With the development of scientific and technological progress, electronic products are replaced rapidly and the products¡¦ life cycles are shorter than before. Therefore, products¡¦ price are reducing sharply due to market is unpredictable. Electronics Manufacturing Service (EMS) companies are facing competitive pressure with speedy production and price reduction continuously. Moreover, under the phenomenon of the bigger corporation the better operation and economic of scale leading the industry competition, cost and speed are part of key factors to be survival consequently. If medium and small size EMS companies cannot match customers¡¦ requirement, their future to the consequence will be closed or be merged. Hence, to perform an individual company¡¦s competitive ability cannot only rely on internal resource and capability, but also cross boundary between each company. This means companies could win the opportunities by cooperating with customers and supplier in the same supply chain. ¡§Collaborative Commerce¡¨ as productive management skill is for this reason an important research topic recently in business administration. This research applies ¡§System Dynamics Theory¡¨ to collect the relative data and built up a model to achieve the case company¡¦s structure. According to the industry¡¦s characteristic, the researcher simulated and analyzed the incidence of applying collaborative commerce. Moreover, the researcher also discussed the case company¡¦s variance under different dimension, i.e. management strategy, processes of collaborative operation, and benefit anticipated. As a result, applying collaborative commerce provide a good explanation on how it is important for a company to coordinate with external resource, upgrade a company¡¦s management efficiency and adjust a company¡¦s strategy. The conclusions of this research were as followed. Firstly, because of the demand¡¦s uncertainty, inventory was also variance and this was called ¡§Bullwhip Effect¡¨. Moreover, triple collaboration was more efficiency to solve the problem from Bullwhip Effect and reduce the loss occurring by inventory variance. Secondly, the results were not certainly equal between originator and participator. However, Collaborative Commerce can provide effective function for supply chain on productive management. Thirdly, we could monitor the problems of collaboration function while applying dynamical simulation method in practical business and examine the executive outcome. Moreover, this could also be a research instrument when companies analyze Supply Chain Collaboration.

Aligned with socio-constructivist views of learning, small groups are being adopted as a viable and valid instructional technique with increasing enthusiasm. Previous research has shown that learning outcomes for students who have participated in small groups is inconsistent at best, and that small groups function differently even when working on identical tasks within the same classroom. Consequently, researchers continue to try and tease apart the ways in which effective small groups function and how small group participation influences individual learning. In this study, I explored the nature of listening within a small group learning context with the purposes of understanding how listening behaviors in the group were related to individual learning outcomes and gaining further insights into small group functions. This qualitative study was embedded within a college level history course for which the instructor had assigned students to permanent teams diverse in terms of gender, degree major, and class rank (i.e., freshman to senior status). Data collection and analysis focused on a subset of these teams and centered on group discussions that took place across two class days just past the semester’s midpoint. Data sources included: observational field notes, individual interviews, individually-written essays, synchronized audio/video recordings of team discussions, and team activity sheets. Data analysis was progressive, inductive, and micro-analytical in nature, using discourse analysis of the discussions and topic analysis of the essays to derive themes and code ideas. As indicated by individual interviews as well as an analysis of what individuals said and did during the small group discussion, listening indicators included verbal and nonverbal responses. A systematic analysis of the individually-written essays alongside a coded transcript of the team discussion revealed that topics included in the essay were ideas discussed by the group and were aligned with indicators of listening. Analyses of all data showed that listening contributes to the way the groups functioned, helping to explain the differences in team interactions. / text

A faculty community is a type of learning community where faculty learning and development is the focus. Previous research suggests that formally structured faculty communities promoted faculty engagement, improved teaching, thwarted career burnout, increased retention of experienced faculty, and fostered organizational change. Researchers have not examined faculty communities embedded in the workplace and the longitudinal effects these communities have on mid-career and senior faculty learning. In this study, I examined how an experienced interprofessional faculty community of medical and biomedical professionals managed the implementation of a novel graduate curriculum in translational sciences. Translational sciences education aims to enhance the collaborations between scientists and clinicians for the advancement of patient treatment and care. I focused on how faculty advanced their individual and collective understanding of the curriculum implementation using collaborative reflection during weekly community interactions. The study began at the start of the curriculum implementation and lasted fifteen months. It was a qualitative, ethnographic case study including three sources of data: naturalistic observation of teaching and faculty meetings, faculty interviews, and community artifacts. Two theoretical frameworks undergirded the design of the study: community of practice and distributed cognition. The results of the study suggest that collaborative reflection in the faculty community promoted faculty learning over time in several areas: teaching and instruction, assessment and evaluation, individual knowledge, student learning, and organizational and leadership skills. Collaborative reflection occurred in response to multiple episodes that occurred during curriculum implementation, but was focused primarily on facets of instruction, which was the dominant work of the community. Collaborative reflection enabled decision-making on instructional content and process, pedagogical content and process, and curricular content. A cyclical process of instructional development emerged in the community including: session planning, implementation, collective teaching observation, and collective instructional evaluation. Attributes of the community that emerged to support collaborative reflection included: shared goals, domain knowledge, and mutual trust. The community provided a shared social context for systematic collaborative reflection and scaffolding in instructional development. The study findings represent a specific set of experiences that may inform a model of instructional development for use with interprofessional faculty communities in academic health centers. / text

