The study presents a normative framework for the Additive Manufacturing (AM) implementation process in the UK manufacturing sector. The motivations for the study include the lack of socio-technical studies on the AM implementation process and the need for existing and potential future project managers to have an implementation model to guide their efforts in implementing these relatively new and potentially disruptive technologies. The study has been conducted through case research with the primary data collected through the in-depth semi-structured interviews with AM project managers. Seven case studies were conducted representing AM implementation practice at different stages of the implementation cycle. The first stage involved a pilot study at a post-implementer to identify the main areas of interest for AM implementation research. The second involved a wider study of AM implementers at the post-implementation stage with cross case analysis of implementation practice. The final stage involved an investigation into pre-implementation of AM, applying the proposed framework in three companies yet to fully implement AM as a production method. Contribution towards the existing body of literature was in the form of a normative framework for AM implementation in a variety of industrial sectors. The framework describes the main activities in the implementation process and supports a taxonomy of implementers.

Little-known lexicographic resources can be of tremendous value to users once digitised. By extending the digitisation efforts for a lexicographic resource, converting the human readable digital object to a state that is also machine-readable, structured data can be created that is semantically interoperable, thereby enabling the lexicographic resource to access, and be accessed by, other semantically interoperable resources. The purpose of this study is to formulate a process when converting a lexicographic resource in print form to a machine-readable bilingual lexicographic resource applying linguistic linked data principles, using the English-Xhosa Dictionary for Nurses as a case study. This is accomplished by creating a linked data framework, in which data are expressed in the form of RDF triples and URIs, in a manner which allows for extensibility to a multilingual resource. Click languages with characters not typically represented by the Roman alphabet are also considered. The purpose of this linked data framework is to define each lexical entry as “historically dynamic”, instead of “ontologically static” (Rafferty, 2016:5). For a framework which has instances in constant evolution, focus is thus given to the management of provenance and linked data generation thereof. The output is an implementation framework which provides methodological guidelines for similar language resources in the interdisciplinary field of Library and Information Science.

Syftet med studien var att belysa personals erfarenheter och upplevelser av implementeringen av den evidensbaserade metoden Multisystemisk Terapi (MST) inom Socialtjänstens öppenvård. Vetenskapstraditionen utgår från den tolkande hermeneutiken med inspiration av ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv. Undersökningen bygger på fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer av personal på olika organisatoriska nivåer. En slutsats är att implementeringsprocessen är inbyggd i MST som koncept och i den organisation som finns runt omkring. Styrningen verkar mestadels ha varit en växelvis påverkan. Detta har tillsammans med andra gynnande faktorer som bl.a. tro på metoden, modelltrogenhet, information och stödjande samarbete mellan alla led från politiken, inom organisationen och med hela MST-organisationen överbryggt hinder och varit en stor bidragande faktor till att implementeringen kan anses lyckosam. Metoden används till största delen tillfredsställande. Trots vissa hinder upplever personalen att de själva och familjerna på det stora hela är nöjda med MST som metod och de resultat som den visar. Personalen utvecklas i arbetet med metoden och familjer har rekommenderat andra familjer MST.

