11 research outputs found

    Absorptive, adopted and agile: A study of the digital transformation of Africa carriers

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    My thesis explores the cultural, social and management context of digital transformation for African carriers, and discusses the elements of social-cultural barriers, obstacles of digital adoption, innovation, organisation change, ecosystem and their influences. Existing studies are mainly based on the presumed conditions in developed markets, including the free market, rule by law, human capital without considering the social and historical obstacles, absorptive capacities of organisations and the influences of foreign ICT enablers. Using a qualitative research paradigm privileges the insiders’ perspective. I have examined the different backgrounds of digital transformation in Africa. Path dependence is a significant negative consequence of post-colonial social net and western knowledge dominant environment. Vested interest plus corruption slowed down the process of digital adoption while arbitrary administration causes unnecessary concerns for participants. Traditionalism of Africa is a trade-off between customs of tribes and influence of colonial power. The priority for carriers is reshaping the organisation to take advantage of existing strategic assets, while the improvement of value creation efficiency is carried out by activating the ability of individuals. The new value net breaks the previous development model of low interdependence, maximising the use of external resources based on complementary advantages and sharing. The value net inherits the advantages of flexibility, innovation, quick response, and risk reduction advantages of organisations. Meanwhile, it has 4 following unique characteristics in Africa: Extremely Various Needs of Customers, Cross-industry, Locally Adopted Business Model and High Sensitivity in Costs. Four aspects are examined in value proposition, core competence, incubation and co-value creation to enable value net synergies. My research contributes to the theory of the digital transformation in undeveloped countries, in particular how social relationships and cultural norms are inextricably linked with insiders’ understandings of digital transformation. It also contributes to emerging debate about digital maturity research paradigms and methodologies

    Learning to innovate collaboratively with technology: exploring strategic workplace skill webs in a telecom services firm in Tehran

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    This thesis explores innovation and learning within the context of an entrepreneurial new technology based firm (NTBF), operating in the creative sector of telecommunications valueadded services located in Tehran, Iran, along with a partner in London, UK. Whilst backgrounding the socioeconomic and geopolitical characteristics of the operating environment, and historical antecedents of independence and self-sufficiency, plus chronic sanctions within the economy, the argument focuses on the interplay between intermediated learning via strategic ‘skill webs’ leading to innovation. Drawing on innovation and workplace learning corpus, collaborative innovation with technologies is organised as a competitive action in an unstable and unpredictable market: learning and skill enhancement in firms provides the stabilisers to remain and compete in the market. It is the juxtaposition of learning and innovation in service-innovation/-delivery design, while utilising pervasive and emerging telecoms technologies that provides the empirical base for this research. Conceptually, an emergent type of distributed learning, entitled as ‘DEAL’ (Design, Execute, Adjust and Learn) model, by enabling knowledge brokerage facilitated by ‘skill webs’, is identified and explored. This then acts as an analytical tool to examine the empirical elements which are in the form of longitudinal organisational ethnography on site visit waves, spanning 2004 to 2013, focusing on project learning breakthroughs and cul-de-sacs as observed by learning episodes, often utilising informal networks and skill webs in technical and non-technical tasks. The case study findings within a conceptual model has implications for learning and education policy, and upskilling in firms located where regional clustering is not apparent. Furthermore, extrapolating on the theoretical and empirical inquiry and exploring policy vistas, emphasising the hybridised and socio-cultural nature of the innovation processes in transitional economies, the thesis highlights the paramount nature of NTBFs’ inquiry-based learning capabilities, and distributed interprofessional judgement formation evolving in an incremental and contextdependent manner, duly shaping the sustainability of learning to innovate

    Net neutrality - a moderate view

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    Management: A bibliography for NASA managers

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    This bibliography lists 731 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System in 1990. Items are selected and grouped according to their usefulness to the manager as manager. Citations are grouped into ten subject categories: human factors and personnel issues; management theory and techniques; industrial management and manufacturing; robotics and expert systems; computers and information management; research and development; economics, costs and markets; logistics and operations management; reliability and quality control; and legality, legislation, and policy

    Privacy by (re)design: a comparative study of the protection of personal information in the mobile applications ecosystem under United States, European Union and South African law.

