Global merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions exceeded $4.7 trillion in 2015, yet more than 70% of M&As fail to meet postmerger performance expectations with unsuccessful organizational integration cited as the primary source of failure. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore organizational integration strategies some business leaders use to achieve anticipated postmerger performance and growth expectations. The study population consisted of 10 executive and midlevel business leaders in 2 privately held companies, domiciled in Arizona and Iowa, who have contributed to successful organizational integration in M&A transactions in the last 5 years. The tenets of organizational change management composed the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected by semistructured interviews, reviews of internal documents, and publicly available information. Data were analyzed using inductive analysis to identify patterns and themes. The themes identified were organizational planning, communications, performance and growth, culture, and leadership and management. The study findings can assist business leaders in understanding the importance of organizational integration planning in the earliest phases of M&A transactions to improve M&A successes. The study findings contribute to positive social change by enhancing business leaders' knowledge to improve M&A postmerger performance, which can stabilize current employment, create new employment opportunities, and generate positive economic improvements for the broader stakeholder group.

Organizational leaders in the 21st century face relentless changes in the business environments in which they operate. The diversity, intensity, and rapidity of these changes create volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), which challenge leaders on ways to lead effectively as existing methods prove inadequate. The problem in this study was that of inadequate leader preparedness to lead and win in VUCA environments. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of 15 Nigerian corporate executives about their VUCA business environment and the strategies they employed for VUCA-readiness and success within the manufacturing sector. The research question guiding the study related to the lived experiences of corporate executives in manufacturing companies in Nigeria regarding VUCA-readiness and succeeding in a VUCA environment. Chaos theory and complexity leadership theory were used to frame the study. Data collection occurred through snowball sampling to interview 15 participants who are senior executives in large manufacturing corporations in Lagos, Nigeria. Data was analyzed through Ricoeur’s theory of interpretation and member checking. As a result, 4 key themes that emerged were business agility, strategic workforce and demand planning, recovery management for organizational resilience, and conscientious and value-based leadership. The study findings may contribute to positive social change in providing strategies for organizational sustainability, business readiness, responsive leadership, and enhanced employee well-being in VUCA. Recommendations include VUCA training for preparedness and organizational resilience.

In 2011 one-third of South African organisations did not intend to adopt cloud computing services because IT decision-maker lacked understanding of the related concepts and benefits (Goldstuck, 2011). This research develops a media-oriented model to examine the adoption of these services in South Africa. The model uses the technology acceptance model (TAM) and innovation diffusion theory (IDT) to develop variables that are considered determinants of adoption including trialability, complexity of understanding, perceived risk, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness.An electronic survey was sent to 107 IT decision-makers. Over 80% of the respondents were C-suite executives. The Partial Least Squares (PLS) method was chosen to depict and test the proposed model. PLS is superior to normal regression models and is a second generation technique. The data analysis included evaluating and modifying the model, assessing the new measurement model, testing the hypotheses of the model structure and presenting the structural model.The research found that media, experts and word of mouth mitigate perceived risks including bandwidth, connectivity and power. Furthermore, trialability and perceived usefulness were affected by social influence, as well as influencing adoption. The results enable service providers and marketers to develop product roadmaps and pinpoint media messages. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

<div>Social influence networks are collections of entities dealing with a shared issue on which they have individual opinions. These opinions are dynamic, changing over time due to influence from other entities. Mechanisms within the network can affect how influence leads to opinion change, such as the strength and number of social ties between agents and the decision models used by an individual to process information from its neighbors. In real-world scenarios, these mechanisms are often hidden. Much effort in social network analysis involves proposing models and attempting to replicate target output data with them. Can we instead use the evolution of opinions in a network to infer these mechanisms directly?</div><div><br></div><div>This work explores how opinion change in social influence networks can be used to determine characteristics of those networks. Broadly, this is accomplished by simulating social influence networks using various designs and initial conditions to generate opinion data, and then identifying relationships between response variables and changes to the simulation inputs. Key inputs include the population size, the influence model that controls how agents change their opinions, the network structure, the activation regime that controls the sequencing of opinion updates, and probability distributions for communication errors. Analyzing the opinions of individual agents can provide insights about the individuals (microscopic), but in this work, focus is on insights into the social influence network as a complete system (macroscopic), so opinion data is aggregated according to each response variable.</div><div><br></div><div>Response variables are designed through the lens of complexity theory. Three types of complexity measurements are applied to opinion data: regression, entropy, and a new complexity measure. In each case, relationships between design factors and response variables are diverse. The influence model and the distribution of communication errors---a factor often omitted from the literature---are consistently impactful, with their various settings producing distinct profiles in time series plots of the measurements. Activation regime is impactful to some entropy measures. Network structure has little impact on the new complexity measure, and population size has little impact in general. Overall, distinctive relationships can exist between opinions and design factors. These relationships, as well as the measures and problem-solving approaches used in this work, may be helpful to analysts working to infer the properties of real-world social influence networks from the opinion data those systems generate.</div>

