Abstract The purpose of this study is to describe customer-related knowledge utilisation in the collaborative relationships of professional service organisations. Within this specific context, knowledge transfer capabilities are emphasised as an important prerequisite in the utilisation process. Effective organisation-level knowledge utilisation is crucial in collaborative relationships of professional service organisations. In order to formulate a coherent service offering across different areas of expertise, for instance, it is beneficial to transfer customer knowledge between professionals, business units and functions. Knowledge utilisation across different expertise areas may also be an important prerequisite for an organisation's innovativeness and proactiveness in customer cooperation. Customer-related knowledge utilisation and related knowledge transfer processes are in this study approached from a relationship management perspective, and literature from organisation research, resource-based view and knowledge management is used as a theoretical basis. Empirically this study is based on a descriptive case study of two professional service firms in the field of business-to-business education and consultancy services. In the first case, an in-depth analysis of an organisation developing a collaborative relationship in the outsourcing situation is described. In the second case, additional views are given on organisational practices potentially facilitating customer-related knowledge transfer. Empirical results show that internal fragmentation in the professional service organisation seems to be, to a large extent, inherent in this type of organisation, and may cause many problems in customer-related knowledge transfer and thus in effective utilisation of that knowledge. These knowledge transfer inhibitors rise from an organisation's characteristics; its dominant logic, culture, structure and systems. These organisational characteristics are bound to the characteristics of knowledge itself: its tacitness, non-observability and complexity, and can have an inhibiting influence on knowledge transfer. However, in spite of the inherent forces causing internal fragmentation and inhibiting knowledge transfer, moderating practices of a well-planned relationship coordination system, customer knowledge and expertise codification, and cooperative working practices among the experts seem to help to maintain customer knowledge transfer and utilisation, and thus also continuity and value creation in the long-term relationships. This value creation can be seen to be based on accessing and integrating a wide variety of knowledge resources in order to create innovative, flexible and multifaceted service offerings. Value creation can also be based on organisational ability for generative learning in order to change prevailing organisational assumptions and to develop the operations model needed in collaborative relationship.

Les personnes publiques ne sont pas propriétaires de tous les biens qu’elles utilisent. Elles louent ou empruntent souvent les biens nécessaires à l’exercice de leurs missions. L’utilisation du bien d’autrui n’est plus envisagée comme la solution par défaut qu’elle fut longtemps. A cette fin, les personnes publiques optent pour des procédés juridiques multiples. Titulaires de la capacité à contracter, elles concluent des baux civils ou commerciaux, des prêts à usage ou des usufruits conventionnels. Elles peuvent également recourir à des procédés de droit public, tels que les marchés publics de fournitures ou les marchés de partenariat. Enfin, certains mécanismes non-conventionnels permettent également cette déconnexion entre l’usage et la propriété. En vertu d’une prérogative de puissance publique particulièrement exorbitante, l’administration est habilitée à capter unilatéralement un droit d’usage dans le patrimoine d’autrui, via son pouvoir de réquisition, par exemple. L’aptitude unique de l’administration à jouer ainsi sur plusieurs tableaux est la marque de son irréductible spécificité.L’utilisation du bien d’autrui par une personne publique est en principe le support d’une mission ou d’une tâche d’intérêt général. Pour cette raison, son exécution doit respecter les nécessités de l’action publique, ensemble de principes et exigences juridiques qui impliquent que les activités administratives soient mises en œuvre de manière efficace et sans interruption, à l’aide de moyens adaptés et dans de bonnes conditions financières. A cet égard, l’utilisation du bien d’autrui présente des atouts dont l’exercice du droit de propriété est dépourvu, au moins dans deux circonstances. Les besoins de courte durée, qu’ils soient ponctuels ou discontinus, sont mieux assouvis par la location, le prêt à usage, ou la réquisition, que par l’acquisition d’un bien. La même remarque s’applique, avec quelques nuances, à la satisfaction des besoins complexes de l’administration. Mais la difficile adaptation à l’évolution des besoins et la précarité qui caractérise un nombre important de ces techniques juridiques présente le risque d’une certaine perte de maîtrise, qui peut mettre à mal la continuité, la mutabilité, la « qualité » et la « performance » du service public auquel le bien loué est affecté. Dès lors, le droit public est appelé à réagir. Un régime juridique unifié pourrait être appliqué à l’ensemble des biens utilisés par l’administration, quel qu’en soit le propriétaire, dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre d’une activité de service public. Ces règles s’attacheraient à rendre l’utilisation inviolable, abstraction faite de l’instrument juridique qui fonde l’exercice du droit d’usage ou de jouissance par la personne publique. / Public entities do not own all the goods they use. They often rent or borrow the assets necessary for the performance of their missions. The use of the property of others is no longer considered as the default solution that it was for a long time. To this end, public entities opt for multiple legal processes. Holders of the capacity to contract, they conclude civil or commercial leases, loans or conventional usufruct. They may also use public law procedures, such as public supply contracts or partnership contracts. Finally, some non-conventional mechanisms also allow this disconnection between use and ownership. By virtue of a particularly exorbitant prerogative of public power, the administration is empowered to unilaterally capture a right of use in the patrimony of others, for example, by its power of requisition. The unique ability of the administration to play thus on several tables is the mark of its irreducible specificity.The use of the property of others by a public person is in principle the support of a mission or task of general interest. For this reason, its execution must respect the requirements of public action, a set of principles and legal requirements which imply that administrative activities must be carried out efficiently and without interruption, using appropriate and appropriate means financial conditions. In this respect, the use of the property of others presents assets whose exercise of the right of ownership is devoid, at least in two circumstances. Short-term needs, whether they are punctual or discontinuous, are better satisfied by renting, using loans, or requisitioning than by acquiring property. The same remark applies, with some nuances, to the satisfaction of the complex needs of the administration. But the difficult adaptation to changing needs and the precariousness that characterizes a large number of these legal techniques presents the risk of a certain loss of control, which can undermine continuity, mutability, "quality" and Performance "of the public service to which the leased asset is assigned. Consequently, public law is called upon to react. A unified legal regime could be applied to all property used by the administration, whatever its owner, in the context of the implementation of a public service activity. These rules would aim at making the use inviolable, apart from the legal instrument on which the exercise of the right of use or enjoyment by the public person is based.

