Thesis (DTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / The central thesis of this study is that a multi-factorial strategy model can be evolved to enable development agency to be an augmenter in the commercialisation of the mobile applications development SME sector through business model innovation in response to disruptive innovation. The concept of augmentation in the context of this study acknowledges that disruptive innovation is ubiquitous and that development agencies can help these SMEs to succeed through business model innovation. This can be achieved through the implementation of a multi-factorial strategy model. A multi-factorial strategy model in this context is regarded as a method or plan having stemmed or stemming from a number of different causes or influences detailing the logic and the key considerations on the path to defining an organisation’s strategy. The development agency can utilise it to determine the state of the business and what the appropriate response should be, by way of business model innovation in response to disruptive innovation. This study rests on three tenets, namely, the uncovering of the dimensions of business model innovation; the nature of disruption; and finally, the potential role of the development agency in supporting SMEs in the technology sector. The mobile application (app) economy has presented business potential for SMEs and this sector of the economy can be facilitated by development agencies. Governments make use of development agencies to assist, develop and support growth within a region through the provision of resources and assistance, usually from state organisations. The enterprise development strategy should ensure the viability of the business idea, which should lead to the creation of new business value. The fieldwork for this critical realist study consisted of five phases. Phase 1 involved interviews with academics from the four higher education institutions in the Western Cape; Phase 2 involved an interview with mobile application development SMEs; Phase 3 comprised a focused interview consisting of members from industry and the development agency; Phase 4 involved interviews with entrepreneurs within the innovation and technology sector; and Phase 5 involved interviews with development agencies supporting the development of SMEs. Despite their potential, mobile app development businesses in the Western Cape face difficulties in commercialising their applications. The study suggested that research is warranted around the establishment of a multi-factorial strategy model which could provide a strategy for enhanced commercialisation of mobile app development. This model would have to address a number of concerns, depending on the propensity of the business towards mobile app development. Research into what adjustments to the current business models of these businesses are required to enter into mobile app development was also recommended. The findings and interpretations of this critical realist study revealed a structured real world of the landscape of mobile application development in the Western Cape, South Africa, by identifying its key constructs. It then revealed that knowledge is socially produced by identifying the salient imperatives that inform the role of the development agent with respect to business model innovation and disruptive innovation. By means of critical discourse analysis of the views expressed by the respondents, it revealed the emancipation agenda of mobile application development in the Western Cape, South Africa. In doing so it also ultimately uncovered the generative mechanisms in understanding, amongst others, what the critical performance underpinnings are. It is recommended that the SME sector implement business model innovation to respond to disruptive innovation, defined as “emerging technology whose arrival in the marketplace signifies the eventual displacement of the dominant technology in that sector” (Ganguly, Nilchiani & Farr, 2010, p. 35). The proliferation of disruptive innovation has led to technological innovation and such innovation will impact on SMEs in South Africa. The concept of business model innovation suggests that SMEs should move to a progressive interdependent modality where they participate through their shared strengths. The collaboration with other mobile app development SMEs would allow for their independent weaknesses to be moderated. Through business model innovation, mobile app development SMEs should be able to respond to the disruptive innovation and ensure success and sustainability. The antidote to disruption should be progressive management by way of business model innovation. In this sense then, the antidote to disruptive innovation is a management response that should be understood across the sector in which the study is undertaken.

Interaction with their students during classroom instruction is often a source of stress among many teachers. The academic setting of Disciplinary Alternative Educational Programs (DAEP) poses a risk factor for teachers to experience stress, given that student disruptive behavior has been associated with higher stress levels among teachers. The problem underlying this study was that most studies on DAEP have focused on the experiences of students, with limited information available about the experiences of teachers in this type of academic setting. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the role of job-related stress and coping on the job performance of DAEP teachers, from a transactional theory of stress and coping approach. This exploration was grounded in the theoretical lens of the transactional theory of stress and coping, which served as the link between the importance of the psychological health of teachers and the successful administration of public programs. The geographical setting of the study was a single DAEP campus. Data were collected using 20 individual, face-to-face semi structured interviews. Data were analyzed using the modified van Kaam method of phenomenological analysis, which involves the systematic analysis of data through the process of dividing large quantities of qualitative data into smaller units of meaning. The results produced significant thematic themes. The findings from this study could help scholars and practitioners gain important insight about job-related stressors in DAEP, which could facilitate the improvement of administration and development policies in order to promote a positive work environment in DAEP settings.

