Negative impacts from intensifying agriculture have generated concerns that pollinator-dependent crop species, such as courgette Cucurbita pepo L., may be experiencing a pollination deficit. This thesis explores the extent to which pollination influences fruit set; how pollination could be improved; and how in doing so growers’ profits and agricultural resilience could increase, using UK field-grown courgettes as a model system. Inspired by evidence of parthenocarpy (fruit set in the absence of fertilisation) in courgette, a systematic review showed extensive use of parthenocarpy to circumvent the need for pollination in other ‘pollinator-dependent’ crop species across the globe. Nonetheless, pollination significantly increased yield and pollinators were abundant enough to fulfil the pollination requirements of courgette, which if extrapolated to the rest of the UK, equates to pollinators contributing approximately £2.7 million to annual UK courgette production. Furthermore, wild flowers within fields were shown to be effective at increasing the abundance of bumblebees and solitary bees. Further exploration of the mutualistic relationship between courgettes and pollinators showed that courgette can improve populations of Bombus terrestris (using the Bumble-BEEHAVE model), an important pollinator of courgette. This thesis concludes that pollination is a vital mechanism for ensuring optimal courgette yields and that whilst pollination levels were maximal at study sites, simple management, such as encouraging wild flowers within courgette fields could help to attract pollinators to courgette flowers and support bees’ nutritional requirements beyond the extensive, yet transient, resource provided by courgette. Understanding a crop’s requirement for pollinators can also aid growers in their decision making about what varieties and sites should be used which could increase their agricultural resilience and further their economic advantage. Further work is needed to understand how other environmental factors interact with pollination to influence fruit set so that growers can prioritise key regulating services in their management for optimal crop yields.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Global software development has been a phenomenon of growing interest for almost past decade or so; and its adoption trend continues to gain momentum. Globally distributed work istaken up as an alternative to single-site mainly because of the economic and strategic benefits itoffers. Software development at geographically distributed environment is not a straightforwardtask and entails numerous challenges which are unique to this form of development. Requirements change management is considered challenging even in the best of conditions andit becomes even harder when performed at geographically distributed development locations.There is no existing model for managing requirements change in globally distributed softwaredevelopment context. This study uses qualitative research method to explore requirements change managementprocess and investigates the underlying causes of requirements change in geographicallydistributed software development. The research work proposes a model for requirementschange management for global software development. This model tries to incorporate the roles,activities and artifacts identified in the change management models.

Marketing management plays a very important and professional role in the enterprises. Therefore, marketing management is getting more and more popularity among the enterprises in recent years. Several aspects on marketing, such as technical documents, research and development plans, product quotations, are considered as core assets in one company. How to effectively realize marketing management has become a key for a company¡¦s survival. Up to date, several world-wide well known marketing management models such as Michael Porter flow diagram, ISO 9000 flow diagram, and Enterprises flow diagram all embrace the process-oriented approach which treats the system¡¦s structure view and behavior view separately. Separating structure view from behavior view during the planning phase may cause many difficulties, such as uneven distribution of resources, bad risk management and so on, when working on the later realization and verification phase of the marketing management system¡¦s construction. This research utilizes architecture-oriented modeling methodology so that structure view and behavior view are coalesced when decomposing the marketing management system to obtain structure elements and behaviors deriving from interactions among these structure elements. By adopting structure-behavior coalescence, abbreviated as SBC, which includes ¡§architecture hierarchy diagram", "structure element diagram", "structure element operation diagram", "structure element connection diagram", "structure-behavior coalescence diagram", and "interactive flow diagram", this research constructs a complete architecture-oriented marketing management model, abbreviated as AOMMM. This research is the first study using architecture-oriented approach to construct the marketing management system. Also, AOMMM solves many difficulties caused by the process-oriented approach when constructing marketing management systems. These are the contributions of this research.

