845 resultados para Organization, vision, strategy, learning, monitoring
Resumo:
Så mycket som 83 % av alla företagsförvärv misslyckas med att öka aktieägarvärde och hela 53 % minskar till och med i aktieägarvärde (Daniel & Metcalf, 2001). Det är mycket lättare att göra själva affären, än att få den att fungera menar Nguyen & Kleiner (2003). Misslyckade företagsförvärv beror oftast på kulturella skillnader mellan företag och implementering av företagskultur är en nyckelfaktor för ett framgångsrikt företagsförvärv (Lodofors & Boateng, 2006). Syftet är att undersöka implementering av företagskultur efter ett företagsförvärv och att kartlägga ledningens och mellanchefernas egna upplevelser av framgångsfaktorer och svårigheter under processen. I den teoretiska referensramen definieras företagskultur och beskrivs utifrån ett flertal kulturella nivåer där värderingar får särskild uppmärksamhet då studien fokuserar på värdegrundsarbete. Det görs även en beskrivning av olika sätt att utveckla kulturer på. Vidare beskrivs faktorer som ledning och chefer bör ta hänsyn till vid implementering av företagskultur. Dessa är ledarskap, förtroende och lärande (Schein, 2010, Nguyen & Kleiner, 2003, Lakshman, 2011, Bijlsma-Frankema, 2001 m.fl.). För att undersöka studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts. Undersökningen grundar sig på intervjuer med ledning och mellanchefer på Fastighetsbolaget AB. Resultatet visar att bolagets implementering av värderingar upplevs av de flesta respondenter som väldigt framgångsrik. Framgångsfaktorer i deras värdegrundsarbete sammanfattas med att ta det bästa av två världar, anpassa struktur efter önskad kultur, leva som man lär, ha transparens i information och beslut, skapa en gemensam syn på värderingar och uppföljning av medarbetares upplevelser. Den svårighet som diskuteras är kring att skapa en gemensam värdegrund i hela bolaget. Studiens slutsats är att implementering av företagskultur efter ett företagsförvärv handlar om att ledare måste leva som de lär och att ledningen måste skapa förutsättningar för det och arbeta med uppföljning av medarbetares upplevelser.
Resumo:
Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur en medelstor kommun kan arbeta strategiskt med problematiken gällande kompetensförlust samt att vara en attraktiv arbetsgivare inför kommande pensionsavgångar. Vidare syftar studien till att, utifrån resultatet, arbeta fram ett förslag till HR-strategi för den problematik de förestående pensionsavgångarna för med sig. För att få svar på våra undersökningsfrågor har vi utfört en fallstudie i Falu kommun och för denna använt oss av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra personer i chefsposition och en mångfaldskommunikatör, samt en fokusgrupp bestående av fyra medarbetare från HR-avdelningen. Detta gav oss flera perspektiv på problematiken, vilket vi anser stärker tillförlitligheten i resultatet. I efterhand kan vi dock se att ett större antal intervjupersoner hade varit att föredra, detta för att få fler medarbetares tankar och åsikter om ämnet. Emellertid var detta inte möjligt då chefer i kommunen var svåra att få kontakt med.Resultatet visar att uppfattningen om pensionsavgångar är varierande då en av respondenterna menar att det inte är något att oroa sig över, medan övriga respondenter anser att det är en stor utmaning kommunen har framför sig. Resultatet visar även att Falu kommun i dagsläget arbetar strategiskt med ett flertal olika åtgärder för att stärka sitt arbetsgivarmärke externt såsom exempelvis ambassadörskap och talent management, vilket tidigare forskning visar är en nödvändighet för en organisations konkurrenskraft och således attrahera samt behålla medarbetare. Gällande kompetensöverföring visar resultatet att det idag finns en medvetenhet om riskerna för kompetensförluster. Dock utförs ett begränsat arbete för att överföra viktiga kompetenser, åtminstone med syfte att hantera den risk för kompetensförlust som väntas i och med den förestående generationsväxlingen. Tidigare forskning inom området pensionsavgångar visar dock att förlusten av viktiga kompetenser är det största hotet.Vår slutsats av denna studie är att Falu kommun är på rätt väg att hantera den problematik som förväntas uppstå, dock behöver kommunen öka medvetenheten genom kommunikation och intern marknadsföring samt arbeta samman en gemensam syn på pensionsavgångarna i alla förvaltningar. Vi menar även att det är av stor vikt att se över kompetenserna i organisationen och börja agera för att inte mista viktiga kompetenser i och med de förestående pensionsavgångarna. Detta är områden som behandlas i det förslag till HR-strategi vi har arbetat fram.
