No description available.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-117). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of Anthropology. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/08/04). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2009. / Principal faculty advisor: William F. Ritter, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Western Kentucky University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-93).

In recent years the funds spent on research and development (R & D) have grown considerably. An indication of the extent of the growth in the U.K. was given by Hart (1) who noted that in 1900 approximately 0.05% of the gross national product was spent on research. This percentage increased to 0.25% in 1938, 1.6% in 1954 and 2.7% in 1962. Villiers (2) quotes a similar growth in the U.S., where research expenditure grew from <1% of gross national product in 1947, to about 3% in 1962. (In the U.K. it appears, from some statistics produced by the Ministry of Technology (3), that research expenditure has remained at about 2.7% of GNP over the period 1962-1967). The allocation of these resources poses a number of challenging questions in governmental, industrial and academic spheres. At a national level the kind of questions that might be asked are (a) what proportion of the gross national product should be devoted to government sponsored research, or (b) how should funds be divided between the claims of the aerospace, computer, or machine tool industries, or (c) how should funds be divided between the competing claims of the nuclear physicists and marine biologists. The large industrial concern is faced with similar problems though the resources involved are smaller. ICI for example spent about £30M on R & D in 1968, and during the later 1960's, the growth rate was about 8% per year. The Company must decide on the total amount to be spent on R & D and how it is to be allocated between different Divisions of the Company and different research categories. At lower levels of management two of the questions arising are (a) which projects shall be selected, and (b) how should the flow of resources to projects be controlled. It is now generally accepted that there is a need for techniques for assisting in the management of R & D. Jones (4) summed up the situation well when he wrote "It is not surprising that there is an increasing amount of discussion on the management of R & D for profit. Business becomes increasingly competitive and R & D activities, just as those of production and marketing must be examined to see how they can best play their part." Already a large number of relevant papers have been published, but as yet no significant breakthrough has been achieved. An important feature of the literature has been the concentration on theoretical models as a means of assisting research managers: reports of new methodology considerably out-number reports of practical testing of the methods in research laboratories. Throughout the author's research the opposite bias, that is to say towards a practical rather than a theoretical approach has been maintained. This was facilitated by the author completing most of his research in the R & D Department of the Mond Division of ICI (of which he is a member). The research presented in this thesis began with the very general objective of examining and developing methods for the allocation of resources (capital and manpower) to R & D and so Chapter 1 discusses some relevant methods that have been proposed in the literature. It was later decided to concentrate on the development of an improved system of project evaluation and control. Chapter 2 analyses an established system in this field, and looks at past projects to demonstrate some of the problems such a system should accept. Later chapters present the system that was developed during the research and record experience of testing the various procedures on a number of Mond Division R & D projects. As these are either still in progress or are only recently completed it has been necessary, for reasons of security, to limit descriptive detail and to normalize numerical data. Such normalization has been made in a manner that preserves the essential financial characteristics of the project. It is well perhaps, in the Introduction, to distinguish between the terms research and development. Following Baines, Bradbury and Suckling ( (5), page (2) ) process definition will be the term used to cover the steps required to take exploratory production activities from laboratory scale to full-scale. Development will refer to the problems of opening up a business area with a new product and will include economic assessment and marketing activities. For the most part these activities are closely linked to research activities and are usually performed by members of the same project team. The convention followed in the thesis will be to use the term 'research' to refer to all the activities of the project team and to assume that these also include some development activities as defined above. Only when discussing the work of others who have used the term R & D, or when there is a reason to emphasise the commercial exploitation content of a project will the word development be used.

Calls for more effective and modern teaching practices, higher research outputs, leaner administrative processes, greater community engagement, and more student-centred approaches to the business of higher education have intensified the challenges of working in a university. These challenges have added considerable complexity to the roles of academic staff, many of whom are facing increasing demands for which they are ill equipped to deal in terms of their formal education. To succeed in the highly competitive and changing environment that is higher education today, universities need to ensure that the requisite capabilities are developed in their academic staff. The key question underpinning this study is: how can the provision of professional development for academic staff be optimised to enhance university performance? The focus of the research is on identifying the ways in which higher education institutions provide formal offerings of professional development to academic staff, how they are organised to do this, who is entrusted with the task, and what are the strengths and limitations of the approaches taken. The research is informed by literature concerning higher education management, academic development, and strategic human resource management. Taking a critical realist ontological perspective, case studies of professional development provision in two Irish universities are presented. Findings reveal that while effective professional development is an espoused priority it is not a managed priority. While there is some evidence of good practice, the fragmented organisational structures in place for delivery of professional development reveal an absence of coordination and gaps in provision. The connection between professional development and organisational performance is loose. Recommendations are made on how the provision of professional development for academics can be managed to enhance university performance. A framework for designing performance-led professional development activities that aligns organisational and individual goals is proposed. An organisational structure that takes a more conscious approach to the management of the full range of professional development provision is put forward.

