The use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) by governments on all continents has been rapidly growing as government departments and their agencies continue to look for improvised means of providing high quality services. In South Africa, the demand for the replacement of the aging government infrastructure has led to the increase in the use of PPPs. The PPPs are not only used for the improvement of roads, but also in the provision of social services and many other services that are traditionally a responsibility of government. Government institutions typically enter into relationships with PPPs to address their needs and to meet specific objectives. It is, therefore, up to these institutions to choose an ideal model of procurement that best addresses their objectives of delivering effective services (Palmer, 2009:Online). Government institutions will, however, only enter into relationship with PPPs if the services can be transferred in a responsible way and if the risks for failure are limited. Inefficiencies in the disbursement of social assistance grants by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has received much attention and criticism from the stakeholders as the company contracted to perform the work on behalf of SASSA continues to provide poor quality services. In assessing a PPP, countries providing social security transfers need to take into consideration a partner that will assist in establishing and implementing the payment design and distribution mechanism that is capable of facilitating the cost effective, reliable and practical delivery of cash to the grant beneficiaries. A comprehensive review of literature and empirical investigation was carried out to respond to the research study’s set objectives. The study explored a wide-ranging survey of PPP projects in developed and developing countries focusing on the use of the PPP model in the South African context with specific reference to the disbursement of social grants by the SASSA. Alternative procurement methodologies in government were also reviewed. An analysis of relevant procurement theories was undertaken to form the basis of the research study. The mini-dissertation explores if there are any advantages for the government, and more specifically the SASSA, in using PPPs as opposed to traditional procurement methods. The study attempts to establish if a private partner can be encouraged to provide long-term investment in terms of expertise; well qualified staff; technology; infrastructure; and creation of an environment conducive for highly effective service delivery where the return on such investment is not guaranteed. / MA (Public Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of the Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) programme in South Africa, using Mpumalanga as focal area, with the view of developing guidelines to assist service providers in the implementation of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy (CTOP), Act 92 of 1996. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, a qualitative, quantitative, contextual, explorative, descriptive and case study research design was utilised. The purpose was to explore and describe TOP service providers and facility managers’ knowledge regarding the CTOP Act, as well as their experiences and feelings regarding TOP provision, and the feelings and experiences of health care consumers utilising TOP services. Records of attendance regarding the utilisation of the services were also reviewed. Data was collected using unstructured and semi-structured interviews. Phase 2 of the study focused on the development of guidelines to assist in the translation of the CTOP Act to action at service level. The findings revealed that although the TOP programme was operating within the reproductive health for women initiative, TOP service providers and facility managers were not knowledgeable on other legislation that supports the CTOP Act to integrate its implementation. All the participants experienced emotional, physical and psychological discomfort in providing TOP services. Lack of support of the programme also posed a major challenge. These findings formed the basis for the development of the guidelines. / Health Studies / (D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies))

