Abstract In recent years funding aid operations has dramatically increased, along with the concern about the real impact of its initiatives. Despite considerable amount of money have been invested world widely and a great number of projects already implemented changes have been considered inconsistent. As a result, major donors are pressuring Non governmental organizations (NGO) to evidence their achievements and legitimate their cause. There are several factors which distinguish the NGO as unique within project management environments, such as the social accountability claimed and the nature of the impact aimed. Therefore, traditional project management practices might not be suitable in the case of NGO’s project. This study analysed project methods most applied for NGO’s project and discussed about it accountability challenges related to project management. Willing to further understand how in practice NGO managers are dealing with those challenges, a case study was developed with a NGO that works with environmental issues. As a result, it was evidenced that practical methodologies are applied to embrace the organization own needs. It was apparent that project management methods were adapted to the institutional purpose, even though adjustments might not be completely in accordance with internal procedures. Project management tools are assumed as a semi structure basis and can be adjusted if the work is justified. A flexible approach relies on the trust and expertise of the organization staff. As a conclusion, it was evidenced that NGO’s projects carry particular aspects and expectations over project accountability and management methodologies must be adapted and complementary methodological approaches are being developed.

<p>In the area of information systems design it is important to select an appropriate methodology in order to get an information system that functions as expected. The perspective behind the methodology is seldom stated explicitly. The epistemology that a methodology is based on has impacts on the design of the system. Therefore, the process of selecting an appropriate methodology is important. The aim of this work is to study how the process of metamodelling or metathinking is considered in the area of information systems design.</p><p>Interviews and a study of the literature have been performed in order to investigate the awareness of metamodelling thinking in the area of information systems design.In the literature we found that only a small part dealt with the process of metamodelling. The method engineering (ME) approach was found as a way of thinking that seems to consider metamodelling thinking. We have evaluated ME according to a synthesis of the works by van Gigch, Churchman, and Flood and Carson. The evaluation has shown that ME deals with metamodelling thinking. In order to improve the metamodelling thinking in ME, it is important to explicitly define how ME considers the aspect of participation of motivated actors and the iterative process. The interviews have shown that information systems designers use some kind of metamodelling thinking, but they do not seem to be aware of the process.</p><p>In an information system design process, it is important to shift perspectives from reality to modelling, and to the metamodelling level, in order to apply metamodelling thinking. Further work should be performed with the purpose of making the information systems designers aware of the importance of applying metamodelling thinking.</p>

<p>This research attempt, as its title witnesses, aims to build interdisciplinary approaches and to bridge gaps within management. Management and more specific, management of industrial organizations is a scientific discipline that consists of many different fields of interest. In industrial organizations, different parties of people, such as managers, engineers and workers are asked to communicate and collaborate towards common organizational targets and goals. This is were this research finds fertile ground, and tries to bridge the gaps between the quality management philosophy and corporate culture and the evolving, value adding functions and processes of logistics.</p><p>In particular, the gaps between quality management and logistics were bridged by a demonstration of the applicability of quality management practices –tools and methodologies- in a logistics context. This was conducted by an extensive exploratory research by means literature analysis of both management disciplines. The present situation, put in academic literature, was investigated and thoughtful reflections and suggestions for further use of quality management practices within logistics were provided.</p><p>All the quality management tools and methodologies examined were found, with one or another way, to be employed in logistics processes. Numerous examples demonstrating the universality of quality management concepts and techniques were identified. When it comes to the specific management area of logistics, eight quality management practices were found particularly useful, with three of them, namely Service Quality, SPC and Benchmarking to be well known, and to some extent, mature within logistics. However, empirical research, of qualitative and quantitative nature, is needed to confirm the trends recognized here.</p><p>The suggestions and reflections provided throughout this work indicate actions to be taken by logistics managers, in order to apply well known and widely accepted, cost saving and quality improvement, practices to their operations. In addition, these suggestions and their potential, constitute a challenging field for further research were new, applicable to logistics, quality management tools and methodologies can be found and ones that already exist can be enhanced.</p><p>The originality of this work can be found in that it thesis tries to bring conceptually closer two management areas that although have many values in common are not perceived as working on the same track, towards the same goals. This research adds value in the way that illustrates, in an extensive and formal way, that there should be no barriers within management.</p>