Resumo:
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an increasing neurological disorder in an aging society. The motor and non-motor symptoms of PD advance with the disease progression and occur in varying frequency and duration. In order to affirm the full extent of a patient’s condition, repeated assessments are necessary to adjust medical prescription. In clinical studies, symptoms are assessed using the unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale (UPDRS). On one hand, the subjective rating using UPDRS relies on clinical expertise. On the other hand, it requires the physical presence of patients in clinics which implies high logistical costs. Another limitation of clinical assessment is that the observation in hospital may not accurately represent a patient’s situation at home. For such reasons, the practical frequency of tracking PD symptoms may under-represent the true time scale of PD fluctuations and may result in an overall inaccurate assessment. Current technologies for at-home PD treatment are based on data-driven approaches for which the interpretation and reproduction of results are problematic. The overall objective of this thesis is to develop and evaluate unobtrusive computer methods for enabling remote monitoring of patients with PD. It investigates first-principle data-driven model based novel signal and image processing techniques for extraction of clinically useful information from audio recordings of speech (in texts read aloud) and video recordings of gait and finger-tapping motor examinations. The aim is to map between PD symptoms severities estimated using novel computer methods and the clinical ratings based on UPDRS part-III (motor examination). A web-based test battery system consisting of self-assessment of symptoms and motor function tests was previously constructed for a touch screen mobile device. A comprehensive speech framework has been developed for this device to analyze text-dependent running speech by: (1) extracting novel signal features that are able to represent PD deficits in each individual component of the speech system, (2) mapping between clinical ratings and feature estimates of speech symptom severity, and (3) classifying between UPDRS part-III severity levels using speech features and statistical machine learning tools. A novel speech processing method called cepstral separation difference showed stronger ability to classify between speech symptom severities as compared to existing features of PD speech. In the case of finger tapping, the recorded videos of rapid finger tapping examination were processed using a novel computer-vision (CV) algorithm that extracts symptom information from video-based tapping signals using motion analysis of the index-finger which incorporates a face detection module for signal calibration. This algorithm was able to discriminate between UPDRS part III severity levels of finger tapping with high classification rates. Further analysis was performed on novel CV based gait features constructed using a standard human model to discriminate between a healthy gait and a Parkinsonian gait. The findings of this study suggest that the symptom severity levels in PD can be discriminated with high accuracies by involving a combination of first-principle (features) and data-driven (classification) approaches. The processing of audio and video recordings on one hand allows remote monitoring of speech, gait and finger-tapping examinations by the clinical staff. On the other hand, the first-principles approach eases the understanding of symptom estimates for clinicians. We have demonstrated that the selected features of speech, gait and finger tapping were able to discriminate between symptom severity levels, as well as, between healthy controls and PD patients with high classification rates. The findings support suitability of these methods to be used as decision support tools in the context of PD assessment.
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The aim of this article is to describe how the Learning Study method (LS) was implemented in a Swedish upper secondary school, as well as how the principals and the teachers involved perceived this to affect teaching at, and the development of, the school. It is an empirical study that was conducted as an action research project over a period of three years. The project to implement the LS method was based on the assumption that proper training is the result of collegial activity that occurs when teachers learn from each other. The teachers in this study were, in general, positive about using the LS method. It created opportunities to meet and talk about teaching skills, developed better professional relationships between colleagues, and offered a systematic method for planning, implementing and monitoring teaching. However, working together requires that time be set aside to allow for implementation of the LS method. This is crucial, as the LS method is a rather expensive way to make school development work. This places heavy demands on principals to create the necessary conditions for the implementation of the LS method.
