A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree, Masters of Communication Science in the Department of Communication Science at the University of Zululand, 2018. / The enhancement of the quality of education through the digitisation of the learning systems is a national priority in South Africa and beyond. Some academic institutions, both basic and higher level, have responded to this by adopting the use of ICT in their practice. However, the enormous digital divide between urban and rural areas has escalated with its negative effect on the schools. Most rural schools remain underdeveloped with a huge deficit in teaching and learning resources, while technological progressions continue at an unprecedented speed. These advancements in technology come with drastic changes in all spheres of life, particularly in the labour market. Thus, the need for preparing high school learners with relevant skills for the future, which mostly relies on ICT capabilities. This study, therefore, focuses on how the use of ICT in a rural classroom can help bring the learners to speed with the digital revolutions we are witnessing. The study adopts the Technology Acceptance Model as well as the Interactive Model to propose plausible solutions. The data were collected from 121 rural secondary school teachers in the King Cetshwayo District Municipality. The findings of the study revealed that the lack of ICT skills among teachers, and insufficient resources to support classroom experiences are key barriers to the effective use of innovative communication protocols, which include ICT in the rural classroom. This has policy implications for the department of higher education in terms of human resource development and the provision of appropriate logistics.

Les structures destinées aux applications aérospatiales se doivent d’être légères, rigides et compactes afin de pouvoir être stockées dans la coiffe d’un lanceur. Une solution permettant de déployer automatiquement une ossature rigide à l’aide d’énergie élastique stockée dans des liaisons souples est proposée. La solution retenue, constituant une structure annulaire polygonale, peut être utilisée dans différents types d’applications spatiales, que ce soit pour des voiles solaires, de désorbitation ou des antennes satellite. Elle a fait l’objet d’études géométriques afin d’en optimiser la compacité et la masse. La cinématique et la dynamique du déploiement ont aussi été étudiées et modélisées, à la fois analytiquement et numériquement. L’analyse de la rigidité de la structure en position gerbée (pliée dans la coiffe du lanceur) et en configuration opérationnelle est traitée et confrontée aux expérimentations vibratoires d’un prototype. L’adjonction d’un réseau tridimensionnel permettant de tendre une membrane réflectrice pour des applications de type « antenne »sera proposée, ainsi qu’un dispositif de verrouillage en phase opérationnelle. / The structures intended for the aerospace applications have to be lightweight, stiff and compact to be able to be stored in the fairing of a launcher. A solution is allowing to deploy automatically a stiff skeleton by means of elastic energy stored in flexible connections. The reserved solution, establishing an annular polygonal structure, can be used in various types of space applications, whether it is for solar, deorbiting or satellite antennas. It made the object of geometrical studies to optimize the compactness and the mass. The kinematics and the dynamics of the deployment were also studied and modelled, at the same time analytically and numerically. The analysis of the rigidity of the structure in folded position (folded in the fairing) and in operational configuration is handled and confronted with the vibratory experiments of a prototype. The addition of a three-dimensional network allowing to tighten a reflector membrane for applications of type "antenna" will be proposed, as well as a locking device in operational phase.

The purpose of this research is to develop a systematic methodology for the innovative design of Gravity Single Site IC Test Handler. First, basic characteristics of Gravity Single Site IC Test Handler are deduced. Next, all possible variants of function structure are synthesized by using the functional analysis method. Next, a system of kinematic notation is used to generate the principle solutions of each function in a functional structure and all possible design concepts of Gravity Single Site IC Test Handler are created. Then, promising design concepts are evaluated by using the decision matrix method. Finally, feasible design concepts of Gravity Single Site IC Test Handler are provided, and then optimum Gravity Single Site IC Test Handler can be synthesized by using the theory of kinematic design. Based on the foreging, four innovative design conceps of Gravity Single Site IC Test Handler are created step by step. The results of this work are of benefit to the development and innovative design for new Gravity Single Site IC Test Handler¡C

With the cyber environment getting more mature gradually, the advancement of technologies and techniques, the net users increasing, and the rapid development of the peripheral digital products, the net has evolved into a new generation that emphasizes on users co-constructing the cyber contents¡XWeb2.0. Up to now, quite few research essays talk about this field in Taiwan, so it lacks an applicable analytical structure to help the related industries develop the business. In view of this, this research will focus on constructing an analytical model for Web2.0 cyber sites through making a systematic analysis on references, to talk about the business models of Web2.0 cyber sites in Taiwan. Further, we can learn the way how these cyber sites run their businesses and also realize the identity and difference. This research essay will take the method of case study. Through the comparison among diverse cases, this study may find the identity and difference among these varied business models, even to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of this analytical structure, which both might be beneficial to the industry development and also help the analytical structure set up. According to Web2.0¡¦s three main characteristics¡Xuser involvement, openness, network effect, also accompanied with segmentation strategy, product strategy, service strategy, technique strategy, profit model, this study builds ¡§UCCT Model¡¨ which comprises four key factors to run business of Web2.0 cyber sites¡Xuser, content, community, and tool. This study further indicates that we could analyze the business model of Web2.0 cyber sites through UCCT Model; even, we could try to figure out what different Web2.0 cyber sites look upon greatly. This study found that UCCT Model could effectively narrate the business model of Web2.0 cyber sites. Through the comparison among cases by case studying with UCCT Model, this study found the business model of Web2.0 cyber sites have the following attribute. First, users play the role of the producer and also the consumer. Second, sharing fails to be the main purpose for users. Third, abundant and various contents could make websites be main databases. Fourth, websites could enrich users¡¦ experiences to enhance their involvement. Fifth, websites could fortify the stickiness with community relationship. Finally, the profit model would be divided into three categories¡Xthe content one, the community one, and the tool one.

