Tidigare forskning har visat att kundinvolvering kan ske på olika nivåer, där dehögsta nivåerna bidragit till bland annat ökad kundnöjdhet, konkurrenskraftigafördelar och förbättrat införande av nya tjänster hos organisationerna. Syftet medstudien har varit att bidra med kunskapsutveckling kring Radikal Kundinvolveringinom tjänstesektorn. Begreppet var nytt för forskningsområdet och få tidigarestudier visade effekterna av djupgående kundinvolvering. Den teoretiskareferensramen inleddes med kundfokus inom Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling,kundengagemang och kundinvolvering för att slutligen mynna ut i begreppetRadikal Kundinvolvering. Den kunskapsteoretiska utgångspunkten i studien harvarit hermeneutisk med abduktiv ansats. Kvalitativa djupintervjuer har använts sommetod för datainsamling. Till intervjuerna valdes fyra organisationer sombedömdes ha arbetat med Radikal Kundinvolvering och frågor rörandeerfarenheter, effekter och framtidsutsikter ställdes utifrån en semistruktureradintervjumall. Intervjumaterialet analyserades med utgångspunkt frånforskningsfrågorna. Förutom att stärka resultaten från tidigare forskning, visadeförfattarnas slutsats på att organisationerna kombinerade olika metoder förkundinvolvering och att effekterna av Radikal Kundinvolvering blev stärktorganisationskultur, ökad kommunikation och delaktighet. Arbetet ledde också tillatt kundgrupper vars åsikter vanligtvis inte fångades genom traditionella metoderblev hörda. / Previous research shows that customer involvement can occur on different levels,where the highest ones have had effects like increased customer satisfaction,competitive advantages and improved introduction of new services for theorganisations. The purpose of the study was to develop a deeper knowledge ofRadical Customer Involvement within service development. The term was new tothe field of research the and few studies had mentioned the effects of deepercustomer involvement. The theoretical framework leads the reader from customerorientation within Total Quality Management, customer engagement and customerinvolvement to Radical Customer Involvement. The research method washermeneutic with an abductive approach. Qualitative in-depth interviews wereused to collect data. Four organisations that were considered working with RadicalCustomer Involvement were chosen for the study and questions involvingexperiences, effects and the future of the field were asked with the help of a semi-structured interview guide. The analysis was based on the questions of the study.Besides strengthening previous research, the authors conclusion showed that theorganisations combined different methods of customer involvement and thatRadical Customer involvement had positive effects on the organisations culture,communication and participation. It also helped raise the voice of customers thattraditional methods were unable to reach. / <p>2019-06-27</p>

Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur ett införande av Self-Service Business Intelligence och SSBI-verktyg kan påverka organisationsstruktur samt anställdas roll inom organisationen. Self-Service Business Intelligence kan definieras som ett verktyg som möjliggör decentralisering av Business Intelligence vilket innebär att BI-användaren i en verksamhet kan utföra diverse uppgifter på egen hand utan att vara beroende av IT-avdelningen (Sarkar 2017). För att konkretisera arbetet undersöks fyra organisationer. Fem intervjuer som bestod av fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer och en strukturerad intervju genomfördes för att erhålla kunskap om hur dessa företag använder Self-Service Business Intelligence i praktiken. Därtill erhålls kunskap om innebörden för organisationen och dess anställda när verktyget tillgängliggjordes. I studien har bland annat TOE-ramverk använts för att analysera vilka faktorer som har en betydelse vid införande av en ny teknologi. Teorin om Organisatorisk IT mognadsnivå (OITM) användes för att analysera organisationens beredskap för att skapa värde ur informationsteknologi. Andra teorier om olika roller av BI-användare, utbildning och organisationsförändring användes för att få en djupare inblick kring de faktorer som påverkar organisationsstrukturen och anställdas roller.  Resultatet av studien visade att de anställdas roller och organisationsstrukturen påverkades av Self-Service Business Intelligence i olika grader. Det noterades en tydlig indelning av användarroller, avancerade BI-användare och vanliga BI-användare, inom samtliga organisationer. Konkreta förändringar inom organisationerna var bättre beslutfattningsprocess, avlastning hos IT-avdelningen och effektivare arbetsflöde. Bland de organisationer där Self-Service Business Intelligence har fått stor spridning noterades det en större påverkan på organisationsstruktur och anställdas roller medan de organisationerna med en mindre spridning av verktyget hade en mindre inverkan på deras verksamhet. Detta förutsätter dock att organisationerna utbildar sina anställda genom ett strukturellt träningsprogram och motiverar syftet med Self-Service Business Intelligence för en större spridning av verktyget och således en större inverkan på organisationen och de anställdas roller. / In this essay we have chosen to investigate how an implementation of Self-Service Business Intelligence can affect organizational change and the role of users within the organization. Self-Service BI is a tool that enables decentralization of BI which means that the user in a business can perform various tasks themselves without being dependent on the IT department. To concretize the work, we have chosen to examine four companies. The survey was conducted via five interviews (four semi-structured and one structured interviews) to gather insight on how these companies use Self-Service Business Intelligence and the result for their organization and employees when the tool was applied in the organization. In the study, TOE-framework has been used to analyze which factors play a role in the implementation of a new technology. The theory of Organizational IT maturity (OITM) was used to analyze the organizations and its employees' different attitudes towards IT while other theories of different roles of users, training and organizational change were used to gain a deeper insight into the factors that affect organizational structure, employee roles and factors which causes the changes. The results of the study showed that the roles of the employees and the organizational structure were affected by Self-Service Business Intelligence to varying degrees. There was a clear division of user roles, power users and casual users, within all organizations. Concrete changes in the organizations were better decision-making processes, relieves in the IT department and more efficient workflow. Among the organizations where Self-Service Business Intelligence has become widespread, a greater impact on organizational structure and employee roles has been noted, while it has been noted that those organizations with a smaller spread of the tool have seen a smaller impact on their operations. However, this presupposes that the organizations train their employees through a structural training program and justifies the purpose of Self-Service Business Intelligence for a greater spread of the tool and thus a greater impact on the organization and the employees' roles.