Cette recherche a pour objectif d’étudier l’influence de la complexité visuelle du packaging, opérationnalisée par le nombre d’informations figurant sur le facing, sur les réactions des consommateurs et plus précisément sur l’attention consacrée au packaging et à la marque, sur l’attitude envers le produit et le choix du produit ainsi que sur la mémorisation. Les éventuels effets médiateur de l’attention portée au packaging et modérateur de l’âge sur ces relations ont également été investigués.Pour ce faire, une expérimentation eye-tracking regroupant les données de plus de cent participants a été réalisée. Cette expérimentation a mis en jeu quatre packagings dans chacune de quatre catégories de produits, chaque packaging présentant deux degrés de complexité visuelle : un packaging simple présentant quatre unités d’information en plus de la marque et de l’image et un packaging complexe présentant neuf unités d’information en plus de la marque et de l’image. Deux tâches ont, en outre, été effectuées par chaque participant : une tâche d’évaluation des produits, lors de laquelle les packagings étaient présentés un par un, et une tâche de choix, lors de laquelle les packagings étaient présentés ensemble sur un set de choix.Les résultats ont montré un effet positif de la complexité visuelle du packaging sur l’attention portée au packaging et un effet opposé, selon la tâche/modalité de présentation des packagings, sur l’attention à la marque. La complexité visuelle a également eu un effet positif sur l’attitude envers le produit et sur le choix du produit, l’effet positif sur le choix étant médiatisé par l’attention : les packagings complexes ont été évalués plus positivement que les packagings simples et ils ont également été davantage regardés, ce qui explique qu’ils ont été plus choisis. En ce qui concerne les mesures explicites de mémorisation, les résultats ont été plus divers. La complexité n’a pas eu d’effet sur la reconnaissance exacte des marques. En revanche, concernant les packagings, les résultats ont été non concordants entre les tâches/modalités de présentation des packagings. En tâche d’évaluation (packagings présentés un par un), une absence d’effet de la complexité a ainsi été constatée alors qu’en tâche de choix de produit (packagings présentés par quatre), un effet positif de la complexité sur la reconnaissance exacte des packagings, effet médiatisé par l’attention, et un effet positif de la complexité sur la fausse reconnaissance des packagings ont été constatés. Par ailleurs, de façon surprenante, dans une très large majorité des cas l’âge n’a pas eu d’effet sur l’attention portée, ni au packaging ni à la marque. Les résultats ont par contre confirmé l’effet négatif de l’âge sur les mesures explicites de mémorisation. / The goal of this research is to study the influence of product package visual complexity, operationalized as the number of information items displayed on the package front, upon consumers’ reactions, and more specifically attention devoted to the product package and to the brand, attitude toward the product, product choice and memorization. The possible mediating and moderating effects of attention devoted to the product package and consumers’ age will also be investigated.To achieve this aim, an eye-tracking experiment including data of more than a hundred participants was conducted. This experiment involved four product packages of four product categories, and two levels of visual complexity were designed for each product package: a simple package displaying four information items, in addition to the brand and the image, and a complex package displaying nine information items in addition to the brand and the image, were designed. Besides, two tasks were completed by each participant: a product evaluation task, during which product packages were presented one by one, and a choice task, during wich four product packages were presented at the same time on a choice set.The findings showed a positive effect of the package visual complexity upon attention devoted to the package, and an opposite effect, depending on the task/product presentation, upon attention devoted to the brand. Visual complexity was further found to have a positive effect upon attitude toward the product, and product choice, attention having a mediating effect on product choice: complex package fronts were preferred to simple package fronts, and they were also looked at more, and were therefore more chosen.Regarding explicit measures of memorization, results were mixed. Complexity had no impact upon accurate recognition of the brands. However, regarding product packages, results were once more inconsistent between the tasks/product presentations: no effect was found in the evaluation task (packages displayed one by one); and complexity had a positive effect –mediated by attention – upon accurate recognition of the package fronts, and a positive effect upon false recognition of the package fronts in the choice task (four packages displayed .at the same time). Surprinsingly, consumers’ age had no impact upon attention devoted to the package nor to the brand in most cases. The findings further confirm the negative effect of age upon explicit measures of memorization.

