The diploma thesis deals with justice and fairness in the workplace. The theoretical part begins with an introduction to the topic, defines the key concepts and further states what are the differences between them. The following chapters describe reasearch into justice and fairness from its inception, which dates back to about the middle of the last century, to the present. The theretical part continues with the reasons that motivate individuals to think about justice and fairness, what are the consequences of perceived (in)justice and (un)fairness, and finally we present the existing tools that are used to measure these phenomena. The empirical part focuses on the adaptation of two main, foreign methods (COJS and POJ) to the Czech environment, verification of their psychometric properties, basic validation and exploration the relationships between them. Due to the validation of POJ and COJS, we also set a secondary goal, namely the adaptation of scales describing the relationship to the organization and the superior and verification of their basic psychometric data. The results of our research showed that the 4-factor model of justice (COJS) and the 1- factor model of overall fairness (POJ) can be considered satisfactory, even with the Czech version created by us, which corresponds to previously...

The relationship between citizenship performance and overall performance and the relationship between citizenship performance and reward recommendations were investigated, with gender and scale type as possible moderators. Two hundred and fifty-four University of South Florida students were used in this study. The majority of these participants were undergraduate, psychology majors, female, and between the ages of 17 and 23. Participants were given statements describing a teacher's performance and were asked to evaluate the professor on citizenship and overall performance and recommend them for rewards. No support was found for the hypothesis that men would have a stronger relationship than women between citizenship and overall performance. No support was found for the hypothesis that men would have a stronger relationship than women between citizenship performance and reward recommendations. Scale type was not found to influence these relationships. These results are not consistent with the shifting standards model. Numerous suggestions are made for changes to the experiment, including performing a field study instead of a lab study.

Two studies were conducted to determine the effect of panelist participation frequency and specific aspects of questionnaire design on overall acceptance scoring in consumer central location tests. Regarding participation frequency, research subjects who participate frequently in some survey types are known to provide responses that differ from subjects who participate less frequently, known as panel conditioning. With respect to questionnaire design, overall acceptance (OA) question placement and usage of pre-evaluation instructions (PEI) in questionnaires for food sensory analysis may bias consumers' scores via carry-over effects. To investigate these concerns, data from consumer sensory panels previously conducted at a central location, spanning 11 years and covering a broad range of food product categories, was extracted, compiled, and analyzed. For the first study, data was analyzed to determine evidence of panel conditioning by measuring the effect of participation frequency on mean consumer OA scoring among frequent, moderate, and infrequent participants. Practical significance and occurrence of panel conditioning, defined as mean scoring differences of ≥ 0.50 on a discrete 9-point scale hedonic point, were examined. Results indicate that for overall acceptance, in general, mean scoring differences were not practically significant and did not signify occurrence of panel conditioning. For the second study, OA question placement was studied with categories designated as first (the first evaluation question following demographic questions), after non-gustation questions (immediately following questions that do not require panelists to taste the product), and later (following all other hedonic and just-about-right questions, but occasionally before ranking, open-ended comments, and/or intent to purchase questions). Additionally, each panel was categorized as having or not having PEI in the questionnaire; PEI are instructions that appear immediately before the first evaluation question and show panelists all attributes they will evaluate prior to receiving test samples. Post-panel surveys were administered regarding the self-reported effect of PEI on panelists' evaluation experience. OA scores were analyzed and compared (1) between OA question placement categories and (2) between panels with and without PEI. For most product categories, OA scores tended to be lower when asked later in the questionnaire, suggesting evidence of a carry-over effect. Usage of PEI increased OA scores by 0.10 of a 9-point hedonic scale point, which is not practically significant. Post-panel survey data showed that presence of PEI typically improved the panelists' experience. Using PEI does not appear to introduce a meaningful carry-over effect.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Jeffrey M. Peterson / This study focused on the economic efficiency of Kansas farms. The goal was to investigate factors and how they might affect farms and their economic and production performance. Kansas was selected as the region of study for its large agricultural production and distinctive type of multiple-operation farms. Farms in the sample could produce three outputs, crops, livestock and custom work. Inputs for the farms included measures of capital, labor, land and purchased inputs. Production outputs were measured in bushels and tons; input quantities were computed from input expenditures applying an input price index taken from the US Department of Agriculture in real US dollars. The dataset consisted of a 10-year (1998-2007) panel of 456 multi-output farms belonging to the Kansas Farm Management Association (KFMA). Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques were used to construct a non-parametric efficiency frontier and calculate technical efficiency (TE), allocative efficiency (AE), scale efficiency (SE), and overall or economic efficiency (OE) for each farm and each year. A discretionary input oriented DEA technique was used to assess the effect of capital availability as a farm input and its impact on farms' efficiencies. Efficiency scores in this problem were compared to the farms' scores when the level of debt was accounted for as a farm input. Panel data Tobit analysis was applied to the farms' inefficiency scores to investigate the causality of selected farm characteristics on technical, allocative, scale and overall inefficiencies. For the sampled farms and period, results confirmed that larger farms were more efficient than smaller ones. Farms specializing in livestock products, such as dairy and beef, were reported to be slightly more overall efficient than crop or mixed farms. Some economies of scope were found between custom work operations and crops. Financial structure of the farms was measured using the ratio of total debt to total assets for each farm. According to the results, larger leverage ratios increased all farm efficiencies. The positive effect of debt or capital availability in Kansas farms efficiencies was confirmed. The results of the technical efficiency discretionary DEA model agreed with this finding.

