This thesis examines the technological economics of glass recycling in Britain. Attention was focused on recovery schemes operated within Scotland, comparisons being made with schemes in the rest of Britain and in Europe. An examination was made of general recycling problems and of glass recycling problems in particular. The various systems for glass recycling were reviewed and were put in the context of the waste management system as a whole. A survey was undertaken of Local Authorities operating glass recycling schemes. The aim was to provide a comprehensive data set to enable a consistent assessment of glass recovery schemes to be taken. This emphasised the importance of taking a standard approach to assessing the viability of recovery schemes. This needs to be done in terms of both private and social costs and benefits to provide a full economic assessment of the system. A general computer model has been developed to allow local authorities to check the viability of their on-going operations. As they operate under different conditions this model was split into separate assessment of a Bottle Bank scheme and a trade collection scheme. In addition, an investment appraisal model was developed to cover both situations. These allow managers to assess the viability of their schemes and can be used to highlight key costs. An International review was undertaken to see what lessons may be learned and what actions may be taken by the local authorities, industry, the general public, and by central government.

This study is an inter-disciplinary investigation into the nature of corporate strategy and the forces shaping industrial development with particular reference to a science based industry such as the chemical industry. The central objective of the study 1S to analyse the critical role of technological change as a major force ln strategic planning - a largely neglected area in the literature on corporate strategy. Traditional writings on corporate strategy tend to be self limiting 1n that they focus on a "single profit objective" and associated with this is the heavy emphasis placed on acquisition strategies in order to realize managerial profit objectives. The present study suggests that much more attention should be given to other than profit objectives, the conflict between them and their reconciliation. For this purpose a synthesis of the behavioural model of the firm and the managerial discretion model is proposed. The method uses four types of standards - historical, external, intentional and innovative - 1n setting multiple objectives at a target and at a constraint level. In this target constraint approach the difference between the two levels determines a margin within which conflicting claims of multiple objectives can be reconciled and a consensus level can thereby be reached. The study shows that the existence of a gap between the innovative and the other standards signifies that growth will mainly come through technological change. Theoretical aspects of technological change, in particular the economic and sociological approaches to diffusion of innovation are also discussed with special reference to the chemical industry. Against this background i i a generalized growth pattern for basic chemicals is developed and this pattern identifies the competitive and innovative modes of growth. In the competitive mode the individual chemical producer seeks to increase the level of usage of his material in its established end use categories. In the innovative mode, on the other hand, growth is sought by innovating new end use categories. Given a specialized producer willing to grow in his area, the competitive mode is characterized by the fact that marketing, financial and organizational measures can compensate for scientific and technological weaknesses, whereas intensive research and development activities are all important in the innovative mode . . The discussion finally leads to the formulation of a method of pinpointing technologically based opportunities. This method~ the technological growth tree, is developed as a managerial tool for mapping out strategic opportunities for the chemical industrialist. The tree consists of two principal branches, technological expansion and technological diversification, which subdivide into relevant strategies and tactics. Technological expansion strategies can be utilized in the competitive mode while the technological diversification strategies are appropriate in the innovative mode. The usefulness of the technological growth tree, in particular its diversification strategies, is illustrated by reference to the bromine industry where application of the former has resulted in a number of potential opportunities. These require further research and development efforts for their realization. ·Resulting from this, the principles outlined in the present study can also be applied in other science based industries for strategic planning.

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With the unprecedented growth of the communication industry that the world is experiencing, the demand from rural inhabitants for high quality communications at an economically affordable cost is growing. However, rural areas are rather restricted from deploying communication services due to the rough natural environment, and the shortage of rudimentary communication facilities and technical personnel. Appropriate models for building rural wireless networks and a concomitant simulation environment are, therefore, expected to enable the construction of technologically-optimal and economically-efficient networks in specified rural areas.<br /> <br /> The research has set up two independent models, one for the economic need and the other for the technical need of building networks in rural areas. One model was the Impact of Telecommunications Model, which disclosed the importance of building a wireless network in specified rural areas by choosing an economic parameter to forecast the profitability of the network. The other was the Service Model, which collected primitive data from given rural areas and abstracted these data by flowing them through four technical layers to form the predicted technical wireless network. Both of the models had been applied to real-world cases to demonstrate how to use them.<br /> <br /> A simulation environment was finally designed and implemented to realize the above two models for the sake of instantiation. This environment could simulate the specified rural network by constructing a wireless network on the invented areas and evaluating its quality and economic efficiency. It was written in Scilab simulation language, which was an open source.

