Risk-Based Testing is a testing approach in software development that involves identifying, analyzing, controlling, testing, and reporting risks. The strategy provides several benefits and helps companies control risks and manage them effectively. However, the testing strategy may become challenging with new technologies, increased deployment and development of new features, and larger projects.    Westermo is a manufacturer and vendor of industrial ethernet networks and data communications products for mission-critical systems in harsh environments. Risk-based testing is a critical component of their software development process to maintain high-quality deployments. Westermo's current approach to documenting and monitoring risks is done through spreadsheets. Over time, as new features are implemented and deployed, these spreadsheets become more complex and challenging to manage. As such, Westermo is currently seeking to replace them with a new risk management tool supporting risk-based testing.  In this thesis, I investigated how one can prototype a risk management tool to support the risk-based testing process at Westermo. To this end, a deeper understanding of how current risk-based testing is performed and managed during software development was required. I also had to identify the challenges with the current approach for documenting and monitoring risks and the requirements for a new tool. I investigated these issues using a combination of qualitative research strategies and divided the work into three phases. In the first phase, I observed internal process documentation and three risk analysis workshops with a total of 14 participants held by Westermo. This was followed by interviewing two software developers and one project manager to identify requirements for a new tool. The next step was to develop a prototype and in the final phase, I evaluated the utility of the design with two focus groups for a total of six participants.  Ideally, according to the requirements I identified, the risk management tool should facilitate the documenting and monitoring of the risks and provide functions to add, manage and visualize the risks from a larger release perspective and a smaller feature perspective in a simple and efficient manner. / Riskbaserad testning är en testmetod inom mjukvaruutveckling som innebär att identifiera, analysera, kontrollera, testa och rapportera risker. Teststrategin ger flera fördelar och hjälper företag att kontrollera risker och hantera dem effektivt. Med ny teknik, ökad distribution och utveckling av nya funktioner och större projekt kan processen istället bli utmanande.  Westermo är en tillverkare och leverantör av industriella Ethernet-nätverks- och datakommunikationsprodukter för verksamhetskritiska system i tuffa miljöer. Riskbaserad testning är en viktig teststrategi i deras mjukvaruutvecklingsprocess för att upprätthålla högkvalitativa distributioner. Westermos nuvarande tillvägagångssätt för att dokumentera och övervaka risker är genom att använda kalkylblad. Med tiden, när nya funktioner implementeras och distribueras, blir dessa kalkylblad mer komplexa och utmanande att hantera. Därför försöker Westermo för närvarande ersätta dem med ett nytt riskhanteringsverktyg för att stödja riskbaserad testning.  I det här examensarbete undersökte jag hur man kan prototypa ett riskhanteringsverktyg för att stödja den riskbaserade testprocessen på Westermo. För detta ändamål krävdes en djupare förståelse för hur aktuell riskbaserad testning utförs och hanteras under mjukvaruutveckling. Jag behövde också identifiera utmaningarna med det nuvarande tillvägagångssättet för att dokumentera och övervaka risker och kraven på ett nytt verktyg. Jag undersökte dessa frågor genom en kombination av kvalitativa forskningsstrategier och delade upp arbetet i tre faser. I den första fasen observerade jag intern processdokumentation och tre riskanalysmöten med totalt 14 deltagare i Westermo. Detta följdes av intervjuer med två mjukvaruutvecklare och en projektledare för att identifiera krav på ett nytt verktyg. Nästa steg var att ta fram en prototyp och i slutfasen utvärderade jag användbarheten av designen med två fokusgrupper med totalt sex deltagare. Enligt de krav jag identifierade ska riskhanteringsverktyget kunna underlätta dokumentationen och övervakningen av riskerna och tillhandahålla funktioner för att lägga till, hantera och visualisera riskerna ur ett större releaseperspektiv och ett mindre funktionsperspektiv på ett enkelt och effektivt sätt.

