The challenge to the construction industry in the United Kingdom (UK) to improve its performance in the delivery of projects to levels more acceptable to clients continues to receive attention from both industry and academia. This is because recommendations of past industry reports and research have not been able to address the fragmented approach to project delivery, often cited as the primary cause of the industry's poor performance, and the resulting unreliable delivery times and cost overruns. Effective integration of the delivery team could improve team cultures and attitudes, and encourage the collaborative working necessary for improved project delivery performance. This research aims to develop a framework for improving the integration of the project delivery team necessary for a more effective teamwork environment. The thesis begins with a review of the literature on project delivery and the concepts of team, teamwork and integration for performance improvement in multi-disciplinary environments. It explores, through interviews, how leading construction project managers have engendered and managed the integration of teams in large projects. A framework of working practices for improving the integration is developed from three live case studies. The framework is validated through industry-based workshops. Exploratory interviews, conducted in the first phase of the research process provided empirical evidence of how integration could act as a means of improving teamwork. The results highlighted that parties that make up the delivery team operated within organisationally defined boundaries but acknowledged that working together would yield better results. The extent of their integration was influenced by team practices and the procurement approach. The Design and Build system provided the most conducive environment for team integration. Case studies, conducted in the second phase of the research, concluded that integration was more effective within individual organisations and was influenced within the project delivery team by its structure and processes, work environment and culture. These issues had received attention individually, but this research established that they were interrelated. It proposes the comprehensive and structured approach to ensure effective integration. The framework developed within the research provides project leaders with a holistic and structured approach for achieving efficient teamwork through the appropriate integration of the project delivery team throughout the construction period. Such knowledge is necessary for achieving any meaningful improvements in how the project delivery team works together as a single unit.

The subject of this thesis is an analysis of specifics in project management within multinational system integration projects together with elaboration of conceptual solution model of these specifics and factors. Main objective of this thesis is to elaborate solution which will fulfil all the requirements of specific environment of project management within multinational system integration projects and to develop conceptual project management framework which could be implemented into current project management model of author's company which will contribute to higher success rate of this kind of projects. To achieve the goals of this thesis it was needed to define an environment of the projects, on which is the thesis focused, together with most important terms. Then it was needed to make a research of commercial and non-commercial literature and final theses with aim to prove that the topic of this thesis has not been yet described and solved. In second part of this final thesis, the research of most commonly used project management standards and specifics of multinational system integration projects is made, together with identification of main problems and critical success factors of these projects. In the last part of the thesis is developed the previously mentioned conceptual solution model of these specifics and aspects. This also defines the whole structure of the final thesis. Main planned benefit of this text is an analysis of environment of this kind of projects which has not been yet thoroughly described and also improvement of multinational system integration projects realisation success rate in author's company.

Integration har på senare år fått stort utrymme i den samhälleliga såväl som den politiska debatten. Integration är en dubbelriktad process som betonar det ömsesidiga ansvaret och tillmötesgåendet mellan etablerade svenskar och nyanlända. Den sociala integrationen kan således ses som en förutsättning för nyanländas integrationsprocess, då den sociala aspekten innefattar tillgång till det svenska språket och ett socialt nätverk, samt interaktion med majoritetssamhällets invånare. Däremot skiljer sig förutsättningarna mellan män och kvinnor, då kvinnor generellt sett har mindre personlig frihet och sämre förutsättningar än män i sin integrationsprocess. Utifrån ett integrationsprojekt riktat till föräldralediga kvinnor kommer den här studien att undersöka deltagares erfarenheter av social integration och dess betydelse för nyanländas integrationsprocess. Sex semistrukturerade intervjuer, varav två med föräldralediga kvinnor och fyra stycken med så kallade etablerade svenskar, kommer att ligga till grund för det empiriska materialet. Det insamlade materialet kommer att analyseras gentemot Diaz integrationsmodell som betonar den sociala aspekten av integration, samt Berrys ackulturationsmodell och deras förståelse av integration för att skapa en djupare förståelse för respondenternas erfarenheter och uppfattningar. Resultatet visar att språket har en avgörande betydelse för de nyanländas integrationsprocess, där mötet med etablerade svenskar utgör både en huvudsaklig förutsättning för att lära sig språket och en huvudsaklig utmaning i deras integrationsprocess. Utifrån resultatet inser vi att ett ömsesidigt tillmötesgående och en öppenhet också utgör en förutsättning för en lyckad integration. / During recent years the issue of integration has gained increased attention in the public, as well as the political, debate. Integration is described as a two-way process that emphasises mutual responsibility between newcomers and established swedes. Therefore, social integration can be seen as a precondition for the integration process of newcomers, as the social aspect involves knowledge of the Swedish language and access to a social network, as well as interaction with the residents of the majority society. However, when it comes to the individual integration process women tend to have less personal freedom than men. This study will focus on an integration project aimed at favouring newly arrived women on parental leave as a part of their integration and will research experiences of social integration and its importance among the project participants. Six semi structured interviews, including two interviews with newly arrived women and four with established swedes, will lay the ground for the empirical materialof this study. The collected material will then be analysed through Diaz’s integration model thatemphasises the social aspect of integration, and Berry’s acculturation model, as well as theirunderstanding of the concept of integration. The theoretical concepts of this study are thought to help us gain a more nuanced understanding of the experiences and views of the participants. The result shows that the language is of crucial importance for the integration process of newcomers, whereas the interplay with established swedes constitutes both a principal precondition in order to learn the language, as well a main challenge to their integration process. Based on the results we acknowledge the importance of a mutual recognition and openness as prerequisites for successful integration.

