Tesi sul tema "Service delivery of SAPS"

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016.
Absenteeism in the South African Police Service is without doubt one of the most difficult aspects to manage. It is therefore important for the organisation to have measures in place to reduce absenteeism. More focus is put on the cost of absenteeism without realising the enormous adverse effect it has on service delivery in the South African Police Service. By reducing the absenteeism rate by just one day per employee, organisations can boost productivity, improve morale and improve their profit margins significantly (Nel, 2013:1). This research project examined the impact on service delivery of time lost through absenteeism in the South African Police Service with specific reference to the Kuils River cluster Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Problems relating to absenteeism as well as the main contributors to absenteeism were identified by the researcher and recommendations were made. A quantitative research approach was followed with a survey amongst staff members. The data analysis from the questionnaire was compiled by the in-house statistician that was recommended by Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The research project makes recommendations that address the problems highlighted in this empirical study, as well as a recommendation for further studies.

Thesis (MPA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: With the democratic reform in South Africa, The Constitution of 1996 and the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery of 1997 made an important contribution to a new attitude amongst public servants and citizens regarding service delivery. It is said that these two documents ushered in a period of instilling an attitude of Batho Pele, namely ‘people first’, with public servants. The South African Police Service (SAPS) as a government entity, also had to comply, and having one of the most important functions of, ‘ensuring a safer and secure environment for all’, caused the SAPS to rethink the way they would manage this new attitude. Organisational Development and Change, Project and Programme Management and Service Delivery are a few of the approaches captured within the public administration and public management discipline, which refers to a theory of the most recent paradigm change in the way the public sector must be governed. A comparative perspective is given on how these approaches could have a positive impact on the SAPS and other organisations. The foundation of this study is based on the creation of a theoretical base relating to Organisational Development and Change Management, Project and Programme-based Management as well as Service Delivery in the Public Sector. This is the point of departure for the proposed Service Delivery Improvement Model that indicates the integration of these approaches within the organisation. The background and current situation regarding service delivery within the SAPS is also discussed. Data is collected through structured interviews with SAPS managers and opinion surveys, which were completed by service members. The interviews as well as the surveys were used to motivate the aim of the proposed model. The study concludes with recommendations that were made by the researcher with the completion of the research done. The necessity, importance of implementation and the marketing of project and programme-based management within the SAPS is emphasised.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Met die demokratiese hervorming in Suid Afrika, het die Konstitusie van 1996 en die Wit Skrif van die Transformasie van Openbare Dienslewering van 1997 ‘n belangrike bydrae gemaak tot ‘n nuwe gesindheid onder openbare amptenare ten opsigte van dieslewering. Daar word genoem dat hierdie twee dokumente ‘n periode vir die inboesem van ‘n gesindheid van Batho Pele, naamlik ‘mense eerste’, by openbare amptenare aangekondig het. Die Suid Afrikaanse Polisie Diens (SAPD) as ‘n regerings entiteit, moes ook voldoen hieraan, met die inagneming van een van die belangrikste funksies, ’om ‘n veiliger en sekureerde omgewing vir almal te verseker’, is die SAPD genoodsaak om die wyse hoe hulle hierdie nuwe gesindheid gaan bestuur, te heroorweeg. Organisasie Ontwikkeling en Verandering, Projek en Program-gebaseerde Bestuur asook Dienslewering, is ‘n paar van die benaderings vervat binne die Publieke Administrasie en Openbare Bestuur dissipline, wat verwys na ‘n teorie van die mees onlangse paradigma verandering oor hoe die openbare sektor regeer moet word. ‘n Vergelykende perspektief word weergegee oor hoe hierdie benaderings ‘n positiewe impak op die SAPD en ander organisasies kan bewerkstellig. Die fondament van hierdie studie is gebaseer op die skepping van ‘n teoretiese basis met verband tot Organisasie Ontwikkeling en Verandering, Projek en Program-gebaseerde Bestuur asook Dienslewering. Hierdie word die vertrekpunt vir die voorgestelde Dienslewerings Verbeterings Model wat die intergrasie van hierdie benaderings binne die organisasie voorstel. Verder word die agtergrond en huidige situasie in die SAPD rakende dienslewering ook bespreek. Data word versamel deur middel van gestruktureerde onderhoude met SAPD bestuurders en opinie opnames wat deur lede van die diens voltooi is. Die onderhoude sowel as die opnames is gebruik om die doel van die voorgestelde model te motiveer. Die studie word afgesluit met aanbevelings wat na afleiding van die navorsing deur die navorser gemaak is. Die toepaslikheid, noodsaaklikheid van die implimentering en die bemarking van projek en program-gebaseerde bestuur binne die SAPD word veral beklemtoon.

The aim of this study was to assess the effective functioning of the Middle Management Learning Programme (MMLP) within the South African Police Service (SAPS), as well as evaluate the performance and effectiveness of employees who were sent for training to enhance their skills and develop their capacity in order to improve service delivery within the broader South African society. The research focused specifically on middle managers who had completed the MMLP. The MMLP was presented at the SAPS Academy in Thabong from 2007 to 2011. According to Meyer et al. (2004:225), a learning programme is a coordinated combination of learning activities, methodologies, processes and other elements of learning, crafted to assist learners to acquire the required knowledge, skills and attitudes. The primary objective of this study was, therefore, to evaluate the effective functioning of the MMLP within the SAPS and to provide sound recommendations based on the empirical findings. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used to determine the effectiveness of the MMLP and obtain information from the respondents who completed the programme during the 2007/8 and 2009/10 financial years. The literature review, interviews and completion of the questionnaires by respondents confirmed the objectives of this study. The overall results indicated that the MMLP had a positive impact on middle managers in the SAPS. The middle managers appear to be driven by a need for recognition, and authorities could exploit this to its advantage by providing a reward system for good performance. The study concludes by, inter alia, recommending that the SAPS review its military culture or style, because the managers who attended the MMLP are unable to advise their seniors, respondents feel overwhelmed, powerless, and helpless and this leads to ineffectiveness in their performance. The requirements to attend the MMLP should be placed on record and should not be compromised to suit particular individuals. The MMLP should also be made a prerequisite for promotion as invaluable skills are transferred to course attendees.
Thesis (Master of Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

L'intensification de la concurrence et les exigences des clients pour des services toujours plus innovants et fiables conduisent l'opérateur à accélérer le renouvellement de son portefeuille de services et à vouloir devancer ses concurrents dans leur mise sur le marché. Mais dans le nouveau contexte NGN/NGS où l'utilisateur est nomade, change de terminal, change d'environnement et désire une continuité de service en tout lieu et selon ses préférences, la fourniture de services depuis la stratégie jusqu'à l'exploitation devient de plus en plus complexe et longue à maîtriser. Ainsi, avoir une gestion dynamique qui permet d'améliorer le TTM et le ROI devient un challenge pour les opérateurs. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à la résolution de problèmes de gestion du cycle de vie des services depuis le Déploiement jusqu'au Delivery dans un environnement ubiquitaire et mobile. Pour ce faire, dans un premier temps, nous commençons par analyser les travaux existants en termes de gestion du cycle de vie des services, puis nous identifions plus précisément les besoins du nouveau contexte NGN/NGS du point de vue de l'utilisateur et de l'opérateur. Les verrous à lever concernent les différentes phases du cycle de vie des services. Comment les repenser afin d'avoir une continuité de service et un maintien de la QoS dans ce contexte de mobilité et d'ubiquité. Nos contributions sont au nombre de quatre et concerne le Déploiement, le Provisioning, le Delivery et l'Assurance des services. Deux champs d'application sont directement impactés par nos propositions et permettent de valoriser nos travaux. Le premier se déduit de la gestion de la mobilité de la session de l'utilisateur par la QoS. Le deuxième est les standards télécom et plus particulièrement les processus business.

