What makes industries believe in formal methods

The introduction of formal methods in the design and development departments of an industrial company has far reaching and long lasting consequences. In fact it changes the whole environment of methods, tools and skills that determine the design culture of that company. A decision to replace current design practice by formal methods, therefore, appears a vital one and is not lightly taken. The past has shown that efforts to introduce formal methods in industry has faced a lot of controversy and opposition at various hierarchical levels in companies, resulting in a marginal spread of such methods. This paper revisits the requirements for formal description techniques and identifies some critical success and inhibiting factors associated with the introduction of formal methods in the industrial practice. One of the inhibiting factors is the often encountered lack of appropriateness of the formal model to express and manipulate the design concerns that determine the world of the engineer. This factor motivated our research in the area of architectural and implementation design concepts. The last two sections of this paper report on some results of this research

Coloured Petri Nets - a Pragmatic Formal Method for Designing and Analysing Distributed Systems

The thesis consists of six individual papers, where the present paper contains the mandatory overview, while the remaining five papers are found separately from the overview. The five papers can roughly be divided into three areas of research, namely case studies, education, and extensions to the CPN method.The primary purpose of the PhD thesis is to study the pragmatics, practical aspects, and intuition of CP-nets viewed as a formal method for describing and reasoning about concurrent systems. The perspective of pragmatics is our leitmotif, but at the same time in the context of CP-nets it is a kind of hypothesis of this thesis. This overview paper summarises the research conducted as an investigation of the hypothesis in the three areas of case studies, education, and extensions.The provoking claim of pragmatics should not be underestimated. In the present overview of the thesis, the CPN method is compared with a representative selection of formal methods. The graphics and simplicity of semantics, yet generality and expressiveness of the language constructs, essentially makes CP-nets a viable and attractive alternative to other formal methods. Similar graphical formal methods, such as SDL and Statecharts, typically have significantly more complicated semantics, or are domain-specific languages.research conducted in this thesis, opens a new complex of problems. Firstly, to get wider acceptance of CP-nets in industry, it is important to identify fruitful areas for the effective introduction of the CPN method. Secondly, it would be useful to identify a few extensions to the CPN method inspired by specific domains for easier adaption in industry. Thirdly, which analysis methods do future systems make use of

Formal Methods for the Verification of Safety Critical Applications using SPIN Model Checker

Security over the years has been a major concern for the organizations and companies.With the emergence of smart cards, industry has become more interested in methodologies which are used to establish the correctness and security of the applications developed with the acceptance of the use of smart cards in such domains.This paper provides a general introduction to the state-of-the-art of formal methods for the development of safety-critical systems. The idea is to combine two program verification approaches: the functional verification at the source code level and the verification of high level properties on a formal model built from the program and its specification. One of the important security systems in building security is door access control. The door access control is a physical security that assures the security of a building by limiting access to the building to specific people and by keeping records of such entries.In thispaper we employ a model checking method to verify the functional aspects of the smartcard operated door lock system which authenticates each person entering the building.PROMELA model for the proposed system Is presented. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150710

E-Business Use in Small and Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises: A Post Adoption Perspective

In the context of ongoing research into e-business technologies in use by Thai SMEs in the travel service sector, this paper starts with an overview of e-business technology impact on the travel sector generally before focusing on the Thai context. Of primary interest in this paper is the user experience from the introduction of new technologies and their post-adoption evaluation. The analysis starts with consideration of the stakeholders in the travel industry and an understanding of the business models, including both the users and the providers of the e-business technologies. Two detailed case studies demonstrate how ebusiness technologies benefit both firms. In each company the decision on the degree of IT integration differs and this is shown to have considerable impact on benefits realised. In the post adoption evaluation, however, each has its own frame of reference. Formal methods of assessment for both SMEs are problematic and not in evidence

A research protocol for developing a Point-Of-Care Key Evidence Tool 'POCKET': a checklist for multidimensional evidence reporting on point-of-care in vitro diagnostics.

