A comprehensive survey of more than 1,500 former participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) along with more than 300 semi-structured interviews with former WIC participants were designed and conducted in order to identify the barriers influencing eligible program participants to leave the program prematurely. Results from the two phases of data collection were used to determine why eligible families are leaving the WIC program, to better understand the program participation barriers cited by former program participants in order to facilitate the development of a typology of program "leavers," and to identify the policy and organizational components that provide context for premature WIC program departure by participants. A narrative approach to organizational understanding and Symbolic Interactionism are utilized to provide a theoretical framework for highlighting program areas which may contribute to the participation barriers discovered in this research. Implications for public administration and policy evaluation are provided. / Ph. D.

This dissertation is a study of groundwork in Engaged Science, Technology, and Society (STS) research. Engaged STS scholars reframe STS knowledge and move it beyond the traditional scope and boundaries of the field. They use various methods such as critical participation, making and doing, situated interventions, and experimentation to critically engage with their fields of study. These scholars have evaluated their work within the context of the disciplinary outsider, described their use of high-level pragmatic frameworks, and used the arts to bring critical social issues to the public eye. Yet, when I decided to use STS engagement methods to bring visibility to the lesser-known communities in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Virginia Tech, I found a lack of work documenting the groundwork and experience of engagement. I could not locate groundwork regarding negotiation, designing the most appropriate intervention, collaboration strategies, or confronting my fears and doubts about being in the field. Therefore, in this dissertation, I identify and examine my engagement experience in three interventions within the ECE department to bring visibility to the groundwork of STS engagement. The limited-series podcast Engineering Visibility was a platform to bring visibility to the less dominant communities in the ECE department. Highlighting the experiences of women in engineering, the first-generation student, inclusion and diversity, and the non-traditional student fostered a shared identity and sense of belonging within the ECE department. On the ground, this project examined the need to protect participants' visibility through invisibility. Interventionist Protectivity conceptualizes how I combined trust, accountability, and social awareness to protect my participants' from social scrutiny. The second project was a seminar titled "Expand Your ECE Career." The seminar exposed students to a "broader range of careers" by challenging the traditional ideas of success. The seminar featured four ECE alumni with successful careers in law, finance, and fashion entrepreneurship. Additionally, this intervention pointed out the inadequacies of traditional forms of project assessment. I describe how I measured intervention success through other assessment methods such as "assessment per mobility." The last project was a data-driven white paper that translated the care work of the undergraduate academic career advisors and framed it to be understood by the ECE faculty. The care work done by the academic advisors was underappreciated in its connection to undergraduate student success. On the ground, I discussed the importance of identifying the advisors and the faculty's social construction to create an intervention that translated the advisors' work to be valued by the faculty. Lastly, I conclude with a discussion summarizing the overall lessons learned from the three interventions and discussing my experience of engagement. My engaged STS experience is discussed through my framing of the concept of self-confrontation and the work of avoiding the term of STS being deemed as useful. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation is a study of groundwork in engaged Science, Technology, and Society (STS) research. Recent advances such as critical participation, making and doing, and situated intervention are reframing boundaries between knowledge and action in STS, offering scholars new approaches for improving scientific and technological communities. When I attempted to utilize these theories and methods in a culture change project, however, I found a lack of scholarship documenting the experience of engagement. How does one design the most appropriate intervention? What strategies are required to collaborate and negotiate? How do engaged scholars confront their fears and doubts in their communities and concerning the knowledge they bring back to STS? These groundwork questions confront both novice and seasoned STS scholars and are crucial to successful engaged scholarship, but they rarely are documented and analyzed. Utilizing a matters-of-care framework and self-reflective methods, I describe how and why I sought to change the culture of a large engineering department by making visible unseen and sometimes under-appreciated stakeholders. To do so, I created three interventions: a limited-series podcast to showcase the diversity of experiences in the department, an alternative-career seminar to redefine what counted as success in engineering, and a data-driven white paper to showcase the indispensable care work of academic advisors. I analyzed these projects' construction, application, and outcomes to highlight the complexities and significance of groundwork for STS engagement.

