Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Performance assessment criteria'

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior<br>Use of Performance Measurement Systems through multi-criteria analysis to support the decision is constituted as an important tool that can support the diagnosis of competitiveness of organizations. Since the approach is intertwined with the business results and more specifically to the competition, this work focuses on measuring the performance of companies in the wine industry in southern Brazil, from business and industry dimensions. For this we opted for a qualitative and quantitative research, exploratory and descriptive, conducted through a multi case study. From the development of modeling and application in the wine sector in the region under study, it became possible to verify the criteria and critical success factors in the competitive landscape, that through multi-criteria analysis and use of performance indicators enabled the identification of prioritizing factors and the distinction regarding organizational performance in the context of the evaluated dimensions. The overall picture shows that only one of the companies surveyed can be considered fully competitive, confirming the strength of the pressures on the sector and the absence of strategies that allow companies a representative expansion.<br>O uso de Sistemas de Medição de Desempenho (SMD) através da análise multicritério como suporte a decisão se constitui como uma importante ferramenta capaz de subsidiar o diagnóstico da competitividade das organizações. Visto que a abordagem se entrelaça com os resultados empresariais e de maneira mais específica com a competição, esse trabalho concentra-se em medir o desempenho das empresas do setor vitivinícola na região sul do Brasil, a partir das dimensões empresarial e setorial. Para isso optou-se por uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa e quantitativa, exploratória e descritiva, realizada através de um estudo multicaso. A partir do desenvolvimento da modelagem e aplicação no setor vitivinícola da região em estudo, tornou-se possível verificar os critérios e os fatores críticos de sucesso do cenário competitivo, que através da análise multicritério e utilização de indicadores de desempenho viabilizaram a identificação da priorização dos fatores e da distinção, no que tange o desempenho organizacional no contexto das dimensões avaliadas. O panorama geral mostra que apenas uma das empresas pesquisadas pode ser considerada plenamente competitiva, o que confirma a intensidade das pressões sobre o setor e a ausência de estratégias que permitam as empresas uma representativa expansão.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior<br>The oil discoveries in Brazilian pre-salt began a strong mobilization of government and also private companies to the rescue of the shipbuilding industry in the country. With the objective to become the Brazilian industry globally competitive, various government incentives provided growth, expansion and modernization of this industry that already ranks fourth in the ranking of the largest craft producing countries of the world. In this context, despite not being a young industry in Brazil, shipbuilding, especially focused on oil exploration (offshore) proved to be important element for the growth of the economy, creating jobs, developing producing regions and boosting the entire chain productive. Despite the favorable environment in which shipbuilding and offshore industries are, there are still gaps that undermine competitiveness these organizations in the global market, as the skilled labor available, the adequacy of suppliers to their demands and the large need for investment in technology. Thus, this dissertation project aims at proposing a model able to measure the level of innovation in Brazilian shipbuilding and offshore, in the structural and business fields, based on a literature and documentary research on the characteristics of the industry sector, using for both assumptions regarding the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the concepts of multi-criteria decision aid. The proposed model will be put to test in real companies, returning in its evaluation phase an index that represents the competitive performance of each industry evaluated, thus allowing comparison and discussion of the results. Subsequently, will be proposed recommendations able to leverage the innovation of those who submit the most unsatisfactory levels, thus demonstrating the relevance of modeling to increase the sector's competitiveness against the scenario that presents itself.<br>As descobertas de petróleo no pré-sal brasileiro iniciaram uma grande mobilização do governo e também de empresas privadas para o resgate da indústria de construção naval em todo país. Com o objetivo de tornar o setor brasileiro mundialmente competitivo, vários incentivos do governo proporcionaram o crescimento, expansão e modernização desta indústria que já ocupa a quarta posição no ranking dos maiores países produtores de embarcações do mundo. Neste âmbito, apesar de não ser um setor jovem no Brasil, a construção naval, em especial a voltada para exploração de petróleo (offshore) mostrou-se elemento importante para o crescimento da economia, criando empregos, desenvolvendo regiões produtoras e impulsionando toda a cadeia produtiva. Apesar do ambiente favorável em que se encontram as indústrias de construção naval e offshore na última década, ainda existem lacunas que prejudicam a inovação e a competitividade destas organizações no mercado global, como a qualificação da mão-de-obra disponível, as adequações dos fornecedores às suas demandas e a grande necessidade de investimento em tecnologia. Assim, este projeto de dissertação tem por objetivo propor uma modelagem capaz de mensurar o nível de gestão da inovação em indústrias de construção naval e offshore brasileiras, fundamentada em uma pesquisa bibliográfica e documental sobre as características do setor, utilizando-se para tanto dos pressupostos referentes aos Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) e dos conceitos da abordagem multicritério de apoio à decisão. A modelagem proposta foi submetida a teste em empresas reais, retornando em sua fase de avaliação um índice que representa o desempenho em inovação de cada indústria avaliada, permitindo-se assim a comparação e discussão dos resultados obtidos. Posteriormente, foram propostas recomendações capazes de alavancar a gestão da inovação daquelas que apresentaram os níveis mais insatisfatórios, demonstrando-se assim a relevância da modelagem para elevar a inovação do setor frente ao cenário que se apresenta.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior<br>Although not a recent invention, the plastics material are continuously renewed and used in numerous applications with various levels of complexity, ranging from disposable goods to engineering plastics with specific physico-chemical properties. Regarding the production chain of this material, however, it appears that it is extensive and heavily dominated by the large chemical and petrochemical companies, so that the industries of plastics processing, present in the form of a large set small businesses constitute the most notoriously-brittle and more susceptible to the forces of agents upstream and downstream link. Within this framework, the research developed in this dissertation aimed to propose a model for assessing the level of competitiveness of these industries, using both concepts for the multicriteria approach for decision aid. The proposed model was developed based on the most relevant critical success factors identified in the literature, organized as a hierarchical structure, where a performance indicator was constructed for each factor and weighted by a substitution rate. The model was subjected to test in twelve real companies, returning in its evaluation phase an index that represents the competitive performance of each industry evaluated, thus allowing the comparison and discussion of the results. Subsequently, shares of recommendations aiming to simulate possible results to be achieved with the adoption of strategic initiatives, developing an electronic tool for data processing and report generation. At the end, we conclude that it is possible to measure and evaluate the level of competitiveness in plastic processing industries.<br>Apesar de não ser uma invenção recente, os materiais plásticos se renovam continuamente, sendo utilizados em inúmeras aplicações com os mais variados níveis de complexidade, que vão desde bens descartáveis até plásticos de engenharia com propriedades físico-químicas específicas. No que tange a cadeia produtiva deste material, entretanto, verifica-se que a mesma é extensa e fortemente dominada pelas empresas químicas e petroquímicas de grande porte, de tal maneira que as indústrias de transformação de plásticos, presentes sob a forma de um elevado conjunto de pequenas empresas, constituem-se notoriamente do elo mais frágil e mais suscetível às forças dos agentes a montante e a jusante. Frente a este cenário, a pesquisa desenvolvida nesta dissertação de mestrado teve por objetivo propor uma modelagem para avaliar o nível de competitividade destas indústrias, utilizando-se para tanto os conceitos da abordagem multicritério de apoio à decisão. A modelagem proposta foi desenvolvida com base nos fatores críticos de sucesso mais relevantes identificados na literatura, organizados sob a forma de uma estrutura hierárquica, onde um indicador de desempenho foi construído para cada fator e ponderado por uma taxa de substituição própria. A modelagem foi submetida a teste em doze empresas reais, retornando em sua fase de avaliação um índice que representa o desempenho competitivo de cada indústria avaliada, permitindo-se assim a comparação e discussão dos resultados obtidos. Posteriormente, foram propostas ações de recomendações com o objetivo de simular os resultados possíveis de serem obtidos com a adoção de ações estratégicas, desenvolvendo-se uma ferramenta eletrônica para o processamento de dados e geração de relatórios. Ao término, conclui-se que é possível medir e avaliar o nível de competitividade em indústrias de transformação de plástico.

