Sri Lanka’s past, present and future efforts to improve the provision of education are in focus. Decentralization of education is reviewed. Since 1960s when decentralization in education management was initiated schools have been subjected to multiple control by the such layers of management as the provincial ministry, provincial department, zonal office and the division. To reduce role ambiguity clarity in division of roles and functions is needed as well as collaboration among the different layers.  Historical and recent reasons that hinder decentralisation and school autonomy are reviewed. Structural and cultural changes that facilitate the democratisation of school management are proposed. The newest trend in educational decentralisation in the country the Programme on School Improvement (PSI) is a kind of school based management. In PSI, schools are given a degree of autonomy in the areas of planning, teaching-learning process, co-curricular activities, staff development and the maintenance and development of the school plant. PSI enables schools to forge links with local communities through the establishment of a School Development Committees to improve resource mobilization and public accountability, thus creating better learning cultures in schools. The role and functions of the zonal education office are examined. The role of the zone is proposed to provide strategic guidance to the schools and effectively monitor overall performance. The zones have to work with schools and not on schools. The role and the main challenges of the school leaders in the proposed decentralized set-up are also examined and the need for more collaborative partnerships within the school is emphasized. The research further examines the factors that contribute to the institutionalisation of the new organizational innovation and as to how the capacity building institutes can help in transforming the roles of the zonal staff and school leaders.

Thesis (M.S.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1991. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 3184. Abstract precedes thesis as 3 preliminary leaves. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-70).

Aim To understand why organizational barriers exist during the development of information management systems or enterprise applications. . This study investigates if organizational barriers actually occur and if so, how we can understand these phenomena. Method Deductive research and exploratory research. Secondary research is evaluated how it is applicable in practice. Qualitative research was applied across multiple subsidiaries. Standardized interviews were conducted among 30 interviewees. As it is exploratory research, this is sufficient to present certain patterns and indications. To support this method, Criterion-based sampling has been applied to ensure appropriate units for this study. Results & conclusion In a competitive environment, subcultural groups tend to be formed to protect similar interests. Rewards were based on power and achievements. By forcing accomplishment of the implementation of the information management system, groups would be rewarded. Others would be negatively affected. Therefore individuals and groups would act on behave of their own even if they would harm co-workers with their actions. Especially, groups without decision power were highly affected by these negative effects. Organizational politics controls the organization’s power. Counter-implementation strategies were identified; when groups tried to act on behave of the shareholder and customers to influence the decision-makers. After many delays, they were unable to prevent the integration of a new Information management system.

Introduction The implementation or transfer of production systems from the developing organisation to the receiving can induce difficulties, however a connection between achieving readiness of the receiver within the context of PSD has not been investigated previously. The aim of this thesis is thus to examine PSD in a core plant environment, focusing on the transfer activity and readiness for change. The following research questions were asked: How can assessing readiness potentially benefit a PSD project? How can preparation for transfer ensure readiness of the receiving organisation? Methodology A case study was performed and a company was selected due to a recently performed PSD project where the company went from a tradition line-based production to digitalised cells. The thesis is within the COPE research project; thus, some emphasis is on the global aspect. This exploratory and descriptive research study both examines and describes the studied phenomenon. The case study approach enabled the identification of organisational and human factors within the PSD project. Data collection contained interviews and a literature review was performed. Theoretical Framework A literature review was performed which provides insights regarding a general approach to a PSD process. Furthermore, core plant role and the strategic position within the network are described. Other investigated areas are within transfer of; processes, production and knowledge as well as prerequisites for those activities. Maturity assessment models are also introduced to provide an insight on assessing an organisations current state and to establish improvement strategies. An overview of competences which are required in an Industry 4.0 context are presented. Individual and organisational effect on change are presented as well as how change can be combated. Empirical Findings The empirical findings provide an overlook of the current manner in which PSD projects are executed, foremost by investigating a recent PSD project. The investigated aspects were more concretely regarding the need for a readiness assessment, and readiness to transfer a PSD project from the developing to the receiving organisation. Motivation to change and change management were also identified. Lastly, replicability within the core plant context were examined. Analysis and Discussion Possible benefits of a readiness assessment are identified, which are creation of a holistic view, alignment of vision, standardisation need and communication among other things. Participation and assignment of responsibility are also identified as lacking within the case company which is an essential asset within a PSD project. Lastly a framework is developed which can possibly guide the PSD process in achieving readiness for change. Conclusions and Recommendations Multiple benefits of a readiness assessment are identified which emphasises the human and organisational aspects of a change implied by a PSD project. The technical focus identified in the case company can be combated by acknowledging soft variables and skills and by understanding the decisions behind solutions. A framework is developed for Readiness Assessment with a focus on contesting the lack of responsibility and a “we against them” attitude. The mission of the framework is to create alignment and collaboration. / COPE / XPRES

