Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (June 29, 2006) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 21, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 27, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Titel: Best Practice inom Benchmarking; Hur små och medelstora företag använder förebilder och jämförelser Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Robert Eriksson & Evelina Skoglund Handledare: Tomas Källqvist & Stig Sörling Datum: 2015 – januari.   Syfte: Enligt tidigare forskning existerar det en problematik för SME att använda konceptet benchmarking, de befintliga modeller och tillvägagångssätt är främst anpassade för större organisationer. Syftet med studien är därmed av skapa en förståelse kring hur SME arbetar med förebilder och jämförelser i enlighet med best practice. Metod: Studien antar ett hermeneutiskt och socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv och använder en deduktiv ansats. Den teoretiska referensramen har byggts upp genom att sammanställa den tidigare forskningen under teman. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in ifrån fem SME genom en kvalitativ metod med en fallstudiedesign där semistrukturerade intervjuer och öppna intervjufrågor har använts. Den teoretiska referensramen har sedan ställts mot det empiriska materialet för att belysa skillnader och likheter. Resultat & slutsats: Studien tyder på att SME ständigt arbetar med jämförelser och ser till förebilder. Deras arbetssätt skiljer sig dock från tidigare forskning, då de arbetar mer ostrukturerat och använder en ständig öppenhet för att få nya idéer. Det framkommer också att ledningens roll har en stor betydelse. Resultatet visar att dessa SME använder best practice, men även att se ser till worst practice. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Utifrån denna studie ser vi det intressant att vidare se både kvantitativa och kvalitativa studier som fokuserar på begreppet worst practice, vi skulle även se det intressant att belysa ledningens roll inom konceptet för att få en djupare förståelse för dess vikt.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Det bidrag som studien genererar visar på att SME arbetar med jämförelser på ett mer ostrukturerat sätt än de presenterade modellerna. Den visar även att de ser till worst practice och inte bara best practice då de använder konceptet. Nyckelord: Best practice, SME, benchmarking, strukturlöst, worst practice öppenhet.

abstract: ABSTRACT Research suggests that there are benefits of early intervention and in focusing on mental health for infants and toddlers who have been maltreated. Court Teams for Infants and Toddlers is a model program designed to improve developmental outcomes using a systemic change approach. Multi-system collaboration between the courts, child welfare, health professionals, child advocates, and community partners are promoted to increase awareness and improve outcomes for infants and toddlers who have been removed from their parents. The Court Teams model in Arizona is known as Best for Babies. This study looks at implementation efforts of Best for Babies in two counties, Yavapai and Pima, and the unique perspectives of foster parents and attorneys representing the infants and toddlers while in the foster care system. It is important for purposes of effective program implementation to understand whether the Best for Babies program has impacted how these stakeholders address the unique needs of infants and toddlers. Findings reveal that most foster parents in this study were not familiar with the Best for Babies program; however, many of the comments shared are aligned with the values of the program. For example, all participants commented that collaboration among various stakeholders is necessary. Areas of opportunity were also illustrated in the findings regarding Best for Babies program implementation. For instance, the study found that even those foster parents familiar with the program could not attribute an impact on their care of infants and toddlers specifically to Best for Babies. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.W. Social Work 2011

abstract: ABSTRACT Facility managers have an important job in today's competitive business world by caring for the backbone of the corporation's capital. Maintaining assets and the support efforts cause facility managers to fight an uphill battle to prove the worth of their organizations. This thesis will discuss the important and flexible use of measurement and leadership reports and the benefits of justifying the work required to maintain or upgrade a facility. The task is streamlined by invoking accountability to subject experts. The facility manager must trust in the ability of his or her work force to get the job done. However, with accountability comes increased risk. Even though accountability may not alleviate total control or cease reactionary actions, facility managers can develop key leadership based reports to reassign accountability and measure subject matter experts while simultaneously reducing reactionary actions leading to increased cost. Identifying and reassigning risk that are not controlled to subject matter experts is imperative for effective facility management leadership and allows facility managers to create an accurate and solid facility management plan, supports the organization's succession plan, and allows the organization to focus on key competencies. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Construction 2011