Sustainable waste management remains a great challenge for many cities throughout the world. Landfilling is worldwide the most common way of treating municipal solid waste (MSW) and landfilling of organic matter releases the high potent gas methane, which contributes to global warming. If the biogas instead is collected, either from landfills or produced in a more optimal and controlled environment, it can be used as a fuel to substitute fossil fuels. In this thesis, these sorts of systems are referred to as biogas solutions. In Brazil, the eight largest economy in the world and by far the largest economy in Latin America, landfilling of MSW is essentially the only way MSW is disposed of. Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, have had long issues with waste management, with up until 2012 deposing waste to one of the largest open landfills in the world. This study was done in collaboration with Biogas Research Center (BRC): a national biogas competence center with interests in the Brazilian biogas sector as well as contacts with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Furthermore, as Swedish organic waste management practices are globally in the front edge, the Swedish perspective of waste management combined with local knowledge, could be valuable to find more efficient means of managing residues. Before initiating an actual biogas project, it is reasonable to perform an early assessment. This thesis aimed to perform an early assessment of the biogas sector in Rio, which was carried out by utilizing a multi-criteria framework. The framework consists of four categories (potential, feasibility, economic- and environmental performance), 14 key areas and 59 sub-questions, which helped gather, structure and assess information. An eight-week field study in Rio de Janeiro was part of the study. The results show that no full separation of organic content is performed as source in Rio, which is why the study included the waste streams of mixed MSW (disposed in landfills) and partly sorted organic waste (approximately 85 % organic content; referred to as Waste with High Organic Content, WHOC). Sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants was excluded from the study to enable a focus on MSW. Potential and feasibility are significantly higher for MSW compared to WHOC, although the authors argue WHOC (or even fully sorted organic waste) have substantial growth opportunities. The landfill receives approximately 1.2 million tonnes of organic wet waste per year and provides a biogas yield of 140 million Nm3 / year (50 – 55 % CH4); whereas 26 – 42 thousand tonnes of dry matter (DM) per year can be collected from WHOC, with a biogas yield potential of 6.6 – 19.5 million Nm3 / year (55 – 63 % CH4). The feasibility analysis showed that all key areas – competing applications, legislation and infrastructure – except economic instruments, are better rated for biogas production from MSW compared to WHOC. The most feasible area of use for the biogas in Rio de Janeiro was deemed to inject the gas in into the grid. The indicated environmental performance shows that injection of biogas to the gas grid reduces GHG emissions with 68 %; and for every tonne of DM digestate, approximately 8 kg phosphorous and 36 kg nitrogen can be replaced. The economic performance shows that biogas production from the landfill is more cost-efficient than from a bioreactor, however none of the biogas productions in Rio de Janeiro is profitable, which usually is expected of a waste management system. The study concludes with identifying several challenges the biogas sector in Rio will be facing: a lack of supply of biogas and no plan in action for increasing demand; economic challenges indicating need for investment support; and a lack of value chain for biofertilizers. The results of the study can hopefully provide stakeholders with a better understanding of opportunities and challenges with biogas solutions in Rio de Janeiro municipality, that ultimately can increase the chance for successful implementation in the region.<br>Hållbar avfallshantering är fortsatt en stor utmaning för många städer runtom i världen. Deponering är globalt sett det vanligaste sättet att göra sig av med fast kommunalt avfall och deponering av organiskt avfall avger den potenta gasen metan, som bidrar till global uppvärmning. Om biogasen istället samlas upp, antingen från deponin eller produceras i en mer optimal miljö, kan gasen istället användas som bränsle för att substituera fossila bränslen. I denna rapport kallas denna typen av system för biogaslösningar. I Brasilien, världens åttonde största ekonomin och den avsevärt största ekonomin i Latinamerika, hanteras fast kommunalt avfall i princip endast genom deponering. Rio de Janeiro, Brasiliens nästa största stad, har länge haft problem med avfallshantering, som fram tills 2012 slängde allt sitt avfall i en av världens största öppna deponier. Denna studie genomfördes i samarbete med Biogas Research Center (BRC): ett nationellt kompetenscenter inom biogas med intresse av den Brasilianska biogassektorn, samt med kontakter till det federala universitetet i Rio. Eftersom Sverige ur ett globalt perspektiv ligger i framkant vad gäller hantering av organiskt avfall, kan den svenska synvinkeln av avfallshantering kombinerat med lokal kunskap vara värdefull för att hitta effektivare avfallshanteringssystem. Innan man genomför ett skarp biogasprojekt är det klokt att göra en förstudie. Denna uppsats syftar till att genomföra en förstudie av biogassektorn i Rio de Janeiro, som uträttades med hjälp av ett multi-kriterieramverk. Ramverket består av fyra kategorier (potential, genomförbarhet, samt ekonomisk- och miljömässig prestanda), 14 nyckelområden samt 59 underfrågor. Ramverket användes för att assistera i insamlandet, strukturerandet och utvärderandet av information. En fältstudie på åtta veckor i Rio de Janeiro var en del av studien. Resultatet visar att ingen fullständig separering av organiskt avfall sker i Rio, vilket är orsaken till att studien inkluderar avfallsströmmarna blandat kommunalt avfall (som deponeras; benämns MSW) och delvis sorterat organiskt avfall (innehåller 85 % organiskt innehåll; benämns WHOC). Avloppsslam exkluderades från studien för att fokusera på fast kommunalt avfall. Potentialen och genomförbarheten är markant högre för MSW jämfört med WHOC, dock skall det understrykas att tillväxtpotentialen för WHOC är stor vilket ej framgår av siffrorna. Deponin mottager årligen nära 1.2 miljoner ton organiskt avfall (inkl. vatten) som ger en biogasutdelning på 140 miljoner Nm3 / år (50 – 55 % CH4); medan WHOC har en potential på 26 – 42 tusen ton (torrvikt) per år med en biogasutdelning på 6.6 – 19.5 miljoner Nm3 / år (55 – 63 % CH4). Genomförbarhetsanalysen för avfallsströmmarna visade att alla nyckelområden förutom ekonomiska instrument var värderade högre för MSW jämfört med WHOC. Studien visar vidare att det mest genomförbara användningsområdet för biogasen är injektion till gasnätet. Miljömässiga prestandan visar att substituering av naturgas med biogas kan sänka växthusgasutsläpp med 68 %, och för varje ton (torrvikt) av rötrester kan ca 8 kg fosfor och 36 kg kväve ersättas. Ekonomiska prestandan visar att biogasproduktion från deponi är mer kosteffektivt än i en bioreaktor, samt att ingen av biogaslösningarna är lönsamma, vilket kan väntas av en avfallshanteringslösning. Studien avslutas med att identifiera en rad utmaningar som biogassektorn i Rio ställs inför: en avsaknad på tillgång av biogas och ingen aktiv plan för att öka produktionen; ekonomiska utmaningar som indikerar ett behov av investeringsstöd; en brist på värdekedja för biogödsel. Resultatet av studien kan förhoppningsvis ge intressenter en bättre förståelse för vilka möjligheter och utmaningar som biogaslösningar ställs inför i Rio de Janeiro kommun – som i förlängningen kan öka möjligheterna för framgångsrika implementeringar av biogasprojekt i regionen.