Development of computer based systems should be an organized task involving participation of the user. Along its development it must generate documents that guide the developer on creation of the system project. It could originate a system that takes care of the user expectation, in an economical way and with acceptable quality. The existing methodologies for system development are based on CASE tools, most of them are automated and they are very costly. It is causing partial or total abandonment of its use by developers linked to small companies. This dissertation presents a systematization model of tools applied to development of computer based systems. It uses as basis the incremental life cycle model associated with a prototype model. By filling the considered forms in a sequential way and developing the necessary diagrams in a manual way, the developer is led towards execution of development tasks for computer based systems. Using a case study, where the proposed model was applied to development of computer based systems, it is possible to conclude that the created system is of a high quality one, low cost in its development and higher productivity of the involved professionals. / O desenvolvimento de sistemas informatizados deve ser uma tarefa organizada, que envolva a participação do usuário, que possa gerar documentos que orientem o desenvolvedor na criação do projeto do sistema, e que principalmente venha dar origem a um sistema que atenda as expectativas do usuário, no menor espaço de tempo possível, de forma econômica e com um grau de qualidade aceitável. As metodologias existentes para desenvolvimento de sistemas baseiam-se na utilização de ferramentas, as quais, na sua maioria, são automatizadas e com alto custo, fato este que vem a causar o abandono da sua utilização, de forma parcial ou total, pelos desenvolvedores ligados a empresas de pequeno porte, empresas estas que operam normalmente com grandes deficiências financeiras. Este trabalho apresenta um modelo de sistematização de uso de ferramentas para desenvolvimento de sistemas informatizados. Utiliza como base o modelo de ciclo de vida incremental associado à prototipação e, através do preenchimento, de forma seqüencial, dos formulários propostos, e do desenvolvimento, de forma manual, dos diagramas necessários, busca-se direcionar a execução das tarefas de desenvolvimento de um sistema informatizado. Através de um estudo de caso, onde o modelo proposto foi utilizado no desenvolvimento de um sistema informatizado, foi possível concluir que o sistema gerado apresentou um maior grau de qualidade, menor custo no seu desenvolvimento e uma maior produtividade dos profissionais envolvidos.

The dissertation describes the historical development of chosen components of a mountain bike. From the beginning of the seventies until the model lines components of the year 2007. It is divided to two main parts. The first deals with general level of the given task which is performed by the history of bicycle and mountain bike. Then the survey of individual disciplines of the world racing cycling with the focus on mountain bike disciplines follows. The second part solves the own dissertation problems that gives the concrete survey of the development of individual components. The development is compiled from historical survey point of view and deals with essential and in little measure with uncommon constructional solutions.

