Informetrics study the information flow as a pure information phenomenon. However what are the practical applications of this problem? Information flow can be understood, investigated and managed from different points of view. The most practical one is management approach combined with intuitive analogy. Water flow parallel appears suitable. A conceptual model can be propounded upon this foundation and then used for better illustration of information flow function and key parts. Finally, a good amount of instruments and management methods can be used to manage information flows. So in chosen organization the current state of information flows and contemporary methods of its management are investigated in order to compare the theory and the practice. Concrete suggestions and statements about information flow management are deduced afterwards This paper illustrate possibilities of usage of information flow management in practice. Keywords information flow management - methods of information flow management - information flow model - practical aplications - case study - analogy - induction - Regional research library in Liberec

Characteristics such as speed of reaction, order accuracy, operational flexibility and sustained quality have become fundamental in successful business today. The success of aligning a supply chain to attain these characteristics depends largely on the use of efficient communication and information technology. Communication between supply chain members requires that relevant information is transferred from its point of inception to the next point(s) of use. The transfer of information entails an efficient flow of information between systems, between systems and humans and between humans, which is directly associated with the effective interoperability between the various entities handling the relevant information. Accordingly, the realisation of interoperability will mean a faster information flow and, thus, an effective decision-making process. This research, therefore, will propose indicators and metrics for the assessment of the information flow efficiency of a business and, in particular, of a supply chain, examine the existing techniques of information flow measurement, and identify inherent weaknesses. New information flow efficiency metrics are developed and categorised into different indicators, which are based on the quality of the information as it is applied in finance, information technology and the principles of business performance measurements. This research will illustrate that these quality characteristics drive an effective and efficient information flow which, in turn, enables them to be used both as indicators and as associated metrics of information flow efficiency. Explorative analysis and statistical cluster analysis identified the most important indicators and associated metrics based on the results of a survey instrument designed specifically for this purpose. Scales were developed to facilitate the numeric assessment of the metrics and indicators. In order to prove the ability of the new indicators and associated metrics to differentiate between different levels of information flow efficiency, the new metrics were applied in sample organisations and the responses evaluated. This research lays an important foundation in terms of the ability to assess information flow efficiency which is, in turn, necessary in order to gain a better understanding of the performance of supply chains in a time where real-time information flow and electronic integration are becoming strategic business success factors. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)

Little is known regarding registered nurse (RN) information management practice in long-term care (LTC) settings. This study identifies LTC RNs’ information management practice and needs, which are important for designing and implementing health information technology (HIT) in LTC settings. Methods: This descriptive qualitative study combines direct observations and semi-structured interviews, conducted at Alberta’s LTC facilities between May 2014 and August 2015. The constant comparative method of joint coding was used for data analysis. Results: Nine RNs from six nursing homes participated in the study. Based on the RNs’ existing information management system requirements, a graphic information flow model was constructed. Conclusion: This baseline study identified key components of LTC RNs’ information management system. The information flow model may assist HIT developers with future design and development of HIT solutions for LTCs, serve as a communication tool between RNs and developers to refine requirements and support further LTC HIT research. / Graduate

