Management control systems perform a vital role in facilitating the accomplishment of organizational objectives. To effectively align the objectives of employees with those of the organization, firms balance multiple control mechanisms to encourage organizationally desired behaviors and discourage undesired behaviors. The purpose of my dissertation was two-fold. First, I assessed how changes in monitoring frequency influenced employee behaviors and the overall function of the management control system. Second, I investigated the effects of stretch goals on behavior to determine whether stretch goals can lead to harmful behaviors and whether continuous monitoring can mitigate these behaviors. Results suggest that individuals exert more effort when assigned a stretch or difficult goal compared to an easy goal. My study also finds that stretch goals can be harmful because of their effect on risk taking, goal commitment, and job insecurity. Finally, results indicate that accountability mediates the monitoring frequency-risk taking relationship such that continuous monitoring increases accountability and accountability decreases risk taking. However, the ability of monitoring frequency to decrease risk taking may depend on numerous factors. Results from this study allow practitioners to understand the potential benefits and drawbacks of implementing continuous monitoring systems and the combined effects of using these systems in conjunction with compensation systems. Consequently, this study highlights necessary considerations for practitioners during the implementation continuous monitoring systems. The study also informs practitioners of the potentially harmful effects of stretch goals, the conditions under which they occur, and the possible ways to mitigate these effects.

This work demonstrates the design and implementation of a digitally encoded Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation strategy for the switching of bi-directional secondary side power switches of an AC-link. Through this method, high frequency (200 kHz) half sinusoid or haversine voltage pulses produced by the Parallel Loaded Resonant converter working in discontinuous mode at primary side are converted to low frequency (400/60/50 Hz) waveforms at the output. This control strategy allows the converter to operate at high power density, as soft switching (ZCS/ZVS) is possible at both the turn-on and turn-off of switches. Also through this strategy the output waveform at load will have low Total Harmonic Distortion (THD).

Cover crops (CC) can contribute to production in pastures, but the diversity of CC mixtures and defoliation frequency (DF) may alter productivity. A 2-yr experiment conducted at Raymond, MS, quantified CC × DF effects on forage mass (FM) and nutritive value of winter CC and subsequent summer hay production. Treatments were factorial combinations of 10 CC (using several species of grasses, legumes, and brassicas) and three DF (harvested every 4 or 8-wk or cut and left as mulch) in a split-plot arrangement of a randomized complete block design experiment with three replications. Generally, mixtures with legumes had greater FM and better nutritive value. Summer hay production did not respond to difference in CC composition, however, harvesting of CC reduced summer hay but increased year-long FM. These results suggest that CC when harvested can contribute to forage production with improved nutritive value and can increase year-long FM, but summer hay production can benefit when the CC is left as mulch.

This paper presents an exploratory study of aircraft engine fault indicators obtained from sound and vibration recordings. Observing time sequence and frequency spectra of the recordings, a simple yet cost-effective method of detecting engine fault is achieved. A detailed discussion of the study performed, ranging from the hardware and software selection, initial tests, and discoveries made in the time domain and subsequently in the frequency domain will be presented.

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