Magister Curationis - MCur / This mini-thesis is an investigation of the barriers (if any) to utilisation of child and adolescent out-patient mental health services in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at a children’s hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. It explores the reasons that make the patients not to honour their appointments. The study examines the relationship between the dependent variables (attendance (0), and non-attendance (1)), and independent variables which are demographic factors (age, sex, education, race, employment, marital status, area of residence, form of treatment, diagnosis and frequency of missed appointments) and continuous variables (finance/costs, language, knowledge, stigma, support system, culture/religion, confidentiality, work, school, service, and other miscellaneous variables (forgetting, inconvenience, refusing, frequency of appointments, and length of the session and emergency). The literature reviewed in the study revealed that non-attendance in mental health is a universal phenomenon, which affects everyone regardless of race, ethnicity or economic class. Furthermore, child mental health differs from other health fields in that almost all the patients are brought for consultation, somehow, against their will (Eapen & Jairam, 2009). In the study, the present researcher argues that even though non-attendance in child and adolescent psychiatry is a universal phenomenon, and literature is consistent in the findings on the barriers to utilisation of mental health services in other parts of the world, there is poor information on similar studies on South Africa, and particularly in Cape Town, where this study is based. This study will therefore contribute information to the existing body of knowledge in this area of child and adolescent mental health care services. iv The present researcher used a quantitative approach and Non-experimental design. Notably, the researcher used random stratified sampling with a population of patients who consulted with the Division of Child and Adolescent Out-patient Psychiatry Unit and at Neuropsychiatry Outpatient Clinic from the 1st of January 2011 to the 31st of December 2011, who missed appointments, and those who never missed appointments. The researcher conducted a survey using self-administered structured questionnaires, with children from 9 years to 18 years, and all parents/caregivers. The data is analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, Version 19.0 and Descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from this study showed that all other independent variables investigated are statistically insignificant and are not associated with non-attendance in this out-patient unit, except for school related reasons which are found to be dominant possible barriers for attendance, and culture/religion is also statistically significant and has a weak association with non-attendance. These findings have implications on service delivery in this unit. Based on the findings, this mini-thesis concludes with a recommendation that services may possibly need to be reviewed to meet the needs of the patients in order to improve utilisation. I also recommend that this study be rolled out to other community clinics in the Western Cape, as it was done on a smaller scale, and only in one out-patient unit.

