The success or failure of implementing affirmative action lies with the management of enterprises. This research - based on a literature study, questionnaires completed by 200 respondents and the researcher's model for the implementation of affirmative action - focuses on management's views on aspects of importance for affirmative action to succeed in the enterprise. From the views of management it is clear that • the more closely affirmative action impinges on the career expectations of the current incumbents, the more resistance and non ownership can be expected • the affirmative action message must be communicated sincerely and positively • diversity management must change drastically to focus on educating persons to understand not only themselves, but also others of different backgrounds, race, gender, skills, persuasion and experience • the enterprise needs to accelerate the process to identify potential, training and development processes as well as performance coaching of disadvantaged groups Meeting the above challenges, will require mutual trust, respect and communication. / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Die bestuur van ondernemings bepaal die sukses of mislukking by die implementering van regstellende optrede. Die navorsing - gebaseer op 'n literatuurstudie, vraelyste ingevul deur 200 respondente en die navorser se model vir die implementering van regstellende optrede - fokus op bestuur se menings aangaande aspekte van belang vir die sukses van regstellende optrede in die onderneming. Vanuit bestuur se menings is dit duidelik dat • hoe grooter inbreuk regstellende optrede maak op die beroepsverwagtinge van die huidige bekleers, hoe sterker weerstand en nie-eienaarskap kan van hulle verwag word • die regstellende optrede boodskap moet eerlik en positief gekommunikeer word • die bestuur van diversiteit se fokus drasties moet verander om individue te leer om nie net hulself nie, maar ook ander van verskillende agtergrond, bevolkingsgroep, geslag, vaardighede, oortuigings en ondervinding te verstaan • die onderneming die prosesse moet versnel wat betrekking het op die identifisering van potensiaal, opleiding en ontwikkeling asook prestasierigleiding van die benadeelde groepe Ten einde aan bogenoemde uitdagings te voldoen, sal wedersydse vertroue, respek en kommunikasie vereis / Economics and Management Sciences / M.Com. (Business Management)

Strengthening civil society participation in development is a prerequisite to enhance access to opportunities and political influence by the poor. An active civil society can improve development accountability. In fact, Africa cannot improve its governance without investing in the role of civil society. This study examines the problem of resource mobilization for NECs in four Africa countries; assessing factors and strategies, which influence their ability to mobilize resources. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods, the study found that effective NECs exist in all four countries. The success of these NECs depended on “being strategic” about resource mobilization. The lack of resources mobilization strategies was a key factor in all four NECs. This often meant lack of proactiveness in resource mobilization. In its recommendations, the study presents a model aimed to encourage CSOs to organize and manage resource mobilization in ways that generate income for today, tomorrow and the future in order to sustain their watchdog role in educational development process. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In this study, using the Method of Characteristics and numeric resources, presents a solution to the equation Spectral Density Evolution of Turbulent Kinetic Energy for a Convective Boundary Layer (CBL) in the morning. It presents three models for the evolution of spectral energy density. The first model, based on the assumption of a system of isotropic turbulence, considering only terms of energy transfer inertial and viscous dissipation. The second model adds the term energy production due to the onset of action of the parameter of heat flux on the surface, but consider it a term of energy transfer inertial anisotropy. The third model employs a mixed configuration of the two previous models, assuming thus distinct regions of operation to inertial transfer terms. The results shaped the evolution of the CLC. In this case, the growth of the energy spectrum is modeled by inserting energy in the region of low wave numbers, a region in which the term of anisotropic energy transfer can not transfer the energy introduced by the energy production term. It is observed that in a region of wave number higher there is a stabilization of the parameter variation temporal on the plane characteristics curves (PCC), indicating that the variation of wave number govern the evolution of the energy spectrum. This fact establishes a kind of criterion for stationarity of turbulent flow regimes. / No presente trabalho, utilizando o Método das Característica e recursos numéricos, apresenta-se uma solução para a Equação de Evolução Espectral de Densidade de Energia Cinética Turbulenta para uma Camada Limite Convectiva (CLC) no período da manhã. Apresenta-se três modelos para a evolução espectral da densidade de energia. O primeiro modelo, baseado na suposição de um regime de turbulência isotrópica, considera apenas termos de transferência de energia inercial e de dissipação viscosa. O segundo modelo adiciona o termo de produção de energia devido o início da ação do parâmetro de fluxo de calor na superfície, porém considerá-se um termo de transferência de energia inercial anisotrópico. O terceiro modelo emprega uma configuração mista dos dois modelos anteriores, admitindo, desta forma, regiões distintas de atuação para os termos de transferência inercial. Os resultados obtidos modelaram a evolução da CLC. Neste caso, o crescimento do espectro de energia modelado se deu pela inserção de energia na região de baixos números de onda, região em que o termo de transferência de energia anisotrópico não consegue transferir a energia inserida pelo termo de produção de energia. Observa-se que em uma região de número de onda mais alto existe uma estabilização da variação do parâmetro temporal sobre as curvas características planas (CCP), indicando que a variação do número de onda governará a evolução do espectro de energia. Fato que estabelece um tipo de critério de estacionariedade para de regimes de escoamento turbulento.