Rationalisation and improvement of a company's engineering design procedures

There is a great deal of literature about the initial stages of innovative design. This is the process whereby a completely new product is conceived, invented and developed. In industry, however, the continuing success of a company is more often achieved by improving or developing existing designs to maintain their marketability. Unfortunately, this process of design by evolution is less well documented. This thesis reports the way in which this process was improved for the sponsoring company. The improvements were achieved by implementing a new form of computer aided design (C.A.D.) system. The advent of this system enabled the company to both shorten the design and development time and also to review the principles underlying the existing design procedures. C.A.D. was a new venture for the company and care had to be taken to ensure that the new procedures were compatible with the existing design office environment. In particular, they had to be acceptable to the design office staff. The C.A.D. system produced guides the designer from the draft specification to the first prototype layout. The computer presents the consequences of the designer's decisions clearly and fully, often by producing charts and sketches. The C.A.D. system and the necessary peripheral facilities were implemented, monitored and maintained. The system structure was left sufficiently flexible for maintenance to be undertaken quickly and effectively. The problems encountered during implementation are well documented in this thesis.

The relationship between personality and social factors and success as a sales representative, both of a petrol company and an animal food company

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Does the importance of value, brand and relationship equity for customer loyalty differ between Eastern and Western cultures?

The use of the customer equity framework as a focal marketing strategy to increase customer loyalty has emerged as an important topic. Despite a growing number of investigations, previous studies are limited by their strong U.S. and European orientations. Research into Western consumers cannot necessarily predict the behaviour of Eastern consumers though. Therefore, this study investigates whether the link between customer equity drivers (value equity, brand equity and relationship equity) and loyalty intentions is sensitive to the cultural environment. A sample of 1553 Chinese and 1085 Dutch consumers in the banking and supermarket industries reveals that all three customer equity drivers exert a greater impact in Western than in Eastern cultures. This study also shows that Eastern consumers in general have higher loyalty intentions than Western consumers. © 2013.

Supply chain position and servitization efforts of companies in Eastern and Western Europe

Our paper investigates the supply chain position of manufacturing companies in Europe, and the relation of this position to the extent and kind of services these companies provide. Our research builds on analyzing differences between Western and Eastern European companies. For the empirical research the database from the fifth round of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey is used which covers 445 manufacturing companies from 13 European countries. Based on the connection between supply chain position and the extent and type of services offered dominant business models are identified both in Eastern and Western Europe.

Soviet and Western bloc competition in the less developed world and the collapse of Détente

The purpose of my dissertation was to examine the competition between the U.S.-led Western bloc and the Soviet bloc in the less developed world during Détente. I assessed whether or not the Soviet bloc pushed for strategic gains in the less developed world in the middle-to-late 1970's and whether this contributed to the U.S. decision to abandon Détente in 1979. I made the attempt to test the international relations theory of balance of threat realism (Walt, 1992). I accomplished the test in two ways. First, I measured the foreign aid allocations (military and economic) made by each respective bloc towards the Third World by using a quantitative approach. Second, I examined U.S. archives using the process-tracing/historical method. The U.S. archives gave me the ability to evaluate how U.S. decision-makers and U.S. intelligence agencies interpreted the actions of the Soviet bloc. They also gave me the chance to examine the U.S. response as we evaluated the policies that were pushed by key U.S. decision-makers and intelligence agencies. On the question of whether or not the Soviet bloc was aggressive, the quantitative evidence suggested that it was not. Instead, the evidence found the Western-bloc to have been more aggressive in the less developed world. The U.S. archives also showed Soviet actions to have been defensive. Key U.S. decision-makers and intelligence agencies attested to this. Finally, the archives show that U.S. officials pushed for aggressive actions against the Third World during the final years of Détente. Thus, balance of threat realism produced an incorrect assessment that U.S. aggression in the late 1970's was a response to Soviet aggression during Détente. The evidence suggests structural Marxism and domestic politics can better explain U.S./Western actions. The aggressive foreign aid allocations of the West, coupled with evidence of U.S. decision-makers/agencies vehemently concerned about the long-term prospects of the West, strengthened structural Marxism. Domestic politics can also claim to explain the actions of U.S. decision-makers. I found extensive archival evidence of bureaucratic inter-agency conflict between the State Department and other intelligence agencies in areas of strategic concern to the U.S.

