<p>Background: Traditionally defined boundaries and borders between organizations are at present being re-evaluated because of new and tougher demands. Today we can see a trend where these boundaries are being lowered or even eliminated when organizations choose to co-operate instead of compete. </p><p>Purpose: In order to create an understanding for the partner selection process in the newly founded joint ventures between the companies which are building the Swedish 3G Network, the determining factors are being studied. </p><p>Delimitation: The studies companies are co-operating as network operators but are at the same time competing as mobile operators. This relationship is in the literature described as co-opetition, which will not be investigated in this paper. </p><p>Realization: Taking our starting point in Geringer’s task- and partner-related approach, a simple model has been created for the task. Empirical data have been collected through interviews, and have been analyzed with this model. </p><p>Results: Essentially the same factors have been found determining for the companies which have committed themselves for co-operation. These factors do however tend to differ partly between the two joint ventures that have been founded. In the Europolitan Vodafone” Hi3G joint venture, compatibility between top management and culture&structure seem to be the motivating factors. From a Telia - Tele2-perspective, the mutual factors seem to be financing and compatibility between top management. An important criterion has in both joint venture constellations to the access to existing real capital and infrastructure as well as having existing customers.</p>

Supplier selection plays an important role in any organisation. This study investigates and examines supplier selection criteria and the impacts on buying firm performance; specifically focusing on the telecommunications industry in Malaysia. Previous studies in this area have focussed on the criteria such as quality, price, delivery, supplier relationship management and decision making tools and techniques. However, little research has been undertaken to include government policies and business ethics as elements in the supplier selection criteria. After a literature review and interviews, the development of conceptual frameworks and a number of hypotheses were put forward. To achieve an in-depth study, four major telecommunications service provider companies in Malaysia were chosen as a case study. A questionnaire was used as the main instrument in gathering data. The questionnaire is principally concerned with the understanding of supplier selection and its criteria; based upon the variables that are used for the model and hypothesis testing. The study also investigates the relationship between supplier selection and the impact of supplier selection to the company performance. This model was tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique with the AMOS software application. Results indicated all of the criteria include quality, price, delivery, supplier relationship management, decision making tools and techniques, government policy and business ethics as valid constructs. A good model fit was also established. The findings of this research conclude that the influencing criteria to supplier selection in the telecommunications industry in Malaysia are supplier delivery performance standards and supplier relationship management even when considering the remainder of the above mentioned elements.The price factors were found to be less important due to this factor possibly leading to unhealthy competition in the market in terms of price wars among the suppliers in order to win the business. Most of the criteria are also interrelated to each other and affect the supplier selection decision. This model has added new perspectives to the study of supplier selection in the supply chain management field. As for future research it is suggested that intangible elements such as political, cultural and social influences are included in the conceptual framework; as this would offer important insight for management bodies in organisation, academia and public policy fields alike.

Dimension reduction is a vital tool in many areas of applied statistics in which the dimensionality of the predictors can be large. In such cases, many statistical methods will fail or yield unsatisfactory results. However, many data sets of high dimensionality actually contain a much simpler, low-dimensional structure. Classical methods such as principal components analysis are able to detect linear structures very effectively, but fail in the presence of nonlinear structures. In the first part of this thesis, we investigate the asymptotic behavior of two nonlinear dimensionality reduction algorithms, LTSA and HLLE. In particular, we show that both algorithms, under suitable conditions, asymptotically recover the true generating coordinates up to an isometry. We also discuss the relative merits of the two algorithms, and the effects of the underlying probability distributions of the coordinates on their performance. Model selection is a fundamental problem in nearly all areas of applied statistics. In particular, a balance must be achieved between good in-sample performance and out-of-sample prediction. It is typically very easy to achieve good fit in the sample data, but empirically we often find that such models will generalize poorly. In the second part of the thesis, we propose a new procedure for the model selection problem which generalizes traditional methods. Our algorithm allows the combination of existing model selection criteria via a ranking procedure, leading to the creation of new criteria which are able to combine measures of in-sample fit and out-of-sample prediction performance into a single value. We then propose an algorithm which provably finds the optimal combination with a specified probability. We demonstrate through simulations that these new combined criteria can be substantially more powerful than any individual criterion.

