As infrastructure networks grow more complex, regulatory requirements become greater, populations grow, budgets become more limited, and the expectations of customers increase, municipalities are progressively being required to provide more for less. This is presenting some particular challenges to the long-term sustainability of buried water and wastewater infrastructure in Ontario. In response, municipalities are increasingly seeking to improve their business processes and asset management capabilities as a path to optimize the lifecycle of their infrastructure assets and ensure public safety, community development, and financial sustainability. This thesis presents an organizational performance measurement framework for municipal infrastructure asset management which was validated through interviews and surveys with international discipline experts. The resultant framework provides a high-level outline and suggestions for implementation of key objectives, 11 core critical success factors, and 135 quantitative performance indicators for municipal water and wastewater asset management organizations.

This dissertation focuses on the interactions between local public sector organisations and institutions in the development of performance measurement (PM) targets and indicators. The research is grounded in the performance measurement and management literature and adopts a joint new institutional and resource dependence perspective. Empirically, the research, which is qualitative and theory-building, consists of case studies undertaken in local public sector organisations in England. The iterative comparison of theory and data has enabled the investigation of a number of relevant themes. In the last decade, the British Government has placed great emphasis on the consistency of objectives, targets and indicators from national to local levels with the aim of enhancing performance, transparency and accountability, and of driving behavior. However, this research shows that the influence of several organizations and the co- existence of various PM initiatives generate confusion and overlaps locally. Moreover, in the cases considered the unmanageable number of indicators and the lack of clarity regarding the drivers and purposes of PM have led to confused massages and counter- productive approaches to the measurement and management of performance. From a theoretical view-point, the favourable comments expressed by interviewees regarding the current PM regime contrast with critics of New Public Management. Furthermore, legitimacy-seeking and efficiency-enhancing rationals have emerged as intertwined and loosely coupled. This is in opposition to what is maintained by early new institutional theorists. In line with resource dependence theory, PM systems were found to be significant components of power systems in organisations. Through the examination of the roles of PM and the investigation of relevant concepts such as 'golden thread' and performance culture, this research aims to make an impact on policy-making and to improve the ways in which targets and indicators are set and used, hence having a positive effect on the services delivered.

Parallel and distributed programming constitutes a highly promising approach to improving the performance of many applications. However, in comparison to sequential programming, many new problems arise in all phases of the development cycle of this kind of applications. For example, in the analysis phase of parallel/distributed programs, the programmer has to decompose the problem (data and/or code) to find the concurrency of the algorithm. In the design phase, the programmer has to be aware of the communication and synchronization conditions between tasks. In the implementation phase, the programmer has to learn how to use specific communication libraries and runtime environments but also to find a way of debugging programs. Finally, to obtain the best performance, the programmer has to tune the application by using monitoring tools, which collect information about the application's behavior. Tuning can be a very difficult task because it can be difficult to relate the information gathered by the monitor to the application's source code. Moreover, tuning can be even more difficult for those applications that change their behavior dynamically because, in this case, a problem might happen or not depending on the execution conditions.It can be seen that these issues require a high degree of expertise, which prevents the more widespread use of this kind of solution. One of the best ways to solve these problems would be to develop, as has been done in sequential programming, tools to support the analysis, design, coding, and tuning of parallel/distributed applications. In the particular case of performance analysis and/or tuning, it is important to note that the best way of analyzing and tuning parallel/distributed applications depends on some of their behavioral characteristics. If the application to be tuned behaves in a regular way then a static analysis (predictive or trace based) would be enough to find the application's performance bottlenecks and to indicate what should be done to overcome them. However, if the application changes its behavior from execution to execution or even dynamically changes its behavior in a single execution then the static analysis cannot offer efficient solutions for avoiding performance bottlenecks. In this case, dynamic monitoring and tuning techniques should be used instead. However, in dynamic monitoring and tuning, decisions must be taken efficiently, which means that the application's performance analysis outcome must be accurate and punctual in order to effectively tackle problems; at the same time, intrusion on the application must be minimized because the instrumentation inserted in the application in order to monitor and tune it alters its behavior and could introduce performance problems that were not there before the instrumentation. This is more difficult to achieve if there is no information about the structure and behavior of the application; therefore, blind automatic dynamic tuning approaches have limited success, whereas cooperative dynamic tuning approaches can cope with more complex problems at the cost of asking for user collaboration. We have proposed a third approach. If a programming tool, based on the use of skeletons or frameworks, has been used in the development of the application then much information about the structure and behavior of the application is available and a performance model associated to the structure of the application can be defined for use by the dynamic tuning tool. The resulting tuning tool should produce the outcome of a collaborative one while behaving like an automatic one from the point of view of the application developer.

