Дисертації з теми "Commercialisation of public sector research"

The Australian Government expects universities to engage in technology transfer and commercialisation (TT&C) and almost all universities have established a technology transfer office (TTO) for this purpose. The primary aim of this research was to identify what would enhance the overall performance of Australian universities in research commercialisation and industry uptake of the university research commercialisation outcomes. Four research questions were enunciated: 1 What are the systemic barriers to research commercialisation within Australian universities? 2 How could Australian universities overcome the systemic barriers to the commercialisation of university research? 3 How, in particular, could Australian smaller and regional universities enhance their research commercialisation capacity and performance? 4 How could the uptake by industry of Australian university research outcomes be improved? Question 1 was answered using a qualitative content analysis on the substantial body of literature available. Questions 2 and 3 were answered using multiple-case analysis involving eight Australian university case studies and comparing Australian university practice with five benchmark universities œ two from the US, two from Canada, and one from New Zealand. The first major conclusion was that there are three essential criteria upon which university TT&C success is built: institutional and senior executive support for TT&C superior TTO management; and sufficient world-class research being conducted. The second major conclusion was that the same key criteria for success in TT&C apply across the board, whether a university is smaller, regional, technical, new or old, research-intensive or otherwise. Question 4 was answered using case studies developed on five SME companies in the electronics industry in one Australian State and comparing these results with the outcome of a narrative review conducted on the literature to permit methodological triangulation. The research found a rich engagement occurring between universities and industry, with the most important element involving individual personal relationships.

The main focus of this research is to examine both the practices of research commercialisation by Public-funded Research Institutes (PRIs) in Malaysia, and to determine the key factors that influence the success of research commercialisation. PRIs in Malaysia consist of public research institutions and public universities. Previous research has identified several factors that are considered to be the key determinants of the success of research commercialisation. Factors assumed to contribute to the research commercialisation success include intellectual property ownership which covers both joint and individual ownership, entrepreneurial culture, motivation and skill, researcher compensation, early stage financing, financial incentives, commercialisation culture, rewards and promotion systems, relationship between PRIs and industry, nature of commercialisation policies, type of commercialisation method determined by institution, researcher involvement and the existence of a commercialisation unit. However, prior research has not examined the full set of factors in one comprehensive study. Previous research has individually identified success factors in the context of PRIs with no attempts being made to combine all factors together. This study aimed to address this gap in the literature. This research was considered exploratory, and used a mixed methods research approach to identify those salient factors, which influenced commercialisation practices in PRIs. The data was collected in two phases. In phase one, qualitative data was collected using a semi-structured interview to identify factors considered to influence the success of vi commercialisation from the researcher point of view. In phase two, quantitative data was gathered using a survey to include a larger group of researchers to address the same research question. The total population of this study were researchers in 38 PRIs in Malaysia including public universities and public research institutes. Results from the combined studies identified that the number of research commercialised by PRIs in Malaysia was relatively low. Key determinants impacting the success of commercialisation were identified as research ownership, researcher compensation and the presence of a commercialisation unit within PRIs. These three factors identified were consistent with previous research conducted on PRIs, but in combination are presented as the most salient to commercialisation success within the Malaysian context. The study has implications for research and practice. From a practical point of view, attention to these factors by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation need to be considered particularly during the allocation of future research grants, to further increase the percentage of successful research commercialisation by PRIs in Malaysia. This thesis through its research and findings, have contributed theoretically to the existing literature on commercialisation and fill up the gap in the commercialisation literature. The listing of all key variables as carried out in this research is very crucial since most previous research focuses only on investigating one key success factor at a time in researching the key variables in the research commercialisation success. The three factors found to be significant predictors of commercialisation success suggest the need to examine factors that are unique to each institution and also to establish a common set vii of factors that can determine the research commercialisation success in any setting. The use of PRIs in this study also provides insights from the perspective of both universities and research institutions. This has lead to a greater understanding of commercialisation process in both institutions and that future researchers need to address these factors to confirm the validity of these factors in determining the success of research commercialisation.

Email stress: what are its causes? how is it measured? can it be solved? The literature review revealed that, despite the term being well used and recognised, discussions surrounding the root cause of email stress had reached little consensus and the concept was not well understood. By its very nature, email stress theory had fallen victim to the academic debate between psychological vs. physiological interpretations of stress which, as a result of either choice, limited more progressive research. Likewise an array of email management strategies had been identified however, whilst some generated quick successes, they appeared to suffer longevity issues and were not maintained a few months after implementation in the workplace. The purpose of this research was to determine whether email communication causes employees psychological and physiological stress and investigate the impact of email management strategies in the workplace. A pragmatic philosophy placed the research problem as central and valued the differences between paradigms to promote a mixed-method approach to research. The decision to pair both case studies and action research methods ensured a framework for presenting results and an actionable solution was achieved. In direct response to the research aims an original email stress measuring methodology was devised that combined various data collection tools to measure and investigate email stress. This research design was applied and evaluated 'email free time' and email filing. Results of the study showed an increased stress response to occur during email use, i.e. caused employees' increased blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol and perceived stress, and a number of adverse effects such as managing staff via email, social detachment, blame and cover-your-back culture were identified. Findings revealed 'email free time' was not a desirable strategy to manage email stress and related stressors, whereas email filing was found more beneficial to workers well-being. Consolidation of the data gathered from the literature review and research findings were used to develop an initial conceptualisation of email stress in the form of two models, i.e. explanatory and action. A focus group was conducted to validate the proposed models and a further investigation at the ? was carried out to critique the use of an email training intervention. The results showed some improvements to employees' behaviour after the training, e.g. improved writing style, email checked on fewer occasions each day and fewer sufferers of email addiction. The initial models devised, alongside the latter findings, were synthesised to create a single integrative multidimensional model of email stress and management strategies. The model made an original contribution to knowledge in terms of theory, i.e. to conceptualise email stress, and practice, i.e. to offer practical solutions to the email worker.

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics
Despite an increasing prominence on both psychological and human aspects of mergers, available literature is still largely focused on financial and market sides of mergers. Challenges associated with redesigning internal processes, building up new teams or change deep-seated routines - acquired over time - are often underestimated. Mergers can offer valuable evidence on how difficult it is to implement change. A comparative qualitative research was conducted in order to assess the merger of two public Portuguese hospitals under the scope of readiness for organizational change. Results indicated that, in such an early stage of change, employees from both hospitals seem supportive towards change, showing remarkable togetherness identifying the need for change. Hence, compliance with top management decisions was also found to be high. A linkage was found between organizational tenure and the perceived readiness for organizational change, such that nurses working for a shorter period of time at both hospitals displayed higher levels of uncertainty regarding the possible outcomes associated with the merger.

This thesis presents an implementation study on the handling of electronic identification in three public authorities in Sweden. Electronic identification is a complex but very topical policy domain, largely tied to the general policy aspirations of e-government development. Theories on policy action, logic of appropriateness, garbage cans, and the dialectics of institutions and technology are used. The result highlights that the policy process of electronic identification in the three studied authorities could not be adequately explained from a traditional policy-implementation dichotomy. The action imperative to develop e-services is very strong and explains why and how electronic identification has been developed within the three authorities. The three authorities have very different institutional capacity to implement e-services with electronic identification. The available technology on electronic identification is inscribed with certain logics of appropriateness, that doesn’t sit equally easy with the administrative logics of appropriateness in all three authorities.

This action research study investigated the feasibility of building evaluation capacity into the design process of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service’s (GMFRS) community initiatives. GMFRS runs over 400 community initiatives every year and an appropriate evaluation framework is needed to provide evidence of their impact and effectiveness. Information that previous evaluation processes had failed to provide. The feasibility of establishing an evaluation framework for use by non-specialists users was explored, the development of a new evaluation system for GMFRS was examined critically, and the processes and challenges involved in embedding evaluation within a large public sector emergency service investigated. Mixed research methods -- document analyses, qualitative interviews, observations and focus groups -- were used in the three action research cycles conducted between April 2008 and April 2010. In cycle one, existing evaluation materials and key characteristics of the initiatives were assessed. GMFRS’s community initiatives were found to lack direction, and the existing evaluation tool lacked the detail required for use by personnel with no previous evaluation experience. Hence, new evaluation materials were developed and, in the second cycle, their use was observed, and interviews conducted to ascertain the barriers to evaluation practices. Lack of resources, organisational guidance, and support with evaluation activities were identified as barriers. In the third cycle focus groups were used to gain feedback on the usability of the new evaluation material and processes. The principal conclusions of the research are that there were no theoretical models and/or guidance to assist Emergency Services to develop internal evaluation capacity. Insufficient attention has been paid to organisational support processes to nurture individuals’ evaluation skills and abilities, and to assist complex organisations utilise evaluations. For evaluation to become an embedded and systematic activity, it has to be supported by a project management methodology that underpins evaluation processes.