The majority of building code development and implementation practices are normally connected with the progress of construction community changing awareness, needs and perspectives, advanced technology in construction and new level of knowledge. Unproven practices and the technology of building code development and implementation in case of insufficient and outdated codes, the use of unproven advanced codes of other countries, or the infringement of the existing codes, in most cases, could lead to a large number of shortcomings of minimum requirements of public health, safety and general welfare, and poor quality of buildings. Every aspect of a building code development and implementation practice could be influenced by insufficiencies and infringements in building codes/regulations that could cause buildings failures. Generally, the success of a building code development and implementation practice is directly connected with the involved insufficiencies and infringements in the framework of building code (legal, Administrative, technical, & social), i.e. faults of building code development and implementation should be successfully resolved in order to come to an end of a building project assuring code's objectives (public health, safety and general welfare). One of the early research problems of building code development and implementation practice was conducted by Productivity Commission (2004) where the research organized and categorized the causes of shortcomings of BC according to four main functions of building code, including legal, administrative, technical, and social functions. Productivity Commission Research had been the starting point of research problems of building codes in Kuwait. For the past 20 years, many researchers have high numbers of categories, components and rankings to explain different types of insufficiencies and infringements in building codes/regulations. However, these categories and rankings produce inconsistent and overlapping cause and impact factors. In addition, researchers and practitioners at this point tend to focus on the technical and administrative sides related to the issues of building codes development and implementation, and neglecting the importance of legal and social sides. Legal issues like finding a law to prepare and enforce building codes, cover of insurance companies, building materials testing system, weak regulations related issues, building specifications, and clarity of regulation texts; as well as social issues like community awareness, issuing and enforcing legal court rules, deterrent punishments for violators, violations or cheatings in related issues, all of these were deemed not that critical by most reviewers. The research is specifically concerned with the insufficiencies and infringements in building codes/regulations which cause shortcomings of minimum requirements of public health, safety and general welfare, and how related cause and impact factors are selected and organized. Existing research highlights the need for further researches of how to relate between research and building regulations that are at present. There is evidence that construction industries around the world have little experience in this area (CIB TG37, 2001). The proposal within this research is to address this aspect of the debate by seeking to clarify the role of the four functions of building code; legal, administrative, technical, and social function as a frame of reference that stakeholder parties (building officials, design and construction professionals) might agree with and which should act as the basis for the selection and formation of occurrences of cause factors, and their iv impact on public health, safety and general welfare. The focus on the four functions of building code as a fault (cause) frame of reference potentially leads to a common, practical view of the (multi) dimensionality setting of fault (cause) within which cause factors may be identified and which, we believe, could be grounded across a wide range of practices specifically in this research of building code development and implementation. The research surveyed and examined the opinions of building officials, design and construction professionals. We assess which fault (cause) factors are most likely to occur in building and construction projects; evaluate fault (cause) impact by assessing which fault (cause) factors that building officials, design and construction professionals specifically think are likely to arise in the possibility of shortcomings of minimum requirements of public health, safety and general welfare. The data obtained were processed, analyzed and ranked. By using the EXCEL and SPSS for factor analysis, all the fault (cause) factors were reduced and groups into clusters and components for further correlation analysis. The analysis was able to prove an opinion on fault (cause) likelihood, the impact of the fault (cause) on the objectives of building code. The analysis indicates that it is possible to identify grouping of insufficiencies and infringements in building codes/regulations that is correspondent to the different parts of the framework of building code (legal, Administrative, technical, & social) these suggest three identified groups when viewing cause from the likelihood occurrence and four identified groups and their impact for each building code objective. The evidence related to the impact of building code objectives, view of cause, and provides a stronger view of which components of cause were important compared with cause likelihood. The research accounts for the difference by suggesting that a more selection and formation of cause and impact, offered by viewing cause within the context of a framework of building code, and viewing impact within the context of building code objectives (public health, safety and general welfare) allows those involved in building code development and implementation to have an understandable view of the relationships within cause factors, and between cause and impact factors. It also allows the various cause components and the associated emergent clusters to be more readily identified. The contribution of the research relates to the assessment of cause within a construction that is defined in the context of a fairly broad accepted view of the framework of building code (legal, Administrative, technical, & social). The fault (cause) likelihood construction is based on the building code framework proposed in this research and could facilitates a focus on roles and responsibilities, and allows the coordination and integration of activities for regular development and implementation with the building code goals. This contribution would better enable building officials and code writers to identify and manage faults (causes) as they emerge with BC aspects/parts and more closely reflect building and construction activities and processes and facilitate the fault (cause) administration exercise.

