No description available.

The purpose of business-IT alignment is to optimise the relation between business and IT in order to maximise the business value of IT. Successful business-IT alignment can be enabled by business processes and e-processes functioning as adaptive mediators between business and IT systems. Business processes are the ways actors work in enterprises and collaborate in value networks, while e-processes support a flexible flow of information between IT systems and business processes. The overall goal of this thesis is to propose methods for business process and e-process design and evaluation for achieving alignment between enterprise goals and IT systems. The methods are based on model-driven approaches, using enterprise and software models. More precisely, the proposed methods can be used for designing models of business processes supporting the fulfilment of enterprise goals in the setting of a value network; for designing models of generic and reusable business processes that support the fulfilment of enterprise goals; for designing models of e-processes that support a flexible alignment of IT systems with business processes; and for evaluating the extent to which business processes are aligned with enterprise goals and IT systems. The result of the thesis can be used to support business and system designers with practical knowledge on how to align business and IT systems in order to create efficient, high-quality, flexible and innovative organisations. The research presented in this thesis has been carried out following the design science paradigm. This paradigm is characterised by the creation of new and innovative artefacts for solving general problems, and the evaluation of their benefits and drawbacks.

The constant changes in governmental and customer requirements are forcing organizations to adapt in today’s dynamic market. Challenges such as international competition, increased cost pressure and efficient resource allocation are just a few examples of what organizations currently are facing. The need of managing business processes has become evident, as processes describes how well the organization is operating. Processes are no longer seen as just a tool, but as a way to visualize and standardize the organization in order to decrease variation and waste. With limited resources, ABB HVC has been working with business processes for over 20 years without any major influence since the competition has not required it. During the last three years the focus has shifted and business processes are now a hot topic. A stance has been taken and ABB HVC is now aiming to become a process-oriented organization. To become a process-oriented organization, ABB HVC needs a solid foundation built around processes. This project aims to satisfy a part of that foundation by designing a process for the technology department. As the technology department currently lacks a defined process, they cannot in a clear and visual way describe how they operate. Most of the time spent during this project, was focused on designing a functional process and to identify options for development. The research type of this project is a change focused research with an action research strategy. The selected approach is a design research methodology with qualitative data collection. In order to gather all the required information to complete the task, a literature review and an empirical analysis of ABB HVC were conducted. The result of this project was a process map describing the workflow and interactions of the technology department. An implementation plan, tools and suggested improvements have also been included in the report to provide the technology department with a strategy in how to continue the process work. / Ständiga förändringar och krav från myndigheter och kunder tvingar organisationer att anpassa sig till dagens dynamiska marknad. Utmaningar som internationell konkurrens, ökat kostnadstryckt och en effektiv resursfördelning är bara några exempel på vad organisationer för närvarande står inför. Behovet av att hantera affärsprocesser har blivit uppenbart eftersom processerna beskriver hur väl organisationen fungerar. Processer ses inte längre som bara ett verktyg, utan som ett sätt att visualisera och standardisera organisationen för att minska variation och slöseri. Med begränsade resurser har ABB HVC arbetat med affärsprocesser i över 20 år utan någon större påverkan för att konkurrensen inte har krävt det. Under de senaste tre åren har fokus skiftat och affärsprocesser är nu ett hett samtalsämne. En ställning har tagits och ABB HVC siktar nu på att bli en processorienterad organisation. För att bli en processorienterad organisation behöver ABB HVC en stabil grund uppbyggd kring processer. Detta projekt syftar till att tillfredsställa en del av denna grund genom att utforma en process för teknikavdelningen. Eftersom teknikavdelningen idag saknar en definierad process kan de inte tydligt beskriva hur de arbetar. Merparten av tiden spenderat under detta projekt var inriktad på att utforma en fungerande process och att identifiera alternativ för utveckling. Forskningstypen för detta projekt är en förändringsfokuserad forskning med en aktionsforskningsstrategi. Det valda tillvägagångssättet är att använda design research metodiken med kvalitativ datainsamling. För att samla in all den information som krävts för att slutföra uppgiften, har en litteraturstudie och en empirisk analys av ABB HVC utförts. Resultatet av detta projekt var en processkarta som beskriver arbetsflödet och interaktionerna för teknikavdelningen. En genomförandeplan, verktyg och förslag på förbättringar har också tagits med i rapporten för att ge teknikavdelningen en strategi för hur man ska fortsätta processarbetet.