INTRODUCTION: Point-of-care in vitro diagnostics (POC-IVD) are increasingly becoming widespread as an acceptable means of providing rapid diagnostic results to facilitate decision-making in many clinical pathways. Evidence in utility, usability and cost-effectiveness is currently provided in a fragmented and detached manner that is fraught with methodological challenges given the disruptive nature these tests have on the clinical pathway. The Point-of-care Key Evidence Tool (POCKET) checklist aims to provide an integrated evidence-based framework that incorporates all required evidence to guide the evaluation of POC-IVD to meet the needs of policy and decisionmakers in the National Health Service (NHS). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A multimethod approach will be applied in order to develop the POCKET. A thorough literature review has formed the basis of a robust Delphi process and validation study. Semistructured interviews are being undertaken with POC-IVD stakeholders, including industry, regulators, commissioners, clinicians and patients to understand what evidence is required to facilitate decision-making. Emergent themes will be translated into a series of statements to form a survey questionnaire that aims to reach a consensus in each stakeholder group to what needs to be included in the tool. Results will be presented to a workshop to discuss the statements brought forward and the optimal format for the tool. Once assembled, the tool will be field-tested through case studies to ensure validity and usability and inform refinement, if required. The final version will be published online with a call for comments. Limitations include unpredictable sample representation, development of compromise position rather than consensus, and absence of blinding in validation exercise. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Imperial College Joint Research Compliance Office and the Imperial College Hospitals NHS Trust R&D department have approved the protocol. The checklist tool will be disseminated through a PhD thesis, a website, peer-reviewed publication, academic conferences and formal presentations

FORMING CHARACTERS OF EARLY CHILDREN IN NON-FORMAL EDUCATION UNITS

Early Childhood Education which is a form of non-formal education by emphasizing the laying of the foundation towards physical growth and development (fine and gross motor coordination), intelligence (thinking power, creativity, emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence), socio emotional ( attitudes and behavior as well as religion), language, and communication, in accordance with the uniqueness and stages of development that are passed by early childhood. Therefore, Early Childhood Education plays an important role in children's education. Through Early Childhood Education, children can be educated by their teachers with clear methods and curriculum. They can play and channel their energy through various physical activities, music, or hand skills. Can learn to interact interpersonal and intrapersonal. They can gradually be introduced to letters or reading, the environment, agriculture and even industry. The introduction is not excessive, because the delivery is adapted to the world of children, namely the world of play so that the learning process is fun. Children often express their ideas and feelings through play, so that when they feel enjoy and happy with what is taught, it will automatically benefit their development. &nbsp

Does Agglomeration Account for Process Innovation in Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises?

Although small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the Vietnamese economy, this sector’s growth is hindered by low level of technology and innovation. This paper uses firm-level panel data to examine whether process innovation activities in SMEs are influenced by their industrial environments. It measures the effects that agglomeration, the geographic concentration of firms within the same locality, has on firms’ total outputs and their propensity to introduce new technology. Using a logistic model with firm fixed-effects, I find that agglomeration decreases outputs of informal firms and the likelihood of new technology introduction in all firms. However, there are evidence of positive lagged effects of agglomeration on innovation and heterogeneous effects across industries

Perspectives on training for the local café industry : how well does the hospitality training provided by institutional providers meet the expectations of local café stakeholders? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Education (Adult Education) at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The researcher holds a hypothesis about tacit differences in motivation behind training for the hospitality industry in New Zealand. Trainees have long held that there are differences between the experience of training in a tertiary institute and the realities of the workplace. These perceptions prompted this study of the values placed upon formal institutional training among a sample of owners, managers, and supervisors in the local café sector. The local café sector is known for its vibrancy, informality and unregulated approach to hospitality. The sector is a proliferation of small businesses which operates in a competitive environment. This study explores the relationship between small locally operated cafes and formal training of the kind fostered by polytechnics and similar institutions. The findings show there is little reliance on formal training or qualifications in the sector. There is a mixed attitude towards the hiring of staff members who have formal training. Some local café management views the qualifications and formal training with indifference. The main factor in employing new workers in the sector is 'experience' and in some cases, intrinsic qualities like 'personality' are important. This sector is largely made up of small business run by independent owner-operators. Competition in the sector is intense, and profit margins are small. Café employees are not generally well rewarded for their qualifications, and there is little in the workplace culture that may distract or inhibit the desire of workers to train formally. There is more evidence of formal institutional training and gaining of qualifications among cooking staff in cafes than front-of-house areas, signifying that cookery is an area of speciailised skill and features more as a career choice. While the management of local cafes will sometimes seek to hire qualified staff, they accept the lack of them. Management of local cafes who have themselves in the past been trained in formal institutional programmes are more likely to see benefits in employing people who have undergone similar training. This study concludes that formal institutional training is not a necessity in the local café sector, and that generally this sector views formal training to be of lesser relevance. As in most small businesses, cafes show that the need to survive commercially over-rides the propensity employers may have to improve the professional standing of their employees. Many employers will train employees on-the-job with the skills immediately necessary for the commercial well-being of their cafe. Local café managers have little energy or time to promote formal training programmes, and are content to accept that many of their employees will not be formally trained. The relationship between the content of traditional institutional training programmes and the skills required in the informal environment of the local café industry is somewhat incompatible

