As multi-agent systems (MAS) have become more mature and systems in general have become more distributed, it is necessary for those who want to build large scale systems to consider, in some computational depth, how agents can communicate in large scale, complex and distributed systems. Currently, some MAS systems have been developed to use an abstract specification language for argumentation. This as a basis for agent communication; to provide effective decision support for agents and yield better agreements. However, as we build complete MAS that involve argumentation, there is a need to produce concrete implementations in which these abstract specifications are realised via protocols coordinating agent behaviour. This creates a gap between standard argument specification and deployment of protocols. This thesis attempts to close this gap by using a combination of automated synthesis and verification methods. More precisely, this thesis proposes a means of moving rapidly from argument specification to protocol implementation using an extension of the Argument Interchange Format (AIF is a generic specification language for argument structure) called a Dialogue Interaction Diagram (DID) as the dialogue game specification language and the Lightweight Coordination Calculus (LCC is an executable specification language used for coordinating agents in open systems) as an implementation language. The main contribution of this research is to provide approaches for enabling developers of dialogue game argumentation systems to use specification languages (in our case AIF/DID) to generate agent protocol systems that are capable of direct implementation on open infrastructures (in our case LCC).

This research utilised mixed methodology to gain insight into community pharmacists’ adoption of medicines and services related to two key innovative policy interventions aimed at enhanced minor ailment management; namely the ongoing legal status reclassification of medicines; and the introduction of the Scottish Minor Ailment Service. Prompted by the lack of qualitative and large scale quantitative evaluation from the pharmacists’ perspective, the aim was to investigate pharmacists’ adoption of these innovations. Data were generated to evaluate the process related aspects of innovation adoption from community pharmacists’ perspectives; and to identify and quantify key factors associated with the adoption of these innovations, thereby considering the wider relevance to new community pharmacy services. A range of methods was used including: formal systematic review of peer reviewed published literature on factors associated with innovation adoption following methods recommended by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York; extensive review of policy documents of all the devolved UK Governments; qualitative focus groups and interviews with 20 community pharmacists from four Scottish Health Boards; and lastly a cross sectional survey of the pharmacists responsible for nonprescription medicines from all Scottish community pharmacies (N=1138). The theoretical framework of diffusion of innovations was adopted to design the quantitative research instrument and interpret the data. Rigour was enhanced by consideration of aspects of validity and reliability at all stages. The highest standards of research governance and ethics were applied throughout the study. Qualitative interviews provided insight into the process related aspects of innovation adoption. Where current changes were embraced reluctantly by many who deemed the pace as fast and furious, others were keen to contribute to developments taking place within pharmacy and were eager to play a more proactive role in leading and introducing change to the public. Regardless of practice setting and ownership model, the merits of each innovation appeared to be considered at the individual practitioner level. Hence an organisational level decision to implement an innovation did not necessarily translate to adoption at the individual practitioner level. Using descriptive, bivariate and multivariate quantitative models informed by the results of the qualitative interviews and systematic review of the literature, the quantitative study showed pharmacists’ perceived attributes of innovations (such as benefits to their professional role development and patients); and patient demand and use of services had the highest association with whether or how far innovations were adopted. Issues such as differences in availability of resources were less able to explain differing level of innovation adoption by the pharmacist respondents. These findings suggest that as innovations around minor ailment management have not yet required reorientation of existing services, the issue of how pharmacists’ perceive the characteristics of the innovations such as: potential for financial benefits to pharmacy, professional role development and patients; is key to predicting whether future innovations of a similar nature will be successfully adopted by pharmacists.

