Background: Changing market conditions and increasing competition drive companies to increase their collaboration along the supply chain. Technological innovations enable businesses to increase their integration tremendously. The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) enables the integration of information technology with industrial technology. The adoption of Industry 4.0 includes many complex technologies that come with challenges for many organizations. Previous research suggests that conventional manufacturing might have to be adjusted to Industry 4.0. Purpose: This thesis identifies and analyzes potential challenges of Industry 4.0 adoption for electronics manufacturers and machine manufacturers and analyzes how processes in manufacturing need to be adjusted to successfully implement Industry 4.0. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to successful Industry 4.0 adoption in the manufacturing process and therefore to contribute to technological advancement. Method: This thesis conducts a multiple case study and gathers qualitative data by conducting semi-structured interviews. Findings & conclusion: Challenges identified for most companies are standardization, management support, skills and costs. Most companies face data and compatibility challenges. Some companies face the challenge of complexity, information security, scalability and network externalities. Companies with higher levels of maturity are less likely to face environmental challenges.Lean Management was identified as a prerequisite for Industry 4.0 adoption. The adoption of Industry 4.0 is likely to lead to a paperless factory. Furthermore, changes concerning the infrastructure are a main finding. Moreover, it was found that Industry 4.0 does not require major changes from conventional manufacturing processes.

Researchers in the field of global leadership have reported a growing need for leaders able to perform from a global perspective, and the lack of qualified leadership candidates to fulfill these responsibilities. Adult education graduate programs represent a unique pool of aspirants to help fill this gap. In 2008, the Commission of Professors of Adult Education (CPAE) published Standards for Graduate Programs in Adult Education. Two of these standards addressed the incorporation of globalization and leadership studies into the planning, administration, and evaluation of adult education graduate programs. This study sought to explore the connection between the phenomenon of global leadership and the development of competencies, identified by Bird’s (2013) framework of nested global leadership competencies, in seven selected adult education graduate programs in the United States and Western Europe. The questions that guided this qualitative, multiple case study explored (a) which of the competencies were addressed in the selected adult education graduate programs, (b) which ones were perceived to be most and less important, (c) which curricular and co-curricular practices were identified in the development of these competencies, and (d) what were the similarities and differences between the adult education graduate programs located geographically in the United States and those located in Western Europe. Findings indicated all of the global leadership competencies were addressed across all seven cases, to varying levels of extent. The competencies of (a) valuing people, (b) inquisitiveness, (c) leading change, and (d) vision and strategic thinking emerged as most important among the participants across all seven cases, as well as within the two geographical locations. Multiple curricular and co-curricular themes emerged as best practices to facilitate development of the global leadership competencies, although they were primarily associated with good instructional practices discussed within the context of globalizing the curriculum. There was less discussion about the competencies within a unifying construct of leadership development. Similarities across all cases included a focus on student-centered learning, while differences were primarily associated with the independent foci of the adult education graduate programs. Implications of the findings were directed towards the CPAE, university administration, adult education faculty, and adult education graduate students.

Autism Disorder and related disorders such as Asperger's Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified, are collectively known as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). These disorders are currently the fastest growing diagnosed disorders among children and have been found in 110 in 10,000 individuals. Individuals with ASD are delayed in social development according to diagnostic criteria. To address the social development delays of students with ASD, two research-based interventions have been developed: Social StoriesTM and video modeling. Social StoriesTM uses a specific combination of sentences to describe a social situation or a social skill in story form. Video modeling is an isolation of social skill steps delivered through a video medium to model the social skill. The purpose of this study was to combine Social StoriesTM and video modeling (combined intervention) and investigate the perceptions of educational multidisciplinary team members (school counselors, parents, teachers) regarding the combination intervention for the development of social behavior in students with ASD. School counselors participating in this study delivered the combination Social StoriesTM and video modeling intervention to student participants with ASD. Then, the perceptions of the school-based multidisciplinary team members of this combination intervention were collected through qualitative surveys and analyzed to develop the Qualitative Criticism. This Qualitative Criticism describes, interprets, and evaluates the pragmatic use of the combination of the Social StoriesTM and video modeling intervention with students with ASD in schools from the perspectives of the school counselors, teachers, and parents of these students. Organized by case, team members of each of the student participants reflected on the strengths and weaknesses of these interventions for that student. Across cases, comments were analyzed by role (i.e., parent, teacher, school counselor). Then, these roles were combined into a cross-case analysis of multidisciplinary team perspectives of the usefulness of these interventions for students with ASD. Pre-test and post-test data were collected using teachers' responses to the Vineland II Teacher Rating Form (V-II TRF) and the Summary of Observations section on the V-II TRF to triangulate findings grounded in the qualitative data. Findings suggested that parents, teachers, and school counselors supported the use of these interventions for several reasons. The combination intervention increased opportunities for repetition of the target skills; for visual learning through written words in stories, cartoons, and videos; and for individualization to meet the varying needs and interests of students with ASD. The intervention was also developmentally appropriate, engaging, and fun for students. In addition, when the school counselor collaborated with parents and teachers through the intervention, the parents and teachers seemed to be more knowledgeable about the intervention, and supported these students to use the intervention and generalize the target skills. While V-II TRF scores did not show statistically significant gains to confirm the multidisciplinary team members' support for the combination intervention, clinical significance was found in the domain scores of Communication and Daily Living, and in the Composite score measuring overall adaptive functioning.