Fler konsumenter väljer att handla på internet. Vare sig det handlar om bekvämlighet eller priser har denna ökning en påverkan på hur detaljhandel sköts och distribueras. Kundkraven ändras och konsumenten har mer att säga till om. Rapporten syftar till att beskriva hur en ökad e-handel har påverkat och fortsatt kommer att påverka distributionen av detaljhandelsvaror nationellt. Den beskriver även hur ökningen påverkar distributionsföretagen och hur dessa i sin tur valt att agera för att bemöta förändringen som sker på marknaden. Vad som påverkar distributionsbolagen mest kommer också att beröras och rapporten ger en bild av e-handelns påverkan på distributionsföretagen. De slutsatser som kunnat dras av rapporten är att de ökande volymerna av gods från e-handel i dagsläget inte påverkat företagen nämnvärt, men att förändringar förmodligen kommer att behöva ske inom vissa områden i framtiden. Ökningen av e-handelsgods har gett distributionsföretagen en högre volym att hantera. De ökade volymerna för även med sig ytterligare kostnader i den mest kostsamma delen av distributionen, the last mile, genom att det blir fler leveranser till konsumentens hem. På grund av denna ökade kostnad ser distributionsföretagen ett behov av att öka sina vinstmarginaler genom att erbjuda konsumenten olika tilläggstjänster. Ytterligare ser företagen att det har blivit förändringar i de krav konsumenterna ställer. Krav på leveransservice blir allt högre och pressen på distributionsföretagen att ha kvalitet i sin produktion ökar. I dagens läge konstateras att volymerna alltjämt är för låga för att motivera en omfattande affärsutveckling med dyra investeringar för att möta den nivå av ökning som hittills skett. Detta kommer förmodligen vara nödvändigt i framtiden om ökningen fortsätter i samma takt som nu. Att utöka kunskapen och arbeta mer aktivt för att främja leveransservice är därför någonting som i rapporten framkommer som viktigt inför framtidens utmaningar. / More consumers choose to shop online. Whether it is because of convenience or prices this increase has an impact on how retailing is managed and distributed. Customer demands change and the consumer has more power. This report aims to describe how an increase in e-commerce has affected and will continue to influence the distribution of retail goods nationally and how it affects the companies providing transportation of e-commerce goods. The report also discuss how the distribution companies act in response to these changes in the market and which areas that have been affected the most. The conclusions drawn from the report is that the increasing volume of goods from e-commerce have not currently affected the distribution companies significantly, however in the future changes are believed to be necessary in certain areas. The increase of e-commerce goods has contributed to a higher volume of goods for distribution companies to manage. These increased volumes bring additional costs to the most expensive part of the distribution, the last mile, by bringing more deliveries to the consumer’s home. Because of this increase in costs, the distribution companies need to increase their margins by offering consumers additional services. Additionally, the companies see a change in the customer demands. Customer demands on delivery service are increasing and the pressure on the distribution companies to have a high quality in their production increases. Today the volume is still too low to justify a heavy business development with costly investments to counter the increasing volume. These changes will probably be necessary in the future if the increase continues at the same rate. To increase the knowledge and evolve the delivery service is something that this report indicates to be important in the future.

M. Tech. Business Administration / The purpose of this study is two-fold ; to establish how different demograhic profiles utilise the internet and classifies internet functions mostly used across demographic characteristics. Data was collected through a self-completion structured questionnaire from a sample of 131 households at Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in the City of Tshwane.

Background:   The demand of textiles and clothing is constantly increasing; as a result the post-consumer textile waste increase as well. This point is bringing the focus on creating the value from waste by recycling. Sweden, municipalities are responsible for handling the textile waste that is currently categorized as the household waste. The post-consumer textile when disposed is mixed with the other household waste, which eliminates the commercial value of the material Purpose:          The purpose of this study is to explore the current system in Nässjö municipality to manage post-consumer textiles and identify the possibilities for value creation through reverse logistics processes.  Method:          To fulfil the research purpose a qualitative study employing single case is used. Study caters multi-perspectives from different actors i.e. municipality, logistics service providers and consumers. Purposive sampling is used to select the respondents from each actor seeing their position in the companies and knowledge on the subject. Primary data is gathered by conducting 11 semi-structured interviews and field visit to the waste collection site. Secondary data is obtained using web sources and also from different project reports from government and other agencies. The empirical data is categorized and then analysed by thematic analysis with the developed theoretical framework of systems’ theory. Findings:         Legislation to collect textiles as the separate entity and put it in the reverse logistics system is on the way. Today, input in the system is very low due to the unawareness of consumers about the available options. Municipality is processing the waste as a normal household waste and it is incinerated to produce energy for the residents.  LSP are coordinating with municipality and tend to increase their resources for effective participation in the new system. Municipality requires strategic changes to meet the coming legislative requirements. Conclusion:     A sub-system could be developed for post-consumer textile in Nassjo municipality. Input in the system has to be determined by consumers education and convenience. Municipality has to define their roles for manage sub-system effectively. The study has provided the rich description of potential possibilities in this context.