Disasters especially from natural phenomena are inevitable. The affected areas recover from the aftermath of a natural disaster with the support from various agents participating in humanitarian operations. There are several domains of the operation, and distributing relief aids is one. For distribution, satisfying the demand for relief aid is important since the condition of the environment is unfavorable to affected people and resources needed for the victim’s life are scarce. However, it becomes problematic when the logistic agents believed to be work properly fail to deliver the emergency goods because of the capacity loss induced from the environment after disasters. This study was proposed to address the problem of logistic agents’ unexpected incapacity which hinders scheduled distribution. The decrease in a logistic agent’s supply capability delays<br>achieving the goal of supplying required relief goods to the affected people which further endangers them. Regarding the stated problem, this study explored the importance of<br>setting the profile of logistic agents that can survive for certain duration of times. Therefore, this research defines the “survivability” and the profile of logistic agents for surviving the last mile distribution through agent based modeling and simulation. Through simulations, this study uncovered that the logistic exercise could gain survivability with the certain number and organization of logistic agents. Proper formation of organization establish the logistics’ survivability, but excessive size can threaten the survivability.

O objetivo desta dissertação é descrever o comportamento de estruturas com repetição verbal em português brasileiro que apresentam características específicas diferentes de outras construções com repetição verbal já estudas no português brasileiro (Bastos 2001/ Bastos-Gee 2009) e no português europeu (Martins 2007). As estruturas em questão são iniciadas com que, sendo que em cada uma delas o constituinte encabeçado por que aparece em posições diferentes na sentença: quando o que está no primeiro bloco, nomeio a estrutura de que-reportativo; quando o que está no segundo bloco, nomeio a estrutura de que-adversativo. Essas construções apresentam similaridades, como a necessidade dos constituintes verbais serem idênticos, mas também apresentam muitas diferenças entre si além da posição do que: ter necessidade de repetir um antecedente discursivo obrigatoriamente, que só ocorre com que-reportativo, e a presença de uma sentença coordenada adversativa implícita, o efeito-mas (Bastos 2001/Bastos-Gee 2009), que também só ocorre com que-reportativo. Através da comparação com outras estruturas de repetição verbal já estudadas no português, mostro que as construções analisadas nesta dissertação possuem comportamentos diferenciados e envolvem tópicos diferentes, a saber, a estrutura com que-reportativo envolve tópico conversacional, enquanto a estrutura com que-adversativo envolve tópico contrastivo. / The goal of this dissertation is to describe the behavior of finite structures with verbal repetition in Brazilian Portuguese, which present different specific characteristics from other verbal repetition constructions previously studied in Brazilian Portuguese (Bastos 2001/ Bastos-Gee 2009) and in European Portuguese (Martins 2007). The structures in question start with que that, but the constituents headed by que occupy different positions in each structure: when que is in the first block of the sentence, I call the structure reportative-que; when que is in the second block of the sentence, I call the structure adversative-que. These structures present similarities, such as the requirement of identical verbal constituents, but also exhibit many differences besides the position where que appears: the requirement to repeat the previous discourse and the presence of an implicit adversative clause - the but-effect (Bastos 2001/ Bastos-Gee 2009) -, for instance, only happens with reportative-que. Through the comparison with other verbal repetition structures already studied in Portuguese, I demonstrate the structures analyzed in this dissertation have a differentiated behavior. I also demonstrate that they are composed by different topics, namely, reportative-que has a conversational topic, while adversative-que has a contrastive topic.