This thesis has been carried out at the Swedish Board of Agriculture. The client wants to orientate towards a development environment and architecture that allows for more frequent software deliveries than in the current situation, to increase the business benefits of the development work carried out. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a process to iteratively move towards an architecture and development environment that enable Continuous Delivery. Continuous delivery aims to a very high extent to treat a developer's code as part of a potential release candidate. This in turn causes high demands on being able to secure the reliability of both the infrastructure and the individual developers’ contributions. The work has been carried out in cooperation with developers, infrastructure engineers, architects and team leaders on The Swedish Board of Agriculture. Theories have been tested within the IT organization to ensure their reliability and applicability in the organization. A process has been developed with the limitation that it has not been tested in a production environment because of the limited timeframe available. However, it has been demonstrated that the process is feasible for the systems that acted as the main testing candidates during the thesis. / Detta examensarbete har utförts vid Statens Jordbruksverk. Uppdragsgivaren önskar att orientera sig mer mot en utvecklingsmiljö och arkitektur som möjliggör tätare leveranser än i dagsläget, för att öka verksamhetsnyttan av det utvecklingsarbete som genomförs. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att ta fram en process för att iterativt kunna gå mot en arkitektur som möjliggör för Continuous Delivery, eller kontinuerlig leverans. Kontinuerlig leverans syftar till att i mycket hög mån behandla en utvecklares kod som en del av en potentiell releasekandidat. Detta för i sin tur med sig höga krav på att kunna säkra tillförlitligheten av både infrastruktur samt den individuelle utvecklarens bidrag. Arbetet har utförts i samarbete med utvecklare, infrastrukturtekniker, arkitekter samt teamledare på Jordbruksverket. Teorier har testats inom IT-organisationen för att se dess tillförlitlighet samt tillämplighet på just Jordbruksverkets organisation. Arbetet påvisar att det är möjligt att dela upp monolitiska system och gå närmare något som liknar kontinuerlig leverans, utan att behöva genomföra stora förändringar inom organisationen. En process har tagits fram med begräsning att den inte testats i produktionsmiljö på grund av tidsbrist. Det har dock påvisats att processen är gångbar för det system som varit testkandidat genom arbetets gång.

The human factor constitutes a major element in the interaction with computers and computer systems. Responding to cognitive, social and organisational issues, the user of a system becomes an important part in system design, which earlier was paid very little attention to. These are the basics in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) developed in order to enhance computer system usability. The theoretical framework applied our thesis is thus based on the principles of Human Computer Interaction. This thesis includes a case study at the e-commerce project at the County Council of Blekinge. We have chosen to focus on system development, technical and organisational approach within the e-commerce project. Our research is based on project documentation, literature and interviews with users of the system. The conclusion of our thesis shows that system usability is achieved within the system development and organisational approach. Within the technical approach verification of system usability cannot be made. / Den mänskliga faktorn utgör ett viktigt element vid interaktionen mellan datorer och datorsystem. Sett utifrån ett kognitivt, socialt och organisatoriskt perspektiv utgör användarna därför en mycket viktig del av system design, vilket tidigare inte alltid uppmärksammats. Detta är grunden i Human Computer Interaction HCI, en vetenskap som har vuxit fram för att förbättra system användarvänlighet. I vår rapport har vi baserat vårt teoretiska ramverk på principer från HCI. Vår uppsats inkluderar en fallstudie av ett e-handelsprojekt som drivs av Landstinget Blekinge. Vi har studerat hur man involverat användarna i projektet och systemets implementering från ett systemutvecklings, tekniskt samt organisatoriskt perspektiv. Vår undersökning är baserad på projektdokumentation, litteratur och intervjuer av projektledare samt systemets användare. Vår slutsats visar att man genom projektet uppnått användarvänlighet från ett systemutvecklings samt organisatoriskt perspektiv. Användarvänlighet från ett tekniskt perspektiv kan däremot inte verifieras.

This thesis investigates how a web-hosted portal could be developed and designed in order to assist customer information updates in micro-enterprises in the ship broking business. Based on well-established system development theories and collected material, the web-hosted portal concept was developed. The development process included a case study at a ship broking company in Karlshamn, southern Sweden. Ship broking companies handle information as a mediator between other actors, thus the information becomes sensitive. In the ship broking business there is a constant need and flow of information. As the shipbrokers’ customers demand constant information 24 hours a day it is important to meet this demand in a service minded fashion. Today all customer updates are handled manually and are considered very time consuming and generate duplication of work. To solve these issues a possible solution could be to introduce information technology in the organisation. The introduction of information technology in the ship broking organisations has been slow. A contributing factor might be the widespread conservatism and resistance to changes in the ship broking business. The conclusions show the needs and demands for a web-hosted portal among shipbrokers and interested parties in the logistic chain. The result of the thesis should be considered as a foundation for further development and implementation of the concept.

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