Orientadores: Eduardo Tavares Costa, Jose Wilson Magalhães Bassani / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T02:44:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Eboli_AnaCristinaBottura_M.pdf: 2516910 bytes, checksum: cbbe643a3e080230f8b6fe4b599c972e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: A padronização é uma importante ferramenta gerencial, sendo de grande importância na melhoria da qualidade do controle de serviços. Neste trabalho é tratada a padronização de informações em um sistema de gerenciamento de manutenção de equipamentos médico hospitalares. Descreve-se o sistema informatizado de gerenciamento atual do CEB-UNICAMP (chamado PEND), e um sistema integrado atualmente em desenvolvimento (SIGMA-EH) que deverá interligar informações de diversos núcleos de engenharia clínica em uma base de dados comum e robusta. A padronização aparece como base para possibilitar a conexão dos núcleos e é realizada de três formas: na abrangência do sistema, em sua estrutura e em suas informações. O sistema permitirá análises visuais rápidas antes mesmo do processamento dos dados. A padronização proposta foi implementada no protótipo do SIGMA-EH disponível no CEBUNICAMP. Espera-se ganhar em confiabilidade e melhoria da qualidade da informação para o gerenciamento da manutenção de forma eficaz, por meio da padronização por estados e trajetórias (usando como substrato uma máquina de estados finitos) e telas detalhadas com campos de preenchimento bem definidos e listas de seleção padronizadas. / Abstract: Standardization is an important management tool, being of great importance for the improvement of the quality control of many services. In this thesis it is shown the standardization of the information in the management of a health care equipment maintenance system. It is described the current computerized management system of CEB-UNICAMP (called PEND) and an integrated computerized system currently under development (SIGMA-EH) that shall link information from several clinical engineering services in a common and robust database. Standardization is the basis to allow centers connectivity and is carried out in three ways: system scope, its structure and centers information. The management system will allow quick visual analyses even before data processing. The proposed standardization has been implemented in the SIGMA-EH prototype available at CEB-UNICAMP. It is expected a gain on the system reliability and improvement on the quality of information for the efficacy of maintenance management for medical equipment through the standardization of states and trajectories (using the support of a finite states machine) and the use of screens with well defined filling fields and standardized selection lists. / Mestrado / Engenharia Biomedica / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

Documentation is often the first source, which can help user to solve problems or provide conditions of use of some product. That is why it should be clear and understandable. But what does “understandable” mean? And how to detect whether some text is unclear? And this thesis can answer on those questions.The main idea of current work is to measure clarity of the text information using natural language processing capabilities. There are three global steps to achieve this goal: to define criteria of bad clarity of text information, to evaluate different natural language toolkits and find suitable for us, and to implement a prototype system that, given a text, measures text clarity.Current thesis project is planned to be included to VizzAnalyzer (quality analysis tool, which processes information on structure level) and its main task is to perform a clarity analysis of text information extracted by VizzAnalyzer from different XML-files.