There is a strong uptake of femtocell deployment as small cell application platforms in the upcoming LTE networks. In such two-tier networks of LTE-femtocell base stations, a large portion of the assigned spectrum is used sporadically leading to underutilisation of valuable frequency resources. Novel spectrum access techniques are necessary to solve these current spectrum inefficiency problems. Therefore, spectrum management solutions should have the features to improve spectrum access in both temporal and spatial manner. Cognitive Radio (CR) with the Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) is considered to be the key technology in this research in order to increase the spectrum efficiency. This is an effective solution to allow a group of Secondary Users (SUs) to share the radio spectrum initially allocated to the Primary User (PUs) at no interference. The core aim of this thesis is to develop new cognitive LTE-femtocell systems that offer a 4G vision, to facilitate the radio network management in order to increase the network capacity and further improve spectrum access probabilities. In this thesis, a new spectrum management model for cognitive radio networks is considered to enable a seamless integration of multi-access technology with existing networks. This involves the design of efficient resource allocation algorithms that are able to respond to the rapid changes in the dynamic wireless environment and primary users activities. Throughout this thesis a variety of network upgraded functions are developed using application simulation scenarios. Therefore, the proposed algorithms, mechanisms, methods, and system models are not restricted in the considered networks, but rather have a wider applicability to be used in other technologies. This thesis mainly investigates three aspects of research issues relating to the efficient management of cognitive networks: First, novel spectrum resource management modules are proposed to maximise the spectrum access by rapidly detecting the available transmission opportunities. Secondly, a developed pilot power controlling algorithm is introduced to minimise the power consumption by considering mobile position and application requirements. Also, there is investigation on the impact of deploying different numbers of femtocell base stations in LTE domain to identify the optimum cell size for future networks. Finally, a novel call admission control mechanism for mobility management is proposed to support seamless handover between LTE and femtocell domains. This is performed by assigning high speed mobile users to the LTE system to avoid unnecessary handovers. The proposed solutions were examined by simulation and numerical analysis to show the strength of cognitive femtocell deployment for the required applications. The results show that the new system design based on cognitive radio configuration enable an efficient resource management in terms of spectrum allocation, adaptive pilot power control, and mobile handover. The proposed framework and algorithms offer a novel spectrum management for self organised LTE-femtocell architecture. Eventually, this research shows that certain architectures fulfilling spectrum management requirements are implementable in practice and display good performance in dynamic wireless environments which recommends the consideration of CR systems in LTE and femtocell networks.

This research is aimed at the nature of problems that teachers experience in class and their need for the utilisation of a play therapist. A lack of sufficient guidelines for this field has been identified in the relevant literature. This shortage has been confirmed by grade one to four teachers. To reach the required goal a number of objectives were set. This included setting up a knowledge framework by way of a literature study as well as consultation with experts in the field; studying the role of the teacher in respect of the child in the middle childhood phase, problems that teachers experience in class and the middle childhood as a life phase. An empirical study was undertaken during which focus group interviews were held with grade one to four teachers. Thirty-two participants took part in the focus groups. Applied research was undertaken as the researcher aimed at establishing the true needs of teachers of children in the middle childhood phase. The empirical data showed the following: · Teachers are of the opinion that children manifest a wide variety of problem behaviours in class and that they do not possess the necessary knowledge and skills to address these problems effectively. · Teachers are of the opinion that they possess limited coping strategies in which to address the problem behaviours that children manifest in class effectively. · Teachers have definite views on the problem behaviours that occur in class with which they experience difficulty handling effectively. · Teachers have listed definite needs and perceptions regarding the utilisation of a play therapist. The basic need for the establishing of a training program for teachers during which they will receive training regarding the handling of certain problem behaviours that children disclose in class, was one of the key findings of the study. / Dissertation (MSD (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work / unrestricted

