This thesis is focused on the evaluation of quality management systems productivity. The introductory part is devoted to the importance of quality for company competitiveness with an emphasis on the economic benefits of improved quality. An important part is devoted to methods of performance evaluation system of quality management in the context of the recommendations of ISO 9000 and EFQM Excellence Model principles. Considering the follow-up practical part my thesis is also supplemented by the requirements of ISO TS 16949, which is used as a sectoral standard for the automotive industry suppliers. The practical part is devoted to evaluating and analysing productivity of a selected company quality management system. The thesis evaluates this company according to the Model Organization Start National Quality Award, which is based on the principles of the EFQM Excellence Model. On the basis of the analysis, areas with potential improvement were identified, and appropriate steps designed. Despite the undoubtedly existing potential for further improvement we can observe that the Quality Management System of the selected company permanently achieves a high level.

M.Comm.

This study aimed at exploring the possible impact that habits, values and mindfulness can have on an athlete's achievement of success. It provided a thorough understanding of these three concepts and analysed the interrelationship they might have. By examining their interconnectedness, the study found that a triadic relationship exists among habits, values and mindfulness in the sport context. The fieldwork was conducted with athletes from various performance levels. Elite athletes were represented by athletes who have continuously performed exceptionally (having won medals at Olympics, Commonwealth Championships, World Cups or Continental Championships) on the international stage. These athletes formed part of the first phase of this study. Athletes performing on club-, provincial- and national level were the participants in the second phase of the study. The study found that athletes from the four performance levels experienced habits, values and mindfulness differently. Certain core habits and values were present among the different athlete populations. Elite athletes identified visualisation, simplicity, simulation training and pre-performance routines as crucial habits in their respective sports. The elite athletes indicated the importance of behavioural consistency and that they tend to behave in a manner that is consistent with their values and to hold themselves accountable to those values. Although there were similarities, the strength of similar habits differed among the athletes from the different levels of performance. In general, the three strongest habits among the four different performance levels, were the habits of responsiveness, discipline and resilience. The club-, provincial- and national athletes valued interpersonal relationships such as loyalty, commitment and respect for others, higher than values that are more inclined to assist in individual satisfaction and needs. Though the differences were not statistical significant, it might be interesting to note that the national athletes scored higher on values such as self-direction, universalism and benevolence. Club athletes scored higher on values such as hedonism and tradition. The role of mindfulness in the attainment of success received varied emphasis from the club-, provincial-, national- and elite athletes. The elite athletes identified mindfulness as a key element in the maintenance of a successful long-term sport career. The elite athletes linked mindfulness and visualisation with the understanding that the two concepts are interconnected and that mindfulness might be aided by the practice of visualisation. The club-, provincial- and national athletes identified a link between the habit of focusing and mindfulness, indicating that focusing assists them in heightening their awareness levels in situations. Athletes from the varying performance levels referred to mental skills concepts as habits. They distinguished between behavioural habits as well as mental skills habits. Correlation assessments were conducted to assess for links between habits, values and mindfulness. Twenty eight correlations were found between the assessed habits and values. Five correlations were found between values and mindfulness variables. Forty two correlations were found between habits and mindfulness variables. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to gather the data. The results indicated that the development of athletes on all levels of performance can be enhanced by being attentive to the habits, values and mindfulness levels of athletes. The recommendations provided by this study will provide options to enhance performance levels and possibly contribute to the holistic development of athletes in South Africa, Africa and the broader sport fraternity. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences / DPhil / Unrestricted

Yes / The promotion of gender equality in research and innovation is a vital part of the GENOVATE project. The full participation of women and men in all aspects of research endeavour is key to positive career progression in academia. It is essential to ensure equal opportunities for women and men in access to promotion, research funding and decision-making positions in higher education institutions. This report seeks to provide higher education institutions, research bodies and funding institutions guiding principles on gender equality and diversity competent research excellence standards, ensuring in particular that the achievements of women and men researchers are assessed on the same basis. The report will help encourage a more systematic way of thinking about assessment of research excellence standards. / FP7

