46 research outputs found
The influence of culture on capturing and management of tacit knowledge in the energy sector
No full textThe cost of energy has a significant bearing on the performance of economy of societies , thus management of energy resources is crucial . The available energy resources should be utilised more effectively with minimum incremental costs. In Zimbabwe the electricity generation , transmission and distribution industry aims to ensure minimum disruptions in power supply . The industry is characterised with zero tolerance for mistakes as the equipment involved is highly valued. The industry therefore relies much on the specialised knowledge of employees. This calls for the need to capture their experience based knowledge so that it is not lost as employees leave the organisation due to diverse reasons. Culture of the organisation is critical as it forms the base for the success of efforts directed towards the capturing of such knowledge. This research sought to establish the influence of culture on the capturing and management of tacit knowledge with the aim of identifying possible avenues of improvement . Various authors are of the assertion that culture of an organisation should foster the retention of experiential knowledge . The study took a quantitative approach in which a sample size of 89 was selected from the possible 115 , triangulation of data collection methods was utilised in which questionnaires and interviews were used. The research findings show that culture influences the capturing and management of tacit knowledge . The study concludes which recommendations which can be used to address cultural inertia and ensure that experiential knowledge loss is minimised
Language, Thought, Art and Existence : Creative Nonfictions
No full textThis book comprises 19 creative non-fiction pieces and essays centred around the topics of language, thought, art and existence seen through the prism of practising artist in contemporary Africa. The collection continues with Zimbabwe's Tendai Mwanaka's creative non-fiction ideology of presenting non-fiction in a creative, fresh, easy reading, simple language. With most of the essays driven by personal stories, the author ably renders them accessible to a wide spectrum of readers from the scholarly to the journalistic and the general. The pieces are grouped according to the topics, with the language essays starting the book, followed by thought, existential, and art essays. In tune with the adage the personal is political, Mwanaka lets the personal drive these essays as he tries to investigate and conversationally navigate his thoughts, beliefs, feelings and experience on language, existence and art. This is an invaluable contribution to the academic establishment, social theorists, linguists, literary theorists, journalists, activists and the general readership
Further Development of a QGIS Plugin for the CityGML 3D City Database
No full textDiversity in the use cases of semantic 3D city models today is unprecedented. A key enabler for this is the CityGML standard developed by the OGC to facilitate storing and exchanging these city models. Nevertheless, CityGML only provides object definitions which cater for a wide range of applications, making necessary the need to attach additional semantic information specific to each domain. For this reason, CityGML was designed with generic components that allow it to be extended. Alternatively, an extensibility mechanism that strengthens semantic interoperability in data exchange is the ADE. An example is the Energy ADE which augments CityGML for Urban Energy Modelling at single-building and city-wide scales. Base CityGML datasets are commonly encoded using the XML, though there are other encodings based on the JSON and SQL. The latter encoding is favourable for its associated benefits that come from the underlying DBMS. The 3DCityDB , upon which this thesis is based, is one such encoding that is open source and developed for PostgreSQL and Oracle. It has a complex structure which makes it difficult for users without extensive knowledge of CityGML, databases and SQL to access data. Hence, the 3DCityDB-Tools plugin was developed to simplify user interaction with the 3DCityDB using QGIS. However, encoding an extended CityGML dataset in the 3DCityDB adds greater complexity to a system that is already complex. In addition, 3DCityDB-Tools currently has no support for ADEs. On this backdrop, this research was initiated to investigate the extent to which ADE support can be introduced to the 3DCityDB-Tools plugin. Its server-and-client-side components are further developed to have extended layers that interact with data in 3DCityDB tables, can be managed from the GUI in QGIS and whose attributes are editable. This was achieved in an incremental and iterative process while maintaining the current architecture and user experience of the plugin. Areas identified for future development relate to the underlying database encoding of CityGML and capabilities not yet supported.Geomatic
