The transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa, which began in 1994 led to a change in a plethora of policies and/or legislation. In recent years there has been much debate on how the standard of education provisioning in schools could be raised in the light of the introduction of the much debated Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) and thereafter the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). These reform initiatives have brought about confusion and a sense of unsettledness amongst educators, including principals as well as their School Management Teams. Furthermore, the abovementioned and other policies required educators to acquaint themselves with either the materials that are used or the content of the curriculum and the planning and presentation of lessons. This entails in some occasions that educators who are more experienced have to assist the less experienced ones since they understand the RNCS and more recently the NCS better than the others. According to me this emphasises the importance of educator development towards raising the standards in schools. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is a process that fits the role of an educator as a lifelong learner. The aforementioned is captured in the Norms and Standards for Educators (2000). The need for more attention to be accorded to the professional development of practising educators is emphasised in the Report of the Ministerial Committee on Teacher Education (2005). This report led to the development of the National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development which has as its aim to attempt to address the need for suitably qualified educators in South Africa. The National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development will be used in this study along with the Integrated Quality Management Systems (IQMS) as tools to achieve the continuous development of educators in South African schools. The Personnel Administration Measures (PAM) of 1999 are also used since they stipulate the roles and responsibilities of the educator, including those of the principal, deputy principal(s) as well as the heads of department. In particular it stipulates that the principal (Department of Education, 1999:10) is responsible for the development of staff training programmes, school-based, school-focused and externally directed, and to assist educators, particularly new and inexperienced educators, in developing and achieving educational objectives in accordance with the needs of the school. This research project deals with the challenges experienced by educators regarding their own Continued Professional Development (CPD). It thus aims at coming up with an empirical account of the challenges experienced by the said educators. The study will focus on, among others, the educators’ experiences in the implementation of the IQMS as a developmental tool for educators in schools. It looks at the roles that different staff members in senior positions in terms of the CPD of the educators. These include the developmental opportunities available in the sampled schools. Carefully selected and drafted interview questions assisted me in soliciting answers from the sampled educators. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Petra Slaná ABSTRACT The thesis "Quality of domiciliary services from a user's perspective" deals with issues of quality of care services. Its aim was to find out what users expect from a quality service. Based on qualitative research and knowledge gained from practice was also to create a methodology for user satisfaction domiciliary services. The thesis consists of two parts, theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part contains the definition of old age, approaching the issue of aging, self-sufficiency and human needs in old age. It provides demographic and statistic data about the aging population. It focuses on social services in general, their definition, types and forms. It outlines the form of social services for seniors in the Czech Republic and in selected countries of European Union. It describes systems of quality used in the commercial sphere and in the service area. The theoretical part concludes with an overview of the factors which determine user satisfaction. The aim of the empirical part was to identify areas that may be an important quality of service criteria. Thanks to these users can evaluate the quality of services. To achieve this aim, was chosen qualitative research method. The empirical part of this thesis is therefore devoted to qualitative methodology of the research,...

To ensure the safety for both patients and personnel using medical equipment there are several regulations. The regulations differ between countries and the largest markets are the US and Europe. There are regulations regarding both risk and requirement management and for a digitized signature process. This report shows a way of digitizing parts of the quality management system and workflows that fulfills these requirements, including both an approval process and a requirement hierarchy. For the development of a digitized system several workshops and interviews were performed to understand the workflow used. This to reduce the changes in the new system where the existing processes worked, but at the same time make changes possible where the users noticed problems in the workflow earlier used. The main advantage of a digitized quality management system is that the linking between the different objects are easier to follow which gives a perspicuous traceability. A digitized system can generate reports, e.g. for traceability and requirement without a test, automatically that will decrease the manual work and by that both increase efficiency and reduce the risk of human errors.

There are many optimistic and pessimistic views on integrated quality management systems based on international standards. Many businesses have not benefited in terms of operational, quality or business performance, while many others have indicated that the implementation of integrated quality management systems based on an international system standard or other standards has led to improved operational performance and quality, which in turn has resulted in improved business results. The main research problem is therefore to identify the effect of an IQMS on a fishing company and, secondly, to determine whether such a system is compatible with the fishing industry as a whole. By addressing these questions, a perception of the value of an IQMS for the fishing company under study was be obtained. The main research question was: “What is the effect of an integrated quality management system on a leading fish product manufacturer Different research approaches were used to determining the value of such an IQMS in a leading fish product manufacture. The study confirmed that the IQMS has a positive effect on the fish product manufacturer. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