Thesis (MPA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The traditional skills required in government-wide local knowledge, sound political judgment and concern for the welfare of people-are still essential in the global information society. But, to be more effective, these skills now have to be supported by the new decision-making techniques of operations research and decision support systems. The capacity of the human mind to handle complex issues is limited. This situation of complexity and incapacity makes the application of operations research techniques and electronic DSS essential for good governance outcomes. Operations research is a multidisciplinary discipline that requires a team approach to decision making. It is based on systems analysis approach because of its preoccupation with interconnections among parts rather than within the parts themselves. This systems approach allows the optimization of an organization's overall goals, not just those of isolated departments. Optimization is one of the functions of operations research techniques. Linear programming models are most effective at the operational level of decision making with a single objective where scarce or limited resources must be allocated or used in an optimal manner. At the policy level where there are many uncertainties and conflicting objectives, multiobjective programming is more suitable. On the other hand, dynamic programming is flexible and is particularly applied whenever a sequence of decisions must be made and the goal is to find the combination of decisions that optimizes the overall effectiveness of the entire set of decisions. However, when a problem is too complex to be treated by numerical optimization techniques, simulation is used. That is when the problem either cannot be formulated for optimization, because the formulation is too large, there are too many interactions among the variables, or the problem is stochastic (probabilistic) in nature. Despite the analytical power of operations research, many real-world problems are not amenable to direct analytical solution by known mathematical techniques. Hence, in the absence of exact methods to solutions, we usually resort to heuristics, i.e. finding a good but not necessarily the best solution. Other problems encountered by public sector agencies include service stations (waiting lines), inventory levels, forecasting, and project scheduling, which all need decision support systems. To reduce the adverse impact of waiting to acceptable levels one has to minimize costs associated with providing service and those associated with waiting time. For smooth operations, inventory of goods must be kept to an acceptable level to minimize setup or ordering, inventory holding, and shortage (public complaints, and loss of good will and sales) costs. Forecasting is crucial as most managerial decisions are based on projected information and policy analysis is almost always about future outcomes. Many government policies and programs are implemented through projects. Project managers must know how long a specific project will take to finish, what the critical tasks are, and what the probability of completing the project within a given time span is. Successful applications of operations research and decision support systems in the public sector have been recorded including in the areas of the military, transportation, crime and justice, police units, energy, natural resources, facility location, and land use planning. However, operations research applications are not without impediments. Technical and institutional barriers are some of the problems encountered in the effort to apply operations research in the public sector. Similarly, reasons for the slow growth of decision support systems include lack of user demand, lack of system designer motivation, lack of system designer expertise, reluctance to change, and increased risk of failure In the Eritrean public sector, the low level of awareness of operations research and decision support systems is reflected in the inadequacy of addressing multicriteria decision processes, the lack and lor inappropriate selection of decision support systems, improper project management techniques, suboptimal facility locations and service stations, the low level of multidisciplinary approach, and the absence of national standards for pollution control. In general, constraints such as the lack of capacity, awareness, know-how, and software, are rampant. The study concludes that policy-making processes should incorporate opportunities to exercise choices and explore rational options. These rational options are the results of appropriate interface of human, operations research and decision support systems.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tradisionele vaardighede wat van 'n regering verwag word - wye kennis van plaaslike omstandighede, goeie politieke oordeel en besorgdheid oor die welvaart van mense - was nog altyd belangrik in die moderne wêreld. Hierdie vaardighede moet egter ondersteun word deur die nuwe besluitnemingstegnieke van operasionele navorsing en besluitnemings ondersteuningstelsels om effektief te wees. Die vermoë van die menslike brein om komplekse kwessies te hanteer, is beperk. Hierdie situasie van kompleksheid aan die een kant en onvermoë aan die ander kant maak die aanwending van operasionele navorsingstegnieke en elektroniese besluitneming nodig vir goeie regeringsuitkomste. Operasionele navorsing is 'n multidisiplinêre disipline wat 'n spanbenadering tot besluitneming benodig. Dit is baseer op die sisteemanalise benadering omdat dit gaan oor interkonneksies tussen onderdele en nie soseer oor die onderdele self nie. Hierdie sisteembenadering maak die optimisering van die sisteem se oorhoofse doelwitte moontlik, nie net die doelwitte van geïsoleerde departemente nie Optimisasie is een van die funksies van operasionele navorsing. Liniêre programmeringsmodelle is meer effektief op die operasionele vlak van besluitneming met 'n enkel doelwit waar skaars of beperkte bronne toegewys of gebruik moet word op 'n optimale wyse. Op die beleidsvlak waar baie onsekerhede en botsende doelwitte voorkom, is multi-doelwit programmering meer geskik. Aan die ander kant is dinamiese programmering meer toepaslik en buigsaam, veral as dit toegepas word waar 'n reeks besluite geneem moet word en die doel is om 'n kombinasie van besluite te vind wat die oorhoofse effektiwiteit van die hele stel besluite optimiseer. Sekere probleme is egter te kompleks om met numeriese optimisering op te los, omdat die probleem nie geprogrammeer kan word vir optimisering nie, omdat die formulasie te groot is, daar te veel interaksies tussen die veranderlikes is, of die probleem stogasties van aard is. Dan kan simulasies oorweeg word om oplossings te probeer vind. Ten spyte van die analitiese krag van operasionele navorsing, kan baie werklike probleme nie direk deur analitiese wiskundige tegnieke opgelos word nie - altans nie deur bekende wiskundige tegnieke nie. As 'n presiese oplossing nie moontlik is nie, kan kan 'n heuristiese oplossing ondersoek word, d.w.s. 'n goeie, maar nie noodwendig die beste oplossing nie. Ander probleme wat deur die openbare sektor ondervind word, sluit in diensstasies, inventarisvlakke, voorspellings, en projekskedulering. Hulle benodig almal besluitnemingsstelsels vir effektiewe oplossings. Om die wagtydperk te verminder tot 'n aanvaarbare vlak moet die koste verbonde aan die verskaffing van die diens en die koste verbonde aan wagtydperke minirniseer word. Om 'n operasie glad te laat verloop moet die inventaris van goedere op 'n aanvaarbare vlak gehou word om die koste van bestellings, die byhou van voorrade en tekorte (klagtes van die publiek, die verlies aan vertroue en verkope) te minirniseer. Voorspelling is van die uiterste belang vir hierdie doel, omdat bestuursbesluite baseer is op geskatte syfers en beleidsontleding betrekking het op toekomstige uitkomste. Baie regeringsbeleide en -programme word deur projekte geïmplementeer. Projekbestuurders moet weet hoe lank dit sal neem om 'n projek te voltooi, wat die belangrike take is en hoe waarskynlik dit is dat die projek betyds voltooi sal word. Operasionele navorsing en besluitnemingsondersteuning stelsels is al suksesvol aangewend in die volgende openbare sektore: militêre funksies, vervoer, misdaad en justisie, die polisie, energie, natuurlike hulpbronne, en die beplanning van grondgebruik. Tegniese en ander hindernisse word egter soms ondervind by die gebruik van operasionele navorsingstegnieke in die openbare sektor. Redes hoekom die gebruik van sulke stelsels so stadig toeneem, sluit in die gebrek aan aanvraag van verbruikers, die gebrek aan stelselontwerp motivering, die gebrek aan stelselontwerp vaardighede, onwilligheid om te verander en die groter risiko van mislukking. In die openbare sektor van Eritrea word die lae vlak van bewustheid van operasionele navorsing en besluitnemingsondersteuning stelsels gereflekteer in 'n onvermoë om dit te gebruik, die gebrek aan of verkeerde keuse van sulke hulpmiddels, verkeerde bestuurstegnieke, suboptimale plasing van dienspunte, die afwesigheid van multi-disiplinêre benaderings, en die afwesigheid van nasionale standaarde vir die beheer van besoedeling. Beperkings soos 'n gebrek aan kapasiteit, bewustheid, kennis en sagteware kom algemeen voor. In hierdie studie word daar tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat beleidmakende prosesse die geleentheid behoort in te sluit om keuses te maak en om verskillende opsies te toets. Hierdie rasionele opsies is die gevolg van die regte interaksie tussen die mens, operasionele navorsing en besluitnemingsondersteuning stelsels.

Bibliography: pages 163-172.
This study examines the involvement of public and private sector institutions in the provision of electricity in urban areas of South Africa. Access to electricity in South Africa is highly unequal and little progress is currently being made to bring electricity to all, mainly due to institutional and financial problems. The focus on public and private sector roles is adopted because of the social importance and economic nature of electricity provision, the global and national significance of privatisation policies, and the current importance of allocating appropriate roles to the public and private sectors in widening access to services, including electricity, in South Africa. The distribution sector of the South African electricity supply industry (ESI) is highly fragmented. Municipal electricity departments, which mostly serve white residential, commercial and industrial areas, are generally highly profitable and provide an effective service, but are not highly efficient by international standards. These departments are self-sufficient in the implementation of electrification projects, and have access to adequate capital to finance such projects. Electricity distribution authorities set up to serve black areas, especially electricity departments of black local authorities, are ineffective, and often financially unsound. Due to the weakness of public authorities charged with the task of undertaking electrification projects in black areas, the implementation of these projects is dependent on the involvement of private electrical consultants and contractors. However, few such projects are currently being undertaken due to inappropriate planning and shortages of concessionary finance. After close consideration of the benefits and drawbacks of public and private involvement in range of activities that arise from electricity provision, it is concluded that the key challenges facing the ESI in South Africa will best be met if the distribution sector is restructured on a regional basis in order to utilise existing expertise, and retained within the public sector. Accelerated electrification initiatives, planned and co-ordinated by these distribution authorities, would draw upon the experience and capabilities of private electrical consultants and contractors. Public sector leadership in mobilising both public and private investment would also be necessary. Thus, whilst public institutions would be dominant, important roles would remain for the private sector in the provision of electricity in urban areas. The results of this study suggest that far from privatising service provision in South Africa, it will be essential to allocate a dominant role to the public sector in widening access to services to all.

