Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Logical Framework Approach'

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
The awareness of the environmental crisis and the impact of rising poverty globally has led to the search for sustainable solutions. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) describe the solution as a secure peaceful world, a healthier environment and a better quality of life for all. Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) are important development actors in realising this goal. They work within civil society and focus on the empowerment of the vulnerable and marginalised through the transfer of skills, resources and power. Their flexibility, commitment to social justice and strong relationships with the community allow NGOs to develop creative responses, developing new models for sustainable solutions. A weakness of NGOs is the inability to provide reliable evidence of the effect, or impact, of programmes and their contribution towards a better society. Further the reliance on donor funding can change the focus of accountability from the beneficiaries to donors and stakeholders. The study is based in the given reality that NGOs are required to adopt a more strategic outcomes orientated approach to programme and project planning to be able to measure the impact of services to improve the effectiveness of services and prove their added value to society. This is most often done through the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) as a planning model, as many governments, multilateral aid agencies and donors use this model to develop policies and determine funding priorities. This study therefore gives an overview of the literature regarding the principles, benefits and challenges of the LFA from various sources. These are considered within the diverse and complex development context and how the complexity affects the use of this tool in planning, monitoring and evaluation. The LFA is based on the Management by Objectives model. The LFA provides a relatively objective, systematic and thoughtful guide to project planning which enables organisations to measure their progress in realising goals. The visually accessible log frame explains how the use of resources will contribute towards reaching the goal. It enables the organisation to present their projects to a wider audience increasing its accountability to donors, stakeholders and beneficiaries. Yet, organisations are often very critical of the use of the Logical Framework Approach as it assumes that society is a stable environment where factors can be manipulated to bring about expected results. It ignores the dynamic, complex and frequently unpredictable nature of society and the non-linear path of social learning and empowerment. Further the model can be misused and exploited to enforce power relationships resulting in the development of inappropriate or irrelevant projects that do not meet the needs of the intended beneficiaries. The study concludes that, despite all the criticisms, the Logical Framework Approach can be a very useful tool and provides recommendations that will help find a balance between the structured planning process and the participative and creative social learning techniques. NGOs can be focussed and accountable and still remain more responsive to the needs of communities.

Under the current results-driven development agenda, sound evaluation, and a corresponding evaluation toolkit, need to be in place to examine whether and to what extent development interventions have achieved their targeted objectives and results, and to generate lessons for further development learning and improvement. My review of the literature shows that innovative and appropriate evaluation approaches are needed to address key challenges in evaluation such as the tension between learning and accountability objectives, the need to unpack the mechanisms linking outputs and outcomes or goal, and to add an actor perspective. Irrespective of project type, the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) is often a standard requirement of major official donor agencies on projects they fund, so as to fulfil bureaucratic imperatives. However, it is often considered inadequate in addressing key challenges in development evaluation. Given the dominant status of the LFA with such strong support from donors, it is helpful to seek a ‘middle way': a combination of the LFA with other approaches in order to address some of its inadequacies, while satisfying donor agencies' requirements. A synthesis of the LFA and Outcome Mapping (OM) is one such option. This thesis explores the practical value and usefulness of a synthesis model empirically. Applying the model in two case study aid projects, I found that it serves well as a theory-based evaluation tool with a double-stranded (actor strand and results chain) theory of change. The model helps reconcile learning and accountability and add explanatory power and an explicit actor perspective. It also helps establish causation and enable attribution claims at various results levels with its different elements. The model has some limitations but my results suggest it can be usefully adopted. The choice of its application depends on project evaluation context and purpose in specific cases.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTS. DE ENSINO
Nos últimos quarenta anos, o Método do Quadro Lógico (MQL) vem sendo utilizado como modelo para o planejamento, execução e avaliação de projetos de desenvolvimento, por agências bilaterais, multilaterais, organizações governamentais e não governamentais. A condução de projetos com o apoio do método forneceu subsídios para a evolução do conceito original, ramificando-se em novos modelos e instrumentos, mas seu instrumento principal, o Quadro Lógico, permaneceu sendo empregado, apesar de algumas pequenas alterações. Durante seu período de maior evolução, os anos 1990, algumas fortes críticas questionaram a efetividade do método, mas não chegaram a abalar seu uso, pois a quantidade de usuários continuou a crescer. As críticas serviram para reflexão. Com a criação e evolução de outras ferramentas de gerenciamento de projetos, foi possível a assimilação do uso de componentes desses modelos para, em conjunto com o MQL, proporcionar melhorias no seu uso, tornando-o ainda mais consistente. O propósito desse trabalho foi, após diferenciar as características de projetos empresariais de projetos de desenvolvimento, considerando o largo uso do Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) nas Américas, avaliar as potenciais contribuições que esse conjunto de ferramentas, mais utilizado para projetos empresariais, pode proporcionar ao MQL, abordando diretamente seus pontos fracos e desvantagens e demonstrando as maneiras como o PMBOK pode contribuir para minimizar suas fraquezas e vulnerabilidades.
In the last forty years, the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) has been used as a model for the planning, implementation and evaluation of development projects by bilateral and multilateral agencies, governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Conducting projects with the support of the approach provided subsidies for the evolution of the original concept, branching into new models and tools, but its main instrument, the Logical Framework, remained running, despite some little changes. During its period of greatest development, the 1990s, some strong criticism questioned the effectiveness of the method, but failed to affect its use, since the number of users continued to grow. The criticisms served to reflection. With the creation and evolution of other project management tools, it was possible to assimilate the use of components of these models, in conjunction with the LFA, providing improvements in its use, and making it more consistent. The purpose of this study was, after contrasting the characteristics of business projects and development projects, and considering the wide use of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) in the Americas, to evaluate the potential contributions that this set of tools can provide to the LFA, directly addressing its weaknesses and drawbacks and demonstrating the ways in which PMBOK can help to reduce its vulnerabilities.

