Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / On title page: Master of Philosophy (Information and Knowledge Management). Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

The role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a facilitator and enabler for development and poverty reduction has been increasingly recognised by many international organisations. ICTs need to be diffused in society to have their effects realised. The diffusion of ICTs in developing countries is lagging behind the developed countries creating the digital divide. Although the divide is reducing in many sub-Saharan countries, in Ethiopia it is increasing. The purpose of this study is to find the factors that affect the adoption and nonadoption of ICTs in small and micro businesses in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A number of sectors were explored and the hotel and tour operator sector was found to have both adopters and non-adopters. The hotel and tour operator business in Addis Ababa was selected to be the study population. The main research question was to find the connection between the political, economic, and social factors and the adoption and use of ICT in this sector. While cultural, social-economic, political and legal factors affect the adoption of innovation in both developed and developing countries, these factors are more pronounced in the developing countries. Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory is a good initial theoretical candidate for understanding the ICT diffusion factors. However, to include the national level factors, a theoretical framework was proposed based on Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory. An exploratory research method was used to shed light on the adoption and non-adoption factors. It uses mixed methods research methodology in two phases to collect data from owners/managers. In the first phase in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 hoteliers who adopted ICT in their businesses. In the second phase survey questionnaires were used to collect data from 128 hoteliers and 57 tour operators. In this phase both adopters and non-adopters of ICT were included. Data were analysed using NVivo and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software packages. This study argues that the telecommunications monopoly, the non-affordability of ICT products and services, the general economic situation, lack of knowledge and awareness of the technology, and lack of legal protection for small hotels affect the adoption negatively. On the other hand, network externalities, competition among hoteliers, and major customers (foreign) act as a facilitator agent and have a positive impact on the adoption of ICT. The researcher argues that the political, social, economic, technological and legal policies are the sources of the adoption and non-adoption factors of ICTs in the hotel and tour operator business.

The university library has been called “the heart of a university”, but in the past has been described as being “virtually unusable”. This exploratory study is an investigation into user experience and usability in university libraries in the UK, and aims to examine the difference between users’ experience and their expectations of using their university library. It will also investigate university library policies to determine how a user experience policy can help to improve users’ experience. A user survey was carried out at three UK university libraries, using a questionnaire which asks participants to give their current opinions on their experience of 12 usability properties, and then to rate their expectations of each of the 12 properties. This means that it is then possible to calculate the gap between how the users rate the usability of the library, and how usable it should be. Additionally, a website survey of 121 UK universities was undertaken to see which types of policies UK university libraries have in place, whether a policy for user experience factors exists at these institutions, and if so what the policy covers. The findings show the areas where the largest gaps between expectations and experience occur. One of the largest gaps at the three institutions concerns the adequacy of the information that users are able to retrieve, and this can be addressed by either improving the library’s performance in this area, or by managing the expectations of library users. The website survey of library policies shows that while there is a core of seven types of library policy, user experience policies are unusual. Library user experience and usability is undoubtedly a field growing in importance in the eyes of librarians and researchers. By taking the “lived experiences” of users into account, and doing this in conjunction with a user experience policy, the university library can become a place of continuous improvement.

