Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka aspekter i socialsekreterarnas yrkesutövning iorganisationen som de upplever bidrar till hög arbetsbelastning, hur de beskriver att de hanterarden och eventuellt förbättrar sin egen arbetssituation och vilka arbetsfaktorer de upplever sommeningsfulla och som gör att de fortfarande arbetar kvar inom socialtjänsten. För att besvarastudiens syfte använde vi oss av en kvalitativ forskningsansats i form av semistruktureradeintervjuer. Dessa intervjuer har sedan tolkats för att hitta likheter och skillnader som sedananalyserats med hjälp av sociologiska teorier om organisationens roll, krav och kontroll ochkänsla av sammanhang. Studiens resultat visar att socialsekreterarna i perioder upplevde högarbetsbelastning. I resultatet redogörs det även för olika strategier som socialsekreterarnaanvände sig av för att kunna hantera detta. Resultatet visade också att socialsekreterarna upplevdeatt det finns en hel del belöningar och att de ändå ser sitt arbete som meningsfullt. Vår slutsatsblev att arbetsbelastningen inte behöver vara ett problem så länge som samarbetet mellan ledningoch anställda fungerade. / The purpose of this study is to investigate which aspects of social secretaries profession in theorganization that they feel contributes to high workloads, how they describe their handling of itand how they possibly improve their work situation and what work factors they perceive asmeaningful and that makes them still work in social services. To answer the purpose of the studywe used a qualitative approach in the form of semi-structured interviews. These interviews havesince been interpreted to find similarities and differences which then has been analyzed usingsociological theories about the organization's role, requirements and control and sense ofcoherence. The study results show that social workers in periods experienced heavy workload.The result also discusses the various strategies that the social workers made use of to be able tohandle this. The results also showed that social workers felt that there are a lot of rewards andthat they still see their work as meaningful. Our conclusion was that the workload does not needto be seen as a problem as long as the cooperation between management and employees worked.

A utilização de mudas de qualidade, aliada a um preparo de solo adequado, é o primeiro passo para produzir florestas com bom desenvolvimento e aumentar a lucratividade da implantação florestal. O sucesso na formação de florestas com alta produtividade depende diretamente da qualidade das mudas. As mudas devem apresentar características que possibilitem sua resistência às condições adversas encontradas em campo após o plantio, para produzir árvores com crescimento volumétrico economicamente desejável. Como a floresta é um investimento de longo prazo, todas as fases de investimentos com a qualidade de mudas são de fundamental importância para o sucesso do empreendimento florestal. Dessa forma, visando a otimização do uso de recursos (mão de obra, máquinas, métodos de trabalho e insumos) nas etapas de produção de mudas esse trabalho tem como objetivo definir os requisitos básicos do processo de produção de mudas clonais de eucalipto que contribuam para o incremento da produtividade da floresta. O método utilizado para a definição dos requisitos do processo foi o Desdobramento da Função Qualidade (QFD). A qualidade exigida para muda de eucalipto pode ser caracterizada por 12 itens. Foram identificados 31 requisitos técnicos, que abrangem as etapas de estaquia, manejo do viveiro e entrega da muda para o cliente e os requisitos mais importantes para uma muda clonal de qualidade são as atividades de alternagem, fertirigação, e a adubação aplicada em quantidades corretas. / The use of quality seedlings, combined with a proper soil preparation is the first step to produce forests with good development and increase the profitability of forest deployment. The formation of forests with high productivity depends on the quality of seedlings. The seedlings must have characteristics to be enable to resist the conditions found in field after planting to produce trees with economically desirable volumetric growth. As the forest is a long-term investment, all stages of investment with the quality of seedlings are the fundamental importance for the success of the enterprise forest. Thus, in order to optimize the use of resources (manpower, machines, working methods and inputs) in steps of seedling production, this work aims to define the basic conditions for production of eucalyptus seedlings, which contribute to increase the productivity of the forest. The method used to define the requirements of the process was the Quality Function Deployment (QFD). The quality required of eucalyptus can be characterized by 12 items. We identified 31 technical requirements, which include the steps of cutting, nursery management and delivery of changes to the client and the most important requirements for a quality clonal changes are activities increased spacing on the screem of the nursery, fertigation, and fertilizer applied in correct amounts.