The clothing and textile industry has a significant impact on the world economy and has secured itself as one of the six most important industries in South Africa. This industry faces many challenges and over the years has been branded by economical changes, company closure, extensive job losses, low productivity, lack of investment in machinery, intensive competition from low-priced imports, trends toward outsourcing and growth in the informal sector (Pride&Ferrell, 1993:34). All of these factors had a direct impact on the South African clothing industry’s overall output. This study’s focus is primarily on the South African clothing production industry that has, despite its prominence in the country’s economy, shown considerable decline in the last decade. For South African clothing production to survive, it is important to connect to global value chains and to increase exports. To do this, clothing manufacturers and operational managers have to improve operational productivity and overall plant performance. Although companies are unable to control external and environmental factors, they can adjust internal factors within the company. Therefore this study explores the utilisation of a company’s resources in relation to their productivity. In this study the aim was to explore and describe the interactive contribution of resources (human, operational and physical) with regard to the operation and outputs of a South African clothing production system from a management’s and employees’ perspectives to formulate recommendations whereby the clothing industry could become more competitive in the current cut-throat environment. A clothing production company can be viewed as a social system with constant interaction with the environment. It does not operate in a vacuum and consists of a collection of interrelated parts of various subsystems (Spears&Gregoire 2004:24). The systems theory was adapted as a theoretical framework for this study, as it provides a basis for understanding how the various interactive resources are interrelated to the clothing production system and contribute to the overall outputs thereof (Spears&Gregoire, 2004:24). A case study research design was followed, which permitted a more flexible and multi-perspective approach to understand the phenomena under study (Maree, 2007:5). A combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques was used with relevant data analysis procedures. The unit of analysis was a clothing production company in the Bronkhorstspruit area in Gauteng. The operational management, line supervisors as well sewing machine and cutting room operators participated in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select the case, and the individuals within the case study (Babbie&Mouton, 2003:166). Individual interviews were held with the operational management. From the focus group interviews, with the line supervisors, a questionnaire was developed. The sewing machine and cutting room operators participated in the completion of the questionnaire. Qualitative data analysis was done on the interviews and focus group interviews according to Miles and Huberman’s (1994:10) data analysis process. Overall 137 questionnaires were completed and was thereafter analysed by a statistician. Findings indicated that the internal resources in this factory were interrelated. Thus the optimisation of each resource individually contributed to a more efficient overall production output. Human resources were the core and heartbeat of any production company. Employees’ needed, employees’ satisfaction, training, and communication and feedback were crucial for optimal outputs. Resources that had a direct relation to human resources were performance appraisal, motivation, training and ergonomics. Optimum training was facilitated by motivating workers. Performance appraisal was directly influenced by training as management trained employees through a performance appraisal system. When the trained employees knew how to operate their equipment effectively it contributed to ergonomic posture and the optimum usage of equipment. Thus all four of these resources were closely interrelated on all levels. Operational and physical resources (technology, production planning, material handling and production system used) were all related to ergonomics and indirectly related to the other human resources mentioned. Quality control was incorporated into all the resources within the company and played a role within the use of every one of the above-mentioned resources. Human resources implemented quality control in their work on hand, which was facilitated by technology, production planning, material handling and the production system used. An investigation of a single resource would therefore not have reflected a true scenario in terms of strengths and shortcomings that could be attended to, to improve the outputs of a clothing production system. This study revealed the pertinence of all of the resources in terms of the success of a clothing production system but clearly indicated that failure to control one resource could jeopardise the entire system unless other resources are able to compensate for such shortcomings. In this particular study the potential role of human resources in terms of the success of a clothing production system was confirmed. Although not conducive in the long term, when properly trained and well-treated, employees could be motivated to overcome frustrations caused by poor working conditions created by poor ergonomic features and dated machinery. The hierarchy of resources and the interactive contribution of resources towards the output of the system should therefore be understood and acknowledged by management in order to succeed and to survive in a cut throat industry. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Consumer Science / unrestricted

Le système canadien de soins de santé coûte cher et il a besoin d’être amélioré afin de devenir plus performant. Cette amélioration du système de soins de santé passe par une recherche innovatrice, c’est-à-dire une recherche basée sur la collaboration entre les producteurs et les utilisateurs de cette recherche. Cette collaboration favorise l’utilisation de la recherche. De nombreuses études ont démontré qu'un facteur déterminant favorise l'utilisation de la recherche: les bonnes relations interpersonnelles entre chercheurs et utilisateurs à toutes les étapes de la recherche, partant de l’identification des priorités de recherche et de l'élaboration des questions de recherche, jusqu'à la mise en œuvre des résultats. Cette thèse offre des pistes pour comprendre les attitudes et les comportements qui favorisent les bonnes relations interpersonnelles entre chercheurs et utilisateurs, ce qui servira à mettre en place des processus de transfert de connaissances efficaces qui mèneront à l'utilisation de la recherche.

The diploma thesis focuses on optimization of collection service distribution routes in specific company in Moravia region. Failure to evaluate the effects of transportation organization can lead to inefficient planning of routes, which can in turn lead to time or financial losses. Professional approach to distribution route planning leads to a smooth operation of the collection service and to a successful compliance with the evaluation criteria. At first, the diploma thesis will analyse and evaluate the current condition using the evaluation criteria and then it will attempt to propose new solution to improve the current state of affairs.