En vanlig metod inom arkitektonisk visualisering idag är produktion av stillbilder som skapas med 3D-modelleringsprogram. Med sådan avancerad teknik blir det enkelt och effektivt att styra och manipulera vad som visas på stillbilderna, vilket ökar säljbarheten av arkitektoniska projekt. Men vad händer om vi tar det ett steg längre, med hjälp av Alternative Reality-teknik? AR eller Augmented Reality kan vara en annan användbar visualiseringsmetod, men vilka konsekvenser kommer det med, speciellt för de icke-professionella användarna? Om vi inte tänker på vilka konsekvenser det kan ha, på samma sätt som med stillbilder, blir det bara ett annat verktyg för att öka säljbarheten för arkitektoniska projekt. Denna studie kommer därför att försöka svara på frågan ”Hur implementerar vi AR inom arkitektonisk visualisering på ett sätt som är gynnsamt för de icke-professionella användarna?”De centrala begreppen som bör tas till hänsyn när man talar om arkitektonisk visualisering är autonomi, tid, medborgarnas tidiga medverkan, ocularcentrism och konceptet av verklighet. Eftersom arkitekturen måste bero på vardagens sammanhang, bör visualiseringen inte stänga av världen för att skapa ett fint ideal som bara fungerar som falsk annonsering. Att stänga ut medborgarnas röster leder också till att skapa en metaforisk mur mellan människorna inom fältet och människorna utanför, vilket leder till förlust av utbyte av insikter och perspektiv. En av rösterna som talar starkt mot den autonoma synen är Jeremy Till, hans ord från boken Architecture depends kommer därför att spela en central roll i det teoretiska perspektivet av denna studie.För att svara på frågorna i studien kommer observationslinsen vändas till både den professionella sidan och den icke-professionella sidan angående ämnet Alternative Reality inom arkitektur. Detta görs via metoden cyber-etnografi, där Internet kommer att vara det öppna fältet att observera. Potentialerna för AR som uttrycks av de professionella kommer att användas för att jämföras med de icke-professionellas perspektiv och oron. Resultaten av observationerna kommer att användas till ett förslag av en AR-applikation, vilket är denna studies bidrag till diskussionen av vilka sätt AR kan genomföras för de icke-professionella användarnas skull. / A common method within architectural visualization today is the production of still images made with 3D-modeling software. With such advanced technology, it is made easy and efficient to control and manipulate what is shown on those still images, increasing the salability of architectural projects. But what if we take it a step further, using alternative reality technologies? AR, or Augmented Reality can be another useful visualization method, but what implications does it come with, especially for the non-professional users? If we do not consider the impacts it might have, similarly to still images, it will just turn into another tool to increase the salability of architectural projects. This study will therefore seek to answer the question of “How do we implement AR within architectural visualization in a way that is beneficial for the non-professional users?”The central concepts to consider when talking about architectural visualization are autonomy, time, early involvement of citizens, ocularcentrism and the concept of reality. As architecture has to depend on the contexts of our daily lives, the visualization should not shut out the world to create a pretty ideal that only serves as false advertisement. Shutting out the voices of the citizens also serves to create a metaphorical wall between the people within the field and the people outside of it, causing a loss of exchange of insights and perspectives. One of the voices that speak strongly against the autonomous view is Jeremy Till, his words from the book Architecture Depends will therefore play a central role in the theoretical perspective of this study.To answer the questions of this study, the observation lens will be turned to both the professional side and the non-professional side regarding the subject of alternative reality usage within architecture. This is done via the method of cyber-ethnography, in which the Internet will be the open field to observe. The potentials of AR that are expressed by the professionals will be taken to compare to the perspectives and worries of the non-professionals. The results of the observations will be of use towards a proposal of an AR application, which is this study’s contribution to the discussion of which ways AR can be implemented for the sake of the non-professional users.

