The learners’ results do not only reflect their performance but also depict the quality of learning and teaching that they have received. However, the focus seems to be only on learners’ results particularly, the grade 12 results, without regard to other facets of the Department of Education which have a direct impact on the learners’ results. Amongst others, there are teachers and in-service trainers who need to be looked into to ascertain the quality of service that learners receive. This study focuses on the provision of in-service training through the cascade model of training in the Brits district. There are several factors that have a bearing on the implementation of departmental policies, amongst others there is a question of teachers’ attitude. Teachers with positive attitudes turn out to be more willing in implementing what they learnt from in-service training by cascading the training at school. The selection of teachers who have to attend in-service training sessions relies on a clear plan from the in-service trainers that ought to be supplied well in advance so that the School Management Teams (SMT) can be in a position to selected the appropriate teacher to attend in-service training. On the other hand, the training approaches that are used by the in-service trainers play a vital role too. Reviewed literature in this study has proven beyond reasonable doubt that adults learn differently from the way children learn and therefore their training should be different from that of children. The learning theories are an attempt to give a sound background in terms of adult learning. The study has also found that there are some inconsistencies as far as the in-service trainers are concerned. Whilst their training approaches are varied and enjoyed by most teachers, there are serious inconsistencies in terms of evaluation of the in-service training sessions. Finally, both the in-service trainers and teachers are to some extent satisfied with in-service training in Brits district. However, in-service training in general needs to be reviewed in order to maximise the implementation of policies of the department. / Dissertation (MPhil (Education for Community Development))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

The study focused on identifying ways in which the delivery of the building infrastructure projects that are executed by SME contractors can be improved. TQM, which has been widely used in other sectors with great success, has been explored as the tool that can be used to improve the delivery of building projects. The literature review that was conducted focused on the entire spectrum of the project cycle. It first addressed the functioning of the public sector and the legislative mandate of the DPW. Then it addressed the construction industry and SME contractors that are working in the built environment. TQM together with its elements were explored in detail to determine its applicability in terms of the delivery of building projects. The empirical study was undertaken to test the outcomes of the literature review in the context of the built environment. A quantitative research method was adopted for the study which achieved a response rate of 44 percent. Descriptive statistics were computed during the analysis of the data with the mode being used as the main measuring tool. The findings revealed that there was an uneven distribution of human capital in the industry and the consulting firms were the biggest benefactors of this. The study also revealed a high turnover rate in the SME contractors while the public sector has the oldest employees. Architects and construction managers were found to be the least represented profession. There was also a high concentration of role players in the Amathole Region. The recommendations were four fold and the Department of Public Works (DPW) as client body had to take the centre stage in implementing such recommendations. The recommendations are meant to address: the development of technical people to enhance their capacity, the reduction of the high turnover rate of technical people, the uneven distribution of resources, and specifying of the roles and responsibilities of all the people that are involved in building infrastructure projects.

This paper is focused on finding the motivations that guide companies in Czech republic to apply voluntary approaches. The aim of this work is to define the most effective voluntary approaches. Economics has already analyzed conditions under which voluntary approaches are more preferable than administrative and economic environmental tools. But the question is if the business practice reflects theoretical recommendations. Based on a survey, the most common motivations to apply voluntary approaches will be analyzed. Then it will be possible to identify or modify the most effective voluntary approach.

M.Ed. / The researcher’s initial observations and discussions with educators revealed that secondary schools in the Northern Free State district perform below the required standard. The problem of this research lies in the lack of effectiveness in secondary schools which is due to factors such as historical political development, the collapse of the culture of teaching and learning at schools, under qualified teachers and poor infrastructure. These factors made worse by lack of clearly defined models for improving school effectiveness. The purpose of this research is to suggest and develop a model for improving schools effectiveness in the Northern Free State district and to determine the extent to which secondary schools in the Northern Free State district are using the Total Quality Management approaches or the Integrated Quality Management Systems (IQMS) approaches as well as characterizing those secondary schools that are viewed as effective or ineffective. The research method is qualitative in nature. The researcher collected data through observations, interviews and analysis of school records. The findings of this research support the purpose of the study which is to develop a model for improving secondary schools effectiveness. This research is regarded as a direction pointer in the development of the model that can be effectively applicable to improve effectiveness of the secondary schools in the Northern Free State district and the country as a whole hence it is recommended that the suggested model which is a combination of the known powerful models for improving school effectiveness be expanded to other schools.

