Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta dissertação analisou as Empresas Promotoras de Salud (EPS), seguradoras de saúde introduzidas no sistema de saúde colombiano através da reforma sanitária instaurada com a Lei n 100/1993, desde uma perspectiva de economia política crítica, através do método de análise documental. A maioria delas são empresas privadas com finalidade lucrativa que conformaram rapidamente um oligopólio que reproduziu problemas dos modelos de Managed Care e Managed Competition já conhecidos internacionalmente. Esta dissertação analisou as relações entre os processos de financeirização do sistema capitalista e o processo de ajuste estrutural na Colômbia, com a reforma sanitária e a dinâmica financeira das EPS. Também foi analisada a introdução de mecanismos próprios do processo de financeirização na gestão financeira das EPS, como: a alavancagem; a reprodução ampliada de capital através da dívida pública; e os investimentos em ativos securitizados. Dado que o sistema de saúde atual se caracteriza por altos níveis de inequidade e injustiça, as consequências da finalidade lucrativa neste, com suas expressões concretas de sofrimento e morte na população, foram preocupações transversais deste trabalho. Os resultados desta dissertação demonstraram a concentração oligopólica do mercado de seguros privados de saúde, cujas empresas se organizaram como um cartel, dificultando o acesso aos serviços de saúde para seus segurados, o que contribuiu para a piora de indicadores de saúde da população. Quando a mobilização social obrigou a aumentar o controle sobre as EPS, estas começaram a sair do mercado declarando-se em falência, ou entrando subitamente em balanços financeiros negativos. / This thesis analyzes the Empresas Promotoras de Salud (EPS meaning health promoting entity), which are health insurance companies that act in the Colombian health system since the health reform law of 1993 (Law 100). Based on a document analysis and within a critical political economy framework, we firstly address the relations between the financialization process in the capitalist system, the structural reforms and the health care reform, with the EPSs financial dynamics, and secondly address the reproduction of financialization mechanism inside the EPS including financial leverage; expanded reproduction of capital through the public debt; and investments in securitized assets. Most EPS are private for profit companies, which quickly formed an oligopolistic market and exemplify internationally recognized contradictions of the Managed Care and Managed Competition models, also as its forprofit orientation and functioning has been related to the exacerbation of health inequities and has further been recognized as a driver of suffering and death in the population. This has primarily been related to the oligopolistic concentration of the private health insurance market, whose companies are organized as a cartel, hindering access to health services for the population. When social mobilization forced to increase control over the EPS, they began to leave the market declaring themselves bankrupt, or suddenly entered negative financial statements.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta dissertação analisou as Empresas Promotoras de Salud (EPS), seguradoras de saúde introduzidas no sistema de saúde colombiano através da reforma sanitária instaurada com a Lei n 100/1993, desde uma perspectiva de economia política crítica, através do método de análise documental. A maioria delas são empresas privadas com finalidade lucrativa que conformaram rapidamente um oligopólio que reproduziu problemas dos modelos de Managed Care e Managed Competition já conhecidos internacionalmente. Esta dissertação analisou as relações entre os processos de financeirização do sistema capitalista e o processo de ajuste estrutural na Colômbia, com a reforma sanitária e a dinâmica financeira das EPS. Também foi analisada a introdução de mecanismos próprios do processo de financeirização na gestão financeira das EPS, como: a alavancagem; a reprodução ampliada de capital através da dívida pública; e os investimentos em ativos securitizados. Dado que o sistema de saúde atual se caracteriza por altos níveis de inequidade e injustiça, as consequências da finalidade lucrativa neste, com suas expressões concretas de sofrimento e morte na população, foram preocupações transversais deste trabalho. Os resultados desta dissertação demonstraram a concentração oligopólica do mercado de seguros privados de saúde, cujas empresas se organizaram como um cartel, dificultando o acesso aos serviços de saúde para seus segurados, o que contribuiu para a piora de indicadores de saúde da população. Quando a mobilização social obrigou a aumentar o controle sobre as EPS, estas começaram a sair do mercado declarando-se em falência, ou entrando subitamente em balanços financeiros negativos. / This thesis analyzes the Empresas Promotoras de Salud (EPS meaning health promoting entity), which are health insurance companies that act in the Colombian health system since the health reform law of 1993 (Law 100). Based on a document analysis and within a critical political economy framework, we firstly address the relations between the financialization process in the capitalist system, the structural reforms and the health care reform, with the EPSs financial dynamics, and secondly address the reproduction of financialization mechanism inside the EPS including financial leverage; expanded reproduction of capital through the public debt; and investments in securitized assets. Most EPS are private for profit companies, which quickly formed an oligopolistic market and exemplify internationally recognized contradictions of the Managed Care and Managed Competition models, also as its forprofit orientation and functioning has been related to the exacerbation of health inequities and has further been recognized as a driver of suffering and death in the population. This has primarily been related to the oligopolistic concentration of the private health insurance market, whose companies are organized as a cartel, hindering access to health services for the population. When social mobilization forced to increase control over the EPS, they began to leave the market declaring themselves bankrupt, or suddenly entered negative financial statements.

