Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Long waiting times before receiving a health service, give rise to long queues and congested health facilities, both of which are unnecessary and avoidable. Since patients in part judge the quality of the service by the length of time they spent waiting for it, it is imperative to measure waiting times, and determine and mitigate the immediate and underlying causes of lengthy waits. The facility under investigation was known to have excessively long waiting times. Since the immediate causes of long waiting times were known, it was thus required to research and understand the underlying causes of long waiting times and consequently whether there were any barriers to implementing recommendations to reduce waiting times at this primary health care facility. AIM: The aim of the study was to determine the underlying causes of long waiting times and the barriers to implementing recommendations to reduce waiting times. METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional analytical study with a small qualitative component was undertaken. The qualitative study took a workshop format by piggy-backing onto feedback sessions held to present the results of the previously conducted waiting time survey to staff. Staff commentary at the workshops on possible underlying causes and barriers to recommendations to reduce them, were then used to develop a questionnaire for the quantitative portion of the study. The population and sample for the qualitative part of the study were all staff working at the facility who attended the feedback sessions. The cross-sectional descriptive quantitative study intended to uncover what underlying causes affected long waiting times, what recommendations could be explored to mitigate long waiting times and improve the patient experience, and if there were any barriers to these recommendations. The quantitative study population and sample were all staff who worked at the facility for more than six months and all patients who had utilised the services at the facility for three or more times. Data was collected using structured questionnaires, which were different for staff and patients. A detailed descriptive analysis was conducted.

Despite the important values forests play in the tropics, sustainable forest management still remains a challenge as manifested through continued forest loss. The objective of this study was to provide information on the dynamics of forest cover and their drivers vital for enhancing sustainable forest management in the Lake Victoria crescent, Uganda. Several methodologies including remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems techniques, analysis of landscape patterns and various social science techniques were integrated in working towards the stated goal. Results showed that the Lake Victoria crescent, Uganda covering an area of about 1,509,228 ha, experienced a decline in forest cover from 9.0% in 1989 to 4.4% in 2009. This was in comparison with non-forest cover which increased from 58.7% in 1989 to 63.5% in 2009 while open water coverage generally remained unchanged averaging 32.3% from 1989 to 2009. Mean annual deforestation rate from 1989 to 2009 decreased with a weighted mean rate of 2.56%. Both deforestation and afforestation declined between 1989 and 2009 although deforestation still exceeded afforestation. In addition to deforestation, the Lake Victoria crescent also experienced forest fragmentation from 1989 to 2009. Forests greater than 100 ha in size were the most vulnerable to forest fragmentation yet they still constituted a big proportion of forest cover in 2009. Deforestation was a consequence of proximate causes which were triggered by a number of underlying drivers acting singly or in combination, with underlying drivers being more influential. In a bid to promote sustainable forest management, there is a need to continue with efforts to curb deforestation and forest fragmentation, especially amongst forests greater than 100 ha. This could be achieved through empowerment of local communities to take a core role in sustainable management of forest resources. / Ph. D.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / At public sector health facilities in Cape Town, South Africa, patients experience very high waiting times, with a medium waiting time of 3 hours which prevailed at the study facility being common. So the question arose as to why waiting times are so very high and what could be done to reduce them? While for the facility under investigation the immediate causes of the high waiting times were known, the underlying causes were quite opaque. A concern expressed therefore, was that if the underlying causes were not uncovered then efforts to reduce waiting times might not be successful, as they would just address the immediate causes. The legitimacy of the concern derives from the view that if underlying causes are not addressed, then they will continue to exert an influence on the immediate causes, and therefore perpetuate the environment which creates fertile ground for immediate causes to arise and persist, with resultant persistence of high waiting times. Hence, my interest to undertake research to explore the underlying causes of high waiting times. / 2018-12-14

