Thesis (Ph.D.)--George Mason University, 2008. / Vita: p. 104. Thesis director: Karla L. Hoffman. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Technology. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed July 7, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-103). Also issued in print.

No description available.

Strategic information systems planning (SISP) remains a primary concern for many organisations. It is reportedly a top concern of not only the Information Systems (IS) executives but also of many chief executives. Recently, calls have been madefor better understanding of strategic planning in general, including SISP, and especially for studies of actual planning behaviour in organisations. As doubts continue to be raised about the payoff ofIT, it is important to examine the effectiveness ofmany accepted IS management practices such as SISP. Accordingly, researchers have investigated SISP practice and proposed both formal methods and principles of good practice. SISP cannot, however, be understood by considering formal methods alone. Yhe processes of planning and the implementation of plans are equally important However, there have been very few investigations of these phenomena. More surprisingly, few studies have been undertaken to identify and understand: (]) the approaches to SISP adopted in practice, (2) the relationship between SISP approaches and its ultimate success, (3) the influence of organisational and technological context on planning success. Yhis study helps to fill this vacuum in the important research area. A formal survey of IS Directors, which generated two hundred and ninety two, responses was initiated to empirically investigate these issues. The categorisation of SISP approaches adopted by companies was accomplished by performing cluster analysis, based on chosen IS planning dimensions, namely., comprehensiveness, participation, formalisation, flow, focus, frequency, alignment, ownership, IS benefit and plan implementation. Using this multivariate technique, four unique and stable groups were identified, namely: (1) organisational, (2) business-led, (3) administrative and (4) formal, This derived taxonomy was thoroughly validated to ensure that it is exhaustive, mutually exclusive, stable and consistent. Within this study,S ISPs uccessh as been conceptualisedb asedo n the extento f thefollowing measures: (1) alignment, (2) analysis, (3) co-operation, (4) implementation, (5) capabilities,( 6) satisfactiona nd (7) contribution. Thes tudyh as also conceptualisedS ISP success in terms of an aggregate score. It is found that each approach, with its different characteristics, has a different likelihood of success. Thefindings of this research suggest that the Organisational approach, which is characterised by high levels of alignment, comprehensivenespsa, rticipation,f requency,i nfusion benefita ndp lan implementationi,s by far the most successful. Conversely, the Administrative approach which has low levels of comprehensivenessfr, equency, participation and alignment is the least successful. Interestingly,t his study also suggeststh at the Organisationala pproach deliversa high level ofSISP successir respectiveo fthe organisationala nd technologicalc ontexto f the company. In summary, this study has extended our understanding of SISP processes and has provided useful insightsfor IS executives and top management in general, in implementing SISP within their organisations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: John D. Leckenby. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-65).

No description available.

The Master’s thesis analyses the production planning in chosen company. Theoretical part focuses on terms, which are necessary to understand to deal with the issue of production planning. The practical part contains an analysis of the current state of production planning in the company, designs and their benefits to improve in this area.

This thesis examines the effect of absenteeism on education quality for primary-aged public school students in the Department of Loreto, Province of Maynas, situated in the Amazonian region of north-eastern Peru. The thesis also examines the underlying reasons for absenteeism, with a focus on the contribution of childhood morbidity and socio-economic and environmental context to absenteeism, using both gender- and grade-based analyses of student level absenteeism data collected from a sample of schools in the study area. A five-component model with multiple individual indicators measuring each component of education systems defines the concept of education quality as it relates to the analysis in the thesis. The model has been demonstrated in previous research to be effective in explaining variations in education quality in Peru and elsewhere. However, the model has not been applied to this important yet under-researched area of education assessment, namely student absenteeism (at the student and school level) and its effect on education quality. In addition, spatial variations in absenteeism, based on the geographic distribution of the schools over the study area, are evaluated. This analysis allows spatial regularities or spatial randomness to be established for both absenteeism and education quality in the study area. Identifying spatial clustering of public primary schools where a high rate of student absenteeism contributes significantly to explaining overall low levels of education quality can provide education policy planners and decision-makers with insights into causal processes that need to be addressed through planned interventions in the education system.

This thesis examines the effect of absenteeism on education quality for primary-aged public school students in the Department of Loreto, Province of Maynas, situated in the Amazonian region of north-eastern Peru. The thesis also examines the underlying reasons for absenteeism, with a focus on the contribution of childhood morbidity and socio-economic and environmental context to absenteeism, using both gender- and grade-based analyses of student level absenteeism data collected from a sample of schools in the study area. A five-component model with multiple individual indicators measuring each component of education systems defines the concept of education quality as it relates to the analysis in the thesis. The model has been demonstrated in previous research to be effective in explaining variations in education quality in Peru and elsewhere. However, the model has not been applied to this important yet under-researched area of education assessment, namely student absenteeism (at the student and school level) and its effect on education quality. In addition, spatial variations in absenteeism, based on the geographic distribution of the schools over the study area, are evaluated. This analysis allows spatial regularities or spatial randomness to be established for both absenteeism and education quality in the study area. Identifying spatial clustering of public primary schools where a high rate of student absenteeism contributes significantly to explaining overall low levels of education quality can provide education policy planners and decision-makers with insights into causal processes that need to be addressed through planned interventions in the education system.

Scotland's tourist industry partly depends upon the quality of the Scottish landscape. However, despite demands for improved management of landscape resources, there is no standard method for the assessing landscape quality. This research takes a user-based approach to this problem and explores the use of Kelly's Personal Construct Theory (PCT) in eliciting underpinning attributes and dimensions of perception in a range of uses and across a range of Scottish landscapes. A novel aspect of the research is that it involves experimentation in mapping the resultant constructs through use of a Geographic Information System (GIS). Sixteen key constructs were gained from one to one. interviews and used in the preliminary mapping experiments. These showed that it was possible to express the constructs spatially. To evaluate between user group/landscape type responses a questionnaire was designed, piloted and applied. A total of 1286 responses were analyzed. Differences were found between landscape type but were stronger between user groups. The research has demonstrated that the application of PCT coupled to GIS is a valuable way of exploring landscape perception/landscape quality and their spatial expression.