Municipal Consolidation and Organizational Realities: A Case from New York City

Consolidation in the public sector has always been conceptualized as a tool for enhancing service provision and fiscal responsibility. The evidence is dubious in both front. Using self-administered questionnaire and follow-up interviews, this study attempts to explain why the merger of two NYC agencies (DJJ into ACS) is incomplete after six years based on employees’ perception. The paper contends that a well-designed and carefully-negotiated merger can lead to harmony while meeting the intended goals of the new organization. The study concludes that because of insufficient efforts in the three phases of merger (pre-merger, during and post-merger), employees were oblivious to the agency’s new mission and confused by contradicting policies

The rewards of a qualitative approach to life-course research. The example of the effects of social protection policies on career paths

Background of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004. WP1: CompilationEste artículo muestra los beneficios de la incorporación de la perspectiva cualitativa, y en particular del uso de los relatos de vida, en estudios basados en la perspectiva del curso de vida. Estos beneficios se ilustran mostrando un estudio sobre los efectos de las medidas de protección social en trayectorias profesionales basado en los fundamentos teóricos del enfoque de las capacidades de SEN (1987, 1992, 1993).La perspectiva del curso de vida es una buena opción metodológica para evaluar si los sistemas de protección social se adaptan a la situación actual de los mercados laborales pues numerosas trayectorias son no-lineales e inestables. Los estudios que adoptan esta perspectiva usan diseños de investigación en que los datos estadísticos secundarios ocupan un papel central, mientras que los datos cualitativos apenas tienen relevancia o directamente no se emplean. Este artículo muestra cómo estos estudios pueden ser mejorados mediante el uso de entrevistas semiestructuradas y un análisis cualitativo formal que permitan identificar puntos de inflexión, acontecimientos críticos, transiciones y etapas en los que las medidas y recursos de la protección social juegan un papel importante en modificar o canalizar las trayectorias personales y profesionales. Prestar atención a la persona y a su agencia - no sólo en un momento determinado de la trayectoria sino también en una perspectiva más amplia que incorpore episodios pasados y proyecciones hacia el futuro - resulta esencial para considerar cómo las personas utilizan los recursos que tienen a su disposición y para evaluar correctamente los efectos de las medidas de protección.This article highlights the benefits of incorporating the qualitative perspective, and in particular the use of life stories, in studies based on the life-course perspective. These benefits will be illustrated using as an example a study of the effects of social protection measures on career paths based on the theoretical underpinnings of SEN's (1987, 1992, 1993) capability approach.The life-course perspective is a very good methodological option for evaluating the extent to which social protection systems are adapted to the present situation in labor markets, where many trajectories are non-linear and unstable. Studies adopting such a perspective use research designs in which secondary statistical data are central, whereas qualitative data are used little, if at all. This article will explain how these quantitative approaches can be improved by using semi-structured interviews and a formalized qualitative analysis to identify turning points, critical events, transitions and stages, in which social protection measures and resources play a significant role in redressing or channeling personal and career paths. Paying attention to the person and his or her agency-not only at a given time but in a broader perspective that embraces past episodes and projections into the future-is essential in order to consider how individuals use the resources at their disposal and to effectively evaluate the effects of social protection measures

Multiple Case Study Approach to Identify Aggravating Variables of Insider Threats in Information Systems

Malicious insiders present a serious threat to information systems due to privilege of access, knowledge of internal computer resources, and potential threats on the part of disgruntled employees or insiders collaborating with external cybercriminals. Researchers have extensively studied insiders’ motivation to attack from the broader perspective of the deterrence theory and have explored the rationale for employees to disregard/overlook security policies from the perspective of neutralization theory. This research takes a step further: we explore the aggravating variables of insider threat using a multiple case study approach. Empirical research using black hat analysis of three case studies of insider threats suggests that, while neutralization plays an important role in insider attacks, it takes a cumulative set of aggravating factors to trigger an actual data breach. By identifying and aggregating the variables, this study presents a predictive model that can guide IS managers to proactively mitigate insider threats. Given the economic and legal ramifications of insider threats, this research has implications relevant both for both academics and security practitioners

The methodological challenge of cross-national research : comparing cultural policy in Britain and Italy

