In this study, four real-life problem situations were used to explore the challenges of developing and implementing decision support tools for planning and management within an urban water utility. The study sought to explore how the degree of adoption of formal decision support tools in practice, generally perceived to be low, could be improved. In the study, an Action Research (AR) approach was used. AR is an inquiry process that involves partnership between researchers and practitioners for the purpose of addressing a real-life problem issue, while simultaneously generating scientific knowledge. Unlike other research methods where the researcher seeks to study organizational phenomena but not to change them, the action researcher attempts to create organizational change and simultaneously to study the process. During the study, a number of prototype data management tools were developed. GIS-based spatial analysis and visualisation tools were extensively used to inform and enhance the processes of participatory problem identification and structuring, while a number of modelling tools were applied in the generation and evaluation of alternative solutions. As an outcome of the study, a prototype framework for the application of decision support tools within an urban water supply planning and management context was proposed. The study highlighted the challenges of embedding formal decision support processes within existing work systems in organizations, and recommendations were made on how best to achieve this. The AR approach was found to be useful in bridging the gap between academic research and technological practice, supporting the development of computerised planning and decision support tools of practical benefit to organizations. / QC 20100723

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 285-294). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Mississippi State University. Department of Geosciences. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 285-294).

No Brasil e internacionalmente, a mortalidade infantil é conhecido problema de saúde pública. Embora suas taxas estejam diminuindo, a maior parte desses óbitos ocorre por causas evitáveis, sendo sua redução uma questão de justiça social. Este estudo trata do risco de morte infantil evitável nos últimos seis anos e foi realizado em uma coorte retrospectiva de recém nascidos de mães residentes no município gaúcho de Novo Hamburgo de 2008 a 2013, por meio da vinculação dos bancos de dados do Sistema de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos (SINASC), Sistema de Informações sobre Mortalidade (SIM) e dos dados das investigações de óbitos infantis dos residentes naquele município. O município onde se deu o estudo obteve uma taxa de mortalidade infantil de 14,0 por mil nascidos vivos para o período, sendo em sua totalidade, investigados; desta taxa de óbitos, 10,4 ocorreram por causas evitáveis. Houve predomínio de ocorrência no período neonatal precoce. Conforme a classificação de evitabilidade SUS, os óbitos seriam reduzíveis principalmente por ações adequadas de promoção à saúde vinculadas a ações adequadas de atenção à saúde, por adequada atenção à mulher na gestação e por ações adequadas de diagnóstico e tratamento. Este estudo identificou grupos expostos a maior risco de morte infantil evitável, onde os seguintes fatores mostraram associação com a mortalidade infantil evitável: Condições socioeconômicas e reprodutivas maternas, nas variáveis raça/cor, escolaridade, situação conjugal, situação reprodutiva e ausência de trabalho remunerado; Pré-natal e nascimento, onde o número de consultas e o local de nascimento e finalmente, a Saúde da criança ao nascimento, onde a idade gestacional, peso ao nascimento, vitalidade do recém-nascido, malformação congênita e gemelaridade, foram preponderantes; todos com χ2; p ≤ 0,01, denotando associação estatística significativa com o óbito infantil. Conferir visibilidade aos determinantes da mortalidade infantil é essencial à tomada de decisões e o conhecimento produzido será potencialmente útil para informar políticas e programas voltados à redução da mortalidade e à promoção da saúde populacional, especialmente a infantil. / Infant mortality is a known public health problem in Brazil and worldwide. Although its rates are decreasing, most of these deaths could be avoided, and its reduction is a matter of social justice. This study talks about the risk of avoidable infant mortality in the last six years in a retrospective cohort of infants from mother who lived in the city of Novo Hamburgo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from 2008 to 2013. Government data regarding births and infant mortality were analyzed. The city where the study was conducted presented an infant mortality rate of 14.0 every 1000 infants born alive for the period, and mostly occurring in the early neonatal period. They were all investigated, and 10.4 every 1000 infants born alive were avoidable. According to SUS's classification of avoidability, these rates could be lowered mainly with appropriate actions to promote health, linked to appropriate actions of health care by providing specialized care to women during pregnancy and adequate measures for the diagnosis and treatments. This study identified high-risk groups. The main factors associated with infant mortality were: Socio-economical and reproductive conditions of the mother, race/color of the skin, schooling, marital status, absence of paid work; Prenatal and birth, with the number of queries and the birthplace, and, finally, the Health of the child at the moment of birth, where gestational age, birth weight, vitality of the newborn, congenital malformation and twin pregnancy were the most important, all at χ2; p ≤ 0,004, a meaningful statistical association. It is important that the circumstances that determine infant mortality be made visible. This is essential so that the necessary measures will be taken to control it. The knowledge produced here will be potentially useful in programs aimed at improving the quality of health care and decreasing infant mortality rates.

