The management of academic workloads: improving practice in the sector

Final report of HEFCE projec

The management of academic workloads: full report on findings

The pressures on UK higher education (from explicit competition and growth in student numbers, to severe regulatory demands) are greater than ever, and have resulted in a steady increase in measures taken by universities to actively manage their finances and overall quality. These pressures are also likely to have impacted on staff and, indeed, recent large surveys in the sector have indicated that almost half of respondents find their workloads unmanageable. Against this background it would seem logical that the emphasis on institutional interventions to improve finance and quality, should be matched by similar attention given to the allocation of workloads to staff, and a focus on how best to utilise people’s time - the single biggest resource available within universities. Thus the aim of this piece of research was to focus on the processes and practices surrounding the allocation of staff workloads within higher education. Ten diverse organisations were selected for study: six universities in the UK, two overseas universities and two non higher education (but knowledge-intensive) organisations. In each, a crosssection of staff was selected, and in-depth interviews carried out. A total of 59 such interviews were carried out across the ten organisations. By identifying typical practices, as well as interesting alternatives, views on the various strengths and weaknesses of each of their workload allocation approaches was collated; and associated factors requiring attention identified. Through an extensive process of analysis, approaches which promoted more equitable loads for individuals, and which might provide synergies for institutions were also investigated

Understanding and valuing the economic, social and environmental components of System Harmonisation

The aim of the Products and Markets component of the System Harmonisation project is to value the economic and environmental outcomes from an irrigation scheme that is operated by and in the interests of society. In this conceptual note the thinking underlying this component of the project are outlined. The aim of this note is to provide elements for debated. The nature and requirements of System Harmonisation demands that a 'systems approach' be taken throughout the project. What becomes important within this approach is how the different elements within a system are isolated and yet linked with one another. In many instances the extent and nature of irrigation systems are defined by the relevant Regional Irrigation Business Partnership (RIBP) under investigation. It is recognised that society has multiple uses for the water (agriculture, industry, households, recreation and the environment) as well as non-use (intrinsic) values for which it derives benefits from and incurs costs in distributing the water in any select manner. Further, it is assumed that the irrigation schemes are run for the benefit of society as a whole. Thus, there is a necessity to evaluate both the private and public costs and benefits associated with irrigation schemes. In order to identify what society values from an irrigation scheme, it is argued that a social matrix approach is needed. This analysis allows for a clustering of the issues people feel is important to them regarding the use of an irrigation scheme. Such an analysis will allow identification of the perceived most and least beneficial activities connected to water allocation, economic modelling of the most productive activities, evaluation of externalities and Cost Benefit Analysis. The net economic benefits that arise from irrigation need to be evaluated. The sectors where benefits are derived can be segregated into agriculture, households, the environment, recreation and industrial uses. The largest of these, by pure scale of the use of water, is agriculture. A gross margins approach is used to evaluate the returns for water in the agricultural sector. In the industrial and household sectors, a simple evaluation approach is used where the quantity of water demanded is multiplied by the price paid in each sector. Non-market valuation techniques are used to evaluate the recreational and environmental uses of water. The difficulty that arises in this analysis is how to evaluate the performance of irrigation schemes, where the outcomes are multifaceted. A 'meta' model approach is suggested in which the different elements from the project are brought together and assessed using a technique derived from the theory surrounding production possibility frontiers. This technique can be used to hypothesise a value for the ecosystem services derived from an irrigation scheme. The performance of an irrigation scheme is evaluated in terms of the suggestions raised to change it. Cost Effective Analysis is to be utilised to evaluate this performance. Then two issues need to be addressed. First, it is necessary to converse with those from other components, particularly those involved in the hydrological programs, to determine the nature of the schemes to be investigated. Second, it is necessary to implement the approach in each of the RIBPs. This work needs to commence with the evaluation of the social values in each region

The Economic Impacts of Government Financing of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

This paper presents estimates of the economic impacts of financing the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup by the government of South Africa. Ex ante analysis using a fiscal social accounting matrix model indicates that hosting of the event impacts positively on gross domestic product and imports. The positive impact on imports will, inter alia, lead to deterioration in the current account deficit for a given amount of exports. Owners of capital benefit more than owners of labour as a result of 2010 FIFA World Cup expenditures by the government. Middle-income Black households are the largest winners, followed by high-income Whites. Asians experience the least gain. These outcomes are explained by the initial factor endowments and their sectoral allocation in the social accounting matrix. Government revenue goes up in response to the demand injection, and a large proportion of it accrues to central government and local government respectively.2010 FIFA World Cup, Economic Impact, SAM Modelling, Legacy, South Africa

Designing business continuity response

Die rasch ändernden Risikobedingungen, mit denen sich Unternehmen heutzutage konfrontiert sehen, stellen Business Continuity und Resilience Verantwortliche vor neue Herausforderungen. Durch die zunehmende Abhängigkeit von Lieferanten und Geschäftspartnern sowie steigende Verfügbarkeitsanforderungen von Services wird es immer bedeutsamer, eine effektive und effiziente Reaktion auf Störungen und Ausfälle zur Verfügung zu stellen, um Ruf und Marke zu schützen sowie finanzielle Ziele zu erreichen. Da die Vorbereitung und Planung einer Reaktion auf unvorhergesehene Ereignisse äußerst kostenintensiv sein kann, ist es notwendig, die Vorteile eines effizienten Notfallmanagements (Business Continuity Managements) nachvollziehbar zu begründen. Der in dieser Arbeit vorgestellte Ansatz erweitert das Konzept des Risk-Aware Business Process Managements, um Auswirkungen von Workarounds und dynamischen Ressourcenzuweisungen zu analysieren. Die Ergebnisse dieser Analyse dienen als signifikanter Input für die Notfallplanung. Für die Evaluierung des Ansatzes wurde ein Simulink Prototyp entwickelt. Zusätzlich wird ein Metamodell zur Abbildung und Erfassung von Business Continuity Anforderungen, welches auf Basis der OpenModels Plattform umgesetzt worden ist, vorgestellt.Companies are increasingly confronted with fast-changing risk-situations, leading to substantial challenges for business continuity and resilience professionals. Furthermore, the growing availability needs and the dependence on providers and suppliers demand an effective and eficient response to disruptions and interruptions in order to protect the brand, reputation and financial objectives of an organization. As the preparation for ’expecting the unexpected’ can be very costly, it is essential to highlight the benefits and advantages brought by proper business continuity planning. This thesis contributes to current research ambitions by presenting a formal approach extending the capabilities of risk-aware business process management. Risk aware business process management in general bridges the gap between the business process management, risk management and business continuity management domain. The presented extension within the thesis enables the consideration of resource allocation aspects within the risk-aware business process modeling and simulation. Through this extension it is possible to evaluate the effects of workarounds and resource re-allocations which is one crucial part in business continuity plans. In order to test the feasibility we implemented a prototype of our formal model using Simulink. Additionally, in this work, we introduce a business continuity meta-model which is capable to capture essential business continuity requirements. The meta-model was implemented as a project within the OpenModels Initative