LESSONS IN EVALUATING COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGNS

Builds on the findings of the first and second papers. It examines specifically how campaigns with different purposes (individual behavior change and policy change) have been evaluated, and how evaluators have tackled some of the associated evaluation challenges that the first three papers raised as important to address. It features fi ve brief case studies in which the main unit of analysis is not the campaign, but the campaign's evaluation. The case studies provide a brief snapshot of the real experiences of campaign evaluations. The paper also features cross-case lessons that highlight important findings and themes

Livelihoods and Migrants' Social Protection: An Investigation of Migration and Health in Beijing and Tianjin, North China

This paper contributes to a growing body of research on the social protection for rural-urban migrants in Chinese cities. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Beijing and Tianjin and applying an analytical framework of livelihood studies, it examines an important aspect of migrants‟ social protection, namely migrants‟ health, in particular workplace safety and occupational health. It aims at (1) delineating the current state of affairs in respect of social protection for rural migrants; (2) identifying the risks and threats to migrants‟ health as perceived by the actors involved; (3) examining the extent to which the social rights of rural migrants are recognized, and the struggles that migrants have fought for securing livelihood and realising such rights; and (4) assessing the central and local government responses to the challenges posed for mobile livelihoods and suggesting possible ways forward

Strategy Workshops and Strategic Change

Despite the attention that strategic change as a topic of research has received, there remain considerable difficulties in conceptualizing the actual sources of strategic change. Strategy workshops represent one obvious and explicit research site since organizations often use such events as a means of effecting or initiating strategic change. This paper examines empirical data from ninety-nine strategy workshops in ten separate organizations to address the research question: Do strategy workshops produce strategic change? The paper concludes that workshops can produce change but that one-off workshops are much less effective than a series of workshops. The data presented indicates that the elapsed duration of the entire series of workshops, the frequency of workshops, the scope and autonomy of the unit concerned, and the seniority of participants have an impact on the success or failure of the venture

Consumer protection in the shadow of the global financial crisis - a study on the way forward of consumer protection in European Union, Republic of Moldova and P.R. of China -

As could be expected, the global financial crisis is on everybody’s mind and causing a lot of worries. The current crisis has reached the consumers globally and intensified conversations about consumer protection. It has threatened their wealth as people have lost their assets, savings and they are facing major concerns about their future stability. This financial crisis began with a failure to protect consumers. Effective, affirmative and preventative consumer protection needs to be a major part of the global solution. This paperwork intends to make a contribution to those debates by addressing a few specific questions: Did a lack of consumer protection cause the financial crisis? Who is likely to benefit from this present financial crisis, and who is likely to lose out? How can countries design appropriate formal coordination policy and mechanisms between their central governments and other relevant consumer regulatory agencies? The approaches recommended by the paperwork are built upon the premise that national governments cannot be effective in isolation, and ultimately depend on collaboration with other regulatory agencies to effectively fulfill their mandate of consumer protection, price transparency, economic and financial stability. Additionally, this paper reviews documentation and some relevant research, articles, proposals that relates on the one side regarding consumers in the evolving reform of the consumer protection regime after the global financial crisis and on the other side to help understand the how consumer protection watchdogs can best respond.Consumer protection, Financial Crisis, Policy Implications

Assessing safety net readiness in response to food price volatility

In 2008, when food prices rose precipitously to record highs, international attention and local policy in many countries focused on safety nets as part of the response. Now that food prices are high again, the issue of appropriate responses is again on the policy agenda. This note sets out a framework for making quick, qualitative assessments of how well countries'safety nets prepare them for a rapid policy response to rising food prices should the situation warrant. The framework is applied using data from spring 2011, presenting a snap?shot analysis of what is a dynamically changing situation. Based on this data safety net readiness is assessed in 13 vulnerable countries based on the following criteria: the presence of safety net programs, program coverage, administrative capacity, and to a lesser degree, targeting effectiveness. It is argued that these criteria will remain the same throughout time, even if the sample countries affected will be expected to vary. Based on thisanalysis the note highlights that though a number of countries are more prepared than they were in 2008, there is still a significant medium term agenda on safety net preparedness in the face of crisis. In this context, strategic lessons from the 2008 food crisis response are presented to better understand the response options and challenges facing governments and policy makers. The note concludes by calling for continued investment and scale up of safety nets to mitigate poverty impacts and help prevent long term setbacks in nutrition and poverty.Food&Beverage Industry,Safety Nets and Transfers,Emerging Markets,Rural Poverty Reduction,Regional Economic Development

