This research proposes a new dynamic energy management framework for a backbone Internet Protocol over Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (IP over DWDM) network. Maintaining the logical IP-layer topology is a key constraint of our architecture whilst saving energy by infrastructure sleeping and virtual router migration. The traffic demand in a Tier 2/3 network typically has a regular diurnal pattern based on people‟s activities, which is high in working hours and much lighter during hours associated with sleep. When the traffic demand is light, virtual router instances can be consolidated to a smaller set of physical platforms and the unneeded physical platforms can be put to sleep to save energy. As the traffic demand increases the sleeping physical platforms can be re-awoken in order to host virtual router instances and so maintain quality of service. Since the IP-layer topology remains unchanged throughout virtual router migration in our framework, there is no network disruption or discontinuities when the physical platforms enter or leave hibernation. However, this migration places extra demands on the optical layer as additional connections are needed to preserve the logical IP-layer topology whilst forwarding traffic to the new virtual router location. Consequently, dynamic optical connection management is needed for the new framework. Two important issues are considered in the framework, i.e. when to trigger the virtual router migration and where to move virtual router instances to? For the first issue, a reactive mechanism is used to trigger the virtual router migration by monitoring the network state. Then, a new evolutionary-based algorithm called VRM_MOEA is proposed for solving the destination physical platform selection problem, which chooses the appropriate location of virtual router instances as traffic demand varies. A novel hybrid simulation platform is developed to measure the performance of new framework, which is able to capture the functionality of the optical layer, the IP layer data-path and the IP/optical control plane. Simulation results show that the performance of network energy saving depends on many factors, such as network topology, quiet and busy thresholds, and traffic load; however, savings of around 30% are possible with typical medium-sized network topologies.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-07-08T15:46:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Bruna Omizzolo Lazzarotto.pdf: 1296969 bytes, checksum: 27fc157b60cb7bf5b6173eee26e75416 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-08T15:46:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bruna Omizzolo Lazzarotto.pdf: 1296969 bytes, checksum: 27fc157b60cb7bf5b6173eee26e75416 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-22 / UNISINOS - Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos / O modelo terceirização com contratos baseados em resultado pode ser uma opção vantajosa para as organizações que buscam aumentar a sua competitividade por meio da terceirização de processos. Contratos baseados em resultado estimulam os contratados a atingirem as metas estabelecidas, dado que a remuneração destes est• vinculada a esse atendimento. Entretanto, para que as metas sejam alcançadas, é fundamental que o contrato seja bem gerido tanto pela empresa contratante como pela contratada para a execução do serviço. Contudo, essa boa gestão não é um fator fácil de alcançar e várias barreiras podem surgir, em qualquer fase do processo de terceirização, seja na etapa de preparação, implantação ou manutenção. Considerando o cenário exposto, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo geral propor um conjunto de diretrizes de gestão capaz de suportar a inserção de uma terceirização com contratos baseados em resultado, em ambiente busines-to-business (B2B), de modo que o mesmo agregue valor para a contratante e contratada, sendo que os objetivos específicos são: (a) apresentar a atual prática de gestão de alguns casos de terceirização em ambiente B2B; (b) identificar os objetivos do processo de terceirização baseado em resultado em ambiente B2B, sob o ponto de vista para contratantes e contratados; e (c) identificar os fatores de sucesso e as barreiras para a inserção de uma terceirização baseada em resultados. