The purpose of this work is (1) to investigate the discourse structure of email discussions, and (2) to investigate the suitability of Conversation Analysis (CA) and Discourse Analysis (DA) for the analysis of email discussion data. The study uses naturally occurring email discussion data from publicly available archives. Radio and newspaper discussion data are used for companson. The discourse map is developed to represent mUlti-party multi-topic asynchronous discussions. Tum-taking is investigated using CA, and a set of rules proposed for tum-taking in email discussions: the main difference from spoken conversation is the absence of priority for speaker selection, such that any speaker can self-select at any time. Utterance pairs are also investigated using CA, focusing on openings and closings and on question/answer pairs. Openings and closings are varied and optional, and do not occur in pairs. Questions and answers often occur in paired structures. Strategies for linking utterances in the absence of adjacency are identified. To investigate longer sequences, selected whole discussion threads are analysed using the exchange rank taken from the DA framework. Email-specific features include multiple responses to one initiate, and single messages responding to more than one earlier message. Additionally, multiple initiates and/or responses can be found in a single email message. Repair in email discussions does not need to deal with troubles arising from real-time spoken interaction, but all four types of self- and other-initiated self- and otherrepair are found, as well as refusal to repair. Finally, the elements of a model for the investigation of the discourse of email discussions are presented and the methods of analysis evaluated. CA provides a flexible approach which leads to the illumination of major aspects of the data. The use ofDA presents problems, some of which are inherent in the framework, and some of which spring from the complexity of turns in email discussions. A major influence on the structure of email discussions is that they are managed locally and interactionally by the participants themselves.

Quesada, Gonzalez, Mueller & Mueller (2010) have identified that organisations spend at least one-third of their overall budget on procurement of products and services. Hence the importance of reducing procurement costs through an efficient supply chain should be a priority for any senior manager. E-procurement is one of the components that can assist management in streamlining the operations resulting in an efficient supply chain process. The usage of qualitative research for this study ensured that appropriate answers were identified to address the research question and a clear understanding was obtained to establish the factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement technologies. The scope of the research was focused on the suppliers and manufactures of plumbing material in South Africa. The aim of the study was to establish the factors that influence organisation in adopting e-procurement technologies. The data reflected that e-procurement adoption improves organisation’s productivity, ability to better control costs resulting in an efficient and effective supply chain process. This is only possible with the support of senior management, end-user buy-in and allocation of financial resources. The three major findings identified were that e-procurement adoption is driven by internal needs, reduces labour costs and improves customer relations. Possible Future research should examine the influence of other factors such as competitiveness, customer service and organisation size. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / pagibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil) in the Department of Communication Science at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2004. / This dissertation focuses on the contribution of electronic communication (e-Communication) to knowledge management. It is based on an empirical survey of knowledge management practitioners in the private, public and NGO sectors in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The major findings of this study are (1) that many knowledge management practitioners have not received any formal training in knowledge management, (2) that for most of them their practices are not informed by explicit knowledge management policies, (3) that there is no culture of sharing knowledge established within particular organisations, and finally (4) that knowledge managers are not using e-learning facilities to keep their knowledge of knowledge management current.