O objetivo desta dissertação é descrever o comportamento de estruturas com repetição verbal em português brasileiro que apresentam características específicas diferentes de outras construções com repetição verbal já estudas no português brasileiro (Bastos 2001/ Bastos-Gee 2009) e no português europeu (Martins 2007). As estruturas em questão são iniciadas com que, sendo que em cada uma delas o constituinte encabeçado por que aparece em posições diferentes na sentença: quando o que está no primeiro bloco, nomeio a estrutura de que-reportativo; quando o que está no segundo bloco, nomeio a estrutura de que-adversativo. Essas construções apresentam similaridades, como a necessidade dos constituintes verbais serem idênticos, mas também apresentam muitas diferenças entre si além da posição do que: ter necessidade de repetir um antecedente discursivo obrigatoriamente, que só ocorre com que-reportativo, e a presença de uma sentença coordenada adversativa implícita, o efeito-mas (Bastos 2001/Bastos-Gee 2009), que também só ocorre com que-reportativo. Através da comparação com outras estruturas de repetição verbal já estudadas no português, mostro que as construções analisadas nesta dissertação possuem comportamentos diferenciados e envolvem tópicos diferentes, a saber, a estrutura com que-reportativo envolve tópico conversacional, enquanto a estrutura com que-adversativo envolve tópico contrastivo. / The goal of this dissertation is to describe the behavior of finite structures with verbal repetition in Brazilian Portuguese, which present different specific characteristics from other verbal repetition constructions previously studied in Brazilian Portuguese (Bastos 2001/ Bastos-Gee 2009) and in European Portuguese (Martins 2007). The structures in question start with que that, but the constituents headed by que occupy different positions in each structure: when que is in the first block of the sentence, I call the structure reportative-que; when que is in the second block of the sentence, I call the structure adversative-que. These structures present similarities, such as the requirement of identical verbal constituents, but also exhibit many differences besides the position where que appears: the requirement to repeat the previous discourse and the presence of an implicit adversative clause - the but-effect (Bastos 2001/ Bastos-Gee 2009) -, for instance, only happens with reportative-que. Through the comparison with other verbal repetition structures already studied in Portuguese, I demonstrate the structures analyzed in this dissertation have a differentiated behavior. I also demonstrate that they are composed by different topics, namely, reportative-que has a conversational topic, while adversative-que has a contrastive topic.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-02-22T11:22:11Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Brenda Gomes Carvalho - 2012.pdf: 1987679 bytes, checksum: 63fde171cc8d47f38d2c59890c3a1b90 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-02-22T11:24:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Brenda Gomes Carvalho - 2012.pdf: 1987679 bytes, checksum: 63fde171cc8d47f38d2c59890c3a1b90 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-22T11:24:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Brenda Gomes Carvalho - 2012.pdf: 1987679 bytes, checksum: 63fde171cc8d47f38d2c59890c3a1b90 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-19 / Araucaria angustifolia is a dioecious plant, which is endangered due to their extensive exploitation and reforestation difficulties related to its slow development and lack of methods for determining the sex of the plant before its reproductive age (15 to 20 years). Through analysis of 1H HR-MAS NMR and multivariate analysis was possible to propose a method to predict the sex of the plant still young, by assessing the metabolic profile of fresh leaves. This analysis led to the identification of regions of spectrum with higher influence on differentiation between males and females, although the corresponding metabolites have not been elucidated. / Araucaria angustifolia é uma planta dióica, que se encontra ameaçada de extinção devido à sua extensiva exploração e às dificuldades de reflorestamento, relacionadas ao seu lento desenvolvimento e à inexistência de métodos para a determinação do sexo da planta antes de sua idade reprodutiva (15 a 20 anos). Através de análises de RMN HR-MAS de 1H e análise multivariada foi possível propor um método para a predição do sexo da planta ainda jovem, através da avaliação do perfil metabólico de folhas in natura. Esta análise levou à identificação de regiões do espectro com maior influência na diferenciação entre machos e fêmeas, embora os metabólitos correspondentes não tenham sido elucidados.