M.Tech. / The South African Post Office or SAPO is the national postal service of South Africa and is owned by South African government. It employs 17000 people and operates more than 2400 postal outlets throughout the country. The history of SAPO can be tracked back to over 500 years. In 1994 South Africa was readmitted to the universal union following the end of apartheid. SAPO currently operates under a 25 year license granted by the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and in terms of this must provide a universal service to all citizens of the country. The monthly service delivery performance target as set out by the postal regulator (ICASA) is 98%. With the current pressures of having to deliver services according to the license agreement with the regulator, it becomes imperative that SAPO has to improve its business process in order to enable it to meet and exceed set delivery standards with the aim of satisfying its customer’s needs. Throughout the 1990’s the South African Post Office (SAPO) has been offering communication system that was used even before cell phones were introduced and it is still one of the communications channels (SAPO history). As a result there has been increased interest in the application of total quality management (TQM) principles. The emergence of the revised ISO 9000 standard (9001:2008) now permits the South African Post Office gain advantages to improve their performance in a manner that can be measured and monitored precisely.

M.Phil. (Engineering Management) / This dissertation uncovers the importance of the application, utilisation and implementation of total quality management in the South African organisations specifically manufacturing industry. The study focuses on the application, utilisation and implementation of TQM at ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD). This study need to outline ways in which total quality management, implementation and quality improvement is applied and utilized in within ASSA ABLOY (SA). The organisation believes but does not have clear understanding and commitment to implementation of total quality management and continuous improvement tools. This research seeks to come up with methods that will eventually be used to train employees on total quality management (TQM) related issues at ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD) and in the South African manufacturing industry as a whole. The research design was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The primary data was collected by using a structured questionnaire, interviews, surveys and observations with people within ASSA ABLOY (SA) Pty (Ltd). The secondary data was collected from library searches and access to information gathered with the organisation that supports this journey. The questions were coded up for ease of analysis and the questions gave the respondent choice to respond on the 5 point-linkert scale, where 1 -“Very dissatisfied”, 2-“Dissatisfied”, 3-“neutral or unsure”, 4-“Satisfied” and 5-“Very satisfied”. A Linkert item is simply a statement which the respondent is asked to evaluate according to any kind of subjective or objective criteria; generally the level of agreement or disagreement is measured. It is considered symmetric or "balanced" because there are equal amounts of positive and negative positions. Top management support on quality policy is a concern to the employees. Employees seem not to be getting enough training on quality related matters and their training needs are not fully addressed because they are not consulted enough when training is planned. This will mean that the needs analysis is left with the managers or the supervisors. Employees feel strongly that their level of education must be taken into consideration when training is planned for them. Employees in the organisation would like to be mixed up in continuous improvement projects and training or quality department could initiate these. They would also like to have more acquaintance of how the quality department in general functions and to play a role in the implementation of quality by good value of being trained on things that they can apply instantaneously. Top management is committed to quality management initiatives but they do not involve their employees on quality decisions and efforts. Dynamic team working is encouraged by the managers of the departments within the company. Quality training is a concern to the employees, employees are also not aware of the quality department that exists within the company.

Orientador: Maria Carolina de Azevedo Ferreira de Souza / Dissertação (mestrado profissional) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T01:55:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tovolli_EmiliaMariaGaspar_M.pdf: 9323304 bytes, checksum: c5257431fd050c758811860270a62c22 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004 / Resumo: Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar os fatores envolvidos no processo de busca de um padrão de qualidade em serviços e os limites de ações nesse sentido, quando desenvolvidas sem a base de uma ampla estratégia organizacional. Mais especificamente, por meio da descrição e análise dos esforços empreendidos na Faculdade de Ciências e Letras da Unesp - Campus de Araraquara, para elevação do nível de desempenho de seus servidores, procurou-se identificar a presença de fatores que interferiram na obtenção de um padrão de qualidade, a partir de um referencial teórico que abrange os conceitos de qualidade e as estratégias organizacionais de administração de serviços. Foi pesquisado o conjunto de ações implementadas com o objetivo de promover o desenvolvimento dos servidores, que incluiu a aplicação de um sistema de avaliação de desempenho, além de uma programação especificamente voltada à qualificação profissional. Os resultados da pesquisa podem ser sintetizados num conjunto de aspectos positivos e negativos. No primeiro, os registros das avaliações de diferentes áreas da instituição e do órgão local de recursos humanos, demonstram uma movimentação dos servidores direcionada à qualificação profissional, iniciativas de melhoria na organização do trabalho, entre outros. Os aspectos negativos referem-se a pouca orientação para o usuário na busca de um padrão de qualidade, indefinição do padrão de qualidade desejado, questões culturais que embora identificadas não foram objeto de uma intervenção objetiva e outros fatores relacionados à ausência de uma política de recursos humanos, que se configuram como espaços vazios sob a perspectiva de um sistema de administração de serviços. Finalizando foram apresentadas algumas sugestões visando contribuir com a Faculdade de Ciências e Letras na formulação de um sistema de administração de serviços que abranja o permanente desenvolvimento profissional de seu corpo técnico-administrativo, com vistas à obtenção de um padrão de qualidade / Abstract: The present work has as main goal to identify the factors involved in the process of searching for a quality standard in services and the limits of action in this sense, while developed without the basis of a wide organization strategy. More specifically, by means of description and analysis of undertaken efforts at "Faculdade de Ciências e Letras da UNESP - Campus de Araraquara" to improve the performance level of its servants, we tried to identify the presence of factors that interfere to obtain a quality pattern from a theoretical reference that involves the concepts of quality and organizational strategies on service administration. A research was made in the range of implemented actions focused on promoting the development of servants that included the application of an evaluation system performance, besides a programme specifically designed to professional qualification. The research results can be synthesized in a group of positive and negative aspects. In the first case, the evaluation data from the different areas in the institution and the local organ of human resources showed a servant's turnover directed to professional qualification and an initiative organization refinement of work organization, among other factors. The negative aspects refer to poor orientation to users in search of a quality standard, indefinition of a desired quality standard, cultural questions that, however identified, weren't the goal of an objective intervention and other factors related to lack of human resources politics, that are displayed as empty spaces on the perspective of a system. At last, an outlook of some suggestions were presented to contribute to the "Faculdade de Ciências e Letras" in the formulation of a service administration system that range the permanent professional development of its technical-administrative personnel, due to obtain a quality standard / Mestrado / Gestão da Qualidade Total / Mestre Profissional em Engenharia Mecanica

