This research investigates the application of an adaptive ecosystem approach to the problem of the Cooum River and environs in Chennai (formerly Madras), India. The Cooum River is an extremely polluted urban stream that flows into the Bay of Bengal through the heart of Chennai, India's fourth largest metropolis. During the dry (non-monsoon) season, the upper reaches of the river are dry and flow in the river may be attributed primarily to the production of sewage by the city's population. The river is essentially a foul-smelling open sewer. Complexity of the problem is due as much to human factors (population growth, poverty, uncontrolled urban development, jurisdictional conflicts, modes of behaviour of the citizenry, and institutional culture) as to physical characteristics of the system (flat topography, tidal action, blockage of the river mouth by sand bar formation, and monsoon flooding). Uncertainty in the situation is both structural (regarding main processes and activities in the system and the nature of relationships among the various actors and elements), and parametric (having to do with scarcity, poor quality and restricted access to data). This work has drawn upon methods and techniques of Adaptive Environmental Management and Soft Systems Methodology to operate the ecosystem approach and address the problem. Specifically, this has involved a series of workshops which have brought together planners, researchers, NGOs, and other stakeholders in a participatory process oriented toward problem definition, system identification and conceptualization, determination of objectives for management, and the generation and exploration of management interventions. In addition, a central component of the program has been the development of a loosely-coupled GIS, environmental simulation model, and a decision support module. This is based upon a framework provided by participants in the first workshop in the series, and operationalizes a common understanding of the system. In addition to generating new insight into the nature of the problem situation, the research has provided a potentially useful tool to planners, managers and researchers in Chennai in the form of a GIS database and decision support system (DSS). Aside from the tool itself, it was found that the process of developing a conceptual model, and attempting to represent this in the DSS has made a significant contribution to understanding of the Cooum system. In particular, this process forced assumptions to be stated explicitly and publically, highlighted areas of uncertainty and led to new understanding in participants' conception of the problem situation. The program of research also provided a much needed forum for open debate and exchange of information which was removed from the restrictive institutional culture of government departments.

In today’s manufacturing industry there is an increased focus to produce the right product at right time and in the automotive sector the pressure on suppliers in order to deliver is high. In this matter the organization has to have clear and reachable goals together with a production system that can meet these goals.  The aim of this study was to observe and discover improvements in an assembly line called EUCD 1 at a company working in the automotive industry. The task was from a third party perspective to identify bottlenecks and put forth recommendations for the future as to how the improvement work should be carried out at the line. The production flow has been mapped out by the use observations, interviews with personnel working on the line, qualitative and quantitative data along with System Soft methodology. The interview questions were based on Porras’ and Robertson’s Organizational framework which is divided into four sections namely technology, social factors, physical settings and organizational arrangement. The line assembles three types of gearboxes consisting of different models which make this line very complex. This case study also includes literature studies in order to support the results found in this thesis. This report includes a rich picture of the current state at the line for understanding how the line operates. Along with this observation and interviews have been made. Observations are supported by quantitative data and analyses to justify the problematic situation in the production line. The current state has been analysed with the help of the theories used and it revealed a distinct gap between the actual production and desired goals for the organization. The company used a methodology of solving the everyday problematic issues by temporary solutions which led to the reappearance of problems again.   The analyses conducted have resulted in general recommendation as to how the organization should be working to eliminate the different bottlenecks permanently. A desired state has been put forward that includes how the company should operate in a long term future to make the EUCD 1 assembly line more stable with less variation in standstill situations. The report ends with a discussion of the methodology used along with the findings obtained. The three research questions are answered along with discussions regarding how we could have done this thesis in a different manner. The reports sums up with a section for reliability of the data collected and what future studies can be conducted in the area.

This research investigates the application of an adaptive ecosystem approach to the problem of the Cooum River and environs in Chennai (formerly Madras), India. The Cooum River is an extremely polluted urban stream that flows into the Bay of Bengal through the heart of Chennai, India's fourth largest metropolis. During the dry (non-monsoon) season, the upper reaches of the river are dry and flow in the river may be attributed primarily to the production of sewage by the city's population. The river is essentially a foul-smelling open sewer. Complexity of the problem is due as much to human factors (population growth, poverty, uncontrolled urban development, jurisdictional conflicts, modes of behaviour of the citizenry, and institutional culture) as to physical characteristics of the system (flat topography, tidal action, blockage of the river mouth by sand bar formation, and monsoon flooding). Uncertainty in the situation is both structural (regarding main processes and activities in the system and the nature of relationships among the various actors and elements), and parametric (having to do with scarcity, poor quality and restricted access to data). This work has drawn upon methods and techniques of Adaptive Environmental Management and Soft Systems Methodology to operate the ecosystem approach and address the problem. Specifically, this has involved a series of workshops which have brought together planners, researchers, NGOs, and other stakeholders in a participatory process oriented toward problem definition, system identification and conceptualization, determination of objectives for management, and the generation and exploration of management interventions. In addition, a central component of the program has been the development of a loosely-coupled GIS, environmental simulation model, and a decision support module. This is based upon a framework provided by participants in the first workshop in the series, and operationalizes a common understanding of the system. In addition to generating new insight into the nature of the problem situation, the research has provided a potentially useful tool to planners, managers and researchers in Chennai in the form of a GIS database and decision support system (DSS). Aside from the tool itself, it was found that the process of developing a conceptual model, and attempting to represent this in the DSS has made a significant contribution to understanding of the Cooum system. In particular, this process forced assumptions to be stated explicitly and publically, highlighted areas of uncertainty and led to new understanding in participants' conception of the problem situation. The program of research also provided a much needed forum for open debate and exchange of information which was removed from the restrictive institutional culture of government departments.