El objetivo general de la presente tesis es optimizar los plazos de los entregables que conforman el expediente técnico, en la fase de formulación, enfocado en proyectos de Asociaciones Públicas Privadas que el Área de Estudios de Proyectos realiza. El presente trabajo se enfoca en mejorar los tiempos a través del uso de herramientas de gestión de procesos. Para la evaluación de casos se recopiló la información de 3 proyectos de iniciativa privada cofinanciadas del rubro de infraestructura en Perú que demandan varios años desde el planeamiento y programación hasta la ejecución contractual. Debido a ello se procederá a analizar cuantitativa y cualitativamente las causas raíz de la problemática. Luego, se definirá las herramientas de mejora para cada causa identificada, para el caso en estudio se propone la aplicación de herramientas de gestión. Finalmente, se validará la propuesta mediante el nivel de aceptación por juicio de expertos y se analizará los impactos positivos que pueda generar en los proyectos de iniciativa privada cofinanciada. / The general objective of this thesis is to optimize the deadlines of the deliverables that make up the technical file, in the formulation phase, focused on projects of Public Private Associations that the Project Studies Area carries out. This work focuses on improving times through the use of process management tools. For the evaluation of cases, information was collected from 3 co-financed private initiative projects in the infrastructure sector in Peru that require several years from planning and programming to contractual execution. Due to this, the root causes of the problem will be analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Then, the improvement tools will be defined for each identified cause, for the case under study the application of management tools is proposed. Finally, the proposal will be validated through the level of acceptance by expert judgment and the positive impacts that it may generate in co-financed private initiative projects will be analyzed. / Tesis

Cette thèse s’intéresse à la manière dont l’évaluation de l’impact social est construite et mise en œuvre au sein des organisations non lucratives. A la croisée du contrôle de gestion et de la théorie des organisations, elle vise à contribuer à la recherche sur les organisations du tiers secteur, peu étudiées en sciences de gestion jusqu’à présent.Depuis quelques années, il existe un large consensus sur la nécessité de mesurer la valeur produite par les organisations à finalité sociale pour la société. Cette mesure doit permettre à ces organisations de rendre compte de l’accomplissement de leur mission à leurs parties prenantes et de piloter leur activité. Malgré une forte volonté de plusieurs acteurs institutionnels, aucune norme ni consensus n’a émergé à ce jour sur la façon d’évaluer l’impact social des organisations non lucratives. Par conséquent, les acteurs sont confrontés à de nombreuses questions sur le contenu et les modalités pertinentes de cette évaluation. Par ailleurs, la mise en place d’une évaluation conforme aux attentes des financeurs au détriment des attentes d’autres parties prenantes, et plus généralement l’influence de la sphère lucrative sur la façon dont l’évaluation de l’impact social est mise en œuvre, induisent des questionnements quant à sa cohérence avec la logique propre des organisations non lucratives.Ces enjeux nous ont amené à faire le choix de nous focaliser sur la construction des pratiques concrètes d’évaluation de l’impact social au sein des organisations non lucratives, et à étudier spécifiquement l’articulation entre les caractéristiques techniques et le contexte de l’évaluation de l’impact social. Pour analyser cela, nous mobilisons la notion de rationalité. La thèse s’appuie également sur les travaux académiques portant sur la mesure de la performance des organisations non lucratives d’une part et sur la littérature relative à l’instrumentation de gestion et aux dispositifs socio-matériels d’autre part.La thèse s’appuie sur une méthodologie de recherche-intervention. Le doctorant a été durant trois ans chef de projet sur l’évaluation de l’impact social au sein d’Apprentis d’Auteuil, une grande fondation dédiée à la jeunesse en difficulté. Le matériau est constitué en deux parties : un niveau organisationnel qui correspond au processus d’élaboration de la réflexion et du déploiement de l’évaluation de l’impact social pour l’organisation dans son ensemble, et un niveau projet qui est composé de cinq démarches d’évaluation de l’impact social d’entités particulières de l’organisation. Cette double observation permet une analyse de l’ensemble des dynamiques associées à l’évaluation de l’impact social au sein de l’organisation.Les résultats de la thèse sont structurés en trois parties. Premièrement, nous proposons un cadre analytique permettant de mettre en perspective l’ensemble des outils d’évaluation de l’impact social existants d’une part et les pratiques en matière d’évaluation de l’impact social d’autre part. Deuxièmement, nous montrons que la mise en œuvre de l’évaluation de l’impact social se traduit par une pluri-rationalité, combinant la rationalité instrumentale et d’autres formes de rationalité, garantissant une cohérence entre le jugement des acteurs externes, la