<p>Ontology development is a systematic technique to represent the existing and new knowledge about a specific domain by using some models to present the system in which <em>conceptualization</em> is involved. This thesis presents the use of ontologies to formally represent ontology-based competence model for potential users of quality registry report in a healthcare organization. The model describes the professional and occupational interests and needs of the users through structuring and describing their skills and qualifications. There are individual competences model having two main parts: general competence and occupational competence. The model is implemented in an ontology editor. Although our competence model gives the general view about all medical areas in a hospital, from implementation point of view, we have considered only Cardiology area in detail. The potential users of quality registry are medical staff, county council staff and Pharmaceutical staff. In this report we have also used different classifications of education, occupational fields and diseases. A user can get information about the patient and specific disease with treatment tips by using various organizational resources: i.e. quality registries, electronic medical reports, and online journals. Our model also provides a support of information filtering which filters the information according to the need and the competencies of the users.</p>

Living beings, robotic and software artefacts can all be seen as agents acting and perceiving within an environment. When observed under that perspective, a new concept is accessible: information in the sense of Shannon. It has long been known that information and control are interrelated concepts. However it is only recently that this perspective has been better understood and used in order to study cognition. In this thesis, we build upon such an information-theoretic perspective and add some biologically motivated assumptions. They introduce various constraints on the capture, the processing, or the storage of information by an agent. Using such constraints it is possible to understand some limits on the control abilities of agents, and to derive algorithms that optimize these abilities. More specifically this thesis uses the recently introduced concept of empowerment, i.e. the ability to act upon the environment and perceive back the changes through the sensors. Maximizing this quantity leads to a wide range of cognitively interesting properties. This work studies some of these properties. One of them, the ability to capture information that is relevant for the perception-action loop of the agent, is deeply investigated and algorithms for exploiting this ability are presented. The second part of the thesis deals with the use of the information-theoretic framework when multiple agents are interacting with each other. Empowerment maximization in this context leads to two phenomena: the generation of complex structures, and the emergence of synchronised and potentially cooperative interactions. In this thesis, the first phenomenon is empirically investigated through various spatial scenarios in order to understand the kind of structures that are generated and under which conditions they appear. Connections are made between the second phenomenon and the concept of the multiple-access channel. Using recent developments of this information-theoretic model, it is possible to precisely study the kind of interactions that can occur, and the situations that lead to synchronised or cooperative behaviour. The general aim of this work is to give a comprehensive picture of the information-theoretic framework for studying the perception-action loop, bringing both single and multi-agents aspects together. The concepts presented in this thesis allows one to study some fundamental aspects of cognition, to engineer self-motivated robotic systems, or to drive self-organization in multi-agents systems.

Syfte – Studiens syfte är att bidra till kunskap om hur SCOR-modellen kan användas för att identifiera och förbättra en kritisk process i ett orderflöde med avseende att höja pålitligheten i leveranser till kund. För att uppfylla syftet har det brutits ner i tre delmål.Delmål 1: Att kartlägga det nuvarande orderflödets materialflöde och informationsflöde.Delmål 2: Att utvärdera orderflödet med hjälp av SCOR-modellen och identifiera en kritisk process med avseende att höja pålitligheten i leveranser till kund.Delmål 3: Att analysera den kritiska processen utifrån SCOR-modellen och identifiera förbättringspotential med avseende att höja pålitligheten i leveranser till kund.Metod – För att uppfylla studiens syfte genomfördes en fallstudie på Expedit AB. Litteraturstudier utfördes för att skapa ett teoretiskt ramverk. Insamlingen av empirin bestod av intervjuer, dokumentstudier och observationer. För att analysera data användes mönsterpassning samt analysverktygen flödeskartläggning och orsak-verkan-diagram. Vid beräkningar användes SCOR-modellens beräkningsmetoder.Resultat – Genom intervjuer, observationer och flödeskartläggning kunde det första delmålet uppfyllas och illustreras. Utvärderingen resulterade i att inköpsprocessen identifierades som den kritiska processen då 55% av avvikelserna kopplade till pålitlighet i leverans till kund var relaterade till inköpsprocessen. De identifierade problemområdena i den kritiska processen var bristande kommunikation, variationer, bristande standarder, felaktig orderregistrering och externa avvikelser. SCOR-modellens praxis för inköpsprocessen kunde lösa bristande kommunikation, variationer, felaktig orderregistrering samt externa avvikelser. Bristande standarder löstes genom kompletterande teori och därmed kunde syftet uppfyllas.Implikationer – Denna studie har visat hur en kritisk process i ett orderflöde kan identifieras och förbättras med avseende på att höja pålitligheten i leveranser till kund. Studien har