This study looks at the differences in lean project management between projects done in the public sector and projects done in the private sector. The private sector consist of companies around Sweden, while municipalities are representing the public sector in this study. This study is based on the understanding that the lean philosophy can have advantages for the efficiency of project management, both for the private and the public sector, knowing that there are differences in the nature of these organizations. This thesis begins with an introduction that explains the theory that is important for this research, and that describes the research gap that has been found. The research gap is the basis for the research questions. After defining the research questions, an examination has been done on existing literature about the concepts of lean, project management, project managers, and lean project management. Prior research gives ideas about the challenges project managers encounter, and shows in what way lean can influence the efficiency of projects. As part of this qualitative research, and with an inductive approach, 12 semi-structured interviews have been conducted. During this interviews, project managers and persons with a connection to projects in the different organization were asked to describe projects in their organizations. This study is exploratory and has a cross-sectional design as the center of attention was on different organizations from both the private and the public sector in different parts of Sweden. In the analysis the results of the interviews are categorized and interpreted. The results show that projects are used in every organization, making use of, in almost every case, a project model which makes sure that different projects are run in similar ways. Although different organizations make use of the principles of lean, no organization is implementing the ideas completely. Major differences that have been found are differences in the background of the project manager, the level of standardization of projects, and differences in efficiency that in many situations are caused by legislation. It became clear that projects in the private sector are organized in a stricter way, with experienced project managers that follow project models strictly. In the public sector projects are mostly led by project managers that are interested in a certain project, and in those organizations project models are not followed strictly. As for lean projects, we have found no real evidence that any organization is currently having projects organized according to the lean principles. This can be expected however, seeing that lean project management is a generally unexplored part of the lean philosophy.

This thesis considers Participatory Crop Improvement (PCI) methodologies and examines the reasons behind their continued contestation and limited mainstreaming in conventional modes of crop improvement research within National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS). In particular, it traces the experiences of a long-established research network with over 20 years of experience in developing and implementing PCI methods across South Asia, and specifically considers its engagement with the Indian NARS and associated state-level agricultural research systems. In order to address the issues surrounding PCI institutionalisation processes, a novel conceptual framework was derived from a synthesis of the literatures on Strategic Niche Management (SNM) and Learning-based Development Approaches (LBDA) to analyse the socio-technical processes and structures which constitute the PCI ‘niche' and NARS ‘regime'. In examining the niche and regime according to their socio-technical characteristics, the framework provides explanatory power for understanding the nature of their interactions and the opportunities and barriers that exist with respect to the translation of lessons and ideas between niche and regime organisations. The research shows that in trying to institutionalise PCI methods and principles within NARS in the Indian context, PCI proponents have encountered a number of constraints related to the rigid and hierarchical structure of the regime organisations; the contractual mode of most conventional research, which inhibits collaboration with a wider group of stakeholders; and the time-limited nature of PCI projects themselves, which limits investment and hinders scaling up of the innovations. It also reveals that while the niche projects may be able to induce a ‘weak' form of PCI institutionalisation within the Indian NARS by helping to alter their institutional culture to be more supportive of participatory plant breeding approaches and future collaboration with PCI researchers, a ‘strong' form of PCI institutionalisation, in which NARS organisations adopt participatory methodologies to address all their crop improvement agenda, is likely to remain outside of the capacity of PCI development projects to deliver.

Högskolan Kristianstad har gamla anor med utbildningar från mitten av 1800-talet men grundades först 1977 i sin nuvarande form. De sista 4-5 åren har högskolan haft planer på att göra en omstrukturering. Förändringsarbetet tog fart förra året och vi blev intresserade av att skriva om de förändringar som pågick. Syftet med uppsatsen var att analysera förändringsprocessen vid Högskolan Kristianstad, samt undersöka hur de anställda påverkades av den. Vi valde att göra intervjuer med de anställda för att få inblick om hur de upplever sin situation. Våra frågeställningar var: Vad var de anställdas syn på omorganisationen? Vad har de anställdas förväntningar varit under processens gång?  Vad har de anställdas farhågor varit under processens gång och vilka motstånd har uppkommit från de anställda under processens gång? Våra slutsatser är bland annat att en förändring är nödvändig på Högskolan Kristianstad, att skolan behöver en stark och tydlig ledning, att det hade varit bra om ledningen hade ett bredare underlag om förändringar i en akademisk miljö. Eftersom det redan finns en färdig plan för hur Högskolan Kristianstad ska se ut år 2012 så är det extra viktigt att ledningen drar lärdom av det förändringsarbete som nu pågår.

Thesis (MDF (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Economic development depends on a number of variables, including the ability of the economy to innovate technologically. Innovation depends to a large extent on the value, both qualitative and quantitative, of the research and development (R&D) happening in an economy. R&D in turn require various activities and inputs, including human resources, capital and infrastructure. The focus of this study is on the alternatives available to the public sector for funding public R&D. Most of the current public R&D infrastructure comes from the fiscus, which is strained under the pressure of many competing and immediate needs. An alternate model for funding public R&D infrastructure is that of public private partnerships (PPPs), which are private sector-supported initiatives for delivery of public goods and services. These are used all over the world to deliver public services with a high degree of success in sectors such as health (hospitals and services) and transport (roads, airports). This study looks at how this model can be applied in the delivery of public R&D infrastructure, which has not been popular in South Africa to date. A questionnaire was designed to look at five key areas for investigation with regard to R&D infrastructure, namely: the type of infrastructure as a determinant for the success of the PPP; the perception regarding the risk of the transaction; the incentives available to the private participants; the availability of capital in the market; and the effect of regulations on the transaction. These are investigated through the use of a questionnaire to get responses from people who have an understanding of PPP transactions in the country. The results show that R&D PPPs are possible and should be explored. One of the main reasons why they are currently not popular is because they are under-explored. The respondents felt that: the PPP regulations may have to be changed or adapted to be effective in the administration of PPP transactions; the risks for R&D PPPs seem to be high; sufficient capital exists to fund these transactions; the type of the infrastructure being financed is not necessarily a hindrance; and there are sufficient incentives for the private sector to participate in these transactions.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ekonomiese ontwikkeling hang af van 'n aantal veranderlikes, onder andere die ekonomie se vermoë om tegnologies te innoveer. Sodanige innovasie word in 'n groot mate bepaal deur die waarde, beide kwalitatief en kwantitatief, van die navorsing en ontwikkeling wat binne die ekonomie plaasvind. Navorsing en ontwikkeling vereis weer verskeie aktiwiteite en insette, waaronder menslike hulpbronne, kapitaal en infrastruktuur. Hierdie studie fokus op alternatiewe wat vir die openbare sektor beskikbaar is ten opsigte van die befondsing van openbare navorsing en ontwikkeling. Die huidige openbare navorsing- en ontwikkelinginfrastruktuur kom hoofsaaklik van die fiskus, wat weens verskeie mededingende en dringende behoeftes onder druk is. 'n Publieke-private venootskap (PPV) bied 'n moontlike alternatiewe model vir befondsing van 'n openbare navorsing- en ontwikkelinginfrastruktuur. Openbare goedere en dienste word hiervolgens gelewer deur middel van inisiatiewe wat deur die privaatsektor ondersteun word. Die model word wêreldwyd baie suksesvol aangewend in sektore soos gesondheid (hospitale en dienste) en vervoer (paaie, lughawens). Hierdie studie ondersoek hoe die model toegepas kan word in die skep van 'n openbare navorsing- en ontwikkelinginfrastruktuur in Suid-Afrika, hoewel dit tot dusver nie hier gewild was nie. 'n Vraelys is ontwerp om vyf sleutelareas ten opsigte van navorsing- en ontwikkelinginfrastruktuur te ondersoek, naamlik: tipe infrastruktuur as 'n determinant vir die sukses van die PPV; persepsie aangaande risiko met betrekking tot die transaksie; aansporing wat aan private deelnemers gebied word; beskikbaarheid van kapitaal in die mark en die uitwerking van regulasies op die transaksie. Hierdie vraelys is aangewend om reaksie te verkry van persone wat begrip van publieke-private ondernemings in die land het. Die resultate wys dat PPV's binne 'n navorsing- en ontwikkelinginfrastruktuur moontlik is en verder ondersoek behoort te word. Een van die hoofredes waarom dit tans nie gewild is nie, is die gebrek aan toepaslike navorsing. Respondente het aangedui dat: PPV regulasies moontlik verander of aangepas sal moet word om effektief te wees in die administrasie van sodanige transaksies; die risiko's vir PPV's in navorsing en ontwikkeling hoog voorkom; voldoende kapitaal vir befondsing van transaksies beskikbaar is; die tipe infrastruktuur wat befondsing ontvang nie noodwendig 'n hindernis is nie en dat voldoende aansporing vir die privaatsektor gebied word om aan hierdie transaksies deel te neem.

This thesis explores the chaotic, dynamic, ambiguous, complex and confusing world of the insider researcher. The proliferating species of insider researcher is common in public sector organisations and is particularly prevalent among post-graduate students who have combined study with work. Insider researchers range from the in-house researcher employed to conduct research to those who are conducting research in addition to their normal duties. This thesis, through five illustrative case-studies, discusses, reflects upon, explains, and clarifies the possibilities, limitations and the issues arising from a consideration of the practice of professionals conducting research in the large government education system in Victoria. The central focus of this thesis, that of exploring issues arising from professionals conducting research in their own working environments, has an importance that hitherto has had little direct recognition in the qualitative education research literature. And yet the practice of insider research is common and has a potentially large impact on the nature of the decision making process in public sector organisations. This relative invisibility in the social research literature of a discussion of issues relating to insider research demands to be made more visible. It is both useful and necessary to explore the particular possibilities, conditions and challenges of insiders conducting research in public organisations as the practice of insider research contines to grow. This thesis adds to the literature by locating insider research in a discussion of the wider soial context of ideology, culture, relationships, politics, language and meaning, and the decision-making process.

