by Chak Siu Choi. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. / ABSTRACT / TABLE OF CONTENTS / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Hong Kong as a Financial Hub --- p.1 / Reengineering Defined --- p.2 / Bank Reengineering at a First Glance --- p.3 / Objectives --- p.4 / Methodology --- p.4 / Secondary Data --- p.4 / Questionnaires --- p.5 / Chapter II. --- THE DEVELOPMENT OF REENGINEERING IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY --- p.6 / The Rule of Regulated Oligopolies (1960-1981) --- p.6 / The Rise of Disintermediation and Excess Credit Risk (1981-1991) --- p.8 / The Reengineering Imperative (1990s) --- p.10 / Chapter III. --- THE TIMING CONCERN OF THE REENGINEERING BANK --- p.12 / Languishing Stock Price --- p.13 / Strategic Directions Conflict with Market Valuation --- p.13 / Sub-Par Efficiency Ratios --- p.13 / Perceived Process Redundancy --- p.14 / Senior Management's Will and Skill --- p.14 / Chapter IV. --- THE STRATEGIES OF THE REENGINEERING BANK --- p.15 / Preparing for Change --- p.17 / Understanding Current Costs --- p.17 / Understanding Current Pricing --- p.17 / Generating Reengineering Options --- p.18 / Refining Options --- p.18 / Creating the New Bank --- p.18 / Chapter V. --- BANK REENGINEERING OVERSEAS --- p.20 / "NationsBank, Charlotte" --- p.20 / "Norwest Corp., Minneapolis" --- p.21 / "First Commerce Corp., New Orleans" --- p.21 / "Premier Bank, Louisiana" --- p.21 / "Merchants Bank, Vermont" --- p.22 / "Texas Commerce Bank, Texas" --- p.22 / Chapter VI. --- BANK REENGINEERING IN HONG KONG --- p.24 / Shifting Demographics --- p.24 / Increasing Customer Sophistication --- p.24 / Intensifying Competition --- p.25 / Growing Use of Technology --- p.25 / Standard Chartered Bank --- p.26 / Dah Sing Bank --- p.27 / Citibank --- p.28 / Bank of East Asia --- p.28 / Chapter VII. --- THE DIFFICULTIES AND PROBLEMS FACED BY THE REENGINEERING BANK --- p.33 / Chapter VIII. --- IMPLICATIONS TO THE BANKING INDUSTRY --- p.36 / APPENDICES / BIBLIOGRAPHY

The quest to generate, preserve and utilise knowledge is driving firms and organisations towards a knowledge-based approach to managing organisational knowledge assets. Therefore, knowledge management (KM) is becoming increasingly important for organisations such as academic libraries to enhance their competitive edge in performance, to become more effective and to keep the organisation’s knowledge for future use. The importance of KM cannot be overemphasised in terms of how academic libraries can find meaningful and effective ways to manage knowledge resources to improve the services rendered to information users. Pressure is mounting for academic libraries to attain, retain and share knowledge for strategic planning, decision-making and remaining competitive. The adoption of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technologies is one of the preferred approaches to managing organisational knowledge assets; therefore, this was the motivation for undertaking this study in order to understand how these new technologies can change the knowledge management landscape in academic libraries. A qualitative research methodology, informed by the interpretivist research philosophy, was adopted in this study. Data were collected from a sample of 12 participants using non-probability purposive and convenience sampling techniques. The use of purposive and convenience techniques was ideal for this study because the participants were readily available and possessed the relevant data required to address the research questions and research problem of the study. Open-ended questions were designed to form an interview guide, which was the main data collection instrument. Annual reports, system manuals and user manuals were consulted to augment the primary data collected to address the problem at hand. The findings from the study showed that RFID technologies improved efficiency, tracking and tracing, inventory management and assisted with planning. It was revealed that users of RFID technologies required further training and development to fully utilise these systems for the benefit of the organisation. The study was conducted using a small sample of 12 participants; therefore, it was recommended that further studies could be conducted with large sample sizes using different research strategies. It was suggested that further research should be conducted to establish how change programmes have been managed before in other departments or sections and how the staff exodus was managed. An organisation-wide research would be recommended to ascertain the views and opinions of a larger population so that findings can be generalisable. / Information Science / M. Inf. (Information Science)

by Chiu Yuk Ling Sandy, Tam Yin Yi Gloria. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-58). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.iv / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.v / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.3 / Chapter III. --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK --- p.4 / Michael Hammer : Reengineering --- p.5 / Thomas Davenport: Process Innovation --- p.7 / N. Venkatraman: IT- Enabled Business Transformation --- p.12 / Joseph Lung : A Management Perspective for BPR --- p.16 / Chapter IV. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.20 / Chapter V. --- CASE STUDIES --- p.27 / Case Study I: A Telecom Operator --- p.27 / Case Study II: A Computer Systems Provider --- p.34 / Other Issues of Concern for BPR Exercises of Company X and Company Y --- p.41 / Chapter VI. --- SUMMARY & CONCLUSION --- p.45 / Chapter APPENDIX - --- Interview Questionnaire --- p.50 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.54

