Linear algebra operations appear in nearly every application in advanced analytics, machine learning, and of various science domains. Until today, many data analysts and scientists tend to use statistics software packages or hand-crafted solutions for their analysis. In the era of data deluge, however, the external statistics packages and custom analysis programs that often run on single-workstations are incapable to keep up with the vast increase in data volume and size. In particular, there is an increasing demand of scientists for large scale data manipulation, orchestration, and advanced data management capabilities. These are among the key features of a mature relational database management system (DBMS). With the rise of main memory database systems, it now has become feasible to also consider applications that built up on linear algebra. This thesis presents a deep integration of linear algebra functionality into an in-memory column-oriented database system. In particular, this work shows that it has become feasible to execute linear algebra queries on large data sets directly in a DBMS-integrated engine (LAPEG), without the need of transferring data and being restricted by hard disc latencies. From various application examples that are cited in this work, we deduce a number of requirements that are relevant for a database system that includes linear algebra functionality. Beside the deep integration of matrices and numerical algorithms, these include optimization of expressions, transparent matrix handling, scalability and data-parallelism, and data manipulation capabilities. These requirements are addressed by our linear algebra engine. In particular, the core contributions of this thesis are: firstly, we show that the columnar storage layer of an in-memory DBMS yields an easy adoption of efficient sparse matrix data types and algorithms. Furthermore, we show that the execution of linear algebra expressions significantly benefits from different techniques that are inspired from database technology. In a novel way, we implemented several of these optimization strategies in LAPEG’s optimizer (SpMachO), which uses an advanced density estimation method (SpProdest) to predict the matrix density of intermediate results. Moreover, we present an adaptive matrix data type AT Matrix to obviate the need of scientists for selecting appropriate matrix representations. The tiled substructure of AT Matrix is exploited by our matrix multiplication to saturate the different sockets of a multicore main-memory platform, reaching up to a speed-up of 6x compared to alternative approaches. Finally, a major part of this thesis is devoted to the topic of data manipulation; where we propose a matrix manipulation API and present different mutable matrix types to enable fast insertions and deletes. We finally conclude that our linear algebra engine is well-suited to process dynamic, large matrix workloads in an optimized way. In particular, the DBMS-integrated LAPEG is filling the linear algebra gap, and makes columnar in-memory DBMS attractive as efficient, scalable ad-hoc analysis platform for scientists.

In this thesis I focus on a safety audit in a plant for the preparation of concrete carried out according to Self-Audit Handbook for SMEs. In the first part some examples of accidents in plants for the preparation of concrete in Czech Republic as well as in abroad are stated. In the second part I describe the subject of work injury in Czech Republic and the obligations of employees and employers in accordance with the labour code. The third part deals with the safety management, occupational health and safety management system and briefly covers various types of audits. The next part analyses briefly concrete composition and its production process, the function of plant for the preparation of concrete and safety requirements demanded from the plant for the preparation of concrete in accordance with an appropriate standard. The last part describes the audit itself processed according to Self-Audit Handbook for SMEs at two plants. The aim of this thesis is to process and to evaluate results of two audits that took place at plans for preparation of the concrete and to propose corrective actions and process improvements.

The intensifying value of learning, competence, and knowledge motivates decisions toward implementing knowledge management systems (KMS) to capitalize on the potential benefits of facilitating knowledge sharing, collecting, storing, and dissemination on a global scale. However, these systems frequently remain underutilized, and organizations encounter obstacles to achieve their proposed outcome. The case company experienced practical problems regarding a newly implemented KMS. The system was largely unused for a specific process. Therefore, this case study investigates the factors affecting KMS adoption and utilization for the technical training process by capturing the perspectives of the intended system users and management. A combination of KMS success factors and The Theory of Affordances were applied to generate knowledge regarding how factors affected the usage of the KMS. It was found that Management Involvement, Organizational Culture and Structure, Employee Commitment, Perceived Benefits, System Complexity, and Compatibility and Conformity influenced the users' KMS utilization outcomes. A conceptual framework was developed to show how these factors affected individuals' affordances process.

