Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / People analytics refer to people-related, data-driven, processes (e.g. trend analyses and data management) aimed at describing and evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of people management practices and processes in support of business outcomes in order to inform and improve people management initiatives and performance as well as business decision making.

Around the world, many forested areas have been and continue to be cleared for expanding agriculture. Canada’s remaining forested lands account for around 9% of the world’s forest cover. Although only a fraction is lost to deforestation annually (0.02%, 2013), Statistics Canada reports that conversion to agriculture is the most significant driver of forest loss. As climate changes and agricultural demand expands, this trend is expected to continue, and ecosystems will continue to be impacted by resulting habitat loss and hydrological changes that can impact infrastructure and communities. Additionally, changes to sediment and nutrient loadings can harm ecosystems and affect the downstream usability of freshwater supplies. The impact of increased sediment and nutrient concentrations in freshwater systems has been extensively documented in the literature. In some extreme cases, it can lead to anoxic ‘dead zones’ in riverine, lacustrine, and marine habitats. Many river systems in Canada have shown elevated nutrient levels in recent years, often tied to the expansion of agricultural land use and destruction of natural forests to increasing nutrient levels in downstream rivers, lakes, and oceans. This study applies numerical modelling to quantify the influence of forest loss, agricultural expansion and the application of best management practices (BMPs) on water quality and quantity in the South Nation Watershed in eastern Ontario, Canada. The land use in the watershed is mainly agricultural (over 60%) with forest (27%) that is unevenly distributed in the basin. Aerial photography surveys from 2008 and 2014 show a steady decline in forest cover. Recent water quality monitoring has shown nutrient concentrations at or above Canadian water quality standards in many parts of the basin. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to model the watershed because of its capacity to simulate comprehensive land management scenarios and assess their impact on a variety of water quantity and parameters quickly and effectively. The work was performed in four steps: 1. Recent land use configurations (2008-2014) in the watershed were acquired, and simplified land use projections based on the direct substitution of cropland for forest land were developed. 2. A numerical model was calibrated and validated for the initial land use scenario. 3. These land use scenarios, as well as more hypothetical scenarios representing more extensive deforestation and reforestation, were used as the basis for hydrological modelling using 31 years of real-world meteorological observations. 4. Idealized vegetated filter strips (VFSs) and grassed waterways (GWWs) were added to the cropped land packages to study the potential of these practices to contribute to the management of water quality. Analysis of the 33 output datasets derived from simulations of the suite of land use scenarios with and without VFSs and GWWs leads to several conclusions, while also raising some questions. Generally, forests significantly reduce sediment, nitrate and phosphorus outputs to streams as well as slightly reducing water yield compared to cropped areas due to an increase in surface runoff, groundwater and lateral flow combined with the absence of tile drainage. Across subbasins, this translates to significant reductions in sediment, nitrate and total phosphorus loadings entering the river reaches and a slight increase in water yield. At the basin outlet near Plantagenet, Ontario, streamflow and sediment loading show to have little sensitivity to changes in forest and crop cover, while increased forest cover leads to significantly reduced nutrient loadings, particularly in late spring and early winter. It is clear from this work that continued deforestation will continue to drive further nutrient enrichment in the South Nation River, while VFSs seems to have a significant potential for offsetting some of this enrichment. Streamflow and sediment loadings, however, are not significantly impacted by foreseeable deforestation. The influence of land use change and BMPs was much more significant in the runoff than in exports from the basin, suggesting there would be value in further examination of water quality and quantity at a higher spatial density to expand on assumptions of in-stream processes made here.

