Role of Semantic web in the changing context of Enterprise Collaboration

In order to compete with the global giants, enterprises are concentrating on their core competencies and collaborating with organizations that compliment their skills and core activities. The current trend is to develop temporary alliances of independent enterprises, in which companies can come together to share skills, core competencies and resources. However, knowledge sharing and communication among multidiscipline companies is a complex and challenging problem. In a collaborative environment, the meaning of knowledge is drastically affected by the context in which it is viewed and interpreted; thus necessitating the treatment of structure as well as semantics of the data stored in enterprise repositories. Keeping the present market and technological scenario in mind, this research aims to propose tools and techniques that can enable companies to assimilate distributed information resources and achieve their business goals

Accuracy in design cost estimating

The level of achieved accuracy in design cost estimating is generally accepted by researchers as being less than desirable. Low accuracy has been attributed to the nature of historical cost data, estimating method and the expertise of the estimator. Previous researchers have suggested that the adoption of resource based estimating by designers could eliminate data and method-related problems. The work in this thesis has shown that this will not solve the problem of inaccuracy in estimating. A major problem in assessing accuracy in design cost estimating has been the absence of a generally agreed definition of the'true cost' of a construction project. Hitherto, studies of accuracy in design cost estimating have relied solely on the assessment of errors using the low bid as a datum. Design cost estimators do not always focus on predicting the low bid. Rather, they may focus on the lowest, second lowest, third lowest or any other bid, mean/median of bids, or sometimes, on just being'within the collection'. This has resulted in designers and researchers having different views on the level of achieved accuracy in estimating. To resolve this problem, an analysis package, ACCEST (ACCuracy in ESTimating), was developed to facilitate 'fair' assessment of accuracy in design cost estimates. Tests - using cost data from 7 offices, the ACCEST package and the OPEN ACCESS II package on an IBM PS/2 - have shown that error in design cost estimating (averaging 3.6% higher than the predicted parameter) is much lower than portrayed in construction literature (averagel3% higher than the low bid). Also, false associations between project environment factors (such as geographical location, market conditions, number of bidders, etc.) and the level of achieved accuracy has been developed by researchers through using the low bid as a datum. Previous researches have also demonstrated that design estimators do not learn sufficiently from experience on past projects. A controlled experiment on design cost estimating information selection was designed to explain this occurrence. Failure to learn, and the persistent use of information on one project for estimating, has been shown to result from the method of information storage in design offices, the illusion of validity of inaccurate rules and over-confidence resulting from inaccurate assessment of individual expertise. A procedure for aiding learning from experience in design cost estimating has been suggested. Finally, the work has shown that by distinguishing between different trades, and selectively applying different estimating strategies, based on the objective evaluation of the uncertainty associated with cost prediction for ear h trade, error in design cost estimating could be further reduced. Two formulae for predicting tender prices using data generated from historical cost estimating experience are represented

The process of organisational learning and its value for organisational performance

Organisational learning has been advocated as a key enabler of organisational performance improvement. However, despite over half a century of research, such claims attributed to organisational learning cannot be adequately verified. To date, the field is fragmented where agreement is not evident on even the fundamental aspects such as the definition or process. It has been proposed that the organisational learning concept may outlive its usefulness unless these anxieties are addressed. To ameliorate these anxieties, it was argued that further empirical research utilising carefully constructed methodologies needs to be conducted to help validate the claims attributed to organisational learning. The following research addresses this need by empirically studying organisational learning and evaluates the concept’s value for organisational performance. A researchable organisational learning model was developed and extended to include a link with organisational performance. The rationale of the developed model proposed that organisational learning, in comparison to individual learning, aids a broader understanding of the business environment and the formation of a shared vision which provides the basis for unified action leading to organisational performance improvement. The proposal was then longitudinally tested in four organisations with senior and departmental managers by utilising a causal cognitive mapping method. The findings suggest that there is value in the organisational learning concept and the process should be fostered within organisations for potentially improved organisational performance. However, the results also advise caution in that barriers to effective organisational learning, such as cognitive inertia, need to be recognised and addressed. The research concludes that organisational learning can be potentially beneficial to an organisation and provides some empirical support for the concept that has been argued to be lacking

