Community outcome processes as a forum for community governance

Research for this report is part of a project on evaluating the quality of planning and governance under the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA). This is the first of two complementary reports aiming to develop and test a methodology for evaluating the LGA community outcomes processes and the related monitoring and reporting frameworks and apply it to selected councils. This report focuses on interrogation of community outcome processes facilitated by local authorities as a forum for community governance. Out of this study we have developed a generic framework for deliberative engagement

Environmental performance outcomes and indicators for indigenous peoples: Review of literature

The literature review in this report was the starting point for developing a Māori research strand (2003-2009) within the Planning Under Co-operative Mandates (PUCM) research programme (1995-2009). An early task of the PUCM Māori team was to review the international literature on environmental outcomes and indicators for indigenous peoples. This was in order to gain an understanding of what had been written on the subject and to become familiar with approaches taken by others that might provide lessons for the development of our proposed kaupapa Māori outcomes and indicators framework and methodology, which was aimed at local government performance in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This current report is not intended to provide an exhaustive catalogue of writings on environmental performance outcomes and indicators for indigenous peoples, including Māori. Rather, some of the more obvious and important writings are noted as a ready reference for others interested in this topic. Before detailing the approach we took in carrying out the review, the key terms, outcomes and indicators, are defined

Building creative confidence in idea management processes to improve idea generation in new product development teams

This is a scoping paper that aims to establish effective practices and key players in the domain of Idea Management. The paper defines Idea Management as the generation, evaluation and selection of ideas. The purpose of the paper is to map the current landscape of methodologies and tools in order to identify gaps and support the development of a framework to enhance creative confidence in idea management. The study has two key research questions: (i) what factors are influencing current idea generation practices and (ii) what tools and approaches exist for idea generation. This will help identify how creative confidence can influence the idea generation processes. Creative confidence is the capability to come up with breakthrough ideas, associated with the bravery to perform. If stimulated in the right way with a valuable framework, its impact on employees’ performance is significant in improving team members’ innovation performance and quality of ideas

The reputation of the corporate social responsibility industry in Australia

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly seen as an imperative for sustainable business and there is a growing literature on the effect of CSR on corporate reputation. Despite this, a pall of ambiguity and uncertainty remains around what CSR means and how it should be practiced. This paper offers a unique addition to the body of literature to date by revealing that CSR is an emerging industry in Australia, which is in the process of developing its own reputation as a set of business practices. The paper is based on exploratory qualitative research using a case study methodology. Interviews were conducted with key actors within the industry to investigate shared understandings of what CSR means, perceptions of CSR practice and of the industry as a whole, and who is involved in shaping these perceptions. The research revealed that the CSR industry in Australia is in its early stages of development and is therefore in need of increased internal cooperation if it is to develop a strong reputation

Business Process Risk Management, Compliance and Internal Control: A Research Agenda

Integration of risk management and management control is emerging as an important area in the wake of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and with ongoing development of frameworks such as the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework from the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on an inductive methodological approach using literature review and interviews with managers engaged in risk management and internal control projects, this paper identifies three main areas that currently have management attention. These are business process risk management, compliance management and internal control development. This paper discusses these areas and identifies a series of research questions regarding these critical issuesRisk management; Internal control; Business processes; Compliance; Sarbanes-Oxley Act; ERP systems; COSO; COBIT

Māori outcome evaluation: A kaupapa Māori, outcomes and indictors, framework and methodology

Territorial local authorities (i.e. regional and district councils) are by law required to provide for Māori values and interests, and to undertake plan evaluation and environmental monitoring, to ensure that the provisions they have in place for these purposes are effective. Councils have not, however, had methods available that would enable them to meet these statutory obligations. This gap is filled by the framework and methods that we have developed and trialled over the past 5 years. The development and use of our Kaupapa Māori Environmental Outcomes and Indicators Framework and Methodology is the focus of this report

Managing the Ethical Dimensions of Brain-Computer Interfaces in eHealth: An SDLC-based Approach

A growing range of brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies is being employed for purposes of therapy and human augmentation. While much thought has been given to the ethical implications of such technologies at the ‘macro’ level of social policy and ‘micro’ level of individual users, little attention has been given to the unique ethical issues that arise during the process of incorporating BCIs into eHealth ecosystems. In this text a conceptual framework is developed that enables the operators of eHealth ecosystems to manage the ethical components of such processes in a more comprehensive and systematic way than has previously been possible. The framework’s first axis defines five ethical dimensions that must be successfully addressed by eHealth ecosystems: 1) beneficence; 2) consent; 3) privacy; 4) equity; and 5) liability. The second axis describes five stages of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) process whereby new technology is incorporated into an eHealth ecosystem: 1) analysis and planning; 2) design, development, and acquisition; 3) integration and activation; 4) operation and maintenance; and 5) disposal. Known ethical issues relating to the deployment of BCIs are mapped onto this matrix in order to demonstrate how it can be employed by the managers of eHealth ecosystems as a tool for fulfilling ethical requirements established by regulatory standards or stakeholders’ expectations. Beyond its immediate application in the case of BCIs, we suggest that this framework may also be utilized beneficially when incorporating other innovative forms of information and communications technology (ICT) into eHealth ecosystems

Leadership of Integrated Health and Social Care Services

This research explores the lived experience of those individuals charged with leading the integration of health and social care services in Scotland. The research was primarily qualitative in nature – comprising of a qualitative survey of front-line managers of integrated health and social care services from a single partnership area. The survey explored the management and leadership tasks and activities expected of those leading health and social care teams. The research uncovers a sense that these new leadership positions are both overwhelming in the scope of tasks required and lack clarity in how these tasks should be undertaken. This highlights a need for coordinated support and training for staff who are charged with leading integrated health and social care teams. Three key recommendations have been drawn from the findings of this research: more support should be provided to managers working within these complex integrated systems; a joint training programme should be developed for managers across both partnering organisations and finally relevant policies and procedures should be compiled into one reference resource for managers of integrated services