Šiame darbe apibūdinama ir analizuojama strateginio valdymo sistema Lietuvos Respublikoje bei įvertinamos strateginio valdymo įgyvendinimo problemos. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje „Strateginio valdymo koncepcija“ pateikiama strateginio valdymo koncepcija, - jos skyriuose nagrinėjama strateginio valdymo samprata, paskirtis bei principai. Didelis dėmesys skiriamas strateginio valdymo funkcijoms ir galimoms strateginio planavimo metodologijoms. Antrojoje dalyje „Strateginio valdymo metodologija“ stengiamasi išanalizuoti pagrindines taikytinas strateginio valdymo metodologijas – nustatytinę ir plėtotinę bei galimus strateginio valdymo modelius. Trečiojoje darbo dalyje „Strateginis valdymas Lietuvos Respublikos viešojo sektoriaus institucijose“ siekiama išsamiai, nuosekliai išanalizuoti ir aprašyti strateginio planavimo sistemą ir metodologiją Lietuvos Respublikos valstybės bei vietos valdymo institucijose. Paskutinėje dalyje „Strateginio valdymo sistemos įgyvendinimo problemų Lietuvos Respublikoje analizė“ susikoncentruojama į tyrimą, jo analizes, problemų atradimą bei informacijos interpretavimą. Darbo pabaigoje pateikiamos išvados bei rekomendacijos, kaip būtų galima tobulinti strateginį valdymą Lietuvos valstybės ir vietos valdymo institucijose. / This work analyses the system of strategic management and evaluates the problems of implementation of strategic management in the Republic of Lithuania. In the first part of this work the conception of strategic management is presented. The functions and methodologies of strategic management are analysed. In the second part models and two essential approaches to strategic management – prescriptive and emergent, are analysed. In the third part the system and methodologies of strategic management in the state and local institutions of Republic of Lithuania are analysed. In the last part attention is concentrated on research of problems of implementation of strategic management system in Lithuania. All other approaches and conclusions are given at the end of this work.

Record keeping is not a static way to document history but rather a way for people in the present to engage with, and be affected by, the past. This is especially true in the case of online databases. Databases store information but their use also encourages the adoption of specific methodologies for apprehending reality because it is through those methodological agreements that the information in the database becomes relevant. In the summer of 2012 I spent four months observing and interviewing wheat researchers and database developers at a major agricultural research center in Mexico as part of my M.A. thesis project. This paper argues that people using the International Wheat Information System (IWIS) database at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are involved in a process that documents wheat pedigree information while also enacting a reality based on assumptions about the value of certain types of human pedigree.

Darbe siekiama sudaryti metodiką, kuri leistų kurti informacines sistemas grindžiamas darbų sekų vykdymų. Norint pasiekti tikslą reikia išanalizuoti esamas kūrimo metodikas ir išsirinkti geriausias savybes, kurias panaudosiu naujos metodikos sudaryme. / In this paper work I am aiming to design a methodology that enables to develop information systems based on workflow execution. In order to achieve the objective I should to analyze the existing development methodologies and choose the best features, which I combine to create a new methodology.

The exhibition “Terrance Houle & Adrian Stimson: Exploring Indigenous Masculinities” showcased the performance art of Terrance Houle (Blood/Ojibway) and Adrian Stimson (Siksika) at the Union Gallery in Kingston, Ontario from March 20th to March 22nd, 2012. Both artists used the occasion to interrogate how Indigenous identities are constructed and perceived. The artists’ interaction with the audience and the space of the gallery itself acted to destabilize lingering colonial beliefs about Indigenous identity. This thesis explores how the Kingston performances investigate the historical construction of Indigenous masculine identities. Through the artists’ own embodiment of historical knowledge (both colonial and Indigenous knowledges) and their interaction with the audience and gallery space, the performances challenged and reimagined colonial perceptions of Indigenous masculine identity as a singular, static form. The performances served to translate alternative knowledges about Indigenous men and models of Indigenous masculinity, a dynamic I analyze in this thesis as a larger set of tactics and effects available to artists decolonizing Indigenous masculinities. / Thesis (Master, Cultural Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-25 21:04:21.008