The Hairdresser of Harare, Questioning Gender and Sexuality in a Zimbabwean Novel
No full textAs gay characters have been rather rare in Zimbabwean literature, Tendai Huchu’s first novel, The Hairdresser of Harare attracted a lot of attention when it was published in 2010. The story of Vimbai, a single mother who dreams of owning her own salon, and Dumisani, her friend who tries to hide his sexual preferences, thus works as a catalyst to explore different aspects of a society in crisis. For those reasons, the author has been both praised and criticized. In this article, I argue that, in the novel, the depiction of homosexuality is closely related to the exploration of popular literary genres such as the romance novel. The subversion of “chick lit,” for instance, allows Tendai Huchu to question fixed gender categories and sexuality. The author reveals the violence Dumisani undergoes by using several conflicting narratives that try to depict and analyze homosexuality.Les personnages gays demeurent rares dans la littérature zimbabwéenne et le premier roman de Tendai Huchu, The Hairdresser of Harare, a attiré l’attention des commentateurs dès sa sortie en 2010. En effet, l’histoire de Vimbai, une mère célibataire qui rêve de posséder son propre salon de coiffure, et de son ami Dumisani, qui tente de masquer ses préférences sexuelles permet de révéler divers aspects d’une société en crise. Pour ces raisons, l’auteur a été aussi bien loué que critiqué. Dans cet article, je pars de l’idée que la représentation de l’homosexualité et des questions de genre (gender) est indissociable au sein de ce roman du travail sur les genres littéraires populaires, au premier rang desquels se trouve le roman sentimental. Dans cette perspective, l’usage subversif de la « chick lit » permet à Tendai Huchu de questionner les catégories figées du genre (gender) et les représentations de la sexualité. C’est en déléguant à plusieurs voix narratives – parmi lesquelles l’intéressé lui-même – le débat sur l’homosexualité, que l’auteur parvient à rendre compte de la violence dont est victime Dumisani
Suns of the Mbira: A Critical Exploration of the Multiple Figurations of Femininity in Selected Fiction by Tsitsi Dangarembga and Yvonne Vera
No full textMy thesis is that multiple figurations of femininity challenging traditional
Zimbabwean values are articulated in the representations of womanhood,
motherhood and sexuality in the writing of Tsitsi Dangarembga (1959-)
and Yvonne Vera (1964-2005). Critically, I draw centrally upon Rosi
Braidotti (1994) and Donna Haraway’s (1992; 2004) work on figurations
as feminist metaphors theorizing how women challenge and transform
socially constructed roles that confine females to subservient social
positions. In addition, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s (1987)
theorization of multiplicity is deployed as a useful conceptualization of
the erasure of the binary separating the collective and individual, asserting
instead, that subjectivities are pluralistic, connected identities in constant
creation.
Applying the critics’ ideas with due caution to the African context,
through a method of ‘carnivalizing,’ mixing and negotiating theory, my
thesis also makes use of selected forms of African feminist theory, to give
the necessary cultural context to Zimbabwean femininity. I critically
engage with scholarly work that theorizes African women’s
historiography and negotiations of power and knowledge. Combining
these diverse feminist and post-structuralist voices together with views
expressed in the writing, I aim to produce a nuanced reading of the
plurality of femininity so that a pattern of simultaneously complimentary
and contradictory relations with feminist paradigms of African
womanhood begins to emerge as key to interpreting the selected fiction.
