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There is currently a great need to expand the understanding of land use policy’s impact on water quality. The purpose of this thesis is to examine local policy in place in Covington, Louisiana in order to find out if it is having an impact on land use, which then has an impact on water quality. Methods used included reclassification of land use categories within a Geographical Information System and analysis of changes in the city over a four year period. Policy was assessed using a pre-existing evaluation method from The Center for Watershed Protection as well as by a more flexible instrument developed by staff and faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Mississippi State University. Three water quality parameters were examined for impairment due to their known correlation to urban runoff. It was determined that Covington’s water quality related policy is insufficient and is having little effect to curtail the types of development occurring within its boundaries. Impervious cover within the city is rising and surface waters both within and around the city are impaired.

This dissertation examines why planning is perceived as a barrier to the thermal improvement of conservation properties, and considers ways in which this might be addressed. The focus on thermal improvement is derived from a survey of UK scenario literature for energy management up to 2050. A further examination of the literature finds that conservation properties are particularly in need of thermal improvement; and barriers to thermal improvement are identified. A gap in the academic knowledge is found that identifies planning as a perceived barrier, but that there is no investigation of this widely held perception. The research question is therefore developed as, 'Why is English planning perceived as a barrier to the thermal improvement of conservation properties and how can it be addressed?' The dissertation methodology uses a pragmatic mixed-methods approach and research design. The first phase of the research examines 'Why planning is perceived as a barrier', by using surveys and interviews to gather evidence of the experiences and opinions of the multiple users of planning for conservation projects. Through this work, a lack of consistency and reliability in English planning is identified. The data suggests this may be due to the discretionary and fragmented nature of the English planning system which requires local authorities to interpret national policies and develop local plans and guidance. This results in local decision-making, which may not be consistent. Additionally, the research finds a perceived lack of strong national policy and guidance. This perceived lack of consistency and reliability in the application of planning is selected as the basis for validation phase of the dissertation research findings. The validation research seeks to test the perception of a lack of consistency and reliability through a Comparative Information Quality assessment adapted and developed from the discipline of Information Management. Online planning guidance for conservation projects provided by 13 London Councils is compared. The method confirms and highlights areas of inconsistency across the Councils' planning guidance. By identifying a number of areas of inconsistency, and by providing a tool that could help to ensure that policy is delivered consistently at the local level, this component of the research addresses the second part of the research question, 'How can the planning barrier be addressed?'. In conclusion, the dissertation suggests that planning is perceived as a barrier due to a lack of consistency and reliability in the planning process. Inconsistencies are identified and a recommendation is made for how these might be reduced.

The thesis is focused on defining the quality and environmental management system and its applications, as it is required by ISO standards. Document management system for a specific Slovak corporation was elaborated according to current standards. In accordance with STN EN ISO 9001, the quality manual and politics were prepared. In accordance with STN EN ISO 14001, manual and politics of environmental management were elaborated.

