The purpose of this thesis is, through a case study, to analyse how the Internet is affecting smaller independent record labels' communicational efforts, and if these companies are dealing differently with this technological change. In order to accomplish this, a number of interviews have been conducted with smaller independent record labels. The findings have been analysed using a theoretical frame of reference covering innovation management and communicational methods. Our results show that the Internet has had an effect on these labels’ communicational efforts, either directly through an increased use of online communication or indirectly through the decreasing effectiveness of some traditional channels. However, as many traditional channels are still being used, smaller independent record labels are now managing an increased number of channels simultaneously. Furthermore, the degree of online communicational efforts varies depending on musical genre, being more commonly used in popular music genres. For labels with a high online activity, social networks play a prominent role, with considerable effort and time allocated towards working with these. Also, these companies are very attentive to the rapidly changing online environment with the aim of staying at the forefront of this development.

A motor drive consisting of two parallel voltage-sourced converters was developed and implemented. A parallel converter arrangement allows the system to be constructed in a modular fashion to gain economies of scale and redundancy. The converters are connected to common ac- and dc-buses without isolation and are controlled without inter-converter communication or a master/slave arrangement. The system was simulated and the results validated against an experimental setup. Both steady-state and dynamic load sharing were achieved through the use of drooped PI speed regulators. PI controllers were used to regulate the quadrature currents provided by each converter. Circulating 0-sequence current was regulated using P controllers. A linearized state-space model of the system was developed and an eigenvalue analysis was performed, showing system stability. Speed steps in simulation and in the laboratory demonstrated good response. The loss of one converter’s gating was emulated. The system continued to operate, showing an advantage of system redundancy.

A motor drive consisting of two parallel voltage-sourced converters was developed and implemented. A parallel converter arrangement allows the system to be constructed in a modular fashion to gain economies of scale and redundancy. The converters are connected to common ac- and dc-buses without isolation and are controlled without inter-converter communication or a master/slave arrangement. The system was simulated and the results validated against an experimental setup. Both steady-state and dynamic load sharing were achieved through the use of drooped PI speed regulators. PI controllers were used to regulate the quadrature currents provided by each converter. Circulating 0-sequence current was regulated using P controllers. A linearized state-space model of the system was developed and an eigenvalue analysis was performed, showing system stability. Speed steps in simulation and in the laboratory demonstrated good response. The loss of one converter’s gating was emulated. The system continued to operate, showing an advantage of system redundancy.

Software testing is a vital part of the software development process, usually implemented at the coding stage, and costly. Due to the increased use of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach in systems analysis and design, Model-Based Testing has been discussed as a prominent solution for software testing to reduce the cost of software testing. Prior researches proposed an integrated method which utilizes the artifacts from the Platform Independent Model (PIM) to construct the test paths and generate the test cases. This study develops a methodology which extracting the information from PIM (e.g., Sequence Diagram and Class diagram) to generate the test cases directly. The research methodology is articulated using the design science research methodology. A usability evaluation is performed to demonstrate its applicability. With this methodology, the test cases can be easily generated; thereby reducing the cost and enhancing the efficiency of Model-Based Testing.

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This thesis explores reasons why a voter would vote for a ¡§independent¡¨candidate in a city council¡¦s election. Since respondents in a telephone survey are not able to give their thoughts and description of vote intention thoroughly. given few survey questions .I therefore chose in-depth interview conducted before the election day to explore the real thoughts of the voters. My in-depth interview respondents are selected by telephones surveys and were interviewed regarding four topics, including party identification, political views, candidates and social networks. I find that partisanship is not the main factor of voting for an independent candidate. Instead, the key is his or her ability to serve the voters. The second factor is the ability to execute the public welfare policies and the third is education background and experiences in the field of public service. Fourth social network has limited effects on voters who were born in the 70¡¦s and 80¡¦s. Moreover, I discovered that the effects of the party ideology on voting behavior might differ across levels of elections. In particular, Kaohsiung voters will take the cue of party ideology at the city mayor¡¦s election, while this may not apply to a city council¡¦s election.

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Nowadays financial fraud scheme become more and more prevalent in public-traded companies in western and oriental countries. Many finance-related literatures realize and put stress on the importance of corporate governance. In this study, we would like to explore the relationship between audit committee and CEO compensation and equity incentives. We use multiple regression as methodology, take the public companies in technological field in Taiwan as sample from 2005 to 2010. We discover that, there is a positive relationship between the ratio of the number of independent directors divided by the audit committee members and the CEO compensation; there is no significant relationship between the ratio of the number of independent directors also serve as CEO directors in other firms divided by the audit committee members and the CEO compensation; there is a negative relationship between the ratio of the number of financial-accounting expertise divided by the audit committee members and the CEO compensation. And with regard to the equity incentives, there is no significant relationship between the ratio of the number of independent directors divided by the audit committee members, the ratio of the number of independent directors also serve as CEO directors in other firms divided by the audit committee members, the ratio of the number of financial-accounting expertise divided by the audit committee members and equity incentives.

For individuals and organizations, the events of the past shape and affect the decisions made in the present, to the benefit or detriment of the person or group. Historical research can make available information about the past that aids understanding of the future. This qualitative explanatory historical study of the schools of Magnolia, Texas creates a record of the Magnolia Independent School District by focusing on the political climate, growth patterns, and ethnic influences from 1900 to 2009. The methods of data collection consist of personal interviews, oral histories, school district documents, school board minutes, and newspaper articles. The research questions that guide the study are: (1) What is the history of Magnolia Public Schools and what influential people and events have shaped the district? (2) What were the causes of growth periods in the Magnolia Independent School District, and what were the effects of such growth? and, (3) How did the district’s ethnic and socioeconomic groups affect its growth and instruction? This explanatory historical study identifies the connection between the development of the schools in Magnolia, Texas and the surrounding community that has grown due to urban expansion. By recording the perceptions of the key people who have witnessed the district’s history, noting the influential events that have occurred, and documenting the district’s periods of growth, this study will help preserve the history of the schools in Magnolia for current and future leaders and researchers. By assisting with an understanding of the causes of decisions and actions taken in the past, this study has the potential to become an important resource for school administration and staff, community members, and other stakeholders as they seek to positively impact the present and the future.

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