Thesis (M. Tech. (Information Technology)) -- Central University of technology, Free State, 2013
The aim of this study was to create a dynamic software system that captures all information related to a student and delivers it to the educators, principal, higher authorities and parents. In order to achieve this aim, an investigation was launched as to the development of a cost-effective school management system for disadvantaged schools in the Free State Province using the Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model. Although a variety of other school management systems exist in the market, they are often expensive and difficult to maintain. Details such as previous academic performances, disciplinary actions taken against a student in the current school, ailments the student suffers from and parental details are some of the information that will help an educator to better understand a student. The software that is currently in use fails to deliver this information. Designing the software as a multitenant system, helps accommodate different schools under the same database, while the shared database, shared schema reduces back-end costs. Database design was carried out in such a way that tenant data is logically isolated and that data integrity is maintained throughout. What makes the software explained in this study cost effective is the method of delivery that was employed, which is SaaS. Here, software is not purchased, there is no upfront capital and the yearly license fee is eliminated, as schools need only pay a monthly rental fee for the services they use. Since all services are provided through the Internet, there is no need for system space; the only requirement is a high-speed Internet network.

Thesis (MPA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study was undertaken to determine whether a lack of effective service delivery at the South African Police Service at Delft was due to a lack of community participation and development in Delft. Data was collected through a plurality of research methodologies, including participatory action research by means of interviews with role players and participative observation; a literature study; a diachronical study, application of relevant legislation as a guideline as well as input gained by means of discussion with various experts. The collected data was analysed in relation to the theme, the objective of the study and the research hypothesis. The following observations were made as a result of the study: • The local police station SAPS Delft, by acting as a catalyst, has assisted in the establishment of many structures in the community; and • The erecting of a new police station facilitated community participation and development. The study, having considered the observations and drawn conclusions, has offered a number of recommendations namely: • The erecting of a new police station should take place simultaneously with the development of the township where it is situated. By this means all role players will participate. • The local government and relevant national government departments are of the utmost importance when it comes to addressing the root causes of the problems in the community or when putting alternatives in place. The location of a police station should be such that its convenience and accessibility will result in enhanced and sustainable service delivery, provided that the community capitalises on it. Finally, to ensure success, there must be education and training of both the police and the community, facilitated by the SAPS, government departments and NGOs.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie is onderneem om vas te stel of die gebrek aan effektiewe dienslewering by Delft Suid-Afrikaanse Polisie Diens te wyte is aan die gebrek aan gemeenskapsdeelname en -ontwikkeling in Delft. Data is ingesamel deur middel van ‘n pluraliteit van navorsingsmetodologië, insluitend die volgende: deelnemende aksie navorsing deur onderhoude met rol spelers en deelnemende waarneming; ‘n literatuurstudie; ‘n diakroniese studie, toepassing van relevante wetgewing as ‘n riglyn asook insae verkry deur besprekings met ‘n verskeidenheid kenners. Die ingesamelde data is geanaliseer in verhouding tot die tema en die doelwitte van die studie en is vergelyk met die navorsingshipotese. Die volgende waarnemings is uit die studie gemaak: • Die plaaslike polisiestasie, Delft SAPD, het as katalisator gedien om baie strukture in die gemeenskap tot stand te bring; en • Die oprigting van ‘n nuwe polisiestasie het gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid en - ontwikkeling gefasiliteer. Die waarnemings in ag geneem, is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die volgende aanbevelings gemaak word: • Die bou van ‘n nuwe polisiestasie moet saam met die ontwikkeling van ‘n woonbuurt geskied, waarby alle rolspelers betrokke moet wees; en • Die plaaslike regering en relevante departemente is van kardinale belang by die aanspreek van die oorsake van probleme in gemeenskappe of om alternatiewe in plek te stel. Die aanwesigheid van ‘n bereikbare en toeganklike polisiekantoor sal beter en volhoubare dienslewering tot gevolg hê indien die gemeenskap daarop kapitaliseer. Laastens verg dit egter opvoeding, vir die polisie sowel as die gemeenskap, en gefasiliteer deur SAPD, staatsdepartemente en nie-regeringsorganisasies om sukses te verseker.

The high-profit digital gaming industry has merged with the increasing interest in transforming everything into cloud services, which leads to a novel concept called cloud gaming. In this thesis, we aim to investigate the optimization of quality of experience (QoE) for cloud gaming system, while considering different challenges, system constraints and service requirements. First, we investigate video compression technologies based on existing cloud gaming system, in which the cloud hosts the game engine and streams rendered gaming videos to players through the Internet. We propose to cooperatively encode cloud gaming videos of different players in the same game session, in order to leverage inter-gamer redundancy. This is based on an observation that game scenes of close-by gamers have non-trivial overlapping areas, and thus adding inter-gamer predictive video frames may improve the coding efficiency. Selected games are analyzed and the trace-driven simulations demonstrate the efficiency of proposed system. Second, we introduce a novel decomposed cloud gaming paradigm, which supports flexible migrations of gaming components between the cloud server and the players' terminals. We present the blueprint of the proposed system and discussed the cognitive resource optimization for the proposed decomposed cloud gaming system under distinct targets. This includes the minimization of cloud, network, and terminal resources and response delay, subject to QoE assurance, which is formulated as a graph partitioning problem that is solved by exhaustive searches. Extensive simulation results show the feasibility of cognitive resource management in a cloud gaming system to efficiently adapt itself to variations in the service environments, while satisfying different QoE requirements for gaming sessions. Finally, we explore the practical approach for the decomposed cloud gaming paradigm. We design the system framework and seek the engineering solutions for practical issues. Following these discussions, we implement the very first experimental testbed called ubiquitous cloud gaming platform. Three game prototypes are built on our testbed, which can demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of our proposal. Experiments have been conducted to show that intelligent partitioning leads to better system performance, such as lower response latency and higher frame rate.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of
Graduate

The problem of inclusivity in the workplace has been globally acknowledged as a challenge for employees living with disabilities. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of employees living with disabilities in the South African Police Service (SAPS). Globally, there has been a lot of research conducted on diversity in the workplace; however, research on inclusivity is a rather new phenomenon. A theoretical model on inclusion and diversity in work groups is presented as a framework, which offers insight into the experiences that contribute to feelings of inclusion for a diverse workforce. This model identifies potential contextual factors and outcomes of inclusion. This study further defines inclusion and disability and provides literature on the barriers employees living with disabilities encounter once employed, as well as support structures that could enhance inclusivity for these employees. The study used a qualitative, explorative approach. Fifteen employees of the SAPS were selected for participation, based on their disability type as per the research criteria. A purposive convenient sampling approach was used to identify employees with disabilities, taking into consideration hearing, visual, physical and mobility impairments. Participants varied in age, gender and race and came from stations mostly situated in the southern suburbs of Cape Town, with one participant from George and one participant from Paarl East. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and provide insight into how employees living with disabilities perceive inclusion in the SAPS. A thematic analysis approach was used to identify which negative and positive experiences of inclusion were identified. Irrespective of the provision of disability policies and legislation, which clearly stipulate that no person may be unfairly discriminated against on the grounds of their disability, the findings from this study indicate that employees living with disabilities still experience discriminatory attitudes in the workplace. While some participants had positive experiences of inclusion, other employees reported negative experiences relating mostly to a lack of management support, non-conducive workplaces, lack of disability awareness, as well as negative attitudes towards disability in the workplace. The results of this study indicate that the general feeling of inclusion in the SAPS is, to a certain degree, fair, and that management and co-worker support, together with reasonable accommodation, played an important role in contributing to making employees living with disabilities feel included. This study shows that more research is required in terms of disability awareness, and an understanding of the needs of employees living with disabilities in the workplace, to create an enabling environment of growth for employees living with disabilities. It is proposed that this study be used to provide employers and employees with a greater understanding of how to effectively include and retain employees living with disabilities.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA
The Beginning of the paradigm shift in policing in the South African Police was first seen in 1993 when the concept of Community Policing was first introduced. The South African Police Service that was formed through the Police Act 68 of 1995 subsequently adopted Community Policing as a Corporate Strategy of the organisation. There is a question as to whether some of the efforts reflect the necessary elements of community policing or are merely reactions to a contemporary political thrust for police reform. This study seeks to critically analyse the challenges and contradictions in Community Policing in terms of strategy and organisation. Nyanga SAPS will be use as the case study. Nyanga is one of the Police Stations in the so-called Black Township that has been engulfed by Community-Police conflicts since the democratic dispensation came into existence in South Africa. The highest point of this animosity saw certain people within the community between 1998 and 1999 reporting criminal activities to Taxi Operators rather than to the police. This study will be approached through gap analysis. The author will first describe the desired state of affairs in terms where the SAPS should be, in relation to reform policies put in place by the government. This will be followed by the analysis of the present situation in Nyanga, which will highlight the shortcomings. Then the study will put forward recommendations which should address the identified shortcomings. Based on that, the strategy that should inform policing in the new millennium will be developed. The author will recommend an African approach to policing as it has become apparent that the policing approaches are different for different countries and different communities. The author will propose full participation of the public in policing, in terms of determining policing priorities in their areas.