An Examination of Current Approaches to Integrative Indigenous and Western Knowledge System Implementation in Water Research and Management: A Case Study Encompassing the Colonized Geographies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States

The commodification of natural resources and the pursuit of continuous growth has resulted in environmental degradation, depletion, and disparity in access to these life-sustaining resources, including water. Utility-based objectification and exploitation of water in some societies has brought us to the brink of crisis through an apathetic disregard for present and future generations. The ongoing depletion and degradation of the world’s water sources, coupled with a reliance on Western knowledge and the continued omission of Indigenous knowledge to manage our relationship with water has unduly burdened many, but particularly so for Indigenous communities. The goal of my thesis research is to call attention to and advance the value and validity of using both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems (also known as Two-Eyed Seeing) in water research and management to better care for water. To achieve this goal, I used a combined systematic and realist review method to identify and synthesize the peer-reviewed, integrative water literature, followed by semi-structured interviews with first authors of the exemplars from the included literature to identify the challenges and insights that researchers have experienced in conducting integrative water research. Findings suggest that these authors recognize that many previous attempts to integrate Indigenous knowledges have been tokenistic rather than meaningful, and that new methods for knowledge implementation are needed. Community-based participatory research methods, and the associated tenets of balancing power, fostering trust, and community ownership over the research process, emerged as a pathway towards the meaningful implementation of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems. Data also indicate that engagement and collaborative governance structures developed from a position of mutual respect are integral to the realization of a given project. The recommendations generated from these findings offer support for future Indigenous-led research and partnerships through the identification and examination of approaches that facilitate the meaningful implementation of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in water research and management. Asking Western science questions and seeking Indigenous science solutions does not appear to be working; instead, the co-design of research projects and asking questions directed at the problem rather than the solution better lends itself to the strengths of Indigenous science.

Variation in spatial distribution of juvenile loggerhead turtles in the eastern Atlantic and western Mediterranean Sea

[EN] Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) originating from the Western Atlantic carry out one of the largest marine migrations, reaching the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. It has been proposed that this transatlantic journey is simply a consequence of drifting, with the lack of a target destination and a passive dispersal with oceanic currents. This predicts that the size of the source populations and geographic distance to the feeding grounds should play important roles in defining stock composition in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea.

Common fish diseases and parasites affecting wild and farmed tilapia and catfish in central and western Uganda

Intensification of aquaculture production in Uganda is likely to result into disease out-breaks leading to economic losses to commercial fish farms and associated natural aquatic ecosystems. This survey assessed health profiles of selected commercial fish farms and adjacent natural aquatic ecosystemsto identify fish diseases and parasites affecting Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in aquaculture systems in Uganda. Fish farms encounter disease out-breaks that cause low survival rates (0 - 30%), especially catfish hatcheries. Health management issues are not well understood by fish farmers, with some unable to detect diseased fish. Current control strategies to control aquatic pathogens include use of chemotherapeutants and antibiotics. Bacterial pathogens isolated included Flavobacterium columnare, Aeromonas sp., Edwardsiella sp., Psuedomonus sp., Steptococcus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Proteus sp., and Vibrio sp. A high occurrence of Flavobacterium columnare exists in both asymptomatic and symptomatic fish was observed. Parasites included protozoans (Ichthyopthirius multiphilis, Trichodina sp. and Icthyobodo sp.) and trematodes (Cleidodiscus sp. and Gyrodactylus sp.). Diagnosis and control of diseases and parasites in aquaculture production systems requires adoption of a regional comprehensive biosecurity strategy: the East African (EAC) region unto which this study directly contributes.