lt;p align="justify"gt; Knowing about the importance of the quality water for the human consumption and of sanitation basic for the sustainable development of a region and thinking of effective management of the rural properties and territorial planning, the present work diagnosed the negative impacts occurred in the agricultural properties situated to the margins of stream São Nicolau Grande, in order to evaluate the environmental quality in this wash-basin and the main environmental impacts provoked by the pollution in water that supplies the municipal district of São João Evangelista-MG. For this, they got up the main combined agricultures activities of the located rural properties in this wash-basin. Although the activities in this properties absorb family workmanship and represent income social stability and source important factor, the forms adopted to produce use practices that do not guarantee I destine adequate final for the generated residues, launching them in the soils and in the courses of water. It was accomplished rising of pollution emission more critical points found in this basin, being these information used in the composition of the posterior stages, like the elaboration of thematic maps and the analysis of the quality of water of stream. Through the obtained results, it could if realize an environment enough degraded with occurrence of negative environmental impacts that comes affecting life quality in this region. It verified the orientation and support lack to the rural producer in the execution of his productive activities by the competent public organs, being necessary that were promoted forms of carrying to these producers, basic knowledge about environmental preservation and sustainable productivity.lt;/pgt; / lt;p align="justify"gt; Sabendo-se da importância da água de qualidade para o consumo humano e do saneamento básico para o desenvolvimento sustentável de uma região e pensando no gerenciamento eficaz das propriedades rurais e planejamento territorial, o presente trabalho diagnosticou os impactos negativos ocorridos nas propriedades agrícolas situadas às margens do ribeirão São Nicolau Grande, a fim de avaliar a qualidade ambiental nesta bacia hidrográfica e os principais impactos ambientais provocados pela poluição na água que abastece o município de São João Evangelista-MG. Para isto, levantaram-se as principais atividades agropecuárias das propriedades rurais localizadas nesta bacia hidrográfica. Embora as atividades nestas propriedades absorvam mão-de-obra familiar e representem importante fator de estabilidade social e fonte de renda, as formas adotadas para produzir utilizam práticas que não garantem destino final adequado para os resíduos gerados, lançando-os nos solos e nos cursos d’água. Foi realizado levantamento dos pontos mais críticos de emissão de poluentes encontrados nesta bacia, sendo estas informações utilizadas na composição das etapas posteriores, como a elaboração de mapas temáticos e a análise da qualidade da água do ribeirão. Através dos resultados obtidos, pôde se perceber um ambiente bastante degradado com ocorrência de impactos ambientais negativos que vem afetando a qualidade de vida nesta região. Verificou-se a falta de orientação e apoio ao produtor rural na execução de suas atividades produtivas por parte dos órgãos públicos competentes, sendo necessário que se promovam formas de levar a estes produtores, conhecimentos básicos sobre preservação ambiental e produtividade sustentável.lt;/pgt;

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) play a vital role for organizations to measure project performance. The core objective of Key Performance Indicators is that not only organizations but also customers want their projects to be completed within the stipulated time and budget while maintaining the quality standards. Performance measurement is foundation for continual improvement. Subsequently, as a regular rule, benchmarking is the next step to improve contractors’ efficiency and effectiveness of products and processes. Camp (1989) introduced benchmarking concepts and defines it as “the continuous process of measuring products, industry leaders.” It is a problem to measure the performance of large projects such as construction and communication projects using predefined KPIs. Objective of this research is to find a framework to improve project performance through benchmarking of key performance indicators, to identify the suitable KPI prevailing in the construction industry of Kuwait and develop and calculate the KPIs to assess the performance of the construction projects and making recommendations to improve project performances of construction industry. For this study two Kuwaiti construction companies are selected i.e. Company AA and Company BB. Performance of their financial and non-financial data is analyzed. Primary data is collected through questionnaires and in performance of Company BB. Data also revealed that Company BB’s are having cost and time overrun. Organizations like Company BB have to investigate reasons of cost and time delays causing dissatisfaction. Decision of material selection and delivery time should be carefully taken. Organizations should improve its employment policies from selection to compensation, working conditions, motivations and availability of health and safety facilities; as satisfied customers can satisfy customers. Subsequently, Company BB management performance needs immense improvement at all levels and in all processes. Consideration of design quality indicators (DQI) as per requirement of stakeholders and bio-diversity impacts, it is impossible to satisfy the internal or external stakeholders of construction projects. This thesis contributes useful and new knowledge to the Kuwaiti construction industry. This study reveals the importance of significant KPIs needed for the growth of medium construction organizations through benchmarking the bigger organizations. The ultimate goal of this study is to highlight the importance of KPIs to access success of medium construction organizations. Although it is believed KPIs could be used for benchmarking of bigger size organizations.

As the U.S. and world economies emerge from years of recession, the hardwood flooring market is currently enjoying strong growth. With this growth come new challenges for hardwood flooring manufacturers. Strong competition from foreign markets and rising log prices are reducing product margins and forcing companies to think lean, while improving product quality. QEP Wood Flooring division, who struggled through the worst of the U.S. economic down turn is now regaining ground as a strong competitor in the hardwood flooring market. This turnaround is due to internal changes to decrease waste and increase product quality. This is accomplished by using the quality control department as a tool to aid manufacturing. To accomplish these changes, QEP implemented the use of quality tools and employee awareness training; as a result QEP increased overall product quality and yields while reducing customer claim pay outs.

No description available.

