The fundamental question in design communication is how closely the architect's intention matches what the viewer perceives in the proposed design representation. The goal of this thesis is to find more efficient means to facilitate understanding of design ideas, especially between the architect and the client or other lay-people.In the following sections this will be accomplished by investigating the history of various communication modes and evaluating their significance. The development of communication technology throughout recent centuries has contributed to changes in the architectural process. After assessing the current situation of applying communication technology in the architectural process, the thesis concludes with a scenario. The scenario will describe a futuristic architectural process, which eliminates misunderstanding in design presentations by using the next level of communication technology - immersive computer generated spaces. / Department of Architecture

There has been a considerable amount of research on the diffusion of innovations, beginning with the rural sociologist. The rural sociologist's work was followed by extensive research in the field of education, but the focus of the studies was generally on the school as an adopting unit rather than on the individual teacher. This study was designed to attempt to identify those teacher characteristics and other factors which are significantly related to the acceptance or rejection of innovation in history instruction.Three techniques were selected and designated innovational approaches in history instruction: (1) use of role playing, (2) use of simulation games, and (3) use of the conceptual method. This study was designed to provide information relative to the use of the three designated factors of innovation and their relationship to selected teacher characteristics. The teacher characteristics studied were teacher age, cosmopolitism, years of teaching experience, college degree held, and level of teacher dogmatism as measured by Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale. One additional factor was studied which was the relationship of school size to the acceptance or rejection of the three designated types of innovation.

This descriptive study was conducted to determine the impact of a high school alternative post high school adjustment to life learners. The alternative learning environment on the of a group of resistant environment, Pontoon III, was a school-within-a-school located at Marion High School, Marion, Indiana. The study was conducted five years after the resistant learners entered the alternative learning environment.The data were secured by interviewing fifty-seven student participants using structured interview items to determine student judgments in response to three research questions.All fifty-seven students were enrolled in the Pontoon III Alternative Program in September, 1972. The student participants in the study were categorized into two groups: long-termers, those students spending two or more years in the alternative learning environment and short-termers, or those students spending one year or loss in the alternative school environment. The interview responses of the two student groups were compared reporting frequency and per cent of responses to structured interview items, Chi Square Analysis, and narrative comments of student participants.Both student groups (long-termer and short-termer) reported favorably on the impact of the Pontoon III Program on their lives since high school. However, the short-termer group was most influenced in the affective areas of efficacy, interpersonal relationships, and self-concept; while the long-termer group reported cognitive impact as priorities, specifically, reading, writing, and math abilities, but also describing affective impact in efficacy, self-concept, and relationships. Significant difference in favor of the long-termer group was found between the two groups (P = .001) in the nine impact areas: Reading-Writing Skills, Math Skills, Self-Concept, Efficacy, Relationships, Coping Skills, Success versus Failure, Job Satisfaction, and Impact on Pontoon III Program.There was also a difference in high school graduation for the two groups (long-termers, 90% and short-termers, 0%). Seventy-seven per cent of the long-termer group was presently employed while only 37% of the short-termer group was employed.No statistically significant difference was found in the value preferences of the two groups on fourteen value indicators as measured by a Chi Square Analysis.While numerical differences appeared between the two groups on fourteen quality of life items, only one area was statistically significant. Efficacy was significant by a Chi Square Analysis (P = .0116) in favor of the long-termer group. The description for efficacy was "to make my own way, to be independent or free to do the things in life I want to do--to be in control of my life."Conclusions based on the findings of the study answered the research questions. Participation in a high school alternative learning environment for two or more years does have favorable impact on the post high school lives of resistant learners. A brief exposure (one year or less) also impacts the post high school lives of resistant learners but the degree of impact of the learning environment is less and influences different areas of their lives than for participants with a longer tenure in the alternative program.

The dairy industry has undergone a dynamic phase during the past two decades. Innovations in terms of technologies, processes, and products have changed the way the production of milk is done. This research takes an exploratory approach to look at the process of opportunity discovery within farm businesses and what firms in the dairy industry are doing to become more innovative. In addition, this research looks at the strategies farmers are using to successfully implement those innovations. An important factor that could affect the performance of a firm is the degree of which the firm is able to become aware of and exploit innovations that help bridge productivity and opportunity gaps. Data is collected through qualitative tools, including in-depth interviews of dairy producers from Saskatchewan, Canada and Aguascalientes, Mexico. Such data collection provides this research with specific insights into the process of opportunity discovery. It also indicates which managerial practices moderate the successful discovery and exploitation of business opportunities in the dairy industry. A theoretical framework was developed around four managerial factors; networking, human capital, market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation. Several propositions were built to identify the impact of these factors on the discovery and exploitation of opportunities in the dairy industry in both Canada and Mexico. This research shed more light on why some producers are more productive than others and how this is allowing some dairy producers to be more profitable. In addition, findings compare both industries and the differences and similarities are shown in terms of operations, managerial styles and processes in which the discovery and exploitation of opportunities take place.