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / No organisation has an endless and unlimited supply of money, especially in a recessive economy, and therefore decisions have to be made as to which areas an organisation will invest in. As organisations, such as YZ1 financial services organisation, are focused on seeing returns on investment (ROI), implementing software that is not being used will not render any benefits to the organisation. Research problem: Project Managers (PMs) in YZ organisation’s IT department need to perform mandated processes, as defined in their centralised repository. PMs need to use Financial and Planning Software (FPS)2 software to perform certain project management activities, as required by their job function. However, it was found that MPP3 software, another tool, was used for more detailed project schedules, as well as activities that were not strictly enforced by management, the Project Office or the Quality Assurance team. Therefore, from this discovery, it was not clear whether the intended benefit of implementing this mandatory software (FPS) was being realised – since implementing software that is not being utilised fully would not deliver the intended benefits to the IT department (Devaraj & Kohli 2003), even if the software is termed ‘mandatory’. Objective: The primary objective of this research was to explore and optimise the key success factors for an effective implementation of mandatory software in a department, in order to derive the intended business benefits. Literature Review: Literature was reviewed in the search for models or theories that explore the relationship between the use of mandatory software and the achievement of business benefits. The Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK) was selected as this framework defines the relationship between IT and the realisation of business benefits, and ultimately the achievement of any business strategy. The literature review focused predominantly on the level of user involvement, change management, as well as factors that influence the usage of mandatory software by individuals. 1. The name of the organisation utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration 2. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms 3. The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms. Focus was given to organisational factors affecting usage, such as top management support and organisational processes. A model was compiled using unique constructs in the Technology Acceptance Model (and TAM2), the Motivational Model (MM) and the Model of PC Utilisation (MPCU) – in order to test user acceptance of mandatory software. The literature study concludes with a review of an approach to benefits management including five stages, namely: identifying and structuring benefits, planning for the realisation of benefits, executing the plan, in addition to the evaluation and the review. Research design and methodology: A case study was used in this research, as it examined the phenomenon in its natural setting, employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from a few entities (groups and data sources). In this way, it was not limited to only qualitative or quantitative approaches, but utilised mixed methods instead. A mixed methods approach was used in order to elaborate, enhance and clarify the results from the qualitative research through the results of the quantitative analysis. Findings: The main finding, based on the compilation of three models of user acceptance, proved that FPS was not being utilised as intended. There was also no evidence of an improvement in business operations. Therefore, benefits management was negatively impacted. Organisational processes were dentified as the most important organisational factor, influencing the usage of FPS software. Own technological capability was considered to be the least important factor, as respondents believed that they had sufficient IT skills in order to learn how to use FPS software. Change management was rated negatively; and as a result, it impacted the usage of FPS, as users were not involved in the decision to implement, and had limited interaction in the implementation process. In addition, there was no evidence found that benefits management was conducted in the IT department; and therefore, the impact of using alternative software could not be quantitatively assessed. Recommendations: In concluding this research, it is recommended that the “best practice”, derived from the pertinent literate should be followed more diligently if YZ organisation is to benefit from the implementation of mandatory software. For example, in this research, it was found that top management’s support of FPS (second most important organisational factor influencing use) was lacking, despite the literature suggestion that senior management involvement in changing technology is crucial for organisational commitment. It is suggested that a more formal approach to benefits management should be implemented. It is also recommended that further study should be conducted – in order to explore the applicability of the Japanese framing (achieving benefits from IT software through the concept of strategic instinct, rather than strategic alignment) in the context of a developing country (such as South Africa). / South Africa