Most nurses experience lateral violence (LV) during their careers. LV can be detrimental to nurses' livelihoods and careers, to facilities due to nurse replacement costs, to the nursing profession due to attrition, and to patient safety. The purpose of this staff education project was to educate registered nurses on the issue of LV and to equip nurses to respond to their aggressors. The project question addressed whether education would increase awareness of LV and empower nurses to stand up to their aggressors. The theory of the nurse as the wounded healer, social learning theory, and the theory of reciprocal determinism guided this project. Pretest, posttest, and evaluation data were collected from 155 nurse participants who completed an online education module. Data were analyzed by calculating the change scores between pretests and posttests and by assessing the evaluation data based on the number of nurses who answered at the highest positive levels on a Likert-style scale. Results showed a 24.64% increase in awareness from the pretest to posttest. Evaluation data indicated that nurses felt they had a better understanding of LV, felt better equipped to confront their aggressors, were concerned about the incidence of LV in the workplace, and wanted further education. Findings may be used to support positive change through routine education on LV to enable nurses to identify LV behaviors and use strategies including cognitive rehearsal, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence to combat LV and change the culture of the nursing profession.

Identifying positive behavioral interventions for students who display disruptive behavior in the classroom has become a critical issue for schools due to the high frequency of these behaviors and recent changes in legislative requirements. To address this issue, the present study investigated the utility of brief experimental analysis approach as a means to identify the most efficient and effective interventions for three students displaying problem behaviors in the classroom. By using a multi-element design, the brief experimental analysis was conducted by randomly applying interventions for three common functions of problem behavior in the classroom: teacher attention, peer attention, and escape from task demand. Then, the effects of the most efficient and effective intervention on on-task, disruptive, and work completion behaviors were compared relative to a baseline condition over time. There were individual differences in responses to the intervention, but all students responded to at least one treatment. Further, an extended analysis of the alternative baseline conditions using a BAB design was applied that included a treatment phase with the hypothesized efficient and effective treatment and a baseline phase. Results showed that selected interventions decreased disruptive behavior and increased on-task and work completion for all three participants over time relative to baseline.

Despite the explosion of popularity of UASs, and the recognition that such systems must find a way to safely operate alongside manned aviation, a literature review by this author as well as interviews with three commercial aerial photography companies in Tampa Bay, Florida, indicate that regulatory restrictions are still the greatest obstacle to law abiding commercial UAS operators. It can take six to eight months with a backlog of 12,000 waiver applications to get either a Part 333 or Part 107 exemption, which grants FAA permission for a commercial operator to fly a UAS inside controlled airspace (Gardner, 2018). A manned pilot can file a flight plan and hover a helicopter over the same area in just a few hours. The purpose of this research was to determine what industry experts perceive the future of UAS regulations hold, and how the industry will be impacted in both the short term of 5 years and less, and long-term of 5 years or more. UAS industry expert interviews were conducted in the “reflection of the meaning”, semi-structured style, with each interviewee given the latitude to discuss topics as they came to mind. A preset approved bank of questions helped to guide the interview, but in many cases as experts in the field, the interviewees naturally discussed the topics covered in the preset questions and the interview adapted to avoid unnecessary repetition. One interview was conducted in-person, but the rest were via phone calls due to geographical separation.

<p>Several industries have been affected by digitalization over the last decade. Currently the world of printed media is experiencing numerous turbulent changes. Printed newspapers are increasing their presence online and starting to compete in digital channels. This makes for an interesting area of research. With this study we hope to create a greater understanding for how the newspaper industry is affected by digital technology. The theoretical framework of this study is based upon Christensen’s (2005) concept of disruptive technology as well as Yoo & Lyytinen et al. (2010) theories on digitalization and digital innovation. We conducted a case study at the local newspaper Alpha News. Five semi- structured interviews were performed with different employees with various distinct roles; all of them important to obtain an insight into the changes occurring at Alpha News. In our study we are able to identify several aspects of changes due to digitalization within Alpha News. The printed newspaper, for instance, faces a steady decline in subscription rates due to the readers increased reliance on digital alternatives for local news. Other shown effects of the digitalized business where also revealed. The pace of change, the use of technological aids, as well as the reader-relationship, all act as examples of these shown effects.</p>