By using innovative methods, such as the automated transfer of corporate electronic data to National Statistical Institutions, official transport data can be significantly improved in terms of reliability, costs and the burden on respondents. In this paper, we show that the automated compilation of statistical reports is possible and feasible. Based on previous findings, a new method and tool were developed in cooperation with two business partners from the logistics sector in Austria. The results show that the prototype could successfully be implemented at the partner companies. Improved data quality can lead to more reliable analyses in various fields. Compared to actual volumes of investments into transport, the costs of transport statistics are limited. By using the new and innovative data collection techniques, these costs can even be reduced in the long run; at the same time, the risk of bad investments and wrong decisions caused by analyses relying on poor data quality can be reduced. This results in a substantial value for business, research, the economy and the society.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T14:53:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Francisco de Assis.pdf: 1036916 bytes, checksum: f22914501d5f211716214a40fad5d08a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-03-30 / For several years, a lot of research is being done trying to find a solution for various problems concerning requirements engineering. Various approaches have pointed out that the requirements phase is the most important stage in the software development process. In general, requirements that are mistakenly elicited, analyzed and specified, gives rise to the development of low quality software. Non functional requirements gained little attention in the literature and are less understood but they are critical factors to the software development. When these requirements are badly elicited or not elicited at all, this gives rise to a difficulty in their treatment and their validation. Thus, we think that treating non functional requirements from the elicitation phase we contribute to a good software quality. This work deals with two aspects related with non functional requirements, namely how to elicit them and how to guarantee those requirements in conformity with a quality policy, even when new requirements or new technologies are adopted. As to attain this aim, we have elicited the requirements starting from a defined quality set necessary for medical applications. We defined a quality policy based upon these needs in such a way we could measure the conformity of non functional requirements definition specified in the requirements Document (RDs) with the desired quality, specified in the quality policy. / Ao longo dos anos, muitas pesquisas vêm sendo desenvolvidas na tentativa de se encontrar uma solução para os problemas relacionados à engenharia de requisitos. Existe uma unanimidade em certas abordagens, em ressaltar que a fase de requisitos se constitui na etapa mais crucial no processo de desenvolvimento de software. Freqüentemente, requisitos de software são mal elicitados, analisados e especificados, sendo estes fatores decisivos para o desenvolvimento de software de baixa qualidade. Requisitos não funcionais têm recebido muito pouca atenção na literatura, são pouco compreendidos mas são críticos no processo de desenvolvimento de software. O fato destes requisitos serem mal elicitados ou não elicitados os tornam mais difíceis de serem tratados e validados. Acreditamos que ao abordarmos os requisitos não funcionais desde a fase de elicitação, estamos contribuindo para a qualidade geral do software que será produzido. Este trabalho aborda dois aspectos relacionados aos requisitos não funcionais: como elicitá-los e como garantir a conformidade desses requisitos com uma política de qualidade, mesmo quando novos requisitos ou novas tecnologias forem adotadas. Para atingir este objetivo, elicitamos os requisitos a partir de um conjunto de necessidades de qualidade definidas para aplicações médicas. Definimos uma política de qualidade baseada nestas necessidades, de modo que possamos medir a conformidade das definições dos requisitos não funcionais especificados no Documento de Requisitos (DRs) com a qualidade desejada, especificada na política de qualidade.

Este trabalho trata de estudos de casos qualitativos dirigidos para a análise da produtividade e da qualidade em hospitais. Foram considerados cinco hospitais - três públicos e dois privados, todos de grande porte, localizados na região metropolitana da cidade de São Paulo - Brasil, que possuem programas, metodologias e/ou ferramentas da qualidade estabelecidos em seus processos, e que busquem a melhoria contínua. Analisa a influência que estes programas, metodologias e/ou ferramentas têm sobre os processos, produtos e serviços oferecidos, além de aspectos específicos da qualidade quando aplicados em sistemas de saúde do Brasil. Para esta análise, são apresentadas sete proposições. Para confirmar ou refutar as proposições da pesquisa, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas em cada hospital, divididas em duas partes: a) pesquisa semiestruturada, realizada tomando como base a revisão da literatura pertinente e b) pesquisa semiestruturada, realizada tomando como base a metodologia da EFQM. Os resultados mostram que há uma convergência entre a aplicação de programas, metodologias e ferramentas da qualidade e a acreditação hospitalar. Indicam, também, que a acreditação é o principal meio pelo qual um hospital inicia e difunde a gestão da qualidade e que o apoio da alta direção influencia positivamente na disseminação de uma cultura de qualidade nas instituições. A conclusão da pesquisa mostra que as proposições não se confirmam de forma plena e duas variáveis de destaque na literatura não são empregadas. Foi proposta uma matriz de resultados, com o objetivo de indicar qual programa, metodologia ou ferramenta da qualidade deve ser empregada para atingir o efeito esperado, de acordo com a entrada aplicada. / This work is to qualitative case studies directed to the analysis of productivity and quality in hospitals. Were considered five hospitals - three public and two private, large all, located in the metropolitan region of São Paulo - Brazil, which have programs, methodologies and / or quality tools established in its processes, and seek continuous improvement. Analyzes the influence that these programs, methodologies and / or tools have on processes, products and services, as well as specific aspects of quality when applied to the Brazilian health systems. For this analysis, seven propositions were presented. To confirm or refute the propositions of research, semi-structured interviews were conducted in each hospital, divided into two parts: a) semi-structured survey, conducted on the basis the review of the literature and b) semi-structured survey, conducted based on the methodology EFQM. The results show that there is a convergence between the application programs, methodologies and tools of quality and healthcare accreditation. Also, indicate that accreditation is the primary means by which a hospital starts and spreads the quality management and the support of senior management positively influences the spread of a culture of quality in institutions. The conclusion of the research shows that propositions it was not confirmed fully and two prominent variables in the literature it was not employed. Was proposed a payoff matrix, in order to indicate which program, method or quality tool must be used to reach the desired effect according to the applied input.