Resumo:
The aim was to evaluate results and experiences from development of new technology, a training program and implementation of strategies for the use of a video exposure monitoring method, PIMEX. Starting point of this study is an increased incidence of asthma among workers in the aluminium industry. Exposure peaks of fumes are supposed to play an important role. PIMEX makes it possible to link used work practice, use of control technology, and so forth to peaks. Nine companies participated in the project, which was divided into three parts, development of PIMEX technology, production of training material, and training in use of equipment and related strategies. The use of the video exposure monitoring method PIMEX offers prerequisites supporting workers participation in safety activities. The experiences from the project reveal the importance of good timing of primary training, technology development, technical support, and follow up training. In spite of a delay of delivery of the new technology, representatives from the participating companies declared that the experiences showed that PIMEX gave an important contribution for effective control of hazards in the companies. Eight out of nine smelters used the PIMEX method as a part of a strategy for control of workers exposure to fumes in potrooms. Possibilities to conduct effective control measures were identified. This article describes experiences from implementation of a, for this branch, new method supporting workers participation for workplace improvements.
Resumo:
The aim of this literature review is to investigate which strategies teachers use to motivate pupils to communicate orally in English. The literature review also investigates how these teacher strategies affect pupils. The methodology used for this investigation is a systematic literature review. Various databases have been used when searching for literature. Scientific articles and theses have been searched for. They have also been read and analyzed before they have become a part of this review. The results indicate that some teachers feel insecure when speaking English. Therefore Swedish is spoken in many language classrooms. Teachers speaking in front of the class is the traditional way of teaching, and it does not seem to be a strategy who influences pupils positively. If teachers speak the target language among pupils they often get more motivated and focused pupils who feel comfortable speaking English. Young pupils are fast learners. By exposing them to the English language in early ages they receive great opportunities to learn a foreign language and strengthen their self-confidence. Drama, songs and rhymes are preferable strategies to use when teaching young learners. What position teachers decide to take in the classroom is also a significant element when teaching foreign languages.
Resumo:
This licentiate thesis sets out to analyse how a retail price decision frame can be understood. It is argued that it is possible to view price determination within retailing by determining the level of rationality and using behavioural theories. In this way, it is possible to use assumptions derived from economics and marketing to establish a decision frame. By taking a management perspective, it is possible to take into consideration how it is assumed that the retailer should strategically manage price decisions, which decisions might be assumed to be price decisions, and which decisions can be assumed to be under the control of the retailer. Theoretically, this licentiate thesis has its foundations in different assumptions about decision frames regarding the level of information collected, the goal of the decisions, and the outcomes of the decisions. Since the concepts that are to be analysed within this thesis are price decisions, the latter part of the theory discusses price decision in specific: sequential price decisions, at the point of the decision, and trade-offs when making a decision. Here, it is evident that a conceptual decision frame that is intended to illustrate price decisions includes several aspects: several decision alternatives and what assumptions of rationality that can be made in relation to the decision frame. A semi-structured literature review was conducted. As a result, it became apparent that two important things in the decision frame were unclear: time assumptions regarding the decisions and the amount of information that is assumed in relation to the different decision alternatives. By using the same articles that were used to adjust the decision frame, a topical study was made in order to determine the time specific assumptions, as well as the analytical level based on the assumed information necessary for individual decision alternatives. This, together with an experimental study, was necessary to be able to discuss the consequences of the rationality assumption. When the retail literature is analysed for the level of rationality and consequences of assuming certain assumptions of rationality, three main things becomes apparent. First, the level of rationality or the assumptions of rationality are seldom made or accounted for in the literature. In fact, there are indications that perfect and bounded rationality assumptions are used simultaneously within studies. Second, although bounded rationality is a recognised theoretical perspective, very few articles seem to use these assumptions. Third, since the outcome of a price decision seems to provide no incremental sale, it is questionable which assumptions of rationality that should be used. It might even be the case that no assumptions of rationality at all should be used. In a broader perspective, the findings from this licentiate thesis show that the assumptions of rationality within retail research is unclear. There is an imbalance between the perspectives used, where the main assumptions seem to be concentrated to perfect rationality. However, it is suggested that by clarifying which assumptions of rationality that is used and using bounded rationality assumptions within research would result in a clearer picture of the multifaceted price decisions that could be assumed within retailing. The theoretical contribution of this thesis mainly surround the identification of how the level of rationality provides limiting assumptions within retail research. Furthermore, since indications show that learning might not occur within this specific context it is questioned whether the basic learning assumption within bounded rationality should be used in this context.