Management guru Peter Drucker once claims that the management philosophy is to achieve a comprehensive system for the effective management of enterprise principles, procedures, and practices.Being exposed to intense competitions, financial risks, and internal requirements, without a standard to follow health care industry shall not be able to advantageously record various types of documents, causing the complicated paperwork. Also if there are blurred responsibilities among the various departments, less medical and process efficiency, health care industry shall not be lead to the direction towards sustainability. This research adopts structure-behavior coalescence (SBC) as the core service-oriented modeling method to examine patients, physicians, and resources generated by the relationship among them. We use ¡§service¡¨ as the basic construction unit, combining with enterprise architecture and information technology, to build a service-oriented medical business management model (SOMBMM). The results of this research are the following: 1. Modeling step is top-down, at different levels to describe its related services, also echo the corporate bottom-up strategy; 2. Enhance business owner for medical business understanding, enhance manager for business planning and organizational restructuring of the effectiveness and efficiency; 3. When it comes the enterprise strategy revision, structural changes or behavioral updates, service-oriented plays as the best tool; 4. Each service clearly shows all its operations, human resources and manpower, and then fully under control; 5. Service, operation names and input and output data are well delineated after the information system¡¦s analysis, this shall reduce the effort to communicate with users; 6. Using icons that make managers easy to understand, reducing the cost of education. The contribution of this research is to provide business managers a modern management model and to enhance management capacity, no longer need the experience, quickly getting familiarity with the business to improve administrative efficiency.

After the implementation of national health insurance, the health care industry has entered into a new era. The public not only ask the hospital for medical technology and expertise, but also more focus on the quality of care. The quality of health care has become a successful key factor for hospital management. The biggest problem of quality management faced by a hospital is that no one can clearly describe the organizational structure, business process, and information system which are related with the medical quality management. Provided that no one could completely describe the quality management system, neither a tool to represent and analyze the quality management system, it is impossible to achieve a nice and sound quality management throughout the hospital. This research uses a quality management model as an example, introducing service-oriented medical quality management model (SOMQMM) to corporate restructuring and process improvements. Service-oriented management model, using the service-oriented theory and method, is able to effectively describe the organizational structure, business process, and information system all in one. ontribution of this research is through the structure-behavior coalescence (SBC) service-oriented theory and method to create a new management tool and quality management model. From this model, we can clearly describe how we can do better quality of care for the medical industry, and integrate the quality management to the organizational structure and business process. Hence, provide the dynamic quality of information system to the manager as the basis for adjustment and management.

In the competitive environment that companies not only target on the improvement the efficiency in their delivery system but also redefine how supply chain should function in order to operate more effective from original supply to final consumption. A lot of firms have now cooperated together in the supply chain instead of fighting alone to deal with the competition in this global environment market place. Therefore, in the supply chain management, information sharing is important to effective coordination between partners. This research aims to develop an Architecture-Oriented model for the Supply Chain Information Sharing management. In this model, the interaction between organizations, structure elements, systems, and information sharing for the Supply chain management are well defined. Adopting this model, management can understand and control the entire supply chain more easily. Also, this model can help management make the better decision so management can more effective to collect the important information of organizational structures and behaviors for what are needed. Architecture-Oriented Supply Chain Information Sharing Management Model (AOSCISMM) is based on the enterprise architecture theory and method. Using the structure-behavior coalescence (SBC) approach to simulate the Supply Chain Information Sharing Management Model, we are able to fully express the situation of organizational structure, business processes, and information systems clearly to reduce business reengineering risks. The major achievement of this research is to advise a new model for better supply chain information sharing management and also bring the new vision for the supply chain management of information sharing.