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, foi elaborado um framework teórico que sustentou a pesquisa de campo. Foram estudados onze contratos baseados em resultado, envolvendo sete empresas contratantes e sete contratadas. Como resultado, identifica-se que os principais fatores de sucesso atrelados ‡ terceirização estão relacionados ao processo de seleção do prestador de serviço, estabelecimento de um contrato específico com objetivos claros, e com uma gestão ativa do contratado e do relacionamento entre as empresas contratantes e contratadas. Como principais barreiras para o processo de terceirização, identifica-se o baixo apoio da alta administração da empresa contratante demonstrando um desalinhamento entre a estratégia de terceirização e a estratégia da organização; uma gestão negligente do contrato após esse ser estabelecido por parte da contratante; uma postura pouco proativa por parte do contratado. A partir desses fatores identificados, foram estabelecidas diretrizes de gestão para o processo de terceirização contemplando as três fases do processo: preparação, implantação e manutenção. Dentre as diretrizes propostas, pode-se destacar o estabelecimento de um processo de seleção do contratado, avaliando capacidade técnica e o alinhamento de objetivo; o estabelecimento de um contrato específico de terceirização incluindo regras, indicadores, punições e recompensas; o estabelecimento de um processo de gestão ativo, contemplado a utilização de indicadores e um processo de análise periódica desses; a gestão do relacionamento baseando em uma postura proativa. Espera-se que este trabalho possa contribuir no avanço do tema dado que se observam lacunas teóricas principalmente relacionadas ‡ gestão estratégica do processo, e contribuir em termos gerenciais possibilitando um aprimoramento do processo de gestão e, por consequência, o alcance dos objetivos esperados da terceirização. / The results-based outsourcing model may be an advantage to organizations seeking to increase their productivity by outsourcing processes. Results-based contracts stimulate the suppliers to achieve their goals because their compensation is commensurate with the achievement of results. However, the achievement of goals calls for a good contract management by the contracting parties, buyer and service supplier. A good contract management, however, is not an easy task and a number of barriers can come up in any step of the outsourcing process, preparation, implementation, and maintenance. In view of this scenario, this research work aims to propose a set of management guidelines capable of supporting the insertion of a results-based outsourcing in a business to business (B2B) environment in such a way as to add value to the buyer and the supplier as well, with the following specific objectives: (a) to present the current management practice from a few outsourcing initiatives in a B2B environment; (b) to identify the objectives of the outsourcing process based on results in a B2B environment from the standpoint of buyers and suppliers; and (c) to identify the success factors and the barriers to the insertion of results-based outsourcing. For the development of the research, a theoretical framework was created which supported the field survey/research. Eleven results-based contracts from seven buyers and seven suppliers provided the basis for the study. As a result, it has been identified that the main success factors for outsourcing are associated with the process of selecting the service provider, the establishment of a specific contract with clear-cut objectives and an active management of the contract, and the relationship with the contracting parties, buyers and suppliers. The main barriers to the outsourcing process were identified as the low level of support from the buyer’s top management demonstrating a misalignment between the outsourcing strategy and the company strategy; a neglectful management of the contract following its establishment by the buyer; a less than proactive posture from the supplier. Based on these research factors, management guidelines were established for the outsourcing process contemplating its three phases: preparation, implementation, and maintenance. Among the proposed guidelines, stands out the establishment of a selection process for the supplier, where the supplier’s technical capabilities and alignment of objective are reviewed; the establishment of a specific outsourcing contract including rules, indicators, penalties, and rewards, the establishment of a process of active management contemplating the utilization of indicators and a process of periodical review of the same; the management of the relationship based on a proactive and fair posture. Hopefully this research work will contribute to the advancement of the theme inasmuch as a number of theoretical gaps can be observed, mainly as regards the strategic management of the process, and to give a contribution in managerial terms, enabling organizations to improve their management process and, as a consequence, to achieve the desired outsourcing results.