E-learning has acquired the status of a "radical innovation" in higher education over the past decade. This claim is contestable, but certainly as the latest educational innovation, it can be attributed with introducing significant disruption into many facets of university life, reaching well beyond the traditional activities associated with the classroom pedagogies. In Australian universities, there are many now who simply take e-learning for granted as accepted teaching and learning practice (Oliver, 2004). Conversely, there are others who forecast its demise, claiming that, like previous educational technological innovations, it is another passing fad (Noble, 1998b). This thesis does not primarily engage this debate. Instead the purpose of this thesis is to gain insight into how universities can realise sustained benefits from the considerable investments to date that have been made in educational technological innovations. The inquiry seeks to understand better change within contemporary universities, in particular the process of embedding the e-learning innovation effectively. The intention is to produce an analysis useful to university executives, managers, teachers and researchers, as well as to make a more general contribution to knowledge about innovations in organisations. The research literature on change and innovation in organisations is relevant but is reviewed and assessed as of limited value to the enquiry. This is because: * the literature mainly focuses on the objective characteristics of an innovative product which cannot encompass the socially constructed value of e-learning * it fails to differentiate between the concept of "embedding" and other change phases and constructs, mostly examining the precursory and innovation-producing processes * the context of research into innovation has been primarily industrial, not university-based * its variable analytic paradigm fails to produce holistic analyses which can be appreciated and enacted on by decision makers and practising managers. For these reasons and because suitable research on innovation in universities is lacking, an introductory investigation based on grounded theory building was undertaken. To this end, four qualitative, descriptive case studies of contrasting Australian universities embedding e-learning were compiled. The four case universities (their identities protected through use of pseudonyms) assessed were: * Gamma University - a multi-campus institution, geographically spread across urban and regional locations * Lambda University - an established university, with the majority of students located at a single urban campus * Epsilon University - a younger, multi-campus amalgamated university with a strong reputation for distance education * Delta University - a relatively young multi-campus, urban university, although its parent bodies provide a longer history. The cases were based on interviews and focus group sessions with 74 participants, and electronic resource and document analyses over two phases; the first conducted in 1998-1999 and the second in 2002-2003. These analyses provided holistic pragmatic accounts that encapsulate a number of issues. One issue was about the importance of creativity in the innovating process. A second set of issues centred on the theme of complexity and the multifarious nature of the e-learning innovation. Other themes included the significance of the innovation context, partnerships and collaborations, and the emerging polarisation of issues such as standardisation versus diversification. These issues provoked three major propositions about the process of embedding and prompted the development of two systems-based analytical frameworks; one focusing on the nature of system relationships and interactions and the second providing a longitudinal perspective of system change. The propositions are: * the ability of a university to negotiate system intersections and transitions influences the degree to which e-learning can be embedded in that university * complexity is an integral part of an innovation, therefore cannot be ignored or eliminated without destroying the kernel of the innovation itself, and its longterm viability * the efficacy of the innovation is related, in some measure, to the ability to sustain partnerships and collaborations. The analysis suggested that there are number of key influences which affect the embedding process and the ability of an organisation, such as a university, to manage the processes associated with the e-learning innovation. The key system influences which affect embedding include: * the nature of the interactions and transactions occurring within the system, at the boundaries and between the phases of transition * the importance of organisational context (cultural, technological, strategic, geographic) * the pervasive impact of complexity on all dimensions of the research problem (the e-learning innovation, the change process and the university environment) * the necessity for collaboration. The implications of this study for university executives, managers and beyond are far reaching, and in some respects contradict accepted contemporary management practice. They include: seeking ways to maximise organisational tensions to achieve positive outcomes; enhancing decision making by allowing more flexibility and personal judgement into the process; developing greater tolerance for system fuzziness and uncertainty; and encouraging better utilisation of previous knowledge gained about innovation practices and processes.