Dans les années 1990, plusieurs initiatives des gouvernements, des industriels et surtout des organisations environnementales ont mené à une prolifération des programmes de certification forestière tels que le Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), le CSA/Z808 de l'Association canadienne des normes, la Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) ou la norme ISO14001. La certification forestière est un instrument créé pour contrôler les pratiques et actions largement critiquées de l'industrie forestière. La présente recherche utilise la certification forestière comme un indicateur de mesure de la performance environnementale. Les études empiriques portant sur la relation entre la performance environnementale (PE) et la performance financière (PF) rapportent dans l'ensemble une relation positive entre ces deux variables (Klassen et McLaughlin, 1996; Hamilton, 1995; White, 1995; Shane et Spicer, 1983). D'un autre côté, les études empiriques portant sur la certification se sont intéressées, pour la plupart, à étudier la disposition des consommateurs pour acheter les produits certifiés. Toutefois, peu de recherches empiriques ont analysé la certification du point de vue des investisseurs. L'objectif de la présente recherche consiste à examiner la relation entre la performance environnementale, telle que mesurée par l'instrument de la certification forestière, et la performance financière, et ce, dans le contexte canadien et américain. Bien que la certification entraîne d'importants coûts directs et indirects, elle présente néanmoins certains avantages tels qu'une meilleure relation de l'entreprise certifiée avec les parties prenantes, des avantages de marché (ventes potentiellement supérieures), etc. Si les marchés financiers reconnaissent l'importance stratégique de la certification, ils accorderont probablement une valeur financière supérieure pour les entreprises certifiées. La question principale est de savoir si le marché accorde une «prime verte» pour les entreprises ayant adopté une telle initiative normative. Pour y répondre, nous avons utilisé la méthodologie événementielle qui permet de mesurer l'impact d'un événement, tel celui de l'adoption de la certification, sur la performance financière telle que mesurée par les rendements anormaux cumulés (RAC). Nous avons utilisé un échantillon de contrôle sélectionné en fonction de l'industrie (code SIC à 2 «digits») et de la taille (capitalisation boursière) comme référence («benchmark») pour les entreprises certifiées. En conceptualisant les certifications comme indicateurs d'une bonne performance environnementale et on les catégorisant en fonction de la nature des vérificateurs, nous avons analysé la réaction des investisseurs aux annonces de certification (FSC, CSA, SFI et ISO14001) à court et à moyen et long termes. Les résultats de l'étude à court terme suggèrent que la certification a un impact positif sur la performance financière, ce qui supporte l'argument en faveur d'une relation positive entre PE et PF. Toutefois, cette relation positive ne tient pas à moyen et long termes. En effet, les entreprises certifiées ont réalisé des rendements anormaux cumulés moyens négatifs et significatifs dans les 12, 24 et 36 mois suivant la certification. Cet impact négatif concerne essentiellement les entreprises ayant choisi l'option de vérification conduite par une tierce partie indépendante. Sur une période de 36 mois suivant la certification, le marché financier a récompensé les entreprises certifiées FSC (18,6 %), tandis qu'il a pénalisé les entreprises certifiées SFI, CSA et ISO14001 (-19,21 %, -37,37 % et -24,13 % respectivement). De plus, l'impact de la certification sur la performance financière dépend du secteur industriel et de la taille de l'entreprise. En outre, les entreprises certifiées avant décembre 2002 ont bénéficié d'une PF supérieure relativement à celles certifiées après cette date. Enfin, les certifications annoncées par les entreprises elles-mêmes ont bénéficié d'une PF supérieure relativement aux certifications annoncées par d'autres sources. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Développement durable, Certification forestière, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), La norme CSA/Z808, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), La norme ISO14001, Performance environnementale, Performance financière, Étude événementielle, Rendement anormal, Rendement anormal cumulé.

