<p> This dissertation explores the nature and incidence of several non-standard work arrangements (NSWAs). Statistics confirm the growing prevalence of NSWAs. By 1995, less than one third of Canadian workers were employed in a single full-time, permanent job with a "normal" work schedule. Conventional wisdom suggests that the net effect of the increasing incidence of NSWAs is negative for workers. However, certain NSWAs potentially provide better work-life balance for employees and more flexible utilization of labour for employers. Thus, it is suggested that far too little attention has been paid to the varying nature of particular NSWAs. A typology of NSWAs, consisting of five dimensions and three types, is conceptualized. After examining the dataset and some preliminary data analysis, a modified typology of four dimensions and two types is presented and analyzed. In particular, the two key types of NSWAs are categorized as employee-friendly or employer-friendly. In addition to the typology, the workplace and worker characteristics that affect the incidence of NSWAs is examined.</p> <p> This dissertation has a quantitative research design, and utilizes Statistics Canada's 1999 Workplace and Employee Survey (WES). The chosen dataset and methodology also allow inferences to be made regarding employer strategies. Results suggest that job satisfaction is positively related to employee-friendly NSWAs but negatively related to employer-friendly NSWAs. When controlling for a range of worker and workplace variables, it was found that industry, occupation, gender, tenure, and employee participation are related to the incidence of NSWAs. Finally, consistent with existing research, only a tenuous link was found between workplace outcomes and the incidence of NSWAs. The implication is that the implementation of NSWAs is affected more by employers' strategic choices rather than economic necessity.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Within Australia and in Europe. there is evidence of growth in the incidence of non¬standard forms of employment such as part-time and casual work. Part of this growth can be attributed to changes in the structure of the economy and the increasing importance of service industries where non-standard forms of employment proliferate. There is also evidence, however, that employers at the firm level are progressively expanding their use of non-standard employment and reducing their reliance on full-time labour. One explanation for this organisational-level phenomena has been suggested by Atkinson (1987) in his account of the ‘flexible firm’. Atkinson claims that employers are increasingly attempting to divide the workforce into two major segments: a skilled, full-time core labour force and an unskilled, non-standard segment. This thesis examines Atkinson’s ‘flexible firm’ model through a study of labour-use practices of three acute hospitals in Queensland. A main finding of this thesis is the generalised and substantial growth of non-standard employment in all types of Queensland hospitals. The growth of non-standard hospital labour is not as, Atkinson would suggest, largely the result of demand-side strategies of employers but is also conditioned by supply-side factors. Gender, rather than skill, is found to be an important determinant of the proliferation of non-standard employment. Non-standard employment is not the major labour adjustment mechanism in all sectors of the hospital industry. Labour intensification is a critical and overlooked form of labour adjustment in the public sector. Overall, this thesis concludes that employers’ labour-use practices need to be conceptualised within the context of the opportunities and constraints imposed by the interaction of demand and supply-side factors.