O objeto de estudo deste trabalho são os critérios de avaliação do desempenho de gerenciamento de projetos, ou em outras palavras, aqueles critérios que podem ser utilizados pelos stakeholders para avaliar se o projeto está sendo, ou foi, bem gerenciado. O objetivo é contribuir para a pesquisa e melhoria do desempenho de gerenciamento de projetos. A primeira fase da pesquisa consistiu de uma revisão na literatura para mapeamento de critérios identificados por outros autores. Uma relação com 20 critérios foi utilizada no questionário aplicado nos estudos de casos para averiguar se tais critérios são utilizados pelas empresas estudadas, e se a seleção e a atribuição de importância dos critérios são influenciadas pelo papel desempenhado pelo entrevistado no gerenciamento dos projetos (gerente, membro de equipe e patrocinador, mais especificamente), pelas características dos projetos ou pela maturidade da empresa em gerenciamento de projetos. Os estudos de caso foram conduzidos em duas grandes empresas multinacionais com alta maturidade e em uma empresa brasileira de médio porte com baixa maturidade. Concluiu-se que, nas empresas estudadas, a seleção dos critérios está altamente associada à natureza e aos objetivos do projeto, não sendo perceptível a influência do papel desempenhado pelo entrevistado. Além disso, nas três empresas a questão da avaliação do desempenho do gerenciamento de projetos foi considerada muito importante tanto para o sucesso dos projetos como para o sucesso da própria organização, fato explicado pela forte contribuição dos projetos para os resultados das empresas e pela interpretação de que projetos bem gerenciados têm maior chance de satisfazer às necessidades e expectativas dos clientes e, desta forma, aumentam a capacidade da empresa de realizar novos negócios com o mesmo cliente e de se posicionar no mercado para realizar negócios com novos clientes. Concluiu-se, também, que a empresa com baixa maturidade apresenta uma tendência a preferir critérios financeiros para avaliação do gerenciamento de seus projetos, enquanto as empresas com alta maturidade preferem um conjunto de critérios multidimensionais.<br>The object of study of this research is the criteria for project management performance evaluation, in other words, those criteria used by the key stakeholders to assess whether or not a project is being or has been well managed. The objective is to contribute to the research and improvement of the project management performance. The first phase of the research consisted by the review of the literature for mapping criteria identified by other authors. A list of 20 criteria has been created and utilized for the preparation of the questionnaire applied to the case studies to verify if those criteria are used by the studied companies and if the selection and importance given are influenced by the role played in the project management by the interviewee (manager, team member and sponsor, more specifically), by the projects characteristics or by the maturity in project management of the company. The case studies were conducted in two large multinationals companies with high-maturity in project management and in a medium size Brazilian company with low maturity in project management. It was concluded that in the companies studied the selection of criteria is highly associated with the nature and objectives of the project and not influenced by the role played by the interviewee. Moreover, the three companies considered the issue of project management performance assessment very important for the success of the projects as well as the companys, fact explained by the strong contribution that projects bring to the results of the companies and by the interpretation that well managed projects are more likely to meet the customers needs and expectations, increasing the company\'s ability to conduct new business with existing clients and to position itself in the market to do business with new clients. Another conclusion is that the low maturity company is more likely to prefer financials criteria to the project management performance assess; on other hand the high maturity companies are more likely to adopt a multidimensional set of criteria.

