The purpose of this study was to investigate how well the computer hardware/software industry was meeting the needs of the retail pharmacist. The needs were determined by a survey of 1000 Indiana pharmacists. A reply rate of 22% revealed that the most important problems pharmacists were facing with their computer systems were slow access of the data, the length of backup time, no drug interaction check, and no multitasking. Hardware and software means of meeting these problems were studied. Also the currently available systems were evaluated in terms of these problems. It was found that while most systems were adequately meeting some of these problems no system was addressing all of them. Some of the systems were multitasking but were much too expensive for the small pharmacy. A system can be designed that meets all of these needs without neglecting the basic needs of pharmacists and at a very reasonable cost.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Requirements engineering forms an integral part of software engineering. The purpose of requirements engineering is to provide high quality requirements for a system or solution. These requirements are then utilised by developers to produce a high quality system. They also assist project managers to better plan the schedule and costing of information technology projects, resultinq in cost savinqs. The problem is that although formal definitions and processes do exist for requirements engineering, projects are still failing due to the poor quality of requirements, This study investigates this phenomenon, in particular to understand why project teams cannot deliver high quality requirements. This is done against the background of the processes and standards available to organisations. The root cause of the problem is researched to determine whether the processes are the cause or whether other factors are contributing to poor quality requirements. This study makes use of two cases within one organisation to determine what the contributing factors are with regard to poor and good quality requirements. The cases provide information on why one project delivered good quality requirements and another project within same organisation, the same business unit, with the same support structure, delivered poor quality requirements. It is perceived that the case study method was a valid method in this particular research study as it provided the researcher with in-depth knowledge and observations on how organisations deal with the process of requirements engineering. It was found that the quality and clarity of communication or the lack thereof plays a significant role in the quality of requirements. This research provides an alternative view on the factors contributing towards poor quality requirements. This implies that organisations can train or educate requirements engineers in communication skills. The skill of communication allows a requirements engineer to create a trust relationship with customers, and this empowers him/her to elicit good quality requirements from the users.