This study presents a normative framework of the RFID implementation process in the UK public sector. It was motivated by the lack of socio-technical studies on the RFID implementation process in the UK public sector and the need for existing and potential RFID project managers to have an implementation model which could guide their effort in implementing any RFID initiatives in the sector. The study has been conducted through a combination of case study research and grounded theory research approach. Primary data have been collected from the in-depth interviews conducted with the RFID project managers from seven public sector organisations, i.e., five libraries and two hospitals. The analyses of the data were in two main stages. The first stage involved the analysis of the RFID implementation process in each of the organisations and the second stage involved a cross analysis of the RFID implementation process across the entire organisations. Potential contribution towards the existing body of knowledge on RFID implementation was in the form of a normative framework of RFID implementation process in the public sector. This framework describes the main and sub activities in the implementation process, and illustrates the dissimilarities and similarities between the implementation processes. Consequently, the implications of the study to the existing and potential RFID project managers in the public sector and also to the study of information system and RFID implementation are discussed.

Effective IT is vital in organization in the low resource settings of developingcountries. This also applies to public sector organizations. However, little researchhas been reported regarding IT implementation in higher education institution.Meanwhile, it is widely believed that information technology could boostdevelopment, strengthen and increase the competitiveness of the university amongothers.The focus of this report is to explain as well as improve the IT implementationprocess in public sector organizations, particularly in higher educationinstitution in developing countries. The motivation for studying the ITimplementation process is to be able to understand the underlying aspectsof the successful of IT implementation process in developing countries whichthen give the possibility to make any improvement on the organization.An action research approach in combination with case study method has beenperformed in one of Indonesia's public universities. Empirical data collectionwas done to support the research investigation including two-times of field work inwhich one of them was getting involved into the organization activity, two roundpre and follow-up semi-structural interviews, direct observation, discussion,meeting, document analysis and previous involvement in the institution. AnOnline Questionnaire was also performed to obtain the perception of researchparticipants regarding the proposed tools.A one initial cycle of action research was done and the study found severalfactors that possibly hamper the implementation process in the university andsuccessfully formulated several strategies that can be used to cope with thosefactors, e.g. limited human resources, lack of management commitment, lack ofclear job description among staffs, lack of appropriate planning and strategyfor systems development and implementation, ineffective communication &coordination, lack of funds, lack of rewards, and government policies.Intervention is then performed by introducing software project managementinto the organization as one of the formulated strategies. Even though theoutcome of the interventions not clearly visible at this time, it gives amotivation for the continuity of the interventions.In conclusion, it can be said that among other public sector organizations indeveloping countries, they share common barriers and challenges in general, andto deal with those challenges require substantial time and appropriate approach.

Critical scholars have written about the ‘squeezed middle' and the new labour process of front line and middle managers generally, but there is a gap in the literature relating to both how changes to managerial work have affected those subjected to them and how individuals and organisations have attempted to respond to, and cope with, public sector cuts and challenges. Much of contemporary HRD writing on change management suggests that leadership development has a privileged role in adjusting the ‘worker' to the situation. However, given the implicitly unitarist nature of much HRD writing, this thesis argues that insights from such literature is inadequate or incomplete because it fails to consider the interests of managers as employees. The focus of this thesis is on middle managers' (MM) ability to overcome the public sector challenges associated with work intensification; control and skills adaption via learning and development initiatives. This qualitative research comprises a data set of 17 in-depth interviews and 34 complementary semi-structured questionnaire's with middle managers in the Hong Kong Civil Service. Thematic analysis revealed that whilst managers and the organisation benefit from leadership development in terms of human capital development, power differentials and structural impediments limit the capacity to benefit from social capital and networking opportunities provided. As such LDP cannot compensate for work intensification, leading to a stressed-out, disempowered, squeezed middle management cadre, which in turn impacts on public service delivery.

There is a significant amount of public health research conducted within provincial health facilities in South Africa, whose findings have a positive impact on the delivery of health services. This includes clinical, epidemiological, health systems and health services research, often initiated by post‐graduate students, independent academics researchers, as well as research institutions. Although researchers commonly commit to providing feedback to the provincial department and facilities, there is little evidence to confirm that research feedback is subsequently provided. Little contextualized empirical evidence is available to guide action, particularly for frontline health care providers, who often have the responsibility to host these research activities. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of healthcare providers with research activities hosted in health facilitiesin the Western Cape province of South Africa. A mixed-method, cross-sectional study was conducted utilising an online survey (n= 19), and semi-structured interviews (n=3) with frontline health care providers (research gatekeepers). Descriptive analyses characterized respondents and their experience of research. Qualitative thematic analysis took on an inductive approach by identifying themes as they emerged from the data and cross comparing these with findings from the scoping literature review. Findings provided insight into how research conduct is experienced by those on the frontline in public health facilities on the provincial district platform. This is particular to the Western Cape province, which has a specific health department administration system. The following themes emerged: perception of research burden on services, understanding of the research approval process, autonomy to deny researchers access to the health facility due to overburden of research, the frequency or occurrence of research feedback after completion of a project, and interpersonal dynamics between researchers and gatekeepers as it relates to research conduct in facilities. This research reports on empirical evidence of perspectives from frontline health care providers on their experience with health research in a particular provincial context. The findings could form the basis of a study with a much larger sample size to inform how research feedback can be translated in a way that directly impacts on the uptake in the frontline.

The present study is part of the Kaupapa Kereru Programme. The main aim of the programme is to increase the numbers and range of kereru (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) on Banks Peninsula. Home ranges, movements, diet and habitat use of 15 kereru captured in Hinewai Reserve, Banks Peninsula, were investigated from February 2005 to February 2006. Hinewai Reserve is the largest tract of regenerating native forest in a highly modified urban-rural landscape. Phenology of 11 plant species predicted to be key kereru foods, was studied to determine the pattern of food availability in Hinewai Reserve. Twelve radio-tagged kereru resided in the Hinewai Reserve study site (Otanerito Valley and Sleepy Bay) and three resided in Akaroa. Ripe fruit was available from January to August; the height of the fruiting season was in autumn. The bulk of new leaf growth occurred in spring and early summer although new leaves were available on broom and tree lucerne year round. Peak flowering occurred in spring. Kereru in Akaroa ate a total of 21 plant species; six of these species were native and 15 introduced. Kereru in the Hinewai Reserve study site ate a total of 26 plant species; 20 of these species were native and six introduced. Fruit was preferred when readily available. Native fruit appeared to be preferred over fruit of introduced species in Akaroa, where both types were available. New foliage of introduced legumes and deciduous species appeared to be preferred over new foliage of native species at both sites during winter and spring. These species were important food sources prior to the breeding season and may be selected specifically for their nitrogen and protein content. Food is currently not a limiting factor for kereru survival or reproductive success. Considerable variation in the use and preference of vegetation types of individual kereru made it difficult to identify trends in habitat selection. Use and preference for many vegetation types was seasonal; this was certainly because of the availability of food species included in or close to these vegetation types. Overall, native vegetation communities were used more than communities dominated by introduced species and forest communities were used more than non-forest communities. Kanuka (Kunzea ericoides) was used most often for non-feeding activities and 67% of observed nests were built in kanuka. Annual home ranges and core areas in the Hinewai Reserve study site (mean of 15.9 and 2 ha respectively) were significantly larger than those found in Lyttelton Harbour, Banks Peninsula in previous research (mean of 8 and 0.08 ha respectively). Home ranges were larger when fruit was eaten, than when no fruit was eaten indicating that kereru are more sedentary when feeding on foliage. Kereru from the Hinewai Reserve study site made no excursions >5 km and no daily movements >2 km. Kereru from Akaroa and Sleepy Bay travelled into Otanerito Valley to feed on horopito in autumn, indicating that there may have been a lack of fruit in their local areas during autumn. No kereru in Otanerito Valley travelled outside of the valley. The distribution of high quality food sources is likely to have caused the observed differences in home range and core area size between localities. Kereru in Lyttelton Harbour may have been restricted to small patches of high quality resources in a study area consisting largely of unsuitable habitat. In Hinewai Reserve, high quality resources were spread over larger areas and were more uniformly distributed. The density of kereru was unknown at both study sites, and this confounded assessment of habitat quality. However, it is likely that the Hinewai Reserve study site would support a higher number of kereru. The main factor limiting population growth in the present study was failure of nests at the egg and chick stage. The fledge rate was 17%. Two of fifteen adult kereru died. Control of predators should be the first aspect of management that is focused on, and will almost certainly increase reproductive success of kereru and loss of breeding adults. As the population of kereru on Banks Peninsula increases due to predator control in existing kereru habitat, food may become a limiting factor. Habitat can be improved for kereru by planting a diverse range of plant species that provide food year-round. Native fruiting species are greatly recommended for habitat enhancement and should be selected so that fruit is available for as much of the year as possible. Native and introduced legumes should also be made available as foods for winter and spring. As most land on Banks Peninsula is privately owned, co-operation and enthusiasm of the community is critical for successful management. Information and support needs to be given to landowners wishing to enhance their properties for kereru.

Syftet med detta arbete är att försöka ta reda på vilka egenskaper som framtidens ledare kommer att behöva inom den kommunala sektorn, men också om det finns eventuella förutsättningar som måste förändras för framtidens ledare. Tio intervjuer genomfördes med personer på ledande positioner inom fyra kommuner i Mellansverige. Utifrån detta sammanställdes intervjumaterialet, och ur detta framkom tre övergripande huvudområden organisation, egenskaper och framtid som sen utmynnade i ett antal ledord. Mot dessa tolkades teorier i ett försök att koppla de till det framtida ledarskapet. Slutsatsen är att det inte finns bara en teori att förhålla sig till, utan det gäller att kunna hantera kontexten och förutsättningarna, och utifrån den kunna anpassa sig. Ett transformativt synsätt kring ledarskap kan vara ett sätt att lyckas i framtiden.