This study was directed at capturing the multiple landscapes of undergraduate teaching excellence as viewed by the major stakeholders in college classrooms, the students and their teachers. These landscapes were described and examined with an eye towards gleaning conceptualizations of teaching excellence that could inform the construction of an integrated landscape. Such an integrated landscape could serve as an ideal starting point for the construction of a comprehensive framework for the evaluation and improvement of undergraduate teaching. Participants included four exemplar teachers, acknowledged for undergraduate teaching excellence and volunteer students from each of their classes: introductory sociology, physics, agricultural economics, and composition methods. A model of teaching excellence was constructed from aggregated student conceptualizations of excellent teachers. The model consists of five major dimensions: (1) content, pedagogical, and general knowledge; (2) concern and approachability; (3) enthusiasm; (4) focus on the development of student thought processes and curiosity; and (5) course organization and classroom management. Two recurring themes underlaying students' perspectives of preferred teacher roles are described: (1) a desire for a personal or professional connection with the teacher, and (2) a desire for a teacher who is sensitive to student progress. A comparison is made between teacher and student valuations of 10 dimensions of teaching effectiveness. Teacher rankings of the items varied somewhat from those of students in their classes. Of particular interest, is the higher ranking of a focus on the development of student thought processes and curiosity by two of the teachers. Generally speaking, students placed high value on teachers’ content knowledge and enthusiasm. To capture teachers’ conceptualizations of excellent teaching in practice, researcher observations of the enacted teaching practices of these exemplars were conducted during three time periods throughout the semester. Each teaching practice is described in case format. Cases also include a presentation of student reactions to and evaluation of each teacher’s enacted practice, with particular attention to the teaching dimensions students focused on as they evaluated their teachers. In an effort to connect the results of this study with the existing literature on college teaching, frameworks of teaching excellence were constructed from student-generated and teacher-generated indicators of 10 dimensions of teaching effectiveness gleaned from the research literature. The enacted teaching practice of each of the exemplar teachers was examined using the class-specific framework. The conclusions of this study suggest that a dialogue between the stakeholders in the college classroom must take place in an effort to develop shared conceptions of teaching excellence. Additionally, a closer examination of students’ entering perceptions is in order to ascertain their notions of the purpose of higher education. A comparison of teacher and student perceptions of the intended purposes of higher education could further inform the development of evaluation systems designed to meet the needs of the major stakeholders of the higher education enterprise. / Ph. D.