The aim of this diplom work is to analyse preparedness of a specific company for Quality management systhems according to norm CSN EN ISO 9001:2001. Analyse include only selected chaps of the european standard ISO 9001 and author of the diplom work makes suggestions to top managers of the company, how to proceed and steep in requirements of the standatds ISO 9001.

Este trabalho trata de estudos de casos qualitativos dirigidos para a análise da produtividade e da qualidade em hospitais. Foram considerados cinco hospitais - três públicos e dois privados, todos de grande porte, localizados na região metropolitana da cidade de São Paulo - Brasil, que possuem programas, metodologias e/ou ferramentas da qualidade estabelecidos em seus processos, e que busquem a melhoria contínua. Analisa a influência que estes programas, metodologias e/ou ferramentas têm sobre os processos, produtos e serviços oferecidos, além de aspectos específicos da qualidade quando aplicados em sistemas de saúde do Brasil. Para esta análise, são apresentadas sete proposições. Para confirmar ou refutar as proposições da pesquisa, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas em cada hospital, divididas em duas partes: a) pesquisa semiestruturada, realizada tomando como base a revisão da literatura pertinente e b) pesquisa semiestruturada, realizada tomando como base a metodologia da EFQM. Os resultados mostram que há uma convergência entre a aplicação de programas, metodologias e ferramentas da qualidade e a acreditação hospitalar. Indicam, também, que a acreditação é o principal meio pelo qual um hospital inicia e difunde a gestão da qualidade e que o apoio da alta direção influencia positivamente na disseminação de uma cultura de qualidade nas instituições. A conclusão da pesquisa mostra que as proposições não se confirmam de forma plena e duas variáveis de destaque na literatura não são empregadas. Foi proposta uma matriz de resultados, com o objetivo de indicar qual programa, metodologia ou ferramenta da qualidade deve ser empregada para atingir o efeito esperado, de acordo com a entrada aplicada. / This work is to qualitative case studies directed to the analysis of productivity and quality in hospitals. Were considered five hospitals - three public and two private, large all, located in the metropolitan region of São Paulo - Brazil, which have programs, methodologies and / or quality tools established in its processes, and seek continuous improvement. Analyzes the influence that these programs, methodologies and / or tools have on processes, products and services, as well as specific aspects of quality when applied to the Brazilian health systems. For this analysis, seven propositions were presented. To confirm or refute the propositions of research, semi-structured interviews were conducted in each hospital, divided into two parts: a) semi-structured survey, conducted on the basis the review of the literature and b) semi-structured survey, conducted based on the methodology EFQM. The results show that there is a convergence between the application programs, methodologies and tools of quality and healthcare accreditation. Also, indicate that accreditation is the primary means by which a hospital starts and spreads the quality management and the support of senior management positively influences the spread of a culture of quality in institutions. The conclusion of the research shows that propositions it was not confirmed fully and two prominent variables in the literature it was not employed. Was proposed a payoff matrix, in order to indicate which program, method or quality tool must be used to reach the desired effect according to the applied input.

In recent decades the increasing pressure on companies operating in different areas of the business to enhaced their competitive advantage, focus on continual improvement and maintain customer loyalty. One of the tools that achieve the desired state, is implementation of quality management system according to ISO 9001. The quality management system implementation in the company gives its customers a clear signal of the intention to continuously improve the company in relation to the requirements of continuous improvement and transparent negotiated. Due to these reasons, the thesis deals with the analysis of compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001 in particular logistics company. The aim of this work is a detailed analysis of the current situation in the company with a focus on the creation of practical advice and recommendations, which aim to provide conformity to ISO 9001 with the conditions in the company. The work is conceived as a practical guide to implementation of the recommendations which have lead to the successful implementation of quality management system as well as the certification under that standard.