This research began a journey towards improved maturity around data quality management in New Zealand health care, where total data quality management is 'business as usual" institutionalised into the daily practices of all those who work in health care. The increasingly information intensive nature of health care demands a proactive and strategic approach to data quality to ensure the right information is available to the right person at the right time in the right format, all in consideration of the rights of the patient to have his/her health data protected and used in an ethical way. The work extends and tests principles to establish good practice and overcome practical barriers. This thesis explores the issues that define and control data quality in the national health data collections and the mechanisms and frameworks that can be developed to achieve and sustain good data quality. The research is interpretive, studying meaning within a social setting. The research provides the structure for learning and potential change through the utilisation of action research. Grounded theory provides the structure for the analysis of qualitative data through inductive coding and constant comparison in the analysis phase of the action research iterative cycle. Participatory observation provided considerable rich data as the researcher was a member of staff within the organisation. Data were also collected at workshops, focus groups, structured meetings and interviews. The development of a Data Quality Evaluation Framework and a national Data quality Improvement Strategy provides clear direction for a holistic and 'whole of health sector' way of viewing data quality, with the ability for organisations to develop and implement local innovations through locally developed strategies and data quality improvement programmes. The researcher utilised the theory of appreciative enquiry (Fry, 2002) to positively encourage change, and to encourage the utilisation of existing organisational knowledge. Simple rules, such as the TDQM process and the data quality dimensions guided the change, leaving room for innovation. The theory of 'complex systems of adjustment' (Champagne, 2002; Stacey, 1993) can be instilled in the organisation to encourage change through the constant interaction of people throughout the organisation.

This study explores Working from Home (WFH) as a model of work in a public organisation in London, which operates in the clinical-trials sector. It argues that WFH is used as a strategy that offers benefits both to the organisation and its employees. WFH is offered to all Clinical Research Associates (CRAs) who work as monitors of the whole process of a clinical trial. Based on a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews of 29 CRAs, managers and administrative staff and secondary data, this single-case study focuses on five topics that are part of the CRAs’ everyday life. These are work-life balance (WLB), cost reduction, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) factor, the performance of the CRAs and the management of remote workers. In particular, the study identified that WFH had a positive effect on CRAs’ WLB. Moreover, it argues that WFH may offer significant assistance to organisational budgets and may reduce personal expenses. It found that existing ICT could cover all employees’ technological needs and reduce the requirement of managers to keep them physically present at a centralised workplace. Additionally, this thesis also identified that WFH improved CRAs’ performance, whilst it also highlighted that results-oriented management was the main managerial approach towards employees who work from a distance. The key contribution of the thesis is the examination of the CRA occupation through a contemporary perspective on the WFH phenomenon.

This is the first study to explore the way Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA), a research assessment exercise introduced in the Australian higher education sector in 2010, fostered the development of strategically oriented Management Accounting technologies in the form of Performance Management Systems (PMS) to achieve research excellence within an Australian university. It identifies ERA's intended and unintended consequences. While ERA enabled the creation of tighter controls in the PMS of faculties, departments and individual academics within the university, enhancing its reported research performance, the impact on academics was low job satisfaction, increased workload and a higher focus on research than teaching.

In this thesis, I explore the impact and effectiveness of clinical supervision provided by external clinical supervisors, on workers from a variety of practice backgrounds in a residential rehabilitation centre, in the AOD sector. This thesis uses the framework of social work supervision, as defined by Kadushin (1985; 2002), with the administrative, educative and supportive elements. The research focuses closely on the latter two elements. For this purpose, I employ qualitative research methods, via a triangulation of methods, being guided by Participatory Action Research (PAR) and then conducting semi-structured interviews and focus groups as well as acting as a participant observer, to gather the data. The data was analysed using grounded theory. This research was based upon a clinical supervision project that was fully funded and provided free clinical supervision by external supervisors, providing both individual and group supervision, for a period of 10 months. There were a total of 16 respondents with varied roles and training backgrounds as well as an additional six supervisors, interviewed throughout different stages of the project. The various roles undertaken by me throughout the research process provided essential viewpoints on supervision, as well as the place of boundaries and need for support. The power of such a large scale intervention is discussed and ultimately highlights and identifies the particular benefits of supervision in this research arena. This thesis places clinical supervision in the context of workforce development in the Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) sector. Thus, while this research elucidates a number of benefits and the factors involved with this experience, the clear separation of other modalities such as training, mentoring and Critical Incident debriefing are seen as integral additional avenues of support and professional development. This research concludes also with what the difficulties and hindrances were for people to continue with regular ongoing clinical supervision, and warrants the argument for interminable supervision in this setting. This research points to an overall paucity of literature on efficacy studies, especially in the AOD context in Australia. This research significantly adds to this dearth and examines the factors unique to the AOD sector in Australia, as well as what factors make for effective supervision. The particular impact of external supervisors and group supervision are explored, which underwrites the forwarded concept of a customised supervision for this setting. By making explicit in this research what the efficacy is on those new to supervision, it provides greater clarity for future studies. A number of recommendations are proposed as result of this research. New definitions of the supportive function of supervision and of clinical supervision are forwarded, as is a new look at the evolving history of social work supervision. This thesis highlights the impact of external supervisors and the unique contribution they offer.

This thesis investigates the public sector in Latvia and the research question is “what is the nature of transition of Human Resource Management ideologies and paradigms against the backdrop of larger scale dynamic development in Latvia?” The interest within this research is that of the contextual paradigmatic view of Human Resource Management (HRM) (Brewster et al., 2010; Brewster, 1999; Moreley, 2004) exploring the contextual factors, or surrounding antecedents of HRM (Brewster, et al., 2010). The research is a case study of the public sector within the State of Latvia for what became a journey through the complex history of this country revealing a state with a varied and dramatic past which has been subject to various invasions, occupations and subjected to the control and command society of the Soviet Union for a considerable number of years. The journey from Soviet control of the politically motivated ‘cadre’ system into independence has provided a rich source of research exploring how human resource management (HRM) has developed within the public sector. This was investigated as a case study since it is a ‘constant’ in relation to changes and a good indicator of attitudes to management from a national perspective. As well as past ‘models’ or attitudes to HRM from a Soviet perspective, various models of HRM have been explored and discussed, particularly in relation to the universalistic nature of Westernised typologies. The concept of a European model has been considered and discussed with consideration of various ‘clusters’ of practices which take into account cultural aspects, in particular national culture, as an important element within the study. Overarching this is the growing interest in convergence or divergence of HRM as the Central Eastern European states have developed post-independence (Brewster, 2004). The mixed methods approach used is firmly place within the qualitative field or phenomenological approach and explores aspects such as behaviour, perspectives, experiences and feelings (Atkinson et al., 2001; Marshall and Rossman, 2006). The research utilises grounded theory building (Glaser and Straus, 1967; Charmaz, 2014; Bryant and Charmaz, 2007; Strauss and Corbin, 1997; Glaser, 2002)) combining multiple data collection methods taking a pragmatic approach to research. The level of analysis explores the macro, meso and micro level environments of the Latvian public sector. The macro-level concerns interactions between state and society from a broad perspective, fundamentally this is the level where decision-making takes place, the meso-level explores individual ‘behaviours’ embedded in every day social practices shaped or constrained by material and infrastructural contexts and the micro-level of individual behaviour and action). Exploratory research has considered historical accounts along with what was sparse research within the area. A Soviet perspective was considered for the period immediately preceding independence. Elite interviews were carried out followed by a survey questionnaire. The opportunity to enter the organisation and undertake observations was thwarted by a change of government and therefore ‘access’ afforded to the researcher. The findings are integrated throughout this work as is the nature of grounded theory building, and given the paucity of research has become part of a wider social study of a system finding its identity through difficult times. The results and analysis takes into account not only elite interviews and the survey questionnaire but also background historical research. The result is a fertile breeding ground for investigation which offers many avenues for further research. Various questions for future research are raised within the thesis and remain an interest of the researcher to take forward.

The role of the private sector in improving health systems performance in lower to middle income countries is increasingly gaining more recognition. Public-private partnership (PPP) has been suggested as a tool, to assist governments fulfil their responsibilities in the efficient delivery of health services. In Tanzania, although the idea of PPP has existed for many years in the health sector, there has been limited coordination, especially at a district level - which has contributed to limited health gains or systems strengthening obviously seen as a result of PPP. In 2009 a formal PPP policy was introduced in Tanzania, which directs the appropriate allocation of resources, and describes risk and rewards that can be achieved by building on the expertise of each partner. The Health Sector Strategic Plan III (2009-2015) further emphasises the need for service level agreements (SLAs), which are seen as an important indicator of improved PPP. This case study that draws on the decision-space framework, was conducted in the Bagamoyo district of Tanzania, and employed in-depth interviews, document reviews, and observations methods. The study findings reveal several forms of informal partnerships between the local government and non-state actors. The lack of SLAs for facilities that receive subsides from the government is argued to contribute to inappropriate distribution of risk and reward leading to moral hazards. This is evidenced by non-state actors who pursue their own interests, diverting from public social goals. Furthermore, findings highlight weak capacity of governing bodies to exercise oversights and sanctions, which is acerbated by weak accountability linkages and power differences. Moreover, restricted flexibility in spending is seen to deter prompt actions to address evolving population needs, given limited local fiscal space. It is concluded that effective PPP policy implementation at a local level depends on the capacity of local government officials to make choices that would embrace relational elements dynamics in strategic plans. Disempowered Council Health Services Board in relation to engaging non-state actors is shown to impede PPP initiatives that are conceptualized at local and national levels. This study highlights a need to consider initiatives that would foster new social contracts with non-state actors at the local level and in return build a people-centred district health system. This study is intended to improve knowledge on health systems policy interventions, strengthen future policy implementation at the sub-national level, and strengthen the district health systems as a result of PPP in a country with similar contextual elements.