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / No organisation has an endless and unlimited supply of money, especially in a recessive economy, and therefore decisions have to be made as to which areas an organisation will invest in. As organisations, such as YZ1 financial services organisation, are focused on seeing returns on investment (ROI), implementing software that is not being used will not render any benefits to the organisation.Research problem: Project Managers (PMs) in YZ organisation’s IT department need to perform mandated processes, as defined in their centralised repository. PMs need to use Financial and Planning Software (FPS)2 software to perform certain project management activities, as required by their job function. However, it was found that MPP3 software, another tool, was used for more detailed project schedules, as well as activities that were not strictly enforced by management, the Project Office or the Quality Assurance team.Therefore, from this discovery, it was not clear whether the intended benefit of implementing this mandatory software (FPS) was being realised – since implementing software that is not being utilised fully would not deliver the intended benefits to the IT department (Devaraj & Kohli 2003), even if the software is termed ‘mandatory’.Objective: The primary objective of this research was to explore and optimise the key success factors for an effective implementation of mandatory software in a department, in order to derive the intended business benefits.Literature Review: Literature was reviewed in the search for models or theories that explore the relationship between the use of mandatory software and the achievement of business benefits. The Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK) was selected as this framework defines the relationship between IT and the realisation of business benefits, and ultimately the achievement of any business strategy.The literature review focused predominantly on the level of user involvement, change management, as well as factors that influence the usage of mandatory software by individuals.1 The name of the organisation utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration 2 The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms 3 The name of the tools utilised has been changed. Refer to Ethical Consideration and list of acronyms Focus was given to organisational factors affecting usage, such as top management support and organisational processes. A model was compiled using unique constructs in the Technology Acceptance Model (and TAM2), the Motivational Model (MM) and the Model of PC Utilisation (MPCU) – in order to test user acceptance of mandatory software.The literature study concludes with a review of an approach to benefits management including five stages, namely: identifying and structuring benefits, planning for the realisation of benefits, executing the plan, in addition to the evaluation and the review.Research design and methodology: A case study was used in this research, as it examined the phenomenon in its natural setting, employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from a few entities (groups and data sources). In this way, it was not limited to only qualitative or quantitative approaches, but utilised mixed methods instead. A mixed methods approach was used in order to elaborate, enhance and clarify the results from the qualitative research through the results of the quantitative analysis.Findings: The main finding, based on the compilation of three models of user acceptance, proved that FPS was not being utilised as intended. There was also no evidence of an improvement in business operations. Therefore, benefits management was negatively impacted. Organisational processes were identified as the most important organisational factor, influencing the usage of FPS software. Own technological capability was considered to be the least important factor, as respondents believed that they had sufficient IT skills in order to learn how to use FPS software.Change management was rated negatively; and as a result, it impacted the usage of FPS, as users were not involved in the decision to implement, and had limited interaction in the implementation process. In addition, there was no evidence found that benefits management was conducted in the IT department; and therefore, the impact of using alternative software could not be quantitatively assessed.Recommendations: In concluding this research, it is recommended that the “best practice”,derived from the pertinent literate should be followed more diligently if YZ organisation is to benefit from the implementation of mandatory software. For example, in this research, it was found that top management’s support of FPS (second most important organisational factor influencing use) was lacking, despite the literature suggestion that senior management involvement in changing technology is crucial for organisational commitment.It is suggested that a more formal approach to benefits management should be implemented. It is also recommended that further study should be conducted – in order to explore the applicability of the Japanese framing (achieving benefits from IT software through the concept of strategic instinct, rather than strategic alignment) in the context of a developing country (such as South Africa).

