Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

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The recording industry is little more than one hundred years old. In its short history there have been many changes that have redefined roles, enabled fortunes to be built and caused some to be dissipated. Recording and delivery formats have gone through fundamental conceptual developments and each technological transformation has generated both positive and negative effects. Over the past fifteen years technology has triggered yet another large-scale and protracted revision of the business model, and this adjustment has been exacerbated by two serious economic downturns. This dissertation references the author’s career to provide context and corroboration for the arguments herein. It synthesizes salient constants from more than forty years’ empirical evidence, addresses industry rhetoric and offers methodologies for musicians with examples, analyses, and codifications of relevant elements of the business. The economic asymmetry of the system that exploits musicians’ work can now be rebalanced. Ironically, the technologies that triggered the industry downturn now provide creative entities with mechanisms for redress. This is a propitious time for ontologically reexamining music business realities to determine what is axiological as opposed to simply historical axiom. The primary objective herein is to contribute to the understanding of applied fundamentals, the rules of engagement that enable aspirants and professionals alike to survive and thrive in this dynamic and capricious vocation. The secondary goal is to empower creative practitioners to circumvent systemic injustices that have been perpetrated and perpetuated by the oligopolistic market conditions that have prevailed for most of the century of recorded sound.

The analysis of innovation contained in this thesis differs considerably in both scope and aims from most analyses of innovation. It is important to discuss why the approach taken has been adopted, and to justify its usefulness. There is no absence of analyses of innovation and associated invention. Individual inventions have been examined, notedly by Jewkes and his co-authors (1); analyses have been made of innovation in selected industries, and this has been related to international trade in these industries (2); the detailed antecedents of individual technological innovations have been traced back in time, both for weapon systems and for civilian products (3); the spread of important new techniques, normally associated with large-scale capital investment, has been analysed (4). Much of this work has been done, either directly or indirectly, to answer specific questions of science policy, and these works have been influential factors in the formulation of science policy. The questions which may be answered by such approaches are important. Is money aimed at producing inventions (and, by implication at least, innovation) best invested in establishing large research centres, or in encouraging with suitable fiscal measures individual inventors (5)? What is the relationship between the concentration of an industry and its propensity to innovate? Should government finance be concentrated in closely targetted contracts, or in university research? What should the government attitude be towards industries, such as the pharmaceuticals industry, in which successful products enjoy what may appear super-normal profits while overall heavy research expenditure is incurred (6)?

In the offshore oil and gas industry in the UK, one of the most common forms of structure is the fixed steel jacket type of offshore platform. These are highly redundant structures subject to many random or uncertain factors. In particular, they are subject to uncertainties in the load distribution through the components, and to time-varying and cyclic loads leading to deterioration through fatigue. Operators are required to ensure the integrity of these structures by carrying out periodic inspections and repairing when necessary. Decisions on inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) actions on structures involves making use of various tools and can be a complex problem. Traditionally, engineering judgement is employed to schedule inspections and deterministic analyses are used to confirm decisions. The use of structural reliability methods may lead to more rational scheduling of IRM actions. Applying structural reliability analysis to the production of rational inspection strategies, however, requires understanding the inspection procedure and making use of the appropriate information on inspection techniques. There are difficulties in collecting input data and the interpreted results need to be combined to form a rational global solution for the structure which takes into account practical constraints. The development of a knowledge base system (KBS) for reliability based inspection scheduling (RISC) provides a way of making use of complex quantitative objective analyses for scheduling. This thesis describes the development of a demonstrator RISC KBS. The general problems of knowledge representation and scheduling are discussed and schemes from Artificial Intelligence are proposed. Additionally, a system for automated inspection is described and its role in IRM of platforms is considered. A RISC System integrating suitable databases with fatigue fracture mechanics based reliability analysis within a KBS framework will enable operators to develop rational IRM scheduling strategies.

From Chapter 1: Among the many problems that the sweet industry in this country has had to overcome was the prejudice which favoured imported confectionery as against the local product. Fortunately this prejudice is slowly disappearing, firstly because imported sweets are largely unobtainable, and, secondly because the quality of the South African manufactured article has improved tremendously. Both the quantity and value of sweets produced in this country have increased over the last decade...

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Ensuring and maintaining positive cash flow is becoming more and more difficult, especially in the construction industry. Payments need to be collected to be able to sustain a positive cash flow and this is not an easy process. Organizations fail due to insufficient available liquid assets and this study is done to determine why payments aren’t made, including information on what payment provisions contractors agree upon, and why the trend in the industry is to keep cash rather than pay suppliers. The collection of outstanding payments is also investigated, including actions taken if payments are not made, what clauses are included in contracts to ensure payment and if interest is charged on outstanding payments. A credit application processes need to be in place to ensure the credit worthiness of the clients/ employers is reviewed. It is also very important that some form of contract is agreed upon, understood and signed by both parties. There are instances where the contract documentation is not provided or the contract documents is provided and signed, but one of the parties has not read or understood some of the payment clauses. This could also lead to delayed payments. Collection of outstanding payments could be to propose a payment agreement, by charging interest or alternatively, enforcing early payments by providing a settlement discount. One of the most mentioned reasons for companies holding onto cash is to ensure liquid capital is available to ensure positive cash flow and the continuation of the business. The main reasons why liquid capital is not available is poor management of funds, poor payment procedures and mismanagement of funds. It was found that most of the construction companies have credit application processes, contracts and payment provisions in place, but most of these companies don’t adhere strictly to the procedures set out in these documents. More attention need to be given to enforcing credit and collection policies in practice, as well as following the payment provisions set out in the construction documentation. Questionnaires were only sent to companies operating in the construction industry. Further investigations can be done on other industries (including construction, mechanical, electrical, medical, farming, food sector, fashion sector etc.), which can assist in assisting with payments made by companies or individuals.

M.A. / This thesis summarises research into the feasibility and subsequent implementation of a subscription based online and electronic information resource centre for the South African wine and brandy industry. A business case was compiled and accepted by key decision makers in the industry. The information resource centre was established under a recognised industry body to ensure equal access to all the role-players in the industry. The benefits of a centralised industry information resource centre have been demonstrated to result in: ► Reduced information acquisition cost ► No unnecessary duplication of high cost items, such as market analysis reports ► Improved and accelerated dissemination of information within the local industry through the use of a full electronic distribution strategy ► A point of contact for information for all role-players in the local industry and not just those organisations or institutions which have large research and marketing budgets ► A consistent and a unified database of local and international holdings within the local industry.

M.B.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract