This study critically explores the relationships amongst the global, national, continental and alternative news agencies in South Africa and in a changing global context of news. It revisits previous studies’ findings on imbalances in global flows with a view to extending and updating these case studies. An extended-case study approach employing in-depth, open-ended interviews with news agency participants based primarily in South Africa and with the Pan African News Agency in Senegal is undertaken. The study postulates that news agencies do not operate independently of the broader external social environment. News agencies are influenced by changes in the global news environment and impacted upon by socio-economic, political and cultural processes and relations amongst nations. The main findings include firstly, that “intermediary changes” described as “adaptive strategies” at news agencies result from internal and external pressures on their operations of news production, selection and distribution. Internal pressures are identified as changes in ownership, and the gate-keeping function in the selection and exchange of news. External pressures are associated with the processes and relations of market-based global capitalism, which, it is theorized, gives rise to changing conditions described as a new phase of neo-liberal globalisation. Another finding related to the first, describes the adaptive strategies at news agencies as signifying a crisis in the global capitalist order and a transition to a post-industrial society. This post-industrial society presents the space for further investigation of the phenomenon of global consciousness, which is a further finding of the study. The prevalence of an alternative form of news production, citizens’ journalism, is seen as an example of an emerging public realm of opinion making, or, the public sphere. The study concludes that explanations for the persistence of imbalances in global news flows in the relationships among news agencies needs revision and updating, and that a global phenomenon, “global consciousness”, presents a challenge to the extreme market forces and the statist government control over media systems worldwide.

In an era where the network of interconnected devices is rapidly expanding, it is difficult for organizations to adapt to the increasingly data-rich and dynamic environment while remaining competitive. Employees experience that much of their time and resources is spent daily on repetitive, inefficient and mundane tasks. Whereas lean manufacturing has manifested itself as a well-known optimization concept, lean information management and the removal of waste is not yet being used to its full potential as its direct value is less visible. A case study was conducted to define which types of non-value adding activities can be identified within information flows and to determine whether decentralized application development can eliminate this digital waste. An internal information flow was modelled, analyzed and optimized by developing customized applications on the Microsoft Power Platform. Based on literature from the field of manufacturing and software development, a framework was developed to categorize digital waste as well as higher order root causes in terms of business strategy and IT infrastructure. While decentralized app development provides the ability to significantly reduce operational digital waste in a simplified manner, it can also enable unnecessary expansion of a common data model and requires application lifecycle management efforts as well as edge security to ensure data compliance and governance. Although limited to one case study, the suggested framework could give insights to organizations that aim to optimize internal workflows by identifying and eliminating digital waste and its root causes. / I en tid där nätverk av sammankopplade enheter expanderar snabbt, är det svårt för organisationer att anpassa sig till den allt mer datoriserade och dynamiska miljön och samtidigt förbli konkurrenskraftiga. Anställda upplever att mycket av deras tid och resurser spenderas på repetitiva, ineffektiva och vardagliga uppgifter. Lean manufacturing har visat sig vara ett välkänt optimeringskoncept, dock har informationshantering och avlägsnande av slöseri inte ännu nått sin fulla potential eftersom dess direkta värde är svårare att se och räkna. En fallstudie genomfördes för att definiera vilka typer av icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter som kan identifieras inom informationsflöden och för att avgöra om decentraliserad applikationsutveckling kan eliminera detta digitala slöseri. Ett internt informationsflöde modellerades, analyserades och optimerades genom att utveckla anpassade applikationer på Microsoft Power Platform. Baserat på litteratur från tillverknings- och mjukvaruutvecklingsområdet utvecklades en ram för att kategorisera digitalt slöseri samt högre grundorsaker när det gäller affärsstrategi och ITinfrastruktur. Medan decentraliserad apputveckling ger möjlighet att avsevärt minska det operativa digitala slöseriet på ett förenklat sätt, så kan det också möjliggöra onödig expansion av en gemensam datamodell och kräver hantering av livscykelanalyser samt kantsäkerhet för att säkerställa datahantering och styrning. Trots begränsad till en fallstudie, så kan det föreslagna ramverket ge insikter till organisationer som syftar till att optimera interna arbetsflöden genom att identifiera och eliminera digitalt slöseri och dess grundläggande orsaker.

This master thesis explores the dynamics of information flows between the hacktivist group Guacamaya, media outlets and social media users. The study aims to understand the role of various social actors within the digital space such as media outlets, journalists, bots, and trolls, in shaping public opinion and the overall effectiveness of the group's communication activities. A netnographic methodology was employed to observe the journey and transformation of information as it travelled from the hacktivist group to journalists and eventually to social media users. Tweets were obtained purposefully, to build a media ecology with sentiments, topics and where different actors interact with the information and with each other, modifying and reinterpreting the purpose of Guacamaya. The theoretical framework draws on the concepts of technopolitics, hacktivism, information flows, the network society and gatekeeping. My findings show how the Internet is a contested territory where attention and power are disputed. They also provide evidence on the complexity of the communication process in the digital space as all interactions from all actors influence the information flow. The conclusions highlight the new media ecology environment and the multidisciplinary role of actors in the digital realm. Furthermore, they argue that hacktivism as counterpower involves more than technical skills for uncovering hidden information and demanding accountability, but also strategic reappropriation for reducing inequalities and promoting just and inclusive societies. Hopefully, this thesis contributes to understanding the potential of hacktivists groups to drive political and social change through the understanding of a new communication environment.

This dissertation work is focused on issues related to a purchasing process in business subjects. It examines issues related to an evaluation of suppliers for a particular order. It also deals with issues within supplier-purchaser relationship, its creation and management through the SCM - Supply Chain Management. The topic of this thesis is very progressive as the selection and the evaluation of the suppliers is a very important factor in the terms of purchase and purchase expenses. A good management of the supplier-purchaser relationship can save expenses to business subjects. The elaboration of this dissertation thesis used not just theoretical findings acquired from the Czech and international literature, but also findings from surveys. The primary survey was carried out through the quantitative research, in particular research questionnaires. The findings from the primary survey were evaluated through the application Microsoft Excel and UNISTAT ® Statistical Package Version 5.6.06 Light. The acquired results were used to define the most important factors, which affect an evaluation of suppliers as well as an evaluation of the SCM in companies and data about purchases in companies. In addition the findings from the research questionnaires helped to evaluate the appointed hypothesis of the dissertation thesis. A partial outcome of the dissertation thesis is the proposal of the methodology of the evaluation of new and current suppliers including the weighting of individual evaluation parameters. For a common suppliers’ evaluation, an evaluation frequency is set by the importance of supplied material. Additionally, it methodologically describes how to evaluate supplier in time for day-to-day supply and for one-off supply. An additional partial outcome is the proposal of the methodology for an evaluation of a level of the SCM. The conclusion of the dissertation thesis is dedicated to the summary of findings, discussion of preconditions for implementation of the proposed methodology to real situations and possibilities of an additional scientist work in appropriately related subjects.