Våld i nära relationer är ett stort samhällsproblem och kvinnor utsätts oftare än män för mer allvarligt och upprepat våld. Våldsutövaren är i majoriteten av fallen, en man som kvinnan känner. Många människor anser att våld är en dum och meningslös handling och därför är det svårt att förstå varför männen väljer att använda sig av våld. I denna studie vill vi få en bättre förståelse över mäns våld mot kvinnor i nära relationer genom att utforska de bakomliggande orsakerna till mannens våldsbeteende. Vi har valt att göra en litteraturstudie där vi tar reda på vad forskning har identifierat i relation till detta fenomen. Metoden vi har valt att använda oss av är en systematisk litteraturstudie, som innebär att vi under arbetsprocessen systematiskt försökt besvara vår frågeställning genom att identifiera, värdera och analysera vetenskaplig forskning. De teorier vi utgått från vid analyseringen av vårt resultat är maskulinitetsteorin och den socioekologiska modellen. De valda teorierna växte fram efterhand som vi gick igenom materialet och vi märkte att våldets orsaker beskrivs utifrån flera olika faktorer. Inför analysen av resultatet och i samband med den empiriska analysen, identifierades fyra olika teman; individnivå, relationsnivå, samhällsnivå och strukturell nivå. Resultatet visar att mäns våld mot kvinnor kan se olika ut och det finns flera anledningar till att våldet uppstår. Faktorer som påverkar våldets uppkomst sker på olika nivåer och påverkar varandra på olika sätt. På individnivån påverkas mannen av upplevda erfarenheter i barndomen. Det kan handla om att mannen upplevt att hans pappa utövat våld mot hans mamma eller att han själv blivit utsatt för våld när han var liten. Relationsnivån utgår från faktorer som påverkar mannens samspel i nära relationer, vilket kan vara stress, alkoholkonsumtion, kommunikationsproblem eller att mannen känner ett hot mot sin relation med kvinnan. Samhällsnivån avser de sociala strukturerna som påverkar den miljö som mannen befinner sig i. Här beskrivs hur mannen påverkas av de sociodemografiska och socioekonomiska faktorerna, såsom arbetslöshet eller socialt umgänge. På den strukturella nivån påverkas mannen av samhällets kulturella normer och värderingar och här blir maskulinitet en tydlig faktor. / Intimate partner violence is a large societal problem and women are more often victims than men in more severe and repeated violence. The perpetrator is in most cases a male which has a relationship to the female victim. Many people believe that violence is a stupid and meaningless act and therefore have a hard time understanding men’s violence against women. In this study we would like to get a better understanding of men’s violence against women in intimate partner violence by studying the underlying reasons behind the men’s violent behavior. We have decided to do a literature study where we find out what research has found in relation to this phenomenon. The method we have chosen for this process is a systematic literature study, which means that during the process we work systematically to answer our questioning by identifying, evaluate and analyzing scientific research. The theories we used during the analyze of our result is the masculinity theory and the socioecological model. The chosen theories emerged as we went through the research and noticed the reason behind the violence is described through several different factors. Before the analyze of our result and in relation the empirical analyze, four different themes were identified: the individual level, the relationship level, the societal level, and the structural level. The result shows that men’s violence against women can look different and there are many reasons behind the violence occurring. Factors that affect the occurring violence happens at the different levels and affect each other in different ways. On the individual level the man is affected by experiences in the childhood. This could mean that the man has seen his father hit his mother or been affected by violence himself when he was a child. The relationship level are factors that affects the man’s interplay in intimate relations, this could mean stress, alcohol consumption, communication problems or that the man feels a threat to his relationship with the woman. The societal level refers to the social structures that affect the environment the man find himself in. This level describes how the man is affected by the sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors, such as unemployment or social association. On the structural level the man is affected by societies cultural norms and values, masculinity being a clear factor.

Background: In recent years the customers ordering pattern has changed, which has increased the demand for companies efficiency in inventory management. In order to create a profitable logistics company, it is important to design an efficient warehouse design to strengthen competitiveness. When designing a warehouse, it is important to take into account the characteristics of the articles and their demand. Streamlining the company's inventory design can result in reduced costs and improved customer service. Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to identify waste and its underlying causes and to suggest improvement proposals for the warehouse design, in order to improve the efficiency of inventory management for the IT-company”X”. Method: The essay´s starting point is a qualitative research method, where a case study was carried out. The information has emerged through semi-structured interviews and structured observations with the company's employees. To strengthen the data collection, relevant theory and qualitative data from the company's internal material were used. The study used the analysis method to build an explanation, as an understanding of the first research question was needed in order to answer the second research question. Results: After the completed study it was determined through interviews and observations which problems that occur at the IT-company ”X”. Based on the information, connections to theory have been made where waste and its underlying causes have been reported. A few examples of waste that emerged during the answering of the first research question were extra processing, unnecessary transportation, excess movement of employees. The underlying causes were for instance concentrated order picking, item placement according to frequency and picking at different height levels. In order to answer research question 2, improvement proposals have been presented for zone distribution, article placement and picking height level, with the aim of making inventory management more efficient. / Bakgrund: De senaste åren har kundernas beställningsmönster förändras, vilket ökar kravet på företags effektivitet vid lagerhanteringen. För att skapa ett lönsamt logistikföretag är det av vikt att utforma en effektiv lagerutformning för att stärka konkurrenskraften. Vid utformning av ett lager är det av betydelse att ta hänsyn till artiklarnas egenskaper samt dess efterfrågan. Effektivisering av företagets lagerutformning kan resultera i minskade kostnader och en förbättrad kundservice. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att identifiera slöserier och dess bakomliggande orsaker samt föreslå förbättringsförslag till lagerutformningen, för att it-företaget “X” ska kunna effektivisera lagerhanteringen. Metod: Uppsatsens utgångspunkt ligger i en kvalitativ forskningsmetod, där en fallstudie genomförts. Underlaget har framkommit via seminstrukturerade intervjuer samt strukturerade observationer med företagets medarbetare. För att stärka datainsamlingen användes relevant teori samt kvalitativ data från företagets interna material. Studien använde analysmetoden att bygga upp en förklaring, då en förståelse av den första forskningsfrågan behövdes för att besvarandet av den andra forskningsfrågan kunde genomföras. Slutsats: Efter genomförd studie har det fastställts genom intervjuer och observationer vilka problem som uppkommer hos it-företaget “X”. Utifrån informationen har kopplingar till teori utförts där slöserier och dess bakomliggande orsaker redovisats. Några exempel på slöserier som framkom under besvarandet av den första forskningsfrågan var extra bearbetning, onödiga transporter, överflödig rörelse av anställda. Bakomliggande orsaker till dessa var bland annat koncentrerat orderplock, artikelplacering utefter frekvens och plock på olika höjdnivåer. För att besvara forskningsfråga 2 har förbättringsförslag presenterats till zonindelning, artikelplacering samt höjdnivå av plock, i syfte att effektivisera lagerhanteringen.