Public institutions have the responsibility to deliver various services to the public in the most effective and efficient manner. In South Africa, many public sector reforms were instituted after 1994. The main reasons for these reforms were to improve the access of the historically disadvantaged to public services, to increase efficiencies, to reduce costs and to reduce public debt. Despite improvements to the policy framework that underpins service delivery by the public sector, however, there are still many challenges in the delivery of public services. An improved public policy to deliver service alone is not enough if not supported by effective systems and processes for actual delivery, as well as effective leadership that leads and ensures the delivery of such services. Improving the organisational effectiveness of public institutions is therefore important in South Africa. The present study explores the role that leadership plays in the pursuit of organisational effectiveness in a selected public institution, namely the South African Police Service (SAPS). The primary objective of this study is to improve the organisational effectiveness of SAPS in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipal area by investigating the influence of leadership style (transactional and transformational) and personality (Machiavellian, narcissistic, collectivistic, masculine and feminine) on organisational effectiveness of SAPS (as measured by overall organisational performance and the individual job performance intentions of police officers). The research design is positivistic, as the relationships among the above-mentioned variables are statistically tested. The sample consisted of 90 police officers of senior rank drawn from five police stations in the Nelson Mandela Bay. The empirical results were reported and interpreted. These results revealed that constructive narcissistic and collectivistic leadership personality traits, as well as transformational leadership style exert a positive influence on the organisational performance of the Nelson Mandela Bay police precincts. The empirical results also showed that collectivistic leadership personality traits influence the performance intent of these police officials positively. These results are discussed in terms of the implications they hold for the managers of police precincts. The limitations of the study are reported which provide areas for future research.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The hypothesis explored in this thesis is that the application of marketing in the public sector will improve public service delivery. Three different areas of academic enquiry are examined in an effort to prove a beneficial relationship between marketing and public service delivery. These three areas are Public Management, Marketing, and Services Management. Certain challenges for improving service delivery are identified in each of these disciplines, and the current status of public sector marketing is described. The study is applied to the Cape Metropolitan Area, and specifically the Cape Metropolitan Council. This does however not rule out the application of the findings of the study to other areas. Additional to the normal literature study, research for the thesis involves personal interviews with public managers, and on-line questionnaires on the Internet and the Intranet of the Cape Metropolitan Council. Combining the results of the literature study and the physical research with the argument constructed in the thesis, it is found that many of the challenges identified in the three disciplines address each other, and that marketing can definitely prove useful as a tool with which to improve public service delivery. A model for marketing-oriented public service delivery is proposed.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hipotese wat in hierdie tesis aangespreek word is dat die toepassing van bemarking in die openbare sektor sal meebring dat openbare dienslewering sal verbeter. Drie studievelde word verken om te bepaal of enige afleidings gemaak kan word oor die positiewe invloed van bemarking op dienslewering. Die drie studievelde is Openbare Bestuur, Bemarking, en Dienstebestuur. Sekere uitdagings om dienslewering te verbeter word in elke veld geïdentifiseer, en die huidige status van openbare bemarking word verduidelik. Die studie word toegepas op die Kaapse Metropolitaanse Gebied, met spesifieke verwysing na die Kaapse Metropolitaanse Raad. Die toepassing van die bevindings van die studie op ander gebiede word egter nie hierdeur uitgesluit nie. Bykomend tot die literatuurstudie word persoonlike onderhoude met openbare sektor bestuurders en vraelyste op die Internet en die Intranet van die Kaapse Metropolitaanse Raad as deel van die navorsingspoging gebruik. Deur die resultate van die navorsing en die literatuurstudie te vergelyk met die argument in die tesis, word dit bevind dat die uitdagings uit die verskillende velde mekaar aanvul. Dit word bevind dat bemarking aansienlik sal kan bydra tot die verbetering van dienslewering in die openbare sektor. 'n Model vir bemarkings-georiënteerde openbare dienslewering word voorgestel.

The aim of this thesis is to provide optimization algorithms for accessing video services either in unmanaged or managed ways. We study recent statistics about unmanaged video services like YouTube and propose suitable optimization techniques that could enhance files accessing and reduce their access costs. Moreover, this cost analysis plays an important role in decision making about video files caching and hosting periods on the servers. Under managed video services called IPTV, we conducted experiments for an open-IPTV collaborative architecture between different operators. This model is analyzed in terms of CAPEX and OPEX costs inside the domestic sphere. Moreover, we introduced a dynamic way for optimizing the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) for multicast IPTV service. In nomadic access, the static trees could be unable to provide the service in an efficient manner as the utilization of bandwidth increases towards the streaming points (roots of topologies). Finally, we study reliable security measures in video streaming based on hash chain methodology and propose a new algorithm. Then, we conduct comparisons between different ways used in achieving reliability of hash chains based on generic classifications

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000.
Includes bibliographical references (leaf 69).
Products and services are two ways firms delivery value to customers. In some situations firms augment physical products with services related to that product. In other situations the service offered to customers is the primary offering and it is enabled by a product. This paper investigates enterprise resource planning (ERP) software tracking its evolution from predominantly a product with associated services to an offering as a service enabled by the software product. Frameworks have been developed to analyze service offerings. Two such frameworks capture causal relationships to customer value and customer satisfaction. This paper analyzes these frameworks and applies one of them to SAP R/3 ERP software as the offering evolved towards a more pure service offering (product-based). The paper then analyzes the sufficiency and appropriateness of one framework, the service profit chain, to the current offering of the SAP R/3 ERP application service provider (ASP) product, MySAP.com. Several additions are suggested to enhance the service profit chain model.
by Atsuhito Momma.
S.M.M.O.T.

L'objectif de cette thèse est de fournir des algorithmes d'optimisation pour l'accès aux services vidéo qu’ils soient non-gérés (Internet TV) ou gérés (IPTV). Nous étudions des statistiques récentes concernant les services vidéo non-gérés comme YouTube et nous proposons des techniques d'optimisation appropriées qui pourraient améliorer l'accès aux fichiers vidéos et réduire le coût de cet accès. En outre, l’analyse des coûts joue un rôle important dans les décisions qui concernent la mise en cache des fichiers vidéos et celles liées au choix des périodes temporelles d'hébergement de ces fichiers sur les serveurs. En ce qui concerne les services vidéo gérés appelés IPTV, nous avons mené des expériences sur une architecture ouverte IPTV-collaboration entre différents opérateurs. Ce modèle est analysé selon un critère de coût d’investissement et d'exploitation à l'intérieur de la sphère domestique. En outre, nous avons introduit une solution d’optimisation dynamique de l'arbre « minimum spanning tree » (MST) pour le service IPTV multicast. Lors d’un accès nomade, les arbres statiques pourraient être incapables de fournir le service de manière efficace vu que l'utilisation de la bande passante augmente aux côté des points de streaming (racines de la topologie). Finalement, nous étudions des mesures de sécurité fiables en streaming vidéo basées sur la méthodologie de la chaîne de hachage et nous proposons un nouvel algorithme hybride. Nous effectuons des comparaisons entre les différentes manières utilisées dans la réalisation de la fiabilité des chaînes de hachage basées sur les classifications génériques
The aim of this thesis is to provide optimization algorithms for accessing video services either in unmanaged or managed ways. We study recent statistics about unmanaged video services like YouTube and propose suitable optimization techniques that could enhance files accessing and reduce their access costs. Moreover, this cost analysis plays an important role in decision making about video files caching and hosting periods on the servers. Under managed video services called IPTV, we conducted experiments for an open-IPTV collaborative architecture between different operators. This model is analyzed in terms of CAPEX and OPEX costs inside the domestic sphere. Moreover, we introduced a dynamic way for optimizing the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) for multicast IPTV service. In nomadic access, the static trees could be unable to provide the service in an efficient manner as the utilization of bandwidth increases towards the streaming points (roots of topologies). Finally, we study reliable security measures in video streaming based on hash chain methodology and propose a new algorithm. Then, we conduct comparisons between different ways used in achieving reliability of hash chains based on generic classifications