Ämnet hållbarhet är idag mer aktuellt än någonsin. Många företag tar ansvar för sin påverkan på omgivningen och detta ansvar har kommit att bli en del av den externa rapporteringen. Företags hållbarhetsrapportering har traditionellt varit frivillig och det har tillämpats självreglering. I kontrast till de noterade företagens avsaknad av regler har svenska staten, genom införandet av en ägarpolicy, ställt upp krav på de statliga företagen. Kraven innebär att de statliga företagen ska agera föredömligt inom hållbart företagande och hållbarhetsrapportera i enlighet med GRI:s riktlinjer. Syftet med denna studie har varit att utifrån GRI:s kvalitativa egenskaper gällande hållbarhetsrapporteringens informationskvalitet undersöka skillnader mellan noterade och statliga företags hållbarhetsupplysningar inom de områden som stadgas i ÅRL 6 kap 12 § 1 st. Vår studie är komparativ och vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med kvantitativa inslag. Bedömningar har gjorts av 21 noterade och 21 statliga företags hållbarhetsrapportering. Med en egenutvecklad modell för bedömning av skillnader i informationskvalitet, har vi kunnat uppfylla studiens syfte och besvara vår forskningsfråga: Vilka skillnader i hållbarhetsrapporteringens informationskvalitet kan identifieras mellan noterade och statliga företag? Studiens resultat visar att de statliga företagens hållbarhetsrapportering genomgående uppvisar en högre informationskvalitet än noterade företag. De största skillnaderna som identifierades var att de statliga företagen i en avsevärd större utsträckning efterföljde internationella ramverk och riktlinjer samt att de lät sin hållbarhetsrapport genomgå en oberoende extern granskning. Den reglering som statliga företag omfattas av verkar leda till en högre informationskvalitet i hållbarhetsrapporteringen än vad självreglering gör. Studiens teoretiska bidrag är en modell som möjliggör en bedömning av informationskvalitet i företags hållbarhetsrapportering och en kartläggning av skillnader mellan noterade och statliga företag. Även praktiker kan ha nytta av vår kartläggning som visar att noterade företag kan öka sin informationskvalitet genom att efterfölja internationella ramverk samt låta rapporteringen bli externt granskad. / The subject of sustainability is today more current than ever before. Many companies take responsibility for their impact on the environment and this responsibility has become part of the external reporting. Corporate sustainability reporting has traditionally been voluntary and subject to self-regulation. Contrary to the lack of rules for listed companies, the Swedish state has imposed demands on state-owned companies through the introduction of an ownership policy. The requirement means that state-owned companies should act exemplarily in sustainable business and report sustainability in accordance with GRI's guidelines. The purpose of this study has been to investigate differences between listed and state-owned companies' sustainability information quality in the areas defined in ÅRL 6 kap 12 § 1 st, based on GRI's qualitative characteristics regarding sustainability reporting. Our study is comparative and we have used a qualitative content analysis with quantitative elements. Assessments have been made of 21 listed and 21 state-owned companies' sustainability reporting. With a self-developed model for assessing differences in information quality, we have been able to fulfil the purpose of the study and answer our research question: What differences in sustainability reporting information quality can be identified between listed and state-owned companies? The results of the study show that the sustainability reporting of state-owned companies contains a higher information quality than listed companies. The major differences identified were that the state-owned companies complied with international framework and guidelines to a significantly greater extent and let their sustainability report be subject for independent external auditing. The government-controlled regulation seems to lead to a higher information quality in sustainability reporting than self-regulation. The theoretical contribution of the study is a model that enables an assessment of information quality in sustainability reporting and a mapping of differences between listed and state-owned companies. Practitioners may also benefit from our study, which shows that listed companies can increase their information quality by following international frameworks and allowing the reporting to be externally audited.  This thesis is written in Swedish.

This work deals with the introduction of information security system in a company that provides internet. It is a hardware and software solutions for the benefit of quality information needed to monitor and manage networks on a professional level. Used solutions are versatile with regard to the diversity of the market and the speed of technology development.

Denna uppsats bygger på en kvantitativ studie med syftet att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar millennials attityd till olika informationskällor vid bokning av boende vid resa. Ytterligare kommer betydelsen av eWOM i valet av informationskälla belysas med målet att undersöka om det är en faktor som påverkar förtroendet för informationskällan. Följande forskningsfrågor utformades för att undersöka studiens syfte; “Hur ser millennials resvanor ut och vilka informationskällor använder de för bokning av boende vid resa?”, “Vilka faktorer påverkar millennials attityd mot olika informationskällor online?” samt “Hur ser millennials förtroendet till eWOM kommunikation ut på olika informationskällor?”. Empiriska data samlades in genom en enkätundersökning online bestående av frågor avseende respondenternas resvanor och boendevanor vid utlandsresa. Enkäten innefattade även frågor om respondenternas objektiva förtroende till eWOM på olika informationskällor samt frågor om källans upplevda trovärdighet och informationskvalité. Enkäten skickades ut via sociala medier och totalt 57 personer deltog i undersökningen. De viktigaste fynden var att faktorer inom källtrovärdighet visade sig ha en signifikant positiv effekt på millennials attityd till att använda informationskällorna generella sökmotorer, resebyråer online och recensionshemsidor. Slutsatserna dragna från studien är att källtrovärdighet har en positiv effekt på millennials attityd gentemot några av informationskällorna samt att förtroendenivån för eWOM varierar beroende på vilken informationskälla det publiceras på. Studien har bland annat bidragit till att ge läsaren en inblick i hur förtroendet för informationskällor ser ut och eWOM används i köpprocessen vid bokning av boende vid resa. / This thesis is based on a quantitative study with the purpose to investigate the factors influencing millennials attitude toward different sources of information when booking accommodation abroad. Further, the importance of eWOM in the selection of information sources will be investigated to examine whether it is a factor affecting the trust towards an information source. The following research questions were constructed to investigate the purpose of the study; "What do millennials’ travel habits look like and what information sources do they use to book accommodation abroad?", "What factors affect millennials' attitudes toward different sources of information online?" and "What do millennials trust in eWOM communication look like on different sources of information?". Data was collected with an online survey consisting of questions about the respondents traveling and accommodation habits abroad, their objective trust towards eWOM on different information sources as well as questions about the source’s credibility and information quality. The survey was sent out via social media platforms and 57 people in total participated. The most important findings were that factors found in source credibility had a significant positive effect on millennials attitude toward using information source general search engines, travel agencies online, and review websites. The conclusions drawn from this study is that source credibility has a positive effect on millennials attitude towards some information sources and that the level of trust for eWOM messages varies depending on which information source they are published on. The study contributes by giving the reader an insight into what consumers trust towards different information sources looks like and how eWOM is used in the consumer's buying process when booking accommodation abroad.