The Electronic Government (E-Government) is via the information network systems, connecting the government agencies, the citizen, and the information, establishing a real-time interactive system, which leads to the convenient and faster access to government information and services, making the convenient services to the citizen a reality. Based on the E-Commerce application models, there are four types of E-Government. They are Government to Citizen (G2C), Government to Business (G2B), Government to Government (G2G) and Government to Employee (G2E). The purpose of the G2G application model is to establish the information exchanges and integration application among the agencies so that the government can provide faster and convenient services to the citizen. This study uses the property management of the lands owned by the City of Kaohsiung as an example. The property management agency of Kaohsiung municipal government desperately needs the shared information provided by other agencies to resolve the complicated issues of property management. However, the municipal government does not have a standard process for the agencies to follow. If the negotiation between the information supplier and information consumer falls through, or there is no negotiation channel at all, the information cannot be shared among the agencies. Currently because of the following reasons: (1) no central mechanism in charge of the planning and management of the whole information business for the municipal government, (2) self-centered and conservative attitude of the agencies which own the information, (3) no mechanism for negotiation and assessment, (4) no sufficient budget and man power, the information integration and resources circulation is not a reality just yet. The municipal government does not take advantage of the available Internet resources and, therefore it is not able to provide the services of better quality to the people. In the continuing development stages of the E-Government, information sharing and integration application is the goal for the current important administration overhaul of the government. How to effectively execute information sharing among the government agencies is, as a matter of fact, the centerpiece of this study. The purpose of this study is through the exploration of shorter work flow due to the land information management and the current inter-agencies information sharing integration services, to provide an innovative thinking direction, hoping the execution can achieve the following: (1) Establish a standard work flow for the operation of information sharing among the municipal government agencies so that the information supplier and consumer agencies can follow. (2) Speed up the information sharing and messages circulation among the municipal agencies; simplify the internal administrative procedures of the agencies reaching the goal of efficiency and effectiveness of the services to citizen. Through the in-depth interviews, research, and analysis, there are some findings. To have information sharing among the government agencies, these need to be done: (1) set up a commission for propelling information sharing, (2) implement a standard work flow of information sharing for the City of Kaohsiung, (3) build up a mechanism for the inter-agencies negotiation. These conclusions will integrate the service flows of different agencies, making the execution of E-Government closer to a reality.

Night shift or non-standard work continues to grow throughout the economy (Beers, 2000). Women's roles in society are changing as they find themselves having to join the work force due to economic need. South African women most of whom are mothers are no exception in this regard. Many of these mothers are obliged to do night shift work. Sectors like manufacturing and public-oriented industries often use shift work to ensure efficient continuous operation and uninterrupted response to the needs of society. This article aims to explore the role that night shift work plays in the relationships between mothers and their adolescent children; whether the mutual perceptions of night shift working mothers and their adolescent children regarding their relationships differ from those of non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children; and whether there is a difference between the night shift working group and the non-shift working group with regard to the perceptions of their relationships. Lastly, the article aims to determine the reliability of the measuring instrument that was used in this study, namely the Parent-Adolescent-Relationship-Questionnaire (PARQ). Available literature shows that shift work has a negative impact on health, for example stress-related illnesses due to lack of sleep (Akerstedt, 1998, 2003; Fletcher & Dawson, 1997, 2001; Presser, 2005). Family life is also affected and relationship difficulties have been reported (Chang, Wang, & Liu, 1993; Holland, 2004; Grosswald, 2003, 2004; Presser, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2005), while shift work is seen as a threat to family cohesion. Adolescence is a critical developmental stage and mothers have an important role to enhance healthy adolescent development in terms of issues like self-identity and autonomy. The mother's unusual working hours can have a negative impact on the mother-adolescent relationship. A cross-sectional design was used in this study. There were two groups: 35 night shift working mothers and their adolescent children, and 35 non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children. Participants were requested to complete a PARQ questionnaire. Data was analysed by means of SAS and SPSS programmes. Descriptive statistic methods such as central tendency, mean and median, variability, range and standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were used to explore data. Independent and dependent t-tests were used to determine differences between the mean scores of the night shift working and non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children. The effect size was used to provide an objective measure of a practical effect. The findings indicate that PARQ is a reliable measure for this study as it showed good internal consistency. The skewness and kurtosis indicate acceptable normality. Adolescent children of non-shift working mothers perceive communication with their mothers as more efficient than adolescent children of night shift working mothers, and there is an indication of a significant practical effect. Adolescent children of non-shift working mothers have a more positive perception of the Mothers' Problem Solving than adolescent children of night shift working mothers, with indications of a significant practical effect between the two groups. There is no statistically significant difference between and no significant practical effect in any of the variables concerning the two groups of mothers, as reflected in Table 4. However, Table 5 shows a difference between the perceptions of the two groups of adolescents. There is a statistically significant difference between Cohesion for non-shift working mothers and for their adolescent children, with an indication of a significant practical effect. Tables 5 and 6 show a statistically significant difference between Conventionalisation of the two groups, with an indication of a significant practical effect. Both night shift working and non-shift working mothers have a more positive perception of Conventionalisation than their adolescent children. Findings also indicate a statistically significant difference in Global Distress between night shift working mothers and their adolescent children, with an indication of a significant practical effect. Night shift working mothers experience higher levels of Global Distress than their adolescent children. For both groups -night shift working mothers and their adolescent children; and non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children there is a statistically significant difference between the mothers' and the adolescents' perception of Ruination. This study has several limitations and it is recommended that future studies use a larger sample size and include longitudinal studies. Future research should also explore the construct of the night shift working mother's parenting style and their coping strategies. Father-adolescent relationships should also be a research focus. In some families in both groups, the study created a platform for dialogue between adolescents and their mothers. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Night shift or non-standard work continues to grow throughout the economy (Beers, 2000). Women's roles in society are changing as they find themselves having to join the work force due to economic need. South African women most of whom are mothers are no exception in this regard. Many of these mothers are obliged to do night shift work. Sectors like manufacturing and public-oriented industries often use shift work to ensure efficient continuous operation and uninterrupted response to the needs of society. This article aims to explore the role that night shift work plays in the relationships between mothers and their adolescent children; whether the mutual perceptions of night shift working mothers and their adolescent children regarding their relationships differ from those of non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children; and whether there is a difference between the night shift working group and the non-shift working group with regard to the perceptions of their relationships. Lastly, the article aims to determine the reliability of the measuring instrument that was used in this study, namely the Parent-Adolescent-Relationship-Questionnaire (PARQ). Available literature shows that shift work has a negative impact on health, for example stress-related illnesses due to lack of sleep (Akerstedt, 1998, 2003; Fletcher & Dawson, 1997, 2001; Presser, 2005). Family life is also affected and relationship difficulties have been reported (Chang, Wang, & Liu, 1993; Holland, 2004; Grosswald, 2003, 2004; Presser, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2005), while shift work is seen as a threat to family cohesion. Adolescence is a critical developmental stage and mothers have an important role to enhance healthy adolescent development in terms of issues like self-identity and autonomy. The mother's unusual working hours can have a negative impact on the mother-adolescent relationship. A cross-sectional design was used in this study. There were two groups: 35 night shift working mothers and their adolescent children, and 35 non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children. Participants were requested to complete a PARQ questionnaire. Data was analysed by means of SAS and SPSS programmes. Descriptive statistic methods such as central tendency, mean and median, variability, range and standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis were used to explore data. Independent and dependent t-tests were used to determine differences between the mean scores of the night shift working and non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children. The effect size was used to provide an objective measure of a practical effect. The findings indicate that PARQ is a reliable measure for this study as it showed good internal consistency. The skewness and kurtosis indicate acceptable normality. Adolescent children of non-shift working mothers perceive communication with their mothers as more efficient than adolescent children of night shift