This paper concerns the changes in attitudes towards the use of force within the South African police force after democratisation. The paper debates the current approaches towards the analysis of violence and a new theory on community and conflict management is developed. This new theory aims to provide a new framework for analysing the use of violence. The theory is then applied on a fieldwork conducted at a local police station in Cape Town, South Africa.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2000.
Includes bibliographical references.
This is a study of the local package delivery industry. This thesis shall consider only businesses that are engaged in delivery of goods and services that have been purchased online. Such companies may or may not be engaged in other business activities aside from delivery. Local refers to deliveries that are made between origin (pickup from warehouses or stores) and destination (drop-oft) points that are within the same metropolitan area. The overall objectives of this thesis are to show: ) -- There are significant pressures in this industry forcing a vertical disintegration, the process by which companies transform themselves from being an end-to-end retailer to serving only specific part(s) of the value chain. The early entrants in the market began as online grocery and replenishment retailers. Today, the focus is shifting towards becoming a delivery infrastructure for businesses and consumers. ) -- There will be significant business opportunities in serving the local delivery businesses resulting from the forced disintegration of the industry. One class of opportunities is to address the basic needs of local delivery companies such as providing the technology components for running fleet operations. Another class is the result of the fragmentation of the industry and the inclination of businesses to simplify choices for customers. New businesses will be formed through creative set of partnerships that counteract the impact of disintegration. ) -- For individual companies to succeed and grab investor attention, they will have to revolutionize rather than simply evolve their part of the value chain. Only innovative approaches to solving needs can have sustainable competitive advantage. We begin by discussing the value chain for the local delivery businesses and the structure of this industry. Then, we shall proceed to analyzing various business drivers that are pushing the industry towards a vertical disintegration and a focus on service. Afterwards, we will talk about what vertical disintegration means to existing companies and future entrants and the outlook for the industry. We will end this thesis by discussing various forms of business opportunities that exist for companies that want to serve local delivery industry.
by Reza Morakabati.
M.B.A.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-118).
This dissertation analyzes the strategic implications of customization policies available to companies that must simultaneously provide service and learn about their customers through automated interfaces. The first part of the dissertation lays out the theoretical framework within which the analysis is carried. The second part addresses whether companies should use Internet-based customization tools to design service encounters that maximize customers' utility in the present or explore customers' tastes to provide more value in the future. Good customization policies must quantify the value of knowledge so as to adequately balance the expected revenue of present and future interactions. Such policies can be obtained by analyzing the customization decision problem within the framework of dynamic programming. Interpretation of the service design policies enhances the current understanding of the mechanisms connecting service customization, value creation, and customer lifetime value. This leads to insights into the nature of the relationship between learning, loyalty, and long-term profitability in service industries. The final part of the dissertation considers situations where companies have the ability to acquire information by other means in addition to observing interactions with customers. In information-intensive industries, investments in customer retention often take the form of paying customers to answer questionnaires, or somehow acquiring information about the customers' preferences. The value of customers is convex as a function of knowledge.
(cont.) This means that the more firms know about a customer, the more eager they should be to learn even more. However, the cost of obtaining information about customers increases as knowledge increases. Understanding the interactions between these two functions is fundamental to designing information acquisition policies. In the real world, investment in customer retention must often be balanced with investment in customer acquisition. Therefore, investment in learning about a current customer must depend not only on the current level of knowledge about that customer but also on properties of the population to which potential customers belong. The analysis concludes with the characterization of information acquisition policies for a number of different managerial settings.
by Paulo Rocha e Oliveira.
Ph.D.

The Mobidoo Mobile Service Delivery Platform (MSDP) provides opportunity to the service providers to add online services by creating classifieds and advertising them to end users. These services can either be provided free of cost or with cost. Users can facilitate from these services by showing their interest and can get that particular service from service provider via ADMIN authentication or can also just surf through the services available on mobile web application. Main users of the application are ADMIN, SERVICE PROVIDERS AND PUBLIC USER. Graphical User Interface was developed by HTML5, CSS3 and PHP5. Moreover, the facility of geolocation filter is also added. This application is web based and specifically designed for Mobile phones but it also runs on Desktop PCs. In short, this is an application that has made online shopping easier.

Internet of things (IoT) which was once a vision is now reality in many sectors. Platform in the IoT ecosystem plays an important role in service provisioning journey by creating business value for the actors and enabling data management for the user. Service provisioning on IoT platform are application centric and is more focused on vertical development. Amalgamation of services, applications in IoT platform is the key in bringing data and society together. Interoperability and scalability is posing as hindrance for this hypothesis. On high level, identifying the cost drivers in these IoT platforms can be key for an actor to bring this hypothesis to reality. This work is one such attempt in providing cost breakdown and identifying cost drivers in IoT platform. A generic framework is proposed which dimensions the platform hardware and software to apprehend the design, development and operation cost of services considered. The framework is designed to proffer three deployment cloud strategies, On-premises, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). Three business use cases are tested on this framework to arrive at the cost structure, which in turn states the cost drivers. The results suggest storage, hardware replacement and software development are major chunk of cost in the structure driven by devices/sensors in the platform and message transmission rate from those devices. Additionally, a suggestion of deployment strategies are made on each use cases to avail cost efficient services.
Internet of Things (IoT) som en gång var en vision är nu verklighet i många sektorer. Plattformen i IoT-ekosystemet spelar en viktig roll i researrangemanget genom att skapa affärsvärde för aktörerna och möjliggöra datahantering för användaren. Tjänsteleverantörer på IoT-plattformen är applikationscentriska och är mer fokuserade på vertikal utveckling. Sammanslagning av tjänster, applikationer i IoT-plattformen är nyckeln till att föra data och samhället samman. Interoperabilitet och skalbarhet utgör hinder för denna hypotes. På hög nivå kan identifiering av kostnadsdrivarna i dessa IoT-plattformar vara nyckeln för en aktör för att få denna hypotes till verklighet. Detta arbete är ett sådant försök att tillhandahålla kostnadsfördelning och identifiera kostnadsdrivare i IoT-plattformen. Ett generiskt ramverk föreslås som dimensionerar plattformshårdvaran och programvaran för att fånga konstruktions-, utvecklingsoch driftkostnaderna för betraktade tjänster. Ramverket är utformat för att erbjuda tre implementeringsmolnstrategier, lokala, infrastruktur som en tjänst (IaaS) och plattform som en tjänst (PaaS). Tre fall för affärsanvändning testas enligt denna ram för att komma fram till kostnadsstrukturen, vilket i sin tur anger kostnadsdrivarna. Resultaten tyder på att lagring, hårdvarutbyte och mjukvaruutveckling är en stor del av kostnaden i strukturen som drivs av enheter / sensorer i plattformen och överföringshastighet för meddelanden från dessa enheter. Dessutom görs ett förslag om distributionsstrategier för varje användningsfall för att utnyttja kostnadseffektiva tjänster.