The current research study investigates the predictive value of two frequently-used benchmark reading assessments: Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) and the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). With an increasing emphasis on high-stakes testing to measure reading proficiency, benchmark assessments may assist in predicting end-of-year performance on high-stakes testing. Utah's high-stakes measurement of end-of-year reading achievement is the English Language Arts Criterion-Referenced Test (ELA-CRT). A Utah urban school district provided data for students who completed the DRA, DIBELS, and ELA-CRT in the 2005-2006 school year. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the accuracy to which the Fall administrations of the DRA and the DIBELS predicted performance on the ELA-CRT. Supplementary analysis also included cross-sectional data for the DIBELS. Results indicated that both Fall administrations of the DRA and the DIBELS were statistically significant in predicting performance on the ELA-CRT. Students who were high risk on the benchmark assessments were less likely to score proficiently on the ELA-CRT. Also, demographic factors did not appear to affect individual performance on the ELA-CRT. Important implications include the utility of data collected from benchmark assessments to address immediate interventions for students at risk of failing end-of-year, high-stakes testing.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico<br>In the current climate of economic environment, organizations need to direct their efforts to maximize the effectiveness of their organizational management. With military organizations is no different, they operate in a highly competitive environment with unique characteristics, which forces them to play their processes with maximum excellence, especially those factors considered most relevant to your performance. Thus, the use of tools and performance indicators, as Slack model, assist in directing the organization through perspectives that align the company's shares with their strategies, allowing thus the performance evaluation and guiding organizational management. In this context, the present study is guided by linking the deployment of the five premises of Slack model, the multi-criteria approach technique Analytic Hierarchy Process and the use of traditional Delphi method as a way to validate the indicators, thus developing a system to register and evaluation of suppliers. Therefore, research is presented as a case study with a qualitative and quantitative approach applied nature and inductive method. As a result of this integration, proposing It will be a system for registration and evaluation of suppliers in Military Organizations based on criteria, with the emphasis on support for organizational management.<br>Na atual conjuntura do cenário econômico, as organizações necessitam direcionar seus esforços para maximizar a eficácia de sua gestão organizacional. Com as Organizações Militares não é diferente, elas estão inseridas em um ambiente altamente competitivo e com características peculiares, o que as obriga a desempenhar seus processos com máxima excelência, principalmente naqueles fatores considerados como os mais relevantes para o seu desempenho. Assim, o uso de técnicas e indicadores de desempenho, como Modelo de Slack, auxiliam no direcionamento da organização através de perspectivas que alinham ações da empresa com suas estratégias, permitindo, dessa forma, a avaliação de desempenho e norteando a gestão organizacional. Neste contexto, o presente estudo está pautado em vincular o desdobramento das cinco premissas do Modelo de Slack, a técnica de abordagem multicritério Analytic Hierarchy Process e a utilização do método Delphi tradicional como forma de validação dos indicadores, desenvolvendo desta forma uma sistemática para cadastro e avaliação de fornecedores. Assim sendo, a pesquisa apresenta-se como um estudo de caso, com abordagem qualitativa e quantitativa, de natureza aplicada e com método indutivo. Como resultado dessa integração, foi desenvolvida uma sistemática para cadastro e avaliação de fornecedores em Organizações Militares, baseada em critérios, tendo como ênfase o apoio à gestão organizacional.

Breakwaters are constructed in coastal areas to protect coastal engineering structures from wave actions. Due to economic reasons, natural stones (armourstone) are very frequently used for the constructions of the breakwaters. Considering the functions of the stones at different zones of the breakwaters, various sizes with variable properties of the armourstones are used in breakwaters.Deterioration of armourstones with time in the form of abrasion and disintegration may end up with the damage of the engineering structures. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the long-term performance and quality of the armourstones, which should be sound and durable. In this thesis, the properties of four limestones taken from two quarries with a known site performances as armourstones in Mersin and Kumkuyu harbors are studied .The site performances and durability of the limestones are compared with the field measurements and laboratory works. For this purpose, the material and mass properties of the limestones are studied. Thus, the information obtained is used to assess long-term durability of the armourstones. The long&amp<br>#8211<br>term performaces of the Degirmen&ccedil<br>ayi and Tirtar upper level limestones are observed to be good whereas it is rather poor for the Tirtar middle and lower level limestones. Comparison between the predicted and observed durabilities of the armourstones indicated that CIRIA/CUR, RDId, RERS, and wet to dry strength ratio give better results based on their field performances. However, the prediction of the durability of the limestones is poor in case RDIs, average pore diameter, and saturation coefficient are used.