Keywords: Teaching practicum, mentors, mentoring, qualitative research, multiple case study Abstract The teaching practicum is an integral part of teacher education and a key role is played by teacher trainers - mentors. The aim of this thesis is to determine their perception of the practicum, evaluation of their own degree of preparedness, and attitude to the tasks which the role of the mentor involves. The theoretical part describes the roles of the mentor, models of mentoring, concrete mentoring tasks, and also mentors' motivation as well as important skills. It further discusses selected issues in the EFL practicum, namely feedback and self-reflection, observations, preparedness of mentors, and the length of the practicum. The empirical part is comprised of the results of qualitative research in the form of a multiple case study. Five case studies have been carried out in total and data have been processed through the process of coding. The paper then goes on to analyse the findings with regard to the theoretical concepts discussed earlier in the study, and outlines potential research and pedagogical implications. The main findings of the study include mentors' high motivation for their roles and friendly attitude to teacher trainees, as well as their lack of specialised education for teacher trainee...

The rapid expansion of computers and digital technology requires citizens to be digitally literate. Teachers must prepare students for a digital world despite the lack of consensus on a definition or its components. This multiple case study explored the digital literacy instruction and interactive decision making of teachers with varied levels of expertise. Each participant completed a survey and the General Decision Making Style Questionnaire prior to a series of interviews and classroom observations. Findings from a qualitative analysis of the data suggest variations in the use of digital literacy components during instruction and that skills are related to one another. Findings also indicate similarities and differences in interactive decision making and teaching expertise behaviors related to instruction. Based on these findings, recommendations to better promote digital literacy are directed toward teachers, administrators, teacher preparation institutions, and future researchers. Current events emphasize the need for increased efforts in turning the key of digital literacy for students.

In software development, customer trust hinges on a product performing as expectedand ensuring appropriate steps are taken to prevent incidents due to faulty systems. Oneway of achieving this lies within in requirement validation – the process of validatingthe requirements set on the software. However, the complexity of the requirementvalidation domain can be challenging for companies and organizations seeking toimprove their validation processes. This research investigates this area, pinpointingpotential failure factors that may hinder effective requirement validation. The study wasconducted using a multi-case research design, involving individual interviews with fourdistinct divisions at SAAB: hardware, software, systems, and test equipment.This study built upon Niazi’s & Shastry's previous research where findings of failurefactors in requirement engineering are brought forward. What this research has done istaking the failure factors and applying them to requirement validation, which is asubcategory to requirement engineering. The failure factors taken into consideration inthis research are therefore the following: • Vague requirements• Undefined requirements process• Lack of stakeholder involvement• Business needs are not considered• Lack of requirement management• The requirements do not reflect the real needs of the customer• The requirements are inconsistent and/or incomplete• It is expensive to make changes to requirements after they have been agreed• Requirements growth• Stakeholders’ communication problems During the research, focus was placed on noting how often the interviewees mentionedeach failure factor. This helped in understanding which issues were most often seen asproblems in the requirement validation process.Particularly, stakeholder issues and the tendency towards vague requirement definitionsemerged as prevalent problems. The findings of this research do not only concernsafety-critical software companies but can additionally prove beneficial to any industrydealing with stakeholders and product/service requirements. The research providesiiipotential pitfalls in requirement validation, aiding organizations in refining theirapproach for better software product reliability and customer trust.

Travelling and moving within urban areas in a sustainable way acquires a transition toward sustainable commuting modes. An approach to reaching the transition is recognised as sustainable mobility. According to smart mobility research, autonomous shuttle buses could contribute to achieve sustainable mobility in urban areas. This study therefore aims to evaluate to what extent autonomous shuttle buses are contributing to achieve sustainable mobility in Lindholmen and Barkarbystaden, by analysing the enabling and challenging factors of integrating autonomous shuttle buses from a spatial planning perspective. Based on a thematic analysis, three themes: integration into transport networks, urban policy integration, and spatial planning and urban design integration, emerged from a multiple-case study and an in-depth interview study. It is revealed that the buses are bringing forth a multi-modal transportation network with an extension of sustainable travel opportunities beyond the privately owned car. Nonetheless, it is evident that the autonomous shuttle buses are not eligible to cover the first-last mile accessibility gap in Lindholmen nor Barkarbystaden. Practitioners should therefore consider evaluating what autonomous shuttle buses should be used for, how and where before they decide to go any further with the integration of autonomous shuttle buses in other urban areas.