DEd (Educational Management) / Department of Educational Management / The study examined challenges in the implementation of performance appraisal on educators in Shiluvana Circuit in Mopani District, Limpopo Province. The study focused on 5 principals, 5 deputy principals, 18 teachers, 1 IQMS circuit coordinator and 1 IQMS District coordinator who were selected purposively, as they were directly involved in teacher appraisal. The study is qualitative which used interpretive paradigm research and case study research design. Qualitative data was generated through face–to-face interviews, with the 5 principals, 5 deputy principals, 1 IQMS circuit coordinator and 1 IQMS district coordinator, focus group interviews with 18 teachers and documentary analysis. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse narrative data for the study. It was established that principals, deputy principals, teachers, IQMS circuit coordinator and IQMS district coordinator experienced challenges with teacher appraisal, challenges like inadequate commitment by teachers, inadequate trained principals, inadequate monitoring, lack of interest and backlog in teachers’ remuneration. The study recommends that principals, deputy principals and teachers be trained thoroughly for the effective implementation of the programme at schools, an expect official in IQMS to be permanently employed at circuit office for the successful implementation of the programme. Finally, informed by the conceptual framework of the study, it is recommended that the Accountability and Professional Development models for teacher appraisal be implemented in the circuit in order for all stakeholders to understand and effectively play their roles on teacher appraisal. To improve the current situation, cyclical stakeholders teacher appraisal model is suggested which suggests that IQMS structures to be set at national, provincial, district, circuit and school levels as substantive offices. IQMS structures to be trained by circuit on IQMS policy and implementation strategies using cascading approach. / NRF

This undergraduate thesis discusses how a new type of workforce management system successfully can be developed from a socio-technical perspective for businesses in the home care service to adopt and benefit from the tool. To answer the question “How can companies that develop high-tech workforce management systems (WFM-systems) towards the home care sector use The technology adoption life cycle for the tool to go from innovation to industry standard?”. A qualitative method is used in the form of a case study. To collect the empirical material, semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents from three different Swedish home companies services and a company that is developing a high-tech WFM-system for the home care sector. The substrate for the theory is based on how companies that develop high-tech WFM-systems can be inspired by The technology adoption life cycle to increase their competitiveness and avoid collapse due to the gaps that exist between different market segments and their varying needs.  Through analyzes of the collected empirical data, the authors of this thesis have concluded that the home care sector is facing a digital transformation where the implementation of high-tech WFM-systems is considered necessary. The reason behind this is that high-tech tools that use advanced algorithms for scheduling can improve resource management, while reducing costs and travel times. In order for the implementation to achieve the desired effect, these tools need to be developed in accordance with a socio-technical perspective where both home care businesses and technically able developers work together to create tools that have a positive impact on the future of the industry. / I denna uppsats diskuteras hur en ny typ av workforce management system framgångsrikt kan utvecklas utifrån ett sociotekniskt perspektiv för att verksamheter inom hemtjänsten ska anamma och dra nytta av verktyget. För att svara på frågeställningen “Hur kan verksamheter som utvecklar högteknologiska workforce management systems (WFM-system) mot hemtjänsten använda The Technology Adoption Life Cycle för att verktyget ska gå från innovation till branschstandard?” används en kvalitativ metod i form av en fallstudie. För att samla in det empiriska materialet genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från tre olika svenska hemtjänstverksamheter och ett företag som utvecklar ett högteknologiskt WFM-system mot hemtjänsten. Underlaget för teorin bygger på hur verksamheter som utvecklar högteknologiska WFM-system kan inspireras av The Technology Adoption Life Cycle för att öka sin konkurrenskraft och undvika att gå under på grund av de klyftor som finns mellan olika marknadssegment och deras varierande behov.  Genom analyser av den insamlade empirin har författarna av denna uppsats dragit slutsatsen att hemtjänsten står inför en digital transformation där implementeringen av nya högteknologiska WFM-system anses nödvändigt. Anledningen är då nya högteknologiska verktyg som använder smarta algoritmer för att schemalägga förbättrar resurshanteringen, samtidigt som kostnader och de sammanlagda restiderna minskar. För att implementationen ska skapa önskad effekt behöver verktyg utvecklas i enlighet med ett sociotekniskt perspektiv där likväl hemtjänstverksamheter och tekniskt kunniga utvecklare samarbetar för att skapa verktyg som har en positiv inverkan på branschens framtid.

