Niemals zuvor in der Geschichte der Technik hat eine Technologie eine so rasante Verbreitung erfahren hat, wie es mit Smartphones und Tablet PCs (digitale Medien) erlebt wurde (Moura und Carvalho 2010). Diese erweisen sich als digitale Alleskönner bzw. Minicomputer mit einem polyfunktionalen Leistungs- und Anwendungsumfang. Es verwundert nicht, dass „die Lebenswelt mit digitaler Technik […] alltägliches Handeln in nahezu allen Kontexten [präformiert].“ (Kerres 2017, S. 22) und mit einem hohen Nutzungszuspruch korrespondiert. In Deutschland beläuft sich die Anzahl der Smartphone-Nutzer auf 57 Millionen und dies bei jährlichen Zuwachsraten (Bitkom e.V. 2018).Jedoch trügt diese vermeintlich breite, gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz und die Nutzung digitaler Medien scheint sich als altersspezifisches Phänomen zu präsentieren. Liegt die Abdeckung mit Smartphones in der Altersgruppe der 14- bis 49jährigen bei über 95 Prozent (Bitkom e.V. 2018), nutzen lediglich 41 Prozent der Personen ab 65 Jahren ein Smartphone1 (Lutter et al. 2017). Dabei nimmt das Nutzungsverhalten mit zunehmenden Alter ab (Barczik 2019). Dies ist umso erstaunlicher, da digitale Medien speziell für ältere Erwachsene Möglichkeiten zur Alltagserleichterung bieten (Mori und Harada 2010, Leung et al. 2012, Thimm 2013). Überdies ermöglichen Smartphones und Tablet-PCs ortsunabhängige Interaktionsmöglichkeiten (Feist und McDougall 2013) und befördern damit die soziale Teilhabe. Feist und McDougall 2013 sprechen modernen Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) sogar die Möglichkeit zu, den Alter(n)sprozess gelingend zu unterstützen. Dies lässt sich mit Beispielen wie Mobile Healthcare oder Ambient Assistent Living Systeme untersetzen. Entgegen dieser Vorteile wirft sich unweigerlich die Frage auf, wodurch die gegebene altersbedingte Digital Divide verursacht wird? [... aus der Einleitung]

The aim of the diploma thesis is to apprise the reader with a basic life insur- ance projection method which is used for the valuation of insurance company's liabilities. The basic projection method can be extremely time consuming in practise so another two variance reduction methods and their combination are presented to obtain either more precise liabilities estimation, or to reduce the time required for the projection. The presented methods are antithetic variate method, control-variate method and their combination later called integrated control-variate method. The final outcome of the thesis is simulation experi- ment which evaluates the liabilities of the group of policies and comparison of the presented variance reduction methods. 1

För att vara konkurrenskraftiga på marknaden tvingas företag utveckla nya strategier för produktutveckling, som kan anpassas till allt högre kundbehov. Syftet med detta arbete var att effektivisera produktutvecklingen för företag inom tillverkningsindustrin. Målet var att utveckla en effektiv arbetsprocess för produktutveckling samt att tillämpa processen på ett projekt, där ett helautomatiskt snabbfäste till mindre hjullastare skulle standardiseras till företaget OilQuick.Examensarbetet delades in i två delar. Den första delen behandlar skapandet av arbetsprocessen. Denna grundas i befintlig forskning och identifierades genom en litteraturstudie. Den andra delen behandlar tillämpning av arbetsprocessen på standardiseringen av snabbfästet till hjullastare. Data och kunskap till arbetet samlades in genom marknadsundersökningar, studiebesök, möten med kunder och Reverse Engineering. Kundkraven rangordnades med Best-worst metoden och översattes till tekniska produktegenskaper med Kvalitetshuset.Tre koncept genererades i Autodesk Inventor