5,347 research outputs found
An empirical investigation of the relationship between integration, dynamic capabilities and performance in supply chains
This research aimed to develop an empirical understanding of the relationships between integration,
dynamic capabilities and performance in the supply chain domain, based on which, two conceptual
frameworks were constructed to advance the field. The core motivation for the research was that, at
the stage of writing the thesis, the combined relationship between the three concepts had not yet
been examined, although their interrelationships have been studied individually.
To achieve this aim, deductive and inductive reasoning logics were utilised to guide the qualitative
study, which was undertaken via multiple case studies to investigate lines of enquiry that would
address the research questions formulated. This is consistent with the author’s philosophical
adoption of the ontology of relativism and the epistemology of constructionism, which was considered
appropriate to address the research questions. Empirical data and evidence were collected, and
various triangulation techniques were employed to ensure their credibility. Some key features of
grounded theory coding techniques were drawn upon for data coding and analysis, generating two
levels of findings. These revealed that whilst integration and dynamic capabilities were crucial in
improving performance, the performance also informed the former. This reflects a cyclical and
iterative approach rather than one purely based on linearity. Adopting a holistic approach towards
the relationship was key in producing complementary strategies that can deliver sustainable supply
chain performance.
The research makes theoretical, methodological and practical contributions to the field of supply
chain management. The theoretical contribution includes the development of two emerging
conceptual frameworks at the micro and macro levels. The former provides greater specificity, as it
allows meta-analytic evaluation of the three concepts and their dimensions, providing a detailed
insight into their correlations. The latter gives a holistic view of their relationships and how they are
connected, reflecting a middle-range theory that bridges theory and practice. The methodological
contribution lies in presenting models that address gaps associated with the inconsistent use of
terminologies in philosophical assumptions, and lack of rigor in deploying case study research
methods. In terms of its practical contribution, this research offers insights that practitioners could
adopt to enhance their performance. They can do so without necessarily having to forgo certain
desired outcomes using targeted integrative strategies and drawing on their dynamic capabilities
Accounting in action in the New Zealand health reform process: an analysis informed by a specific case study of a major health provider
This thesis constitutes an empirical study of accounting in action, focussing attention on patient based cost systems. The thesis contributes an in depth understanding of the mobilisation of casemix and related information systems at a large regional hospital, Health Waikato (HW), in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. The field research consisted of primarily unstructured and semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis. I present the research in the later part of the thesis from a constructionist, interpretive perspective. This consists of richly descriptive case studies of aspects of the change process as it has impacted upon the research site. The themes of the analysis are related, at the macro level, to the resurrection of neoclassical economics policies and the relative ascendancy of free market solutions. The process through which areas of knowledge and in this case particularly public policy become problematised is explicated.
My research attempts to describe the experiences and perceptions of medical and managerial\financial staff at a work unit level within a single hospital. A part of this process has involved investigation of the implementation of traditional accounting technologies in unfamiliar environments. The research is primarily concerned to elaborate upon the social context of accounting systems implementation using theoretical insights derived from Latour (particularly: 1987, 1993). The research has sought to explicate the change process as a process of translation. Traditional accounting techniques have been explicated as “black box” technology with which the organisation has been redefined in economic terms.
In the study, the power of accounting in the translation and inscription of data (the fabrication of accounting systems per Preston et al, 1992), is central to understanding the role of accounting systems as technology. Drawing from the work of Latour helps to provide a frame of reference to allow an assimilation of disparate changes and influences as they have come to affect the health sector at a national level, within New Zealand, and also at an organisational level, within a large regional health provider. The research contributes in explicating the relevance of Latour’s rules of method, and underlying theoretical framework for an organisational analysis focusing upon accounting. Latour uses a very general conception of technology which encompasses anything emerging from what he terms the process of “translation”. In this context Latour uses the term to refer to the production or “fabrication” of “quasi-objects”. This is most easily seen as consisting of the physical objects which “populate our western societies”, but for Latour also includes inscriptions and “facts/artefacts”. I regard accounting and information systems as consisting of mixtures (or perhaps “collectives”) of technological quasi-objects in this very general sense.
The focus of the research has been upon the identification of problems, the choice of accounting techniques and their implementation. Together with other devices the use of accounting techniques may be seen as a central part of the process through which change is made acceptable within the organisation. Supporters are enrolled into the change process in part by being exposed to the accounting inscriptions which are used to represent the cost and profit “reality” of their unit and the whole organisation. The research process has involved detailed investigation on a case by case basis to enable a thorough description of the accounting techniques being put in place.
The title of the thesis is based on Latour (1987) "Science in Action". Conventions developed in Actor Network Theory might suggest my title would be better understood as "Accounting as Actant" but it seems to me that Latour was clearly aware of this same point when he chose this title for his book
Endogenous measures for contextualising large-scale social phenomena: a corpus-based method for mediated public discourse
This work presents an interdisciplinary methodology for developing endogenous measures of group membership through analysis of pervasive linguistic patterns in public discourse. Focusing on political discourse, this work critiques the conventional approach to the study of political participation, which is premised on decontextualised, exogenous measures to characterise groups. Considering the theoretical and empirical weaknesses of decontextualised approaches to large-scale social phenomena, this work suggests that contextualisation using endogenous measures might provide a complementary perspective to mitigate such weaknesses.