En este trabajo de tesis se describirá una técnica de modelado centrado en mockups, introduciéndola primero con MockupDD Web. Luego de haber ejemplificado el desarrollo centrado en mockups para metodologías MDWE, se describirá un marco general para el modelado sobre mockups (lo que se referenciará como metodología MockupDD general) y una instanciación particular de esta metodología además de la ya presentada para la Web. Las principales contribuciones de la metodología MockupDD y sus especializaciones son: (1) Mejorar el workflow en cascada de las metodologías MDD tradicionales (en especial, aquellas MDWE) para permitir acortar las iteraciones y permitir a usuarios finales y clientes involucrados interactuar más rápidamente son el software generado, agilizando el proceso. (2) Mejorar la productividad en el modelado de aplicaciones a través de la técnica de modelado de aplicaciones sobre mockups reduciendo sus errores y tiempo requerido, como se mostrará luego en las secciones de validación (3) Introducir a clientes y usuarios finales en el proceso de desarrollo, utilizando artefactos de especificación de requerimientos de fácil comprensión para los mismos en lugar de conceptos de modelado comprensibles sólo para desarrolladores. En este contexto se utilizarán mockups y diferentes técnicas de anotación y especificación de requerimientos formales sobre los mismos. (4) La implementación de un lenguaje de modelado sobre mockups con diferentes vistas, satisfaciendo al mismo tiempo la necesidad de comprensión de requerimientos por parte de los usuarios finales y las capacidades técnicas requeridas por los desarrolladores. (5) Con ayuda de esta versatilidad del lenguaje y del uso de mockups (los cuales son comprensibles en su totalidad por usuarios finales), proveer un método de modelado más trazable desde el punto de vista de los requerimientos.

Aim: This thesis reports the outcomes of a study designed to explore whether and how ethical and responsive interviewing of children in care with varying levels of sensitivity to topics that may threaten their felt security can be achieved. Background: Children come into care with a complex array of developmental challenges. They have often experienced maltreatment, loss and disrupted attachment relationships. Little is known about the effects of interviewing children in care with varying sensitivity to questioning strategies designed to measure felt security and their perceptions of being in care. Methods: The present study was iteratively designed using an exploratory mixed qualitative design. Children’s reports (N= 12) were collected using a series of iteratively designed interview methodologies supplemented by information provided by their kinship carers. Results: The following factors influence the comfort experiences of children in care: interviewer skill, interviewer and child role, child competence (perceived and real), child characteristics, external factors, ethical factors and the interview methods. The potential influence of mental health status and age were less clear. Factors related to felt insecurity were: relational, self-perceived competence and confidentiality related factors. The maintenance of the comfort experience of children in care when interviewing, cuts across many dimensions of the research context including relational, performance and methodological aspects. Children engaged in strategies to mediate their comfort, this was somewhat reliant on the methodologies and interviewer competency. Overall acceptable levels of comfort were reported to be maintained over the span of the research process. Conclusions: Children in care have vulnerabilities that need to be addressed when including them in research. Careful consideration to the design of studies and interview methodologies will ensure children in care can participate in protective research environments. The benefits to this are reflected in the gathering of quality data which can contribute to the timely provision of the appropriate services for children in care. The present study findings provide guidance for future research involving children in various types of alternate care.

This thesis outlines the development of a standard methodology for performing a time and motion study in a lean healthcare environment. Time and motion studies have been used in healthcare environments in the past, however they have nearly all been exclusive to a particular healthcare enterprise. To develop the time and motion study methodology, a study was designed to examine how resident doctors spend their time. This study was performed in response to coming changes in the work hours for all residents. Once the methodology was developed, trial observations were conducted. The data from these observations was analyzed to determine the effectiveness of both the time and motion study methodology and its usefulness for process improvement activities.