Dans le cadre de la transition des sociétés vers le développement durable, le rôle des universités est de plus en plus mis en évidence. A cet égard, l’évaluation, en tant qu’outil d’accompagnement des organisations pour l’amélioration de leurs performances, peut s’avérer d’une aide précieuse.Le potentiel d’application de l’évaluation reste toutefois limité. L’université et la durabilité apparaissent comme des objets normatifs dont la définition du contenu est source de nombreuses oppositions. En outre, leur réalité est évolutive et sujette à d’importants degrés d’incertitude et de complexité paradoxale.Le présent travail vise à déterminer les conditions à travers lesquelles l’évaluation peut apporter un avantage, sinon constituer un frein, à l’amélioration des performances des universités en matière de durabilité. Il se présente en deux grandes parties.La première porte sur la construction théorique de la norme d’évaluation des « performances durables de l’université». Elle repose sur l’examen approfondi des spécificités de l’université et de la durabilité ainsi que sur une analyse empirique de plusieurs cas pratiques relevés à l’international.La deuxième partie confronte et consolide les enseignements de la première en se concentrant sur le développement d’une méthodologie opérationnelle d’évaluation. Pour ce faire, un processus participatif multi-parties prenantes a été mis en œuvre et a conduit à la construction d'un dispositif multidimensionnel regroupant plus de 50 indicateurs. Cet outil se veut être une contribution à l’édification de systèmes d’évaluation mis à disposition des acteurs académiques pour l’identification de pistes d’amélioration de leurs performances au regard du développement durable<br>In the context of the transition of societies towards sustainable development, the role of universities is increasingly highlighted. In this respect, assessment, as a support tool for organizations whishing to improve their performance, can be of great assistance. Opportunities for the application of assessment remains however limited. The university and sustainability are normative objects and their definition is subject to considerable opposition. In addition, their reality is progressive and characterized by high levels of uncertainty and paradoxical complexity.This work aims to determine the conditions under which assessment practices can support, or otherwise hinder, the performances of universities toward sustainability. It comes in two parts.The first part focuses on the theoretical construction of an evaluation norm for the "sustainable performances of universities". It is based on a comprehensive review of the specific features of the university and sustainability, as well as on an analysis of several best practices identified internationally. The second part compares and strengthens those findings by focussing on the design of an operational assessment methodology. This research was conducted through a multi- stakeholder participatory process that led to the building of a multidimensional framework comprising more than 50 indicators. This tool aims to be a contribution to the development of assessment methods for academic actors willing to identify ways of improving their performances with respect to sustainability

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between performance on the MontCAS Criterion Referenced Test of 10th graders at Corvallis High School, Corvallis, Montana who participated in a systematic program for test anxiety reduction, and 10th graders who took the MontCAS but did not participate in the test anxiety reduction program. The population included all 10th graders at Corvallis High School who failed to achieve a score of proficient or higher, or who achieved in the low-proficient range on either the reading or math section on the last MontCAS administration, which was two years prior to this study. Fifteen students were assigned to each the experimental and control groups. The experimental group was exposed to a four hour test anxiety group protocol. The control group received no intervention prior to the test. The intervention design was based on results of meta-analyses of test anxiety research identifying effective treatment approaches. Overall in this study, the test anxiety program did not produce significantly improved test performance among experimental group members as compared to the control group, although some possible trends were noted. Some potential reasons for this lack of significance, including the small sample size, are discussed, as well as recommendations for further research in this important area.

碩士<br>輔仁大學<br>資訊管理學系<br>98<br>Effectiveness and efficiency of any project are significantly affected by assignment of human resources to all current projects implemented in each enterprise. For above issue, besides combining multi-criteria project assignment model with performance management model, an enterprise portal of group support systems (GSS) was developed such that a harmonious and consistent agreement of all members involved in all important decisions of each project can be obtained, and then total effectiveness and efficiency of all projects can be enhanced by integrating above subsystems of this study. For multi-criteria project assignment and performance management models, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was first used to find related factors for significantly affecting project development and their experienced values of members’ evaluation of each project. Under constraints of work type, workload, schedule, budget, etc. of all projects from customers’ requirement, a multi-objective project assignment model is formed and then a performance management system is added into previous model so that its solutions can be obtained, tested and interactively improved by software, Lingo. Further, various managerial analyses verify that the involvement of GSS platform can significantly enhance total effectiveness and efficiency of all projects in an enterprise, reduce all related cost and completion time, and finally build a successful knowledge sharing platform on intranet.

碩士<br>輔仁大學<br>國際創業與經營管理學程碩士在職專班<br>98<br>Nowadays, service industry has been an important role in the developed economies. And service innovation is the key to raise competitiveness and keep growing. However, enterprises still don’t have a united concept of service innovation and lack a systematic, comprehensive performance assessment model. Therefore, it is critical and necessary to build a performance assessment model for enterprises. The purpose of this study is to build a general multi criteria performance assessment model for service industry. This study uses Analytic Network Analysis (ANP) to accomplish model building and applies this model to telecommunications service cases to exam its availability, This performance assessment model comprises five dimensions: new service content, organization’s executive ability, new service interface, technology support and comprehensive development and they are connected and interact to each other. The completed priority of five dimensions is new service content; then, organization executive ability; next, technology support, comprehensive development and new service interface. This study integrates service innovation’s meaning that it considers the characteristics of service to combine, apply tangible and intangible resources to accomplish service’s total revolution or partial improvement. The result is to make this new service create new value or be another new resource.