What determines, using the new institutional economic approach, the development of the micro-insurance sector in less-developed countries, and what is its role for economic growth in such countries?

This thesis examines the development of the micro-insurance sector in less developed countries, using the theoretical approach of new institutional economics. The main research questions are whether it is the insufficient compatibility between formal and informal institutions that hinders the development of micro-insurance below what had been widely predicted by the academic community? And what has to be done institutionally to make this industry an active contributor to economic growth? To investigate these questions, three distinct empirical studies, of which one is based on field work data generated for the thesis specifically, were carried out using a Probit model, a system of Generalized Method of Movements model, and a Vector Error Correction model. The hypotheses tests suggest that (i) the relevant informal institutions have a significant influence on the decision of individuals to enrol into micro-insurance product in Nigeria; (ii) by controlling for institutional quality, a positive development of the institution of micro-insurance contributes to reducing the size of the informal economy in Nigeria and other less developed countries); and (iii) that micro-insurance has both short and long term positive impacts on the economic growth in Nigeria.:Table of contents Versicherungen 2 Table of contents 3 List of tables 8 List of figures 9 list of Appendices 11 List of Abbreviations 12 Acknowledgement 15 Abstract 17 Chapter 1 19 1. Overview of the study 19 1.1 Introduction 19 1.2 Aims and objectives 23 1.3 Structure of the Thesis 23 1.4 reference 26 Chapter 2 29 2. Theories and concepts of (micro) insurance 29 2.1 The poor and risk 29 2.2 The theoretical framework of insurance 36 2.3 The meaning of micro-insurance 40 2.4 The two faces of micro-insurance 42 2.5 Micro-insurance and traditional insurance 44 2.6 Demand and supply of micro-insurance 48 2.7 Micro-insurance supply chain 53 2.8 Reference 59 Chapter 3 65 3. New institutional economy 65 3.1 Introduction 65 3.2 Institution 65 3.3 Institution and organization 67 3.4 Neoclassical Approach 68 3.5 Institutional economic approach 70 3.6 New institutional economics 72 3.6.1 Property right 73 3.6.2 Transaction costs 76 3.6.3 Agency theory 78 3.7 New institutional economics and insurance 79 3.8 Conclusion 84 3.9 Reference 86 Chapter 4 90 4. Methodology 90 4.1 Introduction 90 4.3 Mixed-research strategy 92 4.3.1 Qualitative research 92 4.3.2 Quantitative research 93 4.4 The research method 95 4.4.1 Data collection 96 4.4.2 The sampling framework 96 4.4.3 Sample size and sampling technique 97 4.4.4 Questionnaire design 98 4.5 Instrument validity and reliability 98 4.5.1 Pre-testing of the instruments 100 4.6 Analytical approaches 100 4.7 Reference 102 Chapter 5 105 5. Nigeria and the development of micro-insurance industry 105 5.1 Introduction 105 5.2 Broad country context 106 5.3 Insurance Sector 109 5.4 Segments of the Nigerian insurance industry 110 5.4.1 Non-life insurance 112 5.5 Regulatory Landscape 115 5.5.1 Market development and restructuring initiative (MDRI): 117 5.6 Nigerian Insurance industry vs Global peers 118 5.7 Problems of the insurance industry in Nigeria 120 5.8 Micro-insurance in Nigeria 123 5.9 Reason to be optimistic 125 5.10 Distribution Channel of Micro-Insurance 127 5.11 Conclusion 129 5.12 Reference 130 Chapter 6 133 6. The effect of Societal norms on the likelihood of individuals to enrol in different forms of Micro-insurance products 133 6.1 Introduction 133 6.2 Institution, Values and Norms 134 6.3 Methods and variables 137 6.3.1 Dependent Variable: Micro-insurance enrolment 137 6.3.2 Independent variables 138 6.4 Justification for control variables 144 6.4.1 Formal institutional variables 144 6.4.2. Personal Characteristics 145 6.5 Model estimation 149 6.6 Result, analysis and discussion of findings 151 6.6.1 Presentation of the result 151 6.6.2 Analysis of the impact of values and norms 152 6.6.3 Analysis of the impact of formal institutions 156 6.6.4 Analysis of the impact of personal characteristics 158 6.7 Robustness of the Result 161 6.8 Conclusion 162 6.9 Reference 164 6.10 Appendix 171 Chapter 7 179 7. The Role of Institutions in the relationship between micro-insurance development and Size of the Informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa 179 7.1 Introduction 179 7.2 A theoretical review of Informal economy 183 7.3 Theoretical and conceptual review 186 7.4 Data 186 7.5 Descriptive statistics 194 7.6 Model specification and estimation strategy 197 7.7 Empirical Results 200 7.8 Estimation and interpretation of system GMM 202 7.9 Robustness Checks 205 7.10 Conclusion 207 7.11 Reference 208 7.12 Appendix 213 Chapter 8 221 8. How does micro-insurance impact the economic growth of Nigeria? 221 8.1 Introduction 221 8.2 The conceptual and theoretical framework 224 8.3 Literature review 225 8.4 Theoretical model and empirical analysis 228 8.5 Empirical result and findings 229 8.5.1 Descriptive statistics 229 8.5.2 Stationarity test 230 8.5.3 Co-integration test 233 8.5.4 Vector error correction model (VECM) 235 8.6 Diagnostic test on VEC Model (robustness of the model) 237 8.7 Conclusion and recommendation 238 8.8 Reference 241 8.9 Appendix 246 Chapter 9 250 9. The conclusion and policy recommendations 250 9.1 Introduction 250 9.2 Summary of the study 250 9.3 Research conclusions and implications 252 9.4 Contributions of the research 254 9.5 Research limitations 256 9.6 Direction for future research 257 9.7 reference 25