Against the backdrop of health research regulation, this work engages in an exploration of, and offers suggestions towards, how the decision maker can negotiate the complex path of the difficult decision. It is argued that whilst rules and principles are heavily relied upon in order to determine what to do, this reliance takes place without adequate reflection of the different ways in which we seek to rely upon these decision-making aids. What is most often the topic of analysis is the content which rules and principles carry rather than consideration of the different functions which each can fulfil or their (un)suitability in helping the decision maker. Before we consider which principles or rules should inform our decisions, we need to understand why we are using rules and principles. It follows that in order to understand why we might use rules and principles, we must understand how rules and principles can actually help us to reach decisions. Through the development and refinement of a conceptual tree, this thesis sheds light on the how and the why, in order to help decision makers determine the which. Through the metaphor of a continuum, additional insights are offered on the interrelationships that might co-exist between rules and principles. This thesis begins by offering an analysis of pre-existing understandings of rules and principles from legal theory and bioethics literatures. Additionally, I consider the implications of principle-centric and rule-centric approaches to decision-making. Through the overarching metaphor of a tree, a conceptualisation of best practice instantiations, which represent a helpful middle-ground between rules and principles is also offered. This can provide significant practical support to the decision maker in navigating the path of the difficult decision.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi de avaliar economicamente uma unidade de produção de alevinos de espécies reofílicas do estado de Rondônia e desta forma estruturar a análise de custos, econômica e gerencial do empreendimento. O empreendimento avaliado possui 54 ha de área total e 6,5 ha de lâmina d’água disponíveis para a alevinagem. Na safra 2010/2011 o empreendimento produziu os seguintes produtos: alevinos de tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) nos tamanhos de 3g, 5g, 10g, 15g, 20g e 30g; alevinos de piavuçu (Leporinus macrocephalus); e alevinos de curimba (Prochilodus lineatus). O empreendimento ainda comprou e revendeu alevinos de pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) e alevinos de Jundiara (♀ Pseudoplathystoma fasciatum X ♂ Leiarius marmoratus). A fim de avaliar como a produção de alevinos consumiu os recursos disponíveis do empreendimento, realizou-se o mapeamento do fluxo de produção do empreendimento e de sua estrutura que custos . Foram calculados os seguintes indicadores de custo e rentabilidade: custo operacional efetivo e total, custo total de produção, receita liquida e lucro, além dos indicadores de fluxo de caixa usuais e seus alternativos integrados, ponto de nivelamento e margem de contribuição total. Através do mapeamento do fluxo de produção verificou-se que o plantel de reprodutores apresenta resultados reprodutivos satisfatórios, porém o empreendimento apresenta falhas no manejo de arraçoamento de reprodutores e alevinos e não realiza o controle dos estoques de alevinos e dos parâmetros de qualidade de água nos viveiros. Entre os produtos efetivamente produzidos no empreendimento, os que apresentaram os menores custos médios e as melhores rentabilidades estão os alevinos de tambaqui de 3g, 5g e os alevinos de piavuçu. A análise custos e econômica mostrou que empreendimento apresenta uma baixa lucratividade a médio prazo em relação ao capital investido e economicamente inviável a longo prazo, devido a sua onerosa estrutura de produção. Diante destes resultados fica evidente que as tomadas de decisão para determinação de valores de investimento e preço de venda dos produtos são realizadas sem todas as informações necessárias para o adequado planejamento do empreendimento, o que mostra a importância do contínuo controle dos processos e avaliação econômica deste tipo de empreendimento. / The objective of this study was to evaluate a unit cost of production of fingerlings of reophilic species in the state of Rondônia, Brazil, and thereby structure the cost analysis, and the economic management of the enterprise. The enterprise has 54 ha and 6.5 ha of water is available for the nursery. In the season 2010/2011 the enterprise produced the following products: fingerlings of tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) in 3g, 5g, 10g, 15g, 20g and 30g weights; piavuçu fingerlings (Leporinus macrocephalus) and curimba fingerlings (Prochilodus lineatus). The venture has bought and resold pirarucu fingerlings (Arapaima gigas) and jundiara fingerlings (♀ Pseudoplathystoma fasciatum X ♂ Leiarius marmoratus). In order to evaluate how the production of fingerlings consumed the resources of the enterprise, was conducted the flow map of production of the enterprise and its cost structure. Was calculated the following indicators of cost and profitability, and total operational cost, total cost of production, net income and earnings, and indicators of cash flow and its usual alternative integrated point of leveling and total contribution margin. By mapping the production flow it was found that the bloodstock breeding presents satisfactory results, but the venture fails in the management and feeding of fingerlings and does not perform the control of fingerlings stocks and the parameters of water quality. Among the products actually produced in the enterprise, who had the lowest average costs and better returns are 3 g and 5 g tambaqui fingerlings, and piavuçu fingerlings. The analysis showed that costs and economic analysis has low profitability in the medium term in relation to capital invested and economically unviable in the long term, due to its costly production structure. Given these results it is evident that the decision making process for determining values of investment and the selling price of the products are made without all the information necessary for proper planning of the enterprise, which shows the importance of continuous control process and economic evaluation of this type of business venture.

