Book Six of The Faerie Queene deals with the complexities of courtesy in a socially changing world. Calidore, the protagonist of Book Six, sets out to defeat the Blatant Beast, the chief enemy of courtesy, but abandons his quest midway through the book in order to live the shepherds’ life. Despite the ethical ambiguity associated with Calidore’s abandoning his quest, this pastoral setting should enable him to deepen his understanding of the nature and practice of courtesy. However, Calidore is unable to grow, and the poet essentially gives up on his own poetic quest.

<p>Much has been researched in South Africa about the trauma of losing one&rsquo / s home, one&rsquo / s community and rebuilding one&rsquo / s life in a new environment. Several books have been published tracking the lives of the forcibly removed and their responses to leaving District Six. My research focuses on a different group namely those who had been forcibly removed from the centre of Stellenbosch, called &ldquo / Die Vlakte&rdquo / during that time. Living and working with and among people who have experienced this removal, I was keen to research whether the impact of the trauma is currently&nbsp / manifesting in this specific community and if so, what the symptoms would be. This qualitative inquiry focuses on one particular individual, Mr. Hilton Biscombe. I selected him because he, who experienced the removal as a teenager, spent most of his later life determinedly collecting stories and documents relating to this incident. Mr. Biscombe is also the only person of whom I am aware who responded personally through compiling a book, making a DVD, writing poetry as well as an autobiography relating to this event. My inquiry into the ways trauma manifests in a narrative, will be based on two interviews: one conducted by a white man from the University of Stellenbosch thirty years after the event / and another interview, six years later, conducted by myself.Our understanding of trauma is usually associated with a death or injury or the possibility thereof, but it could also include the victim&rsquo / s response to extreme fear, serious harm or threat to&nbsp / family members. According to van der Merwe and Vienings, people also become traumatized when witnessing harm, physical violence or death or the sudden loss or destruction of a victim&rsquo / s home (van der Merwe &amp / Vienings, 2001). So the issue of trauma is not in question, nor the fact that forced removals cause trauma. I am exploring testimony in the form of interviews for possible current manifestations of this trauma thirty-six years down the line.</p>

A l'image des grands groupes, les PME souhaitent, elles aussi, profiter des méthodes modernes de management pour améliorer leurs processus, leurs performances et leur compétitivité. L'intérêt du secteur des PME se porte sur les éléments du concept Lean Six Sigma qui leur semblent appropriés pour réaliser ces objectifs. Après avoir constaté une lacune dans les recherches sur ce sujet et une lacune méthodologique concernant l'implémentation du LSS dans les PME, nous proposons une méthodologie de conception, d'application et de contrôle du LSS pour ces PME, que nous avons appelée LSS Plutus. Elle est dédiée aux PME de la production et elle prend en compte leur spécificité. Dans ce but, nous avons restreint la boîte à outils traditionnelle du LSS utilisée dans les grands groupes. Nous avons également créé deux variantes pour mettre en œuvre notre méthodologie qui correspondent aux besoins, capacités et maturités différents des PME. Nous avons élaboré des indicateurs, des outils, ainsi qu'un guide d'application de la méthode LSS pour les PME de la production et sa version informatique en TIBCO. Nous avons décidé de renforcer l'efficience des améliorations, en déployant les actions de planification, de standardisation et de pérennisation des changements. Dans ce but, nous proposons de modifier les critères du Modèle d'Excellence E.F.Q.M. pour qu'elles puissent prendre en compte les conditions de fonctionnement de la méthode LSS dans les PME. La méthodologie proposée a été vérifiée dans deux PME de la production en Pologne et en France, ce qui a confirmé son utilité et son efficacité en termes d'amélioration des performances et de développement des organisations

Les fictions contemporaines, plus particulièrement les téléséries américaines, semblent actuellement accorder une place prépondérante à la thématique de la mort au sein de leur récit. Il semble ainsi possible de discerner une véritable tendance aux thanatofictions dans le paysage médiatique américain d'aujourd'hui. Considérant la place importante que revêt la thématique de la finitude dans toute culture ainsi que le rôle que les médias contemporains peuvent avoir concernant la formation du rapport social à la mort, nous avons décidé d'interroger la représentation de la mort qui est proposée dans une télésérie américaine contemporaine. Pour ce faire, nous avons choisi d'analyser la télésérie américaine Six Feet Under, présentée sur les ondes de la chaîne câblée HBO de 2001 à 2005. À travers cette analyse de Six Feet Under, nous avions pour objectif de chercher à mieux comprendre quelles significations une télésérie américaine d'aujourd'hui véhicule au sujet de la mort. Plus encore, nous cherchions à comprendre comment Six Feet Under représente le rapport de la culture américaine actuelle à la mortalité. La télésérie Six Feet Under fut analysée grâce à une méthode herméneutique, ce qui nous a permis d'étudier le récit, les récurrences narratives ainsi que les représentations de la mort véhiculées à travers les discours visuels et verbaux de cette fiction. À l'issue de notre analyse, nous avons pu conclure que la télésérie Six Feet Under propose une représentation de la mort en tant que phénomène universel, ontologique et essentiel. Cette représentation s'accompagne également d'une critique de l'attitude dénégatoire des Américains d'aujourd'hui concernant la mort. Plus globalement, notre interprétation révèle que Six Feet Under propose une représentation alternative et plus positive de la mort, laquelle pourrait avoir une pertinence sociale particulière dans notre paysage télévisuel actuel. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Mort, Représentation, Télésérie, Fiction, Herméneutique