Moving from silos to synergies:Strengthening governance of food marketing policy in Thailand

BACKGROUND: Governance processes play an important role in shaping the formulation and implementation of policy measures such as restrictions on marketing of ultra-processed foods. However, there is limited analysis of the factors that affect governance for nutrition, especially in low- and middle-income countries such as Thailand and the Southeast Asia region. This study aimed to examine governance factors that create opportunities and challenges for the introduction of policy to restrict food marketing in Thailand, in line with the WHO recommendations to restrict food marketing to children. METHODS: A qualitative study design was used. Interviews were conducted with 20 actors with experience and in depth knowledge of food marketing in Thailand, including government, civil society, industry and international organisations. Open questions were asked about experiences and perceptions of the governance processes related to policies for restricting food marketing in Thailand. Themes were derived from the 3-i Framework which relates to interests, ideas and institutions influencing the introduction of food marketing policy were identified and analysed using abductive methods. RESULTS: Actors viewed institutional challenges as a significant barrier to advancing effective regulation of food marketing. Three major clusters emerged from the data: interests (priorities, relationships), institutions (formal structures, informal structures, broader institutional strategies), and ideas (norms). The study has three major findings in relation to these factors, highlighting the influence of formal structures, institutional interests in food marketing issues, and ideas in promoting multisectoralism. The siloed nature of policymaking was reflected in the government failing to stimulate engagement among key actors, posing challenges for implementation of effective policy change. Contested interests led to disagreements between actors over food marketing agenda and thus competing policy priorities. Consistent with these findings, the lack of effective mechanisms to promote multisectoral coordination across diverse actors reinforced barriers to policy change. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight ongoing challenges to the government’s aim to strengthen policy to restrict food marketing which, without greater coordination in governance mechanisms, will hinder effective regulation and the achievement of public health goals. This analysis suggests that the Government should prioritise the development of a holistic, multisectoral approach to improve governance for better nutrition outcomes by overcoming policy silos