A alta competitividade e os avanços tecnológicos propiciaram o surgimento de um novo modelo de terceirização de Tecnologia de Informação (TI), os Provedores de Serviços de Aplicativos (ASP - Application Service Providers). A proposta do modelo ASP é a comercialização de aplicativos de software como serviço. A satisfação dos clientes está diretamente relacionada à qualidade do serviço prestado. Para garantir que sejam fornecidos serviços com qualidade, é fundamental a adoção dos Acordos dos Níveis de Serviços (SLA - Service Levei Agreements) como mecanismo de controle. No entanto, são escassas as informações formalizadas que venham a contribuir com a especificação desses acordos. Propondo-se a contribuir com a compreensão de SLA para ASP, apresenta-se uma pesquisa exploratória do conceito de SLA para ASP, de modelos de qualidade e dos fatores de qualidade a serem considerados nos SLA para garantir a qualidade dos serviços prestados. / lhe current competitiveness of the global market and the continuous technological evolution pushed the risen of a new model of Information Technogy Outsourcing, the Application Service Providers (ASP). The ASP modelproposes the remote delivery of software as a service. Therefore, customers\' satisfaction is strictelly related to the quality of ser\\>ice delivered. It is highly recommended the adoption of Service Levei Agreement (SLA) as a control mechanism to assure such quality of service. However, there is a lack of formalized statements regarding the specification of these agreements. As a matter of contribution for the compreension of the SLA for ASP, this work introduces an exploratory research of the concep of SLA for ASP, and of the quality models and quality metrics to be considered by the SLA to assure the quality of the services provided.

Com o propósito de apresentar uma visão do mercado de paisagismo, no Estado de São Paulo, auxiliar no processo de formação dos agrônomos, para atuação nesta área, bem como contribuir para sua avaliação educacional, o presente trabalho analisou três diferentes focos de estudo: prestadoras de serviço de paisagismo, estudantes em fase de conclusão do curso de engenharia agronômica e docentes responsáveis pelo ensino de paisagismo, em instituições de ensino superior, no Estado de São Paulo. Para coleta de dados, realizou-se contato direto com os envolvidos nesta pesquisa, visando entrevistá-los, com questionário semi-estruturado, pelo método de amostragem nos dois primeiros focos, e como censo para o último. Capítulos específicos foram elaborados para apresentação de cada um dos pontos analisados, obtendo, em sua primeira discussão, a visão de que os serviços de paisagismo, no Estado, apresentam-se diretamente relacionados a jardins e utilização de plantas ornamentais, oferecidos por profissionais de diferentes formações, para atuação, neste setor. Assim, constatou-se a participação de arquitetos (25%), oriundos de cursos livres de paisagismo (25%), engenheiros agrônomos (23,33%), técnicos agrícolas (8,33%), concluintes do ensino médio (6,66%), técnicos em edificações (5%), biólogos (3,33%), matemáticos (1,66%), bem como outros (1,66%), sem qualquer formação ou instrução escolar; os analisados demonstraram otimismo quanto à prosperidade deste setor no Estado (96%). Quanto aos estudantes, observou-se que 55,4% consideraram-se satisfeitos com o embasamento da disciplina obrigatória que aborda o paisagismo; indicando que os recursos educacionais mais importantes são o contato com profissionais da área (87,75%), situações reais para desenvolvimento de projetos (79,9%) e software para desenvolvimento de projetos (73,04%); entretanto elencaram como recursos mais utilizados, durante a formação, materiais de desenho (71,08%), mesas próprias para desenho (62,25%) e situações reais para desenvolvimento de projetos (54,41%). Apresentaram, ainda, insegurança, quanto à sua capacitação, para atuação no mercado (58,33%); embora 22,55% dos estudantes pretendessem trabalhar com paisagismo, e 27,45% consideraram possível tal atuação. Quanto à pesquisa junto aos docentes, puderam ser identificadas três áreas em sua formação, sendo engenharia agronômica (85%), engenharia florestal (10%) e ciências biológicas (5%), além de apresentarem pós-graduação, em várias áreas do conhecimento. Esses docentes listaram 37 diferentes disciplinas obrigatórias da agronomia, pelas quais eram responsáveis e afirmaram que as empresas atuantes neste mercado não oferecem seus serviços da maneira como esta atividade requer (70%). 95% dos docentes mostraram-se favoráveis à atuação de equipes multiprofissionais, quando do oferecimento desses serviços, com preferência para atuação de engenheiros agrônomos e arquitetos. / Aiming to present a market overview of landscaping in the State of São Paulo, assist in the process of training agronomists to act in this field and contribute to the educational evaluation, in this context, this study examined three different foci of study: service providers of landscaping; students nearing completion of the agronomy course; and teachers responsible for teaching landscaping for the future agronomists in the state of São Paulo. For data collection, a direct contact was used with those involved in this research, with the purpose of interviewing them with a semi-structured survey, which was applied as sampling in the first two cases and as a