Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toledo, 2005. / Typescript. "A thesis [submitted] as partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in History." Bibliography: leaves 117-124.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Paul M. Griffin, Committee Member ; Gunter P. Sharp, Committee Member ; Hayriye Ayhan, Committee Member ; Leon F. McGinnis, Committee Chair ; Soumen Ghosh, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 244-248). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

No description available.

No description available.

Le secteur de la santé, témoigne d'enjeux et défis auxquels les décideurs publics doivent faire face de manière croissante. Différents facteurs (techniques, thérapeutiques, épidémiologiques, exigences de qualité et d'accessibilité des soins, contraintes budgétaires) imposent une modernisation des systèmes de santé. La dynamique de participation des acteurs du secteur privé, marchand et non-marchand, à des missions de service public, vient compléter le dispositif de commande basé sur les marchés et les délégations de service public. L'émergence de nouveaux instruments doit" permettre d'associer secteurs public et privé dans des projets de restructuration, de renforcement des services sociaux, en se basant sur un partage des risques et une mutualisation des compétences. Ces PPP apportent une innovation basée sur des mécanismes de contractualisation de longue durée, et parfois un préfinancement privé des équipements et ouvrages. Les personnes publiques se concentrent sur leur cœur de mission, et confient un ensemble d'activités (conception, financement, construction, exploitation, maintenance) à des partenaires privés. L'objectif de ces outils contractuels innovants et adaptables reste l'amélioration des performances des services. L'intérêt croissant des décideurs publics pour les montages juridiques complexes invite à apprécier leur applicabilité aux problématiques de santé, afin de valider l'hypothèse d'efficience sur laquelle ils se basent. Des recommandations opérationnelles peuvent être formulées au profit des autorités publiques, afin d'optimiser le recours aux instruments de partenariat. / The decision makers in the health sector are faced with increasing challenges and new stakes that they need to address. A wide range of push factors from new techniques and care to a higher demand for quality and accessibility of care as well as dramatic budget cuttings and constraints are driving and often trigger a new approach to health systems. Private sector involvement in public service, whether through for-profit or non-profit stakeholders, complements existing models such as traditional procurement or concessions instruments. These new models aim at innovative collaborations between public and private sectors through restructuring and strengthening health services, underpinned by risk and expertise sharing mechanisms. These PPP bring added value through long-term contracting and often a private financing of infrastructures and equipment. Public managers are in this case empowered to focus on their core public service missions while entrusting their private contractors/partners with a variety of tasks from design to financing, building, operating and maintaining the infrastructures. The overall aim of these new flexible contractual instruments is to help improving the services performance. Raising interest amongst public decision makers as well as other stakeholders, these complex legal arrangements require an assessment of the sustainability of the PPP approach towards health issues. The expected value for money which PPP are supposed to bring in also demands that a thorough evaluation be carried out. Besides, operational recommendations shall be drawn up for the benefit of those public managers looking at making the best of their partnership instruments.

Rating scales involving more than two response categories are a popular response format in measurement in education, health and business sciences. Their primary purpose lies in the increase of information and thus measurement precision. For these objectives to be met, the response scale has to provide valid scores with higher numbers reflecting more of the property to be measured. Thus, the response scale is closely linked to construct validity since any kind of malfunctioning would jeopardize measurement. While tests of fit are not necessarily sensitive to violations of the assumed order of response categories, the order of empirical threshold estimates provides insight into the functionality of the scale. The Rasch model and, specifically, the so-called Rasch-Andrich thresholds are unique in providing this kind of evidence. The conclusion whether thresholds are to be considered truly ordered or disordered can be based on empirical point estimates of thresholds. Alternatively, statistical tests can be carried out taking standard errors of threshold estimates into account. Such tests might either stress the need for evidence of ordered thresholds or the need for a lack of evidence of disordered thresholds. Both approaches are associated with unacceptably high error rates, though. A hybrid approach that accounts for both evidence of ordered and disordered thresholds is suggested as a compromise. While the usefulness of statistical tests for a given data set is still limited, they provide some guidance in terms of a modified response scale in future applications.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Keith Harris / The focus of this research is to create a production schedule that will increase capacity while staying within business constraints of shelf life and warehouse space in a industrial food processing environment. The results support that product wheels maximize process responsiveness by lengthening production runs, and increasing safety stock inventory. In doing so, it maintains acceptable customer service levels and minimizes overtime costs. This study develops a model that simulates the relevant variables impacting the performance of the operation. The results show significant cost reductions are achieved by eliminating changeovers, increasing line capacity, safety stock levels protect against 99% of order variation, and warehouse space is available to house increased cycle stock and safety stock. Given the results on this line, I recommend expanding the model to other food processing locations within the business to further increase capacity and decrease overtime expenses.

No description available.