title: Supporting Organisational Critical Activities From Web Sites: An Evaluation Methodology Development

authors: Hung, Wei-Hsi (Frank)

subjects: Organisational critical activities

abstract: quot; Organisational critical activities quot; (OCAs) are activities which must be conducted by the organisation constantly in order to be successful in the industry. They are recognised as being essential to short, medium, and long-term success in that industry, have been significantly resourced and receive regular senior management monitoring and direction. Although these activities are extremely important, some empirical studies have shown that they are not well supported by organisations, particularly in the area of Web support. This thesis develops an evaluation methodology called the quot;organisational critical activity Web support evaluation methodology quot; (OCAWSEM) which can be utilised to elicit OCAs from organisations, evaluate whether an organisation acutes; OCAs are being supported by its Web site, and provide guidance on how the organisation can improve its Web site. To develop the OCAWSEM, this thesis reviews the relevant literature and proposes a prototype OCAWSEM. A new iterative case design (ICD) approach has been used in order to further develop the prototype, and then to test the improved OCAWSEM. The selected field cases were eight universities in New Zealand. In total, 43 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior teams, middle level managers, and Web teams. A systematic review of these universitiesacute Web sites was performed from the provideracutes, rather than the useracutes perspective. The outcome shows that the Developed OCAWSEM is a valid and reliable methodology for the evaluation of the support for OCAs from Web sites in the universities in New Zealand. This thesis provides useful lessons, drawn from the development and testing processes, as the basis from which to develop more specific OCAWSEMs for use in other organisational and industry contexts. Both practitioners and academicians can gain a deeper understanding of the notion of OCAs, better elicit OCAs from management, conduct Web site evaluations, and discuss the support of the Web sites for the OCAs.

text: Supporting Organisational Critical Activities From Web Sites: An Evaluation Methodology Development quot; Organisational critical activities quot; (OCAs) are activities which must be conducted by the organisation constantly in order to be successful in the industry. They are recognised as being essential to short, medium, and long-term success in that industry, have been significantly resourced and receive regular senior management monitoring and direction. Although these activities are extremely important, some empirical studies have shown that they are not well supported by organisations, particularly in the area of Web support. This thesis develops an evaluation methodology called the quot;organisational critical activity Web support evaluation methodology quot; (OCAWSEM) which can be utilised to elicit OCAs from organisations, evaluate whether an organisation acutes; OCAs are being supported by its Web site, and provide guidance on how the organisation can improve its Web site. To develop the OCAWSEM, this thesis reviews the relevant literature and proposes a prototype OCAWSEM. A new iterative case design (ICD) approach has been used in order to further develop the prototype, and then to test the improved OCAWSEM. The selected field cases were eight universities in New Zealand. In total, 43 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior teams, middle level managers, and Web teams. A systematic review of these universitiesacute Web sites was performed from the provideracutes, rather than the useracutes perspective. The outcome shows that the Developed OCAWSEM is a valid and reliable methodology for the evaluation of the support for OCAs from Web sites in the universities in New Zealand. This thesis provides useful lessons, drawn from the development and testing processes, as the basis from which to develop more specific OCAWSEMs for use in other organisational and industry contexts. Both practitioners and academicians can gain a deeper understanding of the notion of OCAs, better elicit OCAs from management, conduct Web site evaluations, and discuss the support of the Web sites for the OCAs.

year: 2006

title: NiMH battery forensics: Instrumentation, modelling and prognostics for identifying failure

authors: Leijen, Petrus Jozef Martinus

subjects: NiMH

abstract: Battery forensics is a growing research field that is becoming increasingly important with the introduction of hybrid-electric and electric vehicles. The need to correctly diagnose battery condition and predict signs of early failure is well recognised. Many presently used techniques are only applicable to laboratory situations where sensitive measurement is required or where complicated mathematical approaches are needed to assess battery condition. Advanced techniques are explored, such as extended Kalman filtering, to identify the challenges associated with analysis of multi-cell battery modules. Energy-recycling hardware is developed that is capable of efficiently cycling energy to and from cells connected in a series configuration. Switching a supercapacitor-bank-based energy store between series and parallel configurations, coupled with a bidirectional switch-mode power-supply, ensures that maximum energy is retained during the analysis cycle. Extended Kalman filtering (EKF) applied to three different battery models was used to quantify the internal component values of the battery equivalent circuits. The bulk-surface model was determined to be the most appropriate for the Toyota Prius battery modules as the EKF predicted component values converge to stable values, and the recovered voltage trace has a low error. However, the computational complexity when considering 12 series-connected NiMH cells, with their individual component variation with state-of-charge and state-of-health, make the EKF approach unviable. The data harvested during the energy recycling is used to calculate a new effective capacitance measure which relates directly to battery state-of-health. Not only is there a direct relationship between effective capacitance and state-of-health, but the (Q,V) coordinate of maximum effective capacitance on the charge-voltage plane, captured during battery discharge, is able to distinguish clearly between ordinary ageing and catastrophic cell failures.

text: NiMH battery forensics: Instrumentation, modelling and prognostics for identifying failure Battery forensics is a growing research field that is becoming increasingly important with the introduction of hybrid-electric and electric vehicles. The need to correctly diagnose battery condition and predict signs of early failure is well recognised. Many presently used techniques are only applicable to laboratory situations where sensitive measurement is required or where complicated mathematical approaches are needed to assess battery condition. Advanced techniques are explored, such as extended Kalman filtering, to identify the challenges associated with analysis of multi-cell battery modules. Energy-recycling hardware is developed that is capable of efficiently cycling energy to and from cells connected in a series configuration. Switching a supercapacitor-bank-based energy store between series and parallel configurations, coupled with a bidirectional switch-mode power-supply, ensures that maximum energy is retained during the analysis cycle. Extended Kalman filtering (EKF) applied to three different battery models was used to quantify the internal component values of the battery equivalent circuits. The bulk-surface model was determined to be the most appropriate for the Toyota Prius battery modules as the EKF predicted component values converge to stable values, and the recovered voltage trace has a low error. However, the computational complexity when considering 12 series-connected NiMH cells, with their individual component variation with state-of-charge and state-of-health, make the EKF approach unviable. The data harvested during the energy recycling is used to calculate a new effective capacitance measure which relates directly to battery state-of-health. Not only is there a direct relationship between effective capacitance and state-of-health, but the (Q,V) coordinate of maximum effective capacitance on the charge-voltage plane, captured during battery discharge, is able to distinguish clearly between ordinary ageing and catastrophic cell failures.

year: 2016

title: Handbook of indigenous peoples' rights [Book review]

authors: Te Aho, Linda

abstract: This article reviews the book “Handbook of indigenous peoples' rights”, edited by Corinne Lennox and Damien

text: Handbook of indigenous peoples' rights [Book review] This article reviews the book “Handbook of indigenous peoples' rights”, edited by Corinne Lennox and Damien

year: 2016