census in the last one. Specific chapters were prepared to present each of the points analyzed, resulting, in the first discussion, in the view that landscaping services, in the State, present themselves as being directly related to the use of gardens and ornamental plants, offered by professionals who have a diversity in academic formation for working in this sector. The following included the participation of: architects (25%), people derived from open landscaping courses (25%), agronomists (23.33%), agricultural technicians (8.33%) high school graduates (6.66%), building technicians (5%), biologists (3.33%), mathematicians (1.66%), and those without any formal training or schooling (1.66%); which altogether showed optimism about the prosperity of this sector in the State (96%). In the second discussion developed, it was observed that 55.4% of students considered themselves satisfied with the basement of the compulsory subject that encompasses landscaping; they also indicated that the most important educational resources are: \"contact with professionals in the field\" (87.75%), \"real-life situations to develop projects\" (79.9%) and \"software to develop projects\" (73.04%), however the features most used during the training were: \"design materials\" ( 71.08%), \"design appropriate tables\" (62.25%), \"reallife situations to develop projects\" (54.41%); they demonstrated insecurity, in their formation, regarding their performance in the market (58.33%), despite this, 22.55% of students intended to work with landscaping, and 27.45% considered this activity a possibility. In the third debate, we identified three distinct fields of academic formation, regarding the teachers undergraduate schools, which capacitate agronomists in the activities of landscaping, which include: agronomy (85%), forest engineering (10%) and biological sciences (5%) which represented distinct formation fields in graduate school, and found themselves responsible for 37 different mandatory courses in agronomy. They argued that companies operating in this market do not offer their services in the way this activity needs to be done (70%), and 95% of the teachers favored the performance of multidisciplinary teams in providing these services, giving priority to the activities of agronomists and architects.

Lesbian intimate partner violence (IPV) is an understudied social and psychological problem in the United States. The purpose of this qualitative, comparative study was to understand any barriers of help-seeking behaviors for victims of lesbian IPV. The literature on lesbian IPV has not included the perspectives of both service provider and support person on why these barriers persist. Normative resource theory and the barriers model informed the study. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 8 providers and 5 support persons. Interviews were then transcribed and coded. The 7 themes that emerged among these 13 participants were an unawareness on how to get help, inability on the part of the victim to recognize abuse, lack of acknowledgement of abuse in the community, inadequate specialized training and policies to work with the lesbian community, no assurance of safety at the shelter, fear of disclosure of sexual orientation, and no confidence with system or service agency. All of these themes were identified as contributing factors that deterred lesbian IPV victims from seeking help. Although the findings are representative of a small sample, these findings can initiate positive social change by informing interventions which can bridge the gap between the lesbian IPV victim and the support services she needs.

Military cultural competence has gained attention due to the past 15 years of military conflict and ongoing deployment of troops around the globe. Returning veterans, particularly those who go on to experience homelessness, have reported negative experiences and adverse treatment from programs that were designed to support them. Those experiences have resulted in perceived barriers to access or use of such services. Researchers have established the need for increased levels of military cultural competence to develop rapport with veterans and their families when delivering community-based social and healthcare services. Bandura's self-efficacy theory was the theoretical framework of this study. This study examined the relationship between military cultural competence, socialization tactics, and perceived self-efficacy of service providers employed with Continuum of Care Program member organizations that served veterans experiencing homelessness. Data were collected utilizing a cross-sectional web-based survey. After conducting a bivariate correlation, a statistically significant relationship was found between military cultural competence levels, socialization tactics, and self-efficacy levels. After conducting multiple linear regression, it was found that socialization tactics did not moderate the relationship between military cultural competence levels on self-efficacy levels. Though moderation was not found, leadership of organizations that support veterans may want to consider these factors to inform onboarding and training decisions. Addressing behaviors and attitudes of service providers may support social change by reducing adverse treatment that creates barriers to access and use of programs and services.