The Kaoping River basin is the largest and the most intensively used river basin in Taiwan. It is 171 km long, drains a catchment of more than 3,257 km2, and has a mean flow of 239 m3/s. It serves as a water supply to the Kaohsiung City (the second largest city in Taiwan), several towns, two counties, and a number of large industries (electronic, steel, petrochemical, etc.). Although the mean annual rainfall in this river basin is close to 3,000 mm, over 90% of which appears in the wet season. The period of high flow rate in the stream usually occurs in the late spring and summer due to the impacts of monsoon and typhoon. Non-Point Sources (NPS) pollutants, which are associated with stormwater runoff from agricultural land uses can be quite diffuse and difficult to treat. In this study, land use identification in the basin was performed by properly integrating the skills of geographic information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS). Remote sensing image and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of Kaoping River Basin were applied for the land use identification task. An integrated watershed management model (IWMM) was applied for simulating the water quality and evaluating NPS pollutant loads to the Kaoping River. The watershed was divided into catchments and river segments. The land use patterns were defined by the surface coverage of each catchment. The underneath soil can have several layers, and each land use has its vegetation characteristic and erosion coefficient. The model was calibrated and verified with field data from water quality monitoring stations. The calibrated model was used to develop best management practices (BMP). Moreover, the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) was also applied for the water quality simulation. The model was calibrated and verified with water quality data, and the model was used to analyze the impacts of NPS loading on water quality. The major objectives of this study were to (1) investigate and identify the current contributions of NPS pollutants to the Kaoping River pollution, (2) perform the land use identification and construct the watershed GIS to effectively manage the watershed, (3) perform water quality and soils sampling and analyses, (4) apply multimedia models for NPS pollution evaluation and water quality simulation, and (5) evaluate the effectiveness of the applied remedial strategies on watershed management and water quality improvement. This study identified major land-use patterns in Kaoping River Basin using SPOT images and GIS/GPS/RS techniques. The major findings from the GIS, field, and modeling tasks include the following: (1) Fourteen types of land-use patterns in the watershed area of the basin were classified with the aid of the Erdas Imagine process system; (2) Orchard gardens, rice paddies, sugarcane fields, betel palm farms, and tea gardens dominate the farmland areas in the basin and are scattered around on both sides of the river corridor; and (3) Simulated results indicate that NPS pollution plays a significant role in the deterioration of the downstream water quality of Kaoping River and caused a significant increase in suspended solids loads into the basin¡¦s water bodies. Concern about the deteriorating condition of the river led the Government of Taiwan to amend relevant legislation and strengthen the enforcement of discharge regulations to effectively manage the river and control pollution. Based on the results of this study, application of BMPs [e.g., source reduction, construction of grassy buffer zone, and land-use management] for NPS pollutant control are required. Multimedia modeling results indicate that the application of the following specific BMPs can reduce the effects of NPS suspended solids pollution on the water quality of Kaoping River: (1) Conversion of farmlands on hillsides of the upper catchment to forest; and (2) Conversion of rice paddies and agricultural lands to buffer zones (e.g., grassy strip, detention pond, and constructed wetland) along the riverbank areas of the three sub-basins. With application of these two proposed BMPs, the peak suspended solids concentrations in the wet seasons could be significantly reduced. Results and experience obtained from this study will be helpful in designing the watershed management strategies for other similar river basins.

Since recent financial crisis triggered world economy recession, most of the corporations are facing financial downturn. To survive in the recession, some measurements are taken to increase revenue and reduce expense. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of those measurements which are used by corporation managers to enhance business operations and retain old customers. In Lee¡¦s research, 70% corporations adopting CRM failed. Introducing a system into business operation is not the only key point; customer-centered corporation culture and structure are some other key points. Successful CRM operation coordinates CRM strategy, organization, process, tool and final evaluation to support services continuously. This study focuses on constructing an acceptable CRM model to minimize the investments of time, money and man power when adopting CRM, and reduce the possibility of failure. In this study, we follow Enterprise Architecture (EA) theory and use the Structure-Behavior Coalescence Architecture Description Language (SBC-ADL) as a tool to create the architecture-oriented CRM model (AOCRMM). SBC-ADL integrates the views of structure, behavior and others, so that it integrates organizational structures and organizational behaviors into a single model. Comparing to traditional CRM models which organizational structures and organizational behaviors are separated, the AOCRMM provides a more holistic way, than traditional CRM models, to describe how the CRM operates.

Electricity construction is required for a country¡¦s fundamental economic development. It provides the needed power and plays an important role in modern society. In order to develop sufficient electricity, Taiwan government has launched a construction project in the whole country starting from the year of 2004. The thermal power station is the major source of electricity in Taiwan and will take long time to construct. Based on the guidelines of Executive Yuan¡¥s Public Construction Commission, the construction shall focus on material management system; coordinate, monitor and examine the project; review by routine and check on site; integrate technology and experts from the production field to raise the execution effect and process quality. Alteration of thermal power station consists of generating set and supportive equipment. The construction methodology will determine if the construction can or not be completed on time. With reference by managerial and operational scopes of some enterprises, this thesis sets up Architecture-Oriented Thermal Power Station Alteration Affairs Management Model, abbreviated as AOTPSAAMM, to describe the whole picture for the thermal power station alteration project and further to achieve the aims on controlling schedule and raising knowledge management. AOTPSAAMM contains the architecture of thermal power station alteration construction. It not only describes the coalescence of organizational structure and organizational behavior in enterprise value chains, but also integrates with technology application systems. With duplicating and expanding capabilities, AOTPSAAMM will easily apply to other generating electricity system and create contemporary enterprise excellences.