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This thesis aims to, from the perspective of architecture and urban place making, examine the potential of a church as a catalytic nodal public building and its corresponding potential to serve and uplift its community through both secular and religious functions. The church itself is nothing other than ‘the gathered congregation’ in a particular place at a particular time. (Moltman 1999:201) It is following this statement that the validity of merely embracing the typology of a building designed for given liturgy is questioned. This thesis hypothesises that all spaces that foster community meeting and ritual have the potential to become ‘church’, additionally that: in a Christian based spatial confi guration, spaces that facilitate this ‘church’ to occur are also sacred spaces. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Architecture / unrestricted

Knowledge integration is rather a new and not fully explored  concept in  business management. However there are many scholars, who have  researched knowledge integration in recent decades. This thesis is conducted in order to draw attention towards knowledge integration and its processual phenomena. Moreover, some scholars have mentioned that knowledge integration is dynamic. The dynamics of knowledge integration lead to the fact that the actual knowledge integration process is also dynamic and constituted of performance practices, while being dependent on different factors and conditions. In further understanding, knowledge ingratiation process cannot be implemented in a straight forward lineal fashion. For this reason it changes during the time of the knowledge integration project implementation. The interest of this research is to find out how does the knowledge integration process change during the evolution ofproject. For this purpose, we have researched a real company’s project, the objective of which is to reach the knowledge integration amongst different back office teams in a newly established Shared Service Centre (SSC). The study led us through the discovery of different aspects of knowledge integration process, including challenges that occur during its implementation and mechanisms that are adopted as the project evolves. The analysis of existent theory and practical interpretation of the company’s project allowed us to conduct a visualization of the change of knowledge integration process. This visualization summarizes the occurrence of knowledge integration challenges, which call the company management to alternate different performance practices in combination with the use of practice-based coordination’s. In this essence it becomes visible, that as project evolves, the process of knowledge integration adopts a non-lineal progression. This in later perspective builds a reason to argue that the more knowledge is integrated more challenges occur in this integration process and as a result more mechanism are needed to be adopted to sustain successful knowledge integration in the project.

Age brings about that physical strength diminishes and in many cases there is also a loss of social contact. Older people possess years of knowledge based on experience which can be applied effectively in a service centre to the advantage of other older people. Amongst others, Section A contains the problem statement, research objectives and procedures that were undertaken. The overarching aim of this investigation was to establish the role of the retired volunteer in the functioning of Potchefstroom Service Centre for Older People. To reach the aim, the following objectives were aimed at: Obiective 1. To establish what the reasons are for retired people to become involved in Potchefstroom Service Centre of Older People as volunteers. Obiective 2. To establish in what area of the service centre retired people are involved as volunteers. Obiective 3. To establish the psychosocial functioning, self-perception, work values and profile of the retired volunteer involved in Potchefstroom Service Centre for Older People. Obiective 4. To determine what volunteers of the service centre for older people expect of the staff regarding, for instance, acknowledgement, responsibilities and remuneration. Section B contains the two articles in which the outcomes of the research were reported. Article 1 pertains to the reasons why older people become involved in service centres as volunteers and in which areas. Article 2 enters into the psychosocial functioning, self-perception, work values, profile and expectations of the retired volunteer. In Section C a synopsis of the most important findings and conclusions regarding the investigation was presented in its entirety. Additionally, recommendations were made and the contribution of the investigation was highlighted. Section D contains addendums to the research report such as the self-compiled questionnaire and the standardised questionnaire. The dissertation was concluded in Section E with a comprehensive reference list. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Age brings about that physical strength diminishes and in many cases there is also a loss of social contact. Older people possess years of knowledge based on experience which can be applied effectively in a service centre to the advantage of other older people. Amongst others, Section A contains the problem statement, research objectives and procedures that were undertaken. The overarching aim of this investigation was to establish the role of the retired volunteer in the functioning of Potchefstroom Service Centre for Older People. To reach the aim, the following objectives were aimed at: Obiective 1. To establish what the reasons are for retired people to become involved in Potchefstroom Service Centre of Older People as volunteers. Obiective 2. To establish in what area of the service centre retired people are involved as volunteers. Obiective 3. To establish the psychosocial functioning, self-perception, work values and profile of the retired volunteer involved in Potchefstroom Service Centre for Older People. Obiective 4. To determine what volunteers of the service centre for older people expect of the staff regarding, for instance, acknowledgement, responsibilities and remuneration. Section B contains the two articles in which the outcomes of the research were reported. Article 1 pertains to the reasons why older people become involved in service centres as volunteers and in which areas. Article 2 enters into the psychosocial functioning, self-perception, work values, profile and expectations of the retired volunteer. In Section C a synopsis of the most important findings and conclusions regarding the investigation was presented in its entirety. Additionally, recommendations were made and the contribution of the investigation was highlighted. Section D contains addendums to the research report such as the self-compiled questionnaire and the standardised questionnaire. The dissertation was concluded in Section E with a comprehensive reference list. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This dissertation focused on identifying personality traits, as measured by the Occupational Personality Questionnaire 32 (OPQ32r) that may act as job performance predictors for customer service centre (CSC) agents in the banking industry. The purpose of this research was to determine whether there are relationships between certain personality traits of customer service centre agents and their job performance. Purposeful sampling was used to involve the entire agent base as participants (N=89). A quantitative empirical study was conducted in which the relationship between the independent variable (personality) and dependent variable (job performance) was investigated. Several personality traits that predicted job performance were identified. Identifying the personality characteristics of individuals who are successful in a CSC environment should aid organisations in creating a better/suitable fit between employees and the requirements of such an environment, thereby improving organisational outcomes. This research adds to current literature gaps in establishing the relationship between personality traits and performance in the context of a customer relations management call centre environment. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The purpose of this thesis is to explore—from a managerial perspective—how IT-enabled change is designed, led, and sustained from-within an organisation. This is an issue of central concern because there is a considerable lack of research that directly incorporates IT in management and organisational change studies. In addition, earlier research has recurrently focused on abstract theorising, aggregated perspectives, and exploring organisational change from the outside, from-without. Consequently, the present body of research provides limited knowledge of how organisations in practice lead large-scale IT-enabled transformations. The thesis herein sets out to explore this question, and does so by following the change designers and agents of the telecommunications company Ericsson, that transformed its finance and accounting unit from a highly decentralised structure into a shared service centre structure (SSC) entitled: “The Global F&A Transformation Programme”. The formal transformation lasted three years, was enabled by an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and was driven in the majority of Ericsson’s sub-units situated in more than 140 countries. Theoretically, this thesis addresses the research question: how do actors and structures influence large-scale IT-enabled change? The principal finding of the thesis is a four-stage analytical framework built on the concepts of common ground, common meaning, common interest, and common behaviour: The Commonality Framework for IT-enabled Change. The value of the framework is that it depicts the interplay between actors and structures on a micro-level. In doing so, the framework explains the different levels of complexity in a transformation and how they require different structures to be used, different activities to be performed, different skills to be applied, and different roles to be played. The framework can be used by both academics and practitioners to develop, assess, and improve IT-enabled change projects. In a broader perspective, the findings further suggest that change comes about as an upward spiral, within which the moving targets of IT and organisation are intimately interconnected. This reciprocal interconnectedness between IT and organisation across time implies that if changes are done to technological properties, this necessitates changes to the organisational properties, and vice versa. Organisations at the hands-on-level more or less have to change to make use of the IT-enabled advantages. Thus, successful IT-enabled change is more than the technology artefact per se, and requires thoughtful attentiveness not only to the technological and material side, but also to the organisational, social and human side of change. The theoretical contribution of this thesis is the in-depth exposition of different aspects and interplays between the properties of actors and structures from-within the organisation. The empirical contribution is the description of how contemporary multinational organisations initiate, lead, and sustain large-scale IT-enabled change. / The provided document is only the summary and introductory chapter of the thesis (i.e. excluding the five papers). If you want more information about the thesis as a whole please contact the author einar.iveroth@fek.uu.se.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1975. / Typewritten.