Bakgrund och problem: Ekonomistyrning måste anpassas till respektive företags förutsättningar. Företag kan tillämpas olika strategier i syfte att uppnå deras vision varav en strategi är outsourcing. Outsourcing innebär att en extern part kontrakteras att utföra en viss aktivitet för en annan organisations räkning. Denna form av struktur får dock inverkan på verksamhetens förmåga att skapa målkongruens eftersom det innebär att även den externa partens målsättningar måste stämma överens med organisationens målsättningar. Ytterligare problematik uppstår när outsourcing tillämpas till flertalet externa organisationer i form av agenter. Problematik i förhållandet mellan agenten och den styrande verksamheten beskrivs i teorin av fenomenet agency theory och dess underliggande antagande om att respektive part kommer att agera utefter sina egna intressen och målsättningar. Att styra en verksamhet till målkongruens under dessa förutsättningar blir därmed komplext. Syfte: Studien ämnar förklara komplexiteten i styrning när outsourcing tillämpas på en avdelning som består av agenter. Utöver detta ska studien också beskriva hur styrning implementeras och vilka styrmedel som appliceras för de olika avdelningarna inom fallföretaget i jämförelse med den outsourcade avdelningen. Studien syftar därmed till att undersöka hur styrning kan utformas för att uppnå målkongruens i en verksamhet inom husbyggnadsbranschen som har valt att tillämpa outsourcing på försäljningsavdelningen.  Metod: Studien har tagit ansats i en kvalitativ forskningsmetod och tillämpat en enfallsstudie som forskningsdesign. Vidare har insamlingen av det empiriska materialet utgått från semistrukturerade intervjuer. Slutsats: Styrning mot målkongruens när outsourcing tillämpas uppnås genom att respektive avdelnings samt individers målsättningar sammanlänkas med organisationens målsättningar, vilket också överensstämmer med vad teorin definierar som tillvägagångssätt för att uppnå målkongruens. I syfte att den externa organisationen ska tillta ett målkongruent beteende bör vinstmaximering ligga till grund för utformningen av eventuell budget och målsättning i den outsourcade verksamheten. / Background and problem: Management control must be adapted to the circumstances of each company. Companies can apply different strategies to achieve their vision, one being outsourcing. Outsourcing means that an external party is contracted to perform a certain activity on behalf of another organization. However, this form of structure has an impact on the business's ability to create target congruence because it means that the external party's objectives must be in line with the organisation's objectives. Further problems arise when outsourcing is applied to multiple external organizations in the form of agents. Problems within the relationship between the agent and the business that controls are described as the phenomenon of agency theory and its underlying assumption that each party will act according to its own interests and objectives. Controlling a business to target congruence under these conditions is thereby complex. Purpose: The study aims to explain the complexity of control when outsourcing is applied to a department that consists of agents. In addition to this, the study will also describe how control is implemented and how control mechanisms are applied to the various departments within the case company in comparison to the outsourced department. The aim of this study is thereby to investigate how control can be designed to achieve target congruence in an activity in the house construction industry that has chosen to apply outsourcing to the sales department. Method: The study has taken a qualitative research and applied a case study as a research design. Furthermore, the collection of the empirical material has been based on semi- structured interviews. Conclusion: Control towards goal congruence when outsourcing is applied is achieved by linking the objectives of each department and individuals with the goals of the organization. This is also in line with what the theory defines as the approach to achieving goal congruence. In order to achieve a goal-congruent behaviour, the external organization should use of profit maximization in every budget and objectives in the outsourced activity.

To increase competitive advantage, organizations are developing how they manage internalknowledge. This has been tackled by implementing various Knowledge Management Systems,which have been developed based on the needs of specific teams and/or latest trends. Suchapproach is problematic since it does not take into consideration what the users currentKnowledge Management practices are, nor if the system is relevant for a larger mass.The purpose of this thesis is to identify what requirements from users, regarding content andfeatures, are relevant to focus on when designing a Knowledge Management System, targetedtowards knowledge intensive businesses. To examine this, an exploratory research approachhas been applied on a global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) company.100 semi-structured interviews were conducted, with employees located at various globallocations and with varying job roles, in order to get a detailed picture of the user requirementson a Knowledge Management System. The interviews were later sorted and analysed by usingthe Technology Acceptance Model, and quantified by calculating the frequency count on thedifferent requirements. The findings were later reduced, based on their generalizability, inorder to facilitate a list of user requirements that are relevant to focus on, when constructing aknowledge management system for a knowledge intensive business.The results show that there are several aspects to consider in the creation of a KnowledgeManagement System, meant for a knowledge intensive business. The majority of these aspectsare related to increased findability of relevant & updated document and colleagues, receiveinformation about internal operations and lessons learnt from previous projects. Examples ofthese requirements are a semantic search engine, news feed and interconnected repositories.