Cette thèse s'intéresse particulièrement aux sites de vente en ligne et à leurs réseaux sociaux. La propension des utilisateurs utiliser ces sites Web tels qu'eBay et Amazon est de plus en plus importante en raison de leur fiabilité. Les consommateurs se réfèrent à ces sites Web pour leurs besoins et en deviennent clients. L'un des défis à relever est de fournir les informations utiles pour aider les clients dans leurs achats. Ainsi, une question sous-jacente à la thèse cherche à répondre est de savoir comment fournir une information complète aux clients afin de les aider dans leurs achats. C'est important pour les sites d'achats en ligne car cela satisfait les clients par ces informations utiles. Pour surmonter ce problème, trois études spécifiques ont été réalisées : (1) Trouver les utilisateurs influents, (2) Comprendre la propagation d'opinion et (3) Agréger les opinions. Dans la première partie, la thèse propose une méthodologie pour trouver les utilisateurs influents du réseau qui sont essentiels pour une propagation précise de l'opinion. Pour ce faire, les utilisateurs sont classés en fonction de deux scores : optimiste et pessimiste. Dans la deuxième partie, une nouvelle méthodologie de propagation de l'opinion est présentée pour parvenir à un accord et maintenir la cohérence entre les utilisateurs, ce qui rend l'agrégation possible. La propagation se fait en tenant compte des impacts des utilisateurs influents et des voisins. Enfin, dans la troisième partie, l'agrégation des avis est proposée pour rassembler les avis existants et les présenter comme des informations utiles pour les clients concernant chaque produit du site de vente en ligne. Pour ce faire, l'opérateur de calcul de la moyenne pondérée et les techniques floues sont utilisées. La thèse présente un modèle d'opinion consensuelle dans les réseaux. Les travaux peuvent s'appliquer à tout groupe qui a besoin de trouver un avis parmi les avis de ses membres. Par conséquent, le modèle proposé dans la thèse fournit un taux précis et approprié pour chaque produit des sites d'achat en ligne / Online Social Networks are increasing and piercing our lives such that almost every person in the world has a membership at least in one of them. Among famous social networks, there are online shopping websites such as Amazon, eBay and other ones which have members and the concepts of social networks apply to them. This thesis is particularly interested in the online shopping websites and their networks. According to the statistics, the attention of people to use these websites is growing due to their reliability. The consumers refer to these websites for their need (which could be a product, a place to stay, or home appliances) and become their customers. One of the challenging issues is providing useful information to help the customers in their shopping. Thus, an underlying question the thesis seeks to answer is how to provide comprehensive information to the customers in order to help them in their shopping. This is important for the online shopping websites as it satisfies the customers by this useful information and as a result increases their customers and the benefits of both sides. To overcome the problem, three specific connected studies are considered: (1) Finding the influential users, (2) Opinion Propagation and (3) Opinion Aggregation. In the first part, the thesis proposes a methodology to find the influential users in the network who are essential for an accurate opinion propagation. To do so, the users are ranked based on two scores namely optimist and pessimist. In the second part, a novel opinion propagation methodology is presented to reach an agreement and maintain the consistency among users which subsequently, makes the aggregation feasible. The propagation is conducted considering the impacts of the influential users and the neighbors. Ultimately, in the third part, the opinion aggregation is proposed to gather the existing opinions and present it as the valuable information to the customers regarding each product of the online shopping website. To this end, the weighted averaging operator and fuzzy techniques are used. The thesis presents a consensus opinion model in signed and unsigned networks. This solution can be applied to any group who needs to find a plenary opinion among the opinions of its members. Consequently, the proposed model in the thesis provides an accurate and appropriate rate for each product of the online shopping websites that gives precious information to their customers and helps them to have a better insight regarding the products.