Web archiving is the practice of preserving websites as a historical record. It is a technologically-challenging endeavor that has as its goal the creation of a high-quality archived website that looks and behaves exactly like the original website. Despite the importance of the notion of quality, comprehensive definitions of Information Quality (IQ) in a web archive have yet to be developed. Currently, the field has no single, comprehensive theory that describes what is a high-quality or low-quality archived website. Furthermore, most of the research that has been conducted on web archives has been system-centered and not user-centered, leading to a dearth of information on how humans perceive web archives. This dissertation seeks to remedy this problem by presenting a user-centered grounded theory of IQ for web archives. It answers two research questions: 1) What is the definition of information quality (IQ) for web archives? and 2) How can IQ in a web archive be measured? The theory presented is grounded on data obtained from users of the Internet Archive's Archive-It system, the largest web-archiving subscription service in the United States. Also presented are mathematical definitions for each dimension of IQ, which can then be applied to measure the quality of a web archive.

The purpose of our research is to empirically test how system attributes of blockchain build trust through system and information components in blockchain food traceability systems. Findings showed that system attributes of blockchain are strong predictors of trust leading to intention to purchase. A sample of 358 responses were collected from college students through online survey. SmartPLS 3.0 is adopted for data analysis. We made contributions by building a new research model to guide future studies on trust formation in blockchain based systems as well as informing practice to adopt proven features of blockchain to create and capture values for customers.

Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the net benefits and change in user behaviour in a technology push scenario in Smart Cities. Design/methodology/approach –The research was conducted using a quantitative approach. Hence, quantitative data was obtained by devising and distributing a questionnaire adapted from the literature to serve the purpose of this research. Data was analysed by using SmartPLS software, since this tool allowed for the creation of a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Contributions –The research is expected to help foster an understanding of the factors affecting citizens’ satisfaction with technology-supporting smart cities. The focus of this research was on the scenario where technology was introduced by the government to support the development of smart cities, and where citizens ‘do not have a choice’ and are ‘pushed’ to use them. The research contributes a model for assessing the role of satisfaction in enhancing the net benefits of smart city technologies on the lives of citizens, as well as the change in individuals’ behaviour towards smart city technologies when they are ‘pushed’ for use. The findings provided insights to enable policy makers to implement smart cities in developing countries while ensuring the satisfaction of the users. Originality/value – The originality of this research is centred around determining how satisfied citizens are with smart cities and the net benefit of smart cities within a developing country (Kuwait) context. The research is also unique in that it examines the role of citizens’ satisfaction in changing their behaviour towards ‘push’ technology within smart cities. Theoretical Contributions – This study examined the factors that led to acceptance of smart cities in Kuwait. Hence, this study used the theories related to user acceptance of technology and added to its trust in provider. Previous studies have examined trust as a broad concept. Moreover, this study incorporated the push theory and also examined the change in user behavior, which was not examined in earlier studies.