The topic of the thesis focuses on the management of projects funded by the EU. In the first part I provide basic information about possibility of withdrawing funds from the EU. I describe operational programmes, funding opportunities and the process of withdrawing finances. I focus on the classification of different types of projects to be financed. The second part focuses on project management itself. I will analyze the project management methodology approved by European Commission for projects funded by the EU -- the logical framework approach. I will analyze whether the logical framework approach covers all phases of the project life cycle defined by the EU. I propose some methods that can be used in practice for different types of project with usage of well-known standard for project management -- PMBOK. The last part includes a case study -- analysis of project "Revitalization of village center in Drnava". Applying the logical framework methodology I will design a logical framework matrix for the village, which is one of the obligatory documents needed for the subsidiary applicants.

Uppsatsen undersöker om antropologiskt kunskap kan implementeras i Logical Framework Approach (LFA) –metoden för att förbättra den. LFA är en projektplaneringsmetod som bland annat används inom utvecklingsprojekt. Olika publiceringar om LFA har studerats för att få fram för- och motargument. Vidare har antropologiska publiceringar om hur antropologi kan användas inom utveckling- och biståndsprojekt legat till grund för att analysera LFA, och se om och isåfall var antropologisk kunskap kan användas för att förbättra den. Resultatet presenteras i form redovisning på var metoden får kritik samt hur antropologisk kunskap kan bidra till förbättring i det specifika området.
The thesis seeks to examine whether anthropological knowledge can improve the Logical Framework Approach (LFA). LFA is a widespread project planning method that is used in development projects. Various publications about LFA have been studied to identify arguments in favor of, and against the method. Furthermore, anthropological publications on how anthropology can be used in development and aid projects forms the foundations for analyzing the LFA. This is performed to see where anthropological knowledge can be applied to improve it. The result is presented by focusing on the criticism to discover how anthropology can contribute to improving the methods in the areas of concern.

A1302

Introduction: Peru is a country that is undergoing a process of democratic transformation. Local and international development agencies are established in Peru in order to support this process. In the last decade, there has been an encouragement for these agencies to use strategic management in their project work. The Logical Framework Approach (LFA) is an objective-oriented approach that has become widely employed for the planning, implementation and evaluation of development projects. The so called “vertical logic” of the LFA, rests on the assumption that project stakeholders can predetermine and agree on how certain activities will lead to the accomplishment of a hierarchy of formally stated goals.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the applicability of the vertical logic of LFA on development projects in Peru.

Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of this paper is based on theories and arguments raised for and against Management By Objectives (MBO) from which the LFA originates. In addition, the special features of the development sector are discussed in regard to this rational goal approach.

Method: This paper has been carried out as a Minor Field Study (MFS) in Peru where representatives of local as well as international development agencies have been interviewed.

Empirical findings and Analysis: This paper highlights the special characteristics of development work in Peru. Projects are typically large with abstract, complex goals and multiple stakeholders. In addition, they are carried out in an environment typified by significant instability and change. These characteristics potentially make some of the features inherent in the vertical logic of LFA, such as strict planning and goal congruency, unrealistic. This potentially limits its usefulness as a strategic management tool.

This thesis focuses on the development proposal on the use of multimedia in primary and secondary schools. It specifies the conditions and requirements of entrepreneurs, who implement their business plan for development education and multimedia. Includes document preparation for applying for funding to support schools in the South Region in the development of multimedia in teaching.

This research study aims to enhance the effectiveness of the architectural design process regarding the exploration and framing of the best visual connections to the outside environment within built environments. Specifically, it aims to develop a framework for developing and integrating an inside-out design approach augmented and informed by digital 3D geospatial data as a way to enhance the explorative ability and decision-making process for designers regarding the visual connection to the outside environment. To do so, the strategy of logical argumentation is used to analyze and study the phenomenon of making visual connections to a surrounding context. The initial recommendation of this stage is to integrate an inside-out design approach that operates within the digital immersion within 3D digital representations of the surrounding context. This strategy will help to identify the basic logical steps of the proposed inside-out design process. Then, the method of immersive case study is used to test and further develop a proposed process by designing a specific building, specifically, an Art Museum building on the campus of Virginia Tech. Finally, the Delphi method is used in order to evaluate the necessity and importance of the proposed approach to the design process and its ability to achieve this goal. A multi-round survey was distributed to measure the consensus among a number of experts regarding the proposed design approach and its developed design tool. Overall, findings refer to a total agreement among the participating experts regarding the proposed design approach with some different concerns regarding the proposed design tool.
Doctor of Philosophy
Achieving a well-designed visual connection to one's surroundings is considered by many philosophers and theorists to be an essential aspect of our spatial experience within built environments. The goal of this research is to help designers to achieve better visual connections to the outside environment and therefore create more meaningful spatial experiences within the built environment. This research aims to enhance the ability of designers to explore the best possible views and make the right design decisions to frame these views of the outdoors from the inside of their buildings. Of course, the physical presence of designers at a building site has been the traditional method of determining the best views; however, this is not always possible during the design process for many reasons. Thus, this research aims to find a more effective alternative to visiting a building site in order to inform each design decision regarding the quality of its visual connection to the outdoors. To do so, this research developed a proposed inside-out design approach to be integrated into the design process. Specifically, it outlines a process that allows the designers to be digitally immersed within an accurate 3D representation of the surrounding context, which will help designers to explore views from multiple angles both inside the space and in response make the most suitable design decision. For further developing the proposed process, it was used during conducting this research to design an Art Museum on Virginia Tech Campus.