Today’s business market is highly competitive, therefore companies need to be constantly updated and change the way they operate their business, in order to survive and remain competitive. The situation on today’s market requires that companies have the ability to quickly respond to market changes and new customer demands within short product lifecycles. In order to deal with this new market situation, companies need to improve the integration with other companies within their business. This integration facilitates the companies’ ability to quickly adapt to new market situations and survive on a fast changing market. One of the main underlying concepts of this collaborative commerce is Supply Chain Management (SCM) which integrates and coordinates a company’s processes both internally and externally. Information Technology (IT) could improve the effectiveness of SCM. IT-solutions make the business processes more effective and improves the integration with other actors within the supply chain. The purpose with this thesis is to describe and explain the effects for businesses and the consequences for its processes when implementing a real-time IT-Logistics solution together with identifying the critical success factors. The thesis has been conducted by studying theory regarding supply chain management, business renewal and implementation effects. Further, a case study has been conducted where three actors have been interviewed; a manufacturer (Volvo Powertrain), a subcontractor (Metallfabriken Ljunghäll AB) and a system developer (PipeChain). The analysis of the theoretical framework and the empirical research has contributed with an identification of major effects and consequences when implementing a real-time IT-Logistics solution. Some of the effects are: inventory reduction, higher delivery accuracy, improved relations and increased flexibility. Examples of consequences these effects have caused are: more accurate planning and production, effective production processes as well as an improved delivery process. Additionally, success factors for an implementation have been identified such as mutual trust, understanding of change and evaluation. / Konkurrensen är stor inom dagens affärsmarknad vilket medför att företag ständigt måste vara uppdaterade och förändra deras affärsverksamhet för att kunna överleva och vara konkurrenskraftiga på marknaden. Dagens marknadssituation erfodrar att företag snabbt kan reagera på marknadsförändringar och nya kundkrav vid allt kortare produktlivscyklar. För att företag skall kunna hantera denna nya marknadssituation måste företagen bli integrerade med varandra inom deras affärsområde. Denna integrering underlättar företagens förmåga att snabbt kunna anpassa sig till nya marknadssituationer och överleva på en snabbt föränderlig marknad. Ett utav de största grundläggande koncepten för denna integrering är flödeshantering (Supply Chain Management). Flödeshanteringen integrerar och koordinerar företagets processer både internt som externt. Informationsteknologi (IT) kan förbättra effektiviteten av flödeshanteringen. IT-lösningar skapar effektivare affärsprocesser och förbättrar integrationen med andra aktörer inom företagets försörjningskedja. Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva och förklara effekter för affärsverksamheten samt konsekvenser för dess affärsprocesser, vid en implementering av en realtidslogistiklösning. Uppsatsen syftar vidare till att identifiera framgångsfaktorer vid en sådan implementering. Uppsatsarbetet har genomförts genom en litteraturstudie där teori om flödeshantering, affärsförändring och implementationseffekter har behandlats. En fallstudie i uppsatsen har använts där tre aktörer har blivit intervjuade; en tillverkare (Volvo Powertrain), en underleverantör (Metallfabriken Ljunghäll) och en systemutvecklare (PipeChain). Analysen av litteraturstudien och den empiriska undersökningen har bidragit till en identifiering av huvudeffekter samt konsekvenser vid en implementering av en IT-logistiklösning. Några av dessa effekter är: lagerreducering, högre leveranssäkerhet, förbättrade relationer samt ökad flexibilitet. Exempel på konsekvenser dessa effekter har orsakat är: precisare planering och produktion, effektivare produktionsprocesser samt förbättrad leveransprocess. Vidare så har framgångsfaktorer för lyckad implementering identifierats så som ömsesidig tillit, förståelse för förändring samt utvärdering.