Systems and certification issues for civil transport aircraft flow control systems

This article is placed here with permission from the Royal Aeronautical Society - Copyright @ 2009 Royal Aeronautical SocietyThe use of flow control (FC) technology on civil transport aircraft is seen as a potential means of providing a step change in aerodynamic performance in the 2020 time frame. There has been extensive research into the flow physics associated with FC. This paper focuses on developing an understanding of the costs and design drivers associated with the systems needed and certification. The research method adopted is based on three research strands: 1. Study of the historical development of other disruptive technologies for civil transport aircraft, 2. Analysis of the impact of legal and commercial requirements, and 3. Technological foresight based on technology trends for aircraft currently under development. Fly by wire and composite materials are identified as two historical examples of successful implementation of disruptive new technology. Both took decades to develop, and were initially developed for military markets. The most widely studied technology similar to FC is identified as laminar flow control. Despite more than six decades of research and arguably successful operational demonstration in the 1990s this has not been successfully transitioned to commercial products. Significant future challenges are identified in cost effective provision of the additional systems required for environmental protection and in service monitoring of FC systems particularly where multiple distributed actuators are envisaged. FC generated noise is also seen as a significant challenge. Additional complexity introduced by FC systems must also be balanced by the commercial imperative of dispatch reliability, which may impose more stringent constraints than legal (certification) requirements. It is proposed that a key driver for future successful application of FC is the likely availability of significant electrical power generation on 787 aircraft forwards. This increases the competitiveness of electrically driven FC systems compared with those using engine bleed air. At the current rate of progress it is unlikely FC will make a contribution to the next generation of single-aisle aircraft due to enter service in 2015. In the longer term, there needs to be significant movement across a broad range of systems technologies before the aerodynamic benefits of FC can be exploited.This work is supported by the EU FP6 AVERT (AerodynamicValidation of Emissions Reducing Technologies) project

How to Make It as a Maker: Maximizing Customer Experience to Increase Brand Value in the Saturated Marketplace of Paper Goods and Gifts

The following thesis investigates the saturated conditions of the paper goods and gift industry, while addressing how the problem of competition discourages start-up brands. Targeted towards rising creative entrepreneurs with ambition to enter the marketplace, the thesis affirms opportunity for breakthrough created by the Maker Movement and identifies strategies for success through attention to customer experience. Based on the trending demand for experience, suggested strategies highlight the primary areas with opportunity for visual application, including brand, product, packaging, social media, and point of purchase. Scholarly research employs primary and secondary resources, along with case studies of successful brands in a variety of saturated industries, non-exclusive to paper goods and gifts alone. The final visual deliverables exemplify how creative entrepreneurs may increase impact in the five areas of experience, as demonstrated in the development and launch of a start-up paper goods and gift e-commerce brand. In conclusion, the thesis affirms continued opportunity, asserting that entrepreneurs who remain attentive to curating memorable customer experiences will increase brand value and potential for success in the saturated marketplace of paper goods and gifts

Long-Term Unemployed Youth: Characteristics and Policy Responses

While the youth labour market has improved considerably since 2014, one legacy of the recent economic crisis is the large cohort of long-term unemployed young people, which represents nearly one-third of jobless young people. This report provides an updated profile of the youth labour market in 2016 and describes trends over the past decade. It explores the determinants of long-term unemployment, at both sociodemographic and macroeconomic levels. It also provides evidence on the serious consequences for young people of spending a protracted time in unemployment, such as scarring effects on income and occupation and on several dimensions of young people’s well-being. The report concludes with a discussion of selected policy measures recently implemented by 10 Member States in order to prevent young people from becoming long-term unemployed or, if they are in such circumstances, to integrate them into the labour market or education