Although academic interest in TQM increased substantially in the last decade, still the gap in the literature is hardly surprising given that research and theory in TQM implementation are still at a very early stage in the West. To-date, there are only a handful of empirical researches reported in the literature that have attempted to identify what constitute as constructs of TQM that can be manipulated to effectively implement TQM. All but very few are studies done in developed economies. Moreover, knowledge of TQM in developing economies is almost totally lacking. Against this backdrop, this researcha ddressesth e identified gaps in the literature on TQM. Thus this thesis focuses on the effective implementation of total quality management in Palestine, a developing economy, through an empirical investigation of critical quality factors. The research methodology involves combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies to identify the key quality factors cited in the literature and considered by consultants and experts as essential to successful TQM implementation. The research design also included: Lan empirical investigation to assessth e level of TQM awarenessa nd understandingi n the Palestinian context, 2. determining which key quality factors are critical to successful implementation using a survey questionnaire, 3. determining what tactics and techniques are used in addressing and implementing these critical quality factors by Palestinian organisations, using semi-structured interviews, 4. determining the prerequisites of effective TQM implementation in the pre-launch stage using in depth interviews. By complementing and integrating the findings, an implementation framework was constructed with the support of the knowledge acquired from the literature review. A simple and practical step by step with implementation guidelines framework aiming at assisting Palestinian organisations in planning on effective implementation of TQM was constructed. The research findings indicate that top management commitment and involvement, employee commitment and involvement, managing by customer-driven system and processes and continuous performance improvement, are essential to effective implementation of TQM. This implies that Palestinian organisations recognise and implement the same critical quality factors found in Western countries. The proposed framework is built around four major constructs that relate to top management commitment, employee commitment, customer-driven system and processes, and continuous improvement. It emphasises an implementation approach of top-down deployment and bottom-up participation focussing on businessp rocessesth at add value to customers atisfaction. In conclusion, this empirical research revealed that TQM could be implemented in the developing economies (such as Palestine) as Palestinian organisations subscribe to the same quality factors as those found in the developed economies.

Over the last few years the ASA determined KM as a priority to assist with reducing knowledge loss, realising information assets and reducing work duplication by attempting to implement IKM tools and strategies. This research employed a pragmatic viewpoint, using a mix of both quantitative and qualitative methods to check reliability, to ensure validity while undertaking the task of implementing the IKM tools. Using a case study strategy and action research was justified, as to be pragmatic the researcher needed to understand the extent of the problem within a specified context. The research discussed in this thesis, provides a new framework for implementing KM tools; focusing on the NSO category, which the case study organisation falls into. The literature agrees enlisting influential members onto the project is vital for success; however, the findings suggested that success was not only tied to this buy-in alone, but also to the organisation s ability to retain these members for the duration of the project. The research proposed the use of a newly developed tool within the new framework, as an approach to reduce the time it takes to undertake traditional social network analysis of the organisation, as it became clear that there was a need for a method of producing updated results of the SNA, which would span the length of long projects within organisations with significantly high staff turn-over rates. Privacy was given as a factor to consider the in literature; however, the findings from this study indicated that a majority of the participants were comfortable with the system. Email knowledge extraction, and email social network systems are not new concepts, however this research presents EKESNA; a novel tool that combines both concepts in a way that allows for the continuous discovery, visualisation, and analysis of knowledge networks around specified topics of interest within an organisation; linking conversations to specific expert knowledge. EKESNA s continuous discovery of the organisation s knowledge network affords members up-to-date data to inform business process reengineering. This is a potentially ground breaking new tool that has the possibility of transforming the KM landscape in NSOs as well as a whole range of other kinds of enterprises.