This research document is motivated by the need for a systemic, efficient quality improvement methodology at universities. There exists no methodology designed for a total quality management (TQM) program in a university. The main objective of this study is to develop a TQM Methodology that enables a university to efficiently develop an integral total quality improvement (TQM) Plan. Current research focuses on the need of improving the quality of universities, the study of the perceived best quality universities, and the measurement of the quality of universities through rankings. There is no evidence of research on how to plan for an integral quality improvement initiative for the university as a whole, which is the main contribution of this study. This research is built on various reference TQM models and criteria provided by ISO 9000, Baldrige and Six Sigma; and educational accreditation criteria found in ABET and SACS. The TQM methodology is proposed by following a seven-step meta-methodology. The proposed methodology guides the user to develop a TQM plan in five sequential phases: initiation, assessment, analysis, preparation and acceptance. Each phase defines for the user its purpose, key activities, input requirements, controls, deliverables, and tools to use. The application of quality concepts in education and higher education is particular; since there are unique factors in education which ought to be considered. These factors shape the quality dimensions in a university and are the main inputs to the methodology. The proposed TQM Methodology is used to guide the user to collect and transform appropriate inputs to a holistic TQM Plan, ready to be implemented by the university. Different input data will lead to a unique TQM plan for the specific university at the time. It may not necessarily transform the university into a world-class institution, but aims to strive for stakeholder-oriented improvements, leading to a better alignment with its mission and total quality advancement. The proposed TQM methodology is validated in three steps. First, it is verified by going through a test activity as part of the meta-methodology. Secondly, the methodology is applied to a case university to develop a TQM plan. Lastly, the methodology and the TQM plan both are verified by an expert group consisting of TQM specialists and university administrators. The proposed TQM methodology is applicable to any university at all levels of advancement, regardless of changes in its long-term vision and short-term needs. It helps to assure the quality of a TQM plan, while making the process more systemic, efficient, and cost effective. This research establishes a framework with a solid foundation for extending the proposed TQM methodology into other industries.

Presented diploma work analyzes a current strategy of a specific machinery company and aims to design an optimal strategy for quality management to improve a competitive advantage of a company and to reduce costs.

In der Arbeit wird ein Rahmenkonzept für ein ganzheitliches Qualitätsmanagement für Fallbasierte Systeme im Angebotsengineering erarbeitet. Es vereint die Anforderungen des Total Quality Management nach Kunden-, Prozess- und Mitarbeiterorientierung mit bestehenden Ansätzen und Methoden zur Pflege Fallbasierter Systeme. Das Rahmenkonzept beschreibt anhand Fallbasierter Systeme zur Kostenschätzung im Angebotsengineering notwendige Grundlagen und Elemente, welche für eine systematische Qualitätsmessung und -steuerung der Wissensbasis eines solchen Fallbasierten Systems benötigt werden. Die Art und Weise ihrer Darstellung zeigt gleichzeitig eine Vorgehensweise auf, wie beim Aufbau einer Qualitätsmessung und -steuerung für Fallbasierte Systeme vorgegangen werden kann. / In the thesis a framework for an integrated quality management for case-based reasoning systems (CBR systems) in offer engineering has been developed. The framework conjoins the requirements of Total Quality Management for customer orientation, process orientation and employee-orientation with existing approaches and techniques from case base maintenance and case-based reasoner maintenance. Using a case-based cost estimation system in offer engineering as a case study, the framework describes basic principles and elements for a systematic quality measurement and control of the knowledge base of CBR systems. The principles and elements are described in a specific order that can be taken as a procedure for developing quality measurement and control for CBR systems.