碩士<br>國立交通大學<br>工學院碩士在職專班產業安全與防災學程<br>92<br>To ensure the proper implementation of safety and health management system and maintain the on-going process of fulfilling the organizational needs, it is necessary for companies to have a set of criteria to assess the management system performance from daily operations and implement appropriate measures. Traditionally, company managers receive safety and health related information through the feedback of the company’s safety and health records. This creates the problem of different performance criteria, which might hinder the performance benchmarking and information sharing between organizations. Moreover, the lack of objective and complete criteria might lead to the potential failure of a safety and health management system. As a result, companies can only realize the safety and health problems when something went wrong. To reduce the consequence of the trial-and-error approach adopted currently by many organizations, it is necessary to develop objective criteria, which can help company managers assessing the management system performance. The performance criteria were developed with the help of safety and health experts. Questionnaires were developed through literature review. The criteria are classified into three categories, including Occupational Health and Safety Condition Performance Indicators (OHSCPIs), Occupational Health and Safety Management Performance Indicators (OHSMPIs), and Occupational Health and Safety Operation Performance Indicators (OHSOPIs). A Total of thirty-two items, including proactive and passive criteria, was identified. Thirty senior safety and health experts with at least ten years of related experiences were asked to answer the questionnaires. Thirty-nine questionnaires were collected and analyzed to identify the necessity and importance of these criteria. The proposed criteria and implementation strategies can provide the decision-makers the capability to assess the safety and health management system performance.

碩士<br>國立臺南大學<br>國民教育研究所<br>90<br>The purpose of this study was to design a performance assessment of spoken English and the scoring criteria and rubrics for sixth grade students. Specifically, the study attempted to investigate the effects of scoring criteria and rubrics on students’ performance assessment of spoken English and self-assessment. The 111 subjects in this study were sampled from three classes of sixth graders in a Tainan county school, each school class forming one of the three groups of this study: group A received the instruction of scoring rubrics, group B received the instruction of scoring criteria, and group C was the control group. An experiment with post-test nonequivalent group design was conducted. All subjects were given an English achievement test, a performance assessment of spoken English and a self-assessment questionnaire. The study comprised three phases: first, the study intended to quantify the psychometric characteristics of the performance assessment; second, the study analyzed the degree of consensus between the students’ self-ratings and teachers’ ratings and compared the results between the three groups; finally, the study compared the performance difference between hit and miss self-assessors. The main results were as follows: 1. The performance assessment of spoken English was supported by high reliability and validity. a. Two aspects of construct validity were examined. For the content aspect, the coverage of assessment and items included was appropriate. For the structural aspect, the developing of scoring criteria and rubrics and the factors included were intended to reflect the structure of the items of assessment by English specialists and native teachers. b. The G study for the performance assessment had a p × r × t design. The generalizability coefficient of the assessment was. 85, indicating a high level of reliability and validity. 2. The instruction of criteria and rubrics had no significant effect on overall students’ speaking performance. There was no significant effect on students’ performance of each part of the assessment. 3. The instruction of criteria and rubrics was useful for students’ self-assessment. Students of group A and B had positive attitudes toward the self-assessment questionnaire. Most students accepted that using the criteria or rubrics was beneficial for learning English. More than half of students were sensitive to the factors of the criteria. 4. The instruction of criteria and rubrics didn’t result more hit self-assessors between these three groups. For all the students, the correlation between teachers and students was .92. 5. There was no significant difference in speaking performance between hit and miss self-assessors. Although more than half of the students were hit self-assessors, their performance was not better than miss self-assessors. On the other hand, the performance of underestimating self-assessors was not better than overestimating self-assessors.

碩士<br>明新科技大學<br>工業工程與管理研究所<br>97<br>Owing to the trend of mass customization, variation of product structure cannot be fixed or unchangeable. In practice set substitutive materials policy is a popular used method to meet customers’ expectation. However, the management objectives of materials substitution are various and sometimes there are conflicts between different departments. Therefore it needs a systematic analysis to find out the considered factors of adopting substitutive materials under management goal. In this research, an Analytic Network Process (ANP) based assessment model was constructed to connect the relationship of management objectives and cause of substitutive material. Firstly, an expert questionnaire was used to filter out useful performance matrices, used as the subcriteria of the ANP model. Then, a real case was analyzed using the constructed ANP-based assessment model for materials substitution management. Finally this model was also applied to different companies to verify the effectiveness of generalization through collecting questionnaires from them. The both results indicate that quality, product reliability and product design are the three significant critical factors that impact the decision of adapting substitutive material. From the previous three factors, it’s obvious that the quality is the most influential factor when making materials substitution decision which the same as practical experiences. That is, this proposed ANP-based assessment model is robust and effective for materials substitution management.

博士<br>國立臺北科技大學<br>冷凍空調工程系所<br>102<br>Multiple criteria decision making analysis method has been widely applied in management strategic planning, but not in assessments of building energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. This study applies multiple criteria decision making analysis methods in evaluating building energy use and greenhouse gas emissions assessments, and marks a difference from literature with single indicator consideration. In this study, two different analysis methods, GRA and TOPSIS, are utilized. A variety of indicators are taken into account to avoid bias. The performance of government building energy use and the greenhouse gas emissions of the EU countries are the two cases studied in this paper to demonstrate the multiple criteria decision making analysis application. Since the theories of GRA and TOPSIS are not entirely the same, the evaluated results are distinct. The performance assessment of building energy use shows clusters with similar results, which suggests the need for further cluster sorting to effectively evaluate building energy performance. The results of this study generate objective and effective information relevant to stakeholders and provide future research with a different evaluation strategy in related fields.

