Loyalty management has emerged over recent years as a topic of significant importance in both academic and practitioner discourse, articulating the benefits of an extended relationship with key stakeholders including, but not limited to, customers, employees and shareholders. This research explores the theory and practice of loyalty management from a communications perspective. The thesis attempted to discover how the integration or non-integration of internal and external communication affects the communication of loyalty, in addition to how loyalty management contributes towards the organisation�s perceived creation of value. In doing so, it also examines how the practice of customer relationship management (CRM), integrated marketing communication (IMC) and the use of information and communication technology (ICT) plays a role in the communication of loyalty. The research entailed a three-year ethnographic study of a business-to-business financial services organisation specialising in vehicle fleet leasing and management services, comprising a review of relevant academic literature; and participant observation, focus group studies, qualitative surveys and document analysis. Besides evaluating loyalty management from a communications perspective, the thesis contributes towards the body of knowledge on Australian organisations from an organisational culture perspective, as well as exploring communication beyond the traditional boundary of within the organisation itself. Unlike most loyalty management approaches, the holistic stance considers other stakeholders besides customers, in detail. The study does not seek to establish validity and generalisability. Rather, the mainly interpretist approach preserves the form and content of human behaviour by detailing descriptions of the concrete experience of life within a particular culture and of the social rules, patterns and perceptions that constitute it. The findings showed that organisational communication has to be integrated and cohesive to enable the effective management of loyalty. Furthermore, the results confirm that the notion of organisational boundaries comprising �internal� and "external" communication is limited. Involved protagonists, acting together from within and external to an organisation, create, sustain and manage meanings through the use of signs and symbols within a particular context to form a unique culture or community. In addition, the notion of loyalty and the creation of value for the consequent success of the organisation is an important and valid perception for most of the stakeholders. For this organisation, the use of ICT and practice of CRM and IMC has varying degrees of impact, mainly enhancing the communication of loyalty. The detraction of value is caused primarily by the fragmentation of communication between the stakeholders, in addition to the existence of sub-cultures with conflicting needs.

This study focuses on the role of Information and communication technology (ICT) in support of effective knowledge management. Based on a comprehensive literature review, a knowledge management framework was developed for investigating the role of ICT in support of knowledge management. The framework not only centers on the dynamics of knowledge objects and processes, but also focuses on the impact of the internal knowledge management environment where organizational, managerial, structural, cultural and other related elements are intertwined and interplayed. Based on this research framework, two sets of hypotheses were proposed for testing: (a) whether ICT enables and facilitates conversions between knowledge objects and knowledge management processes, and (b) whether the internal knowledge management environment impacts the effective implementation of knowledge management projects. To test the hypotheses, a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies including theoretical induction, continuous literature review, secondary data analysis, and the conduct of an online questionnaire survey and a case study was adopted in this study. The empirical findings were drawn from the secondary data analysis, case study and questionnaire survey. A questionnaire survey and a case study were conducted to obtain empirical data for testing and validating research hypotheses. To obtain a better understanding of current knowledge management best practices, secondary data were gathered and analyzed. In order to investigate the conversion processes of knowledge objects, an online survey was used to explore the experience, perceptions and opinions of respondents in the use of electronic resources at an individual level. To identify the factors that can determine success or failure in implementing knowledge management projects, a case study involving the pilot implementation of a knowledge portal was undertaken for collecting and analyzing empirical evidence from the field. The empirical findings confirm the ICT's enabling role in knowledge management. The results of this study further suggest that the conversion processes between data and information are fully supported by ICT, whereas the conversion processes between data and knowledge, and the conversion processes between information and knowledge are only partially supported by ICT. While knowledge codification and dissemination are increasingly supported by ICT, supportive technology for knowledge generation and application remains much less effective. The critical success factors impacting the implementation of knowledge management projects include organizational, structural, strategical, managerial, and cultural elements. These interlocking elements form the internal knowledge management environment in an organization. This study provides theoretical contributions by better understanding the nature of knowledge, the relationship between ICT and knowledge management, and the relationship between knowledge management and internal knowledge management environment. It also provides a contribution relevant to practitioners by developing a novel knowledge management framework, which can be used as a guideline of knowledge management efforts.

<p>In this thesis I'm trying to investigate how good educational computer programs work in elementary school. I delimited the study to contain one elementary school in the stages of 6 to 9. The method I used was qualitative and the approach was inductive. I interviewed four teachers and five pupils as the way to collect data for the study. The theories I used were parts from different books with authors, which have done similar studies and researches. I also used the elementary school course documentations as theories.</p><p>From this study I can tell that the selected school's programs are best suited for background information. The programs are not as good for deeper knowledge. The motivation gets better among pupils when using the programs. The programs for mathematic follow their course documentation better than the programs for the social-oriented subjects do. The interviewed teachers and pupils want more programs, and the ability to use the programs fully (which aren?t possibly today due to some circumstances). This study may be continued in the future to include other schools in Sweden.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D. (Leer en Onderrig)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