The majority of the rural population in developing countries sustains their livelihoods through small-scale family farming on subsistence level. However, agricultural productivity is far from its potential and food insecurity and high absolute poverty rates are widespread challenges in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), including Mozambique. Global actors, such as the World Bank (WB), frequently publish policy guidelines, strategy papers and reports, all aiming at tackling the focal problem of low agricultural productivity and claiming to be dedicated to the overall goal of economic, social, inclusive and sustainable development. But as agricultural productivity rates in many developing countries remain low, and food insecurity rates have been high for several decades, the adequacy of global policy guidelines for local structures, conditions and needs is questionable. The aim of this study is therefore to analyze the suitability of and identify possible discrepancies between global strategies – that claim to raise agricultural productivity and food security – and the local level. A strong emphasis is placed on a people-centered, local grassroots perspective. To gather data, a five-week field study in Lago District, Mozambique, was carried out, following an abductive approach and using semi-structured interviews on household level, and with a variety of other stakeholders from the public and private sector. The Logical Framework Approach was applied to structure the findings from the WB report and from the field work, with the aim to create a basis for the analysis and comparison of that data, which provides an answer to the research problem of the suitability of global policies on local level. Additional analytical guidance is provided by the concept of human security and a gender perspective. Conclusions from the study demonstrate that the neoliberal point of departure and the different understandings of small-scale farming underlying the problem and objective of (low) agricultural productivity rates identified by the WB, are not coherent in comparison to the local situation identified in Lago District. The development interventions suggested by the WB rather tend to be an obstacle for sustainable rural and agricultural development, as well as local food security/sovereignty, poverty alleviation and inclusive economic growth in the context of Lago District.

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A gestão de projetos de desenvolvimento territorial está sendo, de forma crescente, confrontada com os desafios da localização e da sustentabilidade. Neste contexto, se questiona se os tradicionais modelos de gestão de projetos, fundamentados ainda no pensamento mecanicista e reducionista, podem fazer frente a estes desafios. Esta pesquisa procura, de forma indutiva, buscar respostas para esta questão, partindo da sistematização do caso do “Programa de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Sustentado da Costa dos Coqueiros”, analisando discursos da academia e das agências de assistência técnica ao desenvolvimento, bem como estudando dois modelos de referência em gestão de projetos, o Logical Framework Approach e o Project Management Body of Knowledge. Resulta destas análises a conclusão de que a concepção e a administração de projetos de desenvolvimento territorial, além de serem fortemente influenciadas pelo contexto local, requerem uma nova forma de abordagem, de caráter mais endógeno, que promova a capacitação, a participação e o empoderamento efetivo dos beneficiários e dos demais atores locais envolvidos.
Salvador

The theme of this master´s thesis is a feasibility analysis of planned construction of an enviromentally friendly hotel in the Czech context on the example of Yves Rocher company. The reason for choosing this topic is my interest in the enviromental pro-tection and an effort to point out the advantages of implementing the principles of enviromentally aware into the company´s own strategy. The thesis focuses on the interests of potential clientele and the level of viability of the future accommodation facility with the goal of verifying whether there is realistically a chance of profitability of a project involving the construction of an enviromentally friendly hotel in the Czech enviroment. A complete analysis is carried out during the pre-stage to determine the above mentioned aspects and it´s main focus is an opportunity study and feasibility study. Public opinion data was gathered using a survey among 160 independent respondents. SLEPT analysis was used for a detailed analysis of the external environment of the enviromentally friendly hotel. It´s technical functionality allows detailed characterization of each segment including the impacts that any action in those given segments can have. These impacts can be a key indicator for establishing the required market stability. The SWOT analysis was used for the final summary of the gathered results. This summary was then implemented in the Logical Framework approach with the goal of final recapitulation of the project´s design.

Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Marketing
El presente documento se basa en la aplicación de una nueva metodología, justificada dentro del marco teórico de Service Analytics y ARC. Esta metodología, consta de tres etapas: En primer lugar, un proceso de Anotación Manual, para analizar feedback escrito no estructurado de clientes. En segundo lugar un mapeo del proceso de servicios visto de la perspectiva de los clientes. Y finalmente, la construcción de un artefacto de Text Mining basado en los dos procesos anteriormente concretados, buscando automatizar el análisis de grandes masas de texto, proveniente de altas cantidades de comentarios de retroalimentación recibida de los clientes. En este documento, se trabaja esta metodología, aplicándola por primera vez en el idioma español, y en un dominio de servicios diferente a su predecesora original. Los objetivos de este trabajo, por tanto se pueden dividir en Impacto Académico e Impacto Organizacional, donde los primeros corresponden a realizar los ajustes pertinentes a las herramientas y definiciones actualmente existentes. Demostrando su capacidad de adaptación libre de dominio e idioma, entregando robustez y validación a la metodología. Los segundos corresponden a las aplicaciones prácticas de la metodología en base a la información provista por la organización involucrada. Generando un método eficiente y adaptado a sus operaciones de análisis de feedback de clientes, un boceto del servicio visto desde la perspectiva de sus clientes y finalmente un prototipo de artefacto de minería de texto. Todo esto, con la capacidad de construir sobre los mismos, herramientas y outputs de mayor complejidad y elaboración a futuro, lo cual sumado a los pocos casos de estudios existentes hasta el momento y la novedad de la metodología (iniciada el 2013 y con publicaciones recientes en 2014), les puede entregar una ventaja competitiva en la gestión del feedback de sus clientes respecto a otras organizaciones de la industria y mundo empresarial en general. La metodología utilizada para la investigación corresponde al Caso de Estudio, que en esta oportunidad contó con información provista por el Grupo LATAM Airlines, y su área de Contact Center; Junto al procedimiento de 5 Fases Iterativas de Takeda (Takeda, Veerkamp, & Yoshikawa, 1990). Los resultados logrados, considerando las limitaciones del estudio, se dividen por tanto en las tres fases del trabajo. En primer lugar, la conclusión clave de que es posible adaptar la metodología a otro idioma y dominio de servicios. Junto a esto, la entrega de un instructivo de anotación manual en español, una planilla propuesta para realizar en forma eficiente el procedimiento, y un set de observaciones relevantes para la metodología, como por ejemplo, la forma de tratar casos de Elementos Genéricos. En segundo lugar, el output del mapeo de servicios de la organización, con sus 4 grandes procesos de servicios y todos sus elementos pertenecientes al marco ARC. Por último, el primer prototipo del artefacto de Text Mining, lo cual puede ser el principio de una construcción avanzada por parte de la empresa.