utifrån kraven och produktegenskaperna, samt datan som framkom av Reverse Engineering och marknadsundersökningen. Enligt kundkravet behövde det färdiga snabbfästet passa minst fyra olika hjullastarmodeller i viktklassen fem till åtta ton. Detta medförde att alla tre koncepten modulbaserades, både för att underlätta eventuella modifikationer mellan hjullastarmodellerna och för att minimera antalet detaljer som behövde modifieras. Alla tre konceptens redskapsgrindar hade standardiserade mått som passade de undersökta hjullastarmodeller. Det koncept som bäst uppfyllde kundkraven utvärderades med Fuzzy TOPSIS metoden. Det slutgiltiga konceptet justerades utifrån kundens önskemål innan det färdiga resultatet presenterades.Resultatet visade att arbetsprocessen var effektiv; Reverse Engineering och samarbetet med kunden gav en inblick i problematiken och förståelse för produkten, Best-worst metoden gjorde att rangordningen av kraven gick snabbt utan att minska på pålitligheten och Fuzzy TOPSIS metoden effektiviserade konceptvalet samtidigt som alla inblandades åsikter blev hörda. För att effektivisera produktutvecklingen ytterligare bör fler metoder undersökas alternativt utvecklas.Konceptförslagen som konstruerades påvisade att det är möjligt att standardisera gränssnittet mellan hjullastare och redskap. Genom modulärkonstruktion kunde snabbfästet anpassas till fyra olika hjullastarmodeller. Innan vidareutveckling av snabbfästet bör fler hjullastare mätas upp och studeras. / In order to be competitive in the market, companies are forced to develop new strategies that can be adapted to ever-increasing customer requirements. The purpose of the work was to streamline product development for companies in the manufacturing industry. The objective was to develop an efficient work process for product development and apply the process to a project where a standardized fully automatic quick coupler for smaller wheel loaders would be developed for the company OilQuick.The thesis was divided into two parts. The first part deals with the development of a work process based on existing research. The second part deals with the application of the work process. Data for the application was collected through market research, meetings with customers and Reverse Engineering. Customer requirements were ranked using the Best-worst method and translated into technical specifications using the method QFD (House of Quality).Three concepts were generated based on the resulting requirements from the QFD. According to the customer requirements, the quick coupler had to be compliant with at least four different wheel loader brands in the weight span from five to eight tons. This meant that all three concepts were based on modular design, both to facilitate modifications between the wheel loader brads and to minimize the number of details that needed to be modified. All three of the concept's attachment brackets had standardized dimensions that fitted all examined wheel loader models. To determine which concept that best met the customer requirements the Fuzzy TOPSIS method was used. The final concept was adjusted based on OilQuick's requirements before the finished result was presented.The results showed that the work process was efficient and reliable and that the developed concept proposal indicates that it is possible for the company to standardize the interface between wheel loaders and attachments. With modular design the quick coupler can be adapted to the wheel loader brands that were studied. To ensure that the quick coupler can be applied to a larger variety of wheel loaders, it is necessary to examine and take measurements of more wheel loader brands before further development.