working mothers, and there is an indication of a significant practical effect. Adolescent children of non-shift working mothers have a more positive perception of the Mothers' Problem Solving than adolescent children of night shift working mothers, with indications of a significant practical effect between the two groups. There is no statistically significant difference between and no significant practical effect in any of the variables concerning the two groups of mothers, as reflected in Table 4. However, Table 5 shows a difference between the perceptions of the two groups of adolescents. There is a statistically significant difference between Cohesion for non-shift working mothers and for their adolescent children, with an indication of a significant practical effect. Tables 5 and 6 show a statistically significant difference between Conventionalisation of the two groups, with an indication of a significant practical effect. Both night shift working and non-shift working mothers have a more positive perception of Conventionalisation than their adolescent children. Findings also indicate a statistically significant difference in Global Distress between night shift working mothers and their adolescent children, with an indication of a significant practical effect. Night shift working mothers experience higher levels of Global Distress than their adolescent children. For both groups -night shift working mothers and their adolescent children; and non-shift working mothers and their adolescent children there is a statistically significant difference between the mothers' and the adolescents' perception of Ruination. This study has several limitations and it is recommended that future studies use a larger sample size and include longitudinal studies. Future research should also explore the construct of the night shift working mother's parenting style and their coping strategies. Father-adolescent relationships should also be a research focus. In some families in both groups, the study created a platform for dialogue between adolescents and their mothers. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

"Starting in the 1980s with the first Toyota controlled production plant in the United States (NUMMI), the idea of Lean as derived from the Toyota Production System has become a popular method to improve production processes as well as any other procedure in organizations around the world. Over the last three decades a multitude of literature on Lean implementation and consulting companies offering help with the Lean transformation have emerged. The success rate of real Lean transformations however is often estimated to lie below 10% by experts such as Clifford Ransom or members of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). This leads to the question of why most companies fail to sustain the Lean improvements that most of them are able to initiate during the early implementation stages. This thesis will therefore investigate the root causes that lead to a time dependent loss of Lean improvements from three different perspectives. One standpoint is given by the TPS beliefs which are united in the House of Lean. The second angle on the topic is drawn from an online search of expert opinions and the final evaluation is taken from analyzing a real case scenario at a plant in Trumbull, CT. After this thorough analysis of possible root causes a set of countermeasures is presented that will support an organization in avoiding the major mistakes of a Lean implementation. The three countermeasures include standardization to build a base for Lean improvements, employee involvement to assure sustainability through conviction and continuous instead of rapid improvement. Every countermeasure will be described theoretically as well as with the help of examples from real life scenarios to enable the reader to apply the suggestions immediately. A final discussion will then examine the improvements that where reached at the production plant in Trumbull, CT and show how the combination of all three countermeasures ensures the sustainability of these improvements."

Trabalho realizado na Amorim & Irmãos, S.A. - Unidade Industrial Portocork, orientado pela Dr.ª Graça Gonzaga / Tese de Mestrado Integrado. Engenharia Química. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2013

Currently, there is a monthly breach with its vehicle delivery policy. This policy refers to said company, it refers to a minimum of 92% of units towards the points of sale. However, in the last quarter of 2017 and the semester of 2018, it has only been met from 82% to 90%. These are 5% -10% that have not come to meet in each month, but also directly to the profitability of the company. On the one hand, storage costs are increased by each car that does not arrive or dissatisfaction is generated by the customer, this is the problem of 3 main causes, which is the installation time of radios, installation of alarms and more vehicles that are not served in the damage assessment area. As a root cause, we have the first, since, on the one hand, a bottleneck is generated by the lack of car attention and, on the other hand, represents 20% of the monthly sales of the case study, For what needs to be done to reduce this bottleneck and increase the capacity of the vehicles in this area, the damage is detailed, two lines of evaluation are carried out. This type of triage, we ensure a standardized work, since there was a group of vehicles waiting with different types of damage in the same operating line. Also, the delivery of vehicles on time is improved to 95% and the times of the areas of installation of radios, installation of alarms and damage assessment are reduced by 42.85%, 51.42% and 50% respectively.