Grundtanken med individuell lönesättning är att bidra till att göra arbetsplatsen attraktiv och effektiv. Tidigare forskning visar dock att individuella löner under lång tid varit mycket kontroversiella och på flera håll mötts av ointresse eller motstånd. Flera menar att individuell lönesättning kan motverka sitt eget syfte. Utifrån denna bakgrund är syftet med studien att få ökad kunskap och förståelse om vilka konsekvenser individuella löner fört med sig genom att dels undersöka anställdas personliga upplevelser och dels studera lönestatistik. Studiens första del har undersökt brandmäns åsikter på en räddningstjänst där motståndet mot individuell lönesättning är synnerligen starkt. Resultaten visar att brandmännen menar att individuell lönesättning inte fungerar på deras arbetsplats och de ser stora risker med att behöva införa det. Studiens andra del har undersökt löneutvecklingen på en teknisk förvaltning inom samma kommun som räddningstjänsten. Resultaten visar att lönespridningen har ökat inom samtliga undersökta yrkesgrupper sedan införandet av individuella löner. Dock handlar det inte om så ”stora” summor och framförallt är det ingen individ som höjer sig långt ovanför de andras löneläge. Slutligen diskuteras att individuell lönesättning har gett upphov till starka känslor men inte några ”större” löneskillnader.

The aim of this study was to explore and understand how employees of a specific municipality perceive this technology and how, in what ways, the EDRMS could affect organizational processes. Emphasis was also given on evaluating the factors affecting the successful introduction and implementation of the EDRMS.   This master thesis focuses on employees’ perception of the newly introduced Electronic Document and Record Management System (EDRMS) “Irida” and how this affects organizational processes and working practices.  The data collection was conducted among employees that work in the Finance and Procurement Unit of the Municipality of Drama in Northern Greece. The empirical material was collected through conducting five semi-structured interviews. At the next phase, a questionnaire was developed based on the qualitative findings and was administered via email to all the Municipality of Drama employees that use the system. The data gathered during the qualitative and quantitative phase were analyzed and discussed, and the research findings were produced. It was found that the introduction of “Irida” had a positive effect on working efficiency, reduced contact and interaction among employees, and facilitated remote working. Training, flexibility of the system and employee participation was identified as factors that influence the successful implementation of an EDRMS.  The employees said they were satisfied with "Irida”, found it easy to use, and intended to keep using it. Most of them had varying degrees of stress during the initial implementation phase. It was also shown that employees who find "Irida” user-friendly are more likely to be satisfied and intend to keep using it and that employees who find "Irida” easy to use have a positive predisposition towards the system and do not mind that their work becomes more visible.

Bakgrund: Konsumtionen  av sötsaker, läsk, energidryck och snacks kan vara relaterad till olika slags sjukdomar  på grund av  energi-  och fettmängden  samt tillgången till dessa livsmedel.  Kunskap om  konsumtionsmönster  och konsumtionsplatser  för  dessa  livsmedel saknas för gymnasieelever. Syfte: Målet med denna studie var att kartlägga gymnasieelevers konsumtion av sötsaker, läsk, energidryck och snacks. Metod:  En tvärsnittsstudie med tio enkätfrågor om konsumtionsmönster och konsumtionsplatser för  sötsaker, läsk, energidryck och snacks genomfördes på 74  gymnasieelever i årskurs två under två dagar.  Resultat:  I resultaten kom det fram att det vanligaste stället att köpa sötsaker och läsk som konsumerades på skoltid var vid elevfiket. Det som konsumerades på fritiden var vanligast köpt i affärer. Det framgick också signifikanta skillnader i hög- och totalkonsumtionen mellan könen och mellan praktiska och teoretiska program. Diskussion: Mer forskning behövs  för att säkerhetsställa studiens fynd och  för  att  statistiskt säkert kunna generalisera studiens fynd  till  övriga gymnasieskolor runtom i Sverige.  Slutsats:  Det kan finnas signifikanta skillnader i konsumtionen av sötsaker,  läsk, energidryck och snacks mellan könen och mellan praktiska och teoretiska program.

The Norwegian public sector, in particular local Councils as the principal supplier of welfare services, face great challenges in the coming years. Expectations and demands upon public services are increasing in proportion with the increase in private wealth. Among the consequences are higher demands on the distribution of welfare services, and the need for a more effective use of resources.

Inspired by New Public Management theories, Norwegian local Councils have made considerable changes in management over the last 10-20 years. To meet the demands for increased activity, public sector has undergone a transition towards a less hierarchal organisational structure, their delegation to appropriate performance units has increased, and systems to monitor aims and results have been introduced. With respect to the latter, it has become crucial that data concerning resource utilisation and economy are made easily available and can be related to management issues.

In 2001 the national government introduced the so-called KOSTRA public reporting system (Kommune-ST-at-Rapportering) The overall aim of KOSTRA is to produce relevant, reliable, current and comparable management information. In addition, the KOSTRA reporting system will provide an improved database as an aid to service provision, as well as providing a foundation for improved Council management.

Our aim with this assignment has been to take a closer look at KOSTRA as a suitable tool for resource management within local Councils, and to see whether Councils do in fact use it actively in their own administrational priorities and activities. We have illustrated this by taking a closer look at possible connections between active use of KOSTRA and the Councils` economic situation, priorities and effectiveness.

We have found no grounds in our studies to indicate that there is any difference in the allocation of priorities between those local Councils using KOSTRA in management-related activities and those who do not. On the other hand, we have discovered links between active use of KOSTRA and the Councils`economic situation.

This connection is very interesting. It is the Councils under financial stress which appear to be using KOSTRA actively.

Our major conclusion is that KOSTRA alone does not produce all necessary and relevant management information. KOSTRA is more applicable when seen in context with the complexity of public sector, and with a firm knowledge of the system's underlying indicators.

In the summer of 2015, the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) College of Public Health and regional health systems serving 29 counties in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia began the process of identifying a set of high-impact health programs for inclusion in a ten-year regional plan to break the cycle of inter-generational poor health outcomes in this region. It was decided that selection of effective health improvement programming must be driven by a comprehensive and deliberate effort to garner input from communities and stakeholders across the region. More than 170 professionals representing 96 health-related agencies volunteered to form steering committees around four topic areas: healthy children and families, population health, mental health and addictions, and research and academics. Each committee was tasked with; 1) providing information to the health systems on regional health priorities, 2) identifying effective approaches to addressing them, and 3) pinpointing opportunities for cross-sector collaboration. Community input was secured by holding meetings in ten area counties using the World Café model; a format chosen to encourage and facilitate discussion between participants around their local community's health concerns. In addition to priority setting for the 10-year plan, cross-sector commitment and community buy-in was established during this process that will serve as the basis for organizational planning of a proposed accountable care community (ACC). Challenges and opportunities uncovered during our efforts to improve regional health outcomes through a collaborative approach may benefit other communities working on similar projects.

As more and more local governments begin to understand that the great promises of e-service delivery are harder than expected to realize, efficient use of ICT-resources have become increasingly important. Since simply providing more e-services is not the solution, the need to understand what constitutes a suitable e-service has arisen. Public services reach beyond the market domain; therefore, the complexities of public value must be dealt with when services are appraised. Furthermore, due to the heterogeneous nature of local government services it is impossible to evaluate all the options in depth; thus, there is a clear need for early-stage appraisal. However, existing methods of appraisal are burdened by intricacy, and associated with high costs. In response, this paper presents a model capable of reducing this intricacy. The model was developed through a participatory design process involving members on both operational and strategic level in the municipality of Skellefteå. The model implements state of the art into the workspace context while taking measures to reduce intricacy such as: incremental filtering, moving high intricacy elements to the end of the process, and exploitation of available data. As a result the organization is enabled to capture not only the low hanging fruit, but also the long tail of services. Furthermore, the improved understanding of e-service delivery has the potential to open up opportunities for new ways of business development and private-public partnerships. Finally, whereas the model presented is highly context-dependent, the implications outlined in this paper are not limited to this narrow scope.

Models for Strategic Business Development in Public Service

This thesis focused on the role of context in influencing SDM in public R&D organisations from the space sector. To address this topic it examined the influences of context on the SDM process, implementation and outcomes of two large space projects developed by NASA, the USA space agency. By adopting a broad view of context and employing a qualitative design within a multi-theoretic perspective, this thesis joined a small group of works which approached this topic in a more integrative and encompassing way. Findings revealed a more complex strategic decision-making reality and role of context than it is usually covered in the majority of studies in the field, reaffirming the need for more of this kind of research in the future . Results confirm the essential role of decision implementation to the understanding of outcomes and show decision specifics as one very significant context variable in terms of influencing SDM and outcomes assessment. A general framework of the influences of context on SDM in the space sector was developed which more closely mirrors the reality of organisational decision-making as experienced by practitioners in the field, drawing particular attention to the temporal dimension of SDM and the dynamic, enacted nature of context. It also acknowledges the role of managers' cognitions and actions in determining the final impact of "non-decisive" context influences on strategic decisions. Overall, findings support the view of SDM as context specific and generally "unprogrammemable". Despite that, this thesis maintains that the understanding of the characteristics and dynamics of the context within which decisions are embedded and of its influences on strategic decisions can help putting expectations in perspective. By doing this, it can also help delimiting the realm within which managers can act in attempts to lead SDM processes to the desired direction and academics can work to try to advise how.

