Thèse (M. Ges.Org.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 2004. / "Mémoire présenté à l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi le 14 décembre 2004" CaQCU Bibliogr.: f. 85-90. Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 91-92).

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-182). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

From Introduction: 1. Background to the thesis: During the 1950' sand 1960' s it would appear that the explicit objectives of economic policy in South Africa were full employment and economic growth with some occasional emphasis on the pursuit of relative price stability. Other goals such as efficiency in resource allocation and the pursuit of an "acceptable" income distribution were at best implicit and subordinate to these objectives. This is exemplified by the fact that a number of key prices which were controlled by the authorities such as the exchange rate, interest rates and public utility tariffs were generally set at levels which were either over- or under-priced relative to factor scarcities throughout this period.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Peninsula Technikon, Cape Town, 2005 / One of the many challenges facing local government is to deliver an equitable service to the citizens of South Africa. Local government, like many other government institutions, has limited financial 'and human resources capacity to attend to these challenges. It is, therefore, important that local government strive within these constraints, to provide equitable services'to its people in terms of housing, water, electricity and sanitation. The purpose of the research is to evaluate the standard of municipal services delivered to the Phumlani settlement. The research survey included techniques such as a structured, self-administered interviews and observations. The target research population were a sample of households located in this settlement. The structured interview was designed to assess the achievement of the norms and standards as stipulated in the National Housing Code as promulgated in the Housing Act, 1997 (Act 107 of 1997) in respect of permanent residential structures for low-cost housing. The significance of the research is the evaluation of the service delivery as perceived by the previous Phumlani infonmal community. This research lists the existing shortcomings in the standard of service delivery to the Phumlani settlement evaluated in terms of the norms and standards as stipulated in the above National Housing Code.

The local government sphere is comprised of municipalities whose functions include the provision of consumer services. A substantial portion of municipal revenue, which is also used for service provision, is derived from rates and service charges. Through the billing process, the municipality stipulates the amount due to be paid by each account holder. In the case of rates and consumer tariffs, this usually occurs on a monthly basis. Towards the end of 2002, overdue rates and service charges in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality amounted to over R800 million. In spite of various attempts undertaken by the municipality to collect overdue amounts, some residents are struggling to pay. Various reasons have been advanced for this scenario. However non-payment of rates and service charges has a negative impact on municipal budget and service delivery. Probably, if alternatives to the current credit control and revenue collection processes could be found, non-payment of rates and service charges could be eliminated.

Materials management is an integrative approach to control the flow of production materials. It has been successfully practiced by numerous manufacturing firms to decrease materials cost and improve the employment of scarce resources. The need for better utilization of resources is also prevalent in service sector industries. This dissertation focused on the public utilities industry and its practices in the materials management area. Major emphasis of this research was to (1) define the state-of-the-art of materials management within the gas and electric utilities in Texas, (2) determine its impact on the corporate structure, and (3) identify opportunities for materials management in the future of the Texas utilities industry.

This study is concerned with the significance of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 on the public utility holding companies which were operating in Texas in 1935.

Efficiency analysis in the public sector assesses the performance of municipal and government entities in their provision of services to the public. South Africa, in particular, has experienced a large degree of negative feedback with respect to the ability of the government and its municipal departments to provide basic services to citizens. This has led to a number of service delivery protests throughout the country. To remedy this, the ability of the municipality to provide basic services needs to be assessed in order for improvements to be made. A first step in this process would be to determine the efficiency with which municipalities are providing these services. This study focuses on a particular municipal service, namely electricity distribution. Primarily, the efficiency with which municipalities provide electricity to consumers is determined. This is achieved using the parametric cost frontier approach, which is appropriate since municipalities aim to reduce the costs incurred in distributing electricity. The municipalities are compared to a frontier (theoretical best practice) from which inferences on their performances can be made. Those municipalities whose performances are not optimal, deviate from the frontier. The deviations (errors) are then assumed to be caused by two factors, namely stochastic random noise and inefficiency. This composition accounts for effects for which municipalities cannot control (stochastic random noise) and those for which it can (inefficiency). The parametric nature of the cost frontier approach allows for distributional assumptions to be made on these factors. Stochastic random noise is always assumed to be normally distributed, while inefficiency is assumed to be one-sided and positively skewed.