Le travail présenté dans cette thèse définit une nouvelle approche pour la modélisation et la conceptualisation des processus métiers dans les entreprises afin de construire des outils logiciels d'assistance intelligents qui prennent en charge ces processus. L'approche proposée définit une ontologie dédiée à l'étude des organisations, nommée K-CRIO. Elle est décrite à l'aide du langage de représentation des connaissances OWL. Afin d'illustrer nos travaux, un système d'assistance a été implanté sur la base des résultats issus de la modélisation et de la conceptualisation d'un processus métier spécifique avec l'ontologie K-CRIO. Ce système prend la forme d'une application Web qui intègre et exploite pleinement les avantages des systèmes multiagents. L'ontologie K-CRIO est une ontologie dédiée à l'étude des organisations et à l'analyse organisationnelle des processus métiers qu'elles mettent en oeuvre. Plus précisément, elle est utilisée pour comprendre, analyser et raisonner sur ces organisations. Les organisations visées sont celles composées d'acteurs humains impliqués tout au long de la conception de produits et, pour ce faire, organisés selon un processus métier. L'éventail de ce type d'organisations est assez large. Nous avons donc limité notre étude aux organisations qui produisent des logiciels comme objectif final du processus. Dans ce contexte, l'ontologie K-CRIO peut être utilisée pour modéliser la structure organisationnelle du processus et les activités qui en résultent. Cette ontologie peut ensuite être exploitée afin de concevoir des outils d'assistance à la mise en oeuvre des processus ciblés au sein des organisations décrites. Plus précisément, l'ontologie fournit des moyens de raisonnement, d'annotation des ressources, et de suivi des processus de conception, permettant des recherches et de proposer pro-activement des conseils et des contenus appropriés. Afin d'illustrer l'utilisation de K-CRIO, nous appliquons K-CRIO sur deux processus différents: le modèle en cascade et la méthodologie Scrum. Ces exemples sont des processus de développement de logiciels classiques. En outre, pour le processus Scrum, qui est un processus agile de développement de logiciel, largement utilisé dans les entreprises de logiciels, nous avons conçu et développé un outil d'assistance intelligent. Cet outil contribue principalement à aider les Scrum Masters en leur fournissant des indicateurs pour les assister dans leurs prises de décisions ainsi que par la constitution d'une base de connaissances sur les activités / The work presented in this PhD thesis defines a new approach for the modeling and the conceptualization of enterprise business processes in the perspective of building intelligent assistance software tools to support these processes. The proposed approach defines an organizational ontology, named K-CRIO. Its description is based on the Ontology Web Language. To illustrate our work, an intelligent assistance system has been designed and implemented according to the result from the modeling and conceptualization of a specific business process with the K-CRIO Ontology. It is a web-based application that integrates and takes full advantage of multi-agent systems.The K-CRIO Ontology is an Ontology dedicated to the study of organizations and the analysis of business processes adopting an organizational point of view. Specifically, it is used to understand, analyze and reason about organizations and the processes they implement. The targeted organizations are those composed of entities involved throughout products' design and, to do so, following a defined business process. The range of this type of organizations is quite wide. We have thus limited our study to organizations that produce software as the final process goal, specifically IT enterprises delivering software products or services. In this context, the K-CRIO ontology could be used to model structure of the considered organizations and model human activities appearing in their business processes. This ontology could be used to support process assistance within the described organizations. More specifically, the ontology could provide means for reasoning, annotating resources, monitoring design processes, enabling searches and pro-actively proposing tips and proper content. In order to illustrate the usage of K-CRIO, we apply K-CRIO on two different processes: the Waterfall Model and the Scrum methodology. These examples are both classical software-development processes. Moreover, for Scrum, the famous agile software-development process widely used in software enterprises, we have designed and developed an intelligent assistance tool. This tool mainly helps Scrum Masters to make decision by monitoring Scrum project teams' activities within their various projects and collecting knowledge about these activities.