This thesis presents the synthesis and characterisation of a range of heterometallated porphyrin oligomers and other novel 3D π-conjugated porphyrin nanostructures. Subsequently, their physical organic properties were evaluated which revealed some fascinating electronic properties. Chapter 1 summarises some of the work done in the Anderson group on porphyrin nanostructures and reviews the literature regarding heterometallated porphyrin oligomers. In addition it introduces the main concepts and techniques used in the remainder of the thesis. In Chapter 2 the stabilities of a family of four linear porphyrin pentamer complexes are determined by UV-vis-NIR titrations and analysed using chemical double-mutant cycles which reveal that the binding energy of the copper centre to an axial pyridine ligand is -6.2 kJ mol^-1. Subsequently, the Zn-Zn-Cu-Zn-Zn pentamer is used in the synthesis of a heterometallated 10-porphyrin nanoring. Chapter 3 will describe the investigation of quantum interference phenomena in a bis-copper six-porphyrin nanoring by using EPR spectroscopy. We show that the exchange coupling between two spin centres is increased by a factor 4.5 in the ring structure with two parallel coupling pathways as compared to an otherwise identical system with just one coupling path. In Chapter 4 the syntheses of three isomers of the bis-copper 6-porphyrin nanoring are described. DFT calculations have indicated potential destructive interference phenomena in one of the isomers which would allow for the formation of a molecular system with behaviour resembling that of a hypothetical molecular interferometer. Chapter 5 reports on the template-directed synthesis of a π-conjugated 14-porphyrin nanoball. This bicyclic structure consists of two intersecting nanorings of 6 and 10 porphyrin units. Fluorescence up-conversion spectroscopy experiments demonstrate that electronic excitation delocalises over the whole 3D π-system within 0.3 ps if the nanoball is bound to its templates or within 5 ps if the nanoball is empty. In Chapter 6 the synthesis and characterisation of a D_4h symmetric analogue of the porphyrin nanoball is described. The structure consists of ten porphyrin units arranged as two perpendicular 6-porphyrin nanorings intersecting at two porphyrins. In the synthesis, a combination of magnesium and zinc porphyrins are used which allows for the introduction of a selective demetallation method crucial for accessing this novel structure.

L'industrie des communications électroniques Thaïlandaises est au milieu d'une transition majeure dans sa réglementation, mais elle a peu d'expérience sur le marché concurrentiel. Dans le cadre d’un marché concurrentiel, la régulation est une fonction de la puissance publique qui tend à établir un compromis entre des objectifs et des valeurs économiques et non économiques. La régulation impose ce compromis aux opérateurs sur le marché par des moyens juridiques. En d’autres termes, il s’agit de la fonction de la puissance publique visant à la satisfaction de besoins collectifs par des activités de nature économique sous un régime concurrentiel. Cela signifie que la régulation serait une fonction qui viserait à construire du marché dans les secteurs qui ont été organisés sous un régime de monopole par l’État. Il s’agit alors d’expliquer le rapport du développement industriel des communications électroniques Thaïlandaises à la politique macroéconomique gouvernementale qui a des connexions solides avec les dirigeants politiques et les arrangements institutionnels. Nous avons présenté l’esprit, la politique et la culture juridique thaïe et permis de préciser les difficultés et les problématiques thaïlandaises qui sont parfois distinctes de la situation en France. / The Thai electronic communications industry is in the midst of a major transition in its regulation but has little experience in the competitive market. In a competitive market, regulation is a function of public authority, which tends to establish a compromise between objectives and economic values as non-economic ones. Regulation imposes this compromise on operators on the market by legal means. In other words, it is the function of public authority to satisfy collective needs by using activities of an economic nature under a competitive regime. This means that regulation would be a function that would aim to build the market in sectors that have been organized under a monopoly regime by the state. It is then to explain how the industrial development of Thai electronic communications is in relation to governmental macroeconomic policy that has strong connections with political leaders and institutional arrangements. We have presented the Thai spirit with its policy and legal culture and clarified the difficulties which are sometimes distinct from the situation in France.

The aim of this thesis is to provide comprehensive information on the possibilities of authentication, combination of authentication factors and the integration of this issue into corporate communication. The work focuses on this issue and specifies the possibilities for obtaining authentication information, analyses the authentication methods, identification and authorization. It examines the applicability of biometric technologies, the principle of their functionality, examples of their use, their impact, the advantages and disadvantages they bring. A natural, easy-to-use, convenient tool for effective and secure communication is authentication including the dynamic biometric signature. The issues of the dynamic biometric signature technology and its implementation are examined from a comprehensive perspective involving experiments. The research proved that the dynamic biometric signature can serve as a method for supporting secure corporate communication and reduce authentication risks in companies and for individuals.