Resumo:
Vegetation growing on railway trackbeds and embankments present potential problems. The presence of vegetation threatens the safety of personnel inspecting the railway infrastructure. In addition vegetation growth clogs the ballast and results in inadequate track drainage which in turn could lead to the collapse of the railway embankment. Assessing vegetation within the realm of railway maintenance is mainly carried out manually by making visual inspections along the track. This is done either on-site or by watching videos recorded by maintenance vehicles mainly operated by the national railway administrative body. A need for the automated detection and characterisation of vegetation on railways (a subset of vegetation control/management) has been identified in collaboration with local railway maintenance subcontractors and Trafikverket, the Swedish Transport Administration (STA). The latter is responsible for long-term planning of the transport system for all types of traffic, as well as for the building, operation and maintenance of public roads and railways. The purpose of this research project was to investigate how vegetation can be measured and quantified by human raters and how machine vision can automate the same process. Data were acquired at railway trackbeds and embankments during field measurement experiments. All field data (such as images) in this thesis work was acquired on operational, lightly trafficked railway tracks, mostly trafficked by goods trains. Data were also generated by letting (human) raters conduct visual estimates of plant cover and/or count the number of plants, either on-site or in-house by making visual estimates of the images acquired from the field experiments. Later, the degree of reliability of(human) raters’ visual estimates were investigated and compared against machine vision algorithms. The overall results of the investigations involving human raters showed inconsistency in their estimates, and are therefore unreliable. As a result of the exploration of machine vision, computational methods and algorithms enabling automatic detection and characterisation of vegetation along railways were developed. The results achieved in the current work have shown that the use of image data for detecting vegetation is indeed possible and that such results could form the base for decisions regarding vegetation control. The performance of the machine vision algorithm which quantifies the vegetation cover was able to process 98% of the im-age data. Investigations of classifying plants from images were conducted in in order to recognise the specie. The classification rate accuracy was 95%.Objective measurements such as the ones proposed in thesis offers easy access to the measurements to all the involved parties and makes the subcontracting process easier i.e., both the subcontractors and the national railway administration are given the same reference framework concerning vegetation before signing a contract, which can then be crosschecked post maintenance.A very important issue which comes with an increasing ability to recognise species is the maintenance of biological diversity. Biological diversity along the trackbeds and embankments can be mapped, and maintained, through better and robust monitoring procedures. Continuously monitoring the state of vegetation along railways is highly recommended in order to identify a need for maintenance actions, and in addition to keep track of biodiversity. The computational methods or algorithms developed form the foundation of an automatic inspection system capable of objectively supporting manual inspections, or replacing manual inspections.