The Web of Corruption:A Tardean Analysis of the Shifting Constructions of the Elios Scandal in the Hungarian Online News Media

Although corruption portrayals within the news media have become a regularly analysed topic in Organisation and Management Studies, the construction of scandals within the online realm is still under-researched. Organisational scholars call for studies to analyse corruption in online media due to the highly participatory sense- making processes that distinguish this context from traditional press. Analysing scandalisation online is important because interactions in this realm define and curb corruption.This thesis responds to these points by exploring the co-production of corruption scandals within online news articles as occurring through narrative developments and hyperlink relations. To address the processual and participatory aspects of online corruption scandalisation, it engages with the theories of Gabriel Tarde. Particularly, the Tardean lens allows this thesis to analyse articles with their embedded hyperlinks as sense-making crossroads of information flows that accumulate into the rhythmical meanderings of scandal narratives.Empirically, the thesis focuses on the Hungarian organisational and political Elios scandal. It investigates the articles of the news outlets of Origo and Index, and their hyperlinks. Thematic analysis is used for studying the textual data, and argumentation analysis for the hyperlink interactions.This results in the identification of three narrative-construction periods: (1) scandalisation, (2) anti-scandalisation and moderation, and (3) counter- scandalisation. The thesis shows that hyperlinks play an important role in these meaning constructions. On the one hand, hyperlinks represent online sense-making channels, leading to reliable and relevant sources. However, through the avoidance of hyperlinking opposing arguments, these contribute to one-sided, meaning- constructions. Furthermore, the thesis demonstrates how the corruption scandal is gradually diverted and replaced with the sensationalist counter-scandalising Soros- narrative that provokes social currents, such as Antisemitism. Overall, this thesis contributes to the literature on corruption within the media by illustrating how hyperlinks and gradual narrative-developments are strategically used to shape the meaning-constructions around scandals

Monetary Development and Transmission in the Eurosystem

Since the launch of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in January 1999 till today in 2015, the Euro has ascended to become the second largest reference currency in the world. With about €1.6 trillion of currency in circulation it is at present even positioned above the US dollar with €1.3 trillion. The Eurosystem now comprises 19 EU countries with about 340 million people and inherits an outstanding role for the economy of the EMU, world trade, and international finance. Despite its importance, a recent independent empirical review that conclusively analyzes all key factors and efficiencies remains much obsolete. Thus, this research and review sets out to empirically-theoretically compile the last 16 years of the EMU with a focus on monetary developments, functioning of monetary transmission channels (MTCs) and mechanisms, as well as the performance of the Eurosystem and its ECB governed monetary policies (MP). For the first time it reviews a complete set of 16 MTCs and systematically evaluates the functioning of the Eurosystem and its role for the real economy and its people. It finds a high efficiency loss in all MTCs related to fractional reserve banking, excessive EU indebtedness, or legal frameworks such as MFI, financial, or equity law. Scientifically, based on all data and results, there is no way to reach a different conclusion and reminder that stresses the need, exigency and must to replace an old-fashioned reserve banking system by digital full-reserve banking via monetary reform at the earliest feasible date possible

Monetary Development and Transmission in the Eurosystem

Since the launch of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in January 1999 till today in 2015, the Euro has ascended to become the second largest reference currency in the world. With about €1.6 trillion of currency in circulation it is at present even positioned above the US dollar with €1.3 trillion. The Eurosystem now comprises 19 EU countries with about 340 million people and inherits an outstanding role for the economy of the EMU, world trade, and international finance. Despite its importance, a recent independent empirical review that conclusively analyzes all key factors and efficiencies remains much obsolete. Thus, this research and review sets out to empirically-theoretically compile the last 16 years of the EMU with a focus on monetary developments, functioning of monetary transmission channels (MTCs) and mechanisms, as well as the performance of the Eurosystem and its ECB governed monetary policies (MP). For the first time it reviews a complete set of 16 MTCs and systematically evaluates the functioning of the Eurosystem and its role for the real economy and its people. It finds a high efficiency loss in all MTCs related to fractional reserve banking, excessive EU indebtedness, or legal frameworks such as MFI, financial, or equity law. Scientifically, based on all data and results, there is no way to reach a different conclusion and reminder that stresses the need, exigency and must to replace an old-fashioned reserve banking system by digital full-reserve banking via monetary reform at the earliest feasible date possible