There is limited empirical research on the application of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) in staff retention and management. This study aims to examine and analyse the impact of quality human resource information systems (e.g. recruitment information, personnel information, and audit of training sessions) on staff turnover factors at the recruitment and selection stage (e.g. remuneration, human resource planning, quality of training programmes, and lack of promotion opportunities), and consequently the impact of HIRS in managing staff retention. This research is conducted in the context of the hospitality sector. The research aim is achieved through satisfying the objectives and the development of a relevant and a novel framework. A conceptual framework is developed to address the use of HRIS with regard to the recruitment and selection process and in aiding managers in staff retention within the context of the hospitality sector. The framework consists of three phases: recruitment and selection process including human resource management (HRM) and information technology systems (ITS) in the recruitment and selection stage; human resource information systems (HRIS) application areas; and staff turnover factors (external and internal). This framework developed by using two theories, the institutional theory and job characteristics theory, as the theoretical underpinning of this study. A single case study with multiple subcases strategy is employed to evaluate, extend and theorise the effect of HRIS on staff retention. The data for this research is collected by using in-depth semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data are collected from four branches of the UK based hospitality organisation. 27 employees completed in-depth narrative interviews (13 managers and 14 non-managers), which the results were used to confirm and validate the developed framework. The findings are triangulated by the adoption of a series of techniques, including focus group discussion, and document analysis. This study has made use the qualitative analysis computer software NVivo V.10.This research study contributes to the literature of both HRM and IT/IS by developing a comprehensive theoretical framework that considers the relationship between staff retention and HRIS functions at the recruitment and selection stage. The research findings support and showed that, not all the factors affected staff turnover can be monitored by HRIS, and some staff turnover factors may require other strategies with respect to monitoring. The framework will benefit scholars and managers in understanding the impact of a quality HRIS on staff retention, and extends the knowledge in this regard. The framework is extended for usage by different hospitality organisations with similar business nature to the one understudy. Also, the findings show that relevant retention strategies could be applicable during the entire employment period, e.g. before, during and after recruitment. These strategies enable the organisation to be stable and improve managing retention at the very beginning period of employment and avoid the costs of staff turnover. The empirical findings also advance our understanding of the various HRM activities that are linked to retention at the recruitment and selection stage. More importantly, the research findings identify the immediate activities after recruitment which is linked to improving retention. The study aims at providing a valid framework that integrates both HRM, ITS, and identifies the role of HRIS with regard to improving retention, by identifying staff turnover factors and put in place retention strategies to deal with them, for new jobs’ applications at the recruitment and selection stage. The originality of this study is that provide fresh insights on the subjective of retention in the hospitality sector in the UK. This research complements and advances the current literature on having a quality IT/IS which provides vital information to help managers to make the right decisions on retention of members of staff. In addition, this research could prove beneficial to practitioner’s (managers) who involve in the decision making in the recruitment process, thus better retention in the hospitality sector.

Este estudo transversal teve como objetivos: conhecer o sistema HIPERDIA e descrever a qualidade das informações contidas na ficha do HIPERDIA em Guarapuava/PR, no período de maio de 2002 a novembro de 2004. A coleta de dados deu-se na cidade de Guarapuava/PR, no mês de abril de 2005, quando foram pesquisadas 5.500 fichas do HIPERDIA, extraímos aleatoriamente 612 amostras do total das fichas, que transcrevemos, codificamos com o programa Microsoft EXCEL e apresentamos com o programa estatístico Statistical Package For The Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows. Os resultados mostram que o sistema de informação em saúde HIPERDIA foi criado para ajudar na reorganização da assistência às pessoas portadoras de hipertensão arterial e diabetes mellitus, tanto no município estudado quanto em âmbito nacional, estando ainda em fase de implantação. Alguns dados considerados obrigatórios deixaram de ser informados em algumas fichas por exemplo: raça, escolaridade, estado civil, cintura, peso, altura, data da consulta e assinatura do responsável pelo atendimento. Consideramos que a omissão destas informações pode interferir, além de não completar, o processamento final dos cadastros, influenciando negativamente em possíveis estudos do perfil epidemiológico desta população, bem como impossibilitar o acompanhamento e implementação de estratégias que poderiam transformar a atual condição clínica desses indivíduos. Sugerimos que os responsáveis pelos SIS no Brasil possam oferecer treinamento específico para os profissionais envolvidos diretamente com o cadastramento e acompanhamento de hipertensos e diabéticos. Outra ação importante seria a avaliação dos SIS, pelo modo como a organização da assistência está sendo prestada nos serviços de saúde, bem como pela satisfação dos usuários. Com efeito Starfield,(2002,p.597) diz que: “a informatização tornou-se uma ferramenta epidemiológica que veio com seu potencial para melhorar não apenas a atenção clínica, mas também o planejamento, a prestação de serviços e a avaliação dos serviços”. / This traverse study had as objectives: to know the system HIPERDIA and to describe the quality of the information contained in the record of HIPERDIA in Guarapuava/PR, in the period of May of 2002 to November of 2004. The collection of data happened in the city of Guarapuava/PR, in the month of April of 2005, when they were researched 5.500 records of HIPERDIA, being sampled in aleatory way 612 of this total of records, which were transcribed for the program Microsoft EXCEL and codified and presented being used the statistical program Statistical Package it Goes Social The Sciences (SPSS) it goes Windows. The results show that the system of information in health HIPERDIA was created to help in the reorganization of the attention to the people bearers of arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus, so much in the studied municipal district as in national ambit, being still in implantation phase. Some data considered obligatory they stopped being informed in some records: race, education, civil status, waist, weight, height, dates of the consultation and signature of the responsible for the attendance. We considered that the omission of these information can interfere, besides not completing the final processing of the cadasters, influencing negatively in possible studies of the epidemic profile of this population, as well as to disable the accompaniment and implantation of strategies that could transform those individuals' current clinical condition. We suggested that the responsible for SIS in Brazil can offer specific training for the professionals involved directly with the registration and hipertensos accompaniment and diabetics. Another important action would be the evaluation of SIS, for the way as the organization of the attendance is being rendered in the services of health as well as for the users' satisfaction. Since Starfield,(2002,p.597) says that: the development of the computer science became an epidemic tool that it came with your potential to not just improve the clinical attention, but also the planning, the services rendered and the evaluation of the services ".