Abstract Authors: Dmitry Moiseev and Polina KorolevaProgram: Leadership and Management in International Context Title: Power of innovative culture within organisations From 18 century almost everything that occurred during economic growth was done due to innovations. Companies started to understand that innovations could give a competitive advantage and increase organisational effectiveness. Innovative culture, in turn, is one of the most important conditions that make innovations happen. However innovative culture is not so popular and common within a lot of companies, maybe because of lack of knowledge according to this notion, maybe because of unwillingness and fear to change something. Innovative culture consists of aspects that have some particular shade and lead to innovations’ creation. In this research we defined innovative culture, determined and analysed different aspects that differentiate it among any other kind of culture. We showed advantages of innovativeness and described the leadership style which serves to innovations. Our findings are proven by the examples and words of leaders from global companies, which helped to build us empirical part.

Motivation: Through the increasing demand in new products, companies within international business context have to implement innovation efforts and so, they are searching for talents in an increasing amount of available employees. Problem statement: The problem of those firms is to employ the right people (talents) on one side and to ensure the innovative performance of the company on the other side. Research approach: For solving this issue, a qualitative research was chosen, while conducting a Swedish and a German case study of suitable companies and interviewing them about their practices of attracting, selecting, and integrating talents. Results: There is support found for the connection between the recruitment of talents and the innovative performance. Conclusions: The results contribute to talent management and provide lessons from successful cases as a guideline for other companies. For the reason that the case studies do not belong to a specific industry, the results are potentially generalizable.

Key Success Factors of Innovative Agriculture in Taiwan Abstract The traditional agriculture in Taiwan has a pressing need for transformation and innovation in the age of knowledge economy and economic globalization. Innovation is the core value of knowledge economy. Knowledge in itself is exclusive of all value judgment. Therefore, adding value through knowledge transfer to the product development processes can be achieved by means of new perspectives and points of view for business sustainability. The purpose of this study was to identify the key success factors (KSF) of successful promoters of innovative agriculture in the process of transformation and innovation. Three leading manufacturers of innovative agricultural products were chosen for in-depth interviews to collect specially needed data. Based on the characteristics of agricultural industry, the four dimensions of ¡§leadership quality¡¨, ¡§market strategy¡¨, ¡§product strategy¡¨, and ¡§management strategy¡¨ are used as a measure of the index of KSFs. The results show that the KSFs on the dimension of leadership quality are ¡§entrepreneurial spirit¡¨, ¡§leadership ability and foresight¡¨, ¡§cross-enterprise thinking¡¨, ¡§enterprise knowledge¡¨, and ¡§enthusiasm to help others¡¨. The KSFs on the dimension of market strategy are ¡§the ability to open up new markets¡¨, ¡§brand image¡¨, and ¡§market orientation¡¨. The KSFs on the dimension of product strategy are ¡§R&D and innovation¡¨, ¡§value-added agricultural products¡¨, ¡§product quality¡¨, and ¡§traceability system¡¨. The KSFs on the dimension of management strategy are ¡§size of business¡¨, ¡§integration¡¨, ¡§social assessment¡¨, ¡§product flow management¡¨, and ¡§core value¡¨. And finally, make recommendations to agricultural operators for moving forward with ongoing change in the economic environment. Key words: Innovative Agriculture, Key Success Factor, Knowledge Economy

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This study aimes to the investigate relationship between individual and organizational variables on staff innovative behavior. The individual variable is personal sense of humor, and the organizational variable is organizational playfulness climate. The analysis are done by using hierarchical linear modeling for Windows. The major results of thisstudy are as following: 1. The sense of humor has significant influence on staff innovative behavior. 2. Organizational playfulness climate has significant influence on staff innovative behavior. 3. The relationship between sense of humor, and staff innovative behavior is not affected by organizational playfulness climate. Finally, some suggestions provide as references to businesses and further studies.

Problem: Today’s rapid globalization along with technological improvements force organizations to adapt its strategy to external changes. Companies may undertake strategic renewal in order to cope with these changes (Agarwal & Helfat, 2009). However, there are forces that somehow interrupt a firm’s ability to adapt, which are called strategic inertia (Mallette & Hopkins, 2013). The forces of strategic renewal and strategic inertia do not exist independently from one another rather they coexist and vary in its influence on the company (Melin, 1998). The previous research exploring Strategic Renewal and Strategic Inertia as two co-existing forces appears to be limited, which creates an incentive to explore the phenomena in an innovative company setting. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the existence of the phenomena of strategic renewal and strategic inertia in an innovative firm. Method: In order to fulfill the aim of this research, a qualitative case study was undertaken. The primary data was gathered through interviews with managers from different departments at the company Fagerhult Lighting AB. Conclusion: This research contributes to the academic field of strategy as it proposes six circumstances that foster strategic renewal and strategic inertia in an innovative firm. The circumstances are clarified in the following six propositions, where (1) the encouragement of new ideas, (2) employees that are open to change, and (3) the acquiring of people with different perspectives and backgrounds, are presented as drivers for strategic renewal, while (4) prioritization of resources, (5) differences in interests and attitudes and (6) insufficient understanding and engagement, are sources for strategic inertia. The conclusion of this research is that strategic renewal and strategic inertia can co-exist within an innovative firm.