This dissertation focuses on the nature of governance of the urban poor and examines the 'behind the scene' politics as well as the 'side effects' of a recent good governance project designed to serve six million poor citizens in Delhi, India's capital city-state with a total population over 14 million. Over the past decade, Delhi's march to become a world-class city has further marginalized its poor residents as the government has demolished slums, threatened informal livelihoods, and diverted social welfare funds to host international events like the recent Commonwealth Games 2010. Overwhelmed by the growing disparity and a concern for its impact on attracting global trade and tourism, the Delhi government initiated Mission Convergence in 2008, a 'good governance' project implemented in partnership with over hundred community-based Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), to survey every poor person in Delhi, streamline and extend welfare service delivery, and to empower poor women across all low income areas in the city-state. The slogan of this initiative was "reaching the unreached" ? to make the aspiring world-class city inclusive and caring of its poor citizens. Twelve months of ethnographic research with slum residents, partnering NGOs, elected politicians, and government officials, indicates that Mission Convergence introduced a new institutional arrangement for the exclusive governance of the poor in Delhi as an additional two million poor citizens entered the government's welfare registers and more than 400,000 poor women participated in Mission's women's empowerment programs. Such tangible results defined Mission as a successful example of efficient inter-sectoral governance in the global South, but also disturbed the political economy of pre-embedded traditional service providers like elected politicians, local leaders, and welfare staff. This dissertation examines the competing logics of good governance as traditional and new arrangements wrestled to claim authority over serving the poor as the world-class city aspirations continued the social and spatial marginalization of the poor. Mission Convergence was expected to reduce the growing disparity that spawns out of exclusionary urban development policies. However, this dissertation engages with theories of neoliberal governmentality, neoliberal urban development, and feminist economics, to show that supposedly efficient inter-sectoral arrangements could disturb regressive power relations and streamline services for the benefit of the poor, but work in nuanced ways to enable the state to sustain its political legitimacy and to create an aura of its caring and inclusive intentions towards the poor at a time when fast-paced city modernization violated their basic rights to shelter and livelihood in the aspiring world-class Delhi.

Stora Enso’s (SE) division consumer board has launched a World Class Manufacturing (WCM) investment throughout all their production units in the world. An internal education program started a project to reduce short stops in the packaging line at the mill in Skoghall, Sweden. This thesis seeks to evaluate a continuous improvement (CI) project and distinguish some of the key factors for SE to succeed with another implementation in the future. The project will involve operators in the CI work and together with these shift teams made a structured way of working with short stops. The data collection methods have both been qualitative and quantitate such observations, conversations, meetings and stop data from the internal stop and interruption program. This thesis indicates that SE hasstarted their journey towards WCM but many obstacles are in their way. A change of focus and involvement will be needed to succeed in the future.

Magister Artium - MA / South Africa is recognised as having world-class status in the call centre arena and this industry has grown exponentially in the last two decades, as has the number of women entering the workforce, including married and single mothers. Call centres provide a 24/7 service to the public, and therefore employees are expected to work shifts in this environment. It is also evident that even though mothers are making a significant contribution to the workforce, the role of the working mother is still that of primary caregiver and nurturer in the home. The main purpose of this study was to examine and compare the psychological well-being of single and married mothers, who do and do not work shifts in a call centre environment. The study findings were based on quantitative research in a call centre in the Western Cape, South Africa, with a sample of 192 single and married working mothers, of whom 135 mothers worked shifts and 57 mothers did not. Psychological well-being was indicated by the use of two instruments: Rosenberg‟s(1965) Self-esteem Scale and Diener‟s (1982) Satisfaction with Life Scale. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package in the Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). The analysis of the data included the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings of the study show that marital status has a significant effect on the psychological well-being of working mothers in this call centre environment. However, it was found that shift work did not make a significant difference to the psychological well-being of the working mothers in this call centre. The Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to analyse the interaction of the four groups (single, married, shift working and non-shift working mothers) and the results of this analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the interaction between the groups.Recommendations are provided in the study.

Countries in the Persian Gulf and Pacific Asia have in a short time transformed themselves into economic powerhouses. The urban environment in these countries has been highly impacted by a tremendous economic growth and an emphasis on megaprojects containing modernistic urban design as well as the hosting of prestigious events. This has evidently been a part of well-defined strategies in order to maintain growth and to secure future development. Although same or at least similar strategies are used by many ‘emerging world class’ cities, they act in very different environments and with different preconditions. These strategies are mainly thought to originate from theories about global competitiveness where cities act and compete in a global hierarchy. One of the ‘emerging world class’ cities is Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. In the case study provided in this thesis, evidence of a very tight and defined strategy containing the usage of world-class urban projects as a facilitator of future growth is presented. This strategy is also a product of a powerful government with a highly motivated Prime minister with almost unrestricted possibilities. Not many other actors have played a significant role in the recent urban transformation of Kuala Lumpur. A different perspective is also investigated which seeks to explain the development using a more domestic approach rather than the global perspective which is emphasized through this study.

