Um dos elementos para melhoria da qualidade dos serviços farmacêuticos clínicos é medir a qualidade do cuidado prestado e os indicadores podem ser usados nesta avaliação. O presente trabalho teve como objetivos identificar estudos sobre indicadores de qualidade para serviços farmacêuticos clínicos e desenvolver e validar um instrumento de indicadores para avaliação dos serviços de acompanhamento farmacoterapêutico prestados para pacientes ambulatoriais. Para tanto, uma busca abrangente da literatura foi conduzida nas bases de dados PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Lilacs e DOAJ por esses estudos. Os instrumentos apresentados pelos estudos foram avaliados em relação à qualidade das propriedades psicométricas. A seguir, foi desenvolvido um instrumento de indicadores-chave de desempenho. O grupo de pesquisa estabeleceu sete indicadores possíveis para avaliação de especialistas da área através de duas rodadas da técnica Delphi para validação de conteúdo. Ainda, farmacêuticos foram convidados a participar por meio de um questionário para validação de construto e confiabilidade do instrumento. A busca bibliográfica identificou 3.276 registros, dos quais 12 estudos completaram os critérios de inclusão. No geral, o maior número de estudos foi baseado em pesquisas para avaliar a satisfação dos pacientes e usou a revisão da literatura combinada com opinião de especialistas para o desenvolvimento do instrumento. Todos os estudos apresentaram algumas propriedades psicométricas do instrumento. A consistência interna e a validade de conteúdo foram os critérios mais relatados dos estudos, e nenhum deles apresentou o critério de estabilidade. Onze (68,8%) especialistas participaram da primeira rodada da técnica Delphi e nove (81,8%) especialistas completaram as 2 rodadas. Um novo indicador foi desenvolvido após a avaliação do painel de especialistas na primeira rodada. No geral, a validade de conteúdo e construto foi alcançada para o instrumento final. Os resultados desta tese apontam que os instrumentos dos estudos identificados na revisão sistemática apresentaram propriedades psicométricas, porém de forma incompleta ou não satisfatória. Ainda, um instrumento com seis indicadores foi desenvolvido e validado para o Serviço de Acompanhamento Farmacoterapêutico prestado para pacientes ambulatoriais. / One of the elements of quality improvement of medication management services is measuring the quality of care and key performance indicators (KPIs) can be used in this assessment. The study is aimed to identify quality indicators instruments in pharmaceutical care services and to develop and validate KPI instrument for medication management services provided for outpatients. For this, comprehensive literature search was performed in databases PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Lilacs. The psychometric quality of the instruments was determined. In addition, a key performance indicators instrument was developed. A working group established 7 possible KPIs for assessment of the expert panel through an internet based 2-round Delphi approach. An internet questionnaire was developed for pharmacists in order to construct validity and reliability of the instrument. The literature search yielded 3,276 records, of which 12 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Overall, the greatest number of studies were based surveys to assess patients\' satisfaction and used literature review combined with expert\'s opinion for the instrument development. All studies presented some psychometrics properties of the instrument. Internal consistency and content validity were the most reported criteria of the studies and none of them presented stability. Eleven (68.8%) experts participated in the Delphi round 1 and nine (81.8%) experts completed the 2 Delphi rounds. A new KPI was develop after expert panel assessment in the first round. Overall, content and construct validity were reached for final instrument. The results of this thesis point out that instrument of the studies identified in the systematic review presented some psychometrics properties, but did not describe them satisfactorily. In addition, a set of six key performance indicators was developed and validated for medication management services provided for outpatients.

The current Internet presents a high barrier to entry for new service providers, due to its inability to accommodate new protocols and technologies, and lack of competition among the network providers. Recently, network virtualization has gained considerable attention as a possible solution, as it enables multiple networks to concurrently run over a shared substrate. It allows for deploying diverse network protocols and technologies customized for specific networked services and applications. Moreover, any party can take on the role of a network provider by simply offering his virtual network infrastructure to customers, increasing competition in the market. However, the first challenge in realizing a fair and competitive market in a virtual network environment is to have a service negotiation and contracting mechanism in place, that will allow (i) multiple infrastructure providers to participate in a fair and faithful competition, and (ii) a service provider to negotiate the price and quality of service with the providers. In this thesis, we present V-Mart, an open market model and enabling framework for automated service negotiation and contracting in a virtual network environment. To the infrastructure providers, V-Mart fosters an open and fair competition realized by a two stage auction. The V-Mart auction model ensures that bidders (infrastructure providers) bid truthfully, have the flexibility to apply diverse pricing policies, and still gain profit from hosting customers’ virtual resources. To the service providers, V-Mart offers virtual network partitioning algorithms that allow them to divide their virtual networks among competing infrastructure providers while minimizing the total cost. V-Mart offers two types of algorithms to suit different market scenarios. The algorithms not only consider virtual resource hosting price but also the service provider’s preference for resource co-location and the high cost of inter-provider communication. Through extensive simulation experiments we show the efficiency and effectiveness of the algorithms under various market conditions.