abstract: The 21st-century professional or knowledge worker spends much of the working day engaging others through electronic communication. The modes of communication available to knowledge workers have rapidly increased due to computerized technology advances: conference and video calls, instant messaging, e-mail, social media, podcasts, audio books, webinars, and much more. Professionals who think for a living express feelings of stress about their ability to respond and fear missing critical tasks or information as they attempt to wade through all the electronic communication that floods their inboxes. Although many electronic communication tools compete for the attention of the contemporary knowledge worker, most professionals use an electronic personal information management (PIM) system, more commonly known as an e-mail application and often the ubiquitous Microsoft Outlook program. The aim of this research was to provide knowledge workers with solutions to manage the influx of electronic communication that arrives daily by studying the workers in their working environment. This dissertation represents a quest to understand the current strategies knowledge workers use to manage their e-mail, and if modification of e-mail management strategies can have an impact on productivity and stress levels for these professionals. Today’s knowledge workers rarely work entirely alone, justifying the importance of also exploring methods to improve electronic communications within teams. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2018

The study aims to see whether there are differences in the nature and patterns of computer usage for communicating research between disciplines in the social sciences in Brazil and, if so, whether they can be related to factors which can affect the process of communication. The theory embedded in the research model states that pressures that accompany the introduction of information technologies into a university environment are significant factors in the use of such technologies. These pressures produce differences in the communication process itself. Furthermore, there may also be a relationship between individual factors and the use of IT for communication. The research data were collected via a survey using two instruments. Firstly, mailed questionnaires were sent to 760 academic researchers in sociology and economics in Brazil, working in post-graduate programmes. A response rate of 64.1 percent was achieved. Secondly, 36 interviews were carried out with a sample of the most productive researchers in the two subjects studied. The interview sample included both respondents and non-respondents to the questionnaire. A small sample of 1I British academic researchers was included in the interview survey, in order to allow comparisons and see whether Brazilian academics lag behind IT front-runners. Data collected revealed that there is an impact of computer usage on the scholarly communication process, especially in terms of informal communication. Such an impact can be related to changes in the social interactions that underlie knowledge creation among researchers, and also relates to differences in patterns and processes of computer usage between the chosen disciplines. Formal communication has experienced a gradually growing impact by electronic media on the well-established print environment, with the likely co-existence of the two media for some time to come. The results obtained showed that Brazilian researchers do not lag behind the British ones. Not many differences, but most similarities were found between economists and sociologists in both Brazil and the UK.

This diploma thesis deals with electronic form of the language of young people on social networks. Based on a more than three-year monitoring of events on social networks, the typical and specific features of communication of the youth in new media are examined and analyzed in the thesis. The first part introduces the reader especially the issues of application and changes of the language under the impact of new media; the second part focuses more on problems of social networks - it brings their definitions, deals about their origin and importance. The third and most extensive part consists of an analysis of the language of the youth on social networks, substantiated with concrete selections. The final chapter is made up by a questionnaire proving how the language on social networks is reflected by its users among young people.

Consumer protection is an issue affecting a very broad group of citizens of the European Union. EU reflects customer protection in all its policies. I have focused on electronic communication because of my work experience in that field. In my thesis I am trying to compare my experience with valid legislation. In addition, electronic communication services are used by European consumers every day widespread through society. I have tried to follow the development of EU legislation in electronic communication sector focusing on consumer protection. This topic is very closely connected with price regulation and the whole situation on the electronic communication market. My goal is to define main problems of legislation by using case law and my knowledge from practice. In the first chapter of my thesis, I focus on general consumer protection in EU, which is applicable to all contracts concluded by consumers (unfair terms, contracts negotiated away from business premises etc.). I am pointing out issues I encountered in practice. I also compare implementation of EU legislation by EU member states. Second chapter of my work is concerned with EU regulatory framework of electronic communication valid from 2003 to 2009. I aimed at legislation related to consumer protection. I focused on main problems of the...