Models are incredibly insidious; they slide undetected into discussions and then dominate the way people think. Since Information Systems (ISs) and particularly Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs) are socio-technical systems, they unconsciously embrace the characteristics of the dominant models of management thinking. Thus, their limitations can often be attributed to the deficiencies of the organizational models they aim to support. Through the case study of a hotel chain, this research suggests that contemporary KMSs in the hospitality sector are still grounded in the assumptions of the mechanistic organizational model which conceives an organization as a rigid hierarchical entity governed from the top. Despite the recent technological advances in terms of supporting dialogue and participation between members, organizational knowledge is still transferred vertically; from the top to the bottom or from the bottom to the top. A number of limitations still exist in terms of supporting effectively the transfer of knowledge horizontally between the geographically distributed units of an organization. Inspired from the key concepts of the more recent complex systems model, referred frequently as complexity theories, a Knowledge Management Architecture (KMA) is proposed aiming to re-conceptualize the existing KMSs towards conceiving an organization as a set self-organizing communities of practice (CoP). In every such CoP, order is created from the dynamic exchange of knowledge between the structurally similar community members. Thus, the focus of the KMA is placed on capturing systematically for reuse the architectural knowledge created upon every initiative for change and share such knowledge with the rest of the members of the CoP. A KMS was also developed to support the dynamic dimensions that the KMA proposes. The KMS was then applied in the case of the hotel chain, where it brought significant benefits which constitute evidence of an improved self-organizing ability. The previously isolated hotel units residing in distant regions could now trace but also reapply easily changes undertaken by the other community members. Top-management’s intervention to promote change was reduced, while the pace of change increased. Moreover, the organizational cohesion, the integration of new members as well as the level of management alertness was enhanced. The case of the hotel chain is indicative. It is believed that the KMA proposed can be applicable to geographically distributed organizations operating in different sectors too. At the same time, this research contributes to the recent discourse between the fields of IS and complexity by demonstrating how fundamental concepts from complexity such as self-organization, emergence and edge-of-chaos can be embraced by contemporary KMSs.

This paper introduces a graphical modeling notation based on coloured petri nets for the performance and cost evaluation of mobile applications. When developing such an application some restrictions due to the low bandwith of mobile networks need to be considered. The notation can be used to model the workflow of an mobile application with just a small effort. The resulting model can be (automatically) transformed into a coloured petri net for simulating the communication behaviour depending on typical user interactions. The simulation results are an important basis for improving the applications performance and the occuring costs for using mobile networks.

<p>U radu su istražene mogućnosti za razvoj modela za izbor<br />lokacije proizvodnih sistema. Razvijen je model za izbor<br />lokacije proizvodnih sistema i verifikovan u studiji<br />slučaja na teritoriji AP Vojvodine i opštine Inđija.<br />Posebno značajan rezultat je fazi ekspertni sistem za<br />analizu kriterijuma odlučivanja, geografski informacioni<br />sistem za skrining i prostorni sistem za podršku u izboru<br />lokacije proizvodnih sistema.</p> / <p>This paper examines the possibilities of model development for<br />production systems site selection. Developed model for production<br />systems site selection is presented and tested in case study of AP<br />Vojvodina and Indjija municipality. A particularly important result is<br />developed fuzzy expert system for factor analysis, geographic<br />information system for screening and spatial decision support system.</p>