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit sind One-part Geopolymere, hergestellt aus drei verschiedenen Silikatquellen und Natriumaluminat, mit Hilfe der Festkörper-Kernspinresonanz-Spektroskopie (NMR) charakterisiert worden. Die Methode erlaubt neben der Untersuchung von kristallinen auch die von amorphen Phasen, was einen der Hauptvorteile der NMR gegenüber der Röntgendiffraktometrie darstellt. Unter der Verwendung von Reisschalenasche konnte ein vollständig amorphes Material hergestellt werden, während Microsilica und ein siliciumreiches Nebenprodukt aus der Chlorsilan-Herstellung zur Bildung von Geopolymer-Zeolith-Kompositen führte. Zeolith Na-A ist bei diesen der kristalline Hauptbestandteil und je nach Ausgangszusammensetzung variiert die Stoffmenge dieser Phase. Die Bildung von Zeolithen ist für herkömmliche Two-part Geopolymere mit kleinem Si/Al-Verhältnis hinreichend bekannt hier für One-part Geopolymere untersucht worden. Verschiedene Methoden der NMR-Spektroskopie wurden eingesetzt. So konnten mehrere Wasser-Spezies in den Geopolymer-Zeolith-Kompositen durch die Verwendung von Einzelpuls-, Kreuzpolarisations- und rotor-synchronisierten Spin-Echo-Experimenten unterschieden werden. Wiederholungsmessungen nach mehr als 500 Tagen konnten keine relevanten Alterungseffekte nachweisen und bestätigten die chemische Stabilität der Komposite. Weiterführend sind REDOR- (rotational-echo double-resonance) und TRAPDOR (transfer of population in double resonance) MAS NMR Experimente durchgeführt worden. Die beiden Faujasith-ähnlichen Zeolithe Na-X und Na-Y wurden als Modellsubstanzen genutzt, um das 29Si-27Al TRAPDOR-Verhalten von Q4(mAl)-Einheiten in Alumosilikaten zu analysieren. Zusätzliche quantitative 29Si MAS NMR Messungen (qNMR) konnten den Reaktionsgrad der Silikatquellen bestimmen und diesen in Relation zu den mechanischen Eigenschaften der Materialien setzen. Durch Kombination der erzielten Ergebnisse konnte der Reaktionsprozess von One-part Geopolymeren illustriert werden. / One-part geopolymers produced from three different silica sources and sodium aluminate were characterized using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonances (NMR) spectroscopy. The method allows the investigation of crystalline as well as amorphous phases in the materials. The latter is one of the main advantages of NMR over X-ray diffraction. The use of rice husk ash produced a fully amorphous material. On the contrary, microsilica and a silica-rich industrial byproduct from chlorosilane production led to the formation of geopolymer-zeolite composites. Zeolite Na-A was found as major crystalline phase in these composites. Depending on the starting composition, the relative amounts of this phase varied. The formation of zeolites is well known for conventional two-part geopolymers with low Si/Al-ratios and was investigated in this study for one-part mixes. Different solid-state NMR spectroscopic methods were applied. Various water species could be distinguished in the composites using single pulse, cross polarisation and rotor-synchronised spin echo measurements. Measurements after more than 500 days revealed no significant aging effects of the composites, which confirm their chemical stability. REDOR (rotational-echo double-resonance) and TRAPDOR (transfer of population in double resonance) MAS NMR experiments were conducted. Two faujasite-type zeolites - Na-X and Na-Y - were used as model systems to analyse the 29Si-27Al TRAPDOR behaviour of different Q4(mAl) sites in alumosilicates. Additionally, quantitative 29Si MAS NMR measurements were used to investigate the degree of reaction of the silica feedstocks, showing relations to the mechanical properties of the hardened materials. Combining the findings gained in the present study, the reaction process of one-part geopolymers could be illustrated.

A Large Scale Robot Colony (LSRC) is a complex artifact comprising of a significant population of both mobile and static robots. LSRC research is in its literary infancy and it is therefore necessary to rely upon external fields for the appropriate framework, Multi Agent Systems (MAS) and Large Scale Systems (LSS). At the intersection of MAS, LSS and LSRC exist near identical issues, problems and solutions. If attention is paid to coherence then solution portability is possible. The issue of Self-Reliability is poorly addressed by the MAS research field. Disparity between the real world and simulation is another area of concern. Despite these deficiencies, MAS and LSS are perceived as the most appropriate frameworks. MAS research focuses on three prime areas, cognitive science, management and interaction. LSRC is focused on Self-Sustainability, Self-Management and Self-Organization. While LSS research was not primarily intended for populations of mobile robots, it does address key issues of LSRC, such as effective sustainability and management. Implementation of LSRC that is based upon the optimal solution for any one or two of the three aspects will be inferior to a coherent solution based upon all three. LSRC’s are complex organizations with significant populations of both static and mobile robots. The increase in population size and the requirement to address the issue of Self-Reliance give rise to new issues. It is no longer sufficient to speak only in terms of robot intelligence, architecture, interaction or team behaviour, even though these are still valid topics. Issues such as population sustainability and management have greater significance within LSRC. As the size of a robot populations increases, minor uneconomical decisions and actions inhibit the performance of the population. Interaction