In this qualitative research project, I explore the daily lived experiences of five Caribbean students studying at a rural university in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I investigate the personal challenges encountered by young adult Caribbean students and focus on their perspectives and coping strategies as they negotiate the racial binary and sociocultural norms found in the United States. I present my research here in two manuscripts. In manuscript one, Transcultural Adaptations: Caribbean Students at U.S. Universities, framed both by my use of testimonio as method (Haig-Brown, 2003; Pérez Huber, 2009) and the composite lens formed by my use of bricolage (Kincheloe, 2001; Kincheloe, 2004; Kincheloe, McLaren, and Steinberg, 2012), I look at how all these factors influence their academic experiences and their perception and performance of the Self. In doing so, I highlight key aspects of the community experience and add to the conversation surrounding the adaptation of international students to U.S. universities. In manuscript two Interrogating Whiteness: The View from Outside, I delve more deeply into one aspect of their adaptation by interrogating one participant's perspectives on whiteness. I use critical autoethnography (Boylorn and Orb, 2014; Tilley-Lubbs, 2016), and the call-and-response tradition (Hebdige, 1987; Toussaint, 2009) common in Trinidad and Tobago and in the African diaspora to present my exploration of his perspectives. I present his perspectives using the third person voice, followed by an examination of my own ways of knowing, to highlight the questioning and internal conflict that emerged as a result of these conversations on whiteness. I share my epiphanic experience (Denzin, 2013; 2014) in the hopes of establishing discourse and resonance with my reader in this deconstruction of my way of understanding the world. / Ph. D.

Com o aumento recente na demanda de soluções inovadoras no desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços de base tecnológica, as organizações têm enfrentado o desafio de desenvolver novos modelos de negócio em um espaço de tempo cada vez menor, necessitando de agilidade e flexibilidade na condução de seus projetos para se posicionar neste novo cenário econômico. Entretanto, nem sempre é possível a adoção do gerenciamento ágil de maneira purista devido ao ambiente organizacional e aos aspectos regulatórios específicos de alguns setores. Para introduzir essas práticas em seus ambientes, algumas organizações optam por combinar práticas das abordagens ágil e tradicional para adaptar a metodologia de gestão de projetos às necessidades de seus contextos, dando origem ao termo gerenciamento híbrido de projetos. Todavia, apesar de existirem estudos na literatura que proponham modelos mesclando práticas de ambas as abordagens para atender necessidades de contextos específicos, não são encontrados estudos que discutam o papel estratégico do gerenciamento híbrido como vetor para a prospecção de novos negócios e o desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços baseados em tecnologia. Deste modo, o objetivo deste estudo é identificar os principais benefícios e desafios decorrentes da aplicação do gerenciamento híbrido nas organizações para viabilizar estratégias e estabelecer novos modelos negócios em projetos de desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços de base tecnológica. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática de literatura sobre gerenciamento híbrido de projetos e cinco estudos de caso em empresas de diferentes setores econômicos, que permitiram identificar as características do gerenciamento híbrido no âmbito teórico e prático, discutir seu papel em auxiliar as organizações a adaptar seus projetos aos novos modelos de negócio presentes no mercado. Além disso, os resultados obtidos também permitiram identificar as vantagens e desvantagens do gerenciamento híbrido nesses contextos, possibilitando assim estabelecer recomendações e critérios para avaliar quando é necessária a aplicação desse tipo de abordagem em projetos de desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços de base tecnologia. / With the recent increase on demand for innovative solutions in the development of technology-based products and services, organizations have faced the challenge of developing new business models in an increasingly shorter time frame. However, these organizations need agility and flexibility to conducting their projects for position themselves in these new strategic scenarios in the markets. In this context, it is not always possible to adopt a purely agile project management model because of issues related to the organizational environment and the specific regulatory aspects to some business segments, and, therefore, to introduce agile management on environments that are incompatible with the practices of this type of approach, it is necessary to customize and combine the practices of the agile and traditional approaches to construct a management methodology adapted to the reality and the needs of the context, leading to the hybrid project management approach. Although there are studies in the literature that propose hybrid project management models and discuss the need to combine project management practices in certain contexts, no studies are found that explore and discuss the strategic role of hybrid management for organizations in prospecting new business models. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the main benefits and challenges arising from the application of hybrid project management approaches in organizations to enable strategies and establish new business models in technology-based product and service development projects. For this, a systematic review of the literature on hybrid project management and five case studies were carried out in companies from different economic sectors that allowed the identification of hybridity characteristics in the theoretical and practical scope, to analyze how hybrid project management assists organizations to introduce the agility in their projects and adapt them to the new business models, as well as presenting the advantages and disadvantages in the application of hybridity and identify when it is necessary to apply this type of approach in projects that develop technology-based products and services .