The thesis introduces a framework for analysing market monitoring and surveillance systems in order to provide a common foundation for researchers and practitioners to specify, design, implement, compare and evaluate such systems. The proposed framework serves as a reference map for researchers and practitioners to position their work in the context of market monitoring and surveillance, resulting in a useful instrument for the analysis, testing and management of such systems. More specifically, the thesis examines the new requirements for the operation of financial markets, the role of technologies, the recent consultations on the structure and governance of EU and US markets, as well as, future usage scenarios and emerging technologies. It examines the context in which market monitoring and market surveillance systems are currently been used. It reports on their processes, performance, and on the organisational and regulatory environments in which they exist. Furthermore, it develops a set of taxonomies which cover the majority of the concepts of market manipulation, market monitoring, market surveillance, entities, technologies and actors that are relevant for the work in this thesis. Building on the gaps and limitations of the current systems, it proposes a new framework following the Design Science methodology. The usefulness of the framework is evaluated through four critical case studies, which not only help to understand with practical exercises the way how markets monitoring and surveillance systems work, but also to investigate their weaknesses, potential evolution and ways to improve them. For each case study, the thesis develops a fully working prototype tested using a sample prosecution case and evaluated in terms of the appropriateness and suitability of the proposed framework. Finally, implications relating to policies, procedures and future market structures are discussed followed by suggestions for future research.

Les applications ubiquitaires évoluent dans des environnements plus hétérogènes et plus dynamiques que ceux des systèmes distribués traditionnels. La criticité des domaines applicatifs impliqués et la vocation non intrusive de l'informatique ubiquitaire exigent de garantir la robustesse des applications avant et pendant leur déploiement en situation réelle. Les solutions proposant de gérer la dynamicité des environnements ubiquitaires offrent des canevas de programmation dont la généricité ne permet pas de garantir la fiabilité des applications développées. D'autres solutions permettent davantage de vérifications en assurant, par exemple, l'intégrité des communications. Cependant, ces vérifications, telles que proposées dans ces solutions, empêchent la prise en compte de la dynamicité, indispensable à la mise en oeuvre d'applications ubiquitaires. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons un canevas logiciel visant à concevoir, développer, vérifier et tester les applications ubiquitaires avant leur déploiement en environnements réels. Notre approche repose sur des spécifications haut niveau des applications cibles. Chaque spécification, écrites dans le langage DIASPEC, est analysée, vérifiée et compilée par le compilateur DIASPEC qui génère un canevas logiciel dédié, incluant un canevas de programmation et un canevas de simulation. Les canevas de programmation générés fournissent du support pour la programmation d'applications ubiquitaires. Ils garantissent l'intégrité des communications tout en permettant la gestion de la dynamicité des environnements ubiquitaires. Les canevas de simulation générés fournissent du support pour le test des applications ainsi développées. Les contributions de cette thèse sont les suivantes :
– Nous proposons l'approche DIAGEN qui permet, à partir de spécifications d'architectures logicielles ubiquitaires, de générer du support de programmation et un ensemble de vérifications dédiés au développement d'applications ubiquitaires. Ces spécifications reposent sur un langage déclaratif, appelé DIASPEC, qui permet de décrire les types de services composant les applications ubiquitaires cibles. Le compilateur DIASPEC vérifie la cohérence des spécifications et génère, à partir de celles-ci, des canevas de programmation dédiés. Les canevas de programmation générés garantissent l'intégrité des communications d'applications dynamiques.
– Nous avons développé DIASIM, un simulateur pour tester à l'exécution, le comportement des applications développées avec l'approche DIAGEN. DIASIM permet de tester les applications sans les modifier et d'intégrer incrémentalement des services réels dans les scénarios de simulation.
– Nous avons montré que l'approche DIAGEN permet davantage de vérifications statiques tout en gérant la dynamicité des environnements ubiquitaires et en permettant une plus grande concision des applications développées. Nous avons analysé les canevas de programmation générés pour la gestion de réunion, l'immotique et la téléphonie.

Cette thèse a pour sujet la conception de scénarios pédagogiques destinés à l'e-formation. Afin de faciliter les échanges de matériaux décrivant des stratégies pédagogiques, la communauté s'est récemment mobilisée pour proposer un langage standard suffisamment générique pour permettre la représentation de n'importe quel scénario, indépendant même du paradigme éducationnel sous-jacent. Appelé génériquement Educational Modeling Language (EML), ce type de langage engendre une nouvelle façon de concevoir des EIAH, en s'éloignant du traditionnel Instructional System Design, une fois que, au lieu de proposer une application finie, les EML proposent un modèle conceptuel standard, une notation pour l'exprimer et des éditeurs et frameworks, laissant aux concepteurs finaux la tâche de créer leurs propres « applications ». Les EMLs permettent alors la création et exécution d'instances de scénarios, dans une approche plus ouverte et flexible, augmentant, ainsi, les possibilités d'adaptation des applications résultantes aux besoins des usagers.
Cette flexibilité reste pourtant limitée et, après quelques années de recherche, les EMLs commencent à montrer ses faiblesses. En fait, le langage choisi pour devenir le standard du domaine, le IMS-LD, s'est montré générique, certes, mais peu expressive, ne permettant pas une représentation fidèle des divers scénarios existants. C'est à dire, c'est aux usagers de s'adapter à la syntaxe et sémantique de cet standard.
Cette thèse part d'un constat quant aux difficultés du processus de conception lui-même, et aux risques de coupure qu'il peut y avoir entre pédagogues et développeurs de logiciels. Pour améliorer la capacité des équipes pédagogiques à pouvoir spécifier, et même implémenter, des scénarios pédagogiques, nous proposons une approche où c'est l'EML qui doit s'adapter aux besoins de l'usager. L'usager a la possibilité de créer son propre langage (ou ses propres langages), s'il en a besoin. En plus, un même scénario peut être décrit en même temps par des différents EMLs (ou modèles) respectant des différents perspectives - et même paradigmes - de chaque stake holder.
Cette approche, appelée multi-EML, est possible grâce aux avancées récentes du génie logiciel, telle l'Architecture Dirigée par les Modèles – l'implémentation la plus connue d'un nouvel paradigme de programmation surnommé Languages Oriented Programming (LOP), qui inclut encore d'autres implémentations.
Notre proposition réside dans la conception d'un environnement informatique « auteur », qui repose sur les principes des Languages Oriented Programming, en utilisant la plateforme ouverte ECLIPSE et, plus particulièrement son implémentation du LOP, l'Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). Ainsi, les concepteurs auront un outil qui leur permettra de créer des spécifications formelles décrivant les scénarios envisagés et d'en générer automatiquement des applications correspondantes, dans un processus qui démarre avec les descriptions informelles des experts du domaine.
Reconnaissant que les experts d'éducation - ceux qui mieux comprennent le domaine - ne sont pas nécessairement des informaticiens, l'environnement proposé, appelé MDEduc, fournit aussi un éditeur permettant de décrire un scénario dans une notation informelle, à savoir le pattern pédagogique, à partir de laquelle les modèles formels peuvent être dérivés. En plus, nous proposons de garder côte à côte et en coïncidence ces descriptions en langage informelles, et les descriptions plus formelles et normatives et d'offrir la possibilité d'effectuer des allers-retours à toutes les phases du cycle de vie du dispositif pédagogique.