Effective corporate governance of boards can become a sustainable competitive advantage for organisations. In the extant literature a number of reasons are cited for dysfunctional boards. Some of the reasons attributed to board failure relate to poor corporate governance, practice and oversight. Some of the reasons for board failure pertain to micromanaging of the organisation, an ineffective nominating committee, size of the board, non-functioning committee structure, absence of strategic plan, no orientation\induction plan and no rotational plan. Poor governance practises across all sectors has negatively tainted economic investment in South Africa consequentially affecting economic growth. Below South Africa’s competitive rating slipped from (52nd) in 2012-2013 to 53rd in 2013-2014 rating is given to show that marked improvement is needed in corporate governance. South Africa’s rating in the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2012 was 43 and slipped to position 69 amongst 176 countries for the Corruption Perception Index, 2013. The trend analysis report of the Public Service Commission reported that In 2006/7, there were 1 042 cases of corruption, amounting to R130.6-million; in 2007/8, there were 868 cases, amounting to R21.7-million; in 2008/9, there were 1 204 cases, amounting to R100.1-million; in 2009/10, there were 1 135 cases, amounting to R346.5-million; in 2010/11, there were 1 035 cases, amounting to R932.3-million; in 2011/12, there were 1 243 cases, amounting to R229.9-million. Good governance frameworks, policies, procedures, processes and practices attract foreign direct investments. Better governance practices are critical for improved economic growth and development that will result in an improvement in the South Africa’s competitiveness and corruption perception index ratings. South Africa’s continued economic growth and development is dependent on attracting foreign direct investment. From 1994 corporate governance regimes were promulgated. Although there are a collection of corporate governance codes and guidelines that have been published, few specifically cover governance practices in public entities. Moreover, with better governance practices state-owned enterprises can significantly contribute to the economic transformation and development in South Africa. The purpose of the study is to establish that improved governance is a function of board structure and board process variables. With the presence of structural and process variables board activism will improve resulting in board decision quality. Independent directors without no conflict of interest, the requisite industry expertise and intelligence (functional area knowledge), the information to make decisions are adequate, accurate and timely (information quality), directors exert the needed effort (effort norms), directors robustly explore all dimensions and options (cognitive conflict) and the board functions optimally (cohesiveness) influence board decision quality. Boards which are configured optimally are able to execute their fiduciary responsibility optimally. In 2012 a budget of R845.5 billion was provisioned for infrastructural development to boost economic development. This budget allocation must be prudently and frugally managed in accordance with good governance practises to achieve economic development. In particular South Africa has to improve its competitiveness rating and corruption perception index to attract investments and continual growth. In terms of the research design, to address the research questions, a mixed research approach was selected for the study. The phenomenological (qualitative) and positivist (quantitative) philosophical paradigms were adopted with the purpose to obtain a greater understanding of board decision quality in the Public Entities in South Africa. The data collection instruments used in the study was in-depth interviews, focus group interviews and administration of a survey. The population for the qualitative research was 19 in-depth interviews and two focus group interviews. For the quantitative study a population of 215 public entity board members were selected for the study. A total of 104 board members of Public Entities completed the survey for the study. In relation to data analysis for the qualitative study Tesch’s coding, thematic analysis was used to analyse the in-depth and focus group interviews. For the quantitative study, SPSS was used to analyse responses from the surveys. The hypothesis was tested using inferential statistics, namely, factor analysis and multiple regression was used.. The findings generated from the first phase, the qualitative study that provided support for the positive relationship between board structure, board process variables and board decision quality. The following five variables are incorporated in a model that seeks to identify the strongest predictor of board decision quality: (1) board independence, (2) effort norms, (3) functional area knowledge and skill, (4) cognitive conflict and (5) information quality. The findings show that information quality is the strongest predictor of board decision quality followed by expert knowledge and skill. As expected, expert knowledge does not only increase the cognitive capacity of the board, but it also positively affects company competitiveness. The findings also show that cognitive conflict has a negative association with decision quality. The study argues that political influence exerted by board political appointees may explain the negative relationship between cognitive conflict and board decision quality. The major contribution of this study is that it provides a 28-item instrument that can be used practically by public entity boards in the reflective process to improve board decision quality. The study concludes by offering avenues for further research. The model suggests that board decision quality is a product of board structure (board independence), board process (functional area knowledge, information quality, and cognitive conflict and effort norms). / Business Management / D.B.L.

My diploma thesis deals with respecting the journalism ethics by two most read general- interest newspapers in the Czech Republic - Mlada fronta DNES and Hospodarske noviny, when using complex communicate including a news photo. My research sample contained just breaking news (home and world) published nationwide in March, 2014. A relationship between meanings of particular parts in complex communicates (the headline, the caption, the photo and the article) and has been my variable that I was searching for within the sample. As all the parts work together in building one sense, which should represent a reality, I suppose, that meanings of these parts should show a relationship of harmony and substitution within one complex communicate. I used semiotic analysis to analyse meanings within a communicate, both denotation and connotation level. I applied my knowledge of social and visual semiotics, semantics and pragmatics to explain the meanings of individual signs. At the end of my research I compared results of my analysis to outcomes of Magda Polmanova's research - a former Charles University student that dealt with almost the same topic as me in her bachelor thesis, analysing the same dailies however from 2011. The findings of: How many times have these dailies published complex communicates that...