Batteries play an important role in a sustainable future. As the development for better andsmarter batteries continues, new areas of use emerge boosting its demand. Controlling thetemperature of a battery cell is a vital objective to ensure its longevity and performance. Bothcooling and heating methods can be applied to keep the temperature within a certain rangedepending on its need. This study will review the technical aspects of lithium-ion batteries,observe the different thermal management systems and cooling methods, and lastly examinethe required cooling flow needed for a battery cell to prevent its temperature from rising tocritical levels during its discharge. Using CFD ANSYS Fluent as a simulation tool, the resultsshow that different charging rates, in terms of C-rate, require different rates of mass flow tocontrol the temperature. Simulating the cell with natural convection, the cell peaks at hightemperatures even at lower C-rates, reaching up to 36,4°C and 48,8°C for 1C and 2C,respectively. Applying the cooling method with a flow rate of 0,0077kg/s reduces thetemperature significantly, resulting in temperatures of 26,95°C and 31,27°C for 1C and 2C,respectively.

The transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa, which began in 1994 led to a change in a plethora of policies and/or legislation. In recent years there has been much debate on how the standard of education provisioning in schools could be raised in the light of the introduction of the much debated Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) and thereafter the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). These reform initiatives have brought about confusion and a sense of unsettledness amongst educators, including principals as well as their School Management Teams. Furthermore, the abovementioned and other policies required educators to acquaint themselves with either the materials that are used or the content of the curriculum and the planning and presentation of lessons. This entails in some occasions that educators who are more experienced have to assist the less experienced ones since they understand the RNCS and more recently the NCS better than the others. According to me this emphasises the importance of educator development towards raising the standards in schools. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is a process that fits the role of an educator as a lifelong learner. The aforementioned is captured in the Norms and Standards for Educators (2000). The need for more attention to be accorded to the professional development of practising educators is emphasised in the Report of the Ministerial Committee on Teacher Education (2005). This report led to the development of the National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development which has as its aim to attempt to address the need for suitably qualified educators in South Africa. The National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development will be used in this study along with the Integrated Quality Management Systems (IQMS) as tools to achieve the continuous development of educators in South African schools. The Personnel Administration Measures (PAM) of 1999 are also used since they stipulate the roles and responsibilities of the educator, including those of the principal, deputy principal(s) as well as the heads of department. In particular it stipulates that the principal (Department of Education, 1999:10) is responsible for the development of staff training programmes, school-based, school-focused and externally directed, and to assist educators, particularly new and inexperienced educators, in developing and achieving educational objectives in accordance with the needs of the school. This research project deals with the challenges experienced by educators regarding their own Continued Professional Development (CPD). It thus aims at coming up with an empirical account of the challenges experienced by the said educators. The study will focus on, among others, the educators’ experiences in the implementation of the IQMS as a developmental tool for educators in schools. It looks at the roles that different staff members in senior positions in terms of the CPD of the educators. These include the developmental opportunities available in the sampled schools. Carefully selected and drafted interview questions assisted me in soliciting answers from the sampled educators. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Petra Slaná ABSTRACT The thesis "Quality of domiciliary services from a user's perspective" deals with issues of quality of care services. Its aim was to find out what users expect from a quality service. Based on qualitative research and knowledge gained from practice was also to create a methodology for user satisfaction domiciliary services. The thesis consists of two parts, theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part contains the definition of old age, approaching the issue of aging, self-sufficiency and human needs in old age. It provides demographic and statistic data about the aging population. It focuses on social services in general, their definition, types and forms. It outlines the form of social services for seniors in the Czech Republic and in selected countries of European Union. It describes systems of quality used in the commercial sphere and in the service area. The theoretical part concludes with an overview of the factors which determine user satisfaction. The aim of the empirical part was to identify areas that may be an important quality of service criteria. Thanks to these users can evaluate the quality of services. To achieve this aim, was chosen qualitative research method. The empirical part of this thesis is therefore devoted to qualitative methodology of the research,...