Significant savings in CO2 emissions can be won from fabric upgrades, and improved forms of heating. An increase in the number of building retrofits and installations of energy efficient plant such as biomass boilers or CCHPs must be the aim if the UK is serious in meeting its commitment to CO2 reduction at both the domestic and EU level. A way of achieving this increase, which will need to be significant, would be to tap into the vast funds under management by institutional investors who are required to invest those funds to optimise its monetary return, taking into account the level of risk. The aim of the research is to identify the enabling conditions that would need to exist to attract institutional investment in energy efficiency at scale. The UK Green Investment Bank has invested £50m into three energy efficiency funds, requiring each fund manager to match the amount by attracting investment from institutional investors. It is these funds that have been analysed as a single Green Investment Bank case study. Embedded units of analysis are on two levels with the individual funds being the first, and the institutional investors investing in those funds as the second. A hybrid deductive and inductive qualitative approach to the research was taken employing thematic analysis. The findings of the research reported here indicate that the emerging key enabling conditions that would make energy efficiency an attractive proposition are firstly, the way energy efficiency investments are classified in terms of an investment asset class, secondly the contractual structure of the individual transactions made by the funds, and finally, the experience and familiarity of the fund manager.

<p>This exploratory study seeks to critically explore human resources development with regard to the career needs and stages of the Namibian Police (NAMPOL). Documents were perused on the issue of the current human resources development and its relevancy to the training and development within the Namibian Police. Questionnaires were completed by a representative sample of NAMPOL officials from different departments of the police. Interviews were also conducted with selected officials on training and development of personnel. Recommendations are given as a model for improving the Namibian Police human resources development system as an effective training and capacity building system for members of the police force to perform their tasks effectively.</p>

Since its establishment as an emerging area of research in strategic management over a decade ago, business model research has had little consensus towards adopting a single definition or common language for this rapidly growing management concept.  However, strong agreement as to the relevance of value creation within organizations underlies existing business model literature. Moreover, applications of business model frameworks outside the private sector have been limited. Recent literature has identified business model innovation and design as a critical tool in effective implementation of organizational strategy, and empirical research in business models from new and alternative perspectives may reveal linkages between strategic management issues and effectiveness in creating value in public and citizen sector organizations.  Nevertheless, existing academic literature has not yet explored applications of traditional business model frameworks within a public sector context, nor has the need for empirical research linking the business model concept with public sector management been addressed. The main purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of how business models can be defined, redefined, and applied in city economic development agencies for application as a strategic public management tool. An analysis of how the business model of a prominent city economic development agency has been employed and how value is created within this model will be undertaken.  This empirical study also aims to determine conceptual linkages between business model applications in city economic development and to contribute a theoretical foundation towards development of future research.   Given the multi-faceted applications of the business model concept, the authors have conducted exploratory research targeting the application of current business model concepts and frameworks to a city economic development agency representing an influential global center of finance and commerce, the City of New York. The significance of conducting empirical studies on city economic development agencies is due to the influence in which these organizations have on industrial cluster growth, national economic competitiveness, and citywide and regional transformation. In considering this context, The New York City Economic Development Corporation is the primary economic growth engine for the City of New York, and strives to create and deliver value to citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders of New York City.   Findings from this study suggest that economic development professionals have not adequately clarified the term ‘business model’ for promoting common language between strategists, project managers, consultants, and executives to support strategic business model design within city economic development agencies.  The authors conclude that equally relevant to framing and applying theoretical foundations grounded in the business model concept, is the identification of value-creating activities within economic development agencies and development of citizen-focused value propositions.  This empirical study aims to define, clarify and explore the former, while calling upon a need for future research of the latter.