En considérant les problèmes communs aux pays en développement, tels que la rareté des ressources, les inégalités sociales, les problèmes dans les infrastructures et les institutions existantes, entre autres, on voit une vaste zone à explorer, encore un lieu de recherche à fort potentiel de transformation sociale.Cette recherche se justifie alors de ces préoccupations avec le contexte urbain des pays en développement et les initiatives des nouvelles initiatives de transformation, à travers du développement des micro-pratiques par les organisations de la société civile.L'objectif global de cette recherche concerne la compréhension du processus d'institutionnalisation de nouvelles pratiques de transformation des zones urbaines dans les pays en développement.Nous avons cherché tout au long de cette recherche à compléter l'objectif proposé concernant la compréhension de nouveaux moyens de transformation de l'espace urbain des pays en développement comme un processus non linéaire et complexe d'institutionnalisation et ainsi certaines contributions théoriques et empiriques ont été développées.L'importance de cette étude implique directement le problème qui l’a motivé, à savoir, les caractéristiques du contexte urbain dans les pays en développement. Cette étude a exposé une nouvelle façon de comprendre un processus d'institutionnalisation complexe, non linéaire et non déterministe, par le biais des micro-pratiques urbaines développées et mises en œuvre par les organisations de la société civile et en collaboration. / Considering issues regarding developing countries as the resource scarcity or social inequalities, infrastructural problems, and in vogue institutions, among others, it is recognizes that there is a wide open field to be explored and it is also a big locus of research with high social transformation potential. Thus in order to understand such problematics and the possibilities of transformation, new approaches are needed, as well as new organizational forms and new mechanisms to be engendered to address such changes, through the development of new practices, different from the traditional ones already practiced in developed countries. Thus considering the developing country scenario, there are huge differences and needs to focus initiatives and practices, according to the specific characteristics of such environment. It is not possible to consider with the same analytical lens, theories and tools used to understand the institutional context in developed countries. Although it is important to regard that both contexts present problems, but the nature and type of problems are very diverse. In this way it is possible to understand that it is in the urban scenario in developing countries that new practices are being developed to transform it somehow, being alternative forms to public r private initiatives (major social responsibility actions). The main aim of this research is thus to understand new transformation practices of the urban space in developing countries as a complex and nonlinear institutionalization process. In order to achieve this aim, two theoretical streams were explored that are neoinstitutional theory and more specifically institutionalization approaches. And the second theoretical approach is the activity theory, inside the spectrum of practice approaches, it is used in this research as a theoretical and analytical tool to embrace the growing complexity of the institutionalization processes as this of the urban space transformation through the development of micro practices. In order to surpass traditional institutionalization frameworks that considers the process as linear and deterministic, it is also possible to consider that there is no existing general framework in literature that guides researchers to a deep understanding of all the intrinsic complexity in institutionalization processes and its different elements. In this context, the aim of this research is to develop a more structured theoretic and analytic framework able to encompass all the elements, collectivity, non-linearity and complexity of the institutionalization process with the presentation of the activity system. Moreover, the concept of micro urban practices is developed in this research in order to achieve and specify the empiric field. This concept specifies activities developed with little resources and low cost, and deployed by civil society agents in a collaborative way in search for transformation of a specific urban space or even for the transformation of people’s engagement with the city and the space they live in. Finally, a few contributions could be developed in this research. The first one considers the deployment of the activity theory as a theoretical and analytical tool to encompass the inherent complexity of the institutionalization process that were not yet explored in the literature (until the moment). Another contribution concerns the innovative character of the studied organizations. This research is composed of two case studies of civil society and bottom up organizations that are focused in solving structural problems in Brazil through the development of micro practices.