Modern search engines, particularly those utilizing the BM25 ranking algorithm, offer a multitude of tunable parameters designed to refine search results. Among these parameters, the weight of each searchable field plays a crucial role in enhancing search outcomes. Traditional methods of discovering optimal weight combinations, however, are often exploratory, demanding substantial time and risking the delivery of substandard results during testing. This thesis proposes a streamlined solution: an ordinal-regression-based model specifically engineered to identify optimal weight combinations with minimal data input, within an offline testing environment. The evaluation corpus comprises a comprehensive snapshot of a product search database from Tradera. The top $100$ search queries and corresponding search results pages on the Tradera platform were divided into a training set and an evaluation set. The model underwent iterative training on the training set, and subsequent testing on the evaluation set, with progressively increasing amounts of labeled data. This methodological approach allowed examining the model's proficiency in deriving high-performance weight combinations from limited data. The empirical experiments conducted confirmed that the proposed model successfully generated promising weight combinations, even with restricted data, and exhibited robust generalization to the evaluation dataset. In conclusion, this research substantiates the significant potential for enhancing search results by tuning searchable field weights using a regression-based model, even in data-scarce scenarios. / Moderna sökmotorer, i synnerhet sådana som använder rankningsalgoritmen BM25, erbjuder en mängd justerbara parametrar utformade för att förbättra sökresultat. Bland dessa parametrar spelar vikten av varje sökbart fält en avgörande roll för att förbättra sökresultaten. Traditionella metoder för att hitta optimala viktkombinationer är dock ofta utforskande, kräver mycket tid och riskerar att ge undermåliga sökresultat under testningsperioden. Denna avhandling föreslår en strömlinjeformad lösning: en ordinal-regressionsbaserad modell specifikt utvecklad för att identifiera optimala viktkombinationer med minimal träningsdata, inom en offline testmiljö. Utvärderingskorpus består av en omfattande ögonblicksbild av en produktsökdatabas från Tradera. De $100$ vanligaste sökfrågorna och motsvarande sökresultatssidor på Traderas plattform delades in i en träningsuppsättning och en utvärderingsuppsättning. Modellen genomgick iterativ träning på träningsuppsättningen, och därefter testning på utvärderingsuppsättningen, med successivt ökande mängder av kategoriserad data. Denna metodologiska strategi möjliggjorde undersökning av modellens förmåga att härleda högpresterande viktkombinationer från begränsad data. De empiriska experimenten som genomfördes bekräftade att den föreslagna modellen framgångsrikt genererade lovande viktkombinationer, även med begränsad data, och uppvisade robust generalisering till utvärderingsdatamängden. Sammanfattningsvis bekräftar denna forskning den betydande potentialen för förbättring av sökresultat genom att justera sökbara fältvikter med hjälp av en regressionsbaserad modell, även i datasnåla scenarion.

Mergers and acquisitions have been demonstrated to create synergies, but not in all cases. Current research reveals that where synergies exist, these seem to accrue to the shareholders of the selling companies. Given the limitations of our qualitative research design, we find that it is important to quantify synergy before the acquisition, preferably by applying certain best practices. In an attempt to enhance understanding of the phenomenon, we find that several types of synergy exist and that their origins include efficiencies, such as economies of scale and economies in innovative activity. We further find that the bid price is an important indicator of success and that its maximum should not exceed the intrinsic value of the target, plus the value of synergies between the bidder and target. We further find that best practices exist in quantifying cost and revenue synergies and describe these separately per origin. / Management Accounting / M.Com. (Accounting)

The research regarding best practice transfer complexity is limited and mainly focused on a Western perspective. Thereby, it overlooks the emerging market context. Further, previous research has not examined the constraints affecting the transfer success from several dimensions. Therefore, this thesis aims at answering what the main constraints are to a successful best practice transfer from a Swedish multinational corporation headquarter to a Chinese subsidiary. Additionally, this thesis aims to examine how these constraints affect the transfer success from both a process and outcome perspective. In order to investigate this, the theoretical framework explains the potential internal and external constraints that can affect the transfer and defines success. This study was conducted through a qualitative case study based on a Swedish regional HQ’s transfer to its Chinese subsidiary. The data was mainly collected through semi-structured interviews with respondents from both Sweden and China. Conclusively, the findings showed that relational, organizational and contextual constraints were present. However, the qualitative research showed that there are often trade-offs between constraints and their effect on success, which previously have not been shown in quantitative research. In addition, the results suggest that the context is important to acknowledge when transferring best practices.