Com o aumento recente na demanda de soluções inovadoras no desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços de base tecnológica, as organizações têm enfrentado o desafio de desenvolver novos modelos de negócio em um espaço de tempo cada vez menor, necessitando de agilidade e flexibilidade na condução de seus projetos para se posicionar neste novo cenário econômico. Entretanto, nem sempre é possível a adoção do gerenciamento ágil de maneira purista devido ao ambiente organizacional e aos aspectos regulatórios específicos de alguns setores. Para introduzir essas práticas em seus ambientes, algumas organizações optam por combinar práticas das abordagens ágil e tradicional para adaptar a metodologia de gestão de projetos às necessidades de seus contextos, dando origem ao termo gerenciamento híbrido de projetos. Todavia, apesar de existirem estudos na literatura que proponham modelos mesclando práticas de ambas as abordagens para atender necessidades de contextos específicos, não são encontrados estudos que discutam o papel estratégico do gerenciamento híbrido como vetor para a prospecção de novos negócios e o desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços baseados em tecnologia. Deste modo, o objetivo deste estudo é identificar os principais benefícios e desafios decorrentes da aplicação do gerenciamento híbrido nas organizações para viabilizar estratégias e estabelecer novos modelos negócios em projetos de desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços de base tecnológica. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática de literatura sobre gerenciamento híbrido de projetos e cinco estudos de caso em empresas de diferentes setores econômicos, que permitiram identificar as características do gerenciamento híbrido no âmbito teórico e prático, discutir seu papel em auxiliar as organizações a adaptar seus projetos aos novos modelos de negócio presentes no mercado. Além disso, os resultados obtidos também permitiram identificar as vantagens e desvantagens do gerenciamento híbrido nesses contextos, possibilitando assim estabelecer recomendações e critérios para avaliar quando é necessária a aplicação desse tipo de abordagem em projetos de desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços de base tecnologia. / With the recent increase on demand for innovative solutions in the development of technology-based products and services, organizations have faced the challenge of developing new business models in an increasingly shorter time frame. However, these organizations need agility and flexibility to conducting their projects for position themselves in these new strategic scenarios in the markets. In this context, it is not always possible to adopt a purely agile project management model because of issues related to the organizational environment and the specific regulatory aspects to some business segments, and, therefore, to introduce agile management on environments that are incompatible with the practices of this type of approach, it is necessary to customize and combine the practices of the agile and traditional approaches to construct a management methodology adapted to the reality and the needs of the context, leading to the hybrid project management approach. Although there are studies in the literature that propose hybrid project management models and discuss the need to combine project management practices in certain contexts, no studies are found that explore and discuss the strategic role of hybrid management for organizations in prospecting new business models. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the main benefits and challenges arising from the application of hybrid project management approaches in organizations to enable strategies and establish new business models in technology-based product and service development projects. For this, a systematic review of the literature on hybrid project management and five case studies were carried out in companies from different economic sectors that allowed the identification of hybridity characteristics in the theoretical and practical scope, to analyze how hybrid project management assists organizations to introduce the agility in their projects and adapt them to the new business models, as well as presenting the advantages and disadvantages in the application of hybridity and identify when it is necessary to apply this type of approach in projects that develop technology-based products and services .

This thesis is devoted to the theme of a new information system of the pension company. The first part is the input into the subject. It defines the scope of the thesis and defines the objectives that the author wants to achieve in the thesis. The second part is focused on the analysis of project methodologies and selection of an appropriate methodology for this type of project. The third part of the thesis is focused on the analysis of agile methodologies and selection of the appropriate methodology for a particular project. The fourth part is devoted to the analysis of Scrum methodology. Conclusions of this part are the arguments for deploying agile approach for a specific project. In the fifth part of the thesis the author returns to mistakes at the level of project management, which negatively affected the time plan and financial plan of the project. The final part summarizes the results of analyzes, summarizes the objectives and identifies the expected benefits of the thesis.

Suboptimal public policy formulation and implementation often result from traditional representative democratic practices. Increasing government fragmentation, eroding trust among policy actors, and an increasingly complex policy making environment contribute to this problem. Collaborative decision making is considered to be a pragmatic alternative by its advocates. The purpose of this research was to explore the claim that process dynamics lead participants to prefer collaborative approaches to decision making among local and regional transportation plans in a western state. The conceptual framework was the diversity, interdependence, and authentic dialogue (DIAD) theory-based model of collaboration in decision making. The research questions focused on collaboration participants' perspectives of public decision making, variability of views among collaboration groups, and preferences for collaborative approaches to public decision making. This study employed Q methodology and a 45-statement Q sample about public decision making structured with a 2 X 3 Fisherian research design. Fifty-four Q sorts were collected from two groups of DIAD theory-based collaborative participants and one group of collaborative support professionals. Ten first-order factors were identified among these three groups and used in a second-order factor analysis to identify the higher order views of collaborative, personal-public, and professional-public decision making. Key findings were that study participants support collaborative approaches to public decision making. Study results provide collaboration facilitators with insight into participant views of decision making. The implications for social change are the generation of the deliberative capacity fundamental for democratic societies and increasing civic capacity-building.

This thesis is concerned with an issue of small and medium-sized teams project management and supporting tools analysis. The primary objective is to explore and describe currently available tools intended for project management support. In line with today's trend of Web applications and their provisioning in SaaS (Software as a Service) model, main focus is given to opensource or freely available products operating through a Web interface. Analysis of these instruments provided an overview of functionality present in individual products, which is then used as a guideline for choosing appropriate project management supporting tools under defined conditions of small and medium-sized teams in commercial and academic environment, abilities of chosen products are then proved by simulating an exemplary project.