représentation de l’entité évaluée et le processus d’évaluation en lui-même. Troisièmement, nous montrons que l’évaluation de l’impact social peut être considérée comme un mythe rationnel. Ce mythe rationnel a permis l’appropriation de l’idée sans le déploiement d’un outil d’évaluation standardisé, permettant ainsi une mise en œuvre faisant sens pour les acteurs et conforme aux spécificités de l’action non lucrative. / This thesis focuses on how social impact assessment is built and implemented within nonprofit organizations. At the crossroads of management accounting and organizational theory, it aims to contribute to the research on third sector organizations which have been little studied in management science until now.In recent years there has been a broad consensus on the need to measure the value for society produced by socially-oriented organizations. This measure should enable these organizations to report on the fulfillment of their mission to their stakeholders and to monitor their activities. Despite the willingness of several institutional actors, no standard or consensus has yet emerged on how to assess the social impact of nonprofit organizations. Thus stakeholders face with many questions about the content and the relevant tools to implement. Moreover, the implementation of an evaluation in line with funders' expectations at the expense of other stakeholders’ expectations and more generally the influence of the business sphere on social impact measurement raise questions about the coherence between social impact measurement and specificity of non-profit organizations.These challenges led us to choose to focus on the construction of actual practices of social impact measurement in nonprofit organizations. We chose to study more specifically the articulation between the technical aspects and the context of social impact measurement. To analyze this, we rely on the notion of rationality. The thesis is also based on the academic work on measuring the performance of non-profit organizations on the one hand and on the literature on management tools and socio-material devices on the other hand.The methodology of the thesis is an intervention research. For three years, the Ph.D. candidate acted as a project coordinator on social impact measurement at Apprentis d'Auteuil, a large French foundation dedicated to youth facing social difficulties. Empirical data is divided in two parts: an organizational level that corresponds to the process of reflection and deployment of social impact measurement within the organization as a whole, and a project level consisting of five social impact evaluations of specific entities inside the organization. This double observation level allows an analysis of various dynamics of social impact measurement within the organization.The results of the thesis are divided into three parts. First, we propose an analytical framework which enables to position both existing social impact measurement tools and organizational practices of social impact measurement. Secondly, we show that the implementation of social impact assessment results in a multi-rationality, combining instrumental rationality with other forms of rationality. This combination of rationalities is analyzed in the judgment of external actors, representation of the entity evaluated and the measurement process itself. Third, we show that social impact assessment can be considered a rational myth. This rational myth allowed the appropriation of the idea without the deployment of a standardized evaluation tool. This appropriation enables a meaningful implementation for the actors in conformity with the specificities of nonprofit organizations.

Kraven på företag har ökat gällande redovisning av hållbara aktiviteter. I och med detta ställs högre krav på dagens hållbara företagande, vilket bidrar till att företag kan komma att behöva finna nya strategier för att kartlägga sitt företagande.  Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) är ett nytt EU-direktiv som kommer att föra hållbarhetsrapportering till samma nivå som den finansiella rapporteringen, vilket kommer innebära stort arbete för berörda företag. Därför ämnar denna studie att utveckla ett verktyg som kan inspirera och hjälpa företag att förbereda sig för rapportering enligt CSRD. Detta genomförs genom att sammanföra teorier kring hållbara affärsmodeller och dubbel väsentlighetsprincip i en modell, där den centrala delen handlar om att beakta värde från ett flerdimensionellt perspektiv. Tidigare forskning ger upphov till det faktum att affärsmodeller ignorerar att värdeutbyte ofta är ömsesidigt och att en intressent både kan bidra till och mottaga någonting av värde, vilket i sin tur visar på att dubbel väsentlighetsanalys sällan är inkluderat i affärsmodeller. Följande studie ämnar fylla detta identifierade gap genom att utveckla ett verktyg som kombinerar dessa områden. Workshops och intervjuer genomförs för att utveckla modellen vidare, och diskussionen väver samman insikterna från den empiriska studien och det litterära ramverket, varpå den slutliga modellen presenteras.  