Operations improvement methodologies have been adopted by manufacturing companies since the early 20th century. Japanese manufacturers were able to offer products of high quality and efficient production costs through systems such as Lean. Manufacturers in the West soon adopted systems of their own thereafter. Operations Excellence is a generic term used to describe such systems, and can be described as a management system delivering competitiveness through the continuous improvement of operational performance. This study provides a critical review of the implementation of an Operations Excellence program by examining the system adopted by a petrochemical company in South Africa. The review allowed the implementation shortcomings to be identified so that resolutions could be suggested, thus facilitating successful utilisation of the system. An evaluation of Operations Excellence programs utilised globally and at the case study organisation was carried out as part of a literature study. This research included the critical success factors and lessons learnt from the systems employed by others. Experimental field work was carried out to allow the critical evaluation of the implementation in the case study. The experimental method utilised a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection. The primary research instrument was a questionnaire designed to examine the degree in which critical success factors and Operations Excellence requirements were present in the organisation. The implementation shortcomings were successfully identified through the experimental work undertaken. These shortcomings, together with the review of the available literature on Operations Excellence, allowed for the proposition of recommendations with the objective of successful utilisation of Operations Excellence programs for large enterprises. / MIng (Development and Management Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Operations improvement methodologies have been adopted by manufacturing companies since the early 20th century. Japanese manufacturers were able to offer products of high quality and efficient production costs through systems such as Lean. Manufacturers in the West soon adopted systems of their own thereafter. Operations Excellence is a generic term used to describe such systems, and can be described as a management system delivering competitiveness through the continuous improvement of operational performance. This study provides a critical review of the implementation of an Operations Excellence program by examining the system adopted by a petrochemical company in South Africa. The review allowed the implementation shortcomings to be identified so that resolutions could be suggested, thus facilitating successful utilisation of the system. An evaluation of Operations Excellence programs utilised globally and at the case study organisation was carried out as part of a literature study. This research included the critical success factors and lessons learnt from the systems employed by others. Experimental field work was carried out to allow the critical evaluation of the implementation in the case study. The experimental method utilised a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection. The primary research instrument was a questionnaire designed to examine the degree in which critical success factors and Operations Excellence requirements were present in the organisation. The implementation shortcomings were successfully identified through the experimental work undertaken. These shortcomings, together with the review of the available literature on Operations Excellence, allowed for the proposition of recommendations with the objective of successful utilisation of Operations Excellence programs for large enterprises. / MIng (Development and Management Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Cette thèse propose une approche socio-historique de l’excellence en alpinisme, sur une période qui s’étend de l’apparition de l’Alpine Club britannique, le premier club alpin au monde, créé en 1856, jusqu’au début du XXIe siècle. L’excellence est envisagée sous l’angle d’un triple rapport : un rapport à la pratique, qui désigne les manières légitimes de pratiquer, un rapport à soi-même, qui renvoie à la façon dont les alpinistes excellents (les « grands alpinistes ») se perçoivent et envisagent leurs trajectoires biographiques, et un rapport aux autres individus, c'est-à-dire la manière dont ces alpinistes appréhendent et se distinguent des autres usagers de la montagne et des non-alpinistes. À partir des discours des membres de l’élite de l’alpinisme britannique et français, la question est posée de savoir comment se crée, se transmet, se diffuse dans l’espace et se maintient dans le temps un « esprit de l’alpinisme » entendu à la fois comme mentalité, esprit de corps, ethos, et principes éthiques au fondement de l’excellence, fortement distinctif, identitaire et fédérateur, au principe d’un sentiment d’appartenance, voire d’une identité collective. Centré sur le Royaume-Uni, berceau de l’alpinisme et lieu de codification d’une forme originelle d’excellence, encore perçue comme spécifique de nos jours, ce travail considère l’alpinisme français, d’apparition plus tardive, comme contre-point comparatif servant notamment à étudier des phénomènes de diffusion de la conception britannique de l’excellence. La question de la genèse historique d’un « grand alpinisme » sur le temps long se double enfin de celle de la fabrique biographique du « grand alpiniste », sur le temps court de la trajectoire biographique. Ce faisant, c’est un travail de dénaturalisation de l’excellence, pensée comme un construit historique et social, qui est entrepris. L’étude des trois dimensions de l’excellence (rapport à l’activité, à soi, et aux autres) se fait en premier lieu à partir d’un matériau original : un corpus de 62 autobiographies d’alpinistes. Son usage s’accompagne d’une réflexion méthodologique sur les conditions de sa validité sociologique. Afin de réinscrire ces discours dans leurs cadres historiques et sociaux d’énonciation, d’autres matériaux sont mobilisés : 16 entretiens, deux bases de données (dont l’une permet de mener une analyse prosopographique), les articles et les notices nécrologiques des revues des grands clubs alpins sélectifs des deux pays. / This thesis proposes a socio-historical approach of excellence in mountaineering, from the creation of the British Alpine Club, the first alpine club in the world, founded in 1856, up until the beginning of the 21st century. Excellence is defined by three relations: a relation to the activity of mountaineering, that is, the legitimate ways of practicing this activity, a relation to oneself, that is, the ways in which excellent mountaineers (the “great mountaineers”) see themselves and consider their biographical trajectories, and a relation to others, that is, the ways in which these mountaineers apprehend and distinguish themselves from the other users of mountains and from non-mountaineers. From the study of the discourses of the elite of British and French mountaineering, we seek to understand how a “spirit of mountaineering” (a mentality as well as an “esprit de corps”, an ethos, and a set of ethical principles at the foundation of excellence) has been created, transmitted, has travelled between countries and has been maintained over time. This “spirit” is the basis of a sense of belonging, even of a collective identity. Centered on Britain, as the cradle of mountaineering and the place where an original form of excellence, still perceived today as specific, was initially codified, this study considers French mountaineering, of later appearance, as a comparative point of reference, useful to point out a phenomenon of diffusion of the British conception of excellence. The issue of the historical genesis of a “great mountaineering” on the long-term scale doubles up with the issue of the biographical making of the “great mountaineer”, considered on the short-term scale of the biographical trajectory. By doing so, it is a work of denaturalization of excellence, seen as a historical and social construct, which is undertaken. The study of the three dimensions of excellence (as a relation to activity, to oneself, and to the others) is carried on in the first place with the help of an unusual material: a corpus of 62 autobiographies of mountaineers. Its use is backed with methodological observations regarding the conditions of its sociological validity. In order to consider these discourses within their historical and social frames of enunciation, other materials are used: 16 interviews, two databases (one of them used to carry out a prosopography), the articles and necrologies of the journals of the selective alpine clubs of the two countries.

Yes / Satellite communications represents a specialised area of telecommunications. While the development of satellite technology is relatively slow in comparison to wireless networks evolution, due to the need for high reliability, the services that satellites are able to offer are evolving at much the same pace as their terrestrial counterparts. It is within this context that the satellite communications network of excellence (SatNEx) has evolved its initiative, the aim being to serve the engineering community with the latest technological trends, while also providing a solid grounding in the fundamentals for those new to the subject area. / European Commission Framework Programme 6

The research sought to investigate the Critical Excellence Factors (CEFs) that drive Excellence in banking industry. Moreover, it examines whether customers perceive the service of an excellent bank differently from a less-excellent bank. Three hypotheses were formed then tested through case study and survey strategy (triangulation), within the Saudi banking industry context. The study combines the EFQM excellence model as an internal assessment tool (case studies), with the SERVQUAL gap model for external assessment (questionnaires). Analysing and contrasting the two sets of results allowed the study to achieve its main objective. Based on the empirical work, the study identifies several CEFs that must be carefully considered when driving excellence in banking. These factors were proposed in a generic integrated model for driving Excellence in Banking.