Cette recherche a pour objectif d'analyser l'impact, en l'occurrence, les changements induits par les dispositifs technopédagogiques de formation à distance, sur les comportements des apprenants ; formateurs ou futurs formateurs.Pour ce faire, nous adoptons une approche systémique reposant sur une modélisation par systèmes complexes.La construction de notre modèle vise à éclairer les interrelations qui peuvent exister entre l'individu et son dispositif, et les articulations qui peuvent en découler, leur évolution et leur enchevêtrement aux différentes étapes. Ainsi, la dynamique de changement est appréciée dans son environnement, et met en évidence les variables actives pour construire son intelligibilité.Notre intention de recherche a donc l'ambition de ne pas considérer la formation comme une variable explicative de la dynamique de changement, mais de chercher à comprendre, comment dans chaque formation ; un ensemble de variables permettent d'aboutir à des résultats alors que d'autres variables ne le permettent pas. Notre proposition consiste à identifier un espace de variables particulières, les "variables processus". Celles-ci décrivent dans le temps, l'espace et la forme, les processus qui se mettent en place dans cette dynamique. / This research aims at analysing the impact, in this case, of the changes led by technopedagogical systems of distance education, on the behavior of learners, trainers or future trainers.To do so, we adopt a systemic approach based on modeling complex systems. The implementation of our model aims at highlighting the interrelations that can exist between the individual and his system, and the structure that may arise, their evolution and their entanglement at different stages. Thus, the dynamics of change is appreciated in its environment, and highlights the active variables in order to build its intelligibility.Our research intention has thus the ambition of not considering the training as a variable explaining the dynamics of change, but to try to understand, like in each training, a set of variables used, leading to results while other variables do not allow it to happen. Our proposal consists of identifying possible relevant variables, the “process variables”. These describe, across time, the space and the processing that are implemented in this dynamics.

We introduce a family of logics extending the lightweight Description Logic EL, that allows us to define concepts in an approximate way. The main idea is to use a graded membership function m, which for each individual and concept yields a number in the interval [0,1] expressing the degree to which the individual belongs to the concept. Threshold concepts C~t for ~ in {<,<=,>,>=} then collect all the individuals that belong to C with degree ~t. We further study this framework in two particular directions. First, we define a specific graded membership function deg and investigate the complexity of reasoning in the resulting Description Logic tEL(deg) w.r.t. both the empty terminology and acyclic TBoxes. Second, we show how to turn concept similarity measures into membership degree functions. It turns out that under certain conditions such functions are well-defined, and therefore induce a wide range of threshold logics. Last, we present preliminary results on the computational complexity landscape of reasoning in such a big family of threshold logics.

Title: Model constructions for bounded arithmetic Author: Michal Garlík Abstract: We study constructions of models of bounded arithmetic theories. Us- ing basic techniques of model theory we give a new proof of Ajtai's completeness theorem for nonstandard finite structures. Working in the framework of restricted reduced powers (a generalization of the ultrapower construction) we devise two methods of constructing models of bounded arithmetic. The first one gives a new proof of Buss's witnessing theorem. Using the second method we show that the theory R1 2 is stronger than its variant strictR1 2 under a plausible computational assumption (the existence of a strong enough one-way permutation), and that the theory PV1 + Σb 1(PV ) − LLIND is stronger than PV1 + strictΣb 1(PV ) − LLIND under the same assumption. Considering relativized theories, we show that R1 2(α) is stronger than strictR1 2(α) (unconditionally). 1

Inevitably, it becomes more and more important to verify that the systems surrounding us have certain properties. This is indeed unavoidable for safety-critical systems such as power plants and intensive-care units. We refer to the term system in a broad sense: it may be man-made (e.g. a computer system) or natural (e.g. a patient in an intensive-care unit). Whereas in Model Checking it is assumed that one has complete knowledge about the functioning of the system, we consider an open-world scenario and assume that we can only observe the behaviour of the actual running system by sensors. Such an abstract sensor could sense e.g. the blood pressure of a patient or the air traffic observed by radar. Then the observed data are preprocessed appropriately and stored in a fact base. Based on the data available in the fact base, situation-awareness tools are supposed to help the user to detect certain situations that require intervention by an expert. Such situations could be that the heart-rate of a patient is rather high while the blood pressure is low, or that a collision of two aeroplanes is about to happen. Moreover, the information in the fact base can be used by monitors to verify that the system has certain properties. It is not realistic, however, to assume that the sensors always yield a complete description of the current state of the observed system. Thus, it makes sense to assume that information that is not present in the fact base is unknown rather than false. Moreover, very often one has some knowledge about the functioning of the system. This background knowledge can be used to draw conclusions about the possible future behaviour of the system. Employing description logics (DLs) is one way to deal with these requirements. In this thesis, we tackle the sketched problem in three different contexts: (i) runtime verification using a temporalised DL, (ii) temporalised query entailment, and (iii) verification in DL-based action formalisms.