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is the purposeful recharge of an aquifer for later recovery or environmental benefits and represents a valuable method for sustainable water resources management. Models can be helpful tools for the assessment of MAR systems. This review encompasses a survey and an analysis of case studies which apply flow and transport models to evaluate MAR. The observed modeling objectives include the planning or optimization of MAR schemes as well as the identification and quantification of geochemical processes during injection, storage and recovery. The water recovery efficiency and the impact of the injected water on the ambient groundwater are further objectives investigated in the reviewed studies. These objectives are mainly solved by using groundwater flow models. Unsaturated flow models, solute transport models, reactive geochemical models as well as water balance models are also frequently applied and often coupled. As each planning step to setup a new MAR facility requires cost and time investment, modeling is used to minimize hazard risks and assess possible constraints of the system such as low recovery efficiency, clogging and geochemical processes.

Master of Agribusiness / Agricultural Economics / Vincent R. Amanor-Boadu / The United States was the world’s third largest producer of raspberries (by pounds) in 2013, behind Russia and Poland. Raspberries are the third most popular berry in the United States behind strawberries and blueberries. Most U.S. production of red raspberries occurs in the states of Washington and Oregon during July and August depending on variety. Harvest and production for industrial pack typically runs for five weeks. Sieved red raspberries or single strength red raspberry puree is one of many industrial packs produced in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Sieved red raspberries are produced by forcing fresh, cleaned and sorted red raspberries and red raspberry crumbles and pieces through a mesh screen, collected in drums or pails and stored for use in further processed products such as pies, confectioneries and other consumer food products. For this thesis, sieved berries are packed in 55-gallon steel drums lined with food grade plastic bags. They are shipped from the processing plant to a third party warehouse to be frozen and stored. The final processing plant draws on these stored frozen products for use in the production of the Company’s consumer food products. The purpose of this thesis is to review the Company’s current procurement practices of sieved red raspberries and determine how these practices may be improved to reduce its total delivered cost. We use an optimization modelling approach to assess the procurement process used by the Company. The results indicate that it is possible to reduce procurement costs and improve efficiencies by making changes to the current procurement strategy. By implementing the procurement strategy developed in this study, we show that the Company can save as much as $1.69 million per year, which is equivalent to about 20.3% of the current spend. This would suggest that adopting the optimization strategy could allow the Company to increase its total sieved raspberry utilization by as much as 0.9 million pounds per annum, all other things remaining unchanged.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This evaluation serves the purpose of illuminating concepts and ideas behind the moral impact of business values in healthcare and to establish a framework for the analysis of moral dilemmas found in the sphere ofbio-medical ethics. The historic developments of business in healthcare are examined, looking at how and why business became an integral part of the health care system. The concept of "managed healthcare" is introduced and used as the context in which the different institutional role-players are brought together. Managed healthcare is defined by a discussion of the different organisational structures through which it manifests itself. The policies, procedures and regulations that managed healthcare organisations implement and control to fulfil their general function are also examined. Some normative aspects pertaining to the concept of managed health care are explored, including the institutional values of business and that of medicine. A brief discussion of the economic system in which the business agents or role players function are included in the evaluation of the institutional values of business. Further arguments are made to show how the healthcare system with all its role players displays the characteristics of a complex system. Discussions on the fundamental values of medicine concentrate on the basic ideas behind virtues and principles of medical ethics. It is argued that the development of these virtues and principles are important foundations on which the medical profession stands. The moral impact of combining these institutional values within the context of managed healthcare relationships is examined and some important moral dilemmas or conflicts are identified. It is further argued that the fundamental relationships between all the role players in the health care system have changed as all the agents function within a complex system, giving rise to new organisational structures and relationships, with new conceptual roles, ideals, values and practices. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie evaluasie het dit ten doelom sekere konsepte en idees agter die morele impak van besigheidswaardes in gesondheidsorg te illumineer en om 'n raamwerk daar te stel vir die verdere analise van morele dilemmas in die sfeer van bio-mediese etiek. Die historiese ontwikkeling van besigheid in gesondheidsorg word verken deur die redes aan te voer waarom besigheid deel van die gesondheidsorgsisteem geword het. Die konsep "bestuurde gesondheidsorg" word gebruik as die konteks waarin die verskillende institusionele rolspelers bymekaar gebring word. Bestuurde gesondheidsorg word gedefinieer deur die verskillende organisatoriese strukture waardeur dit manifesteer. Die prosedures, regulasies en bereid wat bestuurde gesondheidsorgorganisasies implementeer om hul funksies te vervul word ook verken. Normatiewe aspekte van bestuurde gesondheidsorg word verken, waarby ingesluit word die institusionele waardes van besigheid sowel as dié van medisyne. 'n Kort beskrywing van die ekonomiese sisteem waarin die besigheidsagente, of rolspelers funksioneer word ingesluit by die evaluasie van die institusionele waardes van besigheid. Verdere argumente word gevoer om te wys daarop hoe die gesondheidsorgsisteem met al sy rolspelers die karakter toon van 'n komplekse sisteem. Die basiese idees agter deugsaamheid en morele beginsels van bio-mediese etiek word bespreek om die fundamentele waardes van medisyne te beskryf. Daar word geargumenteer dat die ontwikkeling van hierdie waardes 'n belangrike fondament is waarop die mediese professie staan. Die morele impak van die kombinasie tussen die institusionele waardes van besigheid en medisyne binne die konteks van bestuurde gesondheidsorg word geevalueer en belanrike morele dilemmas en konflikte word geidentifiseer. Verder word geargumenteer dat die fundamenrele verhouding tussen al die rol spelers in die gesondheidsisteem verander het danksy die funksionering van die agente binne hierdie komplekse sisteem. Dit lei op sy beurt na veranderinge in organisatoriese strukture en verhoudinge met nuwe konsepsuele rolle, idiale, waardes en praktyke.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of implementing the Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) model in an MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) partnership, and highlight its potential economic, environmental, and organizational benefits, as well as limitations. Approach - First, a comprehensive literature review was conducted on fields relevant to VMI. Second, empirical data was gathered from a single exploratory case study with Momentum Industrial, and its customer Stora Enso. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from the case companies. Findings - Results suggest that VMI results in benefits for the supply chain in general, such as reduced administration and inventory costs, improved service levels, reduced information distortion, and improved relationship among partners. For the particular case of VMI in an MRO partnership, improved service levels can be obtained by a reduced risk of production downtime for the customer. Moreover, the implementation of VMI has potential environmental benefits, such as reduced paper use, and higher transportation fill rate. Limitations of implementing VMI include the difficulty in system integration, and information sharing. Trust could be a potential issue that limits information sharing amongst supply chain partners. Moreover, the difference in organizational cultures and policies of partners should be taken into consideration. Limitations - The study is limited to opinions from one MRO customer in the paper and packaging industry. Even though the questions asked to informants in Momentum and Stora Enso tackled benefits to MRO customers in general, a broader image could have been achieved by interviewing customers from different industries. Moreover, the case companies do not currently adopt VMI in their partnership, so the case study results are based on what they think would be the potential benefits and limitations of implementing VMI in an MRO partnership. Practical Implications - This paper can serve as a guideline for logistics managers who are considering VMI in an MRO partnership specifically, as it provides them with the benefits and limitations associated with VMI. More generally, any company considering VMI can also benefit from the theoretical framework presented.