The shifting tendency of environmental conflict of some specific projects from post-conflict to pre-conflict is taking place in China. The main reason is that the public raises awareness of environmental consequences and makes more transparence information exchanged among stakeholders. Therefore the authorities have to face the new challenges and figure out new solutions to handle the changing circumstances. One of the recent conflicts regarding Panyu’s incineration project is selected as a typical example analyzed in this report. This case indicates three main argued focal points at environmental perspective of project implementation which are currently unsatisfied in China’s society: 1. Failure of EIA making & approving system; 2. Inadequate public participation on the decision-making process; 3. Imbalance in stakeholders’ pattern of the project implementation process. This thesis have explored China’s EIA reports’ making, examining and approving system through investigation on its administrative, legislative and operational framework. The work was carried out during my internship in Safety Center of Henan Science Academy of Environmental Protection. The investigation also includes several interviews with different stakeholders of Panyu’s case. Based on the theoretical and empirical research, the thesis pointed out the root of defects of the existing EIA system in China is: 1. Public’s opinions can’t be truly reflected on the EIA report in the EIA making process; 2. Other stakeholders’ interests seriously affected the justice of EIA examination and approval process. The recommended approaches for improving the system include: 1. Strength public participation process to allow as much affected neighbors to realize the project and reflect their perception to decision-makers as possible; 2. Improve current EIA examination and approval procedures in order to weak the linkage between government and business sector. 3. Enhance the cooperation between environmental authority and other administrative board.

The poor quality and fragmented state of international statistics for the hospitality and tourism sector lead international organizations like the World Tourism Organization (WTO), Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations to develop and recognize a universally acceptable framework of tourism statistics. These efforts culminated into the development of the Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA), the very first sector specific Satellite System of Accounts approved by the United Nations. The WTO has since made numerous efforts to promote the implementation of the TSA, more so in the developing countries. While the process is gaining momentum, the implementation of the entire TSA framework is a tedious procedure requiring a high level of financial and non-financial resources. This paradox, of scarce resources required for TSA implementation in developing countries that are in most need of its benefits, has been the crucial motivation for this research project. The present study proposes a framework for evaluating the implementation of the TSA so that the process is manageable and is able to economize on various resources required to implement this comprehensive statistical database. Using Tanzania as the case study, this research verifies the proposed framework for evaluating the TSA's implementation. The underlying model for the proposed implementation framework is the Co-alignment principle from the field of Strategic Management. Evidence of existence of the characteristics of Co-alignment model's components is verified, given the particular experience of TSA implementation in Tanzania. The results suggest that the process in Tanzania is currently misaligned and may require reallocation of certain resources to increase the effectiveness of TSA implementation. In context of the Co-alignment principle, there is evidence that the end-user needs have not been explicitly established. There is also a lack of knowledge regarding gaps that exist between the current statistical databases and how the TSA would be able to fill these shortcomings. This is true for both additional datasets required and the much needed improvements in statistical methodology. Furthermore, there is no clear prioritization of implementation tasks, which is contributing to the lack of financial sustainability of the project. There is indication that the allocation of current resources is misaligned with the requirements for developing institutional capacity, training, stakeholder support, (particularly with the private sector operators) and building a stable legislative framework to support the entire process. Finally, there are no clear performance monitoring and evaluation criteria to assess the ongoing performance of the implementation process as well as that of the entire statistical database. This is crucial to insure effectiveness of the resource allocation process. The conclusions from these observations have been proposed as recommendations to align the process of TSA implementation in Tanzania with the objective of increasing the efficiency of these ongoing efforts at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the proposed evaluation framework can be used for assessing the effectiveness of implementing any generic national or regional statistical database. / Ph. D.