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-23T12:15:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 12.pdf: 3444028 bytes, checksum: 73c0e8984bffa4bb547494ec30407d6f (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-05T22:37:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 12.pdf.txt: 204813 bytes, checksum: 9eae4f603bf69f1c3e4907b919ce4332 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) 12.pdf: 3444028 bytes, checksum: 73c0e8984bffa4bb547494ec30407d6f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / A concorrência no setor farmacêutico é intensa e os produtos farmacêuticos possuem tempo de ciclo reduzido quando comparado com os grandes investimentos de P&D. Para concorrer neste setor, as indústrias estão sempre com foco em melhorar a eficiência dos processos de manufatura utilizando muitas vezes equipamentos complexos, modernos e automatizados com foco na produção para atingir as metas. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho é demonstrar o melhor controle da produção utilizando como base a metodologia de Manutenção Produtiva Total da Produção buscando a maximização da eficiência dos equipamentos e recursos disponíveis, utilizando várias ferramentas dentre elas a Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) conhecida como eficiência global dos equipamentos de produção. Esta ferramenta permite monitorar o desempenho da linha de produção, identificar os principais gargalos, monitorar os índices de OEE, sugerir ações de melhoria no processo. Na análise de resultados do OEE ficou evidenciado que os setups, troca de máquina, representavam grandes desperdícios ao processo produtivo sendo então utilizado o SMED para redução destes tempos e conversão em tempos reais de produção. Também a utilização e implementação de outras ferramentas de apoio à implementação, manutenção e sustentação da produtividade como: trabalho padrão, análises de causa-raiz, guia de solução de problemas, criação de um conselho de OEE, educação e treinamento, Gemba, Kaizen, 5 s, trabalho padrão para liderança, controles visuais, reuniões de níveis de responsabilidade baseadas no sistema lean de gerenciamento de produção (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 e Tier 4). O conjunto destes resultados acaba aumentando o lucro, a produtividade e qualidade, reduzindo assim os custos para o setor farmacêutico possibilitando maior competitividade. Neste estudo ficou possível observar que com a implementação destas ferramentas de gerenciamento da produção transformou-se desperdícios envolvidos no processo em tempo real de produção. / The competition in the pharmaceutical industry is intense and the products have reduced life cycles when compared to the large investments in R&D. To compete in this sector is necessary to improve the efficiency of the manufacture processes often using complex, equipment, modern and automated with focus in the production to reach the goals. In this context, the objective of this work is to demonstrate better control of production basis in the use of Total Productive Maintenance seeking to maximize the efficiency of equipments using various tools among them the Overall Equipment Effectiveness. This tooling allows you to improve the acting of the production line, to identify the bottle mouths, monitor OEE index, and suggesting improve actions in the process. Related the results of OEE analysis have been demonstrated that setup represented major wast in the production process so that the tooling SMED was used to reduce the time of change on the machine and convertion on the productive time. Beyond use of OEE another tools are used to support the implementation, maintenance and support the productivity as standard work, root cause analysis, troubleshooting, creating of OEE Council, education & training, gemba, Kaizen, 5 S, leader standard work, visual control, tier accountability based on the Lean Methodology (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4). The group of these results ends up increasing the profit to the productivity, quality, and cost reduction to the pharmaceutical industry enabling greater competitiveness. In this study was possible to observe the implementation of managament production tooling that’s convert waste time in an production real time.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) report thousands of falls in hospitals each year. The CMS does not reimburse hospitals for fall related injuries, costing the hospital system organization for which this DNP project was designed millions of dollars each year. Framed within the Iowa model of evidence-based practice and using a team approach, the purpose of this project was to develop an evidence-based (EB) fall safety bundle for use by nursing staff and a curriculum to educate staff on prevention strategies. The components of the EB fall bundle kit were approved by the stakeholder committee. Evaluation of the curriculum and the pretest/posttest items was completed by three content experts. The curriculum was evaluated related to the objectives using a 'met' (2) and a 'not met' (1) response. All responses were 'met' for an average score of 2 showing the content met the objectives. Validation of the pretest/post items was conducted using a 10-item, Likert scale, ranging from 1- 'is not relevant' to 4- 'is highly relevant'. The content validation index was 1.0, showing that the test items met the objectives and content of the course. Recommendations included providing a consistent methodology to disseminate the fall safety bundle and educational curriculum across the entire healthcare system as well as adding the fall safety bundle tool kit to the hospital's intranet page for ease of access for all staff. Social change will be achieved by facilitating prevention of fall related injuries and avoiding the financial impact on the facility.