My thesis develops in three chapters, beginning with an examination of
how rebellious women negotiate the domestic, private world culturally
assigned to females. I explore how Vera’s unconventional figurations of
motherhood undo the cultural and political mores placed on women by
essentialist patriarchal and racial ideologies. Further analyzing dissenting
femininities, I investigate subversive textual constructions of same-sex
relationships in Vera and Dangarembga’s fiction. My readings suggest
that some of the ideological contradictions between theory and text
provide fertile conditions in which to rethink radical femininities as
figurations within African feminism. I propose new, progressive strategies
for reading womanhood, and exploring the polyphonic and complex
nature of colonial and post-independence Zimbabwean femininity, as
expressed in the novels
Revisiting the business environment at the Bottom of Pyramid (BOP)-from theoretical considerations to practical realities
No full textThe area of constraints that firms face when conducting business in difficult environments, such as the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), has been subject to scrutiny in international business. While there has been a general discussion of constraints that firms face in doing business at the BOP, there has been limited effort to constantly revisit these issues in view of the dynamic environment that makes up the BOP. The author critically reexamines the impediments that firms face operating at the BOP with the view of identifying coping strategies used to mitigate the impact of these impediments within a BOP context and their practical, social, and policy implications. Previous studies focus on constraints at the expense of coping strategies and implications. This Zimbabwean study provides a contrasting perspective. Key findings include the identification of changing nature of impediments that are embedded in the BOP context and dynamic coping strategies used by firms to minimize the negative impact of these impediments. The author provides practical, social, and policy implications that can be used to expand insights into the importance of understanding the changing nature of impediments faced by firms at the BOP and the subsequent coping strategies used
Shaking dance in the stormy valley: tendai discourse on kami-buddha relations in fourteenth century mount hiei
No full textThis dissertation explores medieval Japanese discourse on the amalgamation of kami and buddhas, particularly as represented in Keiran shūyōshū, a fourteenth century encyclopedic Japanese Tendai text, which presents the highest knowledge of medieval Taimitsu scholasticism on Mt. Hiei. Focusing on the inner logic of the “origin-trace” structure central to the Kami-Buddha combinatory discourse, this study investigates the rationale of nonduality between buddhas and kami or the origin and manifested traces. Examining representations of kami as manifestations of buddhas and the complex web of their relationships in Keiran, this study elucidates that the origin-trace scheme is indispensable from medieval Taimitsu teachings—in particular, the esoteric idea of copenetration and mutual identity, as well as the doctrine of original enlightenment and its associated rituals and practices. Examination of these interrelated issues culminates by centering on Keiran’s discussion of kami’s manifestation in the form of the snake and its association with the sixth consciousness, through which the main discussions of this study—kami as manifestations, kami’s manifestations, and nonduality of the origin and trace, are integrated into the problem of our mind cultivation toward enlightenment. Throughout this study, I pay attention to several allegories associated with the notion of nonduality in Keiran, which include the allegory of the shaking dance mentioned in the title of this dissertation, as well as various analogies connected to the form of the snake. At the end of this study, the main features of thie symbolic complex of nonduality are analyzed as being correlated in their subtle yet ultimate signification of our innate capacity to attain enlightenment, which should be sought after and sustained with our persistently dedicated practices.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2018-12-01The student, Yeon Joo Park, accepted the attached license on 2016-09-16 at 00:02.The student, Yeon Joo Park, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2016-09-16 at 03:02.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2016-09-21 at 08:50.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #10159 on 2017-02-28 at 14:35:58Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-01T16:36:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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Galileo High Accuracy Services: Analysis of its potential for cadastral surveying
No full textThe NMCAs (National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies) of European countries have different cadastral survey accuracy standards (European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency, 2019). In order to meet these standards, the appropriate equipment and services should be determined. The augmentation service Galileo High Accuracy Service (HAS), that is planned for 2022, will provide high accuracy Precise Point Positioning (PPP) corrections. Unlike other high-accuracy services, the Galileo HAS will be free of charge and available worldwide, without the need to be close to a base station or to a dedicated provider network. The PPP corrections will be provided through the Galileo signal as well as through the Internet (EUSPA, 2021). Because of the potential of the Galileo HAS, for the Synthesis Project we want to get insight in the accuracy of the augmentation service. Since a big share of cadastral surveys is performed in the built environment, we also want to determine the accuracy in an urban canyon. With the found accuracy, we can possibly judge whether Galileo HAS is suitable for cadastral surveys in the Netherlands, by comparing the measured accuracy to cadastral survey accuracy standards of the Dutch Kadaster. As a final conclusion for this project, Galileo HAS is still a technique under development and the PPP-based correction methods are currently not as accurate as the RTK-based ones. Galileo HAS will present in the future ways to correct these errors.Synthesis Project 2022Geomatic