This thesis consists of three empirical studies on the economics of organization using novel data on organizations for analysis. Chapter 1 uses the longitudinal and nationally representative data from Statistics Canada's Workplace and Employee Survey to examine the distinct effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on decentralization of decision rights. Using a sample of workplaces from different sectors and controlling for unobserved workplace-level heterogeneity, I find that decentralization (defined as the case when workers can plan work for themselves) is more likely when database software is used (which reduces learning cost) but is less likely when communication system is used (which reduces communication cost). These results are consistent with the predictions of the organizational model by Garicano (2000). Chapter 2 also uses the data from Workplace and Employee Survey and examines the impact of competition on the quality of the middle management in terms of the use of Human Resources Management (HRM) practices. I find that increased competition leads to an improvement in managerial quality, proxied by the use of HRM practices. These results complement the industry-specific evidence documented in the literature. Chapter 3, co-authored with Professor Varouj A. Aivazian, uses the management score of Bloom and Van Reenen (2007) as a proxy for managerial quality to examine the extent to which market structure interacts with capital structure. We find that leverage is negatively related to competition (measured by Import Penetration Ratio, Lerner Index, and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index). Besides, we find that competition is positively associated with managerial quality, and that managerial quality is in turn negatively related to leverage. We conclude that managerial quality explains the impact of competition on leverage which suggests that managerial quality serves as an important link between capital structure and market structure.

This thesis consists of three empirical studies on the economics of organization using novel data on organizations for analysis. Chapter 1 uses the longitudinal and nationally representative data from Statistics Canada's Workplace and Employee Survey to examine the distinct effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on decentralization of decision rights. Using a sample of workplaces from different sectors and controlling for unobserved workplace-level heterogeneity, I find that decentralization (defined as the case when workers can plan work for themselves) is more likely when database software is used (which reduces learning cost) but is less likely when communication system is used (which reduces communication cost). These results are consistent with the predictions of the organizational model by Garicano (2000). Chapter 2 also uses the data from Workplace and Employee Survey and examines the impact of competition on the quality of the middle management in terms of the use of Human Resources Management (HRM) practices. I find that increased competition leads to an improvement in managerial quality, proxied by the use of HRM practices. These results complement the industry-specific evidence documented in the literature. Chapter 3, co-authored with Professor Varouj A. Aivazian, uses the management score of Bloom and Van Reenen (2007) as a proxy for managerial quality to examine the extent to which market structure interacts with capital structure. We find that leverage is negatively related to competition (measured by Import Penetration Ratio, Lerner Index, and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index). Besides, we find that competition is positively associated with managerial quality, and that managerial quality is in turn negatively related to leverage. We conclude that managerial quality explains the impact of competition on leverage which suggests that managerial quality serves as an important link between capital structure and market structure.

The purpose of this research is to study the role of information and communication technology (ICT) and information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) in Cambodian non-government organizations (NGOs). By focusing on a workshop on the ICT applications Unicode and Open Office, initiated by the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (the CCC), I intend to see how these applications were adopted, how they are used and what the future is for ICT and ICT4D in Cambodia. The research is based on qualitative, semi structured interviews with employees at CCC as well as NGO workers who were participants at the workshops. The theories that I have used are Amartya Sen’s capability approach, Everett Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory and intercultural communication. This study shows that ICT is considered to be a very important tool for the development of Cambodia. Unicode has contributed with an easier way to type and read documents in Khmer and it is considered to promote the Khmer language. Open Office have not found its renaissance yet since people find it difficult to use although the NGOs sees its’ potential and wants to learn it. According to the NGO workers, ICT and ICT4D will play an important role for the Cambodian development in the future but because of a lack of infrastructure and proper knowledge about the new technology, it has not been used to its full capacity. In order for us to understand how ICT can reach its full potential within NGOs, there have to exist an understanding of Cambodian culture and history since the Khmer people’s values affect how the NGO workers look at development and the tools they are using.

Over the past decade, the rapid developments and growth of information and communication technology (ICT) have triggered a new wave of customer service. This study utilizes the net-enable business innovation cycle theory with secondary data analysis to analyze the process and outcomes of the implementation of emerging technology, i.e., web-based application and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) for the case company, i.e., A Company. We investigate the characteristics and feature of the emerging technology including the web-based application and VoIP, identify the potential economic opportunity for the A Company, analyze the needed business innovation for its growth, and assess the potential value for its customer. The findings have the potential to contribute to the understanding of impacts occurring in the innovation associated with the implementation of the emerging technology for the A Company and offer rich insights for the company to exploit the economic opportunities, the needed business innovation, and the potential value for the customer. This approach also provides a systematic template that helps an organization to decide whether an emerging technology is worthy to implement.

Abstract The goals of this study are threefold: first of all, cross-country data for 1997 and 2000, extracted from¡§2002 World Development Indicator¡¨ the World Bank, are utilized to estimate transaction efficiency indicators (TEIs) for various countries. Second, this study further examines the influences of transaction efficiency on the various economic developments, including per capita real income, foreign capital inflow, and infant mortality rate. Finally, this study applies questionnaire survey approach to carry out comparison between Taiwan, China and Hong Kong in terms of transaction costs and the institutional performances. Utilizing ¡§factor analysis¡¨ to measure cross-country TEIs, this study argues that countries with better TEIs generally have higher per capita incomes and FDI net inflows, but lower infant mortality rates. And, we may suggest that Taiwan¡¦s transaction efficiency is superior to the average level of APEC memberships, East Asia and Pacific countries. China is inferior to APEC memberships East Asia, and Pacific countries in terms of degrees of transaction efficiency. The evidence from the study indicates that Hong Kong¡¦s the transaction efficiency is better and equal to developed countries¡¦ and G8 memberships¡¦ ones. In adddition, Taiwan is better than that of China but inferior to that of Hong Kong in terms of transaction efficiency. In comparison to the statistical outcomes, the empirical results of questionnaire survey also confirm that Taiwan is much better than China, but worse than Hong Kong in their stitutional performances.

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