Subject of the submitted thesis is the issue of currency options. The aim is the detailed analysis of currency options forcefully on dealing, characteristics, methods of pricing and their use for hedging strategies. The first part of the thesis presents an introduction into the option theory. The second part is about dealing, pricing and arbitrage relationships of currency options. In this part are two option pricing model extracted -- the binomial options pricing model for pricing currency options and the Garman-Kohlhagen model for pricing European currency options. In the third part is an example for a currency put option hedging strategy.

This diploma thesis deals with the quality of the output of publicly available machine translation engines: Amazon Translate, Bing Translator, Deep L and Google Translate. The aim of the thesis was to qualitatively compare each machine translation engine and to test their capabilities on several types of texts - expressive, informative and operative. The analysis is carried out on translations of German texts into Czech. The thesis consists of two parts, in the theoretical part we discuss the origin and development of machine translation, its types, the automatic machine translation engines which are the object of our research, and we present a two-stage model for evaluating the quality of translation. In the empirical part, the results of the analysis based on the models of K. Reiß and A. Torrens are presented. These results show that the listed machine translation engines can be ranked from the highest to the lowest level of output quality as follows: Deep L, Google Translate, Bing Translator and Amazon Translate. Furthermore, it also turns out that the error rate correlates with the creativity of the text.

INTRODUCTION. Frontal collisions have been observed to cause the severe injuries on heavy goods vehicle occupants, and the lower extremities have been frequently injured. Injuries of knee joints are rarely life threatening, however they tend to give long-term consequences. AIM. Evaluate non-lethal frontal impacts towards the knee joint of Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS) v4.0 using a cylindrical barrier. The main objectives are to 1) create local injury risk functions of the knee ligaments restraining frontal impacts, 2) simulate frontal impacts towards the knee joints of THUMS and3) prepare the Hybrid III (HIII)-model for corresponding frontal impacts conducted on THUMS. The intention is for future HIII-simulations to be cross-correlated with the responses from THUMS for the ability to estimate knee ligament strains by investigating impacts on HIII. METHODS. 1) Ligament risk curves of PCL, MCL and LCL were formulated by assembling mean strain threshold values and standard deviations from literature. Virtual values were generated from these pooled strain thresholds, creating the risk curves. 2) THUMS lower body was impacted by a cylindrical steel barrier at four different locations - middle of patella, middle of knee joint, upper tibia and below tibia tuberositas. Four impact velocities ranging from 8-14 km/h were used at each location, giving a total of 16 impacts. 3) The HIII-model was prepared by removing the upper body and inserting the cylindrical steel barrier into the model file. RESULTS. The strain threshold at 50% rupture risk for PCL resulted in 23.6±4.4%, 34.2±6.0% for MCL and 26.6±6.5% for LCL. The simulated THUMS PCL strains reached between 36%-58% for the highest velocity at the impact locations where tibia was involved. Both MCL and LCL gave an approximate 5% strain outcome. The resultant knee displacement for these impacts ranged between 22 mm - 32 mm. The knee displacements at the PCL strain threshold ranged between 14 mm - 16 mm. DISCUSSION and CONCLUSION. Most of the maximal PCL strains exceeded the PCL threshold with large margins. However, the knee displacement at the PCL strain threshold resulted in outcomes comparable to the thresholds used for HIIImodel. These results supported the obtained PCL threshold to be within a reasonable range.