Published Article / The emergence of Information Technology (IT) is increasingly influencing the socio-economic and physical landscape of cities. It has also resulted in development of predominantly IT based industrial cities. These cities have the opportunities and challenges with respect to the development of their socioeconomic, infrastructural and environmental conditions because of the influence of the IT based industrial activities. This article therefore pertains to the analysis of the perspective impacts of IT industry and allied activities on the development of an emerging IT industrial activity based city. For this purpose, Pune, an emerging IT city in India was considered as a case study. Survey research methodology and a system dynamics modelling approach were employed to measure the influential socio-economic, infrastructural and environmental parameters of the city by considering the city as a system. This research shows that the location of IT industry and associated functions contribute significantly towards the socio-economic development of a city in terms of IT industry export, State Gross Domestic Product (SGDP), per capita SGDP, employment generation, to name some relevant aspects. However, there would be a reduction in satisfaction level of the infrastructure and an increase in environmental stress in the system, which needs strategic attention. Further, the model results and scenarios can facilitate evolving of feasible policy and strategic guidelines for the wholesome development of such cities.

A shool-based support programme for the intermedediate learner wuth depression This study is aimed at determining whether a school-based support programme can aid the intermediate learner with depression in decreasing his depression levels. It focuses on: the world of experience of the intermediate learner with depression; the role of the school as an overall health-promoting environment; and the creation of a school-based support programme for the intermediate learner with depression. The learner (the intermediate learner included) spends most of the day at school, so the educator can play an important role in identifying and following up problems and getting the school to function as a health-promoting environment. South African schools are focused mainly on primary and tertiary intervention, while secondary intervention reveals a serious deficiency. In the empirical investigation, 16 intermediate learners who were identified with depression were, involved in a purposeful convenience test sample by means of the CDI questionnaire. There was an experimental and a control group of eight members respectively. According to the results of the pretestposttest, the school-based support programme in which the experimental group participated caused their depression levels to decrease significantly. The need for a school support programme for the intermediate learner with depression was validated from this point of view. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