Le lotus déployé sur le mont Hiko
No full textMount Hiko, north of the southern Japanese island of Kyūshū, is one of the main sacred mountains of Japan, and one of the great places of practice of the yamabushi or shugenja, anchorites practising the “way for obtaining powers” (Shugendō). This mountain has only recently been studied in Japan and the book published by the author on this subject, of which the following essay is a summary, is the first work to appear on this topic in Western languages. After having briefly presented the geographical context and the origins of the place, the author endeavours to show how the spatial structure of the mountain and the ascetic practices that take place there were determined by the cult of the future Buddha Maitreya, but also by a particular ritual relating to the Tendai school, the ritual of the Lotus of the Law (Hokke-hō). The Tendai School, to which the yamabushi of Mount Hiko belong, is known for relying on the doctrine of the Lotus Sūtra, one of the scriptural authorities of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna). The ritual in question was inspired more precisely by a chapter which depicts the meeting of the Buddha Śākyamuni with another buddha named Prabhūtaratna. The author also shows how the political struggles, after placing for a time (1587–1601) a woman at the head of the religious complex of Mount Hiko, finally led, during the anti-Buddhist repression of the Meiji period (1868), to the probably irreversible decline of the place, despite a revival of Shugendō after the Japanese defeat of 1945.Le mont Hiko, au nord de l’île japonaise méridionale de Kyūshū, est l’une des principales montagnes sacrées du Japon et l’un des grands lieux de pratique des yamabushi ou shugenja, anachorètes pratiquant la voie de l’obtention des pouvoirs (Shugendō). Cette montagne n’a que récemment fait l’objet d’études au Japon et le livre publié par l’auteur sur ce sujet, dont l’essai qui suit est un résumé, est le premier ouvrage en langue occidentale. Après avoir succinctement présenté le contexte géographique et les origines du lieu, l’auteur s’attache à montrer comment la structure spatiale de la montagne et les pratiques ascétiques qui s’y déroulaient, étaient déterminées par le culte du futur bouddha Maitreya, mais également par un rituel particulier relevant de l’école du Tendai, le rite du Lotus de la Loi (Hokke-hō).
On sait que l’école de Tendai, dont relèvent les yamabushi du mont Hiko, se fondait sur la doctrine du Sūtra du Lotus, l’une des autorités scripturaires du bouddhisme du Grand Véhicule (Mahāyāna). Le rite en question s’inspirait plus précisément d’un chapitre qui met en scène la rencontre du Bouddha Śākyamuni et d’un autre bouddha du nom de Prabhūtaratna. L’auteur montre également comment les luttes politiques, après avoir placé pour un temps (1587-1601) une femme à la tête du complexe religieux du mont Hiko, conduisirent finalement, lors de la répression anti-bouddhique de l’époque Meiji, au déclin sans doute irréversible du lieu, malgré un renouveau du Shugendō après la défaite japonaise de 1945.Grapard Allan G. Le lotus déployé sur le mont Hiko. In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 107, 2021. pp. 235-253
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Use of the Human-Centered Design approach for a birth companion program in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: An analysis of the approach and implementation experience
No full textHuman-Centered Design (HCD), sometimes referred to as Design Thinking, is increasingly gaining recognition as an approach that promotes people-centered care in global health. With its history embedded in the technical and engineering fields, HCD has potential to create interventions that are feasible and acceptable to program beneficiaries. Providing emotional and psychosocial support through the use of a birth companion of choice is associated with several significant clinical health outcomes as well as satisfying birth experiences. This intervention is recognized and recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as fundamental and is included in the WHO guidelines for improving quality care for women and their newborns. Despite all this background information, there is insufficient evidence on the factors influencing design and implementation of birth companion programs in people-centered ways in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The dissertation investigated the specific factors influencing implementation of a birth companion program in two health facilities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Additionally, the dissertation explored key learnings of Human-Centered Design as it was the approach utilized to design and implement a birth companion program in the two facilities. By understanding the factors influencing birth companion programs, as well as people-centered approaches such as HCD, it is hoped that the findings will provide important practice recommendations as well as inform policy and research.