<p>Viewing peer relations as markers of children’s adjustment, the present thesis examined the associations between disruptive behavior problems (i.e., symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD] and aggression) and peer relations. A second aim was to examine how children’s cognitive functioning and view of self and of their social standing are associated with their peer relations and interactions. Gender differences in the above relations were also examined. The findings indicate that although disruptive behaviors are related to poor peer relations, low levels of prosociality (Study I) and poor cognitive functioning (i.e., poor executive functioning; Study II) exacerbate children’s peer problems. Further, overly positive perceptions of one’s social acceptance and low global self-evaluations were both related to aggression within the peer group (Study III). As regards gender differences, high levels of symptoms of ADHD and poor executive functioning, had graver consequences for the peer acceptance of girls’ than of boys’ (Study I and Study II) indicating that these characteristics may not fit the cultural stereotype for girls. Results are discussed in terms of viewing poor peer relations as indicators of problematic adjustment, and also, in terms of assessing the particular significance that peer relations have for children’s self-view and behavior within the peer group. Implications of the findings as regards the interactions between behavior, cognitions, and gender on children’s peer relations are also discussed. </p>

Research indicates that parental sources of knowledge (i.e., child disclosure, parental solicitation, and parental control) play a role in the occurrence of antisocial and other problem behaviors in childhood and adolescence. Because sources of knowledge have not been examined regarding the extent to which they are specifically related to change in disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) symptoms and no research has examined the influence of child symptom clusters of DBD on parental sources of knowledge, the current study longitudinally examined reciprocal relations between child disclosure, parental solicitation, and the DBD symptom clusters of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Conduct Disorder (CD), and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Participants were 89 children (56% males) recruited from a mid-sized southeastern community with ages ranging from 9-12 years (M = 10.4 years, SD = 1.1 years) at baseline. Results indicated that disclosure was negatively associated with both ODD and CD symptoms and solicitation was positively predictive of CD symptoms within time. However, associations were not maintained across time. Furthermore, disclosure and solicitation were unrelated to ADHD symptoms at baseline and across time. In turn, ODD symptoms were negatively related to child disclosure within as well as across time; however this association was only marginally statistically significant within time. ADHD and CD symptoms were unrelated to disclosure at both time points. Finally, only ODD symptoms were marginally statistically negatively related to parental solicitation within time, but no symptom clusters were associated with solicitation across time. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2003. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Manufacturing companies are nowadays facing an unprecedented series of challenges to their survival: global competition and product mass-customization are the shaping forces of tomorrow’s business success. The consequent need for agile and sustainable production solutions is the utmost motivation behind the development of innovative approaches which often are not in line with the state of art. It is well documented that companies fail in recognizing how such disruptively innovative approaches can yield an interesting economic output. This, in turn, enhances the risk of leaving the aforementioned promising technologies conceptually and practically underdeveloped.  In the field of automatic production systems the Evolvable Production System paradigm proposes modular architectures with distributed, autonomous control rather than integral design and hierarchical, centralized control. EPS technology is thus disruptive: it refuses the present paradigm of Engineer to Order in industrial automation by proposing an advanced Configure to Order system development logic. This dissertation investigates the possibility of using the recent sophisticated developments of the concept of Business Model as a holistic analytical tool for the characterization and solution of the issue of bringing disruptive and non-fully mature innovation to proficient application in production environments. In order to purse this objective the main contributions in the relevant literature have been extracted and combined to an original definition of business model able to encompass the aspects deemed critical for the problem. Such a construct is composed of three elements: (1) Value Proposition that describe the features of a technology that generates value for a given customer, (2) the Value Configuration and the (3) Architecture of the Revenue which describe the mechanisms that allows to create and capture such value respectively.    The subsequent work has focused on the EPS paradigm as a specific case of the overall problem. The first step has been a full characterization of the related value proposition through an innovative approach based on a bottom-up decomposition in its elementary components, followed by their aggregation into meaningful value offerings: with reference to the EPS paradigm such an approach has disclosed an overall value proposition composed of six potentially independent value offerings. This collection of Value Offerings has then been used as a basis to generate the EPS business models. In particular for each single offering a possible set of necessary activities and resources has been devised and organized in a coherent value configuration. The resulting creation mechanisms have then been linked among each other following a logical supplier-customer scheme for capturing the value: this allowed establishing the architecture of revenue, last element of the overall production paradigm. Finally the results have been validated in a semi-industrial system developed for the (IDEAS, 2010-2013) project through the individuation of the areas of application of such business models. / <p>QC 20121120</p> / FP7-IDEAS- Instantly Deployable Evolvable Assembly System / FP6- EUPASS-Evolvable Ultra-Precision Assembly Systems / XPRES- Initiative for excellence in production research