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The aim of this descriptive and evaluative research study is to assess the impact achieved by the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme, a national local government internship programme that was undertaken by South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Development Fund in partnership with the South African Communication Forum (SACF), Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) and SIEMENS Ltd Training Institute.A supply-side internship programme in nature, its strategic objectives were to train and equip young South Africans with ICT skills, give youth learners workplace experience in the ICT functional area within their respective municipalities, create employment opportunities for youth and economic development for local municipalities in alleviation of scarce-critical ICT skills to capacitate the local government sector.Forty (x40) learners from Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges were recruited from various rural municipalities to undertake ICT training with SIEMENS Training Institute and given workplace experiential learning with fifteen x15 host municipalities under the banner of the South African Local Government Association. This descriptive and evaluative study is undertaken in a case study format with particular interest in the retention levels of graduate learners endowed with scarce skills in the context of the skills challenges facing the local government sector. The study also focuses on unique challenges and interventional measures that could be undertaken by designers of public education and training programmes to ensure efficiency of internship programmes and optimal benefit of publicly-funded internship programmes to youth learners. This research study not only has internal validity in terms of the operational delivery of internship programmes but also external contextual importance for publicly-funded learning and placement programmes within the larger human resources development (HRD) domain and local government sector. In the process of conducting the study, stratified random sampling is utilised due to the multi-stakeholder nature of the programme. A stratified survey sample comprising fifty percent (50%) of the total survey population of forty (40) former ICT learners who participated in the internship programme is selected whilst a sample of sixty percent (60%) of the fifteen (15) host municipalities who participated in the programme is also selected using stratified random sampling. The findings of the study indicate that participation in the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme has positively promoted the employability of former ICT learners. All ICT learner respondents confirmed current employment within the ICT functional area. Research findings indicate that the local government sector has derived short term retention and benefit from the programme but has not been able to retain the skills of the majority of former ICT learners in the long term. Although most of the former ICT learners have since migrated out of the local government sector, most former learners are still employed in the ICT field within the public sector and to some extent in the private sector of the South African economy. The study found out that most learners were able to assimilate and find employment within their host municipalities or were able to find ICT-related employment soon after graduation. The research findings of this impact assessment study indicate that the DBSA/ SALGA ICT Internship Programme has positively transformed young inexperienced graduates into responsible young adults through the development of key life skills and work experiences to enable them to successfully navigate the path between the classroom and the challenging world of work. / Mini-dissertation submitted in partial fullfilment of the requirements for the North-West University Yunibesiti Ya Bokone-Bophirima Noordwest-Universiteit Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) Human Resource Management (HRM) North-West University (NWU) Graduate School of Business & Government

Cities, regions, nations and other places have in recent decades become active participants in the global competitive economy, and now operate in a global marketplace, competing with other places all over the world for investors, tourists, residents and workforce. As a result, places use marketing and branding strategies and practices to gain reputation and competitive advantage. Chinese cities have, over the past decades, increasingly engaged in branding activities, and even taken the role of spearheads for China in its positioning in the global economy, seen for example in the organization of mega-events. The branding of Chinese cities nevertheless exhibits some differences compared with city branding in the West. The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to our knowledge of the internal-political aspects of place branding, using field studies of the imagery used in city branding practices in five Chinese mega-cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Chongqing. The focus is on the images and language used in the cities’ branding, and on key political aspects involved in the branding of Chinese mega-cities. The theoretical lens incorporates concepts tied to images, language, imaginaries, ideology and power, and the study relies on an ethnographic, multiple case study approach, including longitudinal fieldwork in China. The findings consist of rich illustrations of the branding of the five Chinese mega-cities, and include an analysis of similar imagery found in all five cities, grouped into economic, international, cultural, social and environmental imaginaries. This shows that city branding in Chinese mega-cities is focused on creating international and competitive cities, while also paying attention to the environment, culture and internal target groups such as residents. A central contribution of this dissertation is the development of the concept ‘imagineering’, used in this study to conceptualize key political aspects of city branding in Chinese mega-cities. Imagineering contains three main elements, namely local adaptations of national directives, policies, plans and concepts; a strong future orientation while also accentuating selected elements from the past; and a focus on local populations with the creation of stability and harmony as a central goal. Imagineering is also conceptualized as a policy instrument exercised by a powerful élite, closely intertwined with urban governance, and used to influence people, values, places and, ultimately, city futures.