<p>This thesis examined a pre-paid water metering pilot project which was implemented in Klipheuwel , Cape Town, South Africa in 2001. It was anticipated that the implementation of pre-paid water meters would help improve the management of water service delivery in the Cape Metropolitan Area. However, just four years after its implementation the project has collapsed.</p>

For most of the one billion people living in extreme poverty worldwide, access to an adequate water supply and basic sanitation (WSS) is limited, resulting in substantial health, economic and social burdens. Although the international community has actively explored solutions to this crisis, primarily focusing on bottom-up approaches in which the beneficiaries participate in the design and implementation of their own WSS solutions, significant problems remain. Innovation presents an important source of feasible solutions in this sector for those in need, but insufficient study exists to allow scholars to determine the dynamics that trigger WSS innovation. In light of the recent emphasis on a bottom-up approach to water issues and the dearth of analysis with regard to the role WSS innovation plays in seeking solutions, the present dissertation sets out to explore innovation dynamics in relation to the establishment of rural Water Supply and Sanitation Community-Based (WSS-CB). The answer comes through an application of a qualitative methodology that focuses on the implementation of two publicly-run and sustainability-oriented programs - the Blue Flag Ecological Program (BFEP) and the Sanitarian Quality Seal Program (SQSP) - in three rural communities in Costa Rica. A theoretical model based on the conceptual frameworks of Systems of Innovation (SI), Community Based/Community Management (CB/CM), and the Institutional Analysis Development (IAD) theory is proposed, including two set of hypotheses addressing the contribution of two independent variables, the participation of the community and the capacity of the community, to local sustainability and local learning. The results show that the dynamics relating to leadership and a sense of ownership do, in fact, affect both dependent variables and further identify participation and interaction at decision-making and social venues as innovation drivers.

With the rapid development of the global economy, the Chinese market is the largest consumption market in the world. Chinese domestic enterprises as well as global apparel enterprises target at the Chinese market. Enterprises informatization becomes a competition weapon to earn Chinese market shares. Supply chain management (SCM) could play an important role in the supply chain competition at the apparel industry. IT is like a nerve system for supply chain management (SCM). SCM clearly depends upon integrated information systems (IS) for sharing data on the various activities along the supply chain. This thesis focuses on analyzing the application of information technology in the supply chain management in the apparel industry. In total, four cases are studied with an emphasis on their application of IT in SCM. The Gunasekaran model is used to evaluate each case regarding application of IT in SCM. Through the analysis of information technology in supply chain management, we illustrate the development of informatization in the apparel industry, and derive recommendations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Chinese market regarding appropriation of IT in SCM. / <p>excellent presentation and informative thesis</p>

Bibliography: leaves 414-427. / xx, 427 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1995?

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2007. / Title from title screen. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Nürnberg, Universiẗat, Diss., 2005 u.d.T.: Krupp, Thomas: Benchmarking als Controlling-Instrument für das Kontraktlogistikgeschäft der Logistkdienstleister - Einsatzmöglichkeiten und Potentiale des Prozessbenchmarking am Beispiel von Lagerdienstleistungen--Erlangen.

Univ., Diss.--Siegen, 2005. / CD-ROM u.d.T.: Theorie, Anwendbarkeit und strategische Potenziale des Supply Chain Management : Anhang.

Universiẗat, Diss--Lüneburg, 2007. / Literaturverz. S. [179]-189.

Universiẗat, Diss.--Dortmund, 2005.