Ce travail traite de la simulation et de la validation de tâches de manipulation complexes sous de fortes contraintes géométriques dans des environnements virtuels. Les applications visées sont liées au Framework industriel 4.0 ; à mesure que les produits s’intègrent de plus en plus et que la concurrence économique s'intensifie, les industriels expriment le besoin de valider, dès la conception, non seulement les modèles CAO statiques de leurs produits mais aussi les tâches (ex. : assemblage ou maintenance) liées à leur Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). La communauté scientifique s'est penchée sur cette question sous deux angles : - La planification des tâches décompose une tâche de manipulation à réaliser en une séquence d'actions primitives (c.-à-d. un plan de tâches). - La planification de trajectoire calcule des trajectoires sans collision, notamment pour les objets manipulés. Elle utilise traditionnellement des données purement géométriques, ce qui conduit à des limitations classiques. Les approches conjointes de planification des tâches et des trajectoires que l'on trouve dans la littérature effectuent habituellement une étape classique de planification des tâches, puis vérifient la faisabilité des demandes de planification de trajectoire associées aux actions primitives de ce plan de tâches. Le lien entre la planification des tâches et des trajectoires doit être amélioré, notamment en raison de l'absence de bouclage entre le niveau de planification des trajectoires et le niveau de planification des tâches : - L'information de planification de trajectoire utilisée pour remettre en question le plan de tâches se limite habituellement à la faisabilité du mouvement lorsqu'une information plus riche telle que la pertinence ou la complexité de la trajectoire proposée serait nécessaire ; - Les requêtes de planification de trajectoire utilisent traditionnellement des données purement géométriques et/ou des méthodes de planification de trajectoire "aveugles" (par exemple, RRT), et aucune information liée aux tâches n'est utilisée au niveau de la planification de trajectoire. Notre travail se concentre sur l'utilisation de l'information au niveau des tâches au niveau de la planification de la trajectoire. L'algorithme de planification de trajectoire RRT est considéré, parce que nous considérons la simulation de tâches complexes sous fortes contraintes géométriques. Nous proposons une approche basée sur l'ontologie pour utiliser les informations au niveau des tâches afin de spécifier les requêtes de planification de trajectoire pour les actions primitives d'un plan de tâches. Tout d'abord, nous proposons une ontologie pour conceptualiser les connaissances sur l'environnement 3D dans lequel la tâche simulée se déroule. L'originalité de l'ontologie proposée réside dans le fait qu'elle conceptualise des connaissances hétérogènes (données sémantiques, topologiques et géométriques) tant sur les obstacles que sur les modèles d'espace libre. Deuxièmement, nous exploitons cette ontologie pour générer automatiquement une requête de planification de trajectoire associée à chaque action primitive donnée d'un plan de tâches. Grâce à un processus de raisonnement impliquant les actions primitives instanciées dans l'ontologie, nous sommes capables de déduire les configurations de départ et d'objectif, ainsi que les contraintes géométriques liées aux tâches. Enfin, un planificateur de trajet multi-niveaux est appelé pour générer la trajectoire. Les contributions de ce travail ont été validées par la simulation de plusieurs tâches de manipulation sous de fortes contraintes géométriques. Les résultats obtenus démontrent que l'utilisation de l'information liée aux tâches permet un meilleur contrôle sur l'algorithme de planification de trajectoire RRT pour vérifier la faisabilité du mouvement des actions primitives d'un plan de tâches, ce qui entraîne une réduction du temps de calcul et des trajectoires plus pertinentes pour les actions primitives
This work deals with the simulation and the validation of complex manipulation tasks under strong geometric constraints in virtual environments. The targeted applications relate to the industry 4.0 framework; as up-to-date products are more and more integrated and the economic competition increases, industrial companies express the need to validate, from design stage on, not only the static CAD models of their products but also the tasks (e.g., assembly or maintenance) related to their Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). The scientific community looked at this issue from two points of view: - Task planning decomposes a manipulation task to be realized into a sequence of primitive actions (i.e., a task plan) - Path planning computes collision-free trajectories, notably for the manipulated objects. It traditionally uses purely geometric data, which leads to classical limitations (possible high computational processing times, low relevance of the proposed trajectory concerning the task to be performed, or failure); recent works have shown the interest of using higher abstraction level data. Joint task and path planning approaches found in the literature usually perform a classical task planning step, and then check out the feasibility of path planning requests associated with the primitive actions of this task plan. The link between task and path planning has to be improved, notably because of the lack of loopback between the path planning level and the task planning level: - The path planning information used to question the task plan is usually limited to the motion feasibility where richer information such as the relevance or the complexity of the proposed path would be needed; - path planning queries traditionally use purely geometric data and/or “blind” path planning methods (e.g., RRT), and no task-related information is used at the path planning level Our work focuses on using task level information at the path planning level. The path planning algorithm considered is RRT; we chose such a probabilistic algorithm because we consider path planning for the simulation and the validation of complex tasks under strong geometric constraints. We propose an ontology-based approach to use task level information to specify path planning queries for the primitive actions of a task plan. First, we propose an ontology to conceptualize the knowledge about the 3D environment in which the simulated task takes place. The environment where the simulated task takes place is considered as a closed part of 3D Cartesian space cluttered with mobile/fixed obstacles (considered as rigid bodies). It is represented by a digital model relying on a multilayer architecture involving semantic, topologic and geometric data. The originality of the proposed ontology lies in the fact that it conceptualizes heterogeneous knowledge about both the obstacles and the free space models. Second, we exploit this ontology to automatically generate a path planning query associated to each given primitive action of a task plan. Through a reasoning process involving the primitive actions instantiated in the ontology, we are able to infer the start and the goal configurations, as well as task-related geometric constraints. Finally, a multi-level path planner is called to generate the corresponding trajectory. The contributions of this work have been validated by full simulation of several manipulation tasks under strong geometric constraints. The results obtained demonstrate that using task-related information allows better control on the RRT path planning algorithm involved to check the motion feasibility for the primitive actions of a task plan, leading to lower computational time and more relevant trajectories for primitive actions