This research develops an interactive algorithm for solving a class of multi-objective decision problems. These problems are characterized by a set of objective functions to be satisfied subject to a set of nonlinear constraints with continuous policy variables and stochastic parameters. The existence of a decision situation is postulated in which there are N resources to be allocated so that P satisfactory objective levels may be attained. A probabilistic tradeoff development algorithm, labeled PROTRADE, is developed to provide a framework in which the decision maker can articulate his preferences, generate alternative solutions, develop tradeoffs among these, and eventually arrive at a satisfactory solution provided it exists. As the decision maker arrives at a vector-valued solution, with a value for each objective function, he also generates the probabilities of achieving such values. Then, as his preferences are articulated, he is able to trade-off objective function values against one another, and directly against their probabilities of achievement. A central assumption of this research is that there is not an "optimal" solution to the problem, but only "satisfactory" solutions. The reason for this is that the decision maker is allowed to have a dynamic preference structure that changes as the various tradeoffs are generated and new information is made available to him. The algorithm is developed in the context of parameters normally distributed. Several theorems are presented which extend the applicability of the algorithm to nonnormal random variables, specifically exponential, uniform, and beta random variables. A case study of the Black Mesa region in northern Arizona is provided to demonstrate the feasibility of the algorithm. This region is being strip-mined for coal and the managing agency must decide on the extent of several management practices. The practices or objective functions considered in the study are: (1) livestock production, (2) augmentation of water runoff, (3) farming of selected crops, (4) control of sedimentation rates, and (5) fish pond-harvesting. Finally, conclusions are presented and areas for future investigation are suggested.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the past decade or two companies started to realise that competitive advantage is not only achieved by optimising their business value chain, but also in managing the knowledge in the company. This led to the development of different knowledge management models and to millions of dollars being spent on knowledge management implementations across the world. Although there were huge successes, a large number of initiatives were spectacular failures - believed to be mainly caused by the linear method of capturing and presenting knowledge. Computer-based mapping tools is a new generation of personal computer (PC) based tools that allow people to present knowledge graphically. Since the focus of most research into computer-based mapping tools has been on the educational use of mapping tools, the focus of this study will be on the business use of these tools. Thus a number of common, off-the-shelf computer-based mapping tools were evaluated to determine whether they can add business value. From the evaluation a decision matrix was developed to assist knowledge workers in selecting the best tool for a specific application. The primary activities of the knowledge value chain model were investigated to select a series of business activities where the use of computer-based mapping tools could possibly generate more business value in the execution of the business activity. These activities were then measured against a set of criteria that was developed in order to evaluate the different computer-based mapping tools. It was found that the selected software applications could be clearly separated based upon their theoretical and philosophical backgrounds into concept mapping tools and mind mapping tools. It was further found that the possible business value that could be derived through the use of these tools is more dependent on the selection of the correct type of tool, than on the selection of a specific software package. Lastly it was found that concept mapping tools could be used across a broader spectrum of business activities. The research also reached the conclusion that the use of concept mapping tools will possibly add more value to a business than the use of mind mapping software. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gedurende die afgelope dekade of wat het maatskappye al meer begin besef dat hulle mededingingsvoordeel nie net geleë is in hoe goed hulle die besigheid se waardeketting kan optimiseer nie, maar dat die kennis in die maatskappy ook beter bestuur moet word. Dit het tot gevolg gehad dat 'n aansienlike hoeveelheid kennis bestuursmodelle ontwikkel is en dat miljoene dollar gespandeer is op die implementering van kennis bestuurstelsels. Ten spyte van groot suksesse wat behaal is, was daar ook totale mislukkings. Die vermoede bestaan dat een van die redes vir die mislukkings die liniêre manier is waarop kennis vasgevang en aangebied is. Rekenaar-gebaseerde karteringspakkette is 'n nuwe generasie van persoonlike rekenaar programmatuur wat gebruikers in staat stel om kennis grafies voor te stel. Die meeste navorsing oor die gebruik van rekenaar-gebaseerde karteringspakkette het egter op die opvoedkundige aspek daarvan gefokus. In hierdie navorsing val die fokus eerder op die besigheidsgebruik van sodanige gereedskap. 'n Aantal algemeen beskikbare, van-die-rak pakkette is ge-evalueër om vas te stel of hulle waarde tot 'n besigheid kan toevoeg. Vanuit hierdie evaluering is In keuse-matriks saamgestel om kenniswerkers in staat te stel om die beste pakket vir 'n spesifieke besigheidsaktiwiteit te kies. Die primêre aktiwiteite van die kennis waardeketting model is ondersoek ten einde 'n aantal besigheidsaktiwiteite te kan selekteer wat moontlik meer waarde tot die besigheid kan toevoeg deur die gebruik van rekenaar-gebaseerde karteringspakkette. Die geselekteerde aktiwiteite is gemeet teen 'n reeks kriteria wat ontwikkel is om die verskillende rekenaar-gebaseerde karteringspakette teen mekaar op te weeg. Die navorsing het bevind dat die geselekteerde programmatuur pakkette hoofsaaklik in twee groepe val op grond van hulle teoretiese en filosofiese funderings, naamlik konsepkaarte en gedagtekaarte. Verder is vasgestel dat meer besigheidswaarde ontsluit word deur die keuse van die regte tipe programmatuur vir 'n spesifieke aanwending as deur die keuse van In spesifieke programmatuur pakket. Laastens is bevind dat konsepkaarte oor 'n wyer verspreiding van besigheidsaktiwiteite gebruik kan word. Eventueel kan afgelei word dat die gebruik van konsepkaarte meer waarde tot 'n besigheid sal toevoeg as die gebruik van gedagtekaarte.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

by Yeung Wei-ming. / Bibliography : leaf 116 / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1984

by Wong Man-yee, Wong Yuen-tin. / Title also in Chinese. / Summary in Chinese. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references.

Not available / text