Malmsbury bluestone and quarries : Finding holes in history and heritage

Malmsbury bluestone was used widely from 1856 in buildings in Victoria, throughout Australia, and in New Zealand. It features in many structures listed on heritage registers, yet its presence is barely recognised. This largely results from the stone quarries, buildings and the men who laboured with it being absent from modern Australian historiography. The fame previously associated with the stone was lost when stone use for structural purposes, and the associated stone skills, declined; a situation exacerbated by poor recognition of the stone industry’s role in building our nation through heritage citations of structures. Inspired by E. P. Thompson, this thesis uses Critical Inquiry though microhistory and landscape analysis to regain the stone’s fame and rescue stoneworkers from the condescension of history. A detailed analysis of quarries, structures, the bluestone industry, and a rarely-attempted total reconstitution of the lives of 194 vital stoneworkers, reveals a valuable cultural heritage currently undervalued and at risk. Malmsbury stoneworkers came from diverse backgrounds but worked co-operatively to promote and sustain a local industry which supplied a nationally-vital building material, despite the absence of a regulatory framework to protect their lives and rights. Scientific methods document the geological properties of the stone and demonstrate how, in the absence of science, skilled stoneworkers nevertheless identified and worked a valuable resource. Modern science could however be used to test building stones in a non-destructive manner to determine the sources of currently unidentified building stones. This thesis significantly contributes to the limited discourse on the history and heritage of Australian stone use through the perspectives of cultural landscapes, labour history and built and cultural heritage. Malmsbury bluestone truly was the standard of excellence and, along with stoneworkers, warrants more extensive recognition in Australia’s Heritage registers.Doctor of Philosoph

Business Architecture Tool (BAT) : development and assessment of a systems framework to guide organisations from concept to delivery, in terms of creating deeper and meaningful integration across processes and functions

This thesis is based upon a prolonged research period, wherein a practical systems based tool (prototype), was researched, developed and tested, so as to gain outputs of integration improvements for service delivery in South Africa (SA) specifically, and in general for developmental economies. The research question can be summarised as: "to develop a systems-based intervention tool, able to provide practical integration improvements from concept to delivery". Existing systems methods and approaches were accessed, and based upon their utility for the local context, were used to varying degrees, in "building" the prototype, which was tested across a number of interventions, categorised under "world of the client"; and "world of the designer" (firm created for this purpose). Being aware of local and international implementation challenges by virtue of experience as consultant for a number of governments, whereby national planning and implementation techniques tend to be embed mechanistic models of thinking directly affecting how agents and agencies: understand the problem; plan to resolve the problem; and implement the designed solutions. The research sought to recover key systems insights in order to build a practical tool that could reduce negative outcomes, perpetrated by well-intended reforms, having limited integrative thinking, planning and delivery. The research required long-term observation, reflection, and extensive literature review. A distinctive feature of the research is the account of the author's exploration of his learning and development, within University of Cape Town PhD: Business Architecture embedded in complexity and systems theory

Proceedings of the WABER 2017 Conference

The scientific information published in peer-reviewed outlets carries special status, and confers unique responsibilities on editors and authors. We must protect the integrity of the scientific process by publishing only manuscripts that have been properly peer-reviewed by scientific reviewers and confirmed by editors to be of sufficient quality. I confirm that all papers in the WABER 2017 Conference Proceedings have been through a peer review process involving initial screening of abstracts, review of full papers by at least two referees, reporting of comments to authors, revision of papers by authors, and reevaluation of re-submitted papers to ensure quality of content. It is the policy of the West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) Conference that all papers must go through a systematic peer review process involving examination by at least two referees who are knowledgeable on the subject. A paper is only accepted for publication in the conference proceedings based on the recommendation of the reviewers and decision of the editors. The names and affiliation of members of the Scientific Committee & Review Panel for WABER 2017 Conference are published in the Conference Proceedings and on our website www.waberconference.com Papers in the WABER Conference Proceedings are published open access on the conference website www.waberconference.com to facilitate public access to the research papers and wider dissemination of the scientific knowledge