Thesis (M.Ing.)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The objective of this research has been to compare nonpoint sources assessment techniques for simulating phosphorous production in rural catchments which have a variety ofland use types. Four nonpoint source assessment techniques capable of simulating phosphorous production, operating at different spatial and temporal resolutions, were selected after an intensive literature review. The model selection criteria included the capability to simulate phosphorous production, the need for the study to cover a range of spatial and temporal resolutions, model data requirements, model affordability and availability in South Africa. The models selected using these criteria are the Phosphorous Export Model (PEM) (Weddepohl & Meyer, 1992), Impoundment and River Management and Planning Assessment Tool for Water Quality Simulation Model (IMPAQ) (DWAF,1995), the Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran (HSPF) (Bricknell,1993) and the Agricultural Catchments Research Unit Model (ACRU) (Smithers and Caldecott, 1994). Four ofthe study catchments were selected within the Berg River basin in the Western Cape and the remaining four were selected within the Amatole catchments in the Eastern Cape. The four subcatchments in the Berg River basin are the Twenty-Four Rivers, Leeu River, Kompanjies River and Doring River catchments and the four in the Amatole catchments are the Upper Buffalo, Cwencwe, Yellowwoods and Gqunube River catchments. The range of land use/cover types comprises: Western Cape catchments : wheat, grapes, natural vegetation and forestry Eastern Cape catchments : natural vegetation and forestry The PEM and IMPAQ models were applied reasonably successfully to all the catchments to simulate phosphorous production, with the observed flow as the input. The HSPF model could not successfully be applied to the catchments to simulate both the catchment hydrology and phosphorous production. Hence, the investigation into HSPF was abandoned, and in its place, the ACRU daily phosphorous yield model was incorporated at a fairly late stage in the research. ACRU was applied to only the Western Cape catchments. The estimated parameters for different land use types were compared to investigate the potential for parameter transfer in space and time. Both the PEM and IMP AQ models showed promise that land use parameters could be transferred in time for catchments located in the Western Cape catchments, but did not show promise for catchments located in the Eastern Cape. The IMPAQ model showed promise that land use parameters could be transferred in space for catchments located in the Eastern Cape, but did not perform as well in the Western Cape catchments. The PEM model showed promise that land use parameters could be transferred in space for catchments located in the Western Cape, but did not perform as well in the Eastern Cape. Since the ACRU phosphorous yield model was included at a late stage of the research, the potential for land use parameter transfer in space and time could not investigated. The model results were verified at the relevant flow and water quality gauging stations. The ACRU phosphorous model verification results showed promise for catchments located in humid parts of the Berg River basin, but did not perform as well in the catchment located in the semi-arid part. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: I. Intensive research should be undertaken to develop a database ofland use parameters/ export coefficients related to phosphorous production (and other non-conservative constituents) in South African catchments. Availability of these parameters would make phosphorous modelling much easier. HSPF should be configured and calibrated, more especially its water quality component, for catchments with hourly rainfall and rainfall stations located within/on the catchment boundaries, to investigate its performance under South African conditions. Given the complexity of the HSPF algorithms and the time required to familiarise oneself with the model, it is recommended that such an investigation be undertaken which is not inclusive of any other models. The spatial resolution ofPEM is extremely coarse, and should be improved to allow the user to partition the total flow in the catchment according to contributions from the variety ofland use types and to estimate soluble and particulate phosphorous parameters for each land use type. A study should be undertaken to investigate the potential for the ACRU phosphorous yield model parameter transfer in time and space. Sampling frequency of water quality