There are many optimistic and pessimistic views on integrated quality management systems based on international standards. Many businesses have not benefited in terms of operational, quality or business performance, while many others have indicated that the implementation of integrated quality management systems based on an international system standard or other standards has led to improved operational performance and quality, which in turn has resulted in improved business results. The main research problem is therefore to identify the effect of an IQMS on a fishing company and, secondly, to determine whether such a system is compatible with the fishing industry as a whole. By addressing these questions, a perception of the value of an IQMS for the fishing company under study was be obtained. The main research question was: “What is the effect of an integrated quality management system on a leading fish product manufacturer Different research approaches were used to determining the value of such an IQMS in a leading fish product manufacture. The study confirmed that the IQMS has a positive effect on the fish product manufacturer. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

The dissertation describes the quality management- quality management systems, improving the effectiveness of a quality management system, to enhance customer satisfaction.

The aim of the thesis is to assess existing quality management system, the possibility of applying new approaches to quality management in the selected company, the proposal process for their implementation. This thesis is focused on quality management. Implementation and application of the model EFQM (European Foundation for quality management) in the company LINET spol. s r.o. Evaluation of the implementating process and its contribution to improving efficiency, quality and image.

This Thesis looks at the current situation in the UNICORN a.s. company and analyses how the projects are managed in the company. The Thesis suggests recommendation for improvements in this field according to ČSN ISO 10 006 Quality Management Systems - Guidelines for quality management in projects.

This thesis deals with the impact of innovations integrated from the new company position of Quality Control Manager on key hotel indicators - guest evaluations, occupancy rate and average price. First part of the thesis is dedicated to the introduction to the quality in tourism, its measurement and management systems. Next part deals with AVE Hotels hotel chain and its quality management system. Following chapter is dedicated to Aida Hotel and innovations suggested from the new position of Quality Control Manager. The key part of the thesis compares Hotel Aida with the Oficial Classification of Accommodation Facilities before and after innovations integrated by Quality Control Manager and deals with impact of aplied changes on guest reviews, occupancy rate and average price. Final part of the theses contains conclusion, recommendations of the author and comments. The aim of the thesis is to analyze and consider the depth of the contribution of changes of Quality Control Manager on mentioned indicators. For this purpose, the thesis analyses and compares data about guest reviews, occupancy rate and average price before and after integration of the innovations of Quality Control Manager. The thesis can be used to consider the return of investment in quality improvement and in introduction of quality management and control system.

The current global changes and regulations in sustainability have a direct impact on suppliers to the automotive industry. Therefore, it is crucial for suppliers to the automotive industry to proactively monitor developments to avoid risking their competitiveness. This involves an increased focus on documentation and compliance with sustainability policies and certifications. Company X is a family-owned company located in Gnosjö, operating for nearly 80 years and supplying products to the automotive industry, among other sectors. The company specializes in industrial work and focuses on machining (turning and milling). To remain competitive and, above all, relevant for at least another 80 years, they strive for continuous development to meet customer demands. The guiding philosophy is to operate within the ”Global Automotive Sustainability Guiding Principles”, which clarify the automotive industry ́s expectations regarding sustainability efforts from their suppliers. In late 2022, Drive Sustainability, responsible for creating and maintaining the Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), raised the requirements from SAQ 4.0 to SAQ 5.0. The consequence of not being approved before June 2023 is the inability to initiate new business as a supplier to Scania. The thesis was conducted at Company X with the aim of investigating what is required for Business X to upgrade from SAQ 4.0 to SAQ 5.0. This involved identifying any gaps in the company’s environmental and quality management systems in relation to the SAQ portal. The project also aimed to examine whether the current quality and environmental management system needs adjustment to better reflect data in the SAQ portal. The main task of the author was to explore possible solutions to help Company X and other SMEs implement the SAQ process in a resource-efficient manner. To achieve the study ́s purpose, an analysis of the documentation in the company ́s environmental and quality management systems in relation to the SAQ portal was conducted. This analysis was used to identify the resources required to meet the requirements in the SAQ. Based on the formulated research questions, gaps in the company ́s environmental and quality management systems were identified concerning the SAQ portal. Additionally, proposals and arguments were provided for adjustments to the current management system. The result of the thesis was that Company X acted on the suggestions and was approved in SAQ 5.0 with a fulfillment rate of 81%, compared to the previous score 79% in SAQ 4.0. The model presented in the analysis of the SAQ scoring system can also be utilized by other SMEs to implement the SAQ process in a resource-efficient manner.