<p>For a company to be competitive today, one way is to create a natural feedback loop from the production department to the design department with information regarding the production systems ability to deliver a finished component. The purpose with this feedback loop is to create respect for tolerances and to more design for manufacturing and assembly. The studied company in this thesis work developed a quality program to reach a spiral of continuous improvements to reduce cost of poor quality (CoPQ) and to reach an improved quality level (PPM). The object of this work was to test and improve the quality program called The Zero Tolerance Program. Delimitations were made when the work was started and ongoing which led to that the impact on PPM could not be studied. The connection to CoPQ was difficult to obtain and could only be proved theoretically, not practically, due to the short timetable.</p><p>During the short amount of time the right root cause could not be found. The thesis work findings came to a number of identified Measurable Success Criteria and requirements which must be in place for the further progress of The Zero Tolerance Program.</p> / PREPARE

This thesis aims to explore the potential impact of Computer Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) as a conceptual design tool on the design methodology of final year students. Many design studies have focused on sketching and its relationship with creative thinking to validate CAAD programs as a design tool. On the contrary, this study argues that the continued primacy of traditional tools as the predominant conceptual tools needs more evidence in the contemporary design practices. That is to say, the relative importance of CAAD alongside other media, such as sketching, model making and verbalisation must be recognised before the forthcoming leap in CAAD programs development. To illustrate these ideas, the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment was used as a case study to explore CAAD’s role in the educational context, the studio in general and the final year studio in particular. A mixed methods approach was employed to carry out two studies: a case study and a protocol study. A case study approach was utilised to understand the modern context whereby CAAD is used by the students despite CAAD not being an integrated part of the project model. The case study was also used to document the reasons behind students’ tendency of using CAAD at the conceptual phases of the design process. Mixed methods were used to collect data at three different intervals of the two semesters; before starting the studio project, while working on the project and after submitting the final project. The methods used include a questionnaire survey, structured reflection interviews, and a focus group. A protocol study was conducted to understand the impact of CAAD on selfcommunication using the think aloud method under the same experimental conditions using CAAD program(s) as the only external representation. The case study findings clarified the effects of the traditional context of the studio and the project model on CAAD’s utility within students’ design processes and identified the lack of CAAD professional skills, and the integration of CAAD as a knowledge base. The protocol study findings provided a greater understanding of the cognitive processes in designing and design performance while using CAAD, as well as acknowledging the possibility of a cyclic conceptual process. The potential impact of CAAD on the design process was further categorised. The empirical exploration provides CAAD research with new insights, instigating more useful ways of teaching and learning by an appropriate integration of CAAD programs and design methods in a situated manner where students can enhance their design processes creatively. It is proposed that a more measured and disinterested approach is now required to investigate CAAD and their implications for education.

The objective of this thesis is to explore the design of operational processes in information-intensive service delivery systems. Empirical data is presented which builds upon existing literature within the Business Process Management (BPM) and Service Operations Management (SOM) disciplines. Adopting a theory building mode, the thesis concludes with the formulation of several research propositions which specify the design characteristics of the processes that provide the service concept to the customer. The research addresses a number of gaps in the literature. First, there is little empirical evidence concerning the relationship between the service concept, customer inputs, and process design. Second, service classification schemes promote homogeneous thinking in the design of service systems delivering diverse service concepts. Third, the BPM literature provides generic process design principles which offer limited theoretical insights into the design requirements of operational processes. Finally, there is a need for process design research in information-intensive service organisations. A research framework that integrates theoretical models addressing service process design is investigated using a single case study approach. Fieldwork was carried out over a sixteen-month period in a large electricity supplier in the UK. In contrast to the macro-orientation found within the literature, this study employs a more granular level of analysis to address the unique requirements of ‘service concept – processes’ pairs. This approach results in a number of important findings which, in several instances, are in contradiction to current thinking. First, the results empirically validate the theoretical relationship between service concept, customer inputs, and process design. Different service concepts lead to different process designs, and the more customised the service concept, the more the process is uniquely designed. Significant differences in the design of the individual processes that collectively provide the service concept to the customer are highlighted. The results also provide some new insights into the design of front office – back office activities as well as into the design characteristics of processes characterised by low customer contact. In addition, the study refutes the view that generic process design principles are universally applicable irrespective of the context in which the processes operate. Finally, the research findings show that a process-based view of service systems allows for heterogeneity; that is differences in the design of service delivery processes within the same organisation.