This paper explores methodological issues that need to be considered when embarking in cross-national cultural policy research. The first part offers a discussion of the limitations of much of the currently available comparative research in the field, and particularly work that relies heavily on comparison of cultural statistics. By drawing on an extensive discussion of the case study of Britain and Italy, the second part of the paper attempts to put forward a number of suggestions with a view to developing a more appropriate and more holistic comparative research methodology for the field of cultural policy studies. To this end, inspiration is drawn from the contribution of a number of disciplines in the field of social sciences – as well as public policy studies - where comparative research, and related problems of methodology, have long been discussed and theorized. In particular, the concept of contextualization will be shown to be extremely useful when comparing notions of culture and policies across nations

Contours in reflexivity: Commitment, criteria and change

This article examines the intellectual contours in calls to reflexivity in social research. In charting changes in these calls and their ideas on the role of social research in society, the article draws out lessons for future orientation. Whilst highlighting that the contribution of social research to our common understanding is part of its vitality, different authors have sought to see it in terms of how social actions are produced in research texts, via the role of experience as a starting point for reflexivity, to deploying exclusion of the researcher from dominant forces in order to produce more accurate explanations of social relations. Overall, we can be left bewildered in the face of these differences. Yet the article concludes by arguing that each has its place for clarifying the role and place of social research in society, but that they should not be over-extended as that produces an inward-looking perspective and leads to a paralysis in practice

The Regulation of E-learning: New National and International Policy Perspectives

The universe of postsecondary education is expanding. It is an era of rapid demographic and labor market changes, increased competition and shifts in institutional form (e.g., the rise of for profit degree granters, the hybrid form of nonprofit/for profit partnerships, corporate universities), and new forms of delivery driven by emerging technologies. In nearly all of these cases, the pace of innovation and establishment of new institutional forms outstrips the ability of regulators or policy makers to stay ahead of the curve.To better understand the complex interplay of public policy drivers regulating e-learning, the Center for Studies in Higher Education convened a meeting of experts in February 2006 for a preliminary examination of existing and emerging public policies that will shape its regulation both domestically and internationally. Three white papers were used as a point of departure for the discussions, which focused on the following areas: The Changing Regulatory Environment: Who, What, Why, and Where?; Finance, Investment, and the Flow of Capital; Student Access and Equity; Social Costs and Benefits from an International Perspective; and Consumer Protection and Cross-border Education. This report summarizes our conversations and recommendations for future research

Discourse in Action

From emails relating to adoption over the Internet to discussions in the airline cockpit, the spoken or written texts we produce can have significant social consequences. The area of Mediated Discourse Analysis considers texts in their social and cultural contexts to explore the actions individuals take with texts - and the consequences of those actions. Discourse in Action: brings together leading scholars from around the world in the area of Mediated Discourse Analysis reveals ways in which its theory and methodology can be used in research into contemporary social situations explores real situations and draws on real data in each chapter shows how analysis of texts in their social contexts broadens our understanding of the real world. Taken together, the chapters provide a comprehensive overview to the field and present a range of current studies that address some of the most important questions facing students and researchers in linguistics, education, communication studies and other fields

Got Phished? Internet Security and Human Vulnerability

A leading cause of security breaches is a basic human vulnerability: our susceptibility to deception. Hackers exploit this vulnerability by sending phishing emails that induce users to click on malicious links that then download malware or trick the victim into revealing personal confidential information to the hacker. Past research has focused on human susceptibility to generic phishing emails or individually targeted spear-phishing emails. This study addresses how contextualization of phishing emails for targeted groups impacts their susceptibility to phishing. We manipulated the framing and content of email messages and tested the effects on users’ susceptibility to phishing. We constructed phishing emails to elicit either the fear of losing something valuable (e.g., course registrations, tuition assistance) or the anticipation of gaining something desirable (e.g., iPad, gift card, social networks). We designed the emails’ context to manipulate human psychological weaknesses such as greed, social needs, and so on. We sent fictitious (benign) emails to 7,225 undergraduate students and recorded their responses. Results revealed that contextualizing messages to appeal to recipients’ psychological weaknesses increased their susceptibility to phishing. The fear of losing or anticipation of gaining something valuable increased susceptibility to deception and vulnerability to phishing. The results of our study provide important contributions to information security research, including a theoretical framework based on the heuristic-systematic processing model to study the susceptibility of users to deception. We demonstrate through our experiment that several situational factors do, in fact, alter the effectiveness of phishing attempts