A business model perspective for ICTs in public engagement

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published article can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 ElsevierPublic institutions, in their efforts to promote meaningful citizen engagement, are increasingly looking at the democratic potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Previous studies suggest that such initiatives seem to be impeded by socio-technical integration barriers such as low sustainability, poor citizen acceptance, coordination difficulties, lack of understanding and failure to assess their impact. Motivated by these shortcomings, the paper develops and applies a business model perspective as an interceding framework for analysis and evaluation. The underlying principle behind this approach is that it is not technology per se which determines success, but rather the way in which the businessmodel of the technological artifact is configured and employed to achieve the strategic goals. The business model perspective is empirically demonstrated with the case of an online petitioning system implemented by a UK local authority. The case illustrates the importance of considering ICTs in public engagement from a holistic view to make them more manageable and assessable

Working together, driven apart: Reflecting on a joint endeavour to address sustainable development within a university

A holistic and transformational approach to Sustainable Development within a university requires systemic change and embraces new ways of working. Champions must challenge silo mentalities, develop new processes to encourage synergies across university functions, and strive to re-align systems and goals towards the common endeavour of sustainability. But how easy is this to achieve? It is well documented that working across disciplines presents challenges but forging a synergistic relationship between the environmental management function of Estates and an academic champion for ESD is not only logical but might be an easier place to explore how two roles can work together to achieve change. This paper provides a reflective account of such an alliance, outlining a joint endeavour to address sustainable development. An analysis is provided of those factors which impede such working and the different role tensions that make working together challenging. It will also consider the benefits of collaboration, as the perspectives from the operational and academic domains provide a broader context for understandings, access to different forums, an ability to tackle conflicting agendas together and an opportunity to genuinely effect change, providing mutual support through shared perseverance. The paper will conclude by questioning the extent to which progress made will endure, if the benefits of this synergy are not acknowledged by university leadership

Assessing the state of rural governance in the United States

Rural areas ; Rural development

Il costo dell’intervento chirurgico in laparoscopia con l’Activity Based Costing

The purpose of this research is to analyze the role of the Management Control System (MCS) and of the Management Accounting System (MAS) in healthcare (HC) organizations. It aims at studying if and how managerial considerations affect the clinical culture. Results are based on the findings of a research developed within 12 Local Health Authorities (Aziende Sanitarie Locali LHAs) and 4 Teaching Hospital (Aziende Ospedaliere Universitarie THs) in Italian Tuscany Region and address the possibility to develop an alternative model from those of accountingization or legitimation proposed in literature to understand the role of these systems in healthcare. Results highlight that the economic language may assume a great importance in clinicians’ decision making and penetrates into clinical culture. Most important factor affecting results is the development of an alliance between controllers and clinicians, based trust and collaboration. The paper is a contribution to the literature about the role of MCS and MAS in healthcare and it is developed within the schemes traced by Habermas and refined by Laughlin and by Broadbent and Laughlin. The original value stands on the individuation of a model where the “integrative interactive” management model is able to penetrate clinical discourse and the conditions at which it can be developed.Management Accounting Change, Management Control Change, Healthcare Accounting, Professional organization, accountinization, legitimation, Habermas

Fostering Fair and Sustainable Marketing for Social Entrepreneurs in the Context of Subsistence Marketplaces

In recent years, in-depth, on-the-ground research has generated many insights into the nature and functioning of subsistence marketplaces and the people who operate in them. Such knowledge is bound to be useful to various companies and organisations, as they seek to engage such marketplaces, particularly for marketing managers, who quite likely have not had education or experience in marketing in such impoverished settings. This paper complements these practical insights with a normative ethical framework, presented in the marketing literature and labelled the integrative justice model (IJM) for impoverished markets, so as to synthesise a new framework for fair and sustainable marketing for social entrepreneurs in the context of subsistence marketplaces

Science for Place-based Socioecological Management: Lessons from the Maya Forest (Chiapas and Petén)

The role humans should play in conservation is a pervasive issue of debate in environmental thinking. Two long-established poles of this debate can be identified on a preservation-sustainable use continuum. At one extreme are use bans and natural science-based, top-down management for preservation. At the other extreme is community-based, multidisciplinary management for sustainable resource use and livelihoods. In this paper, we discuss and illustrate how these two strategies have competed and conflicted in conservation initiatives in the Maya forest (MF) of the Middle Usumacinta River watershed (Guatemala and Mexico). We further argue that both extremes have produced unconvincing results in terms of the region’s sustainability. An alternative consists of sustainability initiatives based on place-based and integrated-knowledge approaches. These approaches imply a flexible combination of disciplines and types of knowledge in the context of nature-human interactions occurring in a place. They can be operationalized within the framework of sustainability science in three steps: 1) characterize the contextual circumstances that are most relevant for sustainability in a place; 2) identify the disciplines and knowledge(s) that need to be combined to appropriately address these contextual circumstances; and 3) decide how these disciplines and knowledge can be effectively combined and integrated. Epistemological flexibility in the design of analytic and implementation frameworks is key. Place-based and integrative-knowledge approaches strive to deal with local context and complexity, including that of human individuals and cultures. The success of any sustainability initiative will ultimately depend on its structural coupling with the context in which it is applied

Integrating diversity management initiatives with strategic human resource management

Managing diversity is usually viewed in broad conceptual terms as recognising and valuing differences among people; it is directed towards achieving organisational outcomes and reflects management practices adopted to improve the effectiveness of people management in organisations (Kramar 2001; Erwee, Palamara & Maguire 2000). The purpose of the chapter is to examine the debate on how diversity management initiatives can be integrated with strategic human resource management (SHRM), and how SHRM is linked to organisational strategy. Part of this debate considers to what extent processes associated with managing diversity are an integral part of the strategic vision of management. However, there is no consensus on how a corporate strategic plan influences or is influenced by SHRM, and how the latter integrates diversity management as a key component. The first section of the chapter addresses the controversy about organisations as linear, steady state entities or as dynamic, complex and fluid entities. This controversy fuels debate in the subsequent sections about the impact that such paradigms have on approaches to SHRM. The discussion on SHRM in this chapter will explore its links to corporate strategy as well as to diversity management. Subsequent sections propose that managing diversity should address sensitive topics such as gender, race and ethnicity. Finally, attention is given to whether an integrative approach to SHRM can be achieved and how to overcome the obstacles to making this a reality

Latin American perspectives to internationalize undergraduate information technology education

The computing education community expects modern curricular guidelines for information technology (IT) undergraduate degree programs by 2017. The authors of this work focus on eliciting and analyzing Latin American academic and industry perspectives on IT undergraduate education. The objective is to ensure that the IT curricular framework in the IT2017 report articulates the relationship between academic preparation and the work environment of IT graduates in light of current technological and educational trends in Latin America and elsewhere. Activities focus on soliciting and analyzing survey data collected from institutions and consortia in IT education and IT professional and educational societies in Latin America; these activities also include garnering the expertise of the authors. Findings show that IT degree programs are making progress in bridging the academic-industry gap, but more work remains

Opportunity-Rich Schools and Sustainable Communities: Seven Steps to Align High-Quality Education With Innovations in City and Metropolitan Planning and Development

Details challenges and steps for linking quality education and community and economic vitality, including establishing a shared vision and metrics, aligning investments for prosperity, and expanding access via transportation. Lists promising practices