data in South Africa should be improved, because it is difficult to assess the performance of the calibrated water quality models, more especially phosphorous export models, due to a lack of continuous data sets. Rainfall data collection in gauged catchments, more especially Western Cape catchments (e.g. Twenty-Four Rivers, Leeu, Kompanjies and the Doring River catchments), should be improved. There should be at least one rainfall gauging station located within the catchment boundaries. This would contribute towards achieving reasonable hydrological calibration or verification. Since runoff is the driving factor for water quality components, improved hydrological calibration/verification would result in reasonable water quality calibration/verification. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die navorsing was om die simulering van fosfaat produksie in landelike gebiede, wat 'n verskeidenheid grondgebruike het, met behulp van nie-punt bron evaluerings tegnieke te evulaeer. Vier nie-punt bron evaluerings tegnieke, met die vermoë om fosfaat produksie op verskillende ruimtelike en tyds resolusies te simuleer, is gekies na 'n intensiewe ondersoek van beskikbare literatuur. Die kriteria vir die keuse van die model het ingesluit die vermoë om fosfaat produksie te simuleer, die behoefte vir die studie om 'n reeks van ruimtelike en tyds resolusies te simuleer, model data vereistes, model bekostigbaarheid en beskikbaarheid in Suid Afrika. Die gekose modelle, gebaseer op bogemelde kriteria, was die PEM, IMPAQ, HSPF en ACRU modelle. Vier van die opvanggebiede gebruik in die studie, was in die Bergrivier bekken in die Wes-Kaap en vier was in die Amatole opvanggebiede in die Oos-Kaap. Die vier opvanggebiede in die Bergrivier bekken is die Vier-en- Twentigriviere, Leeurivier, Kompanjiesrivier en die Doringrivier en die vier opvanggebiede in die Amatole opvanggebiede is die Bo-Buffels, Cwencwe, Yellowwoods, en die Gunubierivier opvanggebiede. Grondgebruik beslaan die volgende: Wes-Kaap opvanggebiede : koring, druiwe, natuurlike weiding en plantasies. Oos-Kaap : natuurlike plantegroei en plantasies Die PEM en IMPAQ modelle is met redelike sukses in al die opvanggebiede gebruik vir die simulasie van fosfaat produksie, met die waargenome vloei as invoer. Die HSPF model kan nie met enige sukses gebruik word om beide die opvanggebied hidrologie en fosfaat produksie, te simuleer nie. Die HSPF model is dus uitgeskakel en in 'n redelike laat stadium van die studie met die ACRU daaglikse fosfaat leweringsmodel vervang. Die ACRU model is net op die Wes-Kaap opvanggebiede toegepas. Die beraamde parameters vir die verskillende grondgebruik tipes is vergelyk om die potensiaal vir parameter oordrag in ruimte en tyd te ondersoek. Beide die PEM en IMPAQ modelle het belowend vertoon ten opsigte van die oordrag van grondgebruik parameters in tyd vir opvanggebiede in die Wes- Kaap, maar het geensins belowend vertoon vir die Oos-Kaap opvanggebiede nie. Die IMPAQ model het belowend vertoon ten opsigte van die ruimtelike oordrag van grondgebruik parameters vir die Oos-Kaap opvanggebiede, maar het nie so goed vertoon in die Wes-Kaap opvanggebiede nie. Die PEM model het belowend vertoon ten opsigte van die ruimtelike oordrag dat grondgebruikte parameters in die Wes-Kaap opvanggebiede is, maar het nie so goed in die Oos-Kaap opvanggebiede vertoon nie. Aangesien die ACRU fosfaat leweringsmodel op 'n laat stadium van die navorsing ingesluit is, kan die potensiaal vir die oordrag van grondgebruik parameters in ruimte en tyd nie ondersoek word nie. Die model resultate is by die toepaslike vloei en waterkwaliteit meetstasies geverifiëer Die resultate van die ACRU fosfaat model verifikasie het belowend vertoon vir opvangebiede in die humiede gedeeltes van die Bergrivier bekken, maar het nie so goed vertoon in die semi-droeë deel van die opvangebied nie. AANBEVELINGS VIR VERDERE NAVORSING : Y4 Intensiewe navorsing moet onderneem word ten einde in 'n databasis van grondgebruik parameters/oordrag koëffisiente met betrekking tot fosfaat produksie (en ander niekonserwatiewe bestandelle ) in Suid Afrikaanse opvanggebiede op te bou. Beskikbaarheid van hierdie parameters sal fosfaat modellering vergemaklik. Die HSPF model moet opgestel en gekalibreer word, meer spesifiek ten opsigte van die waterkwaliteit komponent, vir opvanggebiede met uurlikse reënval en reënvalstasies binne of op die opvanggebied grense, om die model se vertoning onder Suid Afrikaanse omstandighede te ondersoek. Gegewe die kompleksiteit van die HSPF algoritmes en tyd benodig om met model vertroud te raak, word dit aanbeveel dat so 'n ondersoek onderneem word met uitsluiting van die ander modelle. Die ruimtelike resolusie van die PEM model is uitermatig grof, en behoort verbeter te word ten einde die gebruiker toe te laat om die totale vloei in die opvanggebied in ooreenstemming met die bydraes van die onderskeie grondgebruik tipes te verdeel en om oplosbare en partikulere fosfaat parameters vir elke grondgebruik tipe te beraam. 