Le but de cette thèse est d’étudier et d’évaluer le rôle de la virtualisation des réseau de diffusion de contenu. Nous proposons une implémentation d’une architecture CDN permettant à un opérateur de réseau de virtualiser son infrastructure CDN et de la louer à des fournisseurs de contenu. Afin d’avoir une allocation optimale des ressources, nous proposons une méthode qui combine les informations fournies lors de la demande par le fournisseur de contenu avec les données du réseau et de l’infrastructure de calcul. Nous avons modélisé ce problème d’allocation de ressources en problème d’optimisation, résolu par un algorithme. Les résultats obtenues donnent suite à la proposition d’algorithmes et d’heuristiques de placement pour l’allocation conjointe de vCPU-à-VM et le placement des VMs dans les Pms
The goal of this thesis is to study and evaluate the role a Virtual CDNs in improving the end-users QoE while saving on service providers’ costs and service availability. First, we present the design and implementation of an architecture for on-demand deployment of a vCDN infrastructure over a telco cloud. Second, we propose different algorithms for solving the Virtual Network Function (VNF) placement problem. We propose a polynomialtime heuristic algorithms to solve a relaxed version of the problem’s assumptions, we show experimentally that the derived solutions are close to the optimal. Finally, we study and evaluate solutions for the placement of VNF at the edge, by moving from the traditional central cloud to the edge one. We have also shown how our method can reduce delays and still provide a highly-available service

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin
The research investigates the reason why service delivery is slow and not enough or just not available in many areas. It highlights the problems that hamper progress toward achieving service delivery. Some of the problems discussed are: (a) The non-availability of enabling legislation to enable the state department to carry out their projects and plans, including the difficulty of implementing policy. While the government is quick to announce that it is going to achieve certain goals, it does not follow through to achieve these goals. (b) Some of the government ministers are unwilling to bring about a speedy recovery because- (1) they are busy building their own images and wealth; and (2) most of all are party loyalists whose hands are tied by the socialist ideology. While the ministers preach about how successful they are in providing basic services to the people, the very same people we are told are served, are complaining that the government is not doing enough to address the problems that affect the poor. In more cases than one, the situation of the people has remained the same as if they were living during the old apartheid days.

The study developed a model for projecting potential economies from manpower substitution among the four core mental health professions and applied the model to a proposed substitution situation which would substitute psychologists for psychiatrists in the delivery of a proportion of present private practice (fee-for-service) psychiatry services in British Columbia. The model identifies three controlling variables: treatment substitutability (TS), practice privilege constraints (PPC), and relative payment rates (RR). In the model, TS and PPC are conceptualized as determining the estimated substitutable share of costs (SSC%); RR, in combination with the values derived for SSC%, is then used to estimate potential cost savings (CS%). Two conditions were defined for each of the three controlling variables in order to provide a range of possible values for SSC% and CS%. For reasons of data availability, data were obtained from the Manitoba Health Services Commission for private practice psychiatry services for FY 1984 and estimates of SSC% calculated. These estimates were then applied to B.C. Medical Services Commission data for FY 1984, and projected values of CS% calculated. Calculations were made both for all services and for the subset of psychotherapy services, which accounted for 80 percent of the larger set of services. The results of the study indicated considerable possibilities for manpower substitution, ranging from 35 to 70 percent for all services and 40 to 75 percent for psychotherapy services. However, the study also found that while salaried psychologists offered the possibility of substantial cost savings, a fee-for-service arrangement suggested virtually no potential savings. Projected values of CS% for the salaried alternative were 20 to 40 percent for all services and 15 to 30 percent for psychotherapy services but in the fee-for-service alternative, only 4 to 8 percent for all services and 4 to 7 percent for psychotherapy services. Licensure and market rigidities which might pose barriers to implementation were evaluated and a review of professional training standards (TS), licensure standards (PPC), and funding alternatives (RR) indicated that the projected economies could be achieved with no necessity for modifications in existing arrangements. PPC appear to present almost no barriers to economies from the proposed manpower substitution and those barriers which are presented by TS and RR limitations still allow considerable potential for economies. Thus, the greatest opportunities for intervention in achieving and enhancing the projected, economies appear to be in the exploration of relative payment rates and relative effectiveness of treatment methods (e.g., psychotherapy vs. pharmacotherapy). The study concludes with a discussion of factors lying outside the boundaries of the model but which impinge, nonetheless, upon the feasibility of the proposed substitution and fall, necessarily, to policy makers to address. The existing network of B.C. community mental health centres was suggested as a possible mechanism for the delivery of the substitutable share of private practice psychiatry services.
Medicine, Faculty of
Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of
Graduate

Empirical research has established that the service sector is the engine of growth in global economies. Despite the contributions of the service sector to global economies, research in service innovation has been neglected. There are still empirical research gaps especially on the predictors of strategic service delivery innovation (SSDI). The problem statement addressed in this study was that no research used the resource advantage theory to investigate the nature of the relationship between SSI and SSDI with OS as a possible moderator variable. Using resource advantage theory as the foundation, the purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether organizational size moderates the relationship between SSI and SSDI. Survey data were collected from a random sample of IT managers in the United States (n = 250), and data were analyzed using SPSS to specifically test the three hypotheses of the study. The key findings indicated that SSI was positively related to SSDI F (3, 246) = 428.153, p < 0.001 OS was positively related to SSI (t = 10.4, p < 0.001), and OS moderated the relationship between SSI and SSDI F (1, 245) = 0.005, p = 0.006. Using the conceptual framework of the R-A theory was statistically significant to investigate the relationships between the three key variables. Positive social change should be achieved when IT managers realize that strategic service innovation is positively related to strategic service innovation delivery, and is moderated by organizational size, then this information should factor into IT managers' strategic planning to positively impact social change by minimizing cost of production in service delivery to consumers. The outcome of this study was two-fold: academic significance of delivery innovation (SSDI) and managerial significance.

The thesis addresses the research question: How to describe, understand, and explain IT service delivery? Based on the research question, the following research questions were derived:  How to analyse IT service delivery based on ITIL in order to determine its current situation? How to formalize elements of IT service delivery in maturity level that can be used to assess its current status? These research questions are answered by two IT artefacts: an analysis method and a maturity model for IT service delivery. Both of them are constructed by design-science research guidelines. The analysis method is focused on understanding the IT service delivery in organizations; it is founded on the IT service delivery processes of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 2. The method proposed has been applied through three case studies of Nicaraguan Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The maturity model is oriented to formalize and assess the maturity level of IT service delivery; it is supported by IT service delivery elements that are considered significant for managing IT service delivery by the Nicaraguan ISP sector, by IT service concepts, and by maturity model properties, and complemented by the IT Service Capability Maturity Model. The maturity model provides a mechanism for evaluating the maturity level of IT service delivery through a set of maturity statements and includes a graphical representation; it is also applied to the traceable information of the current status of IT service delivery of one of the Nicaraguan ISPs.
QC 20110209