Denna undersökning syftar till att undersöka om de som är involverade i WISH på Metall-precision AB uppfattar WISH som en förbättrad och effektivare kommunikationsstrategi. Vi syftar på förbättrad i relation till hur det var innan WISH infördes, det vill säga innan år 2009. Kommunikationen inom WISH studeras främst ur ett manager perspektiv, tio av tolv inter-vjupersoner i denna undersökning har ett personalansvar. Undersökningen ägde rum på Metallprecision AB i Västersund. Sedan år 2009 pågår ett nytt förbättringsarbete, en förändringsprocess, som leder till effektiviseringar och förbättringar för Metallprecision AB. Detta förbättringsarbete kallas WISH. Vi genomförde tolv semistruk-turerade intervjuer. Resultatet visar att det finns flera olika uppfattningar om vad WISH syfte, mål och vision är för något. Alla involverade har dock en god förstålse för WISH och hur WISH praktiskt hjälper dem i deras dagliga arbete. Angående personalens olika uppfattningar av WISH syfte, mål och vision, så behöver det inte vara negativt att det råder viss variation inom rimliga gränser. Eftersom viss mångtydighet och flexibilitet främjar lärande och utveckling inom organisationen. För hård styrning via symboler och beteenden kan till och med begränsa kommunikation, därför kan det finnas styrkor med personalens olika uppfattningar enligt ovan, anser vi. Däremot kom vi fram till att det skulle finnas fördelar med att utbilda personalen mer då det gäller intranätet men även inom kommunikation eftersom vi upptäckte en del kommunikations-brister inom WISH utifrån vårt resultat. Det som idag främjar kommunikation inom WISH är delaktighet och diskussion som före-kommer på de regelbundna team och auditmötena.

Today, firms compete with services rather than goods. Large service organizations are beginning to use Six Sigma as continuous improvement tool. An important part of the Six Sigma methodology is the calculation of number of defects in the process, i.e. points outside the specification limits. Unlike goods quality, which can be measured objectively by number of defects, in service goods the setting up of specification limits is a complicated issue because it is marked by the use and expectations among the different customers. As Six Sigma was originally created for manufacturing, this crucial fact is not contemplated in the Six-Sigma roadmap Define- Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC). The aim of this thesis is to develop a new model to help the Service Division, Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB to set the specification limits according to the customer expectations. A review of relevant literature is used to develop a new integrated model with ideas from the Kano model, SERVQUAL, Taguchi loss function, Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) and a new model, the ”Trade-Off Importance”. A survey was carried out for 18 external customers and internal stakeholders. The model has demonstrated its robustness and credibility to set the specification limits. Additionally it is a very powerful tool to set the strategic directions and for service quality measurement. As far as we know, this thesis is the first attempt to create a roadmap to set the specification limits in services. Researchers should find a proposed model to fill the research gap. From a managerial standpoint, the practical benefits in Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB, suggest a new way of communicating to customers.

As the philosophy of doing business shift from sell what you can produce to produce what you can sell so do the customers’ specification continuously become a vital tool during product development process, hence increasing the volatility of the business environment. The objective of this thesis is to thoroughly review literature to be supported by cases why most companies fail in sustaining improvement programs then map out a pathway that will leads to successful implementation. A series of reasons were found which impedes the successful implementation of improvement programs which includes; management is unable to define the problem to be solve and the method of measurement, implementers choose wrong parameters for improvement, implementers sub-optimize or may not involve everyone that will be affected by the program, top management gives little or no attention to improvement programs and at times they may even loose focus, so many concurrent improvement programs are executed which will result to resource overloading, teams members most often lack data integrity, and teams members are often scared to try new ideas hence prohibiting the chances of innovation. To minimize this cankerworm, a number of steps has been mentioned. The steps were divided into two phases, the selection phase and the implementation. The selection process includes; defining the program, focus program on improving shareholders’ value and choose program base on a holistic perspective. The implementation phase includes; commitment of top management, prioritize projects, use critical chain project management to plan and execute project, lay emphasis on quality data, minimize the number of concurrent projects, encourage risk taking, and spend time and resources on value adding activities.