'n Studie om die potensiaal vir die ruimtelike en tydsoordrag van die ACRU fosfaat leweringsmodel parameters te ondersoek, moet onderneem word. Die frekwensie van waterkwaliteit monitering in Suid Afrika moet verbeter word, aangesien dit moelik is om, weens 'n gebrek aan deurlopend waargenome data, die vertoning van gekalibreerde waterkwaliteit modelle te ondersoek, meer spesifiek nog fosfaat uitvoer modelle. Reënval inligting versameling in gemete opvanggebied, meer spesifiek die Wes-Kaap opvanggebiede (bv.Vier-en-Twintigriviere, Leeu, Kompanjies en Doringrivier opvanggebiede), behoort verbeter te word. Daar behoort ten minste een reënval stasie binne die opvanggebied grense te wees. Dit sal bydra tot die bereiking van redelike hidrologiese kalibrasie ofverifikasie. Aangesien afloop die dryfveer van die waterkwaliteit komponente is, sal verbeterde hidrologiese kalibrasie/verifikasie lei tot redelike waterkwaliteit kalibrasie/verifikasie.

<p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Vi har gjort en kritisk diskursanalys av AC:s (Adoptionscentrum) medlemstidning under perioderna; 1975-1985, 1986-1996, 1997-2006. Frågeställningen lyder: Hur konstitueras diskursen om ”det goda adoptivföräldraskapet” genom AC:s medlemstidning? Vilka är möjlighetsvillkoren och vilka konsekvenser innebär diskursen? Vårt syfte har varit att förstå diskursen om ”det goda adoptivföräldraskapet”. Vi har utgått ifrån socialkonstruktioniskt, poststrukturalistiskt perspektiv och språkfilosofi.</p><p>Vårt huvudsakliga resultat har visat sig vara att AC konstituerar diskurser som producerar och reproducerar ett antal normativa föreställningar om föräldraskap, familj och individer som bygger på socialt konstruerade föreställningar om vad som är en ”riktig” familj, bra föräldraegenskaper och barnets bästa. Diskursen ”det goda adoptivföräldraskapet” uppnås genom aktivt medlemskap i adoptionsorganisationen AC. Begreppet ”barnets bästa” har visat sig vara en flytande signifikant för att konstituera olika diskurser som alla handlar om att etablera eller upprätthålla AC som organisation. Genom barnets bästa har AC fått möjlighet att legitimera sina egna verksamhetsområden, styra över vem som är lämplig förälder, vem som får bilda familj och vika barn som är tillgängliga för adoption. Ytterligare resultat har visat på att AC under perioden fått ökad makt genom att förmedlingen av adoptivbarn har övergått till adoptivorganisationerna. Således har statens makt och inflytande fördelats över ytterligare en instans.</p> / <p>Abstract</p><p>This essay is a critical discourse analysis on AC’s (Adoption Centre Organisation, Sweden) magazine for members during three periods; 1975-1985, 1986-1996, 1997-2006. Our main question is how discursive statements are made on “the good adoptive parenthood” in this magazine? What possible changeable meanings and truths are given by the discourses? Our aim is to understand the discourse “the good adoptive parenthood”. The theoretical framework consists of knowledge of social constructivism, post structural perspective and philosophy of language.</p><p>Our main results are that AC constitutes discourses that produce and reproduce a number of assumptions about parenthood, family and individuals as normative and influenced by social constructed assumptions about what is; a “real” family, a good parenthood or “the child’s best interest”. The discourse of “the good adoptive parenthood” is gained through membership in the adoption organisation AC. The claim of “the child’s best interest” has in this essay being found as a fluent significant to constitute a variety of discourses, which all aim to establish and maintain the organisation. Through the principle of “the child’s best interest”, AC has found a way to legitimate their own fields, to decide who is a suitable parent, who shall form a family, and which child will be available for adoption. Further result shows that AC during the studied period has gained increased legal and governmental power in the field of adoption. As a result, the governmental power and influence in the adoption field has been divided through additional authorities.</p>

