Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Managerial Thinking'

In several countries, the contributions of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in promoting the livelihood of the communities can clearly be identified. As a matter of fact, international development agencies increase their trust to NGOs in running development projects because they have proven capable of running these projects at a lower cost while reaching the huge number of poor communities. However, several factors have influenced the development of NGOs had little participation, contribution, and impact in undertaking the more structurally-entrenched causes and indicators of poverty. In addition, in most of the countries in Africa, local NGOs are weak with regards to the implementation of development projects. Consequently, there are ongoing questions towards these challenges faced by NGOs, especially at the local level. Most of the research focus on the external factors such as corruption, political instability, climatic unreliability, inadequate resources as the main reasons for less performance of the projects. Additionally, other researchers pinpoint the issue of upward accountability from sponsors and donors, but still they do not tell us the full story, therefore, realizing the gap of internal factors that have been overlooked by many researchers in the successful implementation of projects in Africa. This research seeks to explore the concept of leadership within local NGOs that conduct Economic Empowerment Projects, in East Africa. Through the qualitative study, our research findings would be analyzed to provide an insight to management team on how managerial and entrepreneurial thinking may influence the performance of the community development projects. In this study, the capacity development model will be identified and proposed as a guideline for organizational leaders in the capacity building interventions. This would support development practitioners of NGO sector in tackling the ongoing practical challenges in developing countries. In several countries, the contributions of Non-government Organizations (NGOs) in promoting the livelihood of the communities can clearly be identified. As a matter of fact, international development agencies increase their trust to NGOs in running development projects because they have proven capable of running these projects at a lower cost while reaching the huge number of poor communities. However, several factors have influenced the development of NGOs had little participation, contribution, and impact in undertaking the more structurally-entrenched causes and indicators of poverty. In addition, in most of the countries in Africa, local NGOs are weak with regards to the implementation of development projects. Consequently, there are ongoing questions towards these challenges faced by NGOs, especially at the local level. Most of the research focus on the external factors such as corruption, political instability, climatic unreliability, inadequate resources as the main reasons for less performance of the projects. Additionally, other researchers pinpoint the issue of upward accountability from sponsors and donors, but still they do not tell us the full story, therefore, realizing the gap of internal factors that have been overlooked by many researchers in the successful implementation of projects in Africa. This research seeks to explore the concept of leadership within local NGOs that conduct Economic Empowerment Projects, in East Africa. Through the qualitative study, our research findings would be analyzed to provide an insight to management team on how managerial and entrepreneurial thinking may influence the performance of the community development projects. In this study, the capacity development model will be identified and proposed as a guideline for organizational leaders in the capacity building interventions. This would support development practitioners of NGO sector in tackling the ongoing practical challenges in developing countries.

It is no secret that 'managerial' solutions are not, on average, nearly as reliable as 'technical' solutions. The focus of this work is to clarify the reasons why this is so, and to seek ways to increase the reliability of managerial solutions. The causes of this situation are both subjective (human factor failure), which can be influenced, and objective (complexity of the problem, the specifics of human behaviour, etc.) that can be only minimally influenced. Significant subjective causes at work were identified as: a. cognitive distortions at the mental level of thinking of the problem solvers; b. deficiencies in making inference and drawing conclusions; c. incorrect argumentation. There are two ways to reduce these causes: 1. cultivation of managerial thinking of the problem solvers; 2. the use of reserves in the implementation of approaches and tools of theoretical disciplines that already operate successfully elsewhere and are beneficial for managerial solutions. The first way deals with procedures for managerial solutions formulated in the language of the relevant discipline (the language of management), expressed by natural language and the chain of formulas (calculations) and visual (graphic) tools in the form of managerial decision trees, diagrams and charts with the rules of 'managerial logic'. This is generally defined as a set of approaches, tools, methods and skills needed for credible justification when solving managerial problems. Specifically it deals with: - the 'case-based reasoning' approach, which aims at finding the best point of view on a given problem and analysing all considered aspects within its context step-by-step in detail; - translating the tools and methods of modern logic (especially its intuitionistic version) from the language of logic into the language of management taking into account the factual content of expressive means of the language of management including the ability of their effective application; - respecting the principles of rational and ethical argumentation within managerial solutions. The second way circumvents managerial solution procedures by recasting the managerial task to the task of a scientific discipline (logic, game theory, etc.) and derives the correct result therein. In this context we talk about the use of knowledge of theoretical disciplines in management. Both of these ways are demonstrated in the work in a number of illustrative examples and the annexed case studies addressing the specific tasks of managerial practice.