Innovation is one of the most important sources of competitive advantage. It helps a company to fuel the growth of new products and services, sustain incumbents, create new markets, transform industries, and promote the global competitiveness of nations. Because of its importance, companies need to manage innovation. It is very important for a company to be able to measure its innovativeness because one cannot effectively manage without measurement. A good measurement model will help a company to understand its current capability and identify areas that need improvement. In this research a systematic approach was developed for a company to measure its innovativeness. The measurement of innovativeness is based on output indicators. Output indicators are used because they cannot be manipulated. A hierarchical decision model (HDM) was constructed from output indicators. The hierarchy consisted of three levels: innovativeness index, output indicators and sub-factors. Experts' opinions were collected and quantified. A new concept developed by Dr. Dundar Kocaoglu and referred to as "desirability functions" was implemented in this research. Inconsistency of individual experts, disagreement among experts, intraclass correlation coefficients and statistical F-tests were calculated to test the reliability of the experts' judgments. Sensitivity analysis was used to test the sensitivity of the output indicators, which indicated the allowable range of the changes in the output indicators in order to maintain the priority of the sub-factors. The outcome of this research is a decision model/framework that provides an innovativeness index based on readily measurable company output indicators. The model was applied to product innovation in the technology-driven semiconductor industry. Five hypothetical companies were developed to simulate the application of the model/framework. The profiles of the hypothetical companies were varied considerably to provide a deeper understanding of the model/framework. Actual data from two major corporations in the semiconductor industry were then used to demonstrate the application of the model. According to the experts, the top three sub-factors to measure the innovativeness of a company are revenue from new products (28%), market share of new products (21%), and products that are new to the world (20%).

There is an evidence base supporting the use of positive behavior supports in schools; however effectively and efficiently transferring these interventions into classroom settings remains a challenge. Precorrection is a highly-regarded behavior support strategy that relies on antecedent prompting to reduce problem behavior and teach socially appropriate skills. This study examined how a brief training in precorrection and praise paired with regular feedback impacted the behavior of four Title I elementary school teachers and students. As a result of the intervention, the four teachers increased use of precorrection and praise, while concomitantly reducing their use of reprimands. Limitations and suggestions for future research are provided.

Includes list of Supplementary refereed publications relating to thesis; and of Refereed conference papers, as appendix 1 Includes bibliograhical references (p. 316-343) Focusses particularly on the purchase of wine and the factors that influence consumer choice and the values that drive the decision process across different consumption occasions. The effectiveness of occasion as part of the theoretical model of means-end chain analysis is investigated, as well as the feasibility of occasion in the Olsen and Thach (2001) conceptual framework of consumer behavior relating to wine.

"October 2003" / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 247-259) / xvi, 259, [33] leaves : ill., maps, photos ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, Discipline of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2004

Adaptive collaborative (co-) management has received increased recognition as a novel approach to environmental governance that combines the dynamic learning features of adaptive management with the linking and network features of collaborative management. This approach is concerned with fostering sustainable livelihoods and ecological sustainability in the face of uncertainty and change. Despite the growing interest in adaptive co-management, little is known about processes useful for catalyzing adaptive co-management arrangements. This paper considers the potential of a government-led initiative designed to build capacity for adaptive collaborative management. We present the results of our study comparing the outcomes of this approach to those forwarded by the adaptive co-management literature, identifying process and context factors that influence the initiative's effectiveness. A multi-case study approach was utilized to assess the degree to which the initiative helped catalyze adaptive co-management of public-lands riparian areas in seven cases in the western U.S. We found that the initiative influenced improvements in knowledge, trust among participants, and shared understanding. In most cases the initiative also helped work towards improvements in the management of specific community-level riparian issues. However, the initiative had a limited influence on the self-organization of new or modified governance arrangements capable of supporting cross-scale networks and ongoing cycles of learning from actions; key features of adaptive co-management. We found that employing adaptive co-management processes did not necessarily result in ongoing adaptive co-management arrangements. The presence of exogenous factors such as existing group capacity and facilitative leadership played an important role in determining whether the riparian initiative resulted in lasting outcomes, regardless of the approach used. We also identified constraints affecting the initiative's ability to facilitate authentic dialogue and develop high-quality agreements. Our results suggest that government-led interventions aimed at catalyzing the transformation of governance arrangements toward adaptive co-management may face significant barriers. Suggestions for future research include further investigation of the barriers and opportunities for government to help catalyze adaptive co-management, and the role of scale in the emergence of ongoing cross-scale networks. / Graduation date: 2012

For organizations such as state departments of transportation, other public agencies, or private companies, adopting a new approach to procure services for delivery of construction projects requires significant organizational changes; modifications to both their work processes and existing organizational structures may be needed. These adjustments, encompassing many different aspects of the organization's interests, must occur for the change initiative to be successfully put into practice. In this research, the adoption of integrated project delivery methods within the transportation project sector is investigated to better understand the dynamics of this change. In the context of this study, an Owner's project delivery strategy is defined as the set of project delivery methods that are adopted for delivering capital projects. This dissertation presents findings from a study of Public Owner organizations that have implemented the designbuild method for delivering highway projects. Using as a case study the new $1.3 billion SH-130 tolled expressway project in Central Texas, the author analyzed project documentation and conducted many interviews with individuals affiliated with owner, legal, engineering consultants, and contractors. Findings suggest that project representatives institutionalize practices and routines connected to the new approach by adapting to new challenges, rather than "overwriting" previously existing practices. Similarly, the institutionalization of innovative approaches to project delivery happens concurrently with a deinstitutionalization of the previous approaches. Building upon these findings, a conceptual framework is presented for helping Owner organizations implement change in their project delivery strategy. The proposed conceptual framework is based upon both existing published literature and interviews with managers involved in implementing a strategic change in project delivery strategy. This framework was further refined by making a comparative study of four transportation projects in the United States. In addition, a detailed implementation framework was validated and further developed through a Delphi study with representatives from several organizations whose major responsibilities and experiences include the management of change in procurement approach. Findings from these studies, including application to the construction industry and other industries are presented.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education