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Online knowledge sharing is the backbone of organisational competitiveness. It helps organisations survive fierce competition since it often facilitates the transfer of individual knowledge to organisational capital and decreases redundant learning time. Yet, a key issue for organisations is engaging employee participation in online knowledge sharing, as the majority of employees have a tendency to lurk preferring to read the knowledge that is shared without contributing themselves. In the online knowledge sharing literature, rather than examining the driving forces of lurkers, previous studies typically investigate undifferentiated general participants or posters who share knowledge. To date, there is little understanding of the key driving factors of online knowledge sharing behaviour in organisations and the impact of these factors on organisational outcomes, which differs between lurkers and posters in a developing country such as Vietnam. While many Vietnamese companies have the necessary infrastructure for online knowledge sharing, the number of lurkers makes up the majority of online participants, leading to many negative consequences. Thus, the current priority of Vietnamese companies is to identify the driving forces of online knowledge sharing behaviour with the objective of encouraging employees, especially lurkers, to increase employee knowledge exchange and job performance. Based on the online knowledge sharing literature, three key contributing factors of knowledge self-efficacy, perceived ease of use and organisational rewards were identified. The focus of this study is to examine the impact of these factors on knowledge sharing reciprocity and job performance as well as the mediating role of knowledge sharing reciprocity. The differences in the driving forces between lurkers and posters were also assessed. An online survey was conducted, and 792 questionnaires were collected from employees in Vietnamese organisations who had experience with organisational online knowledge sharing. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used for data analysis. The study has several significant findings. First, knowledge self-efficacy and perceived ease of use are two strong predictors of knowledge sharing reciprocity and job performance regardless of whether participants are lurkers or posters. The increase in confidence that knowledge shared would be valuable to others and using online platforms tends to lead to active participation in online knowledge sharing to enhance mutual knowledge exchange and job performance. Second, lurkers are sensitive to organisational rewards, but posters are not. The provision of organisational rewards such as bonuses, promotions, or job security motivates lurkers to actively participate in online knowledge sharing, leading to improvement in knowledge sharing reciprocity and job performance. Third, knowledge sharing reciprocity mediates the impact of knowledge self-efficacy, perceived ease of use and organisational rewards on job performance in both lurker and poster groups. The increase of expectation in the mutual give and take of knowledge sharing will create a favourable knowledge sharing environment which maintains the knowledge sharing process. Such an environment helps to connect the key influences of knowledge self-efficacy, perceived ease of use and organisational rewards with job performance. The findings of this study have important implications for both practitioners and academics. This research has provided an insight into the differences in lurkers’ and posters’ driving forces in the organisational online knowledge sharing process in a developing and transitional economy such as Vietnam.

This thesis focuses on using microtechnology to advance the field of tissue engineering by using wavy microfeatured substrates that are statically and dynamically patterned. The prevailing issue hindering tissue engineering from dominating the tissue replacement market is the fact that engineered tissues are not equivalent in form or function to their natural counterparts. One way to overcome this is to make tissues more physiologically similar. In the case of skeletal muscle, tissue organization is key to organ function. During musculoskeletal myogenesis, a crucial organizational step is the alignment of cells prior to muscle formation. Micropatterned topography is a viable tool for aligning cells in vitro. Here, we develop methods for aligning muscle cells using wavy micropatterned poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrates. Various sized static wavy microfeature substrates were generated and optimized using C2C12 cell line cells. Precursor cells (myoblasts) aligned best on features 6 mum in size and differentiated into a monolayer of aligned myotubes. Once the feasibility of these surfaces was confirmed, they were used to tissue engineer skeletal muscle constructs of aligned cells, to investigate if pre-aligning cells would increase functionality. Primary muscle cells were cultured on the wavy substrates to form a monolayer of aligned myotubes. The cell monolayer was then successfully transferred into a biodegradable matrix of fibrin gel, capable of allowing construct formation. Over time, cells degrade the gel completely, leaving a cell-only final construct. Compared to constructs made of randomly oriented cells, aligned cell constructs produced 2 times the force, affirming the importance of pre-alignment of cells when tissue engineering skeletal muscle. Lastly, we developed dynamically controlled micropatterned wavy substrates for on-demand reversible cell alignment. PDMS substrates were plasma treated and compressed to obtain reversible wavy microfeatures on the surface, and were capable of aligning cells into a highly ordered configuration from random orientation. Muscle cells cultured on these surfaces initially attached in a random order, aligned once the substrate was compressed, and unaligned when the substrate was released. This technique provides a simple and reliable method by which to investigate developmental processes not yet easily studied in vitro.

Hay is the most important field crop in terms of land acreage in almost all the dairy farming countries of the world. In the United States, hay is the crop ranked second after wheat, both in monetary value and in acreage harvested. Almost all the hay to be stored is handled in one of two forms – loose or baled. In New Zealand, hay accounts for about 51% of the total arable land. It includes 1,068,000 acres of grasses and clovers and 190,000 acres of lucerne. On the Canterbury Plains themselves, hay occupies 79,000 acres of grasses and clovers (7.4% of the total grass and clover acreage) and 89,000 acres of lucerne (47.7% of the total lucerne acreage). Studies of bale handling methods and management are, becoming controversial topics among researchers. It should be recognised, that mechanisation is progressing rapidly and that the mechanised systems of handling hay will become a necessity in dairy farming countries. As seasonal labour becomes scarcer and more expensive, the management of hay-making operations is becoming increasingly important. The popularity of hay baling is explained by the following factors - 1. Baling machines have been improved and more sophisticated machines are being introduced. 2. Baled hay is easy to handle and is a necessity when hay is being shipped. 3. Baled hay requires less storage space. With the current trend in proliferation of machines, various combinations of machines make possible different bale handling systems. The task of selecting a system that is most economical in terms of cost per bale, time consumption, and labour involvement becomes increasingly complicated and little work has yet been done in this area of machinery selection. Systems analysis of hay handling may offer a considerable opportunity to improve operations and to reduce handling cost. The components or operations of hay handling systems are defined as baling and arranging bales, loading in the field, transport, unloading and stacking. Because many alternative machines exist for each operation in the system, systems analysis provides a means for evaluation and planning each operation in a context of a unified system of hay handling. This study has been limited only to time and motion study as well as economic evaluation for various bale handling systems which are presently operating throughout New Zealand and thus the tasks of building a model, testing and implementing have not been undertaken. Simulation technique has also been used to study the truck-mounted sideloader versus bale wagon performance and manned sledge versus mechanical handling of bales. Weather impinges upon many aspects of agricultural production. Most directly, it affects the various physical operations in the field, restricting both time available for specific tasks and the efficiency, with which they can be completed. In hay making, weather is also important as it decides whether the hay is of high quality or not when harvested. The probability of consecutive haying days and the probability of closed days have been established and given in Appendix B. With reference to day to-day weather forecasts recorded by weather services, farmers with the help of these distributions should be able to make a good prediction on weather to start making hay and so avoiding some risk in their operations.