The current Internet presents a high barrier to entry for new service providers, due to its inability to accommodate new protocols and technologies, and lack of competition among the network providers. Recently, network virtualization has gained considerable attention as a possible solution, as it enables multiple networks to concurrently run over a shared substrate. It allows for deploying diverse network protocols and technologies customized for specific networked services and applications. Moreover, any party can take on the role of a network provider by simply offering his virtual network infrastructure to customers, increasing competition in the market. However, the first challenge in realizing a fair and competitive market in a virtual network environment is to have a service negotiation and contracting mechanism in place, that will allow (i) multiple infrastructure providers to participate in a fair and faithful competition, and (ii) a service provider to negotiate the price and quality of service with the providers. In this thesis, we present V-Mart, an open market model and enabling framework for automated service negotiation and contracting in a virtual network environment. To the infrastructure providers, V-Mart fosters an open and fair competition realized by a two stage auction. The V-Mart auction model ensures that bidders (infrastructure providers) bid truthfully, have the flexibility to apply diverse pricing policies, and still gain profit from hosting customers’ virtual resources. To the service providers, V-Mart offers virtual network partitioning algorithms that allow them to divide their virtual networks among competing infrastructure providers while minimizing the total cost. V-Mart offers two types of algorithms to suit different market scenarios. The algorithms not only consider virtual resource hosting price but also the service provider’s preference for resource co-location and the high cost of inter-provider communication. Through extensive simulation experiments we show the efficiency and effectiveness of the algorithms under various market conditions.

A survey of the Upper White River Valley located 76 new sites additional information on 6 previously recorded sites. After a preliminary literature review, artifacts from the Ball State University Archaeology Laboratory were reanalyzed and local artifact collectors were contacted to obtain additional knowledge survey area. The fieldwork focused on the floodplain and the location of Woodland sites in regards to Ross soil. Surface manifestations of Woodland-affiliated sites indicated that 33% of the sites in the project area were located in the floodplain and all Woodland components were represented on or adjacent to Ross soil. Results from the fieldwork indicate a positive correlation between Woodland sites and Ross soil in the Upper White River Valley of east-central Indiana. / Department of Anthropology

abstract: With years of continuous Chinese economic growth and accelerating aging population, better serving the changing demands in wealth management has become the new market development directions. As evidenced in international experiences, the embedded nature of privacy and isolation of managed assets in the trust business have demonstrated built-in consistency with the needs of high-end wealth management and inheritance; hence, trust has become a very fitting vehicle for wealth management. By 2014, total assets under trust management have reached RMB14trillion. However, there is as yet a massive gap between the current service levels received by high net worth individuals and their requirements; a gap that is adverse in establishing a stable customer service relationship; which eventually hinders the vigorous development of the overall industry. With modeling the gaps in service levels as the basic foundation, this paper first and foremost starts with the discussion on the issues in listening to service needs. This paper conducted customer surveys in such categories as customer expected and perceived service quality, service level design and standards, service provided in accordance with the design, and service commitment actually fulfilled. By correlation and regression analyses, this paper analyzed the characteristics of high net worth population, concluding that high net worth individuals with different gender, profession, age exhibit varying needs, preferences and other determining factors in wealth management. This Paper has designed wealth management service standards and value-added asset allocation systems; the Paper has structured a systematic and disciplined framework in wealth management, which serves as a guideline in the implementation of leading wealth management and in the establishment of superior trust management services. It serves as an impetus for the trust industry to thrive as the leader in China’s wealth management domain, enhance industry brand image, accumulate stable customer segments and develop sustainable market core competencies. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2015

The higher education sector in developing countries is currently facing several challenges generated by a dynamic environment and characterised by rapid technological change and increased demand. This thesis aims to examine the direct and indirect associations between the components of the strategic management, as well as its impact on service quality of university institutions within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, this thesis tests a mediation effect regarding organisational commitment within the relationship between strategic management and service quality. This thesis employs a quantitative method, and a theoretical model is built based on thorough literature reviews concerning strategic management and service quality. With regard to the findings of the empirical research, six main constructs were successfully validated as multi-dimensional constructs. These were used as within structural equation modelling to analyse influencing factors—be they positive or negative—and the degree to which the creation and operations of such collaborations were successful. The structural paths support hypotheses suggesting that strategic management process has a direct positive influence on organisational commitment and that commitment makes a positive, though weak, contributions to service quality. However, the direct impact of strategy implementation and evaluation upon service quality is insignificant. Furthermore, the result showed a partial mediation between strategic planning and service quality, as well as between strategy formalisation and service quality. However, the relation between implementation and service quality, as well as between evaluation and service equality is fully completed. The proposed model was tested empirically using survey data obtained from those 404 senior managers and academic staff from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Universities who were involved on this study. This thesis synthesises the Social Exchange Theory, Perceived Organisational Support theory and a relational view to explain how commitment influences the Strategic Management process as well as the attributes of Service Quality.