Manufacturing firms seeking to create and extend competitive advantage are striving to include more services into their offerings. Meanwhile, there are research gaps such as how frontline service providers influence organizational dynamic capabilities and how organizational dynamic capabilities can be developed in servitization need to be systematically studied and explicitly explained. Although service is characterized by service providers applying own knowledge and skills for the benefits of customers, service providers are traditionally looked as pure decision takers. The influence of service providers upon organizational dynamic capabilities is habitually underestimated.   Because solution is classified as the most common offering in servitization and project-based integrated solution is an essential category in solution the study launched in this thesis focuses on firms providing project-based integrated water treatment solutions. The attempt to fill identified research gaps is carried out in three steps by answering hereinafter questions: What roles the frontline service providers, project manager and team members, play in project-based integrated solution? How service providers can influence organizational dynamic capabilities in project-based integrated solution? What mechanisms service providers can leverage to develop dynamic capabilities in project-based integrated solution?   This thesis builds on the intersection of dynamic capability and servitization literatures and is complemented by insights from project-based organization researches. Knowledge about the micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities in project-based integrated solution is generated from literature review. Data on potential strategic roles of service providers, their influence on organizational capabilities, and mechanisms to develop capabilities are collected in semi-structured interviews. In this thesis, the strategic roles which project manager and team members play, and their respective influences upon organizational capabilities are differentiated. Meanwhile, data in relation with the service cocreators on customer side are also collected and analysed, and their influence on project performance is discussed. Overall, this study is qualitative in nature and the theory development follows a deductive in combination with inductive approach.   This study generates at least four theoretical contributions: firstly, it classifies the roles frontline service providers could play; secondly, it deepens the understanding of the influence frontline service providers could have on  organizational capabilities; thirdly, it explores the micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities in servitization; and fourthly, it provides preliminary findings about the influence of service co-creators. This study also brings multiple managerial contributions for example providing insights for managers to reconsider firm organizational structure, decision-making processes, human resource and knowledge assets management in servitization. Additionally, this study suggests that there are applicable mechanisms for firms to develop capabilities in project-based integrated solution. Finally, this study emphasizes that, to improve project performance, managers should also put more efforts on developing service cocreators’ capabilities.

Since 2011, the brutal and complex war in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands of people and created millions of refugees. This dismaying and rapidly unfolding crisis has contributed to the biggest movement of people through the continent since the Second World War. The United Kingdom was one of many destinations for Syrian refugees seeking protection. With this, members of the Syrian community have come together to provide support to newly arrived Syrian refugees. Literature documenting the mental health difficulties that Syrian refugees present with and the range of support provided by these community services remains severely limited. In the context of this gap, the overall aim of this study was to explore the psychological needs with which Syrian refugees in the UK present, as well as the service provision responses to these needs. In order to do this, the research utilised a qualitative methodology and elicited in-depth data from multiple perspectives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the inductive thematic analysis generated the following themes: Pre-displacement challenges; Displacement challenges; Post-displacement challenges; Coping and Resilience; Service providers' role and Challenges for contextually appropriate mental health care. The findings of this study suggested that Syrian refugees in the United Kingdom present with wide range of mental health needs, including struggles caused by exposure to brutal conflict, violence, multiple losses and cultural stressors. Findings stated that community services are providing an array of basic and social support; however, mental health needs are unmet. Barriers to accessing mental health resources in the UK have been addressed and the need to develop a multi-layered, culturally sensitive response to Syrian refugees' mental health difficulties has been identified. The Discussion proposed the need to support community services in order to raise awareness, enhance Syrian refugees' psychological well-being and inform the development of culturally sensitive mental health services. With the growing number of Syrian refugees in the UK, this research has provided a contextualisation of this population's culture, religion, resilience, coping strategies and mental health needs from the provider perspective, which is important to improve awareness and identify specific issues contributing to mental health well-being. Recommendations are suggested for developing culturally sensitive mental health services for Syrian refugees, alongside acknowledging limitations of the research and suggestions for further investigation and practice.