Resultatet indikerar att modellen behöver ingå i en längre arbetsprocess med både förberedande och avslutande avsnitt efter användande av modellen, och därför presenterar resultatet tre steg som rekommenderas vid användning av modellen. Resultatet landar också i att företag rekommenderas koppla hållbarhetsarbetet till sin kärnverksamhet, samt att vidga perspektivet utanför sina egna gränser och beakta flera intressenter, varvid diskussionen kring värdeskapande blir extra relevant. Modellen hjälper företag starta diskussionen kring sin påverkan, vilket hjälper dem hantera sina aktiviteter och processer och skapar en diskussion kring värdeskapande. Detta kan effektivisera verksamheten genom att öka den holistiska synen och transparensen på vad som behöver utvecklas. Studiens resultat har i stor utsträckning koppling till hållbarhet, ledarskap och organisation, men den visar också på en ingenjörsmässighet då målsättningen är att processer på företag ska kunna effektiviseras. / The demands on companies have increased regarding the reporting of sustainable activities. With this, higher demands are being placed on today's sustainable business, which contributes to the fact that companies may need to find new strategies to map their business. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is a new EU directive that will bring sustainability reporting to the same level as financial reporting, which implies a lot of work for the companies concerned. Therefore, this study aims to develop a tool that can inspire and help companies prepare for CSRD reporting. This is conducted by combining theories around sustainable business models and the dual materiality principle into a model, where the core concerns value from a multidimensional perspective. Previous research gives rise to the fact that business models ignore that value exchange is often reciprocal and that a stakeholder can both contribute to and receive something of value, which in turn shows that dual materiality analysis is rarely included in business models. The following study aims to fill this identified gap by developing a tool that combines these areas. Workshops and interviews are conducted to develop the model further, and the discussion weaves together the insights from the empirical study and the literary framework, after which the final model is presented. The result indicates that the model needs to be part of a more complete process with both preparatory and final sections after using the model, and therefore the study presents three steps that are recommended when using the model. Furthermore, companies are recommended to link sustainability work to their core business, as well as adopting an ecosystem perspective involving relevant stakeholders. The model helps companies start the discussion about their impact, which facilitates the management of activities and processes and creates a discussion about value creation. This can streamline operations by increasing the holistic view and transparency of what needs to be developed. The study's results are largely connected to sustainability, leadership and organization, but it also shows an engineering approach as the goal is to make processes at companies more efficient.

To implement effective quality management at an industrial enterprise, it is necessary to develop methodological support for the formation of business processes within the framework of the quality management system and the implementation of the developed methodology in the enterprise. The basis of this methodological support can be the concept of TQM. In the course of the master's thesis elements of methodological support of the management system at an industrial enterprise based on the concept of TQM based on the concept of using the following tools were proposed: formalization of strategic analysis and planning using the Hoshin-Kanri concept, description of business processes, standardization of work on processes, formation of a KPI system -producing and KPI-process, the formation of operational management system based on KPI monitoring, analysis of the causes of deviations based on and TOOLS FOR "Ishikawa diagram" and Shewhart control charts, which improves the efficiency of the implementation of quality management systems in the enterprise and their effectiveness, as well as to implement a systematic approach in the management of the production process deviations. / Для осуществления эффективного менеджмента качества на промышленном предприятии необходима разработка методического обеспечения формирования бизнес-процессов в рамках системы управления качеством и внедрения разработанной методики на предприятии. Основой такого методического обеспечения может стать концепция TQM. В ходе магистерской диссертации предложены элементы методического обеспечения системы управления на промышленном предприятии основанной на концепции TQM, основанной на концепции применении следующих инструментов: формализация стратегического анализа и планирования с помощью концепции Хосин-Канри, описание бизнес-процессов, стандартизация работ по процессам, формирование системы KPI-результирующих и KPI-процессных, формирование системы оперативного управления на базе мониторинга KPI, анализа причин возникновения отклонений на основе инструментов “Диаграмма Исикавы” и контрольных карт Шухарта, что позволяет повысить эффективность внедрения систем управления качеством на предприятии и их результативность, а также внедрить системный подход в управлении отклонениями производственного процесса.