The dissertation used two data sets that employed qualitative design methodologies to meet its two broad objectives. The first data set was primary data collected to critique and reflect on the utility of the Human-Centered Design approach that was used to design and implement a birth companion program at Mwananyamala Referral Hospital and Tandale Health Center in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Data were collected using observations of design workshops, field notes, and face-to-face in-depth interviews as well as Zoom interviews of 13 participants including program staff, research team members, HCD experts, and providers who participated in the process. These data were analyzed using Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH) for framework analysis as well as thematic analysis. The second data set was secondary data for a pilot study conducted by Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) that aimed to develop a birth companionship model that responded to the context and needs of women, considered health provider expectations and concerns, and adhered to and observed Tanzania’s health system requirements. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and other project data such as meeting minutes, guided tours, influence maps, document review, and field notes. Data from this data set were analyzed using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) for framework analysis. No comparisons were made between the two facilities as the key findings that surfaced were similar across both facilities. However, the author made mention of the specific health facility where a key finding was more pronounced in one facility compared to the other facility.
Findings for the Human-Centered Design Approach were guided by the Critical Systems Heuristics framework. The findings showed that power dynamics exist across different stages during the HCD process, for example between local researchers and expatriate design experts. However, power differences were more pronounced in complex settings such as health facilities, especially between provider needs and those of women. Power dynamics were also seen between nurses and other providers such as doctors and facility heads, and these differences influenced important decision-making. These power imbalances stemmed from existing power hierarchies that are part of government-led entities such as the two facilities. The power asymmetry also stemmed from the providers’ responsibility to prioritize human lives and also to protect themselves against potential litigation, as birth companions become an eyewitness of the birth experience. In such environments, the execution of HCD is challenging and requires a lot of compromise. Due to these and other provider concerns, providers became the primary co-designers of the birth models implemented at the facilities. However, HCD proved to be an approach that sparked creativity, enabling participants to realize their capacity to solve problems on their own without external influence or being told what to do.
Findings for the factors influencing implementation were guided by the CFIR framework. Before program implementation, providers and women generally accepted the birth companion program and saw it as an important intervention to offer women needed non-clinical support such as providing food, supporting the mothers emotionally, and helping women exercise. However, there were general concerns from most stakeholders, especially providers, on limited space, proliferation of infections, and privacy and confidentiality violations by providers. During implementation, most of these concerns disappeared, as providers and women co-created a birth companion model that was feasible, acceptable, and low cost. However, at Mwananyamala Hospital, space challenges continued, as the program implementers could only start with small numbers due to limited space. Space issues also manifested in other forms as birth companions could not be accommodated at night in the event of complications such as cesarean birth or admissions into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Other key findings that emerged during implementation included poor communication networks, failure to engage other stakeholders, and lack of leadership engagement.
The dissertation concludes by illustrating that implementation of a birth companion program in health settings such as Tandale Health Center and Mwananyamala Hospital is feasible, acceptable, and can be done without huge financial investments. There is a significant opportunity to adopt this model across Tanzania and in other settings with comparable contexts. What made this model feasible and acceptable is the Human-Centered Design approach that enabled a shift in the mindset of providers, sparked innovation, and allowed women and providers to develop their own solutions and test them out without imposition from the program planners. The Human-Centered Design approach, therefore, offers opportunities to design and implement interventions that are acceptable to users and other key stakeholders on the frontlines, leading to potential increased use of the interventions. HCD should not, however, be viewed as an antidote to all complex public health challenges-but should be used as a guiding framework together with other participatory approaches that explore deeper into the complexities of the wicked problems pervasive in global health. The power dynamics it seeks to dismantle are sometimes difficult to disrupt due to other systemic variables that interplay within global health systems. Considerable efforts to locate where the power lies, what contributes to that hegemony, and how it can be reconfigured are necessary for the utilization of HCD. Application of HCD should prioritize the different contexts and evolve and adapt to suit the complexities within each context, yet at the same time maintain the major characteristics that separate it from other participatory approaches