В существующей ситуации высокой непредсказуемости и динамичности рыночного окружения эффективная организация производственного и сбытового процесса становится ключевым фактором успешного функционирования и поддержания долгосрочной конкурентоспособности угольных предприятий на внутреннем и международном рынках. Основой повышения эффективности деятельности угольных компаний может стать применение современного экономико-математического инструментария оптимизации планирования производственной и сбытовой деятельности. Основной целью исследования является совершенствование методического инструментария планирования производственно-сбытовой деятельности угольных предприятий для повышения ее эффективности. В работе представлены результаты исследования особенностей производственно-сбытовой деятельности российских угольных предприятий в современных рыночных условиях: выявлены внешние факторы и внутренние ограничения, оказывающие существенное влияние на эффективность их деятельности, проанализированы существующие методы планирования производственно-сбытовой деятельности, а также обозначены возможные пути повышения эффективности. В магистерской диссертации разработан методический поход к оптимизации планирования производственно-сбытовой деятельности угольных предприятий с применением экономико-математических методов и методов оптимизации плановых решений. / In the current situation of high unpredictability and dynamism of the market environment, the effective organization of the production and marketing process becomes a key factor in the successful functioning and maintenance of long-term competitiveness of coal companies in the domestic and international markets. The basis for improving the efficiency of coal companies can be the use of modern economic and mathematical tools for optimizing the planning of production and marketing activities. The main purpose of the study is to improve the methodical tools for planning the production and marketing activities of coal companies in order to increase its efficiency. The paper presents the results of a study of the features of the production and marketing activities of Russian coal companies in modern market conditions: external factors and internal constraints that have a significant impact on the efficiency of their activities are identified, existing methods of planning production and marketing activities are analyzed, and possible ways to improve efficiency are identified. In the master's thesis, a methodical approach to optimizing the planning of production and marketing activities of coal companies was developed using economic and mathematical methods and methods for optimizing planned decisions.

This thesis focuses on modelling non-maturing deposits (NMD) and has been written in collaboration with Svenska Handelsbanken. The methodology includes regression analysis and time series analysis, with the Repo rate serving as an exogenous variable in both models. A Vasicek model is employed to generate future Repo rates, which are then used as inputs for forecasting the NMD volume. These simulated rates are then compared to forecasted Repo rates with discrete changes from an external source. The results are utilised to analyze how net interest income can vary in the case of constant volume and in the case of interest rate-dependent volume. Effective liquidity management is crucial for banks, and NMDs are an important source of funding. By using regression analysis and time series analysis, combined with the Repo rate as the exogenous variable, this thesis provides insights into the behaviour of NMD volumes, and how it is affected by the Repo rate. The models also enable the forecasting of future trends based on future Repo rates. Additionally, by using different data sets as input for future Repo rates, the behaviour of the model can be evaluated based on how well it coincides with reality. The results obtained from this analysis can also be used to compare the value and interest rate sensitivity of NMD products. In conclusion, this thesis provides an approach to modelling the NMD volumes using exogenous factors and demonstrates how this can affect the net interest income from deposit volumes. / Denna avhandling fokuserar på modellering av icke tidsbunden inlåning (non-maturing deposits, NMD) och har skrivits i samarbete med Svenska Handelsbanken. Metoden omfattar regressionsanalys och tidsserieanalys, där reporäntan fungerar som en exogen variabel i båda modellerna. En Vasicek-modell används för att generera framtida reporäntor, som sedan används som indata för att prognostisera NMD-volymen. Dessa simulerade räntor jämförs sedan med prognostiserade reporäntor med diskreta förändringar från en extern källa. Resultaten används sedan för att analysera hur räntenettot kan variera mellan fallet med konstant volym och fallet med ränteberoende volym. En effektiv likviditetshantering är avgörande för banker, och NMD:er är en viktig finansieringskälla. Genom att använda regressionsanalys och tidsserieanalys, i kombination med reporäntan som exogen variabel , ger denna avhandling värdefulla insikter i NMD-volymernas beteende och hur de påverkas av reporäntan. Modellerna gör det också möjligt att prognostisera framtida trender utifrån framtida reporäntor. Genom att använda olika datamängder som indata för de framtida reporäntorna kan modellens beteende dessutom värderas utifrån hur väl det sammanfaller med verkligheten. Resultaten från denna analys kan också användas för att jämföra NMD-produkternas värde- och räntekänslighet. Sammanfattningsvis ger denna avhandling ett tillvägagångssätt för att modellera NMD-volymerna med hjälp av exogena faktorer och visar på hur det kan påverka inlåningens räntenetto.