An Investigation into the Effect that Technology had on the Strategies of J. Sainsbury plc, Tesco plc and Safeway plc: With a Particular Focus on the Period 1980 to 1990

This research is focused on three food multiple retailers, Sainsbury plc, Tesco plc, and Safeway plc. The research is designed to explore the relationship between technology and strategy in these organisations. The currently held view among the researchers and managers of these organisations is that technology has a limited impact on the processes that formulate strategy, and as such may be regarded as having an enabling role. This thesis proposes that while this view may have been correct in the past it is so no longer, and that technology is not following strategy but leading strategy in the food retailers examined. In order to confirm this thesis the history, technical development and technical structure of the three retailers was investigated. The results of this research was subsequently analysed and the following conclusions were made: a. Technology has a much greater inq)act on the strategy of multiple food retailers than has been previously thought. Technology defines the boundaries of operational activities, and, through controlling a substantial proportion of the information that managers use in the strategy making process, technology de facto if not de jure greatly influences the retailers strategies, and in some cases may actually lead them. b. The food multiples, in not appreciating the extent to which their fate is tied up with the information technology they are using, are foiling to educate and train the general management of the organisations technologically. c. Technological progress is widening the gap between the general management and technical management, and in the long run this will cause serious strategic problems unless this gap is closed through positive action

Some operational aspects of a rotating advanced-technology space station for the year 2025

The study of an Advanced Technology Space Station which would utilize the capabilities of subsystems projected for the time frame of the years 2000 to 2025 is discussed. The study includes tradeoffs of nuclear versus solar dynamic power systems that produce power outputs of 2.5 megawatts and analyses of the dynamics of the spacecraft of which portions are rotated for artificial gravity. The design considerations for the support of a manned Mars mission from low Earth orbit are addressed. The studies extend to on-board manufacturing, internal gas composition effects, and locomotion and material transfer under artificial gravity forces. The report concludes with an assessment of technology requirements for the Advanced Technology Space Station

Patterns of cognitive impairment in dementia

A series of studies is presented investigating characteristics of the cognitive impairments found in Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DAT), Multi-Infarct Dementia (MID), and other neurological and psychiatric conditions causing cognitive impairment.ychiatric conditions causing cognitive impairment. Introductory material includes suitable definitions of the diagnostic conditions, descriptions of the nature of DAT and MID, and discussion of issues concerning whether important differences exist within the DAT category depending on the age at which the condition first appears.rst appears. The main initial study is a cross-sectional study of patterns of cognitive impairment, as assessed by a battery of neuropsychological tests, in groups of DAT and MID subjects of different ages and in a group of subjects with other conditions resulting in cognitive impairment. 58 DAT, 58 MID, and 58 other subjects are fully assessed; additional subjects receive only a short form of the test battery. Differences in patterns of cognitive impairment between diagnostic groups and between different age groups within diagnostic groups are described; the possible significance of these findings is discussed with reference to any possible artefacts arising from methodology or subject selection procedures.A follow-up study of samples of these groups involves a second neuropsychological assessment 10 months after the first. Patterns of decline in different groups are described, and efforts are made to identify predictors of the extent of decline over 10 months based on subjects' test performances or personal characteristics at initial assessment. The extent of decline shows considerable variation even within diagnostic groups, and is only rather weakly predictable using the information gathered at initial assessment.The remainder of the thesis comprises a number of relevant smaller studies. The first is an investigation of relationships between neuropsychological test performance and everyday functioning as assessed by a behaviour rating scale in ninety of the subjects initially tested as described above. The significance of the relationships found is discussed with reference to clinical psychological practice. The second is a study of short-term day to day variability in cognitive functioning in small groups of DAT and MID subjects involving three administrations of a brief test battery within a two-week period. Little variability is found in either group, and the notion that MED subjects characteristically fluctuate more from day to day than DAT subjects do is not supported. The rest of the studies involve detailed analyses of certain particular aspects of cognitive functioning in DAT, MID, and other cognitively impaired subjects. Same draw on data collected in the main initial study described above (previous presentation of such detailed analyses having been inappropriate when considering overall patterns of performance); others are separate experiments, with smaller numbers of subjects. The data presented principally concern aspects of memory, language function, and psychomotor performance. A variety of findings from these detailed analyses are noted and their importance discussed.Finally the findings of all the studies are reviewed and some tentative conclusions drawn

An Evaluation Study of the Effects of the PIRK Reading Program on Reading and Learning Development in Learning-Disabled Students

An emerging view on learning disabilities is that failure in learning to read in the early grades results in continuing failure in school, along with cognitive and social/emotional dysfunctions: Educational leaders have called for reading programs that are maximally effective and minimally time-consuming, and are suited to the needs of our particular students. Leaders in the field of special education stressed a need for the prevention of failure. This evaluation study examined how the PIRK reading program components fit with the current literature on teaching reading and language arts to all children and to LD children. This study investigated the effects of the PIRK reading program on LD students in the early grades and elicited teachers\u27 perceptions of the effects of PIRK on LD students\u27 academic-related classroom behaviors. The subjects were 14 LD students using PIRK and 13 LD controls not using PIRK in resource rooms in Texas. Scores on tests of reading, spelling, writing, and listening were compared. The results of the data analysis indicated that students using the primary PIRK outperformed the controls in word knowledge and the intermediate group using the revised PIRK outperformed the controls in listening comprehension. A resource teacher reported that LD students\u27 test scores in reading rose rapidly when they began using the new primary PIRK. Students were able to achieve 90% to 100% accuracy in decoding, in both the primary and the revised PIRK, and 75% to 85% accuracy in the upper revised PIRK levels. Teachers also reported that PIRK had positive effects on student academic-related classroom behaviors. The current literature on theory, research, and practice supported an approach like PIRK and the PIRK components as effective for teaching phonics, decoding, word knowledge, and beginning reading to children and specifically to LD children. Information from this evaluation study indicated a need to reduce the difficulty in the upper levels of the revised PIRK. There is a need for more word meanings in sentences, in stories, and in nursery rhymes, along with comprehension strategies beginning in third grade

Exploiting tag information for search and personalization

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Attention training in schoolchildren improves attention but fails to enhance fluid intelligence

Fluid intelligence is a critical factor in learning and instruction. It also influences performance at school and in the workplace. There have been many attempts to directly and indirectly improve general fluid intelligence by training its underlying cognitive functions, such as working memory, cognitive control, or attention. The aim of the present study was to determine the extent to which school-age children's scores on intelligence tests could be improved by attention training. After training sessions, which consisted of four computerized cognitive tasks that practiced various aspects of attention, the children's scores on an attention test improved, with fewer false alarms and increased performance speed. This improvement partially persisted over an extended period of time. However, this effect was not associated with higher intelligence test scores. These results suggest that attention is possible to develop through short-term interventions but general intelligence is not. We interpret our findings in terms of the three-stratum theory of human intelligence

Identification of cash management opportunities in the Navy Industrial Fund

http://archive.org/details/identificationof00wardNAN