A inovação deixou de ser exclusividade de algumas empresas e passou a permear grande parte delas. Estas inovações podem ser incrementais, melhorando produtos ou processos, ou radicais, rompendo paradigmas no mercado consumidor. Porém, o ato de inovar requer suporte de muitas ações. Dentre essas ações estão às gerenciais, auxiliando na identificação de evidências que apontam se a empresa está no caminho adequado ou não. Alinhado a esta lógica de melhoria contínua é que são realizadas as inovações no âmbito do Programa de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (P&D) do setor elétrico, regulado pela Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica (ANEEL). Este Programa foi instituído por lei e, nos seus primórdios, continha aspectos simplesmente regulatórios. Esta situação permitia que, muitas vezes, os projetos executados não agregassem valor significativo para a empresa ou à sociedade, pois não estavam direcionados para solucionar problemas ou carências existentes. Com o passar do tempo, a percepção dos elementos necessários para compor um programa regulatório se alterou, fazendo com que as empresas passassem a perceber que o P&D poderia contribuir para melhoria de seus serviços e produtos Tal mudança de visão desencadeou a necessidade das empresas desenvolverem processos capazes de captar ideias e transformá-las em soluções que estejam alinhadas aos seus interesses estratégicos. Desta forma, o presente trabalho objetiva desenvolver um conjunto de indicadores que, integrados ao Sistema de Gestão da Inovação (SGI) da CEEE, auxiliem à gestão da empresa tanto na fase de análise e seleção de ideias, quanto na fase do gerenciamento do desempenho da operação do sistema. Para concretização deste trabalho foram realizadas entrevistas, análise de documentos da empresa, revisão da literatura, assim como reuniões e testes para a validação do SGI da CEEE. De posse destes dados, estruturou-se um conjunto de critérios para auxiliar o processo de seleção de ideias, bem como um conjunto de indicadores gerenciais do sistema. Como resultados, esses indicadores permitem à empresa a padronização do seu processo de inovação, bem como uma visão sistêmica do processo como um todo. Por fim, tanto os critérios de seleção de ideias quanto os de indicadores gerenciais são detalhados. / Innovation is no longer an exclusivity of some companies and began to permeate into most of them, whether through simple incremental innovations, which often improve internal processes, or radical innovations that break paradigms and often entering the consumer market. And in this sense of continuous improvement that innovations are carried out under the scope of the Program for Research and Development, of the electric sector, regulated by the National Electric Energy Agency, established by law. The program in its beginnings contained just regulatory aspects, which resulted in executed projects that did not add significant value to the company or society, because they were not directed to solve existent problems and needs. But with the passage of time this conception of regulatory program changed, companies began to realize that the Program for Research and Development could help to improve its services and products, such a change of vision triggered the need for companies to develop processes capable of capturing ideas and turn them into solutions that are aligned with its strategic interests Thus, this study aims to develop a set of indicators that, integrated into CEEE's Innovation Management System, assist the management of the company both in the analysis phase and selection of ideas, as in the phase of management of the system operation's performance. For this work, which is of applied nature, since it follows from the desire to make more efficient or effective a specific situation, surveys were conducted through interviews, the company's document analysis, literature review, as well as validation meetings and tests. Using these data, it was structured a set of ideas selection criteria, and a set of system management indicators, structured and allocated in the dimensions: Strategy, Profitability, Implantation and Time. The application of these indicators allows the company to standardize its innovation process, as well as a systemic view of the whole process. Finally, both the criteria for selection of ideas as the management indicators are detailed.

