Computing and Information Systems - Theses
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ItemTechniques for academic timetabling( 2005)This thesis examines two different academic timetabling problems: the Examination Timetabling problem and the Population and Class Timetabling Problem. Initially an extensive survey of academic timetabling literature is undertaken, examining those methods and algorithms that have proved useful for solving academic timetabling problems. A hybrid algorithm, combining constraint programming, simulated annealing and hill climbing, is presented as a method for solving the examination timetabling problem. This algorithm is able to solve the examination timetabling problem at the University of Melbourne, and provides good results on international benchmark data. The population and class timetabling problem is decomposed using the blocking decomposition into a series of integer programs that are all solved to optimality. A model is presented for a simplified version of the class blocking and population problem which solves this problem to optimality without further decomposition. The model is expanded to solve this problem faced by Xavier College, an Australian secondary school. Two separate overlapping blocking schemes are used to allow the problem for different year levels to be solved simultaneously. Two more integer programs allocate to sessions the lessons of the blocks and a subset of the classes from the school. When combined these three stages produce a feasible timetable for Xavier College in a fraction of the time it takes using the current methodology.
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ItemThe institutional and technical antecedents of organisational design: a case study in the Victorian metropolitan hospital system( 2002)This dissertation examines organisational structures and management control systems in the health care sector. The influence of two antecedent variables, the institutional environment and the technical environment, on organisational design choice is examined through the use of institutional theory and transaction cost economics. These theories are used to interpret the structural and management control system responses of hospitals under pressure to form inter-organisational networks. The implications of these design responses for organisational outcomes are examined in order to assess the relative importance of efficiency and/or effectiveness versus legitimacy as the principle logic of organisational action. A case-based investigation into three large public hospital networks in Victoria Australia is undertaken. Semi-structured interviews are the primary source of empirical evidence used to address the research questions of interest. Systematic data collection and analysis protocols are employed to ensure the reliability and validity of the qualitative research method employed. The results of this study indicate that both the technical and institutional environments in which an organisation operates jointly influence organisational design. Hospital networks are found to exhibit a range of structures, which are described according to the extent of horizontal integration observed. Both the type and use of control systems employed in these networks differs according to the extent of integration. Significant integration of core services across constituent hospitals of a network is found to be associated with an increase in the prevalence of integrative liaison devices. Such networks also realign other management control systems, such as the performance measurement system and standard operating procedures, to reflect the network-wide nature of activities. It is found that where a 'fit' is achieved between the antecedent environment variables and organisational design, organisational outcomes are enhanced.