Problem statement: Manufacturing and production plants operate machines and equipment that deteriorate with usage and time thus requiring maintenance actions to restore them back to their original operational conditions. Approach: This study investigates the current standard of maintenance planning at a steel manufacturing facility in South Africa. The study begins with a thorough literature study to find good characteristics of planning which should be present at any facility that is optimally engaged in performing excellent maintenance planning effectively and efficiently. A number of key observations from the literature are made indicating that planning is a key component of maintenance and affects excellence in maintenance significantly. The literature recommends that planning should be set and based on key principles to allow for standardisation and efficiency. An empirical study in the form of a survey is then completed to benchmark the current maintenance-planning environment of the steel facility against the good characteristics of maintenance planning found in literature. Results: The results from the empirical study show that the current maintenance environment at the steel manufacturer is not optimal. The following issues are uncovered from the study: no schedulers employed to relieve the planners’ work overload, no guiding principles for planning and standardisation of work planning, no efficient shutdown planning and also no existent measures for tracking some of the key performance areas. Conclusion: Key recommendations to be considered for implementation for improving the status of the maintenance environment at the works include: introducing the scheduler position, standardising planning methodologies according to specific principles and rigorously focusing on overall maintenance improvement using standardised methodologies. / MBA (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Problem statement: Manufacturing and production plants operate machines and equipment that deteriorate with usage and time thus requiring maintenance actions to restore them back to their original operational conditions. Approach: This study investigates the current standard of maintenance planning at a steel manufacturing facility in South Africa. The study begins with a thorough literature study to find good characteristics of planning which should be present at any facility that is optimally engaged in performing excellent maintenance planning effectively and efficiently. A number of key observations from the literature are made indicating that planning is a key component of maintenance and affects excellence in maintenance significantly. The literature recommends that planning should be set and based on key principles to allow for standardisation and efficiency. An empirical study in the form of a survey is then completed to benchmark the current maintenance-planning environment of the steel facility against the good characteristics of maintenance planning found in literature. Results: The results from the empirical study show that the current maintenance environment at the steel manufacturer is not optimal. The following issues are uncovered from the study: no schedulers employed to relieve the planners’ work overload, no guiding principles for planning and standardisation of work planning, no efficient shutdown planning and also no existent measures for tracking some of the key performance areas. Conclusion: Key recommendations to be considered for implementation for improving the status of the maintenance environment at the works include: introducing the scheduler position, standardising planning methodologies according to specific principles and rigorously focusing on overall maintenance improvement using standardised methodologies. / MBA (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Abstract This research report attempts to examine how the story of gold, and gold mining, is told, and is being retold, at both the Victorian- themed Gold Reef City theme park and in within the Main Street mining precinct in the Johannesburg Central Business District (CBD). The report will therefore look at how imbued ideologies have resulted in a particular formation of the mining heritage shown in both themed spaces. Works by de Certeau (1988) and Eco (1990), for example, form a framework for academic discourse around practiced space within the ‘city’, and the nature of hyperreality. Overall, and including results from participant observation at the theme park, and sample surveys undertaken in the Main Street precinct, one is able to better attempt an understanding of how the story of gold at both sites has been created by certain ideologies, and examine them in light Johannesburg’s changing persona in light of global influences.

Magíster en Gestión para la Globalización / En este trabajo se aborda el mejoramiento organizacional que deben alcanzar tres compañías que prestan servicios a la minería, con el objetivo de alcanzar la categoría de empresa de clase mundial, por medio del desarrollo de áreas específicas al interior de sus instituciones. Actualmente Chile es reconocido como uno de los países con mayor potencial minero del mundo, lo que sumado a la actual demanda de bienes, insumos y servicios mineros, así como la existencia de un marco político, económico, social y legal estable permiten proyectar un explosivo crecimiento de las empresas proveedoras locales, de la minería. En este escenario se generan oportunidades de desarrollo únicas, al menos en el estado inicial de estas empresas, gracias a la comprensión, de las necesidades particulares, que tiene del ámbito minero, y a la ventaja con que cuentan al operar, permanentemente, en un mercado imperfecto, como el chileno, sobre las compañías provenientes de países desarrollados. Mediante una recopilación bibliográfica de trabajos recientes, se configura un marco teórico que detalla tanto el entorno propicio para el desarrollo de empresas de clase mundial como las propiedades esenciales que las caracterizan, se enfrenta el problema del alto desarrollo organizacional que deben alcanzar tres pequeñas empresas que actualmente son proveedores del rubro minero. Desde el punto de vista de las empresas, resulta beneficioso alcanzar este desarrollo al poder explotar las oportunidades que se generan al ser globalmente competitivo. Para el mercado minero local significa contar con la disponibilidad de empresas de alto estándar operando en Chile. Para la correcta realización de este trabajo se levantan encuestas y entrevistas presenciales, a altos ejecutivos de las empresas, y se participa, con ellos, en talleres de desarrollo organizacional, con el fin de caracterizar el estado de cada empresa y verificar la magnitud de los recursos puestos por las empresas en su ruta de clase mundial; se proponen medidas que permitirían encauzar esta ruta. Una fuente de ventaja competitiva, duradera y segura, resulta del conocimiento específico: las empresas exitosas son aquellas que consistentemente crean conocimiento nuevo, lo diseminan ampliamente en toda la organización y lo incorporan rápidamente en nuevos productos y tecnologías, con el propósito de mantener, de manera continua, la innovación. En este contexto las empresas analizadas deben generar soluciones que impacten indicadores claves de sus clientes, como eficiencia, costos o retornos sobre la inversión, que les permitan entrar en un ciclo de predilección por parte de sus clientes. El camino a seguir en la ruta de la clase mundial implica, como factores de relevancia, el llegar a ser más eficiente y productivo, fomentar la innovación, desarrollar y mantener buenas relaciones tanto dentro como fuera de la firma, pensar de manera estratégica, estar dispuesto a mirar y a moverse en nuevas direcciones, usar tecnología de punta e invertir en el futuro de la firma e industria, mirando no solo el desempeño de corto plazo. Estos factores deben ser continuamente monitoreados por las empresas que buscan la clase mundial. Se deben establecer objetivos estratégicos e índices, de revisión trimestral, que den una idea de la salud del negocio, en cuanto a personal, producción y productividad, satisfacción de los clientes, captura de usuarios, situación de mercado y posición competitiva, administración y márgenes obtenidos. En el campo de la innovación resulta crucial aprovechar las ideas, intuiciones y corazonadas tácitas, y usualmente subjetivas, de empleados, como individuos, y ponerlas a disposición de la empresa. En general, la clave de este proceso es el compromiso personal, el sentido de la identificación de los empleados con su empresa y su misión. Las empresas que aspiran a la categoría de clase mundial deben no solo interiorizar este concepto en la ejecución de cada proyecto, sino que, además, generar los canales de comunicación que permitan escalar, fácilmente, estas ideas. Las estrategias de colaboración, fundamentales en la ruta de clase mundial, requieren conjugar personas procesos y tecnología parar ser exitosos, en este contexto se deben definir las estrategias de cooperación, establecer contacto con otras empresas, redes o cluster, implementar acuerdos, establecer bases de datos, abiertas a los participantes, de necesidades o disponibilidad de recursos, incluyendo los humanos. La mecánica de la práctica, es la clave en el desarrollo de una empresa de clase mundial, es decir, la búsqueda permanente de esta categoría, en todos los ámbitos involucrados, y no el desarrollo de iniciativas o proyectos particulares. En este sentido, resultaría contraproducente que las empresas restringieran su ruta de clase mundial de manera exclusiva al proyecto que actualmente desarrollan. Esta tesis es un desarrollo piloto referido a la experiencia de tres empresas dentro del programa de desarrollo de proveedores de una empresa minera multinacional operando en Chile. Esta experiencia podrá ser transferible en cuanto se resguarden las condiciones específicas de cada caso y no pretende, por tanto, ser un modelo generalista.

This study sought to understand using qualitative methods why and how the Government of Singapore came to set-up organized research units (ORU) in her two autonomous universities - the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). That is, are ORUs the chief means in transforming NUS and NTU into top WCUs? The underpinnings of the institutional theory in the globalized context, the theory of academic capitalism, and guidance by frameworks on educational policy transfer, as well as the glonacal heuristics, together with document and discourse analysis of published documents, aided in the design of this study.This study finds that key state and institutional actors in Singapore decided to emulate the key features of U.S.-originated organized research units to make R&D and innovation-led economic growth the vehicle of sustaining this global city-state's global competitiveness in the knowledge-economy and to better elevate the status of both NUS and NTU as world-class. Because global rankings have branding implications, catch-up nations and institutions should make serious attempts to balance the ranking-enhancement effort with their local, national, and regional science-research needs given the constraints of available capital and resources.

Univ., Diss.--Mannheim, 2002.