The global increase in demand for dwelling energy and implications of changing climatic conditions on buildings require the built environment to build sustainable dwellings. The aim of this thesis is to apply passive mitigation and adaptation design strategies to newly detached residential buildings in the UK with the view to identify the key building envelop and systems parameters to secure the right balance of energy consumption and thermal comfort in dwellings. In addition, currently, acceptable robust validation process for validating space temperatures is required, as existing simulation software validation is geared toward energy consumption. The thesis further aims to apply an effective validation method to the validation of building simulation indoor temperatures. This thesis comprised of six case studies. In the first study, Bland-Altman’s method of comparison is used as a validation technique in validating space temperatures in building simulation application. This is a newly developed knowledge in civil and construction engineering research in validating thermal analysis simulation software. The relevance of this approach is due to the emergent understanding that the goodness of fit measures used in current building simulation model validation are inadequate coupled with that fact that the current simulation software validation are geared toward energy consumption. In the second study, global Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis is performed on two differing weather patterns of UKCIP02 and UKCP09 weather data sets to compare their impact on future thermal performance of dwellings when use in thermal analysis simulation. The investigation seeks to ascertain the influential weather parameters which affect future dwelling indoor temperatures. The case study when compared to literature affirms the mean radiant temperature and the dry bulb air temperature as the key parameters which influence operative temperatures in dwellings. The third study, the extent of impact of climate change on key building performance parameters in a free running residential building is quantified. The key findings from this study were that the average percentage decrease for the annual energy consumption was predicted to be 2.80, 6.60 and 10.56 for 2020s, 2050s and 2080s time lines respectively. A similar declining trend in the case of annual natural gas consumption was 4.24, 9.98 and 16.1, and that for building emission rate and heating demand were 2.27, 5.49 and 8.72 and 7.82, 18.43 and 29.46 respectively. This decline is in consonance with the range of annual average temperature change predicted by the GCM based on the IPCC scenarios (IPCC, 2001) which generally shows an increase in temperature over stipulated timelines. The study further showed that future predicted temperature rise might necessitate the increasing use of cooling systems in residential buildings. The introduction of cooling to offset overheating risk, the trend of heating and cooling demand shows progressive increase variability with an average percentage increase of 0.53, 4.68 and 8.12 for 2020s, 2050s and 2080s timelines respectively. It is therefore observed that the introduction of cooling cancels out the energy gains related to heating due to future climatic variability. The fourth, fifth and sixth case studies consider the integrated passive mitigation strategies of varying future climatic conditions, variable occupant behaviour, building orientation, adequate provision of thermal mass, advance glazing, appropriate ventilation and sufficient level of external shading which influence the potential thermal performance of dwellings and a methodology that combines thermal analysis modelling and simulation coupled with the application of CIBSE TM52 adaptive overheating criteria to investigate the thermal comfort and energy balance of dwellings and habitable conservatories. In the fourth study, the impact of four standardized construction specifications on thermal comfort on detached dwellings in London, Birmingham and Glasgow are considered. The results revealed that the prime factor for the variation of indoor temperatures is the variability of climatic patterns. In addition, London is observed to experience more risk of thermal discomfort than Birmingham and Glasgow over the time period for the analysis. The total number of zones failing 2 or 3 CIBSE TM52 overheating criteria is more in London than in Birmingham and Glasgow. It was also observed that progressive increase in thermal mass of the standardized construction specifications decrease the indoor temperature swings but increase in future operative temperatures. The day ventilation scenario was seen not to be effective way of mitigating internal heat gains in London and Birmingham. The opposite was observed in Glasgow. Night ventilation coupled with shading offered the best mitigation strategy in reducing indoor temperatures in London and Birmingham. In the fifth study, Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis is used to determine the impact of standard construction specifications and UKCP09 London weather files on thermal comfort in residential buildings. Consideration of London urban heat island effect in the CIBSE TM49 weather files leading to the generation of three different weather data sets for London is analysed. The key findings of the study indicated that in the uncertainty analysis (box and whiskers plots), the medians for the day ventilation scenarios are generally higher than those of the night ventilation and further higher than the night ventilation with shading scenarios. This shows that applying mitigation scenarios of night ventilation and shading have a significant impact on reducing internal operative temperatures. In addition, the sensitivity analysis shows glazing as the most dominant parameter in enhancing thermal comfort. The sensitivity of glazing to thermal comfort increases from Gatwick, with London Weather Centre having the highest sensitivity index. This could be attributed to the urban heat island effect of central London, leading to higher internal operative temperatures. The study thus shows that more consideration should be given to glazing and internal heat gains than floor and wall construction when seeking to improve the thermal comfort of dwellings. Finally, the sixth study considers the use of passive solar design of conservatories as a viable solution of reducing energy consumption, enhancing thermal comfort and mitigating climate change. The results show that the judicious integration of the passive solar design strategies in conservatories with increasing conservatory size in elongated south facing orientation with an aspect ratio of at least 1.67 could progressively decrease annual energy consumption (by 5 kWh/m2), building emission rate (by 2.0 KgCO2/m2) and annual gas consumption (by 7 kWh/m2) when the conservatory is neither heated nor air-conditioned. Moreover, the CIBSE TM52 overheating analysis showed that the provision of optimum ventilation strategy depending on the period of the year coupled with the efficient design of awnings/overhangs and the provision of external adjustable shading on the east and west facades of the conservatory could significantly enhance the thermal comfort of conservatories. The findings from these case studies indicate that thermal comfort in dwellings can be enhanced by analysis of future climatic patterns, improved building fabric and provision of passive design consideration of improved ventilation and shading. They also confirm that the utilization of appropriate mitigation strategies to enhance thermal comfort could contribute to the reduction of the environmental implications to the built environment and facilitate the drive towards the attainment of future sustainability requirements.

