An exploratory study of mechanisms to transfer and embed a value-based culture : A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Business Studies in Management at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

This exploratory study seeks to build on the work of theorists who have proposed concepts to enhance organisational culture through a better alignment of values. The study seeks to gain additional support for the exploration of mechanisms to embed value-based cultures. This is achieved by better understanding the origins of goal-orientated values and the types of culture that manifest in small to medium enterprises. As a result of this study a model was developed, which could be implemented in future longitudinal research on the influence of embedding a value-based culture through the use of applied mechanisms. What distinguishes this study from others is the development of a comprehensive model to define, embed, and measure a value-based culture. To gain a deeper understanding of the concepts a multi-method qualitatively driven methodology was implemented to identify core mechanisms to embed value-based cultures. Additional quantitative data was used to enable a deeper, more robust, understanding of the influence the identified mechanisms have on goal-orientated values and the types of culture, which manifest in a small to medium enterprise. The study suggests that founders of small to medium enterprises can define a value-based culture and through the use of six mechanisms, embed a value-based culture that aligns with the organisation’s objectives. Gaining a better understanding of the concepts and mechanisms to embed a value-based culture enabled the development of a pragmatic process and model, which encompasses each of the key mechanisms identified in the literature. The study adds support to the work of theorists who have argued for value-based cultures and the concept of conflicting core values occurring in organisational cultures. The study builds on the work of others by proposing an applied model that draws the key concepts together into a single comprehensive model

An exploratory study of mechanisms to transfer and embed a value-based culture : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Business Studies in Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

This exploratory study seeks to build on the work of theorists who have proposed concepts to enhance organisational culture through a better alignment of values. The study seeks to gain additional support for the exploration of mechanisms to embed value-based cultures. This is achieved by better understanding the origins of goal-orientated values and the types of culture that manifest in small to medium enterprises. As a result of this study a model was developed, which could be implemented in future longitudinal research on the influence of embedding a value-based culture through the use of applied mechanisms. What distinguishes this study from others is the development of a comprehensive model to define, embed, and measure a value-based culture. To gain a deeper understanding of the concepts a multi-method qualitatively driven methodology was implemented to identify core mechanisms to embed value-based cultures. Additional quantitative data was used to enable a deeper, more robust, understanding of the influence the identified mechanisms have on goal-orientated values and the types of culture, which manifest in a small to medium enterprise. The study suggests that founders of small to medium enterprises can define a value-based culture and through the use of six mechanisms, embed a value-based culture that aligns with the organisation’s objectives. Gaining a better understanding of the concepts and mechanisms to embed a value-based culture enabled the development of a pragmatic process and model, which encompasses each of the key mechanisms identified in the literature. The study adds support to the work of theorists who have argued for value-based cultures and the concept of conflicting core values occurring in organisational cultures. The study builds on the work of others by proposing an applied model that draws the key concepts together into a single comprehensive model

Georgia's Individual Income Tax: Options for Reform

This report analyzes the current structure of Georgia's individual income tax and provides analysis of a variety of reform options

Multiple Target, Multiple Type Filtering in the RFS Framework

A Multiple Target, Multiple Type Filtering (MTMTF) algorithm is developed using Random Finite Set (RFS) theory. First, we extend the standard Probability Hypothesis Density (PHD) filter for multiple types of targets, each with distinct detection properties, to develop a multiple target, multiple type filtering, N-type PHD filter, where $N\geq2$, for handling confusions among target types. In this approach, we assume that there will be confusions between detections, i.e. clutter arises not just from background false positives, but also from target confusions. Then, under the assumptions of Gaussianity and linearity, we extend the Gaussian mixture (GM) implementation of the standard PHD filter for the proposed N-type PHD filter termed the N-type GM-PHD filter. Furthermore, we analyze the results from simulations to track sixteen targets of four different types using a four-type (quad) GM-PHD filter as a typical example and compare it with four independent GM-PHD filters using the Optimal Subpattern Assignment (OSPA) metric. This shows the improved performance of our strategy that accounts for target confusions by efficiently discriminating them

New labour and reform of the English NHS: user views and attitudes.