One of the most persistently challenging topics in the Information Systems (IS) field continues to be how to improve understanding and gain a useful perspective on technology adoption and implementation. Researchers attempting to make progress in this field have had to grapple with the limited explanatory power of recognised diffusion theories and the fragmentation of research on uptake of innovative technology across a number of disciplines. / This research project addresses the fundamental question of how to improve technology adoption and implementation-referred to in this thesis as the innovative technology uptake (ITU) problem. Tackling the ITU problem required development of a coherent explanatory theoretical framework, which needed to be appropriate for the investigation of diffusion processes in the more complex environment of a market. Evolutionary Diffusion Theory (EDT) offered this project an appropriate basis as well as a broader investigative approach for reviewing technological change. Originally formulated in the field of Evolutionary Economics, EDT describes economic phenomena with a particular focus on situations of change, open systems and innovation processes. Although EDT- and the set of axioms derived from the theory- can be applied to many fields, in this project it was restricted to exploring the ITU problem in Government to Business (GB2) implementations of e-business technologies in the Australian food industry. / This study of uptake of innovative technology in the Australian food industry between 2000 and 2003 produced a significant body of empirical data. The major case study applies the conceptual framework to a review of an online system for facilitating access to export documentation (known as EXDOC) and its phased implementation by a government agency, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS). The EXDOC case study provides the basis for an exploratory analysis of current Australian practices in the uptake of innovative G2B technology as well as a review of the ITU problem in relation to policy and sustainable technology issue / This thesis produced the following deliverables: A conceptual framework derived from axioms based on Evolutionary Diffusion theory which adds considerably to understanding of influences on uptake of innovative G2B technology in an IS research context; A simple integrated framework for understanding not only why technology innovations fail but also the conditions under which they can form durable communities; A set of holistic guidelines proposed to assist other Australian government agencies currently implementing innovative online technology got G2B service delivery. / This research paper suggests that Evolutionary Diffusion provides a unified theory best suited to understanding the principle influences on the speed and specific course of uptake of G2B innovative technology in the Australian food industry. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2005.

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The dissolution profile of orally delivered drugs can be controlled through the use of osmotically controlled drug delivery devices. The most commonly used device is the osmotic tablet, which is essentially a tablet core that is coated with a rate-limiting semipermeable membrane. The feasibility of applying a coating onto a tablet using dense gas techniques was studied. Two different coating materials, polymethymethacrylate (PMMA, Mw = 120,000 g/mol) and cellulose acetate (CA, 39.8 wt% acetyl content) were applied onto an 8 mm osmotic tablet core using the Gas Anti-solvent (GAS) process. For PMMA, the pressurisation rate, coating temperature and volumetric expansion of up to 250% had minimal effect on the coating quality. The concentration, solvent type and the use of polyethylene glycol (Mw = 200 g/mol) had a more pronounced effect on the coating. The coating process was optimised to apply a smooth and uniform coating with a 50 ??m thickness. For CA, the pressurisation rate and the coating temperature had little effect on the coating that was applied. The process was more sensitive to a change in the concentration of the solution and the volumetric expansion that was used. It was found that the concentration could not be increased too much without affecting the coating quality. A CA coating was applied onto a PMMA-coated tablet using the optimised conditions. The thickness in the tablet coating increased by 10 ??m. Dissolution tests of the uncoated and coated tablets were carried out. The CA coatings were found to be insufficient in limiting the rate of water entering the tablet and performed similarly to an uncoated tablet core. The PMMA coatings were found to limit the rate of delivery of the model drug. However, variations in the PMMA coatings resulted in an inconsistent delivery profile across batches. The tablets coated with both PMMA and CA had a delivery rate in between that of uncoated and PMMA-coated tablets, indicating that the application of the second coating had compromised the initial PMMA coating.