This D.Phil, thesis undertakes a theoretical analysis of the microeconomic incentives for scientific and technical knowledge-creating activities at the firm-level, the channels by which these activities impinge on industrial change and economic growth, and the effectiveness of governmental policies formulated to influence these systemic linkages. The motivation for this work is explained in Chapter 2, which reviews the state of the art in new growth theory and puts forward a typology of privately sponsored RandD activities and knowledge resources defining the premises on which the thesis rests. Chapters 3 and 4 investigate the RandD allocation and output decisions of a profitmaximising monopolist investing in exploratory- and applications-oriented research, dealing separately with product and process innovations. The characteristic properties of the optimal time paths are ascertained by means of formal and numerical optimal control methods, including comparative dynamics. The complementarity between the two modes of research is shown to generate increasing returns, but these turn out to be short-lived. The model is extended in Chapter 5 to study the development of multiple product lines. Knowledge spillovers and demand-side externalities across successive product lines can provide the basis for continued spending on RandD, allowing sustained output growth and profitability. Chapters 6 to 8 turn to the challenges of modelling the irreducible elements of uncertainty in the innovation process and their bearing upon the dynamics of market competition and industry structure. In the sequential game theoretic model introduced, firms can invest in fundamentally uncertain "innovative-RandD," or wait until the uncertainty surrounding original innovation is dispelled and invest in certain but costly "imitative-RandD." These decisions are taken in a vertically and horizontally differentiated market where noninnovating firms can compete with a "traditional" product. The industry-wide scale of RandD investments and the related evolution in market structure are determined endogenously. To do so, a symmetric equilibrium concept is defined and its uniqueness established. The model can support Schumpeterian industry evolutions, in which surges of innovative entry are followed by waves of imitation, and ensuing "creative destruction" in which traditional producers are driven out of the industry and innovators' rents are eventually eroded. Numerical simulations are employed in Chapter 7 to provide further insights into the evolution of product development, market structure, pricing, firm growth, profitability, and consumer welfare. The final chapter considers the implications of this game theoretic approach for competition and innovation policies.

In this work we investigate the sources and growth effects of technological innovation in UK industries over the years 1966-1993. Our main finding is that technological activities are always beneficial to labour productivity growth and normally also beneficial to employment growth. Moreover, it is possible to aggregate industries into fairly stable technological clusters, and the main sources of innovation change broadly in accordance with the technological characterisation of the industry. We also analyse the effect of inter-industry demand transmissions on employment share dynamics, and find that these effects are generally important. However, demand expansions in customer industries do not always imply expanding employment shares in supplying industries, and we did not find any evident linkage between the sign of the demand effect and the technological characterisation of industries. Testing the models developed to fit observed changes in labour productivity and employment shares over the periods 1974-79 and 1979-91, we find that growth dynamics over the period 1974-79 have been more related to technological change than over the period 1979-91. In particular, pure capital deepening has been one of the main engines of growth over the period 1979-91.

This thesis examines the technological economics of glass recycling in Britain. Attention was focused on recovery schemes operated within Scotland, comparisons being made with schemes in the rest of Britain and in Europe. An examination was made of general recycling problems and of glass recycling problems in particular. The various systems for glass recycling were reviewed and were put in the context of the waste management system as a whole. A survey was undertaken of Local Authorities operating glass recycling schemes. The aim was to provide a comprehensive data set to enable a consistent assessment of glass recovery schemes to be taken. This emphasised the importance of taking a standard approach to assessing the viability of recovery schemes. This needs to be done in terms of both private and social costs and benefits to provide a full economic assessment of the system. A general computer model has been developed to allow local authorities to check the viability of their on-going operations. As they operate under different conditions this model was split into separate assessment of a Bottle Bank scheme and a trade collection scheme. In addition, an investment appraisal model was developed to cover both situations. These allow managers to assess the viability of their schemes and can be used to highlight key costs. An International review was undertaken to see what lessons may be learned and what actions may be taken by the local authorities, industry, the general public, and by central government.

This study is an inter-disciplinary investigation into the nature of corporate strategy and the forces shaping industrial development with particular reference to a science based industry such as the chemical industry. The central objective of the study 1S to analyse the critical role of technological change as a major force ln strategic planning - a largely neglected area in the literature on corporate strategy. Traditional writings on corporate strategy tend to be self limiting 1n that they focus on a "single profit objective" and associated with this is the heavy emphasis placed on acquisition strategies in order to realize managerial profit objectives. The present study suggests that much more attention should be given to other than profit objectives, the conflict between them and their reconciliation. For this purpose a synthesis of the behavioural model of the firm and the managerial discretion model is proposed. The method uses four types of standards - historical, external, intentional and innovative - 1n setting multiple objectives at a target and at a constraint level. In this target constraint approach the difference between the two levels determines a margin within which conflicting claims of multiple objectives can be reconciled and a consensus level can thereby be reached. The study shows that the existence of a gap between the innovative and the other standards signifies that growth will mainly come through technological change. Theoretical aspects of technological change, in particular the economic and sociological approaches to diffusion of innovation are also discussed with special reference to the chemical industry. Against this background i i a generalized growth pattern for basic chemicals is developed and this pattern identifies the competitive and innovative modes of growth. In the competitive mode the individual chemical producer seeks to increase the level of usage of his material in its established end use categories. In the innovative mode, on the other hand, growth is sought by innovating new end use categories. Given a specialized producer willing to grow in his area, the competitive mode is characterized by the fact that marketing, financial and organizational measures can compensate for scientific and technological weaknesses, whereas intensive research and development activities are all important in the innovative mode . . The discussion finally leads to the formulation of a method of pinpointing technologically based opportunities. This method~ the technological growth tree, is developed as a managerial tool for mapping out strategic opportunities for the chemical industrialist. The tree consists of two principal branches, technological expansion and technological diversification, which subdivide into relevant strategies and tactics. Technological expansion strategies can be utilized in the competitive mode while the technological diversification strategies are appropriate in the innovative mode. The usefulness of the technological growth tree, in particular its diversification strategies, is illustrated by reference to the bromine industry where application of the former has resulted in a number of potential opportunities. These require further research and development efforts for their realization. ·Resulting from this, the principles outlined in the present study can also be applied in other science based industries for strategic planning.

No description available.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1985. / Bibliography: leaves 195-202. / x, 202 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm