<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p><strong>Date:</strong> May 2010</p><p><strong>Program:</strong> International Marketing (Master’s Program)</p><p><strong>Authors:</strong></p><p>Merve Ertekin                                                                 </p><p>Burcak Aydin                                                                  </p><p><strong>Tutor:</strong> Tobias Eltebrandt</p><p><strong>Title:</strong> The Impact of National Identity and Culture on Customer Perception of</p><p>Product Quality; <em>‘The case of mobile phones in Sweden and Turkey’</em></p><p><strong>Problem Statement:</strong> How may culture affect the ‘product quality perception’ of consumers?</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> What differences can be observed in ‘product quality perception’ of mobile phones in Sweden and Turkey?</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A quantitative research has been conducted by using both primary and secondary data. Primary data was gathered from distributing questionnaire to Swedish and Turkish university students and secondary data was collected from books, online resources and articles.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong>  The authors observed that culture and national identity have an inevitable impact on the product quality perception on customers. Comparison between Turkish and Swedish culture for the case of mobile phones’ quality perception indicated that dissimilar norms and values between cultures were defined quality perception differently.</p>

Abstract Date: May 2010 Program: International Marketing (Master’s Program) Authors: Merve Ertekin                                                                  Burcak Aydin                                                                   Tutor: Tobias Eltebrandt Title: The Impact of National Identity and Culture on Customer Perception of Product Quality; ‘The case of mobile phones in Sweden and Turkey’ Problem Statement: How may culture affect the ‘product quality perception’ of consumers? Purpose: What differences can be observed in ‘product quality perception’ of mobile phones in Sweden and Turkey? Method: A quantitative research has been conducted by using both primary and secondary data. Primary data was gathered from distributing questionnaire to Swedish and Turkish university students and secondary data was collected from books, online resources and articles. Conclusion:  The authors observed that culture and national identity have an inevitable impact on the product quality perception on customers. Comparison between Turkish and Swedish culture for the case of mobile phones’ quality perception indicated that dissimilar norms and values between cultures were defined quality perception differently.

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Submitted in fulfillment for the degree of Master in Technology: Quality, Durban University of Technology, 2009. / This study examines employee perceptions of the impact of training and development on product quality. The study was undertaken on a sample of 106 individuals, drawn using the convenience sampling technique from a large manufacturing organisation situated in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal. The data was collected using a questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of two (2) sections. The first section required the r(gender, age, grade and length of employmentespondents to provide biographical data ). The second section explored the impact of training and development on product quality (measured in terms of performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics and perceived quality). Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the results were presented using tabular and graphical representation. This study found that: Significant intercorrelations exist among the dimensions of product quality (performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics and perceived quality) as a result of training and development being conducted in the organisation. here is no significant difference in the perceptions of employees varying in biographical data (gender, age, and length of employment) regarding the influence of training and development on the dimensions of product quality respectively. Based on the findings of the study, a model was developed and presented. This model presents recommendations for enhancing product quality. / National Research Fund

Submitted in fulfillment for the degree of Master in Technology: Quality, Durban University of Technology, 2009. / This study examines employee perceptions of the impact of training and development on product quality. The study was undertaken on a sample of 106 individuals, drawn using the convenience sampling technique from a large manufacturing organisation situated in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal. The data was collected using a questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of two (2) sections. The first section required the r(gender, age, grade and length of employmentespondents to provide biographical data ). The second section explored the impact of training and development on product quality (measured in terms of performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics and perceived quality). Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the results were presented using tabular and graphical representation. This study found that: Significant intercorrelations exist among the dimensions of product quality (performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics and perceived quality) as a result of training and development being conducted in the organisation. here is no significant difference in the perceptions of employees varying in biographical data (gender, age, and length of employment) regarding the influence of training and development on the dimensions of product quality respectively. Based on the findings of the study, a model was developed and presented. This model presents recommendations for enhancing product quality.

We investigate the incentive to provide goods of high quality in a vertically related market for different types of business organizations, a farmer-owned cooperative and an investor-owned firm. Contrary to the firm, the cooperative is characterized by decentralized decision making, which gives rise to overproduction and problems coordinating the quality decisions of its members (free riding). Comparing both manufacturers acting as monopolists we show that the cooperative will never supply final goods of higher quality than the firm, and that the problem of quality coordination is mitigated if the cooperative succeeds in preventing overproduction. When a cooperative faces competition of an investor-owned firm (mixed duopoly), it will - except in one limit case - never produce final goods of a higher quality than the firm and will deliver lower quality in a number of scenarios.

As long as software has been produced, there have been efforts to strive for quality in software products. In order to understand quality in software products, researchers have built models of software quality that rely on metrics in an attempt to provide a quantitative view of software quality. The aim of these models is to provide software producers with the capability to define and evaluate metrics related to quality and use these metrics to improve the quality of the software they produce over time. These models can be quite cumbersome to implement as they require effort and resources to define and evaluate metrics from software projects. This dissertation aims to build an understanding of quality in software engineering by investigating those concepts core to the field. The basic concepts of the field are described, including quality, metrics and software engineering processes. Three software quality models and four approaches to using metrics to gain insight into quality are discussed with an aim to understanding the apparent strengths and weaknesses of each. This dissertation proposes a new approach to using metrics to gain insight into software quality. An equation, called the Product Quality Indicator, is proposed and critically assessed, which uses a combination of metrics based on requirements, tests and defects, to provide some insight into quality. Furthermore, a software product, called Metaversion, which relies on the Subversion Software Configuration Management system is presented. This software, which is a reference implementation of the proposed approach, aims to allow for the automatic collection and evaluation of the Product Quality Indicator. A case study is discussed where the Metaversion system is used and the results of the evaluation of the Product Quality Indicator are compared with the quality of the software as perceived by the testers responsible for testing the software. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Computer Science / unrestricted

The purpose of this study is to design a transistor conversion system oriented toward quality categories rather than toward devices. Underlying this purpose are two working hypotheses: First, quality categories can be developed by capitalizing on transistor total quality and convertibility; second, a transistor conversion system oriented toward quality categories is superior to existing device-oriented methods.

Product improvement is a serious issue facing industry today. And while response surface methods have been developed which address the process mean involved in improving the product there has been little research done on the process variability. Lack of quality in a product can be attributed to its inconsistency in performance thereby highlighting the need for a methodology which addresses process variability. The key to working with the process variability comes in the handling of the two types of factors which make up the product design: control and noise factors. Control factors can be fixed in both the lab setting and the real application. However, while the noise factors can be fixed in the lab setting, they are assumed to be random in the real application. A response-model can be created which models the response as a function of both the control and noise factors. This work introduces criteria for selecting an appropriate response-model which can be used to create accurate models for both the process mean and process variability. These two models can then be used to identify settings of the control factors which minimize process variability while maintaining an acceptable process mean. If the response-model is known, or at least well estimated, response surface methods can be extended to building various confidence regions related to the process variance. Among these are a confidence region on the location of minimum process variance and a confidence region on the ratio of the process variance to the error variance. It is easy to see the importance for research on the process variability and this work offers practical methods for improving the design of a product. / Ph. D.

Após o acidente de Macondo (EUA, 2010), cujo prejuízo estimado é da ordem de US$ 42 bilhões, a análise de risco do BOP (Preventor de BlowOut) ganhou grande importância nos projetos de exploração e desenvolvimento de petróleo. O presente trabalho se aprofundou na análise de risco de falha no acionamento do preventor anular de BOP (uma das funções do BOP), mapeando a sensibilidade da manutenção, redundâncias do projeto e da vida útil dos componentes no risco de falha inerente ao seu funcionamento. Este estudo seguiu os fundamentos da inspeção baseada no risco e da manutenção centrada na confiabilidade, a partir das diretrizes das normas ISO 31.000 (gestão do risco) e API 581 (inspeção baseada no risco). Um modelo de confiabilidade foi construído com base na árvore de falhas do equipamento, a qual, por sua vez, foi construída com base no diagrama hidráulico do sistema e do respectivo FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis). Neste modelo, pressupõe-se uma taxa de falhas constante dos componentes ao longo do tempo para calcular o tempo médio entre falhas do sistema. O trabalho atendeu seus objetivos ao comprovar que o modelo numérico de confiabilidade é aderente às falhas de campo e da literatura. A análise de sensibilidade do modelo por meio da simulação numérica, mostrou que o aumento da qualidade das manutenções preventiva é a melhor estratégia para reduzir o risco de falha do BOP anular. Verificou-se ainda que o aumento da vida útil de alguns componentes é tão relevante quanto o incremento de redundâncias para a confiabilidade do BOP anular. / After Macondo accident (USA, April 2010), with an estimated loss of US $ 42 billion, the failure risk analysis of the BOP (BlowOut Preventor) gained great importance in oil exploration and development projects. This work has deepened in BOP annular preventer (one of BOP functions) failure risk analysis, mapping sensitivity of maintenance of its components in the probability of equipment failure, according to the guidelines of RBI techniques (Risk Based Inspection) and RCM (Reliability Centered Maintenance). Therefore, the methodology used is proposed by API 580 (2009) and API 581 (2008) standards of risk based inspection applied on a reliability model of annular BOP. This reliability model, in turn, was based on fault tree analysis (FTA) and FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) over the equipment hydraulic diagram. As hypothesis, it is assumed a constant failure rate of components over time, in order to calculate the mean time between failures. It was proved that reliability calculated by numerical model is coherent to field failures observations and literature data. The sensitivity analysis by numerical simulation shows that improving inspections and preventive maintenance quality in some of BOP components can markedly reduce the risk of failure of annular BOP.