This is about acting from a situation, a place, its conditions and its actors. It is an attempt to understand the ongoing transformations of the city of Umeå, to grasp how it functions and gain the knowledge to be able to act within and suggest new possible futures. By looking at Umeå and the current situation with the parking lot as an index, a tool, a laboratory, and a possible new common, new ways of building the city while living within it will be suggested. The non place of the parking lot with its singular purpose is part of the mechanisms that makes our city, at the same time it is the effect of this city making and it is also a great place to start a change of such system. The 2.5x5 meters that makes a parking lot is small in comparison with the city, and even more so in comparison with the country or the world, but the size also makes it possible to grasp, touch and inhabit. The smallness makes it seem rather innocent and without much importance but the power lies within its multiplicity. A change within a parking lot might not be much, but the possibility of spreading throughout the city and the world makes the parking lot a very powerful place. Since humans can sometimes be creatures of habit, I believe that it is extremely important to keep on questioning the way we inhabit the world together. Widely spread and accepted habits can start acting like dysfunctional natural laws steering us in a direction we might not have chosen if alternatives were presented to us. By investigating and testing the possibilities of such a bland and unquestioned place as the parking lot, I am looking to find glimpses of alternative ways of making the world while living it.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore the early adopters of clothing libraries and find out why they become members of this new fashion business model within collaborative consumption. The study aims to obtain an evaluation of clothing library users and understand their motives and determinants for joining a clothing library. Methodology - The study pursues a quantitative approach. Firstly, the background research was conducted during which data were collected through open-ended interviews with managers of five clothing libraries in Sweden. This enabled the researchers to establish categories of determinants for clothing libraries which were then verified in the next part of the research: a survey filled out by clothing library members. The survey was distributed to members of five clothing libraries in Sweden and resulted in 30 responses from users from all five clothing libraries. Conclusions - The outcome of this study shows that clothing library members are not a new segment of collaborative consumption but rather they are already existing second-hand consumers. Joining clothing libraries merely adds another channel of consuming used clothing. Although the intentions to join a clothing library are mostly based on sustainable motives, style and design are still highly valued by the members.

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The Gelman Library System of George Washington University has made a transition to an organizational model that emphasizes the needs of students and working in groups. We are preparing for future changes in user needs and redefinition of services, including participation in LibQUAL+ in spring of 2006 and small "town meetings" with library staff to develop an understanding of the changing student population. In these meetings, we hope to include focus groups from a local science and technology magnet school to learn more about what future students will expect and need from academic libraries. One of the key services we hope to look at is reference and information services and how this should fit with overall services. We will also need to become "leaner" but more efficient. Some staff positions may disappear, and others may require higher or different skill levels. As we plan for the future, we will need to face the challenges of our own collaborative nature and whether this supports or inhibits change. Some areas of focus include: communication, team structures and breaking down barriers between functions, and challenges working with staff from different generations (are Gen X's ready to be the "older" generation?)

With the emerging use of technological interventions in education, e-learning systems contribute immensely in educational delivery. However, with substantial efforts from the Rwandan Government, there were still claims about the lack of online support systems for thesis process in Rwandan higher education, which significantly affect the quality of research. Furthermore, previously implementations of e-learning systems at University of Rwanda have failed because of a low adoption rate. This study follows the introduction of the learning management system “SciPro” used for supporting supervisors and students in thesis writing. The purpose of the study was to understand the adoption of the SciPro System in support of thesis process for bachelor and master’s programs from a supervisor’s perspective at University of Rwanda (UR). An embedded case study was used as a research strategy. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was used as the theoretical frame of reference for the study. Data was collected from 42 workshop participants using a questionnaire. Moreover, convenient interviews and participant observations were conducted at 5 of the 6 colleges during and after system testing. A researcher realized that the current thesis process is still manual-based and there is no holistic computer-supported system for thesis related activities. Results from correlation analysis and regression analysis for the questionnaire showed that the facilitating conditions provided by UR were the key factor that would influence the adoption of SciPro positively. Effort expectancy perceived by supervisors proved to have a significant correlation to their Behavioral Intention to use the system. The study also revealed that there were other factors outside SciPro System, such as management support, Internet access, lack of a clear ICT policy and E-learning policy; and to motivate innovators and early adopters that should be considered throughout the implementation process to enhance adoption.

