Lötz and Du Plessis sum up the problem at hand most succinctly in their stating that “the relevant question is whether electronic contracts of sale can fulfil the general, legal requirements for the conclusion of a valid contract, and also where and when such contracts are (deemed to be) concluded”.2 In light of this statement, consider the following schematic representation of all the parties and their relationships, as typically occurring during the electronic contracting process: This statement succinctly sums up a single aspect of this problem, the so-called “contracting phase”. Following the traditional thought pattern, all aspects leading up to the point of conclusion need to be assessed and critically discussed as a failing or miscommunication in any one of the traditional requirements for the conclusion of a valid contract may later in the contractual relationship affect consensus and thus conclusion. This second phase “remedies and liability” refers to the situation where consensus is defective for one or other reason stemming from a failure in the internet/network services offered by the Internet Service Provider. A practical example of this may be: A and D have concluded pre-contractual negotiations and stand on the brink of consensus. A has signed the agreement and has forwarded same to D by means of e-mail. As far as A is concerned, the contract is concluded and he/she makes arrangements to fulfil of his/her obligations. D does not receive the signed agreement from A due to a failure on the part of his/her Internet Service Provider (C) – the server crashed and as a result he/she has no knowledge of A’s acceptance. D therefore concludes a contract with a third party for the same goods that form the subject of the contract with A and performs in terms of same. In these circumstances A has suffered economic loss due to his/her preparation to perform alternatively, full performance in terms of a contract he/she believed to be concluded. It goes without saying that neither A nor D are responsible for the loss A has suffered. The obvious question is then who is responsible for A’s loss? This work aims to assess firstly, the nature and the scope of possible remedies available to A to redress his/her loss, and secondly, the extent to which the Internet Service Provider can be held responsible for the failure of the communication medium. These issues will be discussed against the backdrop of the general principles of the law of contract and their application to this new and integral component in economic transactions. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / am2014 / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

This research investigates the relationship between different leadership styles and different types of psychological contracts. This stems from the need that many organisations have, to manage and retain talented employees who possess skills that are critical to the sustained success of the organisation. Leaders in particular tend to be at the centre of managing and influencing the employee’s experience and as such it is of great necessity that they understand how different leadership approaches impact on the unwritten, yet critical expectations and experiences of employees.The literature provided discusses psychological contracts and leadership. There are various instruments in the literature that were used to compile the questionnaire to gather data for analysis. The dependent variable, psychological contract, was measured mainly using Millward and Hopkins’s (1998) transactional and relational psychological contract instrument with some enhancement adapted from work done by Rousseau (2000). Bass and Avolio’s (1997) theory of Full Range Leadership Development was then the basis of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire tool which was used to measure Leadership as the independent variable.The study presents findings from 151 National Treasury employees, of which 33% were managers and 67% were non-management. Data obtained from these research instruments was statistically analysed. Overall, the findings from this study suggest that although the relationship that exists between relational psychological contracts and transformational leadership is not very strong, there is a positive association. It appears that transactional and transformational leadership do play a role in the kind of commitment employees make with the organisation. Lastly, an unanticipated outcome in relation to tenure within an organisation provided insight into the importance of understanding the context within which psychological contracts develop. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / The importance of an occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) in a mining contract allows the establishment of guidelines to prevent and mitigate accidents that may occur in mines and in exploration areas. Such guidelines are integrated to ensure compliance with regulations with respect to the mining activity (DS 024-2016-EM). For developing a model, the literature was initially reviewed (scientific articles and research studies were used as the background), development techniques were established, and an OHSMS was proposed, with prior evaluation from the contractor. Subsequently, this study presents the general requirements, planning, implementation, verification, and the corresponding review by the appropriate authority. Finally, the model is established, supported by tables that will report the current state of the company and the implementation process. This study concludes with the execution of OHSMS in case of mining contracts.

No description available.

No description available.

Despite the increasing interest in blockchain as a possible solution to replace centralized IoT architectures, previous work failed to provide a direct role for the sensing devices, i.e., direct interaction with the blockchain without additional components. Moreover, few studies focus on permissionless blockchains, even if it is the most secure platform for developing blockchain-based applications. This thesis presents an architecture that considers constrained sensing devices as direct actors on a public blockchain network. A public blockchain network allows the seamless inclusion of several unknown actors, and smart contracts provide a platform to develop complex IoT applications. The research followed an iterative DSR approach; designing, building, and evaluating new IT artifacts using two case studies in the agricultural IoT domain. These cases fostered two exploratory studies that diverged from the main IoT domain; however, they also provide novel contributions to blockchain-based applications. Thus, the novel architecture tackles three problems of current blockchain-based IoT systems i) constrained sensing devices as direct actors on a blockchain system, ii) permissionless blockchain networks and iii) smart contracts as an IoT application platform. Furthermore, the exploratory analyses examine two challenges of blockchain-based applications i) user experience and monetary costs and ii) data sharing and decentralized storage.

Welch (2003) believed that one of the most significant challenges facing community colleges is generating enough revenue to promote the mission, goals, and objectives of the community college. According to Kenton (2005), community colleges thrive on revenue generated from tuition and fees, federal and state programs and endowments. Resource development is income generated activities established by community colleges (Glass & Jackson, 1998b). This dissertation explores resource development at Mississippi’s Community and Junior Colleges. Secondly, it determines whether revenue generated from fundraising serves the colleges’ needs. Thirdly, it distinguishes the various types of resource development activities the colleges and junior colleges used to raise funds. Lastly, this research explores the operation integration and organizational structure of resource development at Mississippi’s Community and Junior College. The results of this study demonstrated how the community and junior colleges in Mississippi operate their grants office while in concert with their foundation office. This study revealed the connection between grants functions and grant development at the community and junior college level. The trend has shifted from capital campaigns to cooperative funding in conjunction with community based organizations affiliated with the colleges. Community colleges have to initiate annual fund drives, capital campaigns, special events, and business partnerships in order to secure the necessary resources to survive in the competitive educational environment.

No description available.

The government often imposes requirements on their contractors for the purpose of monitoring and control. Many government contractors utilize a matrix organization structure to help cope with the government's ever changing and challenging requirements. It is both the government requirements and this matrix organization which lead to the need for special information and features in a government contractor's manufacturing/material control system. This report specifically addresses those features which would be desirable in a government contractor's MRP system. These features involve the operation of the master schedule, the bill of material, the MRP software, the inventory files, purchasing, and shop floor control. No single government requirement is in direct conflict with the intent of an MRP system. However, the interpretation of these requirements vary within the government agencies and between government contractors. The contractor, the appropriate government agency, and the software vendor, if applicable, need to work together to implement a system which satisfies both internal management needs and government requirements. This report contains features and considerations which should be evaluated when a government contractor is implementing an MRP system.

This report presents and interprets the Cost/Schedule Control System Criteria, management techniques which have been determined by the Department of Defense to represent appropriate methods for adequately controlling program costs and schedules. Applied to selected contracts of significantly large dollar value, these standards provide for a system which affords the contractor the ability for effective program management and the customer sufficient output visibility for proper program progress evaluation. These criteria differ from typical management methods in that they include a means for assessing the value of completed work in terms of its planned cost. Comparing this with the planned cost of work scheduled for the same period, and actual costs, results in a quantitative development of cost and schedule variances.