The topic of the thesis is an in-depth study of the issues and solutions for a more sustainable regeneration of the small centres on the Italian territory. The followed path starts from a first overview of the phenomenon of minor centres. The first step has been that to describe the evolution of the concept of the minor centres, presenting the different visions born over time. After this first step, the thesis focused on the verification of their consistency on the territory, checking objectively if there is a really need to carry out their regeneration. At the same time, has been presented the sectorial legislation, with which are currently managed the different towns, highlighting the various points in which it is possible to see problems. Subsequently, has been presented and reviewed the available management tools, from which gave rise the various ideas for improving the regeneration of the centres. Another aspect studied has been this to study economic aids and economic programs proposed to sustain initiatives from people and communities, with the aim to underline that the regeneration of the centres is economically possible, only if these actions are well framed through some tools that make easier to choose the locations in which do the regeneration. The proactive part of the thesis has dealt with the possibility of setting up a system through which facilitate the choice methods to implement the regeneration of the minor centres. In particular, the proposal followed by the thesis, is to build a management infrastructure, capable to support administrations in choosing where to act and how to act, allowing to optimizing available resources, avoiding wasting them and achieving the regeneration of the minor localities as soon as possible. Every centre is unique in itself, with its own characteristics that distinguish it, a uniqueness that objectively however, makes difficult to establish easily where it is necessary and possible to start with the regeneration. The proposed method define and use a series of values, through which to go to measure and know the centres objectively and in a shared way, in order to obtain indications on the places that deserve greater attentions. The proposed system provide to use a series of indicators through which local characteristics are measured, taking into account different sectors, through a multiscalar and multidisciplinary approach. From this has been studied a system for the management of information of the localities, with a series of practical modules that can be provided to the administrators, to manage the flow of the actions and information necessary to establish the priorities for the regeneration of Italian minor centres.

This cumulative dissertation covers the concepts of scenario-based strategic planning and strategic management in family firms over five articles. The first article gives an overview of the cumulative dissertation explaining the research gap, approach and contribution of the dissertation. The paper highlights the two research areas covered by the dissertation with two articles focusing on scenario-based strategic planning and two on strategic management in family firms. The second article is the first of two focusing on scenario-based strategic planning. It introduces and describes a set of six tools facilitating the implementation of scenario-based strategic planning in corporate practice. The third paper adapts these tools to the financial management and controlling context in private companies highlighting the tools’ flexibility in managing uncertain and volatile environments. The fourth article is the first of two focusing on strategic management in family firms. It analyzes organizational ambidexterity as a factor explaining family firm performance. The article shows that a high level of organizational ambidexterity in family firms leads to a higher family firm performance. The final paper concludes the dissertation examining the tendency of family firms to focus on capability exploration or resource exploitation over different generations managing the family firm.:I. SCENARIO-BASED STRATEGIC PLANNING AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN FAMILY FIRMS … 1 1. Research question and goal of the dissertation … 2 2. Summary of papers … 8 2.1. Contribution … 12 2.2. Implications and further research … 16 II. SIX TOOLS FOR SCENARIO-BASED STRATEGIC PLANNING AND THEIR APPLICATION … 25 1. Introducing tools one and two: The framing checklist and 360° stakeholder feedback … 27 1.1. The framing checklist … 27 1.2. Description of the framing checklist … 29 1.3. 