The purpose of thesis was to investigate and compare how two companies within pharmaceutical industry and nuclear power industry are currently working with quality development regarding continuous improvement and Lessons Learned in business processes. In addition, a simple comparison was made with the automotiveindustry. McNeil AB are improving their processes continuously and are according to the findings of this report performing well in their pursuit of world-class pharmaceutical production. They have a well functioning process regarding improvements proposed in weekly improvement meetings engaging all employees. However, during interviews it was made clear that the functionality of the process which administer improvement proposals generated in addition to, or beside the weekly improvement meetings, were inadequate. McNeil AB is proposed to administer this through an IT solution instead of by paper and e-mail, that simplifies the process of adding, implementing and follow up an improvement proposal. The nuclear power plant Ringhals AB recently made major improvements in their business processes as well as the plant itself. In a short period of time, several major modernization projects have been carried out and the project department have been put to the test. In order to drive changes in the plant, a plant modification process is used which is highly appreciated by the employees. However, when compared to McNeil AB and the automotive industry’s processes the plant modification process was found to lack in Lessons Learned. Ringhals AB is therefore proposed to implement Lessons Learned methodologies in check points throughout the projects lifecycle.

The purpose of this project is to update the tool of Network Traffic Recognition System (NTRS) which is proprietary software of Ericsson AB and Tsinghua University, and to implement the updated tool to finish SIP/VoIP traffic recognition. Basing on the original NTRS, I analyze the traffic recognition principal of NTRS, and redesign the structure and module of the tool according to characteristics of SIP/VoIP traffic, and then finally I program to achieve the upgrade. After the final test with our SIP data trace files in the updated system, a satisfactory result is derived. The result presents that our updated system holds a rate of recognition on a confident level in the SIP session recognition as well as the VoIP call recognition. In the comparison with the software of Wireshark, our updated system has a result which is extremely close to Wireshark’s output, and the working time is much less than Wireshark. In the aspect of practicability, the memory overflow problem is avoided, and the updated system can output the specific information of SIP/VoIP traffic recognition, such as SIP type, SIP state, VoIP state, etc. The upgrade fulfills the demand of this project.

Sammanfattning Att undersöka en befolknings fysiska aktivitet ger beskrivande data utav dagsläget samt att resultatet fungerar som mätinstrument för hur en framtida intervention ska utformas. Syftet med denna studie var att se om något samband förelåg mellan tre olika undersökningsinstrument för fysisk aktivitet, som används för med barn med övervikt. Metod: Deltagarna mättes, vägdes, skattade sin fysiska aktivitetsnivå (frågeformulär), testade sin fysiska prestationsförmåga (sex minuters gångtest) och deras fysiska aktivitet mättes (accelerometer). Resultat: Åtta flickor, 7-13 år, med ett Body Mass Index (BMI) på 26 ± 3,7 kg/m2deltog. Majoriteten skattade sig vara fysiskt aktiva 30-60 min/dag under vardag och helg, men som grupp var skattningen signifikant lägre på helgen. Deltagarnas fysiska prestationsförmåga var signifikant lägre än det beräknade normalvärde. Barnen utförde i snitt 67 ±24 min/dag aktivitet under vardagarna och signifikant mindre aktivitet (31 ± 29,7min/dag) på helgerna. Ett signifikant samband förelåg mellan undersökningsinstrumenten för utförd fysisk aktivet under vardagarna och prestationsförmågan, där även en formel för hur sambandet kunde kalkyleras framtogs. Slutsats: Trots litet deltagarantal skulle studiens resultat tyda på att 6MGT kan användas inte bara för att bedöma prestationsförmåga utan även för beräknad utförd fysisk aktivitet under vardagarna. / Abstract Investigation physical activity in a population gives descriptive data and the result serves as a measuring instrument for how future interventions ought to be designed. The purpose of this study was to see whether any associations existed between three examination instruments for physical activity that are used with children with overweight. Method: The participants were measured, weighed, estimated their physical activity (questionnaire), testing their physical performance (six-minute walking test) and their physical activity was measured (accelerometer). Results: Eight girls, aged 7-13, body mass index of 26 ± 3.7, participated. The majority of the children estimated to be physically active for 30-60 min/day, during weekdays and weekends, but seen as a group the estimation was significantly lower on the weekend. Their physical performance showed a significantly lower value than the predicted value. The children performed on average for 67 ± 24 min / day during the week and significantly less (31 ± 29.7 min / day) on weekends. A significant association existed between performed physical activity during weekdays and the performance test. A formula for how this relationship could be calculated was designed. Conclusion: Despite low numbers of participants the result of the study could indicate that 6MWT can be used not only for assessing the performance but also to calculate the executed amount of activity during weekdays.