Les troubles neuropsychologiques sont très répandus et posent de réels problèmes de santé publique. En particulier, dans notre société moderne où la communication écrite est omniprésente, la dyslexie peut s’avérer excessivement handicapante. On remarque néanmoins que le diagnostic et la remédiation de cette pathologie restent délicats et manquent d’uniformisation. Ceci semble malheureusement inhérent à la caractérisation clinique par exclusion de la dyslexie, à la multitude de praticiens différents impliqués dans une telle prise en charge ainsi qu’au manque d’objectivité de certaines méthodes existantes. A ce titre, nous avons décidé d’investiguer les possibilités offertes par l’informatique actuelle pour surmonter ces barrières. Effectivement, nous avons supposé que la démocratisation des systèmes informatiques et leur puissance de calcul pourraient en faire un outil de choix pour pallier les difficultés rencontrées lors de la prise en charge de la dyslexie. Cette recherche nous a ainsi mené à étudier les techniques, aussi bien logicielles que matérielles, pouvant conduire au développement d’un système bon marché et évolutif qui serait capable d’assister un changement bénéfique et progressif des pratiques qui entourent cette pathologie. Avec ce projet, nous nous plaçons définitivement dans un courant innovant au service de la qualité des soins et des aides apportées aux personnes souffrant d’un handicap. Notre travail a ainsi consisté à identifier différents axes d’amélioration que l’utilisation de l’outil informatique rend possible. Chacun de ces axes a alors pu faire l’objet de recherches exhaustives, de modélisations et de développements de prototypes. Nous avons également réfléchi à la méthodologie à mettre en œuvre pour concevoir un tel système dans sa globalité. En particulier, nos réflexions et ces différents accomplissements nous ont permis de définir un framework logiciel propice à l’implémentation d’une plate-forme logicielle que nous avons appelée la PAMMA. Cette plate-forme devrait théoriquement pouvoir disposer de tous les outils permettant le développement souple et efficace d’applications médicales intégrant des processus métiers. Il est ainsi attendu de ce système qu’il permette le développement d’applications, pour la prise en charges des patients dyslexiques, conduisant à un diagnostic plus rapide et plus précis ainsi qu’à une remédiation plus adaptée et plus efficace. De notre effort d’innovation ressortent des perspectives encourageantes. Cependant, ce type d’initiative ne peut se concrétiser qu’autour de collaborations pluridisciplinaires disposant de nombreux moyens fonctionnels, techniques et financiers. La constitution d’un tel consortium semble donc être la prochaine étape nécessaire à l’obtention des financements pour réaliser un premier prototype fonctionnel de la PAMMA, ainsi que de premières applications. Des études cliniques pourront être alors menées pour prouver indubitablement l’efficacité d’une telle approche dans le cadre de la prise en charge de la dyslexie, ainsi qu’éventuellement d’autres troubles neuropsychologiques
Neuropsychological disorders are widespread and generate real public health problems. In particular in our modern society, where written communication is ubiquitous, dyslexia can be extremely disabling. Nevertheless we can note that the diagnosis and remediation of this pathology are fastidious and lack of standardization. Unfortunately it seems inherent to the clinical characterization of dyslexia by exclusion, to the multitude of different practitioners involved in such treatment and to the lack of objectivity of some existing methods. In this respect, we decided to investigate the possibilities offered by modern computing to overcome these barriers. Indeed we have assumed that the democratization of computer systems and their computing power could make of them a perfect tool to alleviate the difficulties encountered in the treatment of dyslexia. This research has led us to study the techniques software as well as hardware, which can conduct to the development of an inexpensive and scalable system able to attend a beneficial and progressive changing of practices in this pathology field. With this project we put ourselves definitely in an innovative stream serving quality of care and aid provided to people with disabilities. Our work has been identifying different improvement areas that the use of computers enables. Then each of these areas could then be the subject of extensive research, modeling and prototype developments. We also considered the methodology for designing this kind of system as a whole. In particular our thoughts and these accomplishments have allowed us to define a software framework suitable for implementing a software platform that we called the PAMMA. This platform should theoretically have access to all the tools required for the flexible and efficient development of medical applications integrating business processes. In this way it is expected that this system allows the development of applications for caring dyslexic patients thus leading to a faster and more accurate diagnosis and a more appropriate and effective remediation. Of our innovation efforts emerge encouraging perspectives. However such initiatives can only be achieved within multidisciplinary collaborations with many functional, technical and financial means. Creating such a consortium seems to be the next required step to get a funding necessary for realizing a first functional prototype of the PAMMA, as well as its first applications. Some clinical studies may be conducted to prove undoubtedly the effectiveness of such an approach for treating dyslexia and eventually other neuropsychological disorders