Since an understanding of 'culture' positively affects the wayan information systems practitioner influences and initiates actions in an organization, this research aims to get insight into an organizational infomlation systems management culture. In this research, a case study has been carried out in the context of the four major telecommunication companies operating in Thailand. The information systems management culture has been interpreted in terms of value systems embedded in the organization's managerial process of information systems and the manifestation of Thai values in such value systems. As such, the research domain of study is defined as 'the soft socio-technical aspect of the managerial process of information systems of the telecommunication companies operating in Thailand'. To tackle the research domain of the 'soft socio-technical aspect', the research embraces a 'soft systems' concept and adopts a 'soft' and 'socio-technical' approach to information systems. This is because of the fact that the research context is involved with human-machine inter-connections, pluralism, and multi-facets of a problem situation. The research enquiry process is formed by the systemic tools and techniques available in the socio-technical methodology namely SISTeM (Atkinson 1997; Atkinson and Brooks 2008) and 'Generative Systemic Metaphor' (Atkinson and Checkland 1988; Atkinson 2003). In order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the research domain of study, the constructed research enquiry process is used to interpretatively analyze the 'managerial process of information systems of the telecommunication companies operating in Thailand', as well as the value systems embedded in such managerial process and the influences of Thai culture on the identified value systems. Because within the Thai information systems research community, there is no previous 'soft systems' research, it could be argued that, for such a community, the research carried out in this thesis opens up an arena for a further 'soft systems' approach to information systems research, particularly those relevant to the soft socio-technical aspect of information systems.

The dissertation focuses on the explanation of the mutual link between science and art in managerial calculations. For this purpose the dissertation explains and comments on the most utilized fragments of both of the components in its theoretical part, to which it refers in the practical part. It deals with the analysis of the managerial styles of thinking during the process of learning, with methodological approaches used in teaching the art to solve problems and discusses the differences of exact and empirical approaches that relate to the differentiation of what the theory claims and the praxes does. The tools stand in for the technical side of managerial calculations that derive from the more general systems of rational conceptions. The practical part goes in for solving the selected case studies, where the link between the science and the art is clearly demonstrated.

The thesis is focused on promoting the training of systems thinking using board game. The primary goal is to create a board game, useful for training of the information managers. The secondary objective is to describe process of the design and creation of board game. The theoretical basis of the thesis is to define the profile information manager and demands for his skills further description of the principles of systems thinking and game theory. External work output is a prototype board game. The theoretical part of the paper discusses in particular the principles of board game , systems thinking and psychological effect on the player so that it can pass through the game players more experience. From the perspective of the theory of systems thinking are discussed and applied basic principles of feedback, causal thinking and system archetypes. Theory of board games then processes the options and mechanisms to transmit the necessary knowledge and experience. In the practical part thesis focuses on the description of the mechanisms used in the game Dynacorp and their justification in terms of teaching systems thinking. Conclusion The paper evaluates the fulfillment of the set objectives, the potential of game and describes future goals.

System dynamics modelling has been used for around 40 years to address complex, systemic, dynamic problems, those often described as wicked. But, system dynamics modelling is not an exact science and arguments about the most suitable techniques to use in which circumstances, continues. The nature of these wicked problems is investigated through a series of case studies where poor situational awareness among stakeholders was identified. This was found to be an underlying cause for management failure, suggesting need for better ways of recognising and managing wicked problem situations. Human cognition is considered both as a limitation and enabler to decision-making in wicked problem environments. Naturalistic and deliberate decision-making are reviewed. The thesis identifies the need for integration of qualitative and quantitative techniques. Case study results and a review of the literature led to identification of a set of principles of method to be applied in an integrated framework, the aim being to develop an improved way of addressing wicked problems. These principles were applied to a series of cases in an action research setting. However, organisational and political barriers were encountered. This limited the exploitation and investigation of cases to varying degrees. In response to a need identified in the literature review and the case studies, a tool is designed to facilitate analysis of multi-factorial, non-linear causality. This unique tool and its use to assist in problem conceptualisation, and as an aid to testing alternate strategies, are demonstrated. Further investigation is needed in relation to the veracity of combining causal influences using this tool and system dynamics, broadly. System dynamics modelling was found to have utility needed to support analysis of wicked problems. However, failure in a particular modelling project occurred when it was found necessary to rely on human judgement in estimating values to be input into the models. This was found to be problematic and unacceptably risky for sponsors of the modelling effort. Finally, this work has also identified that further study is required into: the use of human judgement in decision-making and the validity of system dynamics models that rely on the quantification of human judgement.

碩士
國立成功大學
高階管理碩士在職專班
97
With the fierce competition, how to outperform in the global marketplace has become more and more difficult. It is important for managers to have creativity and problem-solving capability to copy with problems in the dynamic environment. Therefore, this study would like to develop a scale which can evaluate mangers’ analytic thinking and conceptual thinking capabilities. It is expected that the scale can be a useful index which helps the firm recruit suitable employees and managers based on their personality and thus create more values for firms. This study is targeted to investigate that if there are any differences on analytic thinking and conceptual thinking between managers and non-managers among difference industries, positions by using T-test and ANOVA. The findings of this study are shown as follows. First, there are significant differences between managers and non-managers on analytical thinking and conceptual thinking. Second, in technology, traditional and service industries, there are insignificant differences between managers and non-managers on analytical thinking. Third, in technical departments, there are significant differences between managers and non-managers on analytical thinking and conceptual thinking.