Collaboration between academic and corporate entities has increased in recent years. On many occasions Government actors (e.g. federal laboratories) will participate in these collaborations, especially when advanced technologies are involved. The following inquiry considers the degree to which the federal entities add (scientific) value to University-Industry partnerships and how this value is spatially mediated. Quantifying degrees of the value that Government actors induce across the spectrum of University-Industry collaborative arrangements is useful for identifying scales at which intervention by federal agents is more effective and/or justified. It is anticipated that the value-added by federal agents in University-Industry collaboration is not spatially uniform but will exhibit greater profitability across specific scales of interaction. Comparing these against actual scales of interaction provides room for discussion on whether Government actors engage Universities and Industry at scales that optimize the value they introduce to these partnerships.

The thesis is focused on analyzing the offer of studies aimed on the public sector on the universities throughout the Czech Republic and the comparison of the its coverage within bachelor and master studies. In the theoretical part there is the explanation of the main parts of the public sector. The theory is explained by the definitions of terms which are closely related to this field. There is the explication of creation and existence of public sector. There are also mentioned characters and structure of public sector. The results of the complex research are stated in the practical part. The research covered all universities within the Czech Republic. The results brought out also other comparative perspectives. Anyway, the main goal was to confirm or to disprove the assumptions which emerge out of suppositions expected in this field. The main supposition is that public universities will dominate in the offer of these studies above the private universities.

The growth of private motor vehicle grows rapidly each year have negative impact not only forthe extra contribution of air pollution but also to time wasting. That impact can lead todecreasing of people quality life. Public transportation is one of the solutions for the problem.Therefore, the shift from private motor vehicle user to public transportation, in other wordincreasing market share of public transportation, is necessary. One of the public transportationthat can attract more market share is railways. It has large capacity, high safety level, and freefrom traffic jam. Those characteristic makes railway as primary public transportation.Indonesian railways nowadays have lot of problems and receive many complaints from thepassenger. Train travel is still colored with the delay, limited well-condition vehicle, and uncleartrain travel information that often disadvantage passengers, and many of services offered werefailed to attract passengers. These conditions result in decreasing quality of services andinsufficient railways operation. This will be a barrier to Indonesian railways accomplishment inmaking it to be a reliable and sustainable transport mode. Therefore, to improve market shareand to improve the railway condition, it necessary to have contractual governance withstandard that can lead to costumer satisfaction and making the process improve therelationship between the stakeholders. This lead to the problem of what is the customersatisfaction factors in using railway as their transport, what service quality item that satisfiedthe passenger, and how contract can maintain the relationship between the stakeholders.Finding in this thesis consist of several point. First, from the customer satisfaction index, thecustomers of Jabodetabek commuter train are not satisfied with the service. Second, theanalysis discovered that there are four factors that have high correlation with overallsatisfaction. The four factors are equipment and facility, assurance, competency, and traveltime and appearance. The attributes is grouping into five SERVQUAL dimension. Fromregression analysis of SERVQUAL dimensions there are two service items that influence thecustomer satisfaction; assurances and tangibles. Third, from gap analysis there are gaps inservice process that need to be closed in order to deliver service quality which lead tocustomer satisfaction in railway operational. Fourth, from contract analysis can be concludedthat present condition PT.KAI as the operator cannot perform as it is stated in contract. Thiscan be influenced by many factors such as; the lack of infrastructure, the lack of vehicle,customer misbehavior, staff misbehavior and external factors. In delivering service qualitywhich can lead to customer satisfaction, it is recommended to improve the service that relatedto assurances and tangible items and to involves passengers in controlling and improvingrailway operational. The result expected from the improvement is the increase of overallperformance of railway operation which can lead to the increase customer satisfaction andmarket share. From side of contractual governance, the research discovered that there areproblem in contract clausal and relationship between DGR, PT. KAI and people as customer ofrailway service. The recommendation is to include customer complains in setting contractclausal that can make DGR, PT. KAI and people as customer in mutualism developingrelationship.

Abstract Our purpose was to understand how social workers experience the possible complexities that working with economical aid can entail. As an example we chose to focus on long-term economical aid work. We aimed to address the question of which factors could affect their work. In a prior study, done by Dellgran & Höjer (2003) the conclusion was drawn  that  the combination of economical aid, healthcare and schools makeup a third of  practical social work in the terms of the proportion of the amount of social workers, but only 8 percent of the research is done in those areas. Other studies (Stranz, 2007) demonstrate that the research that is done on working with economical aid is deficient. We interviewed six social workers in two smaller municipalities in the southern of Sweden. Our result indicated that the social workers felt pressured by their work-load and the fact that the amount of new cases had increased. They thought that a possible reason for this could be the weak economic climate and changes in the labour market policies. They also felt that alterations and long office turnaround times at other administrative authorities also contributed. The results showed that the majority of the social workers in our study used a motivational approach in their meetings with clients and they also had the best interest in mind for each and every client. We chose to use the theoretical perspectives of Human service organizations by Yeheskel Hasenfeld (1983) and Demokratins väktare (our translation: the guardians of democracy) by Lennart Lundquist (1998) when we analyzed our results.   Keywords: Economical aid, social workers, long-termed economical aid, human service organizations.

Den här uppsatsen har syftat till att redogöra vilka teorier som presenteras i studielitteraturen för direkt ledarskap i Försvarsmakten och U.S. Army. Uppsatsen har vidare syftat till att redogöra för skillnader och likheter i hur dessa teorier presenteras. Slutligen har syftet varit att visa hur detta påverkar ledare och soldater i praktiken.

För att genomföra arbetet har litteraturstudier med kvalitativ metod använts. För att visa på ovan nämnda likheter och skillnader har komparation använts.

Först har fem mätpunkter ställts upp och redogjorts för. Därefter har dessa jämförts och ett resultat har påvisats.

Resultatet som påvisats är att den jämförda litteraturen har samma ambition med vilken ledarstil som förespråkas samt hur denna beskrivs. Emellertid skiljer sig böckerna åt på ett flertal punkter såsom språkbruk, pedagogisk utformning, vetenskaplighet och användarvänlighet.

Vidare har konstaterats att ovanstående skillnader troligen påverkar hur ledaren tänker och agerar kring sitt ledarskap vilket förmodligen också påverkar underställda. 

The purpose of this study is firstly, to describe the differences and similarities between theories presented in literature on leadership used by the Swedish Armed Forces and the U.S. Army. Secondly, to describe differences and similarities regarding how those theories have been presented in the literature. The final purpose is to find out how this can affect leaders and soldiers in real life.

To achieve the purposes described above, both a Swedish and an American book have been studied and then compared.

The comparison is based on five criteria which have been described and then compared and then conclusions have been drawn.

The result of this study shows that both the Swedish and the American literature focus on Transformational Leadership Style. This style is described in the same way in both books. However differences have been found between the books, which are the use of language, a pedagogical design, a scientific starting point and a user friendliness.

Finally, the result of the study indicates that the differences mentioned above affect the way a leader acts and looks upon his/her leadership (style) which in its turn influences the relationship between a leader and his/her subordinates.

The new Welfare Reform in Norway consists of the establishment of a new welfare office; NAV office. The NAV office will open in all municipalities within 2010 as local partnerships between the state and the municipals as equal partners. The central government will keep responsibility for the national services and the local governments will keep responsibility for the locally provided welfare services. As such the NAV office will consist of two separate public servcelines, with the accountabilities for their individual services intact. The Government wished to keep the separation between the national and local governmental services but needed to ensure the provision of a more holistic, integrated and effective service delivery, more in tune with the public need. The aim was to provide a more joined-up welfare service and to put more effect behind the efforts to achieve the reform goals: increased work participation, more user-friendly services and more effective public administration. The NAV office as such becomes a local one-stop-shop.

The challenge of this partnership is that two separate, traditionally hierarchic public structures embark on a partnership venture where the more relational and both vertical and horizontal communicational skills are required, true to the spirit of the joined-up government model. Our aim with this study was to investigate how a few early onset NAV offices cope with this partnership stunt. We particularly wished to examine how the partners establish and use the important vertical and horizontal dimensions, and how the partnership manager operate to facilitate the partnership activities.

We mean that the focus of 4 partnership actors rather than two governmental partners is more correct with respect to depicting the situation in the local NAV partnerships and how the central partnership managerial duties are shared. We have developed a new model of how they divide the partnership responsibilities between them and the operations of an emergent essential partnership driving force. We have also due to the nature of the NAV partnership actors and the way they operate in the partnership, developed a new partnership model. This dialogue model is a more accurate picture of the NAV partnership than the original partnership model.

The early attempts to provide integrated services has not reached the potential we have hoped for, partially due to the allowance of the two partners to continue service production in the old way while the reform structure and following administrative challenges are ironed out. We believe that an understanding of the particularities of partnership management and the adherence of the relational qualities to the partnership structure is a prerequisite in successfully managing the NAV partnership and thus the reform goals. This needs to be the imminent focus of the reform participants.

This thesis analyses and explores the Culture and Practices of Public Managers involved in implementing projects in Papua New Guinea. Project Implementation is an integral part of the overall project management cycle that has received a great deal of attention as a major development problem. In order for us to gain an insight of the theme of the thesis, the National AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS) was selected as the site for this case study. To investigate'how things were done in NACS', a variety of approaches were used to gauge the views, perceptions and experiences of programme and project managers in NACS, to help us understand the factors that affect staff practices. Poor management practice and the lack of a sound management culture and work ethic in PNG, is often blamed for the break down in the state?s capacity to deliver public goods and services to its citizens. Performance culture and good practice by public managers employed in State Institutions to handle projects have regressed in the last three decades, and as a result, projects are seen as failing to meet the goals and objectives of the state. The research question which the case study had to answer was: What is the nature of project management culture and practice among public sector managers in the National AIDS Council Secretariat? The study sought to investigate the extent to which the areas of command and control, project training, project knowledge and staff motivation were important integral managerial qualities in the attitudes and practice of public managers. The study showed that, of the four elements of managerial practices investigated, the inability of public managers to assume leadership, command and control and motivate their staff, were the most important elements missing among managers in NACS. Based on the findings and the evidence collected during the research, this thesis argues for substantial capacity building programmes to be designed and conducted around 'programme and project management' roles in state institutions and agencies in PNG, as the way to improve staff capabilities so as to enable project managers and their staff to efficiently implement projects.