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions plusieurs modèles de collaboration entre l’ingénierie logiciel et le web sémantique. À partir de l’état de l’art, nous proposons une approche d’utilisation de l’ontologie dans la couche de métier d’une application. L’objectif principal de notre travail est de fournir au développeur des outils pour concevoir la matière déclarative une couche de métier "exécutable" d’une application afin de simuler son fonctionnement et de montrer ainsi la conformité de l’application par rapport aux exigences du client au début du cycle de vie du logiciel. Un autre avantage de cette approche est de permettre au développeur de partager et de réutiliser la description de la couche de métier d’une application dans un domaine en utilisant l’ontologie. Celle-ci est appelée "patron d’application". La réutilisation de la description de la couche de métier d’une application est un aspect intéressant à l'ingénier logiciel. C’est le point-clé que nous voulons considérer dans cette thèse. Dans la première partie de notre travail, nous traitons la modélisation de la couche de métier. Nous présentons d’abord une approche fondée sur l’ontologie pour représenter les processus de métiers et les règles de métiers et nous montrons comment vérifier la cohérence du processus et de l’ensemble des règles de métier. Puis, nous présentons le mécanisme de vérification automatique de la conformité d’un processus de métier avec un ensemble de règles de métier. La deuxième partie de cette thèse est consacrée à définir une méthodologie, dite de personnalisation, de création une application à partir d'un "patron d’application". Cette méthode permettra à l'utilisateur d'utiliser un patron d'application pour créer sa propre application en évitant les erreurs de structures et les erreurs sémantiques. Nous introduisons à la fin de cette partie, la description d’une plateforme expérimentale permettant d’illustrer la faisabilité des mécanismes proposés dans cette thèse. Cette plateforme est réalisée sur un SGBD relationnel
In this thesis, we study several models of collaboration between Software Engineering and Semantic Web. From the state of the art, we propose an approach to the use of ontology in the business application layer. The main objective of our work is to provide the developer with the tools to design, in the declarative manner, a business "executable" layer of an application in order to simulate its operation and thus show the compliance of the application with the customer requirements defined at the beginning of the software life cycle. On the other hand, another advantage of this approach is to allow the developer to share and reuse the business layer description of a typical application in a domain using ontology. This typical application description is called "Application Template". The reuse of the business layer description of an application is an interesting aspect of software engineering. That is the key point we want to consider in this thesis. In the first part of this thesis, we deal with the modeling of the business layer. We first present an ontology-based approach to represent business process and the business rules and show how to verify the consistency of business process and the set of business rules. Then, we present an automatic check mechanism of compliance of business process with a set of business rules. The second part of this thesis is devoted to define a methodology, called personalization, of creating of an application from an "Application Template". This methodology will allow the user to use an Application Template to create his own application by avoiding deadlock and semantic errors. We introduce at the end of this part the description of an experimental platform to illustrate the feasibility of the mechanisms proposed in the thesis. This platform s carried out on a relational DBMS.Finally, we present, in a final chapter, the conclusion, the perspective and other annexed works developed during this thesis

Nous présentons une refondation théorique de la réalité virtuelle. Celle-ci est marquée par la conviction profonde de définir la réalité virtuelle comme une expérience médiatisée capable de susciter un sentiment de présence. Ce dernier est défini comme le sentiment authentique d'exister dans un monde autre que le monde physique où le corps se trouve. Nous proposons un éclairage nouveau et global sur le sentiment de présence. Cet éclairage consiste en une approche unifiée de la présence prenant en compte des considérations technologiques, psychologiques et écologiques. Nous avons élaboré un modèle qui identifie les processus menant au sentiment de présence. Selon notre modèle, deux phases inconscientes de jugement conditionnent l'émergence de la présence. Le premier jugement concerne la crédibilité de l'environnement, celle-ci dépend de la satisfaction des attentes intellectuelles et perceptives de l'utilisateur. Le deuxième jugement vise la crédibilité de l'expérience. Nous considérons que ce jugement est positif si un maximum des affordances perçues dans l'environnement est assumé, c'est-à-dire réalisable par l'intermédiaire des schémas d'interaction proposés à l'utilisateur. Nous avons mené une phase d'expérimentations pour valider la pertinence et la cohérence de notre modèle. Notre modèle a de multiples implications. Nous considérons par exemple qu'il peut constituer une grille d'analyse intéressante pour les jeux vidéo. De plus, il incite les concepteurs d'applications en réalité virtuelle à penser en terme d'affordances. Ce dernier point implique donc de faire entrer l'utilisateur très tôt dans la boucle de conception de l'application. Notre vision globale de la réalité virtuelle et de la présence a été mise en pratique notamment lors de la conception de dispositifs de réalité virtuelle transportables et à bas coûts. Sur la base de ce cadre théorique nous présentons un framework de conception d'applications en réalité virtuelle. Puisque l'objectif est la crédibilité et non le réalisme, nous nous intéressons à la réalité perçue de l'environnement et non pas à sa réalité physique. C'est pourquoi, le point de départ de notre framework consiste en un socle de connaissances sur la cognition humaine. Cette base de connaissances sert de vivier d'idées pour les quatre piliers sur lesquels peut s'appuyer le concepteur d'applications en réalité virtuelle. Ces piliers sont l'immersion, l'interaction, les émotions et un quatrième regroupant la boucle sensori-motrice et la multimodalité. Concernant le pilier immersion nous proposons un nouvel algorithme pour le calcul de la réverbération sonore dans un environnement complexe et dynamique. Notre méthode repose sur l'algorithme existant du lancer de frustum mais propose deux optimisations. La première exploite le socle de connaissances sur la cognition humaine pour déterminer une sphère d'acuité sonore. Celle-ci nous sert de cadre pour lancer les frusta depuis l'auditeur et non depuis les sources sonores. Cette deuxième optimisation réduit le nombre de calculs

While sustainability-dedicated managers and related titles represent a profession that has hardly existed for more than a decade, it is not surprising that the field of research concentrating on these professionals is in itself relatively new. With an increasing demand for corporations to take their social and environmental responsibility, and a corporate sustainability characterized by tension and paradox, we found it of importance to explore the role and entanglements of these professionals. By analysing 17 in-depth interviews with sustainability-dedicated professionals from the private sector in Sweden, our interpretation is that sustainability managers hold the function of selling sustainability, with talk as their main weapon. Expressly, in the intersection between business-case logics and sustainability logics, sustainability managers have to, above all, make a convincing case for sustainability, inwards and outwards. Therefore, they draw dynamically on different narratives which we conceptualise in three roles: the chameleon, the pragmatic, and the nagging manager. Through these roles, we intend to capture the fluidity with which the managers relate and engage with sustainability, and hence we do not mean to ossify a role’s dynamics within a single, static or stereotypical category. We discuss these findings and concepts to the background of previous studies and existing literature.