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Low-level representations have proven to be good at certain kinds of adaptive learning. High-level representations make effective use of existing knowledge and perform inference well. To promote using both forms of representation cooperatively rather than engaging in the perennial sectarian debate of supporting one paradigm at the expense of the other, this thesis presents a prototype system demonstrating knowledge retention using genetic algorithms and multiple levels of representation and learning. The prototype uses a mid-level of representation and transformations upward and downward for retaining domain-specific knowledge to bridge the gap between the high-level representation and learning and the genetic algorithm level. The thesis begins with an overview of the work, briefly introduces the principles of genetic algorithms, and states an illustrative domain. Then it reviews related work and two supportive systems. After that, it gives a general description of the prototype system's structure, three levels of representation, two transformations, and three levels of learning. Next, it describes methods of implementing the prototype system in some detail. Finally, it shows results with discussion, and points out conclusions and future work. / Master of Science

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004 / This study project investigates the use of concept maps in knowledge management and takes a look at both the people, and the technology sides of knowledge management. The report discusses critical aspects and theories of knowledge management. Attention is focused on the importance of human beings in creating and being of value to organisations. While some theories of knowledge management view knowledge as a further developed stage of information, there are other theories, which view tacit or individual knowledge as the most basic source of knowledge. Despite this difference, and other dissimilarities, certain issues concerning knowledge creation and amplification through communication appear in both theories. A detailed discussion of the conversion process, and the knowledge spiral, explains and reinforces the importance of communication. The discussion touches on issues such as the influence of company culture towards the facilitation of sharing attitudes, supportive leadership styles and organisational structure. The continuous exchange of knowledge and the acceptance of new methods, such as best practise, promote the creation of a learning organisation that concentrates on the value of human beings, their needs, and their individual fulfilment. Challenges and obstacles of knowledge management such as experts seeing their sharing of knowledge as a hindrance of personal competitive advantage or work security will be examined. Although the logistics of knowledge management are very complex it is extremely beneficial for organisations for creation of extra value, the speeding up of processes, and the creation of a better work environment. Despite the importance of the people side of knowledge management, a technical infrastructure and a sophisticated knowledge management system are essential. General information about knowledge management systems and information are given, including objectives, trends, and an example of a standard technical infrastructure. Concept map technology is the interface between the computer system and the user. Although concept maps are not a new invention, they are becoming more popular due to new technical possibilities. All kinds of knowledge can be saved in concepts, connections, links and underlying documents. Their cognitive structure enables instant use without extensive guidelines or instructions. A further advantage is the generality of concept maps, making them applicable to various environments and industries. To increase awareness for concept map applications, differences between two concept mapping software tools are briefiy discussed. One application concentrates on maps, the other application aims to enable further functionality. The empirical part of the study project evaluates the use of concept maps in the banking and insurance environment of Sparkasse Sudholstein. The company currently has about 1400 employees and provides a knowledge based service, which made it very suitable for the research project. The technology infrastructure of Sparkasse Sudholstein contains certain distinctive features due to security reasons. The company has a user interface with different applications, various internal databases, external databases for the discretion of customer data, and several other external information and knowledge services. All the factors above make Sparkasse Sudholstein to an ideal candidate for the use of concept map applications. A survey by means of a questionnaire was undertaken at the headquarters of the company to determine the current situation of their knowledge management system. The most popular knowledge sources in use were the Lotus Notes "info-tiles", as well as direct communication amongst colleagues. It was further recognised that concept maps are known by almost half the participants of the questionnaire and that people are very open to new techniques of knowledge management. Various concept maps were created with company experts to evaluate the value and possible applications of concept maps in the company. The results showed that concept maps are not able to fulfil all the tasks of a knowledge management system, because they do not yet provide enough functionality. However, concept maps do have an essential significance in knowledge gathering, job descriptions, trainings and seminars, presentations, as discussion support tools, and project work such as workflow management. The advantages of concept maps are their cognitive use and understanding, their self-explanatory structure, the interactivity with the user, and the implementation of multi-media in combination with special layout features. In conclusion, it can be said that concept maps can be successfully applied to selective areas in companies. Concept maps should be implemented into a broader knowledge management system and combined with other traditional methods of knowledge management. The use of concept maps will create value for companies by increasing efficiency, effectiveness, as well as the overall performance of the company. If concept maps are combined successfully with other knowledge management measures, sustainable competitive advantage could be created for the organisation.