Since 1991. South Africa has a new democratic dispensation. This new- Democracy in South Africa has the aim to change the lives of ever)- citizen in South Africa. A new Constitution and the Bill of Rights have been adopted to ensure that discrimination policies of the past are to be addressed. The Government of South Africa committed itself to gender equality and this commitment has to transpire to all public institutions. It is therefore. important that public institutions should engage in a process of ongoing change and investigate their own controlled styles in support of gender justice. In the South African Police. before 1994. women were not considered as an essential part of the workforce and they were not employed in senior management positions. The new South African Police Service adopted community policing as a new style of policing and embarked on a strong sense of service delivery to the community. South Africa has a diverse community and to enable the SAPS to deliver a proper service to the community they serve, the human-resource component should reflect this: incorporating men and women as equal partners. The managers of the SAPS have therefore to change accordingly and with that the whole organisation and its members. When times change. it requires a change in attitudes and perceptions. The aim of this study was to engender a new consciousness in the SAPS and the society about the role of policewomen as competent managers in a male-dominated profession and not for superiority of any of the genders. In any society women play a critical role: therefore the respect for the rights of women in society brings capability and builds capacity. Semi-structured interview schedules were used to conduct interviews with female police station managers as well as their subordinates at different stations to obtain the necessary information. A literature re vie^ was done to obtain information and views from other authors on the topic of policewomen. Limited research has been done on policewomen or on women in management positions in SAPS. Chapter one provides an orientation to the study. Legislation by Government as well as policies and directives from the SAPS were discussed in Chapter 2 to set the scene for the study. The question is asked whether these legislation. policies and directives are effectively being implemented to enhance the development of women in the organisation and to give them a fair chance to show their skills and competencies in managerial positions. The study further materialises in a discussion on the role and performance of women in the policing environment and a historical background of women in policing in South .Africa. The remainder of the study focuses on the research methodology. the empirical findings: a summary: recommendations and a conclusion.
Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Family-centered care (FCC) focuses on considering the family in planning/implementing care and is associated with increased patient satisfaction. Little is known about factors that influence FCC. Using linear mixed modeling and Generalized Estimating Equations to analyze data from a cross-sectional survey of primary care practices in Ontario, this study sought to determine whether models of primary care service delivery differ in their provision of FCC and to identify characteristics of primary care practices associated with FCC. Patient-reported scores of FCC were high, but did not differ significantly among primary care models. After accounting for patient characteristics, practice characteristics were not significantly associated with patient-reported FCC. Provider-reported scores of FCC were significantly higher in Community Health Centres than in Family Health Networks. Higher numbers of nurse practitioners and clinical services on site were associated with higher FCC scores but scores decreased as the number of family physicians at a site increased.

Thesis (MPA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research study explores the impact of organisational culture with specific reference to the South African Police Service (SAPS) culture on service delivery. The two interrelated concepts "organisational culture and service delivery are discussed broadly in terms of their challenges for the contemporary policing function which put emphasis on the provision of police service and accounatbility to the broader community. The premise of the study is based on literature research evidence that organisational culture is an important factor to influence employee behaviour towards organisational effectiveness and also determine how they respond to its external environment. At the same time a strong organisational culture can be rigid and become a hindrance to change. Service delivery is a critical challenge to the government's ongoing efforts to ensure that its delivery process is efficient and responsive, particularly to the needs of the previously disadvantaged communities. In recent years, this challenge reinforced the government to embark on broad transformation mechanisms in order to position public institutions in an environment where service delivery meets the public needs and expectations. Some of these mechanisms include the promulgation of legislation, regulations and a series of policy frameworks notably, The White Paper on Reconstruction and Development (ROP), 1994, The White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service of 1995, Public Service Regulation of 1999 etc. However, the provision of efficient service delivery in public institutions is usually constrained by various factors such as lack of capacity and shortage of competency skills, financial and technological resources as opposed to the private sector which normally have these resources in abundance. Since lack of sufficient financial resources will always be a challenge for public service delivery enhancement, this study suggests that public institutions can incorporate some private sector strategies in order to be innovative and improve efficiency. Apart from a lack of the above mentioned resources as contributing factor to inefficient service delivery, available theory on organisational culture state that it is an all encompassing factor that influences employee behaviour in public institutions. Chapter 3 provides a theoretical framework on the concept of organisational culture, its formation, and its sources, how it is sustained in the organisation. Various models and examples of organisational culture as found in small and big organisations such as those associated with government agencies are analysed and distinguish in terms of why the size of the organisation can determine its prevailing culture. Small organisations with flat structures are considered to be flexible, autonomous, innovative and responsive to customer needs. On the other hand the traditional bureaucratic organisations such as government agencies like police organisations tend to be characterised by highly formal hierarchical structure with too many layers, operational rules and regulations which are intended to enforce control measures. However, type of structures are criticised for rigid systems, autocratic, and slow. Models for changing organisational culture in order to increase its effectiveness are suggested. After a theoretical discussion on both the concepts organisational culture and service delivery, the SAPS was used as a case study to establish the applicability and the extent to which organisational culture impact on service delivery. The first stage consist of analytical perspective of the SAPS historical military culture since its inception in 1913 and giving critical accounts of its operational phases that it had undergone until the new dispensation. Since the early 1990s until after April 1994 elections, marked a new era in the SAPS which embarked on broad transformation initiatives in order to change policing function from that of a narrow law and order maintenance to a fully integrated community policing which makes police officers to be accountable to the broader community by rendering police service and problem solving within a human rights culture. However, police culture has been widely criticised as a source of resistance to change and reform, and is often misunderstood. The prevailing police culture which was inherited from the previous paramilitary legacy such as the autocratic leadership style, traditional bureaucratic structure, corruption, secrecy, mistrust are some of the dominant indicators which are identifiable and commonalities among the different police agencies. These dominant features cause any resistance to any change initiative and are perceived with negative image. After contextualising the description of the SAPS, the study describes the methods and procedures used to conduct an empirical research project in the form of a pilot study conducted in two police stations in Cape Town. Data collection methods include the following: 1) literature review, 2) open-ended one-an-one interviews with the station commissioners from the selected stations, 3) distributing survey questionnaires which consist of close ended questionnaires to junior officers at police stations to determine their attitudes towards the organisations they work in, and 4) by means of observation. Theoretical evidence proves that police culture which is characterised by paramilitary, bureaucracy, rigid systems and procedures, inflexible structure still prevail in the SAPS and contributes significantly to lack of coordination, slow response and results inefficient service delivery. It is concluded that police stations are the primary centres where the public gets first hand experience when reporting their cases or need the help of police officers to solve problems in the community. In order to provide efficient police service, units which provide interrelated functions need to be fully integrated under one unit commander in order to improve coordination and prompt response. Policing crime is still the primary function of the police and police officers need to be fully equipped with competency skills and other capacity building programs that are consistent with the contemporary policing function.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsingstudie stelondersoek in na die impak van organisasiekultuur met spesifieke verwysing na die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens (SAPD) se kultuur op dienslewering. Die twee verwante konsepte "organisasiekultuur"en "dienslewering"word breedvoerig bespreek teen die agtergrond van die agtergrond van die uitdagings wat dit stel vir die hedendaagse polisieringsfunsie wat dit beklemtoon dat die polisie 'n diens moet lewer en aanspeeklik moet wees teenoor die breer gemeenskap. Die studie se aanname is gebasseer op literatuurnavorsing wat toon dat organisasiekultuur 'n faktor is wat werknemersgedrag beinvloed ten opsigte van organisasie-effektiwiteit asook hoe werknemers reageer teenoor die eksterne omgewing. 'n Sterk organisasiekultuur word beskou as 'n bindende faktor tussen werkers en die organisasie en dit skep kosekwentheid en rigting. 'n Sterk organisisasiekultuur kan terselfdetyd rigied wees en 'n struikelblok word in die weg van voorgestelde verandering aangesien verandering beskou kan word as inmenging in die normale gang van die organisasie. Hierteenoor het 'n meer buigsame kultuur die voordeel van aanpasbaarheid ten opsigte van verandering. Dienslewering is 'n volgehoue uitdaging vir die regering se se volgehoue pogings om te verseker dat sy leweringsproses effektief is en die behoeftes van spesifiek die voorheen benadeelde groepe aanspreek. Hierdie uitdaging het die regering genoop om transformasie-meganismes daar te stel ten einde openbare instellings in staat te stelom leweringsagente te word wat die behoeftes en uitkomste-verwagtinge van almal aanspreek. Van die meganismes sluit in die promulgering van wetgewing en beleid soos die Heropbou-en Ontwikkelingsprogram (HOP) Witskrif, 1994, die Transformasie van Openbare Dienste Witskrif, 1995, die Openbare Diens Reguleringswet van 1999 ensomeer. Die lewering van effektiewe dienste word gewoonlik beperk deur deur veskeie faktore soos 'n gebrek aan kapasiteit en vaardighede, asook finasiele en tegnologiese hulpbronne wat normaalweg tot die beskiking van die private sektor is. Gegewe dat 'n tekort aan finansiele hulpbronne altyd 'n uitdaging vir effektiewe openbare sektor dienslewering sal wees, stel hierdie studie voor dat openbare instellings sekere privaatsektor strategiee kan inkorporeer ten einde innovasie en effektiwiteit te verbeter. Behalwe bogenoemde beperkende faktore, stel beskikbare organisasiekultuur-teorie dit dat dit ook organisasiekultuur is wat openbare sektor amptenare se gedrag is wat die kwaliteit en vlak van dienslewering beinvloed. Hoofstuk drie bied 'n teoretiese raamwerk vir die konsep organisasiekultuur ten opsigte van hoe dit geskep en in stand gehou word binne organisasies. Verskeie modelle en voorbeelde van organisasiekultuur binne klein sowel as groor organissaies word ontleed en daar word gekyk na hoe die grootte van 'n organisasie organisasiekultuur beinvloed. Klein organisasies met 'n plat struktuur word beskou as buigsaam, outonoom, innoverend en daartoe in staat om die vebruiker se behoeftes aan te spreek. Daarteenoor word tradisionele burokratiese organisasies soos polisie-organisasies gekenmerk deur formele strukture met te veel vlakke, operasionele reels en regulasies ten einde volle beheer te he oor prosedures. Die rigiede stelsels, outokrasie, en stadiege leweringsproses van sulke strukture word dikwels gekritiseer. Modelle om organisasiekultuur te verander ten einde effektiwiteit te verbeter word voorgestel. Die teoretiese bespeking van die konsepte organisasiekultuur en dienslewering word gevolg deur 'n gevallestudie van die SAPD ten einde te bepaal die mate waartoe organisasiekultuur impakteer op dienslewering. Die eerste fase behels 'n analitiese perspektief van die SAPD se historiese militere kultuur sedert 1913 asook' n kritiese blik op operasionele fases waardeur die SAPD gegaan het tot en met die nuwe dispensasie. Die vroee 1990s tot net na die April 1994 verkiesing verteenwoordig' n nuwe era in die SAPD ten opsigte van transformasie inisiatiewe wat daarop gerig was om die polisieringsfunksie te verander van 'n agent wat eng gefokus was op die handhawing van wet en orde na 'n geintegreerde polisiediens wat aanspeeklik is teenoor die bree gemeenskap. Dit behels die lewering van 'n polisiediens sowel as probleem-oplossing binne die konteks van 'n menseregte-kultuur. Polisiekultuur word, as gevolg van misverstande, dikwels beskou as 'n bron weerstand teen verandering. Die heersende organisasiekultuur - wat 'n nalatenskap is van die vorige paramilitere styl byvoorbeeld outokratiese leierskapstyl, tradisionele burokratiese strukture, korrupsie, geheimhouding, wantroue - is van die dominante indikatore wat gemeenskaplike eienskappe is van die verskeie polisie-agentskappe. Hierdie dominante kenmerke veroorsaak weerstand teen enige veranderingsinisiatief en word as negatief beskou. Die beskrywing van die SAPD word gevolg deur' n uiteensetting van metodes en prosedures wat gebruik was tydens die empiriese navorsing wat gedoen was by twee polisiestasies in Kaapstad. Data insamelingsmetodes sluit in: 1) lieratuurnavorsing, 2) ope een-tot-een onderhoude met die stasiekomisarisse van die twee stasies, 3) die verspreiding van geslote vraelyste aan junior offisiere by polisiestasies ten einde hul houding te bepaal teenoor die organisaies waar hulle werk, en 4) observasies. Teoretiese bewyse toon dat die polisiekultuur wat normaalweg gekenmerk word deur paramilitere, buroktariese, rigiede stelsels en prosedures steeds bestaan binne die SAPD en dat dit bydra tot swak koordinasie, swak response en oneffektiewe dienslewering. Ten slotte word gemeld dat polisiedienssentra plekke is waar die publiek eerstehands kennis maak met dienslewering. Ten einde 'n effektiewe diens te lewer, behoort eenhede wat verwante diense lewer geintegreer te word onder die bevel van een bevelvoerder. Misdaadvoorkoming is steeds die primere funksie van die SAPD en beamptes moet toegerus word met die nodige bevoegdhede, vaardighede asook kapasiteitsbouprogramme wat in lyn is met die kontemporere polisieringsfunksie.

