning), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This research study focuses on providing evidence that indicates that, making use of contemporary green building practices within a low cost subsidised housing project have more social, economical as well as environmental benefits than that of a conventional, non-green approach. Low cost subsidised housing units have become an everyday sight in the light of the global as well as the local economy. The increasing levels of unemployment and subsequent social problems lead to growing needs for this form of housing. As these projects consume a number of resources, steps need be taken to lighten the load – such as the carbon emissions - that is put on the environment. According to the United Nations, the key areas that are influenced by sustainability are environmental, economical as well as social. In South Africa, a number of government as well as local policies exist that regulates the planning and building practices of the low cost subsidised housing projects. These policies have been used as a foundation for this study. This study focuses on the Lufhereng project as a case study, and technology used in the Kuyasa as well as Cosmo City developments furthermore assisted in the groundwork for the comparison between the different construction approaches. The challenges facing the utilisation of a contemporary green building approach were researched, identified, discussed and recommendations were made. SAM (social accounting matrix) multiplier analysis on the Gauteng SAM obtained from the DBSA (Development Bank of South Africa), analysis and comparison of existing data as well as a qualitative questionnaire that was sent to industry stakeholders were utilised to obtain relevant information. The quantitative as well as qualitative data obtained from the primary as well as secondary research indicated that there are a number of aspects which has an influence on method of construction used in subsidised low cost housing units. The findings from literature as well as empirical research were analysed and discussed accordingly. Recommendations and suggestions regarding strategies that may be followed to increase the use of contemporary green approaches in these projects were made. These recommendations were based on the findings from literature as well as the research conducted for this study. The use of contemporary green approaches are vital for the social, economic as well as environmental sustainability of the country, and thus, ultimately of the world as a whole. It is, in this light, imperative that everything in our power should be done to preserve our resources by any means possible. / PhD (Urban and Regional Planning), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The restoration of livelihoods in the event of involuntary resettlement is commonly based on providing compensation to those who are displaced. The outcomes of these resettlements have been well documented around the world and provide a serial of recurring horror stories. For this reason, it is proposed that a new foundation for conducting involuntary resettlement is needed. Academics profess that by conducting resettlement as a development project in its own right, the performance of resettlements can be improved and the benefits will accrue to the local population. This concept is called Resettlement with Development (RwD). To this end, China was the first country to include RwD in its National policies on involuntary resettlement. However, it was not until the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River that the policy was translated into practice. / This research is an attempt to determine whether RwD is a suitable model for livelihood restoration and improvement. In exploring the primary research aim, a year was spent in the resettlement region of the Three Gorges Dam, visiting resettlers and undertaking questionnaires, interviews and policy analysis. Two counties in Hubei province were chosen for comparison - Badong county and Zigui county. The application of RwD in these two locales was variable, with an uneven level of development intervention. The investment environment and county policy of Zigui attracted a greater degree of investment and related development than that of Badong. The capacity of these development initiatives to generate sustainable livelihood outcomes for the resettlers was central to this research. / Through questionnaires, interviews and policy analysis, this research finds that although the RwD methods are applied more intensely in Zigui they do not necessarily translate into better outcomes for the resettlers at this locale. The data suggests that: (i) there is no difference in the degree of relative poverty in Zigui and Badong; (ii) Zigui is experiencing more relative poverty than Badong; (iii) there is no difference in vulnerability and resilience; (iv) the natural resource base is comparable in both counties; and (v) Badong and Zigui are both at risk of food insecurity. However, whilst the majority of households in all sites at Badong are experiencing declining incomes, there is no significant decline in incomes at Zigui. Although employment levels have declined at both Badong and Zigui, the decline is not so severe at Zigui. Finally, infrastructure in Zigui has improved in comparison to Badong after resettlement. Hence, although the RwD initiatives have not dramatically improved the situation for resettlers in Zigui, they have lessened the impoverishment effects that are synonymous with involuntary resettlement. Moreover, further analysis suggests that the outcomes seen in the TGP resettlement are not a consequence of the inadequacy of the RwD model. Instead, the RwD model is found to be only partially applied in the TGRA. Future attempts at RwD must endeavour to apply the RwD model more completely.

The subject of this study is Viking-Late Norse settlement (c. AD800-1200) in the North Atlantic, focusing on Orkney and on longhouse complexes constructed on mounds. For the first time these mound settlements are investigated as a group and as deliberately constructed mounds. Settlement mounds in Orkney are also closely associated with nearly 40 Skaill ON skáli ('hall') place-names, which place-names linked the sites with the social and economic networks of Orkney's peripatetic leaders. This association is examined more closely. The analysis also demonstrates that constructing settlements on mounds required particular building techniques, which relied heavily on the use of midden-type material. Those techniques are examined using new and freshly analysed material from published and grey literature-published excavations and surveys of sites from the Viking-Late Norse period in Orkney and elsewhere. Three core data-sets were established to provide the evidential basis: the first, also drawing on site-visits, looking broadly at mound landscapes and skáli-areas in Orkney; the second at the building techniques and materials used on settlement mounds; and the third, also requiring site-visits, at all the skáli place-name sites. The possible origins of settlement mound living in the settlers' Scandinavian homelands are investigated, then the extent to which mound living was also followed in Shetland, Caithness and the Western Isles, and finally in previously unoccupied lands, using Iceland as a case study. The mound-sites, their archaeology, mound architecture, place-names and landscape setting are also analysed in a new theoretical framework to reach fresh understandings of Viking-Late Norse settlement in Orkney. The analysis thus considers the wider cultural significance of constructing and living on settlement mounds, and what that communicated about Viking-Late Norse society. The thesis argues that Viking-Late Norse groups chose prominently-placed sites for their visual dominance and commanding views, but also that the rebuilding of mound structures in one spot, and building out and up of the mound itself using midden material, set strong cultural messages about stability, continuity and association with the surrounding landscape. The mounds were complex features of culturally meaningful architecture.

Housing delivery and issues relating to housing delivery have long been a complicated subject for most SA municipalities and government departments tasked with these responsibilities. The aforementioned complications stem from our inherited apartheid planning that was mainly focused on inequality, racial segregation and spatial fragmentation of land use. Corruption, lack of skills, financial constraints and lack of resources are issues further considered to be contributors to the complications related to housing delivery. The study to be conducted seeks to play a part in dealing with the complicated nature of housing delivery through being a toolof assessment. The study is in the form of an evaluation as it mainly deals with obtaining answers relating to the views of the respondents on the sustainable human settlement program implemented as part of the DVRI in the BCMM. In doing so it, seeks to provide answers to some of the challenges faced by municipalities and other government departments so as to ensure that going forward, best practices are adopted in the housing delivery process. The findings from the study revealed primarily that, what is planned on paper is not often what is implemented on the ground. In evaluating the aims and objectives of the two sustainable human settlement pilot projects implemented as the BNG pilot projects through the DVRI, a considerable number of the objectives of the projects have not been met according to the beneficiaries. The reasons for the lack of satisfaction relating to the two projects as cited by the respondents included, amongst other things; dissatisfaction with the quality of the structure, lack of adequate services, lack of employment opportunities, lack of recreational facilities, lack of social facilities, lack of safe and reliable transportation and the general maintenance of the settlement. Solutions to the identified issues include; improved and meaningful participation between government, planners and the beneficiaries of such housing projects, so as to ensure that the views of the beneficiaries are considered and that they have a considerable influence on the decisions taken, thus promoting a bottom-up approach to the housing delivery process. The provision of key recreational and social amenities and the improved maintenance of the general settlement were also identified by the respondents as solutions.