360° stakeholder feedback … 36 1.3.1. Existing perceptions, blind spots and weak signals … 37 1.3.2. Description of 360° stakeholder feedback … 38 1.4. Evaluation of the framing checklist and 360° stakeholder feedback … 44 2. Applying frameworks one and two: The framing checklist and 360° stakeholder feedback in the European airline industry … 46 2.1. Introduction … 46 2.2. The framing checklist … 46 2.3. 360° stakeholder feedback … 48 3. Introducing tools three and four: The impact/uncertainty grid and the scenario matrix … 53 3.1. The impact/uncertainty grid … 53 3.2. Description of the impact/uncertainty grid … 55 3.3. The scenario matrix … 57 3.4. Description of the scenario matrix … 62 3.5. Evaluating the impact/uncertainty grid and the scenario matrix … 67 4. Applying frameworks three and four: The impact/uncertainty grid and the scenario matrix in the European airline industry … 69 4.1. Introduction … 69 4.2. The impact/uncertainty grid … 69 4.3. The scenario matrix … 71 5. Introducing tools five and six: The strategy manual and the monitoring cockpit … 87 5.1. Introduction … 87 5.2. The strategy manual … 87 5.3. Description of the strategy manual … 91 5.4. The scenario cockpit … 95 5.5. Description of the scenario cockpit … 96 5.6. Evaluating the strategy manual and the scenario cockpit ..................... 99 6. Applying frameworks five and six: The strategy manual and the scenario cockpit in the European airline industry … 102 6.1. The strategy manual … 102 6.2. The scenario cockpit … 105 III. SZENARIOBASIERTE STRATEGISCHE PLANUNG IN VOLATILEN UMFELDERN … 111 1. Einführung: Unternehmen agieren in einer zunehmend volatilen Umwelt … 112 2. Volatilität als Herausforderung für die strategische Planung … 112 3. Szenariobasierte strategische Planung als Lösungsansatz für Planung unter Volatilität …114 3.1. Grundlagen der szenariobasierten strategischen Planung … 114 3.2. Prozess der szenariobasierten strategischen Planung … 115 4. Zusammenfassung ... 122 IV. ORGANIZATIONAL AMBIDEXTERITY AND FAMILY FIRM PERFORMANCE … 125 1. Introduction … 126 2. Theory and Hypotheses … 127 3. Methodology … 131 3.1. Research Design and Sample Generation … 131 3.2. Measures … 133 4. Analysis and Results … 135 5. Discussion and Conclusion … 139 V. THE IMPACT OF SUCCESOR GENERATION DISCOUNT IN FAMILY FIRMS: EXAMINING NONLINEAR EFFECTS ON EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION … 150 1. Introduction … 151 2. The RBV and the importance of exploration and exploitation … 154 3. The importance of exploration and exploitation in family firms … 156 4. The impact of generational involvement on exploration and exploitation in family firms … 159 5. Methodology … 164 5.1. Constructs … 165 5.2. Results … 167 6. Discussion … 172 6.1. Implications for theory and practice … 175 6.2. Study limitations and future research … 176 6.3. Conclusion … 177

Cílem disertace je ověřit existenci vztahu mezi využitím analytických nástrojů strategického řízení a výkonností podniků. Za tímto účelem bylo třeba nejdříve definovat množinu analytických nástrojů strategického řízení, které jsou v soudobé praxi našich firem nejčastěji používané a nalézt způsob, kterým lze hodnotit výkonnost podniků. K tomuto účelu byly připraveny dva výzkumy: výsledkem prvního bylo zjištění nejčastěji používaných analytických nástrojů strategického řízení a faktorů, které jejich využití ovlivňují, t.j. jejich znalost, spokojenost s nimi a velikost podniků. Výsledkem druhého výzkumu bylo navržení nového způsobu multikriteriálního hodnocení podnikového výkonu. Pomocí analýzy hlavních komponent (principal component analysis) byly definovány čtyři skupiny ukazatelů, které umožňují komplexní posouzení podnikového výkonu: ukazatele finanční výkonnosti, konkurenční pozice, orientace na zákazníky a organizační integrity. S použitím regresní analýzy (stepwise regression analysis) byl prokázán pozitivní vliv využití analytických nástrojů strategického řízení na výkonnost podniků.