BACKGROUND: The British National Health Service has undergone significant restructuring in recent years. In England this has taken a distinctive direction where the New Labour Government has embraced and intensified the influence of market principles towards its vision of a 'modernized' NHS. This has entailed the introduction of competition and incentives for providers of NHS care and the expansion of choice for patients. OBJECTIVES: To explore how users of the NHS perceive and respond to the market reforms being implemented within the NHS. In addition, to examine the normative values held by NHS users in relation to welfare provision in the UK. DESIGN AND SETTING: Qualitative interviews using a quota sample of 48 recent NHS users in South East England recruited from three local health economies. RESULTS: Some NHS users are exhibiting an ambivalent or anxious response to aspects of market reform such as patient choice, the use of targets and markets and the increasing presence of the private sector within the state healthcare sector. This has resulted in a sense that current reforms, are distracting or preventing NHS staff from delivering quality of care and fail to embody the relationships of care that are felt to sustain the NHS as a progressive public institution. CONCLUSION: The best way of delivering such values for patients is perceived to involve empowering frontline staffs who are deemed to embody the same values as service users, thus problematizing the current assumptions of reform frameworks that market-style incentives will necessarily gain public consent and support

Spectral unmixing of Multispectral Lidar signals

In this paper, we present a Bayesian approach for spectral unmixing of multispectral Lidar (MSL) data associated with surface reflection from targeted surfaces composed of several known materials. The problem addressed is the estimation of the positions and area distribution of each material. In the Bayesian framework, appropriate prior distributions are assigned to the unknown model parameters and a Markov chain Monte Carlo method is used to sample the resulting posterior distribution. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated using synthetic MSL signals, for which single and multi-layered models are derived. To evaluate the expected estimation performance associated with MSL signal analysis, a Cramer-Rao lower bound associated with model considered is also derived, and compared with the experimental data. Both the theoretical lower bound and the experimental analysis will be of primary assistance in future instrument design

Composition and bioavailability of DOC across a rural-urban gradient.