must be made economical within the context of the LSRC. Sustainability of the population becomes significant as it enables stable performance and extended operational lifespan. Management becomes significant as a mechanism to direct the population so as to achieve near optimal performance. The Self-Sustainability, Self-Management and Self-Organization of LSRC are vastly more complex than in team robotics. Performance of the overall population becomes more significant than individual or team achievement. This thesis is a presentation of the Cooperative Autonomous Robot Colony (CARC) architecture. The CARC architecture is novel in that it offers a coherent baseline solution to the issue of mobile robot Self-Reliance. This research uses decomposition as a mechanism to reduce problem complexity. Self-Reliance is decomposed into Self-Sustainability, Self-Management, and Self-Organization. A solution to the issue of Self-Reliance will comprise of conflicting sub-solutions. A product of this research is a set of guidelines that manages the conflict of sub-solutions and maintains a coherent solution. In addressing the issue of Self-Reliance, it became apparent that Economies of Scale, played an important role. The effects of Economies of Scale directed the research towards LSRC’s. LSRC’s demonstrated improved efficiency and greater capability to achieve the requirements of Self-Reliance. LSRC’s implemented with the CARC architecture would extend human capability, enabling large scale operations to be performed in an economical manner, within real world and real time environments, including those of a remote and hostile nature. The theory and architecture are supported using published literature, experiments, observations and mathematical projections. Contributions of this work are focused upon the three pillars of Self-Reliance addressed by CARC: Self-Sustainability, Self-Management and Self-Organization. The chapter on Self-Sustainability explains and justifies the relevance of this issue, what it is, why it is important and how it can be achieved. Self-Sustainability enables robots to continue to operate beyond disabling events by addressing failure and routine maintenance. Mathematical projections are used to compare populations of non-sustained and sustained robots. Computer modeling experiments are used to demonstrate the feasibility of Self-Sustainability, including extended operational life, the maintenance of optimal work flow and graceful physical degradation (GPD). A detailed explanation is presented of Sustainability Functions, Colony Sites, Static Robot Roles, Static Robot Failure Options, and Polymorphism. The chapter on Self-Management explores LSS research as a mechanism to exert influence over a LSRC. An experimental reactive management strategy is demonstrated. This strategy while limited does indicate promising potential directions for future research including the Man in the Loop (MITL) strategy highly desired by NASA JPL for off world command and control of a significant robot colony (Huntsberger, et. al., 2000). Experiments on Communication evaluate both Broadcast Conveyance (BC) and Message Passing Conveyance (MPC). These experiments demonstrate the potential of Message Passing as a low cost system for LSRC communication. Analysis of Metrics indicates that a Performance Based Feedback Method (PBFM) and a Task Achievement Method (TAM) are both necessary and sufficient to monitor a LSRC. The chapter on Self-Organization describes a number of experiments, algorithms and protocols on Reasoning Robotics, a minor variant of Reactive Robotics. Reasoning Robotics utilizes an Event Driven Architecture (EDA) rather than a Stimulus Driven Architecture (SDA) common to Reactive Robotics. Enhanced robot performance is demonstrated by a combination of EDA and environmental modification enabling stigmergy. These experiments cover Intersection Navigation with contingency for Multilane Intersections, a Radio Packet Controller (RPC) algorithm, Active and Passive Beacons including a communication protocol, mobile robot navigation using Migration Decision Functions (MDF’s), including MDF positional errors. The central issue addressed by this thesis is the production of Self-Reliance guidelines for LSRC’s. Self-Reliance is perceived as a critical issue in advancing the useful and productive applications for LSRC’s. LSRC’s are complex with many issues in related fields of MAS and LSS. Decomposition of Self-Reliance into Self-Sustainability, Self-Management and Self-Organization were used to aid in problem understanding. It was found that Self-Sustainability extends the operational life of individual robots and the LSRC. Self-Management enables the exertion of human influence over the LSRC, such that the ratio of humans to robots is reduced but not eliminated. Self-Organization achieves and enhances performance through a routine and reliable LSRC environment. The product of this research was the novel CARC architecture, which consists of a set of Self-Reliance guidelines and algorithms. The Self-Reliance guidelines manage conflict between optimal solutions and provide a framework for LSRC design. This research was supported by literature, experiments, observations and mathematical projections.