There has been a shortage of registered nurses in the United States for more than a decade, and an aging population is increasing this problem. This study was prompted by the number of associate degree nursing graduates at a Midwestern community college failing the NCLEX-RN licensure exam, which is required for employment. The purpose of this study was to explore associate degree graduate nurses' views of the effectiveness of classroom and clinical training on NCLEX -RN exam performance. Guided by the conceptual framework of Bigg's students' approaches to learning, which maintains deep learning is associated with achievement of learning outcomes, this qualitative case study investigated ways to improve success on the licensure exam. The central research questions examined the perceptions of what nursing school experiences contributed to NCLEX-RN success or failure. Semistructured interviews with 5 recent graduates who have been successful and 5 who failed the exam were conducted to gather the data. Triangulation and member checking were used to improve the quality of the data. The student perceptions were coded to identify emerging themes. The following themes that impact NCLEX performance were identified: extreme anxiety, fear of failure, faculty student relationships, and approach to learning. The findings revealed the need for additional faculty training in curriculum and instruction, reducing stress and building self-confidence. Based upon these findings, faculty were encouraged to participate in a 3-day professional development activity designed to improve their skills in preparing students to take the nursing examination. Possible social changes can benefit healthcare institutions, nursing graduates, and community by expanding the nursing workforce.

The aim of this study was to investigate how school counselors experienced collaboration with social services and whether they felt they have the ability to improve upon this collaboration. The empirical data consists of qualitative interviews with eight school counselors from public schools, ages 13 to 15, in eight separate municipalities in the Stockholm area. The main results showed that the school counselors recognized the positive benefits from collaboration, but that they in practice experienced difficulties turning this into a high-quality collaboration. The school counselors experienced that due to uncertain expectations in the collaboration it led to unclear distribution of areas of responsibilities. The school counselors expressed small or no possibilities for them to improve upon collaboration but pointed out that higher commitment and a positive attitude are valuable attributes to improving collaboration. The results of the interviews were analyzed using the new institutional theory of organization and the role theoretic perspective. The conclusion states that the school counselors can help improve collaboration by taking initiative to better communication in order to clarify the collaborators expectations and conditions. The study highlights importance of school counselors trying to overcome obstacles and difficulties presented by different conditions of different organizations.

1ST Otokon, a Pretoria based company delivering energy management systems to the industrial and utility market segments, has shown steady growth since its inception 15 years ago. However, after ailing financial results, all aspects of the business were interrogated. It was doubted whether its energy management system (EMS) offering, ecWIN, was fulfilling the needs of the industry. Therefore this study was needed to identify new technology which could improve the effectiveness of ecWIN. After doing a thorough literature study on ecWIN, its competitors and the technologies currently utilised, the product was mapped to various technology management models. Deficiencies in the current software development environment were identified, including a lack of manpower and old software development tools. The empirical study entailed determining the effectiveness of the product through a user survey in the form of a questionnaire. Certain problem areas (e.g. insufficient software testing and a lack of documentation on advanced features) were identified by this survey. The numerous complaints about the slowness of certain reports and lack in user-friendliness were also highlighted. Also forming part of the literature and empirical study respectively, were the identification and evaluation of new technologies not yet utilised in the ecWIN sphere. Taking a holistic view of all this information, recommendations were made on how to improve the effectiveness of ecWIN. This was presented in terms of three dimensions: • Upgrade the current infrastructure over the next 12 months, mainly with new software development tools such as Centura Team Developer 2005, Crystal Reports, etc. • Improve the cost-effectiveness of ecWIN during 2006 and 2007, typically by utilising GPRS, MMS, WiFi and BlueTooth to retrieve information from meters. • Utilise a new business model (mainly centred on the cost-effectiveness dimension together with Linux and MySQL) which could allow the company to directly compete with other firms, even in the commercial and residential markets. A fourth dimension, consisting of technologies that should not be considered for integration with ecWIN at this stage, was also identified (e.g. IPv6, XHTML and Visual Studio .NET). In a world with rapidly changing technology, this study should not be a once-off process, but should be undertaken regularly to ascertain that the effectiveness of 1ST Otokon's EMS offering is constantly improved through the identification of new technology. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The focus of this research study was the assessment of intrapreneurship within public Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges that were earmarked by govemment to spearhead the alleviation of skills shortages in South Africa. Managers within four colleges in the Free State province of South Africa were selected as the study. Establishing an intrapreneurial climate within public FET Colleges can play a significant role in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of services rendered, contributing to the long term sustainability of these institutions. Colleges face various challenges including a lack of intrapreneurial spirit and a fragmented approach regarding their visions, missions and strategic thrusts. The primary objective of the study was to assess the level of intrapreneurship within the four public FET Colleges and to make recommendations on how to improve the level of intrapreneurship within these institutions. A number of secondary objectives were set to support the attainment of the primary objective. A comprehensive literature study was conducted, which was followed by an empirical study. By means of self -assessment and supervisor assessment, perceptions of managers were tested in relation to entrepreneurial characteristics. Furthermore, relationships were determined between demographic variables and intrapreneurship constructs. Following upon a detailed analysis of data in chapter 4, it was concluded that managers regarded the current intrapreneurial climate at FET Colleges as being average. Based on the findings of the empirical study and the insight gained during the literature study, recommendations were made on the fostering of intrapreneurship within the colleges. A framework of practical guidelines and an action plan were compiled that could facilitate the process, thereby assisting public FET Colleges in South Africa to fulfill the vision of the National Department of Education of "...a modem and vibrant nationally co-ordinated FET college system that builds a foundation for lifelong learning and is responsive to the needs ofthe 21 st century". / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.