This thesis provides a novel architecture for the creation and management of virtual multimedia adaptation services offered by a multimedia-enabled cloud. The aim of the proposed scheme is to provide an optimal yet a transparent user access to adapted media contents while isolating them from the heterogeneity of the utilized devices, diversity of media formats, as well as the details of the adaptation services and performance variations of the underlying network. This goal is achieved through the development of service virtualization models that provide various levels of abstraction of the actual physical services and their performance parameters. Such virtual models offer adaptation functions by comprising adaptation services with accordance to their parameters. Additionally, parameters describing the functional specifics of the adaptation functions, as well as multimedia content features, are organized into a hierarchical structure that facilitates extraction of the virtual models capable of satisfying the conditions expressed by the user requests. At the same time the paramter/feature organization structure itself is flexible enough to allow users to specify media delivery requests at various levels of request details (e.g., summarize video vs. drop specific frames). As a result, in response to a user request for a multimedia content, an optimal virtual service adaptation path is calculated, describing the needed media adaptation operations as well as the appropriate mapping to the physical resources capable of executing such functions. The selection of the adaptation path is done with the use of a novel performance-history based selection mechanism that takes into account the performance variations and relations of the services in a dynamically changing environment of multimedia clouds. A number of experiments are conducted to demonstrate the potential of the proposed work in terms of the enhanced processing time and service quality.

The primary aim of the research project was to develop conceptual models of rural ambulance service delivery based on different worldviews or philosophical positions, and then to compare and contrast these new and emerging models with existing organisational policy and practice. Four research aims were explored: community expectations of pre-hospital care, the existing organization of rural ambulance services, the measurement of ambulance service performance, and the comparative suitability of different pre-hospital models of service delivery. A unique feature was the use of soft systems methodology to develop the models of service delivery. It is one of the major non-traditional systems approaches to organisational research and lends itself to problem solving in the real world. The classic literature-hypothesis-experiment-results-conclusion model of research was not followed. Instead, policy and political analysis techniques were used as counter-points to the systems approach. The program of research employed a triangulation technique to adduce evidence from various sources in order to analyse ambulance services in rural Victoria. In particular, information from questionnaires, a focus group, interviews and performance data from the ambulance services themselves were used. These formed a rich dataset that provided new insight into rural ambulance services. Five service delivery models based on different worldviews were developed, each with its own characteristics, transformation processes and performance criteria. The models developed are titled: competitive; sufficing; community; expert; and practitioner. These conceptual models are presented as metaphors and in the form of holons and rich pictures, and then transformed into patient pathways for operational implementation. All five conceptual models meet the criteria for systemic desirability and were assessed for their political and cultural feasibility in a range of different rural communities. They provide a solid foundation for future discourse, debate and discussion about possible changes to the way pre-hospital services are delivered in rural Victoria.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008.
A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.

HIV among drug injectors had become a major problem in Scotland by the early 1990s. Of a total of 1,943 HIV infections reported in Scotland up to the end of 1991, 991 (51%) were related to injecting drug use (IDU). The threat of HIV spreading among drug injectors in Glasgow was intensified by a dramatic increase in the number of injectors in the early 1980s. This increase in injecting, together with the threat of HIV posed an enormous problem for existing drugs services in Glasgow. In 1986, the World Health Organisation suggested that supplying sterile needle and syringes to drug injectors could contribute to HIV. The decision to set up needle exchanges in the UK was made by Government in 1986. The first three needle exchanges in Scotland were opened in Glasgow (Ruchill Hospital), Dundee and Edinburgh in 1987. By 1992 there were eight needle exchanges operating in Glasgow. Research conducted up to 1991, (when the work for this thesis began), indicated that were eight key questions which should be answered in the course of an evaluation into needle exchanges. The answers to these questions were debated in the published literature. Four related to service delivery and four to service impact. These are central to this thesis.