Problem Statement: Many developing countries are still grappling with poor health as a result of strained healthcare systems. Top among health inequalities is maternal care with maternal mortality rates being almost 19 times higher in developing countries than in their developed counterparts. mHealth presents the potential for developing countries to overcome some of the traditional healthcare challenges. However, despite the compelling evidence for the potential of maternal mHealth from the plethora of effectiveness studies, why when and how interventions work/do not work in different contexts are not fully understood. Socio-cultural factors are one of the most cited reasons for variance in uptake and utilisation of such technologies. To date, research explaining how socio-cultural factors shape mHealth utilisation is sparse. Purpose of the study: The main objective of the study was to explain how mHealth utilisation behaviour emerges within the healthcare-seeking socio-cultural context. To achieve the objective, the study identified the socio-cultural characteristics of the maternal healthcareseeking context and analysed the user-technology interaction within this context. Research methodology: Building on the foundation that human experiences are best understood in situ, the study adopted explanatory methods guided by an interpretivist paradigm. The study drew upon Activity Theory as a lens to understand the maternal mHealth utilisation phenomenon. Hence, we theorised healthcare-seeking as an activity whose cultural aspects were further understood using Hofstede typology of culture. The study used a Kenyan maternal mHealth intervention to elucidate the phenomenon. We employed semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observations, informal discussions, and document review to gather data. The sample was purposively selected and comprised various maternal health stakeholders: maternal health clients, their partners, project implementers and healthcare professionals. Key findings: The results of the study show that the healthcare-seeking socio-cultural context which is characterised by socio-cultural attributes such as high-power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, gendered relations, and collectivism shapes mHealth utilisation behaviour in a dialectical process. This process takes place as maternal health clients shape and are shaped by mHealth within their healthcare-seeking socio-cultural context through a process of internalisation and externalisation. From an internalisation perspective, uncertainties and risks in the maternal healthcare-seeking context resulted in hesitated adoption. Contextual perceptions of usefulness of the intervention resulted in the use of mHealth to substitute other healthcare structures while having different perceptions of the role of mHealth created dissonance among the maternal health clients. With regards to externalisation, maternal health clients adopted legitimisation strategies to reduce uncertainties and to develop trust required for initial and continued use of the intervention. They legitimised both the intervention artifact, and the information. Since the mHealth intervention presented appropriate social cues, being accompanied by the expected health provider's persona, maternal health clients readily humanised the intervention. The contextual social norms around pregnancy also presented a need for the maternal health clients to make their mHealth use an ‘appropriate behaviour' by negotiating use with relevant stakeholders in the context. Finally, in response to mHealth technology paradoxes that challenged the very motive of healthcare-seeking, maternal health clients coped by abandoning mHealth, or otherwise accommodating it. Originality/contribution: This study contributed to knowledge, theory, and practice. First, the study suggests theoretical propositions that explain how mHealth utilisation behaviour emerges. These findings may be useful to similar developing-country contexts. A further contribution to theory emerges from the use of Activity Theory to understand the phenomenon. The study helps to operationalise Activity Theory concepts in Information Systems research. Second, the study provides recommendations to practise with regard to the design and implementation of mHealth interventions. These insights may be useful to mHealth designers and implementers in designing mHealth solutions that are contextually relevant. Here, we propose the consideration of mHealth intervention characteristics that will aid utilisation, involving healthcare professionals and other community stakeholders in mHealth implementation and integrating mHealth into existing healthcare structures.

The study was focused on molecular characterization of 42 clostridial strains. DNA was isolated by fenol-chloroform extraction procedure and precipitated with ethanol. After DNA isolation, PCR amplifications with specific primer sets were used for genus and species identification. Finally 19 strains were clasified as Clostridium tyrobutyricum and 3 strains were clasified as Clostridium butyricum. Presence of hydrogenase gene hydA was tested by PCR amplification using specific primer set HGf and HGr. Presence of hydrogenase gene was detected within 21 strains. (GTG)5 primer (rep-PCR) and Pr1 and Pr6 primers (RAPD) were used for differentiation of clostridial strains. Next, the cultivation of Clostridium tyrobutyricum S5 was studied under different conditions. The cultivation was carried out in liquid Reinforced Clostridial Medium (RCM) with lactose and cheese whey instead of glucose under anaerobe conditions. Growth was observed at laboratory temperature (20 to 23 °C) and at 37 °C, pH values ranging from 4.0 to 8.0 with 0.5 unit.