Annotation This diploma thesis in its theoretical part sums up didactic approaches which serve as a starting point for designing teaching methods and suitable presentation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to primary school children. The thesis deals with the impact ICT has on the development of pupils´ personalities with regard to innovative educational processes which are now at work in our schools. The thesis wants to propose and prove possible and useful approaches to ICT teaching at primary schools based on research in the current state of ICT teaching and in the computer literacy of pupils and on teachers´ own ``best experience{\crqq}. The hypothesis was that pupils in ICT lessons are able to work in pairs effectively and that the one with better knowledge of computers can help and give advice to the less experienced one in the pair. In the practical part of the thesis computer literacy of pupils in second and third grades of primary schools is checked with help of a questionnaire. On the basis of selected didactic approaches and analysis of the questionnaire answers a dyadic teaching method was designed and proved in practice. The use of dyadic method is one of possible ways to reach optimal results in ICT teaching at primary schools. The thesis proposes a teaching plan for a third grade of primary school. This teaching plan, effectivity of which was checked in practice and the outcome analysed, can serve as an inspiration for beginning teachers and help them to design their teaching plans for ICT lessons or for employing ICT in other subjects.

The theoretical part of the dissertation focuses on the describtion of the modern trends in the development of the organizational structure of the company and specific evolutionary phases of the entrepreneurial subject. The practical part is based on the application of the skills obtained in the theoretical part on the particular entrepreneurial subject, the ASECCO company.

O foco dessa dissertação está na gestão de estoques em sistemas multicamadas. O modelo de simulação construído considera o desempenho histórico de uma cadeia de distribuição de medicamentos versus a política de gestão proposta. Os objetivos principais do trabalho são: a avaliação quantitativa da política de cálculo de necessidades aplicada na gestão de sistemas multicamadas, a verificação da importância da cooperação entre os elos da cadeia de distribuição para gestão do fluxo de materiais e o estudo das curvas que representam o dilema ‘nível de serviço’ versus ‘custo total da cadeia’. O modelo considera o fluxo de materiais a partir do estoque em processo do laboratório até a venda para as farmácias, que pode ser aproximada pela demanda dos medicamentos visto que os estoques das farmácias são relativamente pequenos e constantes ao longo do tempo. A modelagem de custos leva em conta o custo de estoque do laboratório e dos distribuidores, o custo de pedido dos distribuidores, o custo de transporte, o custo de entrega com atraso do laboratório e o custo de venda perdida dos distribuidores. Especificamente, são considerados cenários com e sem o compartilhamento de informações entre as empresas da cadeia. Consideram-se também cenários com e sem sazonalidade na demanda. Inicialmente, cada cenário simulado é preparado com a definição do ‘período transitório da simulação’, ‘horizonte de simulação’ e ‘número de réplicas’ necessárias. Depois disso, é feito o delineamento de experimentos para identificar quais variáveis de decisão têm efeito significativo sobre o custo total da cadeia. Finalmente, é feita uma busca da parametrização de cada um dos cenários que apresente o melhor custo total da cadeia. Os resultados da simulação mostraram que as práticas atualmente empregadas na gestão dos estoques das empresas podem ter seu desempenho melhorado com a utilização da política simulada na pesquisa. Os cenários nos quais se considerou o compartilhamento de informações tiveram desempenhos semelhantes aos sem esse compartilhamento. Dessa forma, para a política simulada, conclui-se que o valor do compartilhamento de informações foi relativamente pequeno. Nas simulações pode-se verificar a melhoria simultânea do nível de serviço e do nível de estoques da cadeia. Isso mostra que a política simulada mudou o dilema (trade-off) que interliga antagonicamente essas duas características de desempenho do sistema. / This dissertation focuses on the inventory management for multi-echelon systems. The simulation model proposes a new inventory management policy and compares it to the historical performance of a medicine supply chain. The main objectives of this research are: the quantitative analysis of the method used for the calculation of material requirements in multi-echelon systems; the verification of the importance of the cooperation between the components of the supply chain to the material flow management; and the analysis of the curves which represent the trade-off between ‘service level’ and ‘total cost’. The model takes into account the material flow from the laboratory’s ‘work in process’ up to the sales to the drugstores, which can be approximated by the demand of the final consumer, since the inventory kept by drugstores is relatively small and constant in time. The costs are calculated considering: the laboratory’s and distributors’ inventory costs, the cost of orders from the distributors, the transportation cost, the laboratory’s cost of late delivery and the distributors’ cost of lost sales. Scenarios with and without the sharing of information between the components of the supply chain were both considered. The same is true for scenarios with and without seasonality in the demand. Initially, each scenario was prepared with the definition of the ‘warm-up’ period, the simulation horizon and the amount of required replications. Secondly, the design of experiments (DOE) was done in order to determine which decision variables have influence on the supply chain total cost. Finally, each scenario was tested with many different parameters in order to find the lowest cost for the supply chain. The simulation results have showed that the procedures currently applied for the inventory management can have their performance improved by the use of the policy proposed in this research. The results for the scenarios with the sharing of information were similar to the ones for the scenarios without the sharing. For that reason, we can conclude that, for the proposed inventory management policy, the value of the sharing of information through the supply chain was relatively small. In the simulations, both the ‘service level’ and the ‘total cost’ have improved. In this manner, it can be said that the new policy has improved this trade-off.