L'objectif de cette recherche consiste à vérifier si les fonds socialement responsables (FSR) en France offrent une performance financière supérieure, inférieure ou égale à celle des fonds conventionnels comparables. Nous testons trois hypothèses relativement à la performance financière des FSR tout en visant à remédier en partie aux lacunes identifiées dans la littérature, particulièrement celles qui concernent les coûts relatifs à la gestion des fonds et la qualité de gestion des institutions financières. La première hypothèse consiste à faire une comparaison entre la performance financière des FSR et la performance d'un indice général comme le CAC40. La deuxième hypothèse consiste, quant à elle, à comparer la performance financière des FSR à celle de fonds comparables ayant la même allocation d'actifs. Finalement, et afin de contrôler l'effet de la qualité de gestion, la troisième hypothèse vise à comparer la performance financière des FSR à celle de fonds conventionnels comparables ayant la même allocation d'actif et appartenant à la même institution financière. Pour tester les hypothèses, trois mesures principales de performance ont été utilisées à savoir: les rendements, le ratio de Sharpe et celui de Sortino. D'une manière générale les résultats ont montré que l'ISR en France n'affiche pas une performance financière significativement différente de celle des investissements conventionnels comparables.

Dans le cadre de ce travail, nous examinons la performance et la persistance de la performance d'un produit d'investissement encore peu connu du grand public, soit les fonds de couverture. En se basant sur les dix stratégies de fonds de couverture de la base CSFB TASS Management (TASS) pour la période allant de janvier 1994 à décembre 2004, nous analysons tout d'abord la performance à l'aide de quatre modèles d'évaluation différents. Par la suite, nous étudions la persistance de la performance à l'aide de trois approches distinctes, et ce, afin de constater s'il existe une continuité au sein des rendements de ce produit d'investissement. Les résultats obtenus indiquent que les fonds de couverture surpassent les actifs traditionnels d'investissement en termes de rendement. Au niveau du comportement des gestionnaires de fonds de couverture, nous observons que près de la moitié d'entre eux investissent au sein de titre de petite «taille» et d'obligations de pays émergents. De plus, nous observons également lorsque nous divisons la période d'étude, la performance anormale sur l'ensemble de la période peut être expliquée par la sous période de 1994 à 1999. Toujours au sein de la performance des fonds de couverture, les résultats indiquent que trois stratégies de fonds sur dix ont souffert lors de la crise financière asiatique survenue entre janvier 1997 et juin 1998. Parallèlement, les résultats concernant la persistance de la performance montrent la présence de persistance sur la période étudiée. Les stratégies Equity Market Neutral (gestionnaire gagnant qui continu à être gagnant) et Long/Short Equity (gestionnaire gagnant qui continue à être gagnant) sont les deux stratégies avec la plus forte présence de persistance. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Fonds de couverture (Hedge Funds), Évaluation de la performance, Évaluation de la persistance de la performance, Gestion de portefeuille.

L'objectif de ce mémoire est de réexaminer la performance et la persistance de la performance des fonds de couverture en utilisant différentes approches méthodologiques pour la période allant de l'année 1990 jusqu'à l'année 2006. Notre échantillon est composé de seize stratégies de fonds de couverture de la base HFR. Pour l'analyse de la performance, nous utilisons une variété de modèles d'évaluation de la performance. Nos résultats confirment que les fonds de couverture surperforment les différentes stratégies passives (actions, indices d'obligations et indices de matières premières). Par exemple, avec le modèle multifactoriel, nous observons que douze stratégies sur seize présentent un alpha (rendement anormal) positif et statistiquement significatif. Nous analysons également la persistance de la performance des fonds de couverture, en utilisant différentes approches et nous confirmons la présence de persistance de la performance à court, moyen et long terme pour l'ensemble de notre échantillon de fonds de couverture. ______________________________________________________________________________

Software designers make decisions between alternate approaches early in the development of a software application and these decisions can be difficult to change later. Designers make these decisions based on estimates of how alternatives affect software qualities. One software quality that can be difficult to predict is performance, that is, the efficient use of resources in the system. It is particularly challenging to estimate the performance of large, interconnected software systems composed of components. With the proliferation of class libraries, middle-ware systems, web services, and third party components, many software projects rely on third party services to meet their requirements. Often choosing between services involves considering both the functionality and performance of the services. To help software developers compare their designs and third-party services, I propose using performance prototypes of alternatives and test suites to estimate performance trade-offs early in the development cycle, a process called Design-Time Performance Testing (DTPT).<p> Providing software designers with performance evidence based on prototypes will allow designers to make informed decisions regarding performance trade-offs. To show how DTPT can help inform real design decisions. In particular: a process for DTPT, a framework implementation written in Java, and experiments to verify and validate the process and implementation. The implemented framework assists when designing, running, and documenting performance test suites, allowing designers to make accurate comparisons between alternate approaches. Performance metrics are captured by instrumenting and running prototypes.<p> This thesis describes the process and framework for gathering software performance estimates at design-time using prototypes and test suites.

Abstract Due to personal experience, I¡¦m interested in the impact of the leading style on the employees. When I was reading related research, I found that the leading style didn¡¦t show positive correlation on job performance when using the relation-oriented and job-oriented as the independent variable. Modern research support transactional leadership and transformational leadership. Therefore I took leading style as the independent variable, job performance as the dependent variable and the moderating variable is psychological contract. Descriptive statistics, reliability, factor-analysis, Pearson correlation and regression were chosen for data analysis and hypothesis testing. The result is shown as the following: 1. Transactional leadership and transformational leadership have positive impact on job performance. 1.1 Transactional leadership and transformational leadership have positive correlation impact and significant impact on task performance. 1.2 Transformational leadership has positive correlation impact and significant impact on contextual performance. 2. Psychological contract has different impact on job performance. 2.1 On task performance 2.1.1 Balanced contract has positive correlation impact and significant impact on task performance. 2.1.2 Relational contract has positive correlation impact and no significant impact on task performance. 2.1.3 Transactional contract has negative correlation impact and no significant impact on task performance. 2.2 On contextual impact 2.2.1 Balanced contract has positive correlation impact and significant impact on task performance. 2.2.2 Relational contract has positive correlation impact and no significant impact on task performance. 2.2.3 Transactional contract has negative correlation impact and no significant impact on task performance. 3.Psychological contract has positive correlation with leading style and job performance. 3.1Relational contract has negative moderating effect between transformational leadership and task performance. 3.2 Relational contract has negative moderating effect between transformational leadership and contextual performance.

As a result of the change of financial environment, the competition of domestic banking industry has become more intense, and its management has also met the challenge. In order to grow the operating activities, the bank of Taiwan become less dependent on traditional deposit and loan activities and then turns to develop the non-traditional activities. Therefore the non-interest income increases year by year and the development of operating activities diversification has become the main business model to promote the profit. Based on the above reason, the study use the market and account data of listed banks from 1991 to 2009 to investigate the impact of operating activities diversification on the risk and performance of banks. The result of the empirical analysis by the accounting data shows that the higher degree of operating activities diversification can reduce the bank risk, but the performance is not actually good. When the bank develops the operating activities diversification by increasing the non-interest income, the risk will be getting higher but the performance will be getting better. Therefore, the banking industry can¡¦t put too much stress on the non-interest income. It should make the adequate decision between the risk and the performance. On the other hand, the result of the empirical analysis by the market data shows that the higher degree of operating activities diversification can increase the fluctuation of the stock price and when the non-interest income increases, Tobin's Q value gets higher. It demonstrated that the investors of the stock market anticipated the bank can improve the performance by increasing the non-interest income activities and gives recognition.