Increasing market competition, globalisation, technological advancements and customers' awareness of service quality has contributed to environmental uncertainty within the hotel industry (Atkinson & Brander Brown, 2001; Brander Brown & Atkinson, 2001; Harris & Mongiello, 2001; Sanchez, 1997). Several researchers argue that managers' perceived uncertainty can be better managed if the general manager practises a transformational leadership style (i.e., the superior shares the organisational vision with subordinates and genuinely motivates them) (Hinkin & Tracey, 1994; Lockwood & Jones, 1989; Tracey & Hinkin, 1996; Zetie, Sparrow, Woodfield & Kilmartin, 1994; Zohar, 1994). Furthermore, the use of broad scope MAS (management accounting systems) information helps to reduce uncertainty and complexity, thereby improving decision-making (Biema & Greenwald, 1997; Chen, 1996; Chenhall & Morris, 1986; Gordon & Narayanan, 1984; Mia & Clarke, 1999; Sanchez, 1997). This study examined the relationship between hotel department managers' perception of the intensity of market competition, their general manager's (i.e., the superior's) transformational leadership style and the use of broad scope MAS information, and its effect on departmental performance (i.e., financial, non-financial and overall change in performance). In addition, this study investigated the moderating effect of national culture on the above relationship using Hofstede's (1980) theoretical framework including power distance and individualism dimensions, and undertaking the study in the Australian and Indian hotel industry. A cross-sectional design was used to present a snapshot of the relationship mentioned in the previous paragraph. In particular, two research methods-a self-administered postal survey questionnaire and face-to-face interviews-were used to improve the generalisation of the results. In total, 82 four and five star hotels (66 hotels in Australia and the remaining 16 in India) with more than 160 bedrooms returned completed and usable questionnaires. From each of the hotels and resorts, food and beverage as well as the room's department managers participated in the study. The data was gathered with the help of well-established instruments that were adapted for the hotel environment. For example, Gupta and Govindrajan's (1984) departmental performance scale; Khandwalla's (1972) market competition scale; Bass and Avolio's (1997) MLQ-5X transformational leadership scale; Chenhall and Morris's (1986) broad scope MAS information scale and Hofstede's (1980) national culture scale. In addition, major issues covered in the survey questionnaire were further discussed in face-to-face interviews with selected hotel department managers. While the quantitative data was analysed using standard descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics (i.e., t-test and hierarchical multiple regression techniques), qualitative data was analysed using summary tables. The quantitative and qualitative analysis resulting from the survey questionnaire and face-to-face interviews with hotel department managers provided support for the two sets of findings. Firstly, the basic performance model revealed a significant and positive three-way interaction between market competition, transformational leadership style, broad scope MAS information use and departmental performance consisting of financial performance, overall change in departmental performance as well as change in departmental revenue in the past two years prior to the study. Further analysis confirmed that improvement in departmental performance was apparent when general managers practised high, rather than low transformational leadership style, with no change in the level of market competition and broad scope MAS information use. While a significant and positive direct effect of transformational leadership and broad scope MAS information use on departmental performance was evident, a significant and negative direct effect of market competition on departmental performance was also found. Secondly, Australian and Indian department managers exhibited, a significant difference in national culture, transformational leadership, market competition and MAS use, but no significant difference in departmental performance was evident. The moderating effect of national culture on the basic performance model showed that in India, culture had no effect on the three-way interaction. However, in Australia, a significant and positive three-way interaction was only evident for overall changes in departmental revenue. Perhaps this long-term favourable outcome in Australia is due to the high transformational leadership style of hotel general managers, department managers' perception of high market competition and their increased use of broad scope MAS information. The theoretical and managerial implications of the study's results, limitations and future research directions are also discussed in the thesis.