Les cadriciels et les bibliothèques sont indispensables aux systèmes logiciels d'aujourd'hui. Quand ils évoluent, il est souvent fastidieux et coûteux pour les développeurs de faire la mise à jour de leur code. Par conséquent, des approches ont été proposées pour aider les développeurs à migrer leur code. Généralement, ces approches ne peuvent identifier automatiquement les règles de modification une-remplacée-par-plusieurs méthodes et plusieurs-remplacées-par-une méthode. De plus, elles font souvent un compromis entre rappel et précision dans leur résultats en utilisant un ou plusieurs seuils expérimentaux. Nous présentons AURA (AUtomatic change Rule Assistant), une nouvelle approche hybride qui combine call dependency analysis et text similarity analysis pour surmonter ces limitations. Nous avons implanté AURA en Java et comparé ses résultats sur cinq cadriciels avec trois approches précédentes par Dagenais et Robillard, M. Kim et al., et Schäfer et al. Les résultats de cette comparaison montrent que, en moyenne, le rappel de AURA est 53,07% plus que celui des autre approches avec une précision similaire (0,10% en moins).
Software frameworks and libraries are indispensable to today's software systems. As they evolve, it is often time-consuming for developers to keep their code up-to-date. Approaches have been proposed to facilitate this. Usually, these approaches cannot automatically identify change rules for one-replaced-by-many and many-replaced-by-one methods, and they trade off recall for higher precision using one or more experimentally-evaluated thresholds. We introduce AURA (AUtomatic change Rule Assistant), a novel hybrid approach that combines call dependency and text similarity analyses to overcome these limitations. We implement it in a Java system and compare it on five frameworks with three previous approaches by Dagenais and Robillard, M. Kim et al., and Schäfer et al. The comparison shows that, on average, the recall of AURA is 53.07% higher while its precision is similar (0.10% lower).

Doutoramento em Gestão
Underpinned by Service-dominant Logic (SdL), Neo-institutional Theory (NiT) and Theory of Structuration, the present research intends to deepen the understanding of how meta-layer, culturally-driven institutions shape the agency of decision-makers in service exchange engagement. Since there is a lack of works in SdL addressing how institutions coordinate value cocreation, the present research aims to fill this gap by focusing on how individuals conciliate institutions as it has significant implications on how they engage in service exchange. From the articulation of the three aforementioned distinct bodies of literature, a conceptual framework addressing the phenomenon under study emerged. In order to meet the research purposes, an interpretivist, naturalistic and mainly deductive perspective was taken and a multiple embedded case study research was adopted. The primary unit of analysis of the research is the individual, in its two dimensions (i.e. agency and social structure) and two additional units of analysis (embedded units) are considered: the firm and the organizational field where the individual is embedded in order to represent the phenomenon’s complexity. The research population is comprised by Portuguese individuals performing decision-making and troubleshooting roles as service beneficiaries, in Portuguese firms. From the population, eight cases meeting literal and theoretical replication criteria were initially selected and four additional cases were added to accomplish theoretical saturation. Interviews were conducted and document analyses and observation were performed to collect data. A framework based on empirical data regarding how culturally-driven institutions shape the agency of decision-makers is proposed. It considers not only what actions are affected by institutions but also how different institutions interact inside the individual’s structure. Also, this research brings to the forefront of SdL literature the concept of cultural resource by stressing its empirical relevance. These are two of the main contributions made by the current research to SdL, NiT and management practice.
Suportada na Lógica dominante do Serviço (LdS), na Teoria Neo-institucional (TNi) e na Teoria da Estruturação, esta investigação pretende aprofundar o conhecimento sobre o efeito de instituições culturais na ação de decisores envolvidos em trocas de serviço. Dada a escassez de estudos que abordem a influência das instituições na co-criação de valor, a presente investigação pretende contribuir para reduzir esta lacuna focando-se na forma como os decisores conciliam as instituições, que tem, por sua vez, implicações na forma como os indivíduos desenvolvem trocas de serviço. Da articulação das três referidas teorias resulta um modelo conceptual do fenómeno a investigar. Durante a investigação foi adotada uma perspectiva interpretativista, naturalista e maioritariamente dedutiva para conduzir múltiplos casos de estudo em que a principal unidade de análise é o indivíduo nas suas duas dimensões (i.e. agência e estrutura). Foram ainda consideradas duas unidades de análise adicionais (i.e. a empresa e o campo organizacional em que o indivíduo está inserido) por forma a representar a complexidade do fenómeno em investigação. A população do estudo compreende indivíduos portugueses com papéis de decisão e de resolução de problemas enquanto beneficiários de um serviço, em empresas portuguesas. Da população foram selecionados oito casos iniciais com base em critérios de replicação literal e teórica e posteriormente, foram escolhidos mais quatro casos de forma a atingir a saturação teórica. A informação foi recolhida, através de entrevistas, dados secundários e observação, e analisada. A partir dos dados empíricos é proposto um modelo de como as instituições culturais condicionam a ação dos decisores, que considera que as ações são afetadas pelas instituições, bem como as diferentes instituições interagem dentro da estrutura do individuo. Adicionalmente, esta investigação sublinha a relevância empírica do conceito de recurso cultural, entre outras contribuições feitas para a LdS, para a TNi e para a prática da gestão.
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