Resumo:
The national railway administrations in Scandinavia, Germany, and Austria mainly resort to manual inspections to control vegetation growth along railway embankments. Manually inspecting railways is slow and time consuming. A more worrying aspect concerns the fact that human observers are often unable to estimate the true cover of vegetation on railway embankments. Further human observers often tend to disagree with each other when more than one observer is engaged for inspection. Lack of proper techniques to identify the true cover of vegetation even result in the excess usage of herbicides; seriously harming the environment and threating the ecology. Hence work in this study has investigated aspects relevant to human variationand agreement to be able to report better inspection routines. This was studied by mainly carrying out two separate yet relevant investigations.First, thirteen observers were separately asked to estimate the vegetation cover in nine imagesacquired (in nadir view) over the railway tracks. All such estimates were compared relatively and an analysis of variance resulted in a significant difference on the observers’ cover estimates (p<0.05). Bearing in difference between the observers, a second follow-up field-study on the railway tracks was initiated and properly investigated. Two railway segments (strata) representingdifferent levels of vegetationwere carefully selected. Five sample plots (each covering an area of one-by-one meter) were randomizedfrom each stratumalong the rails from the aforementioned segments and ten images were acquired in nadir view. Further three observers (with knowledge in the railway maintenance domain) were separately asked to estimate the plant cover by visually examining theplots. Again an analysis of variance resulted in a significant difference on the observers’ cover estimates (p<0.05) confirming the result from the first investigation.The differences in observations are compared against a computer vision algorithm which detects the "true" cover of vegetation in a given image. The true cover is defined as the amount of greenish pixels in each image as detected by the computer vision algorithm. Results achieved through comparison strongly indicate that inconsistency is prevalent among the estimates reported by the observers. Hence, an automated approach reporting the use of computer vision is suggested, thus transferring the manual inspections into objective monitored inspections
Resumo:
In a global economy, manufacturers mainly compete with cost efficiency of production, as the price of raw materials are similar worldwide. Heavy industry has two big issues to deal with. On the one hand there is lots of data which needs to be analyzed in an effective manner, and on the other hand making big improvements via investments in cooperate structure or new machinery is neither economically nor physically viable. Machine learning offers a promising way for manufacturers to address both these problems as they are in an excellent position to employ learning techniques with their massive resource of historical production data. However, choosing modelling a strategy in this setting is far from trivial and this is the objective of this article. The article investigates characteristics of the most popular classifiers used in industry today. Support Vector Machines, Multilayer Perceptron, Decision Trees, Random Forests, and the meta-algorithms Bagging and Boosting are mainly investigated in this work. Lessons from real-world implementations of these learners are also provided together with future directions when different learners are expected to perform well. The importance of feature selection and relevant selection methods in an industrial setting are further investigated. Performance metrics have also been discussed for the sake of completion.
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This report describes the ideas and vision behind Dalarna University's award-winning library in Falun. A description of the planning and construction processes and an evaluation of the final outcome are presented together with experiences and observations drawn from the project.
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Biological nitrogen removal is an important task in the wastewater treatment. However, the actual removal of total nitrogen (TN) in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is often unsatisfactory due to several causes, one of which is the insufficient availability of carbon source. One possible approach to improve the nitrogen removal therefore is addition of external carbon source, while the amount of which is directly related to operation cost of a WWTP. It is obviously necessary to determine the accurate amount of addition of external carbon source according to the demand depending on the influent wastewater quality. This study focused on the real-time control of external carbon source addition based on the on-line monitoring of influent wastewater quality. The relationship between the influent wastewater quality (specifically the concentration of COD and ammonia) and the demand of carbon source was investigated through experiments on a pilot-scale A/O reactor (1m3) at the Nanjing WWTP, China. The minimum doses of carbon source addition at different situations of influent wastewater quality were determined to ensure the effluent wastewater quality meets the discharge standard. The obtained relationship is expected to be applied in the full-scale WWTPs. .