This thesis is done at Swepart transmission AB in Liatorp. Swepart is a manufacturing company of transmission solutions. As customer demands and production volumes increase, it results in higher requirements on the production. The main purpose with this thesis has been to improve the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and the profitability in one of the company’s robot cells, with an associated lathe. The study is limited to the three most common articles that is produced in Cell 1: 433, 401 and 296. The research questions purpose is to identify the potential of the capacity in the cell, but also to analyse the actions that can be done to improve the capacity. To be able to answer the research questions, observations of the production has been made and collected data from Axxos has been used. The production layout has carefully been studied to find out which factors that affect the utilization in the cell. With this collected data the OEE-index has been calculated, for the whole cell as well as for each article. Time analyses have also been made over the robots and the machines cycle times, in order to see what time losses that occur in the cell. The result in the study shows that the biggest capacity losses are related to the performance for two of the articles. Though the timeline for the last article shows that the cycle time can be decreased, just by increasing the production rate of the milling. There are also a lot of big losses in the availability that can be improved. One of the bigger losses is the lack of staff. Another important part to consider is routines with the lathe. The company have to work with the lathe by the theory of constraint, which means that the lathe always must be available and producing. An important but simple action is to increase the production rate in the article 433. This would imply that the possible run time of the lathe would increase, but also for the whole cell due to the lathe is a bottleneck. Another important action is to overhaul the way they work with OEE in Axxos, as they according to their current work is hiding big and important losses in the production. It is also important to make sure that the stops and cycle time of the lathe is registered in Axxos. Since the lathe is a bottleneck is it the most important machine to keep track of. The study has shown that there is a big potential of the capacity in the cell, but that it is mostly limited by the lathe’s slow production rate. Therefore, it is important to process the lathe as a bottleneck and eliminate the factors that decreases the lathe’s possible production time. / Detta examensarbete är utfört på Swepart transmission AB i Liatorp. Företaget är ett tillverkande företag av transmissionslösningar. Allt efter som kundkrav och tillverkningsvolymer ökar innebär det att högre krav ställs på produktionen. Syftet med arbetet har därför varit att höja OEE-talet och lönsamheten i en av företagets produktionsceller, med tillhörande svarv. Studien är begränsad till de tre vanligaste artiklarna som går i cell 1: 433, 401 och 296. Frågeställningens syfte är att identifiera kapacitetspotentialen i cellen, men även att analysera vilka åtgärder som kan göras för att höja kapaciteten. För att svara på frågeställningarna har observationer av produktionen gjorts och insamlade data från Axxos har använts. Produktionslayouten har noga studerats för att få reda på vilka faktorer som påverkar utnyttjandegraden i cellen. Med denna data har OEE-talet räknats ut för cellen, både för hela cellen och för de olika artiklarna. Även tidsaxlar över robotens och maskinernas cykeltider i cellen har gjorts för att se vilka tidsförluster som sker i cellen. Resultatet visar att de största kapacitetsförlusterna ligger i anläggningsutnyttjandet för två av artiklarna, där svarven är den styrande faktorn. Tidsaxeln för den sista artikeln visar dock att cykeltiden enkelt kan minskas genom att öka hastigheten för fräsen. Det finns också stora förluster som kan förbättras i tillgängligheten, där personalbrist utgör en stor del av stoppen. En annan viktig del att ta i beaktning är att arbeta med svarven enligt flaskhalsteori. Detta innebär att se till att svarven alltid är tillgänglig för produktion. En viktig men enkel åtgärd är att öka tillverkningstakten för artikeln 433. Detta skulle innebära att den möjliga körtiden för svarven hade ökats, och därmed för hela cellen på grund av att svarven är en flaskhals. En annan viktig åtgärd är att se över sättet de arbetar med deras OEE-tal i Axxos, då de enligt det nuvarande arbetssättet döljer viktiga och stora förluster. Det är också viktigt att se till att stoppen och cykeltider i svarven också registrerar i Axxos. Eftersom svarven är en flaskhals är den det viktigaste att hålla koll på. Arbetet har visat att det finns stor kapacitetspotential i cellen, men att det är till stor del begränsat av svarvens långsamma produktionstakt. Det är därför viktigt att behandla svarven som en flaskhals och att eliminera de faktorer som gör att svarven inte kan producera under planerad produktionstid.

Thulani Nyathi, Student no: 0413256X, MSc thesis, Physics, Faculty of science. 2006. Supervisor: Prof D van der Merwe. / This study aims to calculate tumour control probabilities (TCP) and normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCP) using radiobiological models and correlate these probabilities with clinically observed treatment outcome from follow-up records. These radiobiological calculations were applied retrospectively to thirty-nine paediatric patients who were treated with radiation at Johannesburg Hospital during the period January 1990 to December 2000 and had histologically proven rhabdomyosarcoma. Computer software, BIOPLAN, was used to calculate the TCP and NTCP arising from the dose distribution calculated by the treatment planning system and characterized by dosevolume histograms (DVHs). There was a weak correlation between the calculated TCP and the observed 5-year overall survival status. Furthermore, potential prognostic factors for survival were examined. Statistical analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. The 5-year overall survival rate was 55 %. The findings of this study are a yardstick against which more aggressive radiotherapy fractionation regimes can be compared.