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    Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The dissertation presents a comparative desktop study of the application of a Privacy by Design (PbD) approach to the protection of personal information in the mobile applications ecosystem under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) in the United States, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, and the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) in South Africa. The main problem considered in the thesis is whether there is an ‘accountability gap’ within the legislation selected for comparative study. This is analysed by examining whether the legislation can be enforced against parties other than the app developer in the mobile app ecosystem, as it is theorised that only on this basis will the underlying technologies and architecture of mobile apps be changed to support a privacy by (re)design approach. The key research question is what legal approach is to be adopted to enforce such an approach within the mobile apps ecosystem. It describes the complexity of the mobile apps ecosystem, identifying the key role players and the processing operations that take place. It sets out what is encompassed by the conceptual framework of PbD, and why the concept of privacy by (re)design may be more appropriate in the context of mobile apps integrating third party services and products. It identifies the core data protection principles of data minimisation and accountability, and the nature of informed consent, as being essential to an effective PbD approach. It concludes that without strengthening the legal obligations pertaining to the sharing of personal information with third parties, neither regulatory guidance, as is preferred in the United States, nor a direct legal obligation, as created by article 25 of the GDPR, is adequate to enforce a PbD approach within the mobile apps ecosystem. It concludes that although a PbD approach is implied for compliance by a responsible party with POPIA, legislative reforms are necessary. It proposes amendments to POPIA to address inadequacies in the requirements for notice, and to impose obligations on a responsible party in relation to the sharing of personal information with third parties who will process the personal information for further, separate purposes

    Knowledge and Management Models for Sustainable Growth

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    In the last years sustainability has become a topic of global concern and a key issue in the strategic agenda of both business organizations and public authorities and organisations. Significant changes in business landscape, the emergence of new technology, including social media, the pressure of new social concerns, have called into question established conceptualizations of competitiveness, wealth creation and growth. New and unaddressed set of issues regarding how private and public organisations manage and invest their resources to create sustainable value have brought to light. In particular the increasing focus on environmental and social themes has suggested new dimensions to be taken into account in the value creation dynamics, both at organisations and communities level. For companies the need of integrating corporate social and environmental responsibility issues into strategy and daily business operations, pose profound challenges, which, in turn, involve numerous processes and complex decisions influenced by many stakeholders. Facing these challenges calls for the creation, use and exploitation of new knowledge as well as the development of proper management models, approaches and tools aimed to contribute to the development and realization of environmentally and socially sustainable business strategies and practices

    Abstracts on Radio Direction Finding (1899 - 1995)

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    The files on this record represent the various databases that originally composed the CD-ROM issue of "Abstracts on Radio Direction Finding" database, which is now part of the Dudley Knox Library's Abstracts and Selected Full Text Documents on Radio Direction Finding (1899 - 1995) Collection. (See Calhoun record https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/57364 for further information on this collection and the bibliography). Due to issues of technological obsolescence preventing current and future audiences from accessing the bibliography, DKL exported and converted into the three files on this record the various databases contained in the CD-ROM. The contents of these files are: 1) RDFA_CompleteBibliography_xls.zip [RDFA_CompleteBibliography.xls: Metadata for the complete bibliography, in Excel 97-2003 Workbook format; RDFA_Glossary.xls: Glossary of terms, in Excel 97-2003 Workbookformat; RDFA_Biographies.xls: Biographies of leading figures, in Excel 97-2003 Workbook format]; 2) RDFA_CompleteBibliography_csv.zip [RDFA_CompleteBibliography.TXT: Metadata for the complete bibliography, in CSV format; RDFA_Glossary.TXT: Glossary of terms, in CSV format; RDFA_Biographies.TXT: Biographies of leading figures, in CSV format]; 3) RDFA_CompleteBibliography.pdf: A human readable display of the bibliographic data, as a means of double-checking any possible deviations due to conversion
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