Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-104). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 218-227). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Thomas Housel, Dan Dolk. Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-78). Also available online.

This thesis is about broadsheet coverage of the European Parliament (EP). More precisely, it studies the amount and content of news referring to the EP as well as the professional attitudes of their producers. The main purpose of the thesis is to explain variation in the press coverage. Thereby it combines political communication research with the European integration literature discussing the legitimacy of the EP. It argues that cross-country and inter-temporal variation cannot be explained by factors internal to news production alone. Instead, national parliamentary traditions impact profoundly on the way EU parliamentary affairs are reported. The thesis employs a mixed-methods research design. It conducts a quantitative content analysis of 18 broadsheets published in six European countries – Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria – over three time periods: one is a routine period of two years; the remaining two datasets are oriented at key issues and events over time. In total, 3956 newspaper articles are analysed. In addition, 18 in-depth interviews with the respective Brussels correspondents and a director at the EP Directorate-General for Communication complement the findings. While the EP receives regular coverage, the thesis finds that news are selected and presented according to the interest of the audience. Hence the domestic angle prevails in the news coverage and the EP’s own prominence and potential to generate conflict attract media attention more often when major issues are at stake. However, domestic relevance is not the only explanatory factor. While newsmakers also respond to varying levels of public support for EU membership, the thesis identifies national parliamentary traditions as a strong external driver of EP news coverage. Here, procedural characteristics and public expectations shape the amount and content of EP news as well as newsmakers’ attitudes – and more significantly so with the rising powers of the Parliament.

M. Tech. Business Information Systems / Business Intelligence is a broad category of applications and technologies used for gathering, storing, analysing, and providing access to data. It provides historical, current and predictive views of business operations. By so doing organizations are in a position of continuously improving their performance in congruency with their mission and vision. As a result, organizations need to have in place effective Business Intelligence systems that could enable them process and access quality information so as support business processes. The ineffective use of Business Intelligence tools and lack of trust on the integrity of data has led to the deployment of duplicate systems and roles within many organisations. This creates an environment where organisations often have multiple systems that are only known in one business unit. More so, it has created isolations and unnecessary independences of business units as they tend to work in silos. In addition, this creates a negative impact on the overall organisational performance leading to the organisation incurring unnecessary costs. This study aimed at developing a model for enhancing Business Intelligence utilization in order to improve organisational performance.

M. Tech. Business Information Systems / The study aimed at conceptualizing a framework for maximizing Information Systems project maturity. Two factors led to the conception of the study namely, delays in Information Systems project maturity within the South African context and the resultant cost-savings that could be realized from applying appropriate Maturity Models, coupled with the proposed framework, towards reaching project maturity on schedule and on budget. To limit the scope, the South African Weather Service has been selected as the case for the research.

M. Tech. Business Information Systems / Business Intelligence is a broad category of applications and technologies used for gathering, storing, analysing, and providing access to data. It provides historical, current and predictive views of business operations. By so doing organizations are in a position of continuously improving their performance in congruency with their mission and vision. As a result, organizations need to have in place effective Business Intelligence systems that could enable them process and access quality information so as support business processes. The ineffective use of Business Intelligence tools and lack of trust on the integrity of data has led to the deployment of duplicate systems and roles within many organisations. This creates an environment where organisations often have multiple systems that are only known in one business unit. More so, it has created isolations and unnecessary independences of business units as they tend to work in silos. In addition, this creates a negative impact on the overall organisational performance leading to the organisation incurring unnecessary costs. This study aimed at developing a model for enhancing Business Intelligence utilization in order to improve organisational performance.

The focus of this study is the controversy around the photographic representation of the RIV/AIDS pandemic in Zambia (1999) by the Dutch photojournalist Geert van Kesteren. The controversy evolved around the 13th International Aids Conference in Durban (9-13 July 2000) between the photojournalist and AIDS activists, who argued that the photographs depicted their subjects - all black Zambians - in a victimising, stereotypical and racist manner. An investigation of the controversy on the issues generated forms the premise from which this research is conducted. This is intended to illuminate the nature and context of the more general soci()-documentary encounter between the observing photographer (the Western 'Same') and his/her subject (the sub-Saharan African 'Other') in terms of the politics of representation and the power involved. The study is undertaken within a broad visual anthropological framework of representing the African 'Other' from a Western perspective. The theoretical focus is on differing debates on representational processes and possible claims involved, especially by highlighting and questioning discourses of 'Othering'. Face-to-face, unstructured interviews were conducted with the key actors in the controversy and used to examine how subjectivity and institutional positionality in terms of socio-historical background, class, gender and race influence both the construction and interpretation of representation. Further, the study. addresses some of the limits of the representation of power relations and illuminates that the regime of representation is a system of knowledge production, implying issues of power and inequality. It has to be understood as a discursive site of power relationships, an arena for oppositional political discourses, of which adversary parties consider themselves responsible. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

This is a quantitative study that focuses on the lack of differentiation within the forecourt convenience store industry within Cape Town area and the use of an information system to build a differentiation strategy for major oil companies. A critical literature review was conducted to provide a theoretical framework for this study. The literature provided a foundation for the study and revealed that previous researchers have found that it is vital to differentiate within the retail industry due to the highly competitive nature of the industry. It was also made evident in the literature that companies need to become knowledgeable about the customer, the store attributes and products that can contribute to developing a differentiation strategy. Previous researchers recognized the value of having a robust information system that can provide key information required for the strategic planning process of retail companies. The literature review assisted in placing this study in context and preparing for the collection of primary data to answer the research questions. The Chevron retailers within the Cape Town area participated in the study and responded to a questionnaire that focused on the value of differentiation and information systems within the convenience store industry and the subsequent effect it has on the profitability and brand equity of a company. The survey strategy was chosen as the most applicable research method and the findings from the analysis of the data shows that the retailers are in strong agreement that differentiation will enable an oil company to rise above the competitors within the forecourt convenience store industry and also agreed that an information system is required to provide the critical information to assist in developing a differentiation strategy. There appears to be a strong positive correlation between differentiating and an information system from the responses received from the sample of retailers. From the synthesis of the results the most important factors that can be used to differentiate in the industry are store location and customer service. It was also found that the information system must contain data on customers, store attributes and products. This is seen as important ingredients for the strategic planning process and this information will ultimately contribute to an increase in profitability and brand equity if used appropriately. The recommendations made to an oil company that operates within the forecourt convenience store industry are to focus on strategic store locations and customer service to increase profitability and brand equity. Additionally a back-office system must be implemented that enables the capture of pertinent customer, store and product information. It was also recommended that a further study be undertaken using qualitative data gathering techniques and the scope to include the entire convenience store industry in South Africa. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

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