Collaborative child assessment combines traditional assessment methods with techniques aimed at increasing the therapeutic benefit of assessment for children and parents. Previous studies have found high consumer satisfaction, increased self esteem, decreased symptomatic distress, and greater hopefulness following participation in collaborative assessment. However, full collaborative assessment protocols are complex, time-consuming, and thus not practical to use in many applied settings. This study investigated the practicality and potential benefits of implementing several collaborative techniques into otherwise traditional child assessments, including co-generation of assessment questions, use of a process orientation during child testing, and use of an individualized, level-based approach when providing feedback. It was hypothesized that, compared to parents participating in traditional assessments, parents participating in collaborative assessments would report greater satisfaction, greater collaboration, learning more about their child, stronger alliance with the assessor, more positive feelings about the assessment process, and more hopefulness about their child’s challenges and future. Univariate analysis of variance statistics were used to test these hypotheses, which were not statistically supported, in part due to the limited sample size obtained. However, group differences of small to moderate effect sizes were seen for most of the outcome variables, including parent-reported learning about their child, assessor-parent relationship, assessor-child relationship, collaboration, negative feelings about the assessment, general satisfaction, and negative emotions about their child’s future. The results suggest that further research in this area is warranted. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed. / text

The following dissertation examines the role of collaborative planning in the redevelopment of National Priorities List Superfund sites and the implementation of Superfund site redevelopment plans. To examine the effect of collaborative planning, two models were constructed: one to predict Superfund site redevelopment and one to predict implementation of Superfund site redevelopment plans. Two test the two models, data was collected primarily from a survey of federal cleanup managers conducted between August 2008 and April 2009. Variables were then constructed and tested using bivariate and multivariate regression analysis. Results from the statistical analysis suggest that use of collaborative planning is positively and significantly associated with Superfund site redevelopment. Collaborative planning’s effect on Superfund site redevelopment plan implementation was inconclusive. To further explore the role of collaborative planning on Superfund site redevelopment and plan implementation, four case studies were developed that describe redevelopment planning at four Superfund sites. Overall, results suggest that collaborative planning is an important tool for the facilitation of Superfund site redevelopment. The effect of collaborative planning on plan implementation is somewhat ambiguous. Additional research is necessary, however, to draw firmer conclusions regarding both phenomena. / text

Στις μέρες μας η χρήση των κινητών συσκευών έχει σημειώσει αλματώδη ανάπτυξη και έχει γίνει αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι της καθημερινότητάς μας. Οι κινητές συσκευές με το πλήθος διαθέσιμων εφαρμογών και δυνατοτήτων που διαθέτουν, καθώς και με τη δυνατότητα πρόσβασης στο Διαδίκτυο, τείνουν να αντικαταστήσουν τους ηλεκτρονικούς υπολογιστές καθώς και μια πληθώρα άλλων συσκευών. Στην παρούσα μεταπτυχιακή διπλωματική εργασία προτείνουμε και υλοποιούμε ένα σύστημα, το οποίο κινείται στα πλαίσια των τεχνολογιών κινητού υπολογισμού και σχεδιάστηκε για να χρησιμοποιείται από τους χρήστες προκειμένου να δέχονται προτάσεις προς επιλογή σχετικά με ταινίες. Το σύστημα αποτελείται από μία κινητή συσκευή η οποία επικοινωνεί με μια οντολογία με χρήση της τεχνολογίας των web services. Όταν ο χρήστης συνδέεται στο λογαριασμό του έχει τη δυνατότητα να πραγματοποιήσει δύο διαδικασίες οι οποίες λειτουργούν με διαφορετικό αλγόριθμο συστάσεων. Στόχος μας είναι να ελέγξουμε κατά πόσο ένα σύστημα συνεργατικών συστάσεων είναι πιο αποδοτικό από ένα σύστημα που λαμβάνει υπόψη το προσωπικό προφίλ ενός χρήστη. Στην παρούσα περίπτωση διαλέξαμε έναν συγκεκριμένο αριθμό ταινιών με παρόμοιο κριτήριο για χρονολογίες από το 2006 έως το 2014. Εφαρμόσαμε τον αλγόριθμο συνεργατικής σύστασης για ταινίες από το 2006 έως το 2010 και τον αλγόριθμο που βασίζεται στο προφίλ μόνο του συνδεδεμένου χρήστη για ταινίες από το 2011 έως το 2014 λαμβάνοντας μια αξιολόγηση για το καθένα. / Nowadays, the use of mobile devices has rapidly developed and has become an integral part of our daily lives. Mobile devices have now a great number of applications and features available, along with the internet accessibility, they tend to replace not only computers but also a variety of other devices. In this master thesis, we propose and implement a system that runs in the context of mobile computing technologies and is designed to be used in order to present to the user all the recommended for him movies. This program consists of a mobile device that communicates with an ontology through a web service. When the user signs in to his account, has the ability to hold two processes each one operating with a different recommendation engine. Our intention is to check whether a collaborative recommendation engine is more efficient than a system which takes into account only the personal profile of a user. In this case study we chose a certain number of films based on a standard for a period of time, from 2006 to 2014. We applied the collaborative recommendation engine to movies from 2006 to 2010 and the algorithm based on the profile of the user signed–into movies released from 2011 to 2014 taking an assessment for each.