Title page, table of contents and summary only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University of Adelaide Library.A great deal of attention has been focused on the effects of changes in land use on the physical and chemical conditions of streams and riparian zones. There is also currently substantial momentum and effort directed at restoring these areas. However, there is a distinct lack of understanding of not only the processes that occur in natural systems, but also the impact that changes in land use have actually had on those systems, and of how the "restored" system will function post intervention. The objective of this thesis was to examine the impact of urbanisation on the composition, and bioavailability and retention of organic carbon in streams. Changes in composition, and bioavailability of organic carbon in stream water were investigated across rural-urban gradients in sub-catchments of the Torrens River, a mediterranean catchment in southern Australia. The influence of land use on the relative proportion of particulate and dissolved organic carbon, and the importance of different size fractions of the total organic carbon pool in driving biochemical oxygen demand (B.O.D.₅) was assessed under base flow and storm flow conditions. Despite an expectation that an increased proportion of oxygen demanding material would be comprised of particulate material in the urbanised catchments, the results demonstrate that dissolved organic carbon comprises a substantial component of the organic carbon pool in both the rural (83%) and urban (89%) sites. Furthermore, although particulate material actually represents a higher proportion of oxygen demanding material in the rural sites (23%) than in the urban sites (4%), the difference is not statistically significant. Bioassays performed on stream water samples demonstrated that DOC from the urbanised streams was more bioavailable than in the rural streams; the DOC in the urban streams exerted an oxygen demand per unit organic carbon 2.75 times higher than the rural streams. Furthermore, the DOC in samples from the urban streams was depleted in an exponential manner. In contrast, DOC was depleted in a slow, linear manner in samples from the rural streams. Ion-exchange fractionation of the samples revealed significant differences in urban and rural stream water DOC that demonstrates that urbanisation induces a substantial shift away from the naturally occurring range of DOC compounds (e.g. humic and fulvic acids, carbohydrates, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides) towards synthetic compounds (e.g. synthetic detergents, hydrocarbons, pesticides) which is correlated with an increase in BOD:DOC ratios. However, an assessment of the impact of inflowing stormwater on DOC dynamics and water quality in Torrens Lake (a shallow urban weir pool) demonstrated that the DOC fractions most readily depleted and therefore most likely to be the most problematic, oxygen demanding organic compounds were the aquatic humic substances (e.g. humic and fulvic acids), and hydrophilic acids (e.g. fatty acids, sugar acids, hydroxyl acids). The shift from native tree species to introduced deciduous species that commonly occurs in urbanised areas may have a series of profound effects on ecosystem function and stability. Bioassays and ion-exchange fractionation revealed that DOC released from the introduced species (English elm, London plane tree, white poplar and introduced grasses) has a distinctly different composition than that leached from a common native species (river red gum). Observed imbalances in DOC:FRP ratios and DOC metabolism kinetics between the different species indicates that changes in dominant vegetation may have serious implications on biogeochemical cycles. Furthermore, the rapid release of DOC from all litter types tested indicates that if gross pollutant traps (designed and installed to protect streams from pollutants such as leaf litter) are not cleared for 48-72 hours after the onset of rain, the majority of water soluble, oxygen demanding material will still enter the receiving water. Sediment core studies revealed that although undisturbed and resuspended sediments generate a substantial oxygen debt (0.8 and, I.4 g O₂m⁻² day⁻¹ respectively), external loading of oxygen demanding organic material is responsible for the episodic deoxygenation of the water column that is often observed in Torrens Lake following rain events. Furthermore, although internal loading of filterable reactive phosphorus (FRP) from sediments (17mg FRP m⁻² day⁻¹) represents a major source of bioavailable P that is potentially available to support algal blooms, external loading from inflowing stormwater (40μg FRP L⁻¹) continues to represent a major management concern and impediment to controlling the episodic nuisance and harmful algal blooms experienced in the Torrens Lake. Urbanisation induced changes to the ability of a stream to retain DOC was assessed in three contrasting stream reaches; a reach that has retained a complex geophysical channel structure, a reach that has been converted to an open concrete channel, and a reach that has been converted to an underground concrete channel. DOC uptake kinetics in the degraded reach were characterised by long retention times, increased dilution, and comparatively short uptake lengths (79.9±7.4m). In oomparison, the heavily engineered concrete channel was characterised by high water velocities and long uptake lengths (273.9±43.8m). In contrast to the engineered reaches, the degraded reach maintained a relatively stable expected peak DOC concentration, uptake length and percent uptake, indicating that restoring stream complexity in urbanised streams by removal of concrete channels and reconstruction of natural meandering flow paths has a major role for improving the buffering capacity of urban streams.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 200

Design of a slender tuned ultrasonic needle for bone penetration

This paper reports on an ultrasonic bone biopsy needle, particularly focusing on design guidelines applicable for any slender tuned ultrasonic device component. Ultrasonic surgical devices are routinely used to cut a range of biological tissues, such as bone. However the realisation of an ultrasonic bone biopsy needle is particularly challenging. This is due to the requirement to generate sufficient vibrational amplitude capable of penetrating mineralised tissue, while avoiding flexural vibrational responses, which are known to reduce the performance and reliability of slender ultrasonic devices. This investigation uses finite element analysis (FEA) to predict the vibrational behaviour of a resonant needle which has dimensions that match closely to an 8Gx4inch bone marrow biopsy needle. Features of the needle, including changes in material and repeated changes in diameter, have been included and systematically altered to demonstrate that the location of and geometry of these features can significantly affect the resonant frequency of bending and torsional modes of vibration while having a limited effect on the frequency and shape of the tuned longitudinal mode. Experimental modal analysis was used to identify the modal parameters of the selected needle design, validating the FEA model predictions of the longitudinal mode and the close flexural modes. This verifies that modal coupling can be avoided by judicious small geometry modifications. Finally, the tuned needle assembly was driven under typical operational excitation conditions to demonstrate that an ultrasonic biopsy needle can be designed to operate in a purely longitudinal motion