Preserving and interpreting the mining company office : landscape, space and technological change in the management of the copper industry

The purpose of this research is to examine the role of the mining company office in the management of the copper industry in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula between 1901 and 1946. Two of the largest and most influential companies were examined – the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company and the Quincy Mining Company. Both companies operated for more than forty years under general managers who were arguably the most influential people in the management of each company. James MacNaughton, general manager at Calumet and Hecla, worked from 1901 through 1941; Charles Lawton, general manager at Quincy Mining Company, worked from 1905 through 1946. In this case, both of these managers were college-educated engineers and adopted scientific management techniques to operate their respective companies. This research focused on two main goals. The first goal of this project was to address the managerial changes in Michigan’s copper mining offices of the early twentieth century. This included the work of MacNaughton and Lawton, along with analysis of the office structures themselves and what changes occurred through time. The second goal of the project was to create a prototype virtual exhibit for use at the Quincy Mining Company office. A virtual exhibit will allow visitors the opportunity to visit the office virtually, experiencing the office as an office worker would have in the early twentieth century. To meet both goals, this project used various research materials, including archival sources, oral histories, and material culture to recreate the history of mining company management in the Copper Country.

Quincy and Torch Lake Railroad engine house facility management and interpretive plan

The “Quincy & Torch Lake Railroad Engine House Facility Management and Interpretive Plan" was designed to serve as a guide to aid the Quincy Mine Hoist Association in their efforts to restore and interpret historic railroad resources under their stewardship. Early searches for existing management and interpretive plans demonstrated that similar plans were primarily produced by the National Park Service and were intended to guide large scale heritage sites that consist of a variety of cultural resources. This project adapts concepts found in those large scale management and interpretive site plans, to guide small scale site management, restoration, and interpretive projects. The document presents a three stage, second phase restoration process. Each stage of development is guided by a series of management and interpretive goals and objectives which were set for the engine house facility.

Integrated soil fertility management in eastern and western Africa: The role of knowledge and innovation systems, its adoption and impact

The rise in population growth, as well as nutrient mining, has contributed to low agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A plethora of technologies to boost agricultural production have been developed but the dissemination of these agricultural innovations and subsequent uptake by smallholder farmers has remained a challenge. Scientists and philanthropists have adopted the Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) paradigm as a means to promote sustainable intensification of African farming systems. This comparative study aimed: 1) To assess the efficacy of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) in East (Kenya) and West (Ghana) Africa in the communication and dissemination of ISFM (Study I); 2) To investigate how specifically soil quality, and more broadly socio-economic status and institutional factors, influence farmer adoption of ISFM (Study II); and 3) To assess the effect of ISFM on maize yield and total household income of smallholder farmers (Study III). To address these aims, a mixed methodology approach was employed for study I. AKIS actors were subjected to social network analysis methods and in-depth interviews. Structured questionnaires were administered to 285 farming households in Tamale and 300 households in Kakamega selected using a stratified random sampling approach. There was a positive relationship between complete ISFM awareness among farmers and weak knowledge ties to both formal and informal actors at both research locations. The Kakamega AKIS revealed a relationship between complete ISFM awareness among farmers and them having strong knowledge ties to formal actors implying that further integration of formal actors with farmers’ local knowledge is crucial for the agricultural development progress. The structured questionnaire was also utilized to answer the query pertaining to study II. Soil samples (0-20 cm depth) were drawn from 322 (Tamale, Ghana) and 459 (Kakamega, Kenya) maize plots and analysed non-destructively for various soil fertility indicators. Ordinal regression modeling was applied to assess the cumulative adoption of ISFM. According to model estimates, soil carbon seemed to preclude farmers from intensifying input use in Tamale, whereas in Kakamega it spurred complete adoption. This varied response by farmers to soil quality conditions is multifaceted. From the Tamale perspective, it is consistent with farmers’ tendency to judiciously allocate scarce resources. Viewed from the Kakamega perspective, it points to a need for farmers here to intensify agricultural production in order to foster food security. In Kakamega, farmers with more acidic soils were more likely to adopt ISFM. Other household and farm-level factors necessary for ISFM adoption included off-farm income, livestock ownership, farmer associations, and market inter-linkages. Finally, in study III a counterfactual model was used to calculate the difference in outcomes (yield and household income) of the treatment (ISFM adoption) in order to estimate causal effects of ISFM adoption. Adoption of ISFM contributed to a yield increase of 16% in both Tamale and Kakamega. The innovation affected total household income only in Tamale, where ISFM adopters had an income gain of 20%. This may be attributable to the different policy contexts under which the two sets of farmers operate. The main recommendations underscored the need to: (1) improve the functioning of AKIS, (2) enhance farmer access to hybrid maize seed and credit, (3) and conduct additional multi-locational studies as farmers operate under varying contexts.

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