This thesis consists of three chapters that study public service delivery, nutrition and agricultural productivity in developing countries. The first chapter investigates whether imposing price-caps on frontline service delivery agents enhances welfare. I implement a field experiment in which I randomize whether public extension agents are subject to a price-cap or not. I find that while price-caps are effective in enhancing the affordability of extension services and increasing recipients’ surplus, they also reduce the geographic coverage of services. This suggests that price-cap regulation creates a tension between making services affordable and providing incentives for agents to serve remote recipients. I then show that the marginal welfare effect of reducing discretion over prices can be expressed as a function of two sufficient statistics: the elasticity of geographic service coverage with respect to the price-cap and the price elasticity of demand. Calculating the welfare effects, I find that any reduction of agents’ discretion reduces social welfare. The second chapter is concerned with contract design in public service delivery when delivery agents are boundedly rational. A theoretically efficient contract that minimizes moral hazard costs and avoids behavioural distortions charges agents a fixed fee for the usage of public assets and makes them residual claimants on its returns. I investigate whether such contracts are indeed efficient in practice by investigating whether imposing lump-sum fees on livestock extension agents distorts their choices. Using a field experiment, I first show that, contrary to classic economic theory, levying a fixed fee on agents leads them to increase user fees for a livestock vaccine and induces demand effects that reduce quantities. To understand the mechanisms underlying this result, I implement a series of lab-in-the-field experiments with a subset of the field-experimental participants. The results suggest that instead of setting prices for user fees as mark-ups over marginal costs agents use simplified rules-of-thumb that anchor pricing decisions on aggregate profits. The results highlight that boundedly rational behavior can reduce the effectiveness of adopting fixed fee contracts. The third chapter investigates whether improvements to agricultural production technology, a common response to undernutrition, can enhance food security and improve nutrition. In India, groundwater irrigation using tube wells has long been promoted as a means to reduce rainfall-dependence and enhance food security. The merits of adopting tube wells have, however, been debated widely, with opponents fearing a deprivation of smaller farmers and impoverishment of rural laborers. To evaluate the causal effects of tube well adoption on nutrition, I employ an instrumental variable framework that exploits variation in land suitability for deep groundwater irrigation caused by differences in hydrogeological structures. I find that groundwater irrigation significantly improves nutrition across the income spectrum: a one standard deviation increase in the proportion of cropped area irrigated with tube wells increases calorie intake by 770 to 915 calories per day. In addition, groundwater irrigation generates positive spillovers on the calorie intake of urban populations and households not employed in agriculture. I present additional evidence which suggests that these effects are driven by increases in agricultural productivity that reduce staple prices and raise wage rates. The findings thus highlight the value of groundwater irrigation in fighting undernutrition and promoting agricultural development.

The publications included in this thesis cover four broad areas of fertility regulation. Postpartum contraception. This section includes a number of studies investigating mechanisms underlying lactational amenorrhoea together with three studies investigating the relationship between infant feeding practices and the duration of amenorrhoea. A study on the effect of progestin-only oral contraception on bone mineral density during lactation and two studies on the timing and quality of advice about post-partum contraception complete this section. Modern methods of contraception. A number of general reviews of modern methods of contraception are included in this section together with an overview of new developments and possible future methods. Original work includes studies on continuation rates of Norplant; acceptability of future methods (male and female): ovulation during the use of hormone replacement therapy; morphological and functional changes in the endometrium of women using low dose progestogen only methods and the use of antiprogestogens for various approaches to female contraception. Abortion. The papers in this section concentrate mainly on service delivery issues including the establishment of a centralised referral system: audit of quality of care; counselling: acceptability and patient satisfaction. Emergency Contraception. Original work on the efficacy and mode of action of emergency contraception: knowledge among teenagers; prevalence of chlamydia infection among women using emergency contraception (EC) and the need for de-regulation of EC are included in this section. The thesis ends with three studies on advanced administration of EC and its effect on use, risk taking behaviour and abortion rates.

Based on research into the area of financial service delivery it has become obvious that convenience and simplicity are the keys to success in the future as far as delivering financial services to consumers. This thesis discusses how this convenience and simplicity will be accomplished. It also covers the changes that need to be made and the financial impact on the institutions.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Community Work in the Department of Social Work at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2015.
This study aimed at examining the extent to which the public participates in service delivery, looking specifically at the level and nature of participation in service delivery processes, and perceptions communities have with regards to the type of services rendered. The study was necessitated by continuous protests over service delivery at local government level noticed since 2006, and reports of very slow provision of services that did not meet the expectations of residents. Communities perceived the municipal officials to be self-serving and neglectful of their needs, while some municipalities were reported to be under investigation, and some were even put under provincial administration. Therefore the significance of this research cannot be overemphasised. The researcher acknowledges that there are numerous problems hindering service delivery at local government level, and this research study could not unpack all of them, but the delimitations of the study are stated in the dissertation. Contextualisation of the study was based on the existing legislative, theoretical and conceptual perspectives that apply in the domains of public participation and service delivery. Perspectives were drawn from various sources to test the level and effectiveness of public participation processes used by uMhlathuze Municipality in its service delivery. The nature of the study necessitated the use qualitative methods of data collection such as in-depth interviews and observation in order to: assess the level of community participation in decision-making regarding service delivery; examine community perceptions of the causal factors of good or poor service delivery; identify forms of service delivery that were provided and the beneficiaries of the services delivered. The findings of the study indicate that the participation of community members has been limited to being consulted and informed, but does not include involvement in decision-making about level of service provision nor creation of the beneficiary lists. Public is not involved in the creation of implementation plans, or monitoring and evaluation procedures. The findings of the study also reveal that the community perceived the political environment as a limiting factor in that it tended to have a big influence on the delivery of some the services. Although services such as water, electricity, sanitation (in a form of VIP toilets) and houses are provided to rural communities there are concerns regarding access and distribution of some of the resources, which are allegedly influenced by political alignment. It is concluded that public participation at municipal level really only takes the form of informing and consultation of communities. The public is not involved in crafting the actual implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation procedures. It is also concluded that service delivery is characterised by lack of clarity on the criteria used for creating the beneficiary list. However, although the community is not satisfied with the lack of clarity on such an important aspect of the delivery of services, the level of infrastructural development, nor with the delivery of services itself, their being continuously informed and consulted by the municipality reassure them of the municipality‟s commitment to service provision. Recommendations are made for uMhlathuze Municipality, including a theoretical framework of effective public participation in service delivery. There are also recommendations for further research.

Background: Engagement in the core public health functions and ten essential services remains the standard for measuring local health department (LHD) performance; their role as providers of clinical services remains uncertain, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Purpose: To examine the role of LHDs as clinical service providers and how this role varies among rural and nonrural communities. Methods: The 2013 National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Profile was used to examine the geographic distribution of clinical service provision among LHDs. LHDs were coded as urban, large rural, or small rural based on Rural/Urban Commuting Area codes. Bivariate analysis for clinical services was conducted by rural/urban status. For each service, the proportions of LHDs that directly performed the service, contracted with other organizations to provide the service, or reported provision of the service by independent organizations in the community was compared. Results: Analyses show significant differences in patterns of clinical services offered, contracted, or provided by others, based on rurality. LHDs serving rural communities, especially large rural LHDs, tend to provide more direct services than urban LHDs. Among rural LHDs, larger rural LHDs provided a broader array of services and reported more community capacity for delivery than small rural LHDs- particularly maternal and child health services. Implications: There are capacity differences between large and small rural LHDs. Limited capacity within small rural LHDs may result in providing less services, regardless of the availability of other providers within their communities. These findings provide valuable information on clinical service provision among LHDs, particularly in rural and underserved communities.