S vývojem informací, komunikací a technologií se moderní průmyslové řídicí systémy (ICS) potýkají čím dál více s otázkami automatického testováni pro zabezpečení stability a bezpečnosti systému. Z tohoto důvodu se testování stalo jednou z nejdůležitějších částí životního cyklu všech softwarů. V této diplomové práci budu zvažovat možnost využití stávajících zkušebních metod a nástrojů pro získání dostatečné jakosti a bezpečnosti softwaru v kontinuálních integračních systémech.

Ce travail de recherche s’est déroulé au Carrefour jeunesse-emploi des Chutes-de-la-Chaudière auprès de l’équipe d’intervention d’un projet d’insertion socioprofessionnelle : le plateau de travail. L’élément déclencheur a été le besoin de réflexion manifesté par les intervenantes, alors qu’elles tentaient de résoudre une problématique complexe liée au projet. C’est dans ce contexte que nous avons pu accompagner les intervenantes dans le développement de leur processus de design, qu’elles ont nommé la démarche créative. Évaluer un projet social avec l’aide d’indicateurs est communément utilisée dans le cadre du Nouveau management public (NMP). Cette forme de gestion impose une coordination « en plan » qui ne favorise pas la « conversation avec la situation » dans la conduite d’un projet, qui selon Schön (1996), est une caractéristique essentielle des pratiques liées à la conception. Nous émettons donc l’hypothèse qu’il est possible de sortir des impasses de la réalisation du plan en tentant d’introduire des modalités de projet propres au design. Comme nous étions impliquée dans la situation en tant qu’agente de développement, nous avons privilégié une approche méthodologique de recherche-projet. Pour rendre compte de cette démarche, nous avons utilisé un journal de bord, la retranscription d’enregistrements vidéo de rencontres et l’analyse des contenus discursifs (codage). L’analyse des données nous a permis d’observer les conditions ayant favorisé la pratique réflexive de l’équipe d’intervention. D’abord, le désir de changer la situation a amené l’équipe à initier son processus de design et à procéder à une première définition de la problématique. Ensuite, la dynamique de l’équipe s’est développée au cours des rencontres en s’appuyant sur une compréhension mutuelle, des rapports égalitaires (Boutinet, 2005) et des interventions renforçant la cohésion du groupe. L’aménagement d’un espace pour converser avec la situation a permis aux intervenantes de mettre en commun leurs repères familiers (Thévenot, 2006), de mettre en œuvre leur pensée analogique et leur imagination narrative et de développer leur processus réflexif (Schön, 1994). Enfin, elles ont persévéré dans la démarche créative en acceptant l’existence de problèmes pernicieux (Rittel & Webber, 1973) et en considérant l’incertitude comme une alliée. / This research project took place at Carrefour jeunesse-emploi des Chutes-de-la-Chaudière with a team of social workers from a socioprofessional integration project: le plateau de travail (the work platform). What launched this project was the social workers’ need to reflect, as they were attempting to resolve a complex issue relating to the project. It is within this context that we were able to assist these social workers in developing their design process, which they named the creative process. Evaluating a social project using indicators is often utilized within the framework of New Public Management (NPM). This type of management requires a “planned” coordination that does’nt favour a “conversation with the situation” within the carrying out of a project, which, according to Schön (1996), is an essential characteristic of practices having to do with conception. Thus we put forth the hypothesis that it is possible to break free of the deadlocks of plan conception by attempting to introduce project modalities which belong to design. Since we were involved in the situation as development officers, we opted for a methodological research-project approach. In order to be able to review this process, we utilized a journal, transcriptions of video recordings and analyzed discursive contents (coding). Analyzing the data has allowed us to observe the conditions which support the reflective pratice of the intervention team. First of all, the will to change the situation has lead the team to begin its design process and to an initial definition of the problem. Afterwards, the dynamic of the team has developped throughout our encounters based on mutual understanding, egalitarian rapport (Boutinet, 2005) and interventions which reinforced the group’s cohesion. Setting up a space to converse with the situation has allowed the social workers to put their familiar references in common (Thévenot, 2006), to apply their analogical thinking and narrative imagination and to develop their reflective practice (Schön, 1994). Finally, they have persisted in the process by accepting the existence of wicked problems (Rittel & Webber, 1973) and by considering uncertainty as an ally.

This work analyses music activities of English-speaking children of pre-school age, attending international schools in Prague, following the British Curricula. The goal of this work is to develop and to validate teaching materials of musical activities, supporting children with different native languages from the language of the teaching material, those in transition period, and those with communication barriers, and to offer concrete implementation strategies for teachers of music in both Czech and international schools. The theoretical part compares Czech and British music curricula for pre-school children. It defines terms such as transition period and describes its course in Czech and international environments. Furthermore, it addresses the role of music during this stage of development and explains the concepts of project-based learning and music integration project. As theoretical underpinning for the practical portion, the work offers detailed discussion of musical factors, syllabic structure both in English and Czech language, and the variations in interpretation of musical fairy tales. The practical part describes the goals, methods, and procedures of the action research focused on the implementation of the musical fairy tale in Czech and English, as well as reflection and evaluation of...