Background It is believed that the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) will bring about unprecedented change to the world, ultimately having such a deep impact that some argue it may change human life at its core. It is believed that many organisations will not survive the radical disruption that will ensue. On the contrary, some authors have argued that the 4IR will bring about many benefits and opportunities for organisations, as with previous revolutions, provided it is managed effectively by business leaders. Rationale for the research study There is a growing consensus that existing leadership styles and management practices may not be suitable for organisational performance for the 4IR. It has, therefore, been suggested that different theories, models or approaches to leadership will be required if organisations are to remain competitive and sustainably successful in a business context that will look very different to what leaders have been accustomed to. It is argued here that Leadership 4.0 and innovative management practices, may have merit in this context. Aim of the study This present study was an exploratory attempt to investigate the relationship between Leadership 4.0, innovative management practices and organisational performance capabilities for the 4IR. For the purposes of this study, 1) a range of leadership theories/models/approaches/styles, including Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership and Leadership 4.0; 2) innovative management practices, including human resource management, organising and information sharing, risk management and stakeholder management as they compare to the old and new economy; and 3) organisational performance capabilities, including human capital, digital risk management and business model value creation were investigated. Research Design, Sampling and realised sample An exploratory research design was followed, utilising a mixed method approach. A crosssectional approach was taken to data collection, with a composite questionnaire designed for the purpose of this study utilised to collect data. A realised sample of n=61 respondents, mainly 4 from local, privately owned, knowledge-intensive organisations was obtained using a convenience sampling approach. Statistical analyses Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression were utilised to estimate the relationships among the abovementioned constructs. Mediation analyses utilising the PROCESS macro was employed to test whether the relationship between Leadership 4.0 and organisational performance capabilities was mediated through innovative management practices. Results Statistically significant positive relationships were found between Leadership 4.0, Innovative Management Practices and Organisational Performance Capabilities. A regression model indicated that Leadership styles statistically significantly predicted the most variance in Organisational Performance Capabilities. Results further determined that Transactional Leadership explained a unique variance in risk management and digital risk management. Lastly, the test for mediation indicated that innovative management practices partially mediated the relationship between Leadership 4.0 and organisational performance capabilities. Findings: Findings from the results supported various discussions and studies in the literature and in practice that leadership, specifically Leadership 4.0, is an important element to navigating the uncertainties and challenges presented by the 4IR. Further evidence was also found in support of contingent leadership theories. Managerial Implications The findings of the present research study holds a practical implication for organisations in that the findings support the literature suggesting that leadership is a key element in organisational performance capabilities, specifically for survival and sustainability for the 4IR. The findings further contributes to a growing body of knowledge surrounding the 4IR, leadership, innovative management practices and organisational performance fields of research.

The main purpose of this thesis has been to study the change agent’s role in accelerating sustainability in the construction sector. A case study was conducted in a large construction company (~9000 employees) with an ambitious sustainability profile. The research started by obtaining an understanding of organizational change, the change agents’ role and how change agents can be organized. The research then proceeded by studying whether there are practices among change agents leading to sustainable transition and how. Data was collected in a single case study through semi- structured interviews with four change agents, their director and one receiver of the change efforts.  How do change agents in a construction company, organized in a dual operating system, overcome change resistance in the line organization to accelerate sustainability?  The answers to the research question where that the change agents are the key persons of driving the transformational change effort in the studied company. They operate differently depending on situation and task, with no formal job description, requiring a high grade of personal strive. They have no formal responsibilities and few recourses, resulting in an importance of ability to influence others to take necessary decisions to change towards sustainability. They focus on building and maintaining relations with key persons in the line organization and prefer to be involved early in the projects. They spend time to train and engage in sustainability questions. They use their colleagues and fellow experts in the parallel organization to share competence, expertise and experience.  This study shows that change agents’ working in a dual operating system has been implemented with success in Company X. A successful dual operating system should include a larger unit of agents that gives them support and help from each other in their strive for change in any area of choice. When implementing the dual operating system, it should be considered that if the role definition is wide, creativity is stimulated among the change agents, making them develop new methods for implementing sustainable change. Furthermore, these best practices identified could be used for future change agent role definitions.  Even though change resistance exists in different forms, proactive prevention of resistance as have been done in Company X, seems to facilitate the change effort. As a result, the interviewees did not particularly experience change resistance. For future research, the case study could be expanded to include more respondents to study each area deeper and be able to confirm the best practices and the main challenges. It would be of interest to identify a company in a different sector that has implemented change agents and a dual operating system and perform a similar case study to identify any sector-specific differences. Some interviewees at Company X described there was an ongoing process on the job descriptions of the change agents. After the implementation of the updated job descriptions, it could be of interest to study changes in volunteerism and creativity among the change agents. Another aspect for further studies would be company size. Smaller companies with less management recourses probably must operate different and those differences would be interesting to understand further. Lastly, future research could study outcome of change effort using change agents in a dual operating system compared to change agents in the original organization.

Best management practices are methods that have been determined to be the most effective and practical means of preventing or reducing pollution. Best Management Practices (BMPs) relating to surface water pollution abatement for North Dakota beef cow operations are of particular importance due to the importance of the agriculture industry in North Dakota. North Dakota has yet to address the use of voluntary BMPs to address potential surface water pollution regulations. Probit models were used to estimate the likelihood of North Dakota beef cow operators adopting specific production practices to reduce potential surface water pollution through the use of BMPs. The six BMPs discussed in this research include nutrient management, rotational grazing, filterstrjps, riparian buffers, streambank fencing, and streambank bridging/crossing. Number of beef cows on operation, education, awareness of cost share programs, contact with extension service, ownership structure, debt level, record keeping method, and pasture season usage were found to be significant in the likelihood of adopting a BMP.