Apparel purchase is an everyday decision process for consumers and the decision is motivated by various consumer needs. As an important aspect in the study of consumer behaviour, the link between South African young adult male consumers’ perception of apparel quality, use of informational cues, and apparel evaluation criteria needs to be established. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the role of intrinsic and extrinsic apparel features as informational cues on young adult males’ assessment of apparel quality during purchase decision-making. The quantitative research approach involved a structured questionnaire with Likert-type four-point scales to measure the importance of informational cues in the quality assessment of smart casual wear. This study involved a non-probability purposive sample of 330 young adult males between the ages of 24 and 36 living in Pretoria and Johannesburg, Gauteng. The study included purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Descriptive analyses were used to determine the importance of apparel features in the assessment of apparel. Correlation analyses were conducted to explore relationships among the quality dimensions. Lastly, exploratory analyses were done to measure the interaction of demographics and shopping behaviour with the importance of apparel quality dimensions. Results showed that South African young adult male consumers rank comfort most important in their quality assessment criteria, next to durability, in assessment of smart casual apparel. The country where garments are manufactured or assembled is the least important to the young adult South African males. The strongest relationship among the various apparel dimensions existed between extrinsic features and aesthetic performance. The weakest relationship, although positively significant, existed between the extrinsic features and functional performance. This suggests that to some extent, male apparel consumers form links between apparel features as each feature to some extent influences the importance placed on other apparel quality features. Furthermore, findings suggest that male consumers differ in their apparel assessment criteria based on how much money they have for apparel, and that income is an important socio-economic variable in apparel purchase decision-making. Most of these male consumers, although not experts in the field of apparel quality, considered it important to assess apparel for perceived quality during the pre-purchase phase of consumer decision-making. In all, informational cues, although varying in importance, play a role in the young adult male’s quality assessment of smart casual wear.<br>Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.<br>lk2014<br>Consumer Science<br>MA<br>Unrestricted

In a rapidly changing and competitive world organisations need to develop and improve their performance continuously to ensure a competitive advantage. Organisations need to determine their current status of performance constantly and identify organisational strengths and areas where improvements can be made. Periodic organisational self-assessments are therefore required to measure current management and operations policies, practices and procedures, in order to enhance overall business performance rather than solely concentrating on the quality of products or services. Traditionally, external inspections were more commonly used by educational and training institutions for the evaluation of institution and learner performance. These institutions are today taking part in a growing drive for internal self-evaluation, arising from the desire of institutions and Education, Training and Development (ETD) practitioners to assess their own performances. Self-assessment as part of an endeavour to sustain continuous improvement is therefore also appropriate for ETD providers in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). A new defence dispensation and a changing ETD environment in South Africa have created new demands on ETD providers in the SANDF. Although training units within the SANDF may function in a unique military context, national legislation relevant to ETD and the latest approach of openness and transparency into matters of the Department imply that military as well as non-military ETD in the SANDF is to be closely aligned with national training and development initiatives. As legislation does not make a distinction between military and private ETD providers in South Africa, most traditionally assumed differences are no longer relevant. A case study explored the appropriateness of conducting organisational self-assessment as component of a Continuous Performance Improvement Strategy and Quality Assurance within the SANDF. The study also investigated the usefulness of a Total Quality Management approach to quality assurance in the ETD environment and the impact of the frameworks used, available assessment instruments and the selected assessment methods on the significance of organisational self-assessment by ETD providers. This study's investigation of the appropriateness and significance of regular organisational self-assessments by training units in the SANDF thus has broader implications, as recommendations are also applicable to other ETD providers.<br>Educational Studies<br>D. Ed. (Education Management)

Legislative pressures are being brought to bear on South African employers to demonstrate that occupational assessment is scientifically valid and culturefair. The development of valid and reliable performance-based assessment tools will enable employers to meet these requirements. The general aim of this research was to validate a performance-based assessment battery for the placement of sales representatives. A literature survey examined alternative assessment measures and methods of performance measurement, leading to the conclusion that the combination of the work sample as a predictor measure and the managerial rating of performance as a criterion measure offer a practical and cost-effective assessment process to the sales manager. The empirical study involved 54 sales persons working for the Commercial division of an oil marketing company, selling products and services to the commercial and industrial market. By means of the empirical study, a significant correlation was found between performance of sales representatives in terms of the performance-based assessment battery for the entry level of the career ladder and their behaviour in the field as measured by the managerial performance rating instrument. The limitations of the sample, however, prevent the results from being generalised to other organisations.

The present thesis addresses the issue of assessment of employees in an organization in the public administration. Assessment of employees is a key motivation factor in human resources management, and it is one of the tools to achieve the employees' productivity. At the same time the assessment helps increase the prestige of the authority and satisfaction of the citizens. The aim of the present thesis is to analyze the current state of the system of assessment in an organization in the public administration, to look for deficiencies in the system as they influence the motivation of employees, and to propose changes for improvement. The first part of the thesis presents the theoretical framework of performance management, the theory of work motivation, assessment, and the remuneration of employees. In the practical part of the thesis the municipal office in question is introduced, and the current situation of the employees assessment system is analyzed. This part also includes the results of the realized questionnaire. The final part brings recommendations which can help the organization to increase the efficiency of the employees assessment.

