Education policy: process, themes and impact

Education policy is high on the agenda of governments across the world as global pressures focus increasing attention on the outcomes of education policy and on the implications for economic prosperity and social citizenship. However, there is often an underdeveloped understanding of how education policy is formed, what drives it and how it impacts on schools and colleges. Education Policy: Process, Themes and Impact makes these connections and links them to the wider challenges of educational leadership in a contemporary context

Evaluation of a service delivery programme : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

The present study is an evaluation of the service delivery programme offered at the Palmerston North Plunket-Karitane family unit. The study had three aims: firstly, to replicate and extend an investigation conducted on a similar programme in Dunedin; secondly, to examine the eitiology and intensity of stress experienced by the service delivery staff; and thirdly, to systematically evaluate programme process and outcome. Results obtained in the present study were in many respects similar to those obtained in the Dunedin study, but some significant differences are also noted. Although valuable information pertaining to the causes of stress was obtained, the service delivery staff recorded stress levels comparable to other working women. Process and outcome evaluation data indicated that the programme was functioning in accordance with its aims and objectives, however recommendations for programme modification and improvement are offered

The rationale of development practices for expert systems : an empirical investigation

Practices of expert system development are not widely investigated. In this paper I describe results of case studies on the inhouse deployment of small expert systems in two companies, along with a review of empirical research. The investigation focuses on the underlying rationale of the observed practices during the stages of design, field transfer and use. The examples show the importance of integrative approaches to technical and organizational aspects of development projects. The remaining potential for organizational turbulences is explained with inherent tensions of the rationale

Incentives for the adoption of e-government by Greek municipalities

Purpose: The research aims to identify the incentives that play an important role in the evolution of e-government in Greece at local scale and its actual development level. It also investigates the factors and the perceived barriers that affect the development of local egovernment in Greek Municipalities, as well as the benefits they derive from it. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is based on a survey that was conducted through a questionnaire to all 325 Municipalities of the country and includes data from 109 Municipalities that participated in the quantitative approach. Findings: While e-government is spread at a relatively satisfactory level, it appears that only a few Municipalities are performing well. Results highlight also the two main incentives that motivate Municipalities to adopt e-government: The first is the improvement of the efficiency of information exchange with the external environment and the second is managing internal issues-relationships in conjunction with the existence of prominent IT departments. Amongst the main factors that affect e-government adoption by Local authorities, budgetary constraints stand out, while the lack of personnel specialized in Information Technologies is identified as common obstacle. Practical Implications: Findings suggest that an integrated approach to e-government is needed in order to enable organizations to minimize failures and to overcome barriers and counter risks. The capacity to align e-government applications with the increasing and evolving needs and requirements of the citizens is the key to optimizing the benefits of eGovernment at local scale. Originality/Value: There is no similar empirical research in the context of Greece; hence, it seems important to increase the knowledge about the drivers of e-government adoption, especially in the public sector at the local scale.peer-reviewe

Reuse potential assessment framework for gamification-based smart city pilots

The paper proposes a unified framework for assessing the re-use potential for the Smart Engagement Pilot currently being realized in the city of Ghent (Belgium). The pilot aims to stimulate the digital engagement in users (citizens) by involving them in online and offline communities, and increasing the social capital through the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology). To engage the citizens, the pilot makes use of Gamification based entities (intelligent wireless sensors) embedded in public hardware, through which innovative games are organized in places of interest (neighbourhood, parks, schools, etc.). Once finished, this pilot will be re-used in other European cities under the context of CIP SMART IP project. Since, the success of a pilot in one city doesn't guarantee its success in the other, an objective socio-economic-organizational reuse assessment becomes critical. To do this assessment, we propose a framework, which uses a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) based scorecard to determine the roadblocks and battlefields that could deter such a transition

Poverty Eradication Dilemma: Understanding Poverty Dynamics in Nebbi District, Uganda

This paper addresses a current methodological gap in poverty measurement, which stems from acknowledging the multi-dimensionality of poverty, on the one hand, and using an income/consumption measurement of poverty as thenorm, on the other

Vision 2023: Turkey’s National Technology Foresight Program – a contextualist description and analysis

This paper describes and analyses Vision 2023 Turkish National Technology Foresight Program. The paper is not about a mere description of the activities undertaken. It analyses the Program from a contextualist perspective, where the Program is considered in its own national and organizational contexts by discussing how the factors in these contexts led to the particular decisions taken and approaches adopted when the exercise was organized, designed and practiced. With the description and analysis of the Vision 2023 Technology Foresight Program, the paper suggests that each Foresight exercise should be considered in its own context. The exercise should be organized, designed and practiced by considering the effects of the external contexts (national, regional and/or corporate) and organizational factors stemming from these different context levels along with the nature of the issue being worked on, which constitute the content of the exercise.Foresight, contextualism, Vision 2023, Turkey, Science and Technology Policy

Identity ambiguity and the promises and practices of hybrid e-HRM project teams

The role of IS project team identity work in the enactment of day-to-day relationships with their internal clients is under-researched. We address this gap by examining the identity work undertaken by an electronic human resource management (e-HRM) 'hybrid' project team engaged in an enterprise-wide IS implementation for their multi-national organisation. Utilising social identity theory, we identify three distinctive, interrelated dimensions of project team identity work (project team management, team 'value propositions' (promises) and the team's 'knowledge practice'). We reveal how dissonance between two perspectives of e-HRM project identity work (clients' expected norms of project team's service and project team's expected norms of themselves) results in identity ambiguity. Our research contributions are to identity studies in the IS project management, HR and hybrid literatures and to managerial practice by challenging the assumption that hybrid experts are the panacea for problems associated with IS projects

Assessment of socio-economic configuration of value chains : a proposed analysis framework to facilitate integration of small rural producers with global agribusiness

Value chain analysis is an important tool to assess and enhance the performance of agribusiness. This paper analyzes the empirical application of a conceptual framework known as the Rural Web to evaluate the socio-economic complexity of a specific agribusiness value chain. This can be used as a complementary approach to traditional value chain analysis. The proposed framework goes beyond linear descriptions of product flows and examines how supply chains are built, shaped and reproduced over time and space, while considering social, cultural, environmental and political aspects. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework is a suitable method for value chain analysis, principally for those whose early stages are based on small and medium-sized rural actors. The Rural Web analysis offers decision-makers a platform to identify key actors not traditionally considered in value chain analysis, as well as the social interrelationships that occur at different dimensions. It also enables the identification of corrective and preventive measures to enhance agribusiness value chains