This thesis is focused on managing the internal Service desk in medium and large companies. In the theoretical part is firstly defined what it's ICT service and how it is managed. It is followed by a characteristics of theoretical Framework ITIL, which deals with ICT services management. Then, a further theoretical framework COBIT is characterized, which also deals with the management of services, and these two frameworks are compared. The practical part consists of case study. A case study is based on analysis and evaluation of the current status of internally provided service Service desk at ALS Czech Republic. The analysis and evaluation is based on the knowledge and information contained in the theoretical part. The outcome of this work is general guidance for management of internally provided service Service desk in medium and large companies.

This thesis is focused on knowledge management as seen in ITIL library. It includes analysis of knowledge management solutions: knowledge base in the Service Now system and actual solution of knowledge base in the ALVAO system. Furthermore, there is a design and implementation of an extension from knowledge base to knowledge management in the ALVAO system described. It has also been designed and implemented integration with the Microsoft SharePoint .

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AS A POLICY INSTRUMENT: THE CASE OF &Ccedil / ALBiR This dissertation assesses the nature and features of public-private partnerships in the case of &Ccedil / ALB&amp / #272 / R. In this study, the public policy literature (especially policy transfer, policy formation and implementation, and network approach) has been used to explain the policy process for the adoption of such a policy instrument. The findings of this study can be summarized as: Firstly, this study indicates that the selection of policy instrument- public private partnership- in the case of &Ccedil / ALB&amp / #272 / R was not neutral as the proponents of managerialism assert but it was ideological. Secondly, there occurred a democratic legitimacy problem for the establishment of public-private partnerships in &Ccedil / ALB&amp / #272 / R case when citizens in the elections elected a mayor who was against privatization. Thirdly, after the establishment of public-private partnership the steering performed by &Ccedil / ALBiR is not traditional command and control mechanism but instead it is managerial collaboration and persuasion mechanism. In addition, local government&rsquo / s working in accordance with managerial principles has brought about the elimination of public values. Lastly, this study shows that public-private partnership is not efficient enough due to compensation fee paid in early years, high operating expenses, and blurring of boundaries between public and private sector. Therefore, the main argument of this dissertation is that public-private partnerships as policy tools should be assessed case by case since so called characteristics of public-private partnerships such as efficiency, and equity may not exist as in case of &Ccedil / ALBiR.

The heart of this dissertation is the SCAPULA Information Retrieval System, used to create, maintain, and retrieve coded archaeological data for the Upper Wabash Drainage at the Archaeology Laboratory of Ball State University.Several existing archaeological data banks were surveyed and classified at first, and different file organizations, computer software and hardware were reviewed next using as a major criterion the needs of archaeologists at Ball State in order to determine the characteristics of the SCAPULA System.The encoding instructions and retrieval keywords are illustrated and listed, while the functions of the SCAPULA are introduced. With its straightforward query instructions and examples, the SCAPULA Information Retrieval System, a relational data bank, is very easy to use.The present study sought to examine the impact of victim-observer similarity, victim physical attractiveness, outcome severity and sex of respondent on responsibility attributions made toward a rape victim. Perceived attitudinal similarity, victim physical attractiveness, and outcome severity were experimentally varied. In addition this study sought to further examine sex differences, which prior research has indicated may influence how a rape victim is perceived.A modified version of Alexander's (1980) scale was used to measure the degree of responsibility attributed to the victim, to the assailant, to society and to chance in each condition. A research design was developed using two levels of each of the four factors.The experiment was conducted during regular class periods. The population consisted of 198 male and female undergraduate students. Prior to the actual experiment, Ss were randomly assigned to review an attitude questionnaire (supposedly completed by the victim), which was either similar or dissimilar to one completed previously by themselves. The attitude survey used in this study was the Important Issues Questionnaire (Novak & Lerner, 1968). The study was conducted such that Ss perceived the victim to be either like or unlike themselves in basic attitudes. Ss were then asked to view a videotape in which a sexual assault victim was interviewed. The victim was actually an actress who read a prepared script. Outcome severity was varied by the use of written vignettes and by the victim's (actress's) narration of either having suffered an attempted rape or a rape with physical injuries. Physical attractiveness was varied by the use of cosmetics and dress. Ss were tested in groups. Each group saw only one of the four videotapes. Ss were debriefed following the experiment.The study was designed to answer the following research questions:1. Would Ss make significantly different responsibility attributions toward a victim they perceived as similar to themselves than toward a victim they perceived as dissimilar to themselves?2. Would Ss make significantly different responsibility attributions toward a victim who suffered a non-severe outcome than toward a victim who suffered a severe outcome?3. Would male Ss make significantly different attributions of responsibility toward a physically attractive victim than toward a physically unattractive victim?4. Would the respondent's sex significantly affect the degree of responsibility attributed to the victim?A 2x2x2x2 multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the four research hypothesis. Significance was considered at an alpha level of .05.FindingsThe results of this study indicated that no significant difference existed for similarity, outcome severity, sex of respondent or physical attractiveness. There was however, a tendency for Ss to attribute more responsibility to the victim who had suffered a severe outcome, and also for the assailant in that condition to be assigned a harsher penalty.ConclusionPrior research in the area of rape victim culpability has offered conflicting results. The present study sought to provide clarity to the findings of previous research. Further research is needed in this area to gain a clearer understanding of factors which influence how victims of sexual assault are perceived.