Information and communication technologies (lCTs) are increasingly changing the way in which working, learning, doing research and administrations are carried out. ICTs have the changed natute of many academic, public and organisations libraries. Health service is an important and essential element of any modern society. Therefore, development of this service and updating its services is a priority for most of modern governments. Current developments in ICTs are changing the nature of health science libraries. Therefore research in this area is important to provide guidelines, recommendations to improve the health services. This study explores the impact of ICTs in Hamad Health Science Library in Qatar. Physicians and staff in the Hamad Medical Corporation were surveyed by questionnaire to identify the use of ICTs and their effect on them. Then personal interviews detertnined their perceptions of the impact on the research productivity of end-users. There is a lack of this type of study in the literature. Those that there are specifically address the impact of ICTs in health science library. ICTs have become a major link to health care resources for many health care workers. The study employs a systems methodological approach in order to better understand the impact and value of ICTs in Hamad Health Sciences Library (HHSL). Using the systems intervention, issues that affect the system were identified (technological issues, cooperation issues, cultural issues and staff (and user) training and development) and the problem situation improved. An ordered roadmap of elements necessary to bring about change was produced and a HHSL systems model constructed to understand the change processes in context. Conclusions drawn reflect the level of success of the aims and objectives and indicate ways in which the problem situation can be improved from a systemic standpoint. Recommendations to management include aspects associated with operational planning, policy objectives and strategic formulation.

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative case study is to describe the formation of a graduate enrollment evaluation system (GEES) to capture and explore the perceptions of key stakeholders to critically examine the barriers and benefits of a PhD nursing program at a large, public designated high research institution. As the research suggest, there is a current need for increased enrollment for nurses into nursing doctorate programs to further meet the patient's expanding demand, to expand the science of the nursing profession, and to increase the pipeline of qualified nursing faculty. Without a pipeline of qualified nursing faculty, fewer new nurses can be trained for the nursing workforce that already experiences a critical deficiency in staffing.

This thesis has two distinct research threads. One thread examines the effectiveness of technology support on the performance of focus groups. Unlike previous research, the work described in this thesis addresses the fundamental issue that groups are social systems, and that comprehensive measurement of the effectiveness of group activities requires assessment of both the task-oriented and social aspects of the group activity. In this research, four different communication modes are used to compare group effectiveness. The second research thread in this thesis is the use of Systems Thinking, and specifically Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), as the framework for inquiring into the effects of technology support on group effectiveness. The strategy in this thesis for developing and evaluating hypotheses extends the general descriptions and guidance in the literature on using SSM for hypothesis testing. Systems thinking also provides the basis for examining the prevailing ???profile deviation??? view that the better the fit between the group task and the technology support the greater the group performance. Using the six perspectives of fit developed by Venkatraman (1989), the most common GSS models and other models developed to examine Task-Technology Fit (TTF) are analysed. The results show that group performance models are most often tested from a ???profile deviation??? perspective and TTF models developed from a profile deviation perspective claim to have predictive and descriptive validity for assessing the level of group performance. To assess whether an SSM based approach can improve the predictive and/or descriptive analysis of the impact of technology support on group work, a field experiment was conducted at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Twenty focus groups of officer cadets assessed their military training program using a GSS in one of four communication modes. The results showed little predictive or descriptive support for the profile deviation perspective of TTF when measuring the group???s overall effectiveness, task effectiveness, participant satisfaction or group relations. The alternative ???gestalt??? perspective, operationalised in this research by using SSM, provided a more comprehensive approach to examining the effectiveness of technology support for group work.

The construction industry has long been criticized as being not advance enough to use information communication technology (ICT) and slow to adopt knowledge management (KM). This research demonstrates how using an effective and efficient ICT systems can improve KM, and that an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can be one tools to help improve KM. An ERP system is also a powerful tool to help integrate business processes which has particular use in the construction industry. The principle objective of this research was to explore the drivers and inhibiters that determined successful adoption and use of an ERP system at its actual implementation stage. Secondly, it aimed to identify successful factors of a partnering strategy and its integration into the ERP system. The third objective was to investigate the appropriate leadership style that influenced the ERP system and the partnering strategy, and to identify the impact of culture on the leadership style. The research was conducted within the context of a Hong Kong construction organization. This research makes a contribution in two spheres: PM and the construction industry. The first implication for PM theory is to illustrate how knowledge has been efficiently managed within a construction organization by using ICT/ERP.