M.Cur. / Managed healthcare was introduced in South Africa largely in order to control the rampant increase of medical costs, more especially in the private healthcare industry. Managed healthcare is a system of healthcare delivery, which ensures that cost effective quality care is provided to patients without jeopardising the health of the patient. Positive working relationships are necessary among the role players in the provision of cost effective quality care within the managed healthcare context. Role players experience problems in the delivery of healthcare, affecting their working relationships, which in turn affects the quality of care provided to patients. Because managed healthcare is a new concept in South Africa, little is known about the problems. As a result, there are no guidelines for the formulation of a strategy to enhance positive working relationships among the role players within the context of managed healthcare. Understanding the problems experienced by the role players will provide guidelines to the researcher to formulate a strategy to enhance positive working relationships, hence the reseacher sought to explore and describe these problems in the study. The purpose of the study is to formulate a strategy to enhance positive working relationships among the role players within the managed healthcare context in Gauteng. The specific objective is to explore and describe the problems experienced by the role players, as well as the possible solutions within the managed healthcare context in Gauteng. The relevant research questions are: * What are the problems experienced by the role players within the managed healthcare context in Gauteng, and what are the recommended solutions to counteract these problems? * What strategy can be formulated to enhance positive working relationships among the role players within the managed healthcare context in Gauteng? A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was followed to answer the research questions. Focus group interviews and a workshop were conducted to collect data and a content analysis was conducted as described by Tesch (1990). The results were analysed in two phases: the problems experienced and the suggested solutions to counteract these problems. A strategy to enhance positive working realtionships was suggested. The strategy, which is based on role player empowerment, staff development, staff recruitment and selection, use of advanced information technology and standardisation of methods across managed healthcare industry, was derived from a synthesis of solutions suggested by the participants. Guba and Lincoln's (1983:290) principles of trustworthiness were employed by the researcher and the ethical standards as set by DENOSA (1998) were adhered to by the researcher to facilitate the quality of the study. It was recommended that the strategy be implemented and evaluated for its effectiveness by evaluating the quality of working relationships among the role players and that ethical standards be formulated in managed healthcare.

Managed lane refers to the application of various operational and design strategies on highway facilities to improve system efficiency and mobility by proactively allocating traffic capacity to different lanes. One of the key elements to understand the behavior changes and underlying causalities in user responses to managed lanes is to examine the value of time (VOT) and value of reliability (VOR). The breadth of this dissertation encompasses two major dimensions of VOT and VOR estimation – distributions or variations across different users and under different circumstances; and influences of unobserved attitudinal characteristics on roadway pricing valuation. To understand travelers’ choice behavior regarding the usage of managed lanes, combined revealed preference (RP) and stated preference (SP) data were used in this study. Mixed logit modeling was applied as the state of the art methodology to capture heterogeneity in users’ choice behavior. The model revealed an average value of $10.68 per hour for VOT and $13.91 per hour for VOR, which are reasonable considering the average household income in the region, and are well within the ranges found in the literature. In terms of user heterogeneity, the mixed logit model was further enhanced by adding interaction effects of variables, which helped recognize and quantify potential sources of heterogeneity in user sensitivities to time, reliability, and cost. The findings indicated that travelers were likely to exhibit higher willingness to pay when they were female, younger (years), older (>54 years), had higher income (> 50 K), driving alone, and traveled on weekdays. Attitudinal aspects are rarely incorporated into roadway pricing analysis. The study herein presents an effort to explore the role of attitudinal factors in drivers’ propensity toward using managed lanes. Model results boded for a significant contribution of attitudinal parameters in the model, both in terms of coefficients and model performance. This study provides a robust approach to quantify user heterogeneity in VOT and VOR and capture the impacts of attitudinal attributes in pricing valuation. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding on what attributes lead to higher or lower VOT and VOR and to what extent.

The rising costs of health care and burgeoning government deficits have prompted new ways to control costs, while continuing to provide necessary health care. One method increasingly chosen by states to achieve these objectives is managed health care. There are many forms of managed care organization today. There are HMOs that provide the financing and delivery systems under the control of a single for-profit or non-profit organization; preferred provider organizations consisting of providers that have a pre-negotiated and usually discounted rate for services; administration service organizations that provide claims adjudication; and managed indemnity services organizations that use case management to control costs, while providing beneficiary freedom of choice.

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Managed care became the dominant model for moderating healthcare costs in the 1990's. The later half of this past decade witnessed early signs of a return to escalating premiums. Providers and consumers have reacted negatively to perceptions of health plan micro-management and restriction of choice.

The purpose of this project was to establish a CISCO program at San Bernardino High School. This program facilitates student matriculating with the program being taught at San Bernardino Valley College. Students earn certification as a Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP) certification.