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The major purpose of this thesis is to verify, from a Brazilian perspective, how global and contextual issues influence the management learning in Multinationals. The management learning derived from the interaction of holding and sidiaries/colligates of Multinational corporation is supposed to be subject to convergent and divergent forces, the former related to global and standardized organizational practices, and the latter, is seen as a social practice subject to cultural and organizational singularities. A model was constructed to relate the dichotomy between the universality of the management practices and technologies and the particularity of the contexts where they operate, to the dichotomy between the singularities in organization and national level. This model is composed of the international, global, managerial and inter-organizational dimensions related, respectively, to the cultural and political diversity; to the universal forces of practices and values; to the managerial capabilities and resources in the organization, consolidated as best practices and to the interaction between holding and subsidiaries and the resulted learning. The combined result of these dimensions influences the knowledge flow and the learning derived from it. The field research was constituted of five cases of internationalized Brazilian firms, with a solid experience in their management systems. The main subjects of this study were executives and ofessionals/managers who respond to the management development. The data were first collected in the headquarters and complemented with visits to subsidiaries/joint ventures in other countries, in loco or with expatriated people who return to Brazil. The central supposition was validated. So, the management learning ¿ is driven by the global capitalism practices and by the global culture where they are immersed, reproducing a hegemonic vision and a common language (global dimension); ¿ incorporates the more propagated and dominant managerial values, although there are some variations when they are applied in the subsidiaries/joint ventures; is the product of the assimilation of international recognized and planned managerial practices, with the acculturation power, although not completely; is the result mainly of the managerial practice in work; is impacted not only by cross-cultural and managerial factors, but also by the business environment of the firm; is given according to the capabilities and resources in the organization, guiding the form of assimilation of practices and technologies, with global application or not (managerial dimension); ¿ is affected by the cross-cultural diversity involving the countries of the holding and the subsidiaries/joint ventures where the firm is and is given as a reproduction of the political context of the holding and subsidiaries countries (international dimension); ¿ faces aligned concurrent institutional pressures between corporate or global systems, practices of other subsidiaries/joint ventures and local practices; is more difficult to reach when there is not permeability between organizational cultures and identities of a Multinational firm; is affected by how much the relationship process across these unities is self-referenced; is facilitated by the construction and improvement of the knowledge network (interorganizational dimension). Finally some contributions of this study are exposed, including extensions of the proposed model and suggestions, recommendations for future research.
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The objective of this work is the study of the existing correlations between the strategical use of the information and the joint and implementation of defense politics and national security in the Legal Amazonian. For in such a way, the proposal was developed from the analysis of the systems of protection and monitoring of the Amazonian (SIPAM/SIVAM), where we search to inquire as these systems have contributed for the definition and implantation of these politics. For the Amazonian, with its natural wealth, threats and vulnerabilities, the perspectives of integration, security and national defense and of sustainable development constitute great challenges to be faced, where the efficient use of the technology is a basic reference that must be incorporated in the strategies and public politics in these areas. One is about a strategical project, conceived with vision of future, protection and development of the . The objective SIPAM/SIVAM the defense and the guarantee of the Brazilian sovereignty in the Legal Amazonian, beyond the systematization and accomplishment of the governmental actions in the region, by means of the intensive use of technological apparatus. In turn, they reflect the priority that the Amazon region has in terms of defense and security for the Country, and symbolize the strategy of the State to protect it. The SIPAM/SIVAM if finds in a boarding line in which the guarantee of the national sovereignty also involves the care with the development of the local population, inside of a proposal educative and integrator. Like conclusion we affirm that of the SIPAM/SIVAM creates a new paradigm for the public administration, where the organizations work with a shared set of information, beyond starting to act of integrated form. Thus, when searching permanently the rationalization of efforts and resources, trying an unknown form of institution relationship where infrastructure and products are shared, the SIPAM/SIVAM creates a new premise for the Brazilian public administration and contributes to give a new direction to the development of the Amazonian.
Resumo:
This research has a practice-oriented focus on the concept of Organizational Learning. The basic approach is a learning organization perspective, and some references to the concepts and concerns of organizational learning were included whenever necessary and proper. Organizational Learning is researched mainly from a management techniques and strategy point of view, with a smaller emphasis on the innovation and accumulation of technological capabilities and theoretical research points of view. A broad approach has been used, based mainly on the study of a successful case using action research in a private telecommunication company operating nationwide in Brazil. This study involved a small group, as it is common with pilot groups for learning organizations. The main purpose of this research is to provide a broad and updated survey about the idea of Organizational Learning. Results presented in the related literature are compared with findings from the field, and that literature is cited throughout the text. The interactions of Organizational Learning with the Brazilian context and with the public administration context are analyzed; important data, ranging from the historical origins and bases of the concept, to details of the activities in a real life learning organization, are shown. Some essential aspects, that should be considered or used when applying this type of management, are analyzed. The action research has shown a close proximity between Organizational Learning and a phenomenological perspective, servant leadership, and managerial model, respectively in the fields of philosophical approach, leadership, and management models.