With the first commitment of the Kyoto Protocol commencing in 2008, many signatory governments have identified bio fuels as a favoured response to the problem of fulfilling their countries' pledges to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. Despite the tendency for pressure over climate change to expedite the commercialisation process, detailed evaluation of the claimed benefits, likely efficacy or environmental impact of bio fuels in New Zealand in the form of the Bio fuels Sales Obligation policy (BSO): a mandate place on the Oil Companies to supply a percentage of bio fuel. Systems thinking propound the notion of complex interrelatedness: a pivotal concept in our current understanding of the cumulative effects of greenhouse gas emissions and their relationship to climate change. It also recognizes that the multiple ways in which different stakeholders perceive a contentious question are an integral feature of any problematical situation. By applying systems concepts to qualitative research, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is therefore particularly suitable for the analysis of multiple stakeholder discourse in this situation. The present study employs SSM to examine stakeholder opinion through the construction of conceptual models in the form of rich pictures and root definitions. The researcher invited diverse stakeholders to ‘see what they were thinking’ and reflect upon the beliefs and assumptions that informed their views with respect to New Zealand bio fuels development. With reference to official documentation arising from the policy development process and through a series of interviews and a focus group, the research examines perceptions of the consultation process on bio fuels development and its contribution to informed decision-making. The study data indicates that the scope of enquiry tended to be restricted by early presuppositions regarding the consultation process and its desired outcomes, which consequently shifted the focus of consultation the enquiry from an assessment of the desirability of bio fuels to an appraisal of the feasibility of government policy. However inadvertently, communication was distorted. The research examines the basic assumptions that shaped the discourse and enabled already established opinions to prevail. Furthermore, the thesis explores how using SSM to surface tacit assumptions and challenge proposed models of intervention can help improve the reflexivity of discourse and decision-making. By ensuring open communication remains at the centre of discourse, SSM could provide a means of establishing productive conditions for learning and co-creative dialogue. Consequently the study has important implications for how the ‘health’ of public discourse in New Zealand might be sustained when addressing other similarly complex issues.

This thesis outlines research completed in partnership between Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and Liverpool John Moores University. The aim of the research was to investigate ways to develop and implement a bespoke Geographic Information System framework that could be used to identify risk of future anomalous accidental dwelling fires. This thesis outlines the techniques used to develop the framework and its application. In particular, the thesis presents an understanding of accidental dwelling fire causal factors and how data related to these can be incorporated into a model for identifying risk and targeting initiatives relative to the risk. The thesis also investigates two strands of customer insight developed for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. These are community profiles, based on a cluster analysis approach, to understand risks present within communities and the vulnerable person index, which identifies individuals most at risk from fire using data shared through information sharing agreements. Nationally recognised risk modelling toolkits, such as the Fire Service Emergency Cover toolkit do not utilise local information or have the ability to identify risk to an individual level. There is a need for this intelligence to be able to proactively target services, such as the Home Fire Safety Check. This paper also discusses some of the key operational and strategic areas that benefit from this information and presents some case studies related to the application of the research.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T17:42:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo9444_1.pdf: 1764275 bytes, checksum: 58c69051dd03d371a015ad402bc7e16e (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / No atual cenário competitivo, marcado pelo crescente nível de exigência de mercado, aumento do nível de eficiência das máquinas e redução nos custos de fabricação, as indústrias precisam gerenciar seus processos produtivos e ao mesmo tempo preservar e recuperar o meio ambiente. Essas crescentes exigências promovem uma maior consciência dos gestores, que passam a compreender que o investimento em práticas sustentáveis está relacionado à sobrevivência da empresa. Essa contínua preocupação das organizações com esse panorama demonstra essa necessidade de melhoria principalmente do ramo têxtil, que ainda atua nos seus negócios com modelos administrativos ultrapassados, atuando de forma reativa e apresentando uma necessidade de incorporar aos seus modelos produtivos e administrativos uma gestão mais eficaz dos seus processos. Neste sentido, como forma de estabelecimento de uma cultura voltada às práticas de gestão sistematizadas, é proposto nesta dissertação, um modelo para a integração dos sistemas de gestão da qualidade, meio ambiente, segurança, saúde ocupacional e responsabilidade social. Para isto, foi adotada a Soft Systems Methodology, proposta por Checkland. Os resultados obtidos permitiram efetuar o diagnóstico obtido a partir da aplicação da análise do campo de forças para a implantação do Sistema Integrado de Gestão proposto, deixando claro quais as forças restritivas e impulsionadoras ao sistema, devem ser equilibradas antes de iniciar a sua implantação