This study explores the web-navigation practices of adult learners in higher education and re-conceptualizes the concept of the organizing circumstance of self-managed learning, originated by Spear and Mocker (1984). The theoretical framework draws on funds of knowledge theory from a cultural historical perspective and elaborates a Vygotskian concepts of learning and development by introducing the notion of the distal object and the zone of distal development. The study employed a mixed methods design with an embedded multiple-case study involving half of the twelve participants using a new technology for self-managed learning called Zonebee. Zonebee recorded participants' web navigation, known as Zonebee Trails, providing quantitative data for analysis. Surveys were administered, namely the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Schraw&Dennison, 1994), the Index of Learning Styles Inventory (Soloman&Felder, 1986), a survey of technology use (created for this study) and a set of demographic questions. Eleven of the twelve participants also provided interviews in which they described their self-managed learning practices.Findings contradicted the premise in the literature that the learning environment fortuitously determines the learning experience. Participants primarily relied on the internet and computer to manage their learning and made deliberate choices about which tools to use depending upon the purpose of the constituent process of self-managed learning in which they were engaged (assessing, planning, implementing, monitoring, evaluating or producing). Zonebee Trails evidenced participants' engagement in considerable planning before generating focused queries to locate specific materials. Thus, this study suggests that the organizing circumstance operates, not through happenstance alone, but through the confluence of four factors influencing the direction the learner takes: funds of knowledge for learning; learning demands (proximity of the learning object, proximal or distal), conditions for learning (affordances for and constraints on learning); and motivation or purpose of activity. The re-conceptualized organizing circumstance of learning, then, offers a methodological and theoretical way to redefine context and understand how learners manage their own learning.

This thesis examines whether and how participatory governance (PG), a model for incorporating citizen participation in designing and/or implementing strategies to solve public problems, can strengthen civil society and improve the quality of democracy. The study focuses on community-managed schools (CMS) in Honduras and Guatemala, arguably each country's largest PG initiative, in which parents managed rural schools. This thesis advances a "political capabilities" framework to explore state efforts to strengthen civil society and improve the quality of democracy. I use a mixed-methods approach, centering on surveys of over 2,000 parents and eight community case studies. My research first shows how different long-standing political legacies—“controlled inclusion” in Honduras and “coerced marginalization” in Guatemala—impinged on CMS. In Honduras, patronage networks captured CMS. In Guatemala, community- and national-level polarization contributed to CMS's reversal. Both undermined the CMS model and reduced the likelihood that participants would develop political capabilities. Despite these obstacles to stimulating civil society, I find surprising evidence of important individual-level “spillover” effects—such as gaining skills and increasing participation in other organizations—among a non-trivial minority of participating parents. Moreover, regressions and case study analysis indicate that state support, parents' level of involvement, and parents' perceptions of council effectiveness and democraticness can increase the likelihood of certain spillovers. Still, prior organizational experience remains the best predictor of subsequent participation and leadership. And qualitative analysis further demonstrates the limits of CMS's impacts on rural civil society. For the most part, individuals have not used newly acquired skills to build new types of groups and organize autonomously. Instead, community organizations remain very limited in their scope of action and heavily circumscribed by the state. In sum, this thesis demonstrates how, through one type of PG initiative, states can stimulate participation and produce changes in individuals’ civic and political behavior. But CMS was not a “game-changer” for rural civil society—the link from incremental changes in individual behavior to how rural communities organize themselves and engage with the state remains tenuous.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of web-based instruction (WBI) on cognitive and psychomotor learning. The subjects of the study received two types of instructional methods, WBI (experimental group) and traditional classroom instruction (control group). Each group received 30 minutes of instruction on "Soldering a Circuit Board." The researcher chose this content subject because it involved both cognitive and psychomotor objectives, which suited the purpose of this study. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant difference between the two methods of instruction, and also that there would be no significant interaction effects between methods of instruction and gender. Forty-six subjects from a population of students enrolled in summer classes offered by the Applied Technology, Training and Development (ATTD) program at the University of North Texas voluntarily participated in this study. Random assignment of subjects was applied in this study. A subject matter expert delivered the content for both the experimental and control groups. To measure cognitive variable, a 10 item, multiple-choice test was administered immediately after instruction. To measure the psychomotor variable, a 15-item checklist was utilized by trained judges to evaluate learners’ performances while soldering. The 2 x 2 factorial model with interaction was used in this study. The analysis was run for each of the dependent variables, cognitive and psychomotor learning. Although there was not a statistically significant difference in the main effects of method of instruction or interaction effects between method and gender, the results imply that students in the traditional-classroom instruction group performed better than those in the WBI group in psychomotor learning. Perhaps, this trend would be statistically significant if the sample size were larger. This study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of WBI in delivering cognitive and psychomotor objectives. The outcome of this study supports the need for more research on the effects of WBI on learning domains.