A inovação deixou de ser exclusividade de algumas empresas e passou a permear grande parte delas. Estas inovações podem ser incrementais, melhorando produtos ou processos, ou radicais, rompendo paradigmas no mercado consumidor. Porém, o ato de inovar requer suporte de muitas ações. Dentre essas ações estão às gerenciais, auxiliando na identificação de evidências que apontam se a empresa está no caminho adequado ou não. Alinhado a esta lógica de melhoria contínua é que são realizadas as inovações no âmbito do Programa de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (P&D) do setor elétrico, regulado pela Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica (ANEEL). Este Programa foi instituído por lei e, nos seus primórdios, continha aspectos simplesmente regulatórios. Esta situação permitia que, muitas vezes, os projetos executados não agregassem valor significativo para a empresa ou à sociedade, pois não estavam direcionados para solucionar problemas ou carências existentes. Com o passar do tempo, a percepção dos elementos necessários para compor um programa regulatório se alterou, fazendo com que as empresas passassem a perceber que o P&D poderia contribuir para melhoria de seus serviços e produtos Tal mudança de visão desencadeou a necessidade das empresas desenvolverem processos capazes de captar ideias e transformá-las em soluções que estejam alinhadas aos seus interesses estratégicos. Desta forma, o presente trabalho objetiva desenvolver um conjunto de indicadores que, integrados ao Sistema de Gestão da Inovação (SGI) da CEEE, auxiliem à gestão da empresa tanto na fase de análise e seleção de ideias, quanto na fase do gerenciamento do desempenho da operação do sistema. Para concretização deste trabalho foram realizadas entrevistas, análise de documentos da empresa, revisão da literatura, assim como reuniões e testes para a validação do SGI da CEEE. De posse destes dados, estruturou-se um conjunto de critérios para auxiliar o processo de seleção de ideias, bem como um conjunto de indicadores gerenciais do sistema. Como resultados, esses indicadores permitem à empresa a padronização do seu processo de inovação, bem como uma visão sistêmica do processo como um todo. Por fim, tanto os critérios de seleção de ideias quanto os de indicadores gerenciais são detalhados. / Innovation is no longer an exclusivity of some companies and began to permeate into most of them, whether through simple incremental innovations, which often improve internal processes, or radical innovations that break paradigms and often entering the consumer market. And in this sense of continuous improvement that innovations are carried out under the scope of the Program for Research and Development, of the electric sector, regulated by the National Electric Energy Agency, established by law. The program in its beginnings contained just regulatory aspects, which resulted in executed projects that did not add significant value to the company or society, because they were not directed to solve existent problems and needs. But with the passage of time this conception of regulatory program changed, companies began to realize that the Program for Research and Development could help to improve its services and products, such a change of vision triggered the need for companies to develop processes capable of capturing ideas and turn them into solutions that are aligned with its strategic interests Thus, this study aims to develop a set of indicators that, integrated into CEEE's Innovation Management System, assist the management of the company both in the analysis phase and selection of ideas, as in the phase of management of the system operation's performance. For this work, which is of applied nature, since it follows from the desire to make more efficient or effective a specific situation, surveys were conducted through interviews, the company's document analysis, literature review, as well as validation meetings and tests. Using these data, it was structured a set of ideas selection criteria, and a set of system management indicators, structured and allocated in the dimensions: Strategy, Profitability, Implantation and Time. The application of these indicators allows the company to standardize its innovation process, as well as a systemic view of the whole process. Finally, both the criteria for selection of ideas as the management indicators are detailed.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / As a means to assuage historical land inequities, resultant socio-economic disparities and poverty alleviation, the Namibian Government undertook to reform the land sector. Guided by the Constitution and the Resolutions of the 1991 Land Conference policy and legal framework, a fractured consensus is built on the rationale to redistribute land to a targeted group. Parallel to the reform agenda, systemic challenges to the resettlement process are growing amid questions on Government’s ability to respond to sustainable programme objectives embedded within land reforms. Literature coalesces on the issues of land-reform programmes having lost direction, being skewed in favour of a few, being biased towards commercial agriculture, and requiring review and re-configuration to be inclusive and to satisfy equity and poverty-alleviation concerns.