Bakgrund: Prestationsmätning syftar till att implementera ett företags strategi. För att lyckas med det krävs tillgång till relevant information för att ta rätt beslut. Nya alternativa organisationsformer som shared service centres har lett till en ökad efterfrågan på ny anpassad ekonomistyrning. En förfrågan om att utvärdera P2P-processens prestationsmätningssystem på IKEA AB, Finance Services ledde till utvärderingsstudien. Syfte: Syftet med utvärderingsstudien är att utveckla en modell med dimensioner, för att analysera prestationsmätningssystem på shared service centres. Analysmodellen kommer appliceras på P2P-processen inom IKEA AB, Finance Services. Om brister identifieras finns avsikten att föreslå hur de bör åtgärdas. Metod: Undersökningsdesignen för studien är en utvärderingsstudie. Empiriskt material har hämtats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Slutsats: Avsaknaden av mål leder till otydlighet gentemot intressenter. Samtidigt görs en generalisering där samtliga mått benämns som KPIs för att förenkla styrningen. Det påverkar verksamheten eftersom det saknas riktlinjer för hur prestationer bedöms och om de ligger på en rimlig nivå. En tydligare uppdelning av prestationsmåtten skulle leda till en bättre styrning av verksamheten och lägga mer fokus på att nå övergripande mål. / Background: The purpose of a performance measurement system is to implement a business strategy. In order to successfully implement this will the resources of relevant information be required. New options of organization structures creates an increasing demand of suitable financial control systems. A request to evaluate the performance measurement system on the P2P-process on IKEA AB, Finance Services made this evaluation study possible. Purpose: The purpose with this evaluation study is to develop a model with dimensions, used for an analysis of performance measurement systems on shared service centres. The model will be used to evaluate the P2P-process on IKEA AB, Finance Services. If deficits are detected we intend to suggest solutions for these problems. Method: The method used in this study is an evaluation study. The empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. Conclusion: The absence of concrete goals creates vagueness to stakeholders. In addition, all the performance measures is named KPIs to make the financial control easier for employees. This affects the business because it lacks to provide guidance regarding how to assess performances and whether the performances seems to be at reasonable levels. A transparent distinction between the performance measures would create a better operations management and focus more on achieving strategic goals.

This dissertation focused on identifying personality traits, as measured by the Occupational Personality Questionnaire 32 (OPQ32r) that may act as job performance predictors for customer service centre (CSC) agents in the banking industry. The purpose of this research was to determine whether there are relationships between certain personality traits of customer service centre agents and their job performance. Purposeful sampling was used to involve the entire agent base as participants (N=89). A quantitative empirical study was conducted in which the relationship between the independent variable (personality) and dependent variable (job performance) was investigated. Several personality traits that predicted job performance were identified. Identifying the personality characteristics of individuals who are successful in a CSC environment should aid organisations in creating a better/suitable fit between employees and the requirements of such an environment, thereby improving organisational outcomes. This research adds to current literature gaps in establishing the relationship between personality traits and performance in the context of a customer relations management call centre environment. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)