Legislative pressures are being brought to bear on South African employers to demonstrate that occupational assessment is scientifically valid and culture-fair. The development of valid and reliable performance-based assessment tools will enable employers to meet these requirements. The general aim of this research was to validate a performance-based assessment battery for the placement of sales representatives. A literature survey examined alternative assessment measures and methods of performance measurement, leading to the conclusion that the combination of the work sample as a predictor measure and the managerial rating of performance as a criterion measure offer a practical and cost-effective assessment process to the sales manager. The empirical study involved 54 sales persons working for the Commercial division of an oil marketing company, selling products and services to the commercial and industrial market. By means of the empirical study, a significant correlation was found between performance of sales representatives in terms of the performance-based assessment battery for the entry level of the career ladder and their behaviour in the field as measured by the managerial performance rating instrument. The limitations of the sample, however, prevent the results from being generalised to other organisations.<br>Industrial & Organisational Psychology<br>M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

In South Africa, legislation dictates that employees must be developed resulting in the need to identify candidate's development capability. As such, it is essential to be able to measure the learning potential of candidates. In practice, cognitive ability has been linked to the complex process of job performance. This study aimed to determine whether learning potential can be used as a predictor of job performance. The Learning Potential Computerised Adaptive Test (LPCAT) was utilised to measure learning potential and job performance was measured through a promotion ratio (taking job knowledge and tenure into account). The moderator variables were investigated. A sample of 135 technical employees was drawn. The data was statistical manipulated reporting various significant relationships confirming the internal reliability of the LPCAT and indicating a strong significant relationship between learning potential and job performance. Variables such as learning potential, job grade and tenure are significant when predicting job performance.<br>Industrial and Organisational Psychology<br>MA (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

<p></p><p>A large body of literature suggests that cognitive abilities are important determinants for training and job performance, including flight performance. The associations between measures of ability tests and job performance have been the focus of many empirical studies, resulting in an overall conclusion that general mental ability, <i>g</i>, is the main source of prediction, while other narrower abilities have limited power for predicting job performance. Despite the attention given to cognitive ability-flight performance relationships, their associations have not been fully understood at the broad construct level, and most extant literature focused on the relations at the observed scores level. Thus, the present dissertation study was designed to contribute to the progression of this understanding by examining the relations between cognitive abilities and flight training performance, using data from four U.S. Air Force (USAF) pilot samples. For comparison, one navigator and one air battle manager sample were also analyzed. The data were obtained from correlation matrices of prior investigations and analyzed via structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures. </p> <p> Four studies are reported in the thesis: (1) preliminary study, (2) primary validation study, (3) cross-validation study, and (4) cross-occupation validation study. The preliminary study assessed the test battery used in the subsequent predictive studies. The primary validation study introduced a bifactor predictive SEM model for testing the influence of cognitive abilities in predicting pilot performance. The cross-validation study assessed the consistency of the predictive model suggested in the primary validation study, using three additional pilots’ samples. The cross-occupation validation study compared the predictive model using data from three aviation-related occupations (flying, navigation, air battle management). Ability factors were extracted from scores of pilot applicants on the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT), the USAF officers’ primary selection test battery, whereas the flight performance scores were obtained from pilot records during the flight training program.</p> <p> In addition to the <i>g</i> factor, <i>verbal ability, quantitative ability, spatial ability, perceptual speed ability, and aviation-related acquired knowledge </i>are the six latent cognitive ability factors investigated in the reported studies. Pilot performance measures were modeled either as observed or latent variables covering ratings of academic and hands-on flying performance in different phases of the training program. The studies of this thesis established that (1) general ability contributes substantially to the prediction models; however, it is not the only important predictor, (2) aviation-related acquired knowledge is the most robust predictor of pilot performance among the abilities examined, with a role even exceeding that of <i>g</i>, (3) perceptual speed predicted pilot performance uniquely in several occasions, while verbal, spatial, and quantitative abilities demonstrated trivial incremental validity for hands-on pilot performance beyond that provided by the <i>g</i> measure, and (4) the relative importance of cognitive abilities tends to vary across aviation occupations.</p><br><p></p>

Text in Afrikaans, abstract in Afrikaans and English<br>Navorsing toon dat beoordelingskale, gebaseer op spesifieke werksgedrag as geldige prestasiemetingsinstrumente gebruik kan word om die individuele ontwikkelingsbehoeftes van elke werknemer te bepaal. Die doel van die studie is die ontwikkeling en validering van 'n gedragsobservasieskaal vir senior bestuurders. Vir die doel is 49 senior bestuurders se prestasiemetings verkry op drie skale, naamlik 'n gedragsobservasieskaal wat ontwikkel is, die Werknemerbeoordelingskaal en 'n gedragsgeankerde skaal. 'n Pearson korrelasie van 0,74 is tussen die totaaltellings van die Gedragsobservasieskaal en die van die Gedragsgeankerde skaal verkry (p<0.01 ;N=49). Tussen die totaaltellings van die Gedragsobservasieskaal en die Werknemerbeoordelingskaal is 'n Pearson korrelasie van 0,75 gevind (p<0,01 ;N=49). Met hierdie resultate kan dus aanvaar word dat die Gedragsobservasieskaal 'n geldige meetinstrument van werksprestasie is en as prestasiemetingskaal gebruik kan word.<br>Research indicates that appraisal scales based on specific behaviour can be used as performance appraisal instruments to promote every employees' individual development need. The aim of this study is the development and validation of a behavioural observation scale for senior management. To achieve this aim 49 senior managers' performance scores were obtained on three scales, namely a behavioral observation scale which was developed, the Employee Rating Scale, and a behaviourally anchored rating scale. A Pearson correlation of 0,74 was obtained between the total scores of the Behavioral Observation Scale and the Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale (p<0,01 ;N=49). Between the total scores of the Behavioral Observation and the Employee Rating Scales a Pearson correlation of 0,75 was found (p<0,01 ;N=49). With these results in mind, the Behavioral Observation Scale can be accepted as a valid measurement scale of work performance and can thus be applied as a performance appraisal instrument.<br>Industrial and Organisational Psychology<br>M. Comm. (Industrial Psychology)