The growth of eCommerce is being hampered by a lack of trust between providers and consumers of Web-based services. While Web trust issues have been addressed by researchers in many disciplines, a comprehensive approach has yet to be established. This thesis proposes a conceptual trust-profiling framework???W3TF???which addresses issues of trust and user confidence through a range of new user-centred trust measures???trust categories, trust domains, transitivity of trust, fading factor analysis, standalone assessment, hyperlinked assessment and relevance assessment. While others now use the concept of transitivity of trust, it was first introduced by this research in 1998. The thesis also illustrates how W3TF can narrow the gap/disconnection between the hierarchical PKI trust environment and the horizontal Web referral environment. The framework incorporates existing measures of trust (such as Public Key Infrastructure), takes account of consumer perceptions by identifying trust attributes, and utilises Web technology (in the form of metadata), to create a practical, flexible and comprehensive approach to trust assessment. The versatility of the W3TF is demonstrated by applying it to a variety of cases from trust literature and to the hypothetical case study that provided the initial stimulus for this research. It is shown that the framework can be expanded to accommodate new trust attributes, categories and domains, and that trust can be ???weighed??? (and therefore evaluated) by using various mathematical formulae based on different theories and policies. The W3TF addresses identified needs, narrows the gaps in existing approaches and provides a mechanism to embrace current and future efforts in trust management. The framework is a generic form of trust assessment that can help build user confidence in an eCommerce environment. For service providers, it offers an incentive to create websites with a high number of desired trust attributes. For consumers, it enables more reliable judgments to be made. Hence, Web trust can be enhanced.

<p>The use of external providers for the provision of information and communication technology (ICT) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is expected to increase. At the end of the 1990s the concept of Application Service Provision (ASP) and Application Service Providers (ASPs) was introduced. This is described as one way for SMEs to provide themselves with software applications. However, it</p><p>can be stated that the concept has not taken off. This study examines what reasons influence the decision-making when deciding to use or not use ASP. The research question is: How do SMEs decide on using an Application Service Provider for the provision and maintenance of ICT? In order to answer the question decision-making processes in SMEs have been investigated in an interpretive case study. This study</p><p>consisted of mainly semi-structured interviews that were done with three different ASPs and customers related to them. It also consisted of a questionnaire to the customers of one of the service providers. The analysis was then made as a withincase analysis, consisting of detailed write-ups for each site. The interviews and a literature survey of the ASP concept and theories that have been used to explain the ASP decision-making process generated seven constructs. From the presented and discussed theories, models and proposed constructs seven propositions were formulated. These propositions were used for the analysis and presentation of the findings in the study. The main conclusion of the study is the disparate view of what affects the adoption or non-adoption of the ASP concept. The service providers express the decision as a wish from the prospective customer to decrease costs and increase the predictability of costs. The customers on the other hand express it as a wish to increase accessibility; the cost perspective is found to be secondary.</p>

<p>Teenage pregnancy is one of the major public health problems facing teenage girls in Zambia (Webb, 2000 / Warenius, 2008). Teenage girls‟ access to and utilization of adolescent&nbsp / reproductive health (ARH) services is important for the prevention of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) amongst teenagers.High incidence of teenage pregnancies has been noted in the district despite availability of ARHservices. Teenage pregnancy is a major contributing factor to the high school drop-out rate amongst the girls and is one of the challenges faced by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that support girl child education, such as the campaign for female&nbsp / education (CAMFED) as well as for government agencies such as the Ministry of Education. The high incidence of teenage pregnancies could be an indication of poor access to&nbsp / and utilization of ARH services and therefore an assessment of the accessibility and utilization of the ARH services was done to explore the reasons for this.This research aimed to explore the factors affecting teenage girls‟ access to and utilization of ARH services in the