The aim of this study was to investigate how family law caseworkers in Sweden handle the mediation process in child custody disputes. Three themes were emphasized: the child’s best interest, strategies to maintain the child’s best interest and family conflicts and high-conflict families. To get an understanding of how these themes relate to child custody disputes, I conducted semi-structured interviews with family law caseworkers, since working with custody cases is part of their daily work. I chose a qualitative method because I was striving for diverse and comprehensive responses about family caseworkers’ practical experience in dealing with custody disputes. When asked about the definition of the child’s best interest, all respondents agreed that it is an open concept, implying that the definition depends on the specific circumstances surrounding the case. Generally, the respondents were of the opinion that the child’s best interest is synonymous with joint custody. The respondents stated that they employ different strategies to ensure that the child’s best interest is maintained, which is a result of their relatively high discretion. They stressed that while their primary focus is on dialogue with the parents, they use child testimonies as an additional guidance when determining what constitutes the child’s best in the case at hand. However, they also pointed out that a child’s wishes do not always coincide with the child’s best interest. When it comes to high-conflict families, the respondents concluded that the term has not been established in practice, although the problems associated with such families were recognized. After I presented the formal definition outlined in American research, the respondents agreed that the definition is useful in practice.

Although academic interest in TQM increased substantially in the last decade, still the gap in the literature is hardly surprising given that research and theory in TQM implementation are still at a very early stage in the West. To-date, there are only a handful of empirical researches reported in the literature that have attempted to identify what constitute as constructs of TQM that can be manipulated to effectively implement TQM. All but very few are studies done in developed economies. Moreover, knowledge of TQM in developing economies is almost totally lacking. Against this backdrop, this researcha ddressesth e identified gaps in the literature on TQM. Thus this thesis focuses on the effective implementation of total quality management in Palestine, a developing economy, through an empirical investigation of critical quality factors. The research methodology involves combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies to identify the key quality factors cited in the literature and considered by consultants and experts as essential to successful TQM implementation. The research design also included: Lan empirical investigation to assessth e level of TQM awarenessa nd understandingi n the Palestinian context, 2. determining which key quality factors are critical to successful implementation using a survey questionnaire, 3. determining what tactics and techniques are used in addressing and implementing these critical quality factors by Palestinian organisations, using semi-structured interviews, 4. determining the prerequisites of effective TQM implementation in the pre-launch stage using in depth interviews. By complementing and integrating the findings, an implementation framework was constructed with the support of the knowledge acquired from the literature review. A simple and practical step by step with implementation guidelines framework aiming at assisting Palestinian organisations in planning on effective implementation of TQM was constructed. The research findings indicate that top management commitment and involvement, employee commitment and involvement, managing by customer-driven system and processes and continuous performance improvement, are essential to effective implementation of TQM. This implies that Palestinian organisations recognise and implement the same critical quality factors found in Western countries. The proposed framework is built around four major constructs that relate to top management commitment, employee commitment, customer-driven system and processes, and continuous improvement. It emphasises an implementation approach of top-down deployment and bottom-up participation focussing on businessp rocessesth at add value to customers atisfaction. In conclusion, this empirical research revealed that TQM could be implemented in the developing economies (such as Palestine) as Palestinian organisations subscribe to the same quality factors as those found in the developed economies.