Highways and roadways are the major source of stormwater runoff due to their prevalence and large non-permeable surface area. Best Management Practices (BMPs) such as bioswale provide effective on-site management and control of stormwater runoff from linear infrastructure such as highways. Many factors affect the performance of bioswales for stormwater volume reduction. The ratio of the installed BMP area to its service drainage area, characteristics of precipitation and the amount of sediment build-up over the surface of the BMP area are among the most important factors. Earlier studies have indicated that volume reductions in stormwater runoff from bioswale application range from 50% to 94%. However, the reported research lacks adequate information for a full understanding of how bioswales perform under various conditions. Consequently, additional systematic and in-depth research to better understand and the potential of bioswales as a method of controlling stormwater runoff is indicated. This research examined the effect of the following factors on bioswale performance: the ratio of the BMP area to the service drainage area, precipitation amounts and intensity, and sediment build-up. Hydraulic and hydrological processes were developed and analyzed through conceptual and physical models using appropriate governing equations including the Green-Ampt method. Field study of discrete rainfall events was conducted to collect information to calibrate and validate the numerical models. The field study tested various bioswale conditions with different levels of sediment accumulation. It also considered expected soil loss in the study area using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) method. In addition to field study, extensive simulations were conducted considering various contributing areas, rainfall depth and intensity, and sediment accumulation. These variables were manipulated to evaluate their effect on runoff volume reduction. Findings indicate that, for a given rainfall depth and duration, increasing the ratio of the BMP area to the service drainage area from 4% to16% results in increased bioswale efficiency ranging from 84% to 99%. The results revealed that input flowrate to the bioswale ranged from 0.04 to 4.7 in./min. depending on the rainfall intensity and soil type in the area. The runoff reduction performance of a newly constructed bioswale ranged from 44% for the highest input flowrate to 99% for the lowest input flowrate rainfall events. On the low end of rainfall volume/intensity, a 4% increase in the BMP area ratio results in a 34% improvement in efficiency (50% to 84%). On the high end of rainfall volume/intensity, a 16% increase in the area ratio results in only a 5% increase in efficiency (94% to 99%). Results also show that sediment accumulation has a substantial negative effect on infiltration rate. The observed efficiency of a bioswale in runoff reduction ranged from 13% to 100%. According to the USLE, the expected amount of soil loss occurring in the right-of-way area of a highway is approximately 1 ton/acre annually. The research revealed that for a given rainfall depth, duration, and area ratio; increasing the amount of sediment accumulation from 0 lbs./sq. ft. (equivalent to a newly constructed bioswale) to 2.7 lbs./sq. ft. (equivalent to a 10-year old bioswale) results in a 52% reduction in the runoff effectiveness of the bioswale sub-catchment from 98% to 46%. Finally, the physical model and associated governing equations were analyzed to describe the process of each studied factor. These results can be used for further study where the sediment accumulation rates differ from those modeled in this research.

A gestão por processos de negócio aumenta a qualidade de produtos e serviços e diminui o custo operacional nas organizações. Para realizar gestão por processos é necessário mapear estes processos em modelos de processo de negócio que precisam ter qualidade sintática, semântica e pragmática. A qualidade pragmática, em particular, garante que um modelo é compreensível. Os modelos são criados por analistas de processo, os quais reúnem informações que estão distribuídas pela organização e, a partir do conhecimento dos stakeholders do processo. Esta é uma tarefa complexa, que nem sempre resulta em modelos de processo com boa qualidade pragmática. Processos com baixa qualidade pragmática podem ser de difícil entendimento pelos stakeholders do processo. Para certificar a qualidade pragmática é necessário testar o entendimento do processo com novos usuários. Na maioria das vezes é difícil obter novos usuários para realizar testes. Este trabalho propõe uma abordagem que tem como base uma ontologia para representar modelos de processo e boas práticas de modelagem para auxiliar na identificação de modelos com baixa qualidade pragmática. A abordagem desenvolvida inclui o desenvolvimento de um plug-in para o editor de ontologia Protégé, que a partir de indicadores propostos na literatura automatiza a identificação de problemas na qualidade pragmática da modelagem de processos de negócio. Esta ferramenta pode ser utilizada no contexto acadêmico em cursos de modelagem de processos de negócio, auxiliando alunos no entendimento de boas práticas de modelagem, e no contexto empresarial, para revisar grandes repositórios de processos e selecionar os modelos que possam ter problemas na qualidade pragmática. / Business Process Management (BPM) increases the products and services quality and decreases operational costs in organizations. BPM requires the mapping of such process models that must present synthetic quality, semantic quality and pragmatic quality. Pragmatic quality, in particular, ensures understandability of the model. Models are designed by process analysts, gathering information spread at the organization and the knowledge of stakeholders. The design task is complex and some times does not result in process models with high pragmatic quality. Process model with low pragmatic quality may be difficult to understand by process stakeholders. Pragmatics quality certication tests the understanding of the process with new users. Most of the time it is hard to get new users to run tests. This work proposes an approach based on an ontology to represent process models and modeling practices to identify models with low pragmatic quality. The proposed approach is based on the development of a plug-in for Protégé ontology editor, and uses metrics from the literature to identify pragmatic quality problems in process models. This tool can be aplied in academic context so that students can better understant best practices in business process modeling, and also at business context, to review large process repositories selecting models which may have pragmatic quality problems.