In the design of a solvent extraction plant for metals it is necessary to treat the equilibrium data either graphically or analytically. This enables stagewise calculations to be performed to explore solvent usage and feed conditions and so optimise on the cost of recovery of the metal. The present study reviews the methods of presenting and correlating equilibrium data for solvent extraction systems involving metals; the limitations of each approach are highlighted. The most important example of metal extraction which has been studied falls into that class involving a metal species, in acid aqueous media, which displaces protons from the organic extractant during the mass transfer process. In the typical case of copper extracted by hydroxyoximes the equilibrium problem reduces to one of modelling a surface. The concentration of copper in the organic phase is a function of the concentrations of copper and sulphuric acid in the aqueous phase. Empirical models seem to be as satisfactory to the engineer as chemical ones provided the model is used between restricted regions of data. Practical work has involved the measurement of equilibrium data for the extraction of zinc and copper by di- (2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) in a kerosene diluent. Both the single and binary metal systems have been studied. The data reported are for feeds between 2-40 g/l zinc, 2-60 g/l copper and 20% V/v D2EHPA. A limited number of results are also presented for 10% V/v D2EHPA. Specific chemical and empirical models have been developed to correlate these data. Because the extractant has a high affinity for zinc in the presence of copper the binary data can be modelled making the assumption that the interaction of copper on zinc is negligible. However the effect of zinc on the limited extraction of copper is significant, the zinc reducing the copper loading markedly. In this way zinc can be decontaminated of copper. The methods for presentation of equilibrium data are discussed and a computer program is given which displays three dimensional equilibrium surfaces. Classical design procedures for stagewise. calculations are used against these three dimensional data plots. Computer programs which allow the investigation of a variety of operating conditions have also been written.

The role of visual communication design continues to increase in importance around the world. In Bahrain, organisations are increasingly considering visual communication design as a means of accomplishing organisational goals. The research aims to understand the process by which design managers in organisations in Bahrain manage and evaluate visual communication designs to gain strategic advantage. Even though the management of visual communication design has not yet been recognised as a separate category of design management in Bahrain, its processes and approaches may differ from other management applications. This research opens with a contextual overview of the visual communication design management field, before presenting an understanding of how visual communication design can be utilised as an innovative approach to the strategic structuring organisational thinking. Methods have been developed for investigating how Bahraini client design managers manage visual communication design projects. Observational studies and interviews with client design managers and creative directors have been conducted to obtain an understanding of the visual communication design process, together with evaluation procedures in the Bahraini context. These empirical investigations have led to the development of a conceptual framework that describes the visual communication design management process and the evaluation procedure that is carried out by client design managers in Bahrain. The remainder of this thesis explains the outcomes of each phase of the research. The unique contributions of this study are embodied in a discussion of the findings together with reflections and recommendations for those involved and interested in design management in Bahrain.

In the last decade Process Synthesis has been an emerging active area of research. Since 1999 at COMPS, we have continuously applied this technique to many studies and recently have carefully started to consider the integration of this technique with others to simplify multilevel process design. In this regard the need for new tools that do not require very accurate data or experimental technique has become an imperative for the initial analysis of systems. This thesis presents some of these results.Process synthesis requires new rapid tools for the assessment and comparison of new technologies (possibilities) in the process development stage.This thesis examines and formulates process synthesis problems in the case of separation processes (separation with mixing , separation with reaction).Using simple generic vectorial tools, the thesis addresses the folowing issue: How the topology and mapping of the process vector field defines patterns that may be used for alternative process synthesis solution and design (structure selection ,stability analysis or controllability etc...) . The tools presented are intended for preliminary process design and feasibility studies and will allow for simple comparisons of various options.The key principle used in the study is the exploitation of the generic vectorial representation of fundamental physical phenomena (separation, mixing , reaction) in the process models as used for process synthesis and analysis.The demonstrated power of this approach is that it allows one to exploit the formal mathematical similarities between the different processing modes. Extensive topological Reactive Column Profile has been generated and analysed, offering new insights for manipulation of process behaviour in process synthesis and design. The significance of the contribution of this research is in offering extended fundamental insigths in creating process synthesis options for reactive-separations systems, creating the essential structural basis for subsequent mathematical optimisation of the performanceof process designs.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the application of design processes to the development of novel self-use molecular diagnostic devices for sexually transmitted infections. The argument proposed in this thesis is that the application of design methods at the earliest research stages into miniaturised, low cost, molecular diagnostic technologies will accelerate and improve the process of translating proof of concept diagnostic technologies into usable devices. Concept development requirements and potential issues and barriers to development were identified through interviews with expert stakeholders. These requirements were further refined through a survey of a multidisciplinary diagnostic medical device research group. An action research method was applied to develop a proof of concept prototype to the preclinical trial stage. Through these research studies, a design process model was formulated for use in a research environment. The application of design methods to the proof of concept prototype described in the thesis have resulted in a preclinical trial prototype that exhibits the necessary features for development into a self-use molecular diagnostic device. Issues and barriers were identified and discussed, design guidelines for further development beyond preclinical trial were defined and a generalised design process model for self-use molecular diagnostic devices for sexually transmitted infections was proposed. This research highlights the need for design methods to be applied at the earliest possible stages of the development of novel molecular diagnostic devices.