bidragit till att stärka nuvarande teori.Begränsningar – Studien innefattar en enfallsstudie men det hade varit önskvärt att använda sig av en flerfallstudie för att höja generaliserbarheten hos studien. De flesta intervjuer bygger mestadels på följdfrågor och detta sänker reliabiliteten hos studien då dessa frågor är beroende av respondentens svar. / Purpose – The purpose of this thesis is to develop an understanding on how a crucial process can be identified and how to make it more efficient in order to increase delivery reliability to customer using the SCOR-model. To fulfil the purpose it has been broken down into three parts:Part 1: To map the current order flow with material flow and information flowPart 2: To evaluate the order flow using the SCOR-model and identify a crucial process in order to increase delivery reliability to customerPart 3: To analyze the crucial process using the SCOR-model and identify areas of improvement in order to increase delivery reliability to customerMethod – In order to meet the purpose of thesis, a case study has been conducted on Expedit AB. Literature studies were performed to create a theoretical framework. To gather empirical data, interviews, document studies and observations was conducted. To analyze the empirical findings pattern matching was used and also analyze tools such as flow mapping and cause-and-effect-diagram. The supply chain operations reference model calculations methods were used to make calculations.Findings – The first part of the purpose was accomplished through interviews, observations and was illustrated in a flow map. As a result of the evaluation of the order flow the purchasing process was identified as the crucial process. This conclusion was made since 55% of the deviations was related to the purchasing process. Five areas of improvement were identified within the crucial process was lack of communication, variations, lack of standards, incorrect order registration and external deviations. In order to handle problems related to lack of communication, variations, incorrect order registration and external deviations the SCOR-models purchasing practices were used. In order to handle problems related to lack of standards additional theories where used and by doing so the purpose could be fulfilled.Implications – This study has shown how a crucial process in an order flow can be identified and how to make it more efficient in order to increase delivery reliability to customer. The study has contributed to strengthening existing theories.Limitations – This case study only consist one case instead of several which would have increased the generalizability of the study. A majority of the conducted interviews are mostly based on supplementaries, this lower the reliability of the study since these questions are based on the respondents answers.

Detta examensarbete har utförts på uppdrag av Kongsberg Power Products Systems AB. Företaget ligger i Ljungsarp, Sverige och tillverkar rattstänger till anläggningsfordon och jordbruksmaskiner. Till grund för rapporten ligger en kvalitativa forskning med genomförda intervjuer på fallföretaget och observationer. I rapporten hålls ett deduktivt angreppssätt för att komma med förslag på hur Kongsberg kan förbättra och effektivisera materialflödet.Marknaden har expanderat dramatiskt de senaste åren och nuförtiden gäller det att ständigt utvecklas och förbättras för att vara konkurrenskraftig. Då dagens kunder förväntar sig att få sina behov och önskemål uppfyllda så snabbt som möjligt.Syftet med studien är att få en fördjupad förståelse på hur materialflödet kan effektiviseras genom hela kedjan. Det innebär att analysera hur företagets materialflöde kan förbättras samt att identifiera slöserier för en mer effektiv materialhanteringsprocess. För att kunna bemöta studiens syfte genomfördes en litteraturstudie parallellt med en fallstudie ute på ett producerande företag. Studiens syfte uppnås genom att svara på följande frågeställning:Hur kan materialflödet effektiviserats från orderläggning till monteringen, för att skapa värde för kunden och företaget?Metoden som användes var genom en litteraturstudie ge en teoretisk bakgrund till produktionslayout, kundorderprocess, materialflöde, informationsflöde och lean-produktion. Därefter genomfördes en empirisk studie som är baserade på observationer och intervjuer för att få fram ett resultat av nuläget hos fallföretaget. Efter empirin studerades företagets materialhanteringsprocess genom att analysera materialflöden, från orderläggning till montering. Det granskades för att kunna hitta förbättringar och lösningar.Vid diskussionen så diskuterar forskarna problemen och relevanta lösningar till de angivna problemen. Slutligen presenteras praktiska och teoretiska rekommendationer utifrån diskussionen och det förväntade resultat på hur problemet kan åtgärdas på företaget som forskarna ansågs var värdefulla och användbara. Rekommendationerna fokuserar på att företaget skall vilja eftersträva att ständigt förbättra verksamheten och dess materialflöde.Att skapa rutiner, arbeta på ett standardiserat sätt samt att implementera ett modernare ERP-system är några av de viktigaste lösningar för att Kongsberg ska kunna effektivisera sitt materialflöde. Det är då icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter och slöserier