DL-based ontologies have been widely used as knowledge infrastructures in knowledge management systems and on the Semantic Web. The development of efficient, sound and complete reasoning technologies has been a central topic in DL research. Recently, the paradigm shift from professional to novice users, and from standalone and static to inter-linked and dynamic applications raises new challenges: Can users build and evolve ontologies, both static and dynamic, with features provided by expressive DLs, while still enjoying e cient reasoning as in tractable DLs, without worrying too much about the quality (soundness and completeness) of results? To answer these challenges, this thesis investigates the problem of tractable and quality-guaranteed reasoning for ontologies in expressive DLs. The thesis develops syntactic approximation, a consequence-based reasoning procedure with worst-case PTime complexity, theoretically sound and empirically high-recall results, for ontologies constructed in DLs more expressive than any tractable DL. The thesis shows that a set of semantic completeness-guarantee conditions can be identifed to efficiently check if such a procedure is complete. Many ontologies tested in the thesis, including difficult ones for an off-the-shelf reasoner, satisfy such conditions. Furthermore, the thesis presents a stream reasoning mechanism to update reasoning results on dynamic ontologies without complete re-computation. Such a mechanism implements the Delete-and-Re-derive strategy with a truth maintenance system, and can help to reduce unnecessary over-deletion and re-derivation in stream reasoning and to improve its efficiency. As a whole, the thesis develops a worst-case tractable, guaranteed sound, conditionally complete and empirically high-recall reasoning solution for both static and dynamic ontologies in expressive DLs. Some techniques presented in the thesis can also be used to improve the performance and/or completeness of other existing reasoning solutions. The results can further be generalised and extended to support a wider range of knowledge representation formalisms, especially when a consequence-based algorithm is available.

By triangulation of three longitudinal case studies with change leader practitioner survey, this research identified the following seven generative Employee Relationship Planning (ERPII) management strategies: 1. People Strategy 2. Capital Strategy 3. Information Strategy 4. Experience Strategy 5. Opportunity Strategy 6. Crisis Strategy 7. Result/Reward Strategy ERPII management strategies may facilitate development of organisational cultures where management enables employees to become aware of relevant capital, information, experience, opportunity and crisis situations to attain the result/reward of their collaboration and participation in business process reengineering activities for continuous improvements. These ERPI management strategies may facilitate practical application of current approaches in positive leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Spiritual Intelligence, Appreciative Inquiry and Kaizen.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Computer Science and Information Systems / Master / Master of Philosophy