Student Number : 9506626A - MSc (Eng) research report - School of Mining - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / Significant research has been carried out over the years into what effect blast designs and techniques have on the final product in the mining process. There are numerous parameters that can be altered to deliver downstream benefits – the key is to determine which changes are appropriate for the rock body in question. A project is currently underway at Thabazimbi Iron Ore Mine (Northern Province, South Africa) to improve the operational efficiency through attention to the blasting operation. Previous research suggests changing fragmentation will have an effect on mining efficiency, but no definitive model has been developed directly linking the two. Using data collected during the project, the author developed a sensitivity analysis tool, which defines the effect of changing fragmentation on overall mine efficiency. This prediction model was based partly on theory and partly on empirical information gathered from mine databases and personnel. Over the course of this project, this model was validated through the practical implementation of the theory behind its development. This involved decreasing powder factors through increasing the drilling pattern, thus changing the resulting fragmentation of the muckpile. Subsequently, downstream effects on mining efficiency were monitored and these results were recorded in the model. The proven model was then used to identify areas of opportunity for improvement. In this report two areas are discussed, firstly, the implementation of a doped emulsion replacing ANFO across the mine, and secondly the introduction of electronic detonators. The second option would require further test work to develop confidence in the assumptions made in the model, concerning the effect of timing accuracy on fragmentation. This research report covers the background to the project, an explanation of the model and the final results obtained.

A produtividade e competitividade de empresas intensivas em capital é muito dependente do grau de utilização de sua capacidade industrial. Muitos indicadores têm sido utilizados para medir o desempenho da manufatura, dentre eles o Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Contudo, somente altos índices de OEE não garantem um desempenho superior em uma fábrica. Alguns autores sugerem que a adoção de indicadores com maior abrangência como o Overall Plant Effectiveness (OPE) é mais adequada à medição e análise do desempenho global da manufatura por contemplar a influência de outras áreas da organização sobre a utilização da capacidade de uma fábrica. Esta pesquisa discute a aplicação do OEE em empresas cuja competitividade depende fortemente da sua habilidade em racionalizar a utilização da capacidade industrial e explora indicadores derivados da sua utilização. Com este propósito é realizada uma revisão bibliográfica da literatura para identificar suas limitações, relacionar os indicadores derivados do OEE e caracterizá-los como ferramentas gerenciais que podem oferecer uma perspectiva mais global à medição do desempenho da utilização da capacidade. Além disto, um estudo de caso é desenvolvido em uma empresa processadora de alimentos para identificar como se pode envolver os diversos agentes responsáveis pelas perdas de capacidade de produção, inclusive aqueles que atual além da área de manufatura, para eliminação ou controle deste problema. O estudo mostra que a aplicação do OPE além do OEE pode tornar a detecção da causa raiz de problemas mais eficaz, além de induzir a integração da estratégia de produção com outras estratégias funcionais e desta forma promover o aumento do desempenho global da manufatura. / Process industries have to strive to attain high resource utilization so as to increase their productivity and competitiveness in the market. Many indicators have been used to measure their manufacturing performance, one of them is the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). However, high OEE values per se do not ensure superior global performance. Some authors suggest that the consideration of indicators with broader magnitude such as Overall Plant Effectiveness (OPE) is more appropriate to measure and analyze the overall manufacturing performance since it also reflects the impacts of support areas on a plant\'s capacity utilization. This research reviews the application of OEE in companies that depend heavily on the ability to rationalize the utilization of their production capacity and explores the use of indicators derived from it. With this purpose, a literature review is presented to identify the limitations of OEE, to enumerate indicators derived from OEE and characterize them as management tools that may offer a more global perspective to the measurement of capacity utilization. Moreover, a case study is developed in a food processing company to identify how the diverse agents responsible for the losses in production capacity including those who perform beyond the manufacturing function, can be involved in the effort to eliminate or control this problem. The study shows that the use of OPE besides OEE can make the detection of the root cause of problems more effective and induce the integration of manufacturing strategy with other functional strategies, and thus promote the increase of overall manufacturing performance.