kan identifieras och elimineras. Detta resulterar i ett effektivare materialflöde som leder till nöjdare kunder. / This thesis is performed in association with Kongsberg Power Products Systems AB. Their factory is located in Ljungsarp, Sweden and manufacture steering columns for construction vehicles and agricultural machinery. The basis for the report is a qualitative research with conducted interviews and observations on the case company. The report takes a deductive approach to suggesting how Kongsberg can improve and streamline material flow.The market has branched out dramatically the last few years and nowadays it is about to constantly developing and improving to be competitive. Today's customers expect to get their needs and wishes in the best possible way.The purpose with this thesis work is to understand how it is possible to make a material flow more efficient through the entire chain. It means to analyze how the company’s material flow can be improved and identify where interferences were located in order to achieve a more effective manufacturing process.In order to meet the purpose of the study, a literature study was realized in parallel with a case study on the company. Work purpose is achieved by answering the following question:How can the material flow be streamlined from order placement to assembly to create value for both customer and company?The methodology for the thesis was as follows, first a theoretical background of product layout, order process, material flow, information flow and Lean production was conducted. Then followed an empirical study covered by study visits, observations and interviews. After the empirical study, the company's manufacturing process was studied, by mapping their internal material flows, from order placement to assembly of the product. That was reviewed to find improvements and solutions to the problem.At the discussion, the researchers discuss problems and relevant solutions to the identified problem. Finally, practical and theoretical recommendations and suggestions are presented to the company that we thought were useful as well as the expected result. The recommendations focus on how companies should strive to constantly improve operations and its material flow.iiiTo create routines, standardizing working methods and to implement a newer ERP-system are the some of the most important solutions for Kongsberg to be able to effectives its material flow. It is then non-value-creating activities and wastes can be determined and eliminated, resulting in a more efficient material flow and satisfied customers.

Much research regarding efficiency in manufacturing industry has historically been focused on the material activities of the shop floor. However, companies that merely focus on material activities when trying to improve lead times, risk losing potential for improvements within immaterial activities such as planning, engineering, design, and purchasing, which often constitute the most time consuming parts of the order fulfillment processes. Engineer to order (ETO) products are particularly time consuming regarding their immaterial activities, and the customer is waiting for the products from the very beginning of the order fulfillment process. Shortening the lead time to customer for ETO products is therefore important for customer satisfaction. The aim of this study is to adapt an existing lead time tree model currently focused on material activities to also include immaterial activities, enabling a full visualization of all activities contained in order fulfillment processes. The lead time tree model would thereby be able to use as a tool when working on shortening the lead time to customer. A further aim of the study is to investigate how the adapted lead time tree model can be used in further areas as well, in addition to visualizing immaterial activities. The adaption of the lead time tree model has been based on the original literary source of the lead time tree model. The original lead time tree model has been analyzed towards theoretical data from a literature study, and towards empirical data about immaterial activities in order fulfillment processes for ETO products, from the case company Kongsberg Maritime Sweden AB (previously Rolls-Royce AB). The result of this has been an adapted lead time tree model that can visualize immaterial activities. Several adaptions of the original lead time tree model have been made for it to be able to visualize immaterial activities, while still keeping the basics of the original model. The adapted lead time tree model comprises information that is normally kept separated and that is important when planning and improving a process. Additional information that is needed for each specific case can also easily be included in the lead time tree. The adapted lead time tree model has proven to have additional areas of use within project planning, improvement work regarding lead time reduction and root-cause analysis, and as a boundary object for communication between internal actors and between internal and external actors. The adapted lead time tree model is presumably able to map and visualize immaterial activities in other fields of business as well, other than manufacturing, as the nature of immaterial activities remains the same across business environments.

Esta tese de doutorado parte da premissa que existem barreiras, muitas vezes intransponíveis, entre a produção de conhecimento em arqueologia e a sociedade. Neste cenário, os museus figuram como as principais janelas que se abrem entre o conhecimento construído em Arqueologia e o público não especialista. Entendendo os museus como sistemas de informação, buscamos nesta tese identificar os ruídos que interferem nos fluxos de informações gerados pela cadeia operatória de musealização da arqueologia - que compreende as estratégias de aquisição, salvaguarda e comunicação. Como forma de identificar os elementos que interferem na fluidez da informação, confeccionamos uma ferramenta nomeada de diagnóstico museológico que foi aplicado nos dois objetos de pesquisa: o Museu de Arqueologia de Xingó e o Museu Arqueológico de Sambaqui de Joinville. Com base nos resultados coletados nos diagnósticos, elaboramos uma análise de dados na qual foram apontados os fatores que representam obstáculos e ameaças à fluidez da informação; potencialidades e dinamizadores dos fluxos; aproximações institucionais e estruturas de longa duração que recaem sobre os museus estudados. / This thesis assumes that there are barriers, often insurmountable, between the production of knowledge in archeology and society. In this scenario, the museums are considered as the main windows that are opened between the knowledge built in Archaeology and non-specialist audience. Understanding museums as information systems, this thesis sought to identify the gaps that interfere with the flow of information generated by the chain of archeological musealization - which comprises the strategies of acquisition, conservation and communication. As a way to identify the elements that influence the flow of information, we conceive a tool entitled museum diagnostic that was applied in both research subjects: the Museu de Arqueologia de Xingó e Museu de Sambaqui de Joinville. Based on the results collected in diagnostics, we developed a data analysis in which we describe the factors identified that represent obstacles and threats to the flow of information; the potential movers and flows of information; institutional approaches and structures and long-term incumbent on museums studied.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:36:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ROGERIO DOS SANTOS ZENARO .pdf: 967369 bytes, checksum: 6edfff7162432055b0beaa669bfb885b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-06-26 / Analyzing the information role in the context of hotel business, this research named: "Information Management and Knowledge Management as a factor of improvement in Hospitality", shows how data research, its transformation in information and further creation of knowledge serve as elements in the information flow. The information flow analysis can present elements to relate concepts of Information Management and Knowledge Management observed in bibliographic research with the developed procedures of hospitality. The research brings the difficulty found by the employees with handling information and its day-by-day applications. The new concepts about the hospitality issues and its evolutions and the need of classification, are here to improve this research increasing the horizon of discussion. Finally, this study allows reflections over the concepts about the new issues of hospitality, relating them to the information flow and the processes of hospitality that serve as a factor of improvement in hospitality / Ao Analisarmos o papel da informa??o no contexto hoteleiro, este trabalho intitulado: Gest?o da Informa??o e Gest?o do Conhecimento como fator de melhoria da hospitalidade mostra como a coleta de dados, sua transforma??o em informa??o e posterior cria??o do conhecimento servem como insumo dos fluxos de informa??o. As an?lises dos fluxos de informa??o podem apresentar elementos para relacionar os conceitos sobre a Gest?o da Informa??o e a Gest?o do Conhecimento, levantados na revis?o bibliogr?fica, com os processos desenvolvidos nos meios de hospedagem. A pesquisa em estudo procura levantar as dificuldades encontradas pelas equipes com a manipula??o da informa??o e sua aplica??o no cotidiano. As novas abordagens sobre a tem?tica da hospitalidade, a evolu??o dos meios de hospedagem e a necessidade de classifica??o s?o ?teis para embasar esse trabalho e aumentar o horizonte de discuss?o. Dessa forma, este estudo possibilita refletir a partir dos conceitos sobre a nova tem?tica da hospitalidade, relacionando-as com fluxos de informa??o e os processos dentro do meio de hospedagem auxiliam como fator de melhoria da hospitalidade