碩士
中國文化大學
企業實務管理數位學習碩士在職專班
100
There is a global trend to utilize various projects for better work performance and the project oriented work packages have been widely observed in different organizations and industries. Even in the school organizations, projects and project management methodology have been regarded as a solution to break the bottleneck of the traditional administration process. However, project managers and participants were generally not able to well understand the characteristics of school projects and the interactive in-fluences from project variables, such as work loading, available human resources, work schedule and relevant quality standards. Thus, the aforementioned dynamic complex-ity of school projects can cause project failures. By using systems thinking, this study proposes a causal loop diagram to analyze the school evaluation projects, which can assist project participants to better understand the interactive relationships between different project variables so that the problem can be properly handled. For the purpose of case study, a questionnaire survey on a school evaluation has been conducted on the high school and college level to analyze the in-herent challenges and solutions in a benchmarked school project.

碩士
中國文化大學
企業實務管理數位碩士在職專班
105
The nation’s aging index has exceeded 100 for the first time in March 2017,and the number of people in Taiwan 65 and over is increasing to 3,139,397,highlighting the severity of the aging population problem. Among this older population, about 500,000 or 16 percent , reported having one or more disabilities. Future trends, especially the growth of the elderly population, are expected to affect significantly the provision of long-term care institutions. The institutions deal mainly with older people who need long-term care. They provide skilled nursing care, rehabilitation services, meals, activities, help with daily living, and supervision. 　 　Quality of care in long term-care institutions is a major issue for which there is no simple solution. In this study, it explores the interference variables of service quality in long term-care institutions through semi-structured interviews with 5 different long term-care institutions managers , then four importance factors were identified. And systems thinking architectural analysis was used to identify relationships between the factors, service quality and satisfaction. 　 　The models of shifting the burden feedback loop and the limits to growth feedback loop provide frameworks for the integration of service quality improvement strategies. And allow the managers make the decisions like update the construction equipment and assistive technology, strengthen the care-giving workforce, implement creative training course of elderly care , set up the hierarchical license system, reduce the foreign worker numbers in the institutions ,concern the cost-effectiveness analysis and balance sheet etc，to improve the service quality effectively.

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Business.
Research into the cognitive effects of management accounting and control systems is largely oriented toward understanding how decision makers use accounting information to inform their judgement and decision making activity. However, the effect of these systems on decision making is not limited to the provision of information; instead, management accounting and control systems may influence decision makers’ underlying mental representations, which in turn form a critical input to judgement and decision making in an organisational context. As such, the objective of this thesis is to explore and then explain how the use of management control systems relates to the development of a type of mental representation: managers’ causal mental models. In order to answer this question, I undertake a qualitative embedded case study of a medium-sized residential aged care service provider in Australia, incorporating specific Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) techniques to elicit the causal mental models of individual study participants. First, I draw on theory and concepts from cognitive psychology to develop the construct of causal mental models for application in an accounting context. I then develop a general theoretical model which identifies the conditions under which the use of management control systems is likely to lead to changes in the causal mental models of either senior and/or operational managers, and provides an explanation of the mediating relationship between management control systems and managerial judgement and decision making activity. This conceptual and methodological development allows for the direct observation of the content and composition of causal mental models, and the development and testing of more nuanced hypotheses relating the use of management accounting and control systems to judgement and decision making outcomes, and ultimately, to managerial and organisational performance. Second, I apply and extend the general theoretical model in order to develop an explanation of the underlying socio-cognitive dynamics of Simons’ (1987) concept of interactive control. Specifically, I explain why the interactive use of control systems would facilitate learning and contribute to improved managerial cognition and performance, and use the theoretical explanations that I generate to evaluate the conflicting conceptualisations of the interactive control construct present in the literature. I find that all five dimensions of interactive control identified by Bisbe, Batista-Foguet and Chenhall (2007) are required for interactive control to have the hypothesised effects on managerial learning and organisational performance, and provide support for their position that interactive control should be treated as a multidimensional, emergent construct. Third, I apply my general theoretical model to the phenomenon of budget participation, in order to develop a cognitive explanation of the effects of participation on managerial cognition and capacity for judgement and decision making. Application of the theoretical model to the phenomenon of budget participation generated a set of three specific explanations: first, it suggests an expanded definition of participation is necessary to completely capture the potential of budgeting for information sharing and coordination; second, it explains the theoretical value of conceptualising job-relevant information in terms of the components of managers’ causal mental models; and third, it explains both how and why budget participation can facilitate the transfer of causal knowledge and beliefs between levels of management.