This work develops a sociomaterial perspective on political participation in mediated discourse as affiliatory action performed through language. While the affiliatory function of language is often performed consciously (such as statements of identity), this work is concerned with unconscious features (such as patterns in lexis and grammar). This work argues that pervasive patterns in such features that emerge through socialisation are resistant to change and manipulation, and thus might serve as endogenous measures of sociopolitical contexts, and thus of groups.
In terms of method, the work takes a corpus-based approach to the analysis of data from the Twitter messaging service whereby patterns in users’ speech are examined statistically in order to trace potential community membership. The method is applied in the US state of Michigan during the second half of 2018—6 November having been the date of midterm (i.e. non-Presidential) elections in the United States. The corpus is assembled from the original posts of 5,889 users, who are nominally geolocalised to 417 municipalities. These users are clustered according to pervasive language features. Comparing the linguistic clusters according to the municipalities they represent finds that there are regular sociodemographic differentials across clusters. This is understood as an indication of social structure, suggesting that endogenous measures derived from pervasive patterns in language may indeed offer a complementary, contextualised perspective on large-scale social phenomena
2023-2024 Boise State University Undergraduate Catalog
This catalog is primarily for and directed at students. However, it serves many audiences, such as high school counselors, academic advisors, and the public. In this catalog you will find an overview of Boise State University and information on admission, registration, grades, tuition and fees, financial aid, housing, student services, and other important policies and procedures. However, most of this catalog is devoted to describing the various programs and courses offered at Boise State
Federated Learning for Connected and Automated Vehicles: A Survey of Existing Approaches and Challenges
Machine learning (ML) is widely used for key tasks in Connected and Automated
Vehicles (CAV), including perception, planning, and control. However, its
reliance on vehicular data for model training presents significant challenges
related to in-vehicle user privacy and communication overhead generated by
massive data volumes. Federated learning (FL) is a decentralized ML approach
that enables multiple vehicles to collaboratively develop models, broadening
learning from various driving environments, enhancing overall performance, and
simultaneously securing local vehicle data privacy and security. This survey
paper presents a review of the advancements made in the application of FL for
CAV (FL4CAV). First, centralized and decentralized frameworks of FL are
analyzed, highlighting their key characteristics and methodologies. Second,
diverse data sources, models, and data security techniques relevant to FL in
CAVs are reviewed, emphasizing their significance in ensuring privacy and
confidentiality. Third, specific and important applications of FL are explored,
providing insight into the base models and datasets employed for each
application. Finally, existing challenges for FL4CAV are listed and potential
directions for future work are discussed to further enhance the effectiveness
and efficiency of FL in the context of CAV
Elements of Ion Linear Accelerators, Calm in The Resonances, Other_Tales
The main part of this book, Elements of Linear Accelerators, outlines in Part
1 a framework for non-relativistic linear accelerator focusing and accelerating
channel design, simulation, optimization and analysis where space charge is an
important factor. Part 1 is the most important part of the book; grasping the
framework is essential to fully understand and appreciate the elements within
it, and the myriad application details of the following Parts. The treatment
concentrates on all linacs, large or small, intended for high-intensity, very
low beam loss, factory-type application. The Radio-Frequency-Quadrupole (RFQ)
is especially developed as a representative and the most complicated linac form
(from dc to bunched and accelerated beam), extending to practical design of
long, high energy linacs, including space charge resonances and beam halo
formation, and some challenges for future work. Also a practical method is
presented for designing Alternating-Phase- Focused (APF) linacs with long
sequences and high energy gain. Full open-source software is available. The
following part, Calm in the Resonances and Other Tales, contains eyewitness
accounts of nearly 60 years of participation in accelerator technology.
(September 2023) The LINACS codes are released at no cost and, as always,with
fully open-source coding. (p.2 & Ch 19.10)Comment: 652 pages. Some hundreds of figures - all images, there is no data in
the figures. (September 2023) The LINACS codes are released at no cost and,
as always,with fully open-source coding. (p.2 & Ch 19.10
Formation control of autonomous vehicles with emotion assessment
Autonomous driving is a major state-of-the-art step that has the potential to transform the mobility of individuals and goods fundamentally. Most developed autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs) aim to sense the surroundings and control the vehicle autonomously with limited or no driver intervention. However, humans are a vital part of such vehicle operations. Therefore, an approach to understanding human emotions and creating trust between humans and machines is necessary. This thesis proposes a novel approach for multiple AGVs, consisting of a formation controller and human emotion assessment for autonomous driving and collaboration. As the interaction between multiple AGVs is essential, the performance of two multi-robot control algorithms is analysed, and a platoon formation controller is proposed. On the other hand, as the interaction between AGVs and humans is equally essential to create trust between humans and AGVs, the human emotion assessment method is proposed and used as feedback to make autonomous decisions for AGVs. A novel simulation platform is developed for navigating multiple AGVs and testing controllers to realise this concept. Further to this simulation tool, a method is proposed to assess human emotion using the affective dimension model and physiological signals such as an electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmography (PPG). The experiments are carried out to verify that humans' felt arousal and valence levels could be measured and translated to different emotions for autonomous driving operations. A per-subject-based classification accuracy is statistically significant and validates the proposed emotion assessment method. Also, a simulation is conducted to verify AGVs' velocity control effect of different emotions on driving tasks
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