The health care industry in Nigeria is increasingly grappling with challenges of meeting end users’ requirements and expectations for quality antiretroviral therapy (ART) service provision. This study sought to explore and describe the quality of antiretroviral therapy in public health facilities in Nigeria and the perceptions of the end users. A descriptive qualitative research design was used in the study in order to generate ideas from end users for improving quality of ART service provision, and prompt additional research activities. Unstructured focus group discussions were conducted with end users (n=64) in 6 locations across the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Data was analysed using the framework approach because it reflects the original accounts and observations of the end users and the Weft QDA version 1.0.1 software to validate the results. Findings revealed that end users were satisfied with uninterrupted antiretroviral drug supplies, courtesy treatment, volunteerism of support group members and quality counselling services. End users expect public health facilities to accept diagnostic results from collaborating facilities, implement continuous quality improvement (CQI), maintain clean and adequate health infrastructure, reduce end user waiting time, reduce stigma, comprehensively assess end users during each clinic visit and ensure uninterrupted ART services. They also expect effective collaboration between healthcare providers and support group members, to enhance the quality of life of people living with HIV (PLHIV). End users identified the following as quality gaps in ART service provision: weak health facility leadership, non-attractive ART service infrastructure, frequently interrupted laboratory services, demotivated and inadequate health care workers, long waiting time, interrupted medicine supplies and inadequate procedure for complaints management. In conclusion, the following recommendations were proffered: deploy and train additional health care workers, integrate ART into regular health services, improve supply chain management of health commodities, and reduce end user overload in clinics. Finally, a best practice guideline for the provision of end user focused ART service provision was developed. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

In the future, as world markets become more diverse, designers will be increasingly asked to create products for people dissimilar to themselves. Human issues, such as product pleasure, will also become more important as advances in manufacturing (enabling companies to produce high quality goods more cheaply) will mean companies will look elsewhere to achieve a competitive edge. These changes will affect designers who presently work with little or no user information. This thesis investigates the attributes designers need in resources that offer them an immediate yet broad understanding of users. The research presented in the thesis has a philosophical strand and a design strand. In the design strand, two mock up resources and a prototype resource are developed. These creations are used in the philosophical strand: the mock ups are used to provide focus while collecting opinions from participants and the prototype is evaluated at the end of the research as if it were a real resource. The thesis starts with a literature review; this review reveals that designers need to understand users' physical, psychological and social needs as well as their environments if they are to design appropriate products for them. It explains that designers find much ergonomics information too technical and not visual enough and reveals that no tools or methods exist that offer a broad and instant understanding of users at the start of the design process. Following this, the results from a set of interviews and a focus group are presented. These studies reveal that designers want both personal and general user information that is reliable, video based, contextual and authentic. The results also show that designers want a fast, online resource that allows information to be easily tagged, compared and shared. Next, the thesis describes the development of the prototype resource and its examination using a heuristic inspection. This resource is then evaluated by designers. The evaluation reveals that designers perceived that the resource would be of value to the design process and thought that the videos showing people going about their everyday lives and the virtual tours around people's homes would be particularly useful. The thesis concludes that designers want contextual user information presented as easily navigable video in an Internet based resource. In doing so, it provides an original contribution to knowledge.

M. Tech. Business Administration / The purpose of this study is two-fold ; to establish how different demograhic profiles utilise the internet and classifies internet functions mostly used across demographic characteristics. Data was collected through a self-completion structured questionnaire from a sample of 131 households at Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in the City of Tshwane.