Wang, Qian. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-74). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- A Review of Pricing in Internet Industry --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Static Pricing --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Flat-rate Pricing --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Usage-based Pricing --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Paris Metro Pricing --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Dynamic Pricing --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Smart-market Pricing --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Responsive Pricing --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Edge Pricing --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3 --- Comparisons --- p.14 / Chapter 2.4 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.17 / Chapter 3 --- Uplink Pricing --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.18 / Chapter 3.2 --- Model Description --- p.26 / Chapter 3.3 --- Uplink Pricing in a Competitive Market --- p.36 / Chapter 3.4 --- The Cooperative Strategy with Uplink Pricing --- p.40 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- The Cooperative Case --- p.41 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- The Threat Strategy --- p.45 / Chapter 3.5 --- Further Discussion --- p.47 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Accounting Cost --- p.47 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Peer-to-Peer Locality --- p.48 / Chapter 3.6 --- Related Works --- p.48 / Chapter 3.7 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.49 / Chapter 4 --- Viability of Paris Metro Pricing --- p.51 / Chapter 4.1 --- The Model --- p.52 / Chapter 4.2 --- Flat-rate Pricing versus Paris Metro Pricing --- p.54 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- One-channel Flat-rate Pricing --- p.55 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Two-Channel Identical Pricing --- p.56 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Flat-rate Pricing versus Two-Channel Iden-tical Pricing --- p.57 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Flat-rate Pricing versus Paris Metro Pricing --- p.59 / Chapter 4.3 --- Case Studies --- p.60 / Chapter 4.4 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.62 / Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.63 / A Equation Derivation --- p.65 / Chapter A. --- l Proof for Lemma 3.3.2 --- p.65 / Bibliography --- p.71

This study explored human service providers’ perception of the quality of client services provided as related to the providers’ level of self-care. We utilized a quantitative research approach to survey 54 human service providers from three Southern California agencies. An independent t-test was conducted to analyze the difference between participants’ perceptions of self-care by age, gender, and level of education. This study revealed a significant difference was found between gender and social care. Females are more likely to maintain an open, trusting relationship with someone who they can share their frustrations with, sustain balance in their life by pursing a variety of interests outside of work, and have a close relationship with someone who serves as a mentor and/or advisor. Also, a significant difference was found between gender and service delivery. When not meeting self-care needs, men felt that their service delivery was affected more so than women. Additionally, when stressed, males had more difficulty relating to clients than females. Due to the limitations of the study such as: sample size, sampling technique, validity and reliability of the questionnaire, these results cannot be generalized. For future research, it is recommended that similar studies are conducted on human service providers’ perception of the quality of client services provided as related to their level of self-care utilizing a larger sample size and a standardized instrument. It is also recommended that gender differences are studied within social work regarding self-care and its impact on job retention.

Efficient functioning of service providing organizations highly depends on quality of their services as it contributes to companies’ competitiveness and customers’ satisfaction (Gill, 2009, p. 533). Thus, quality management should be an integral part of service organizations’ performance. Healthcare industry is a specific representative of the service industry that regards quality as a fundamental value of medical care. To manage quality within the healthcare settings is a challenging task due to its complexity. Hence, the purpose of the current qualitative study was to propose an efficient approach toward quality management within the healthcare industry. In order to be efficient quality management should consider issues that relate to the healthcare organizations’ complexity such as different interests of a wide range of parties involved in healthcare service processes. As mentioned parties are presented by patients, physicians, nurses, receptionists and others, their perceptions of quality could be rather distinctive. So, the first step towards achieving the purpose of the study was to discover an aligned or combined perception of healthcare service quality from patients’ and healthcare service providers’ perspectives. Common perception of quality would give opportunity to focus on improvement of aspects that are essential for the core stakeholders of healthcare organizations. Hence, the second intention that would contribute to efficient quality management was to develop a combined quality management model based on an aligned or combined quality perception. In order to investigate a common perception of quality, we conducted semi-structured individual interviews with patients and healthcare service providers. Having analyzed obtained data we revealed the most vital (sub-) dimensions of service quality for both parties. These aspects relates to the providing information for the patients, emotional support, involving patients into the treatment and having good medical equipment. Also, some important (sub-) dimensions were not stressed by both patients and providers, so we supplemented common (sub-) dimensions with these distinctive aspects. For example, providers mentioned professional skills dimension as the most essential aspect of healthcare service quality. In conclusion, we constructed one common perception of healthcare service quality consisting of common and distinct aspects of healthcare service quality. For the purpose of developing a combined quality management model we selected the most appropriate values, methodologies and tools from such quality management initiatives as TQM, Lean and Six Sigma. The selection was guided by dimensions from the common perception of healthcare service quality. The conducted study contributes to theoretical as well as practical areas. We believe that our research supplemented Quality Management theory by proposing beneficial combinations of TQM, Lean and Six Sigma and Service Quality literature by revealing additional aspects of service quality perception. Practical field will gain from the proposed flexible approach toward assembling quality management model.