Energy is essential for economic development in Africa. The current electrification figures show that countries in sub-Saharan Africa are facing major challenges in reaching positive economic growth and supplying basic energy services to rural communities. Sustainable energy technologies are available and can be used to great effect in Africa to alleviate this problem. Sustainable energy technologies can contribute to job creation and economic development. The implementation of renewable energy technologies in sub-Saharan Africa to date however has not always been successful due to both technical and non-technical factors. Prior to this study a comprehensive framework of factors to select renewable energy technologies did not exist. The purpose of this research was to develop such a framework and to validate it by means of empirical research. Triangulation of methodologies was used to determine the framework of factors. The analysis of the literature investigated renewable energy technologies and their application, the challenges in renewable energy technologies for implementation in Africa and the selection methods in the fields of project, portfolio, programme and technology management. This was followed by a focus group with three experts in which thirty eight factors that need to be taken into account during the selection of renewable energy technologies in Africa were identified. The factors identified by the focus group were confirmed and the eleven most applicable factors were selected during a two-round Delphi study. Finally case studies on the implementation of renewable energy technologies were undertaken in three countries. These case studies confirmed the eleven factors identified during the Delphi study and identified a further two factors which needed to be added to the framework. The final framework proposed in this study consists of thirteen factors that need to be considered before deciding on the technology appropriate for a specific implementation. For the implementation of the technology to succeed, it must be ensured that the technology can be maintained and supported on site over the life cycle of the technology, and that sufficient skills and resources exist to implement and maintain the technology. Sites for implementation of the technology must be selected in places where local champions exist to continue supporting the technology after the implementing agency has left, the community has the will to adopt the technology in the long term, sites are available for implementing pilot sites and sufficient sites with the correct characteristics are available for long term implementation. The technology must also contribute to economic development by creating jobs or improving the economic situation of households, and financing must be made available to ensure large scale adoption. Local businesses which aid with implementation need to have business management and technical skills as well as the financial capacity to implement the technology. Government support of the implementation of the technology is essential and the environmental benefits of the technology must be clear from the outset. This report presents a framework that includes both the criteria and measures to be used for the selection of renewable energy technologies in Africa. Further work is required to implement these criteria and measures in a selection methodology. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

Linear mixed models are frequently used to analyze data with random effects and/or repeated measures. A common approach to such analyses requires choosing a covariance structure. Information criteria, such as AIC and BIC, are often used by statisticians to help with this task. However, these criteria do not always point to the true covariance structure and therefore the wrong covariance structure is sometimes chosen. Once this step is complete, Wald statistics are used to test fixed effects. Degrees of freedom for these statistics are not known. However, there are approximation methods, such as Kenward and Roger (KR) and Satterthwaite (SW) that have been shown to work well in some situations. Schaalje et al. (2002) concluded that the KR method would perform at least as well as or better than the SW method in many cases assuming that the covariance structure was known. On the other hand, Keselman et al. (1999) concluded that the performance of the SW method when the covariance structure was selected using AIC was poor for negative pairings of treatment sizes and covariance matrices and small sample sizes. Our study used simulations to investigate Type I error rates in test of fixed effects using Wald statistics with the KR adjustment method, incorporating the selection of the covariance structure using AIC and BIC. Performance of the AIC and BIC criteria in selecting the true covariance structure was also studied. The MIXED procedure (SAS v. 9) was used to analyze each simulated data set. Type I error rates from the best AIC and BIC models were always higher than target values. However, Type I error rates obtained by using the BIC criterion were better than those obtained by using the AIC criterion. Type I error rates for the correct models were often adequate depending on the sample size and complexity of covariance structure. Performance of AIC and BIC was poor. This could be a consequence of small sample sizes and the high number of covariance structures these criteria had to choose from.

No description available.

In recent years, the requirements engineering community has proposed a number of models for the generation of a well-formulated, complete set of requirements. However, these models are often highly abstract or narrowly focused, providing only pieces of structure and parts of guidance to the requirements generation process. Furthermore, many of the models fail to identify methods that can be employed to achieve the activity objectives. As a consequence of these problems, the requirements engineer lacks the necessary guidance to effectively apply the requirements generation process, and thus, resulting in the production of an inadequate set of requirements. To address these concerns, we propose the expanded Requirements Generation Model (x-RGM), which consists of activities at a more appropriate level of abstraction. This decomposition of the model ensures that the requirements engineer has a clear understanding of the activities involved in the requirements generation process. In addition, the objectives of all the activities defined by the x-RGM are identified and explicitly stated so that no assumptions are made about the goals of the activities involved in the generation of requirements. We also identify sets of methods that can be used during each activity to effectively achieve its objectives. The mapping of methods to activities guides the requirements engineer in selecting the appropriate techniques for a particular activity in the requirements engineering process. Furthermore, we prescribe small subsets of methods for each activity based on commonly used selection criteria such that the chosen criterion is optimized. This list of methods is created with the intention of simplifying the task of choosing methods for the activities defined by the x-RGM that best meet the selection criterion goal / Master of Science