Human/wildlife interactions at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge were investigated in this research. Personal interviews and a mapping exercise were used to examine a variety of questions about recreational use. These included visitor backgrounds (their recreational histories, socioeconomic profiles, and past refuge visits), their perceptions (of current and proposed management policies, and visitor effects on wildlife), and their experiences of the refuge (their activities, most memorable experiences and exploration of the environment). Most visitors questioned were middle-aged individuals who resided in New Mexico. The refuge's unique character--its diversity of wildlife and landscape features--was perceived as its greatest asset. Visitors saw the refuge as a wildlife sanctuary, protected and controlled by officials who prevented visitors from having damaging impacts on the resource. While visitors differed by season of visit and purpose of visit, most did agree that the refuge should be managed for the sake of wildlife first. After that, visitors felt that it should be managed for the sake of recreation. Snow Geese responses to certain visitor behaviors were also examined. Simulations of visitor behaviors were made in the presence of small groups of geese. Behavioral observations of geese were made prior to, during, and after simulations. Environmental factors (weather, habitat, and temporal) were also examined. This analysis revealed a general tendency among geese to respond to visitor simulations in characteristic ways. However, variations in geese responses were also observed. Several factors may have most strongly influenced geese behavior. The predictability of visitor behaviors as perceived by geese influenced their patterns of response. Then too, certain environmental factors (habitat and temporal) were important, as well as the particular nature of the animal behaviors themselves. This research indicates that significant transactions occur between people, animals, and the environment. Understanding them is crucial in managing natural resources for ecological as well as recreational values.

Paper 1 - Consultation is a widely used model of practice amongst Educational Psychology Services (EPS) in the United Kingdom (UK) as evidenced in the amount of research carried out on this practice (Leadbetter, 2006, p. 246). This paper attempts to supplement the limited evidence on how and why consultation is used. This paper provides an account of Educational Psychologists (EPs) perceptions of using consultation in a Welsh Educational Psychology Service (EPS). The study uses a thematic analysis of interviews with EPs and 3 accounts of the practice of consultation are provided as examples of how consultation is used. Data analysis revealed that EPs’ practice is dominated by the influence of Wagner’s model of consultation, which is a result of both university, and service based training and not because they feel it is necessarily the best way of working and were vague about their reasons for using this approach. Evidence emerged to suggest EPs were only aware of one model of consultation, which is the Wagner model. Evidence also emerged to suggest that EPs confused service delivery models with models of consultation and that EPs are unclear about their unique skills and role when using consultation and feel that schools do not understand the work they are trying to achieve when working in this way. EPs also considered that schools want more time with them, but burdensome bureaucracy hinders this. These findings are discussed in more detail at the end of Paper 2 where the overall findings suggest there is a systemic problem in Pantysgawn EPS, where the dominance of the EP role to provide statutory assessments prevents EPs from working in a truly consultative way. The paper ends by discussing the key element of the EP’s role, whether a consistent and rigid adherence to one practice model is practicable or desirable, and the various ways that EP services can monitor outcomes to alleviate some of the bureaucratic processes. Paper 2 - Paper 1 of this study looked at EPs’ perceptions of using consultation. Very few studies have looked at service users experiences in consultation based EP services. Paper 2 therefore looks at schools’ perceptions of the EP service and considers the benefits and barriers to effective service delivery using a thematic analysis of interviews with staff from 5 primary and 3 secondary schools. Findings suggest that schools continue to regard the expertise of the EP as being a provider of individual assessments, but they also revealed an awareness of the wider systemic role that EPs can provide. This traditional view of the role of the EP is discussed in terms of a wider systemic pressure for schools to seek this kind of EP intervention due to the Local Authority’s (LA) focus on statutory assessments. Schools appreciated a greater continuity of EPS staff as this helped them to develop more productive working relationships and they wanted more time with the EP. The findings suggest that the level of bureaucracy and the statutory assessment requirements to gain access to targeted resources were a barrier to working more effectively with schools. The paper ends by integrating these findings with the paper 1 findings and discussing the key element of the EP’s role, whether a consistent and rigid adherence to one practice model is practicable or desirable, and the various ways that EP services can monitor outcomes to alleviate some of the bureaucratic processes.

Objective To describe the use of Lactobacillus by hospitalized patients and to examine its relationship with various Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) related outcomes. Methods The characteristics of Lactobacillus users and non-users and the initiation of Lactobacillus with respect to initiation of antibiotic therapy and CDI treatment were described using national hospital discharge database. The relationships between Lactobacillus use and post-CDI length of stay, mortality, switch of CDI therapy, and readmission were analyzed. Results Lactobacillus users and non-users were different in most characteristics. Metronidazole and fluoroquinolones were the most frequently used antibiotics by Lactobacillus users. They were mainly CDI cases, used multiple antibiotics, extremely ill, and started Lactobacillus five or more days after initiation of antibiotics or CDI treatment. Lactobacillus use was associated with increased length of stay and switching of CDI therapy. Conclusions The true association between Lactobacillus use and CDI remains unclear. This study provides foundation for future research.