The British Columbia government's Ministry of Health Services will experience significant loss of operational knowledge from an aging managerial workforce, increased staff turnover, and difficulties in recruitment. The purpose of this study is to provide the ministry's Strategic Human Resources Planning branch staff with a map and description of knowledge transfer practices used by approximately 40 managers within the ministry's Health Sector Information Management/Information Technology division and its Vital Statistics Agency. The study is a mixed-methods case study of knowledge retention and transfer practices founded on a knowledge management and social network theoretical foundation. To understand the ministry's complex nature of knowledge transfer, research questions examined the characteristics of an effective knowledge sharing network, associated knowledge sharing similarities and dissimilarities, and perceived knowledge sharing enablers and inhibiters. Social network and thematic analysis were used to collect, map, and analyze perceived informal knowledge transfer practices. Findings indicated that face-to-face communication, visual and verbal cues, and individuals who had a few powerful neighboring connections were influential knowledge resources. The social implications from these findings will act as a catalyst to shift prevalent cultural knowledge management practices thereby positively affecting workload and resource management. Employees will more clearly understand their knowledge management roles and how their actions affect service delivery to citizens. Acting as a knowledge transfer model, the ministry could positively influence the government's Public Service Agency, other ministries, health authorities, and private sector organizations to adopt effective knowledge transfer practices to improve managerial and managerial/staff communication and trust.

Syfte - Syftet med den här uppsatsen var att via befintlig litteratur undersöka vilka modeller som finns för att välja systemutvecklingsmetod. Vidare syftade uppsatsen till att testa modellerna på några av de vanligast förekommande utvecklingsmetoderna. Detta skedde med hjälp av ett förenklat exempelprojekt. Metod – Metoden till den här uppsatsen var en litteraturstudie. En litteraturstudie sammanställer tidigare forskning kring ett ämne för att skapa nya perspektiv. Litteraturen till den här uppsatsen inhämtades från journalartiklar, konferenser och böcker. Analys och slutsatser – Omfånget av den här uppsatsen sträckte sig till att se på tre modeller för att välja systemutvecklingsmetod. Dessa var SDM-ES, Big-M och CUQuP. SDM-ES är ett automatiserat expertsystem som drar slutsatser utifrån uppskattningar av användaren. Big-M består i sin enklaste form av en matris. Användaren plottar in det aktuella projektet i matrisen. CUQuP väger ihop tre olika faktorer för varje utvecklingsfas som anses viktig i ett projekt. Dessa faktorer matas sedan in i en formel som genererar en poängsumma. Den utvecklingsmetod som får högst poäng är bäst lämpad för projektet. Gemensamt för modellerna är att de baserar sina val av utvecklingsmetod på ett antal faktorer. Några av dessa faktorer är gemensamma för modellerna medan andra skiljer sig åt. För att testa modellerna applicerades de på utvecklingsmetoderna: Extreme Programming (XP), Rapid Application Development (RAD) och vattenfallsmodellen. För att appliceringen skulle bli meningsfull var det nödvändigt att skapa ett exempelprojekt. Resultatet visade att samtliga utvecklingsmetoder valde RAD som den mest lämpliga utvecklingsmetoden för exempelprojektet. Två av tre valde vattenfallsmodellen som näst mest lämplig. Med andra ord fanns det en relativt hög grad av samstämmighet mellan modellerna. De skulle emellertid krävas en mer omfattande studie för att klarlägga om detta stämmer. / Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to identify and describe models that help developers choosing a system development methodology. Furthermore the purpose was to test the models on some common system development methodologies. In order to do so a simple example project was created. Methodology - This paper was conducted through a literature review. A literature review collects and compiles research on a subject to create new perspectives.  The literature for this paper was collected from science journals, conference papers and books. Analysis and conclusions – This paper delimited itself to only examine three models for choosing a development methodology. The models were: SDM-ES, Big-M and CUQuP. SDM-ES is a rule based expert system that draws conclusions bases on user input. In its simplest form, Big-M uses a matrix in order to decide which development methodology that should be used. Based on estimations of system criticality and project size the user can decide were in the matrix the project belongs. With the help of a formula CUQuP calculates a score for each considered development method. The methodology that receives the highest score is generally considered to be most suitable for the project. All models have a common characteristic. In one way or another they all use factors, such as system criticality and project size, to decide which development method that should be used. In order to test the models three development methodologies were used. Those were Extreme Programming (XP), Rapid Application Development (RAD) and the waterfall model. To make the test meaningful it was necessary to create an example project. The result showed that all three models chose RAD as the best development methodology for the example project. Furthermore two out of three models considered the waterfall model to be the second best option. In other words it seems to be a high degree of coherence between the models. However the scope of this paper is too narrow to decide if that’s true.