A comparative case study of appreciative inquiries in one organization: implications for practice

Eight different sites in a large, Canadian urban school district engaged in an appreciative inquiry into “what do we know about learning”. Data collected over the following year indicate that four of the sites experienced transformational changes, two sites had incremental changes and two showed little or no change. This paper describes the AI intervention in detail and then explores differences in each site that may explain differences in level of change. The level of positive affect and ratings of success of the AI Summits at each site showed no meaningful relationship to change outcomes. Level of change did appear to be related to how generative the inquiries were, how well the Discovery phase was managed and the quality of Design statements that came out of the summits. Other factors exogenous to the design of the AI also appeared to play a role. These included relations between teachers and principals, credibility of local change agents, passionate and engaged leadership, and linkage to pre-existing, shared concerns. Recommendations for AI practice are given.Appreciative Inquiry Summit; Collective Dream; Transformation; Case Study

Budgetary and accounting experience in public sector- comparative case study

During the last decade the public sector has been affected by the introduction of significant reforms in the public accounting system in the international context. During the reform process different countries have put into practice numerous intermediate variants between the extremes of cash and accrual budgeting and accounting. The reasons for the different national systems may be due to the culture, the historical background or the structural elements of these countries. Also the specific objectives and the principal users of the financial reporting, the financial resource suppliers and the influence of public accounting regulatory bodies imply different national accounting systems. In the Western democracies there are two main broad styles of public management: Anglo-American and European Continental types. The paper presents the United Kingdom accrual accounting model adopted in the public institutions (an Anglo-Saxon country) by comparison with the Romanian one (a Continental European country). In this paper there will be taken into account some case studies of two public institutions: one from United Kingdom and the other from Romania. The paper tries to emphasize the differences and the similarities between the two countries accounting systems as well as the lessons learned from the United Kingdom accounting system regarding the implementation of the accrual accounting in public sector.accrual accounting, public public sector, the United Kingdom, Romania, International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

Comparison between friction stir and submerged arc welding applied to joining DH36 and E36 shipbuilding steel

With the impending development of FSW tools for steel with useful lifetimes, attention has turned to the mechanical properties of the welds that can be made in a range of industrially significant steels. This work reports on a comparative study undertaken to examine the use of friction stir and submerged arc welding on DH36 and E36 shipbuilding steels. The study made an assessment of the distortion induced in fabricating plates by the two welding techniques, and provides initial comparative data on weld tensile strength, toughness and fatigue life. In each case, friction stir welding was shown to outperform submerged arc welding

Large-scale transformation of socio-economic institutions - comparative case studies on CEECs: background paper 2: comparative country study - Hungary

The general idea is to follow the Varieties-of-Capitalism literature on generating indicators on the economic systems actually implemented. However, this literature mostly concentrates on the enterprise (or micro) level in traditional OECD countries, categorizing countries between the extremes: liberal market economies and controlled market economies. It largely neglects the role of the government spending, the transition of former socialist countries and developing countries, and the political process behind the choice of an economic system. We broaden the perspective by combining the Varieties-of-Capitalism with the Worlds-of-Welfare-States literature in order to provide a comprehensive view on government activities in transition. With the perspective of our contribution to WWWforEurope, we concentrate especially on social welfare, innovation systems, macro stability, and, of course, how these aspects work together (or not) and are explained by the political background. We will a cluster analysis for OECD and European transition countries and comparative country studies on Slovakia and Hungary. These countries are of special relevance because they represent extreme cases (Slovakia: significant switch in transition path towards star performer, Hungary: muddling towards problem case). One part of the comparative work concentrates on the comparison of Slovakia with other new EU members that also face to challenge of state building after dissolution of one or the other sort (Czech Rep. and the Baltics). The other part of the comparative work concentrates on Hungary in comparison with the other EU-CEECs. A broad based comparison will most likely be possible on available data only. The possibility for deeper qualitative comparisons will have to be determined during the project. The comparative components will focus on the macroeconomic background (Slovakia) and the welfare state (Hungary) respectively. Cluster analysis (initially forseen for MS25) and comparative country studies allows us to draw conclusions for the EU by providing a first comparison of the position of CEECs with respect to the “old” EU members, most interestingly the southern crisis countries that are often categorized into a form called mixed market economies with sometimes contradicting institutional set ups. Do CEECs converge towards prototype models or do they (still) constitute own models

Embracing Accountability: Physician Leadership, Public Reporting, and Teamwork in the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality

Based on interviews, presents a case study of how a "bottom-up" physician-led group of healthcare providers realized voluntary public reporting of comparative performance information as a quality improvement tool. Shares requirements and lessons learned

Sustainable energy transition: properties and constraints of regenerative energy systems with respect to spatial planning and design

Before transforming the built environment, one must understand the characteristic of regenerative systems. The aim of this study was is to compare fossil-fuel energy systems with regenerative systems. It explores key properties and constraints of regenerative energy systems with respect to spatial organization and design of the built environment. The findings of this comparative analysis are illustrated with the help of a regional case-study in South Limburg, the Netherlands

FUZZY COMPARATIVE CONCORDANCE ANALYSIS. Proposal and evaluation by a case study

In this paper it is proposed a fuzzy multiple attribute analysis, that we have called comparative concordance, as a help instrument to the decision-making process in an environment of lack of precise information as it generally is the decision-making in regional planning. Through an application to the selection of proceeding programs of the Environmental Plan of Andalusia, 1995-2000, it will be compared to other methods.fuzzy sets, multiple attribute decision, environmental planning