Although academic interest in TQM increased substantially in the last decade, still the gap in the literature is hardly surprising given that research and theory in TQM implementation are still at a very early stage in the West. To-date, there are only a handful of empirical researches reported in the literature that have attempted to identify what constitute as constructs of TQM that can be manipulated to effectively implement TQM. All but very few are studies done in developed economies. Moreover, knowledge of TQM in developing economies is almost totally lacking. Against this backdrop, this researcha ddressesth e identified gaps in the literature on TQM. Thus this thesis focuses on the effective implementation of total quality management in Palestine, a developing economy, through an empirical investigation of critical quality factors. The research methodology involves combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies to identify the key quality factors cited in the literature and considered by consultants and experts as essential to successful TQM implementation. The research design also included: Lan empirical investigation to assessth e level of TQM awarenessa nd understandingi n the Palestinian context, 2. determining which key quality factors are critical to successful implementation using a survey questionnaire, 3. determining what tactics and techniques are used in addressing and implementing these critical quality factors by Palestinian organisations, using semi-structured interviews, 4. determining the prerequisites of effective TQM implementation in the pre-launch stage using in depth interviews. By complementing and integrating the findings, an implementation framework was constructed with the support of the knowledge acquired from the literature review. A simple and practical step by step with implementation guidelines framework aiming at assisting Palestinian organisations in planning on effective implementation of TQM was constructed. The research findings indicate that top management commitment and involvement, employee commitment and involvement, managing by customer-driven system and processes and continuous performance improvement, are essential to effective implementation of TQM. This implies that Palestinian organisations recognise and implement the same critical quality factors found in Western countries. The proposed framework is built around four major constructs that relate to top management commitment, employee commitment, customer-driven system and processes, and continuous improvement. It emphasises an implementation approach of top-down deployment and bottom-up participation focussing on businessp rocessesth at add value to customers atisfaction. In conclusion, this empirical research revealed that TQM could be implemented in the developing economies (such as Palestine) as Palestinian organisations subscribe to the same quality factors as those found in the developed economies.

The Semantic Web is the vision of the future Web. Its aim is to enable machines to process Web documents in a way that makes it possible for the computer software to "understand" the meaning of the document contents. Each document on the Semantic Web is to be enriched with meta-data that express the semantics of its contents. Many infrastructures, technologies and standards have been developed and have proven their theoretical use for the Semantic Web, yet very few applications have been created. Most of the current Semantic Web applications were developed for research purposes. This project investigates the major factors restricting the wide spread of Semantic Web applications. We identify the two most important requirements for a successful implementation as the automatic production of the semantically annotated document, and the creation and maintenance of semantic based knowledge base. This research proposes a framework for Semantic Web implementation based on context-oriented controlled automatic Annotation; for short, we called the framework the Semantic Web Implementation Framework (SWIF) and the system that implements this framework the Semantic Web Implementation System (SWIS). The proposed architecture provides for a Semantic Web implementation of stand-alone websites that automatically annotates Web pages before being uploaded to the Intranet or Internet, and maintains persistent storage of Resource Description Framework (RDF) data for both the domain memory, denoted by Control Knowledge, and the meta-data of the Web site¿s pages. We believe that the presented implementation of the major parts of SWIS introduce a competitive system with current state of art Annotation tools and knowledge management systems; this is because it handles input documents in the ii context in which they are created in addition to the automatic learning and verification of knowledge using only the available computerized corporate databases. In this work, we introduce the concept of Control Knowledge (CK) that represents the application¿s domain memory and use it to verify the extracted knowledge. Learning is based on the number of occurrences of the same piece of information in different documents. We introduce the concept of Verifiability in the context of Annotation by comparing the extracted text¿s meaning with the information in the CK and the use of the proposed database table Verifiability_Tab. We use the linguistic concept Thematic Role in investigating and identifying the correct meaning of words in text documents, this helps correct relation extraction. The verb lexicon used contains the argument structure of each verb together with the thematic structure of the arguments. We also introduce a new method to chunk conjoined statements and identify the missing subject of the produced clauses. We use the semantic class of verbs that relates a list of verbs to a single property in the ontology, which helps in disambiguating the verb in the input text to enable better information extraction and Annotation. Consequently we propose the following definition for the annotated document or what is sometimes called the ¿Intelligent Document¿ ¿The Intelligent Document is the document that clearly expresses its syntax and semantics for human use and software automation¿. This work introduces a promising improvement to the quality of the automatically generated annotated document and the quality of the automatically extracted information in the knowledge base. Our approach in the area of using Semantic Web iii technology opens new opportunities for diverse areas of applications. E-Learning applications can be greatly improved and become more effective.