<p>A survey of farmers was conducted to determine the extent of cost-share and non-costshare BMP implementation and to evaluate the impact of socio-economic variables of the adoption of BMPs in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay drainage basin. Farmers in 67 counties in Virginia were randomly selected using VirGIS land use data and GRASS 4.1. All of the counties included in the study had at least 90 percent of their total land in the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin. Surveys were mailed to approximately 5,850 farm operators and 1,377 responses were returned, with approximately 1,099 estimated to farm in the Chesapeake Bay basin.</p> <p> A concern for pollution in the Chesapeake Bay was evident by farmers throughout the Bay basin, as 80 percent of the respondents indicated being concerned about water pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. However, only 33 percent believed that their farm contributed to water quality problems. The most often indicated perceived causes of pollution were runoff from urban or paved areas, industrial waste or factory discharge, sewer systems, and litter or garbage.</p> / Master of Science

Emerging markets (EMs) contribute significantly year-on-year to global gross domestic product (GDP) and continue to offer developed countries huge opportunities such as raw materials and readily available markets for various goods and services produced in developed economies. However, multinational corporations (MNCs) from developed markets operating in emerging countries continue to develop inappropriate perceptions and assumptions influenced by Western imperialist and arrogant attitudes, which carry a very short-term view on the future of developing countries, despite extracting multibillion-dollar profits from these regions. The objectives of the research study were to establish the relationship between strategic management practices (SMPs) and the financial performance of MNCs in emerging markets, by testing, validating the viability and applicability of the SMPs framework and by evaluating SMPs financial contribution to the bottom-line of MNCs. The research study found that for MNCs with comprehensively adopted and implemented the SMPs framework their financial performance continues to improve year on year, depicting a positive relationship between SMPs and overall financial performance of MNCs with business interests in emerging markets. The study, however, concludes that the MNC executives wrong assumptions about emerging countries results in the crafting of strategies within business models that fail to fit in emerging markets. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Anthropogenic eutrophication has become an issue of foremost importance in water bodies all around the globe. Nutrients coming from agricultural activities have been identified as one main contributor to this problem. Technologies and inovations (Best Management Practices, BMPs) have been designed for mitigating agricultural impact on water bodies. However, the problem still persists, partly due to a lack of adoption of these practices by targeted farmers. The Santa Lucía River (SLR) in Uruguay has undergone a process of eutrophication during the last decades, resultingin the implementation of a mitigation plan by the Uruguayan government. The need of collaboration by local farmersin the implementation of BMPs calls for the need of better understanding their perspectives on the process, as well as farmers’ motivations for actively participating in it. To address this knowledge gap, eleven farmers residing in the Santa Lucía River basin (SLRB) were interviewed using a semi-structured interview approach. The farmers were asked about their experiences and opinions on the implementation of BMPs in the SLRB. The obtained data was transcribed and coded using a template analysis approach. This study identified three overarching categories: personal factors influencing motivation, perception of the government, and improvement factors. Within these, eleven factors were identified to depict farmers’ perspectives and/or be influential for their motivations. Results indicate that farmers are motivated and willing to collaborate in the preservation of the SLR’s water, but that there are still many factors that influence their capacity to do so, and must be taken in account in order for this objective to be viable.

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Changing climates, human population growth, and aging infrastructure threaten the availability and quality of one of life's most vital resources, water. Hydrological ecosystem services are goods and benefits derived from freshwater that include flood damage mitigation, water for agricultural and commercial use, swimmable and navigable waters, and healthy aquatic habitats. Using computer algorithms inspired by biological and ecological processes known as evolutionary algorithms and on-site stormwater management practices such structural best management practices (BMPs) and green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), this research aims to maximize hydrological ecosystem services at the watershed-scale in both agricultural and urban environments by integrating these algorithms with the watershed model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), and the hydraulic model Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). This dissertation first develops an information theoretic approach to global sensitivity analysis for distributed models, demonstrated using SWAT, and later uses the sensitive model parameters in a multi-objective automatic calibration scheme using multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO). Multiple alternative watershed-scale BMP designs (parallel terraces, detention/infiltration ponds, field borders, and grade stabilization structures) that help minimize peak runoff and annual sediment yield were simultaneously identified using SWAT coupled with the species conserving genetic algorithm (SCGA). Finally, using recently developed economic estimates called triple bottom line (TBL) accounting, watershed-scale GSI designs are identified that reduce combined sewer overflow volumes in an urban setting while maximizing the net benefit across social, economic, and environmental categories. Overall, this dissertation research provides useful and relevant computer-based tools for water resources planners and managers interested in maximizing hydrological ecosystem services benefits.