Empirical studies have established that tourism is a major determinant of economic growth and that international air services have a beneficial effect on the growth and development of an economy. It has also been argued that trade and public enterprise reforms in the service sectors, undertaken to a greater extent in high income countries, have had a positive impact on the sectors performances. This study analyses several hypotheses relating to Fiji’s tourism and air transport service industries. First the study examines the contribution of tourism exports to economic growth in the case of Fiji. Second, the study analyses whether the tourism reform adopted by Fiji in 1999 under the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has impacted on total tourism export performance. Third, the aviation-service growth nexus is investigated. Lastly, the effect of the aviation public enterprise reform activities on the export performance of air services is evaluated. Using time series annual data from 1968 to 2006, the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag. methodology has been utilized to estimate the contribution of each service sector to Fiji’s total service output. The results show that the tourism is a major determinant of growth in Fiji and that the aviation service-growth hypothesis is also valid for Fiji. The empirical results show that both the trade reforms in tourism and the pro-competitive measures undertaken in the airline industry, amongst other determinants, have not significantly created an impact on the respective export performance of tourism and air services. These findings provide key policy implications in the light of capitalizing on services exports as a major source of growth, particularly in developing island countries such as Fiji and the need to facilitate the strengthening of the market to boost the export performance of tourism and air services.

Orientadores: Maria Beatriz Machado Bonacelli, Sergio Paulino Medeiros de Carvalho
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociencias
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-13T23:18:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fuck_MarcosPaulo_D.pdf: 1116203 bytes, checksum: 5e77ed950e7b05dc63d6c62eba2fec84 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009
Resumo: A tese trata dos arranjos institucionais e das formas de organização da pesquisa agrícola no Brasil e na Argentina. A análise é focada na forma de atuação da Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), no caso brasileiro, e do Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuária (INTA), no caso argentino. Analisam-se as principais características da indústria sementeira e do mercado de sementes referentes às culturas de soja, milho e trigo, as três principais cultivadas nos dois países. No caso da soja, observou-se nos últimos anos um forte avanço na utilização de sementes geneticamente modificadas (GM). Porém, os dois países adotaram estratégias distintas em relação à introdução dessa nova tecnologia em seu território: a Argentina adotou uma política liberalizante, apostando nos transgênicos como forma de ampliação de sua competitividade agrícola; o Brasil adotou uma postura mais cautelosa, mas acabou por liberar o plantio da soja GM em função, entre outras coisas, da já expressiva utilização dessas sementes pelos produtores rurais (que adquiriram as sementes no mercado paralelo). Ações diferentes são observadas nos casos do milho e do trigo, pelas diferentes dinâmicas técnico-produtivas dos dois segmentos de mercado. Os mercados de sementes analisados na tese passam por grandes mudanças nos ambientes técnico-científico, institucional e legal, o que têm alterado os papéis desempenhados pelos setores público e privado no processo de pesquisa agrícola. Diferente do que ocorreu durante a Revolução Verde, o setor privado tem sido o protagonista principal dessa "nova fase" da pesquisa agrícola. Por outro lado, as Instituições Públicas de Pesquisa (IPPs) têm realizado esforços para acompanhar esses avanços e, em alguns casos, antecipar-se a eles. São discutidas na tese as principais questões que afetam as articulações público-privadas na pesquisa e na comercialização dessas culturas nos dois países, com destaque para as políticas de propriedade intelectual e de transferência de tecnologia adotadas pelas duas IPPs. Neste contexto, observa-se um processo de co-evolução das organizações considerando os contextos técnico-científico, legal, regulatório, econômico, dentre outros, em que estão inseridas - reforçando a idéia do aprendizado e que as instituições econômicas não apenas evoluem, mas co-evoluem.
Abstract: The thesis concerns the institutional arrangements and forms of organization of agricultural research in Brazil and Argentina. The analysis focuses on Embrapa (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária) in the Brazilian case and INTA (Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria) in the Argentinian case. It analyze the main characteristics of the plant breeding industry and seed markets for the three main grains grown in both countries, that is soybeans, wheat and corn. In the case of soybeans, it was observed in recent years a significant progress in the use of genetically modified seeds (GM). However, both countries have adopted different strategies in relation to the introduction of this new technology: the Argentina implemented a liberalization policy, investing in transgenics as a way of increasing its agricultural competitiveness; Brazil adopted a more cautious, but finally liberate the planting of soybean GM depending on, among other things, the already significant use of these seeds by farmers (who purchased the seeds on the parallel market). Different actions are observed in the cases of corn and wheat due to different technical-productive dynamics of both market segments. The seed markets analyzed in the thesis go through major changes in the technical-scientific, institutional and legal environments. This situation has changed the roles performed by public and private sectors in the process of agricultural research. Unlike what took place during the Green Revolution, the private sector has been the main protagonist of this "new phase" in agricultural research. On the other hand, the Public Agricultural Research Institutes (IPPs) have made efforts to keep up with such advancements and, in certain cases, anticipate them. Are discussed in the thesis the main issues that affect the public-private linkages in research and commercialization of these crops in both countries, with emphasis on the policies regarding intellectual property and technology transfer adopted by the IPPs. In this context, there is a process of co-evolution of organizations considering the technical, scientific, legal, regulatory, economic, among others, contexts in which they operate, reinforcing the idea of learning and that economic institutions do not just evolve but co-evolve.
Doutorado
Doutor em Política Científica e Tecnológica

El objetivo general de esta investigación es investigar la relación entre la innovación y el rendimiento a nivel de empresa. En concreto, la aportación principal de esta tesis doctoral es la exploración de cómo la I+D colaborativa, una práctica de innovación concreta, genera resultados positivos para las empresas que colaboran y su entorno. Por último, esta investigación propone un modelo de evaluación sobre cómo los organismos públicos deberían asignar su presupuesto a proyectos colaborativos de I+D. Concretamente, los objetivos de la investigación son: • clasificar las prácticas de innovación basado en la anterior revisión de la literatura; • analizar cuáles de estas prácticas de innovación tienen un efecto sobre el rendimiento financiero a largo plazo de las empresas; • analizar la relación entre el tipo de socios que colaboran en alianzas de I + D y los diferentes resultados de rendimiento alianza: la adquisición de conocimientos técnicos, las nuevas oportunidades tecnológicas y nuevas oportunidades comerciales; • examinar cómo la confianza, el conflicto, el compromiso y la comunicación afectan el rendimiento de la alianza de I + D, la satisfacción del individuo con la alianza y su intención de colaborar con los mismos socios en el futuro; • proponer un modelo de evaluación para cofinanciar grandes alianzas de colaboración en I + D por parte de los gobiernos. Esta tesis doctoral se divide en cuatro capítulos principales, donde se utiliza la investigación empírica con el fin de alcanzar los objetivos mencionados anteriormente. Los capítulos abordan los siguientes puntos a fondo los objetivos de la investigación: 1. Análisis sobre qué prácticas de gestión de innovación están relacionadas con la mejorar de los resultados empresariales 2. Exploración de los resultados de las alianzas de I+D y su relación con la selección de socios 3. El establecimiento de relaciones individuales a través de alianzas de I+ D 4. Un modelo de evaluación para subvencionar alianzas de I + D Cada capítulo se compone de la revisión de la literatura relacionada con su objetivo específico, seguido de la pregunta de investigación y/o hipótesis resultado de esta revisión de la literatura. Más adelante, se presenta la muestra y variables utilizadas en cada caso. Por último, se exponen los principales resultados y conclusiones. Con el fin de resumir y fácil presentar los resultados globales de toda la investigación, al final de este trabajo, hay un capítulo con las principales conclusiones obtenidas a lo largo de la investigación, las limitaciones de la obra, y una propuesta de futuras líneas de investigación para continuar con las investigaciones llevado a cabo en esta tesis doctoral. La primera fase de esta investigación (Capítulo 2) analiza las prácticas de gestión de la innovación y la relación con los resultados financieros de las empresas. Comenzando con varios modelos de innovación propuesta de auditoría (Chiesa et al, 1996; Yam et al, 2004; AT Kearney, 2006) hemos clasificado nueve dimensiones de innovación y, después, hemos estudiado su relación con el resultado de las empresas. Los resultados de esta investigación han motivado un estudio adicional en el área de I + D de colaboración, ya que estos no han demostrado el efecto positivo de la I + D en colaboración desempeño de las empresas. Con el fin de hacer eso, los capítulos 3 y 4 contienen una segunda fase que se basa en un modelo anterior de colaboración (Tidd et al., 1997) (Figura 1), donde el socio de selección, objetivos y ventajas derivados de la alianza son consideran parte del plan de la alianza. Por último, en el capítulo 5, la investigación se centra en cómo los gobiernos deben patrocinar alianzas de investigación y desarrollo, teniendo en cuenta que tienen dos tipos de generación de resultados: los resultados positivos para las empresas que participan en las alianzas (que es necesaria pero no suficiente para ser otorgado públicamente) y externalidades que son la razón por la adjudicación es deseable debido a las fallas del mercado.