"Can you define 'plan' as 'a loose sequence of manifestly inadequate observations and conjectures, held together by panic, indecision, and ignorance'? If so, it was a very good plan." Jonathan Stroud, The Ring of Solomon Jonathan Stroud knew that a plan cannot stand alone and needs more. Every business needs a strategy. Academics in the field of strategic management have bewailed the field's disparate, ambiguous nature. The question arises: how can these concerns be compliant with the substantial success that strategic management experienced in the past? The weaknesses of strategic management seem to be its strengths. In their study, Nag, Hambrick and Chen (2007) suggest that strategic management acts as an intellectual dealer entity, which thrives by enabling the simultaneous pursuit of multiple research orientations by a variety of disciplinary and philosophical regimes. The Bain and Company Management Tools and Trends, (Rigby & Bilodeau 2011) indicated the importance of management tools and how these tools can enhance an organisation's ability to strategise for the future. Mankins and Steele (2005) identified factors resulting in a strategy-to-performance gap and made recommendations on how an organisation can minimise such gaps. Tait and Nienaber (2010) came to the conclusion that the use of management tools could reduce challenges of formulation, implementation and evaluation resulting in closing or minimising the strategy-to-performance gap. In view of the findings of these three above-mentioned studies, this study of SAEO aimed to explore (identify, describe and understand) what factors top, middle and frontline managers perceived to hinder strategy implementation at SAEO during the 2009/10-2010/11 financial years, resulting in a strategy-to-performance gap and to determine how these factors affect the organisation. This study was conducted as a qualitative case study that used empirical evidence from real people in a real-life organisation. Data was collected from a South African electronics organisation (henceforth referred to as SAEO) involving 14 managers at three different hierarchical levels (top, middle and frontline managers). They were required to answer semi-structured questions on to how these strategy-formulation-implementation-evaluation phases affect their working environment. The interviews were conducted at the premises of the organisation and permission was sought from the CEO who granted permission for the researcher to request the managers to participate. Information was used from previous authors and a replication study was conducted using the Mankins and Steele (2005) and Tait and Nienaber (2010) studies. The purpose of this study was to identify, describe and understand "what factors, if any, hinder strategy implementation" (Ehlers & Lazenby, 2004; Mankins & Steele, 2005; Tait & Nienaber, 2010). Ehlers and Lazenby (2004:117) and Mankins and Steele (2005:66) have indicated that strategy implementation is the most difficult part of the strategic management process. In the Mankins and Steele (2005) and Tait and Nienaber (2010) studies, although the order differed, the most prevalent performance factors contributing to the strategy-to-performance gap were identified as a lack of focus/conflicting priorities and no resources, inadequate skills and capabilities, unclear accountabilities for execution, insufficient rewards and consequences and poorly communicated strategies. The results of this SAEO study confirmed that ineffective communication, followed by inadequate monitoring; insufficient leadership and no approved strategy were the main reasons for the strategy-to-performance gap. It seemed as if SAEO had a bigger challenge in communicating its strategy to employees than was the case in the Mankins and Steele (2005) and the Tait and Nienaber (2010) studies. Although the biggest challenge at the four South African Life Insurers (Tait & Nienaber, 2010) was inadequate or unavailable resources, the challenge at SAEO was ineffective communication and it was evident that it should be addressed to close the strategy-to-performance gap. Both challenges are part of the strategy implementation phase although communication could be related to formulation, implementation and evaluation of strategy. Although the results (ranking of factors indicated to contribute to the strategy-to-performance phenomenon) of this study did not entirely concur with the studies of Mankins and Steele (2005) and Tait and Nienaber (2010), the important fact remains that without a formulated strategy on how to ensure survival and growth of an organisation, challenges such as ineffective communication and/or inadequate or unavailable resources which were found in the three studies (Mankins & Steele, 2005; Tait & Nienaber, 2010; and the SAEO study) will have a negative effect on an organisation's future growth and prosperity. It became evident from this (SAEO) study that every member of an organisation will be affected should a strategy-to-performance gap exist. Therefore it is crucial that each organisation timeously identify possible factors that can result in a strategy-to-performance gap and determine what can be done to close or narrow those performance gaps. Lear (2012) contends that even if an organisation has the most outstanding strategy, the strategy will mean nothing if it is not understood at all levels within the organisation. That includes all processes to be aligned to achieve the organisation's objectives. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

Evaluation of processes during software development is closely associated with theory of quality management. This master's thesis deals with problems of quality management during development from various points of view. Theoretical part is involved in definitions of terms which relates to fundamentals and methods of quality management. Practical part is aimed at technological aspects of prototype realization. Onward contains analysis and system design, implementation description and final resume.