Mpika district, Zambia. The research was a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study using individual interviews with ten in-school teenage girls, four key informants rendering ARH services and a focus group discussion (FGD) with ten pregnant teenage girls. By exploring these particpants‟ perceptions and experiences, appropriate interventions to improve accessibility to and utilization of ARH services could be designed that would be appropriate for the local context in order for them to be effective. Thematic analysis with categorizing and coding methods was used to analyze the data. The study used the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) which stipulates that an individual‟s attitude,subjective norms and perceived behavioural control influence behaviour as a framework to explain the findings of the results of the study. The findings of the study indicated that physical, psychological and social barriers hindered adolescents from accessing and utilizing ARH services. The findings also suggested that high levels of knowledge about RH services do not necessarily translate into accessibility and utilization of ARH services. Accessibility to and utilization of ARH services by adolescents can also be determined by an individual‟s attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control as illustrated by the TPB. Adolescents need to feel comfortable using ARH services. Therefore the three variables of TPB should be taken into consideration when designing comprehensive ARH programmes in order to accommodate the unique reproductive health needs of the adolescents. There is need to encourage participation in and involvement of adolescents in planning and&nbsp / &nbsp / implementation of ARH programmes. The participants also made recommendations which included strengthening information and education on ARH, strengthening adolescent-friendly services, improving staffing levels and promotion of school health services.</p>

<p>Teenage pregnancy is one of the major public health problems facing teenage girls in Zambia (Webb, 2000 / Warenius, 2008). Teenage girls‟ access to and utilization of adolescent&nbsp / reproductive health (ARH) services is important for the prevention of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) amongst teenagers.High incidence of teenage pregnancies has been noted in the district despite availability of ARHservices. Teenage pregnancy is a major contributing factor to the high school drop-out rate amongst the girls and is one of the challenges faced by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that support girl child education, such as the campaign for female&nbsp / education (CAMFED) as well as for government agencies such as the Ministry of Education. The high incidence of teenage pregnancies could be an indication of poor access to&nbsp / and utilization of ARH services and therefore an assessment of the accessibility and utilization of the ARH services was done to explore the reasons for this.This research aimed to explore the factors affecting teenage girls‟ access to and utilization of ARH services in the Mpika district, Zambia. The research was a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study using individual interviews with ten in-school teenage girls, four key informants rendering ARH services and a focus group discussion (FGD) with ten pregnant teenage girls. By exploring these particpants‟ perceptions and experiences, appropriate interventions to improve accessibility to and utilization of ARH services could be designed that would be appropriate for the local context in order for them to be effective. Thematic analysis with categorizing and coding methods was used to analyze the data. The study used the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) which stipulates that an individual‟s attitude,subjective norms and perceived behavioural control influence behaviour as a framework to explain the findings of the results of the study. The findings of the study indicated that physical, psychological and social barriers hindered adolescents from accessing and utilizing ARH services. The findings also suggested that high levels of knowledge about RH services do not necessarily translate into accessibility and utilization of ARH services. Accessibility to and utilization of ARH services by adolescents can also be determined by an individual‟s attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control as illustrated by the TPB. Adolescents need to feel comfortable using ARH services. Therefore the three variables of TPB should be taken into consideration when designing comprehensive ARH programmes in order to accommodate the unique reproductive health needs of the adolescents. There is need to encourage participation in and involvement of adolescents in planning and&nbsp / &nbsp / implementation of ARH programmes. The participants also made recommendations which included strengthening information and education on ARH, strengthening adolescent-friendly services, improving staffing levels and promotion of school health services.</p>