Understanding how and why practitioners evaluate SDI performance

Practitioners around the world are building frameworks for spatial data interoperability and cross-agency coordination, referred to as spatial data infrastructure (SDI). In this study, we attempt to understand how and why SDI practitioners ‘on the ground’ are evaluating their ‘own’ efforts in developing such frameworks. For this purpose, we mobilize concepts from ‘control’ evaluation, as well as from public sector evaluation research, because ‘control’ evaluation appears to be the approach most favored by SDI practitioners, and SDI evaluation is unfolding within public sector settings. ‘Control’ evaluation emphasizes operations, supports rationalistic investment decisions and efficiency analysis, and typically is based on measures such as ratios, percentages, and indexes; evaluators act as auditors, controlling, ranking or assessing success. We examine and classify several recent examples of SDI ‘control’ evaluation by using the concepts of ‘timing’, ‘perspective’, ‘formal demand’, ‘use’, and ‘input specificity’. Our study reveals that the most comprehensive practices have resulted when ‘control’ evaluations have been in compliance with a demand from an executive agency, such as a central budget agency, and when there has been specificity of inputs. We anticipate that these dimensions are key to the institutionalization of SDI evaluation and point to the need for further research to understand how such evaluation practices emerge

No More Bricks in the Wall: Adopting Healthy Lifestyles through Physical Education Classes

Despite the multiple benefits associated with practicing physical activity regularly, less than 20% of the population do it on a daily basis. Physical education classes could contribute, during childhood and adolescence, to consolidating adherence to healthy lifestyle habits. The present study involved 606 secondary school students between the ages of 13 and 19. We analysed the relationships between the perception of psychological control and support for autonomy, the satisfaction and frustration of psychological needs, mind-wandering and mindfulness, positive and negative emotions, motivation towards physical education classes, physical activity and the intention to be physically active—all through a structural equation model, which presented acceptable goodness-of-fit indices. The results showed that students who feel more autonomous see that their psychological needs are met and feel emotionally positive; this will result in the development of autonomous motivation towards physical education classes and physical activity that, in turn, could lead to a greater intention to be physically active

Learning from 20 Years of Payments for Ecosystem Services in Costa Rica

Costa Rica's Payments for Ecosystems Services (PES) programme has become something of an icon in the world of conservation. Its innovative blend of economic and regulatory instruments - and its hitches and successes - provide a valuable source of inspiration for other countries that are looking for effective ways to conserve and regenerate ecosystems. Since 1997, nearly one million hectares of forest in Costa Rica have been part of the PES programme at one time or another, and forest cover has now returned to over 50 per cent of the country's land area, from a low of just 20 per cent in the 1980s. What lessons can be learnt from the 20 years since it was founded? Also published in Spanish, this paper is for local practitioners, international researchers and donors who are interested in the Costa Rican experience

Sustainable Development Indicator Frameworks and Initiatives

Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics,

Measuring the Performance of Livability Programs, MTI Report 12-06

This report analyzes the performance measurement processes adopted by five large “livability” programs throughout the United States. It compares and contrasts these programs by examining existing research in performance measurement methods. The “best practices” of the examined performance measurement methods for each program are explored and analyzed with respect to their key characteristics. The report entails an appropriately comprehensive literature review of the current research on performance measurement methods from the perspective of various stakeholders including the public and government agencies. Additionally, the results of this literature review are used to examine the actual performance measures of the target programs from the perspective of different stakeholders. The goal of the report is to determine what did and did not work in these programs and their measurement methods, while making recommendations based on the results of the analysis for potential future programs

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene In Health Care Facilities: Status in Low- and Middle-income Countries and Way Forward

This report presents, for the first time, a global assessment of the extent to which health care facilities provide essential water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. Drawing on data from 54 low- and middle-income countries, this report finds that 38 percent lack access to even rudimentary levels of water. The World Health Organization, UNICEF, governments, and other partners must develop a global plan to address the pressing needs and ensure that all health care facilities have WASH services

Diversity frames: Toward a mid -range theory in supplier diversity management

The recognition that diversity is a visible facet of our global society is generating discourse among leaders in business, government, and civil society alike. In view of demographic changes affecting the labor and product supply markets, plus the value being placed on an emergent customer base, diversity rhetoric is shifting from the right thing to do to the smart thing to do. With emphasis on the business case, organizations are adopting a culture of inclusion . Executives tout diversity initiatives as business imperatives that are integral to the company\u27s mission, but express a need for a more efficacious approach to diversity management. Understanding this contemporary phenomenon in the hospitality supply chain is addressed in this dissertation; Grounded theory using case studies is the methodological strategy used to gain insight into how and why buyers procure goods and services. It presents a systematic approach for interpreting the underlying assumptions, expectations, and knowledge buyers have regarding supplier diversity initiatives. Organizational buying behavior and social-cognitive theories provide structure to the investigation of buyers\u27 frames of reference regarding their task-processes and task-practices as they relate to minority-owned, woman-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises (MWDBE) spend. The primary data gathering method for interpreting buyers\u27 diversity frames is in-depth interviews. The data are coded and triangulated with data collected from observations, informal conversations, company documents, and archival materials. During the iterative analysis process of constant comparison---a grounded theory technique---four diversity frames emerged. Each is derived from the decision-making process of conscious (C) and/or unconscious (U) thoughts (T) and actions (A), buyers form in making sense of selecting underrepresented vendors. These dimensions are designated: Enablers (CT/UA), Espousers (CT/CA), Conformers (UT/CA), and Conservators (UT/UA). Cross-case analysis on task performance reveals congruence in task-process and incongruence in task-practices. These findings provide grounds for building theory on organizational buyers\u27 thought/action processes. Based on these results, hypotheses are generated for future testing. Having knowledge of buyers\u27 diversity frames and understanding their similarities and differences may be the necessary link for developing strategic sourcing strategies to manage the successful implementation and adoption of supplier diversity initiatives

The Effects of the Type of Skill Test, Choice, and Gender on the Situational Motivation of Physical Education Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of (a) skill test type, (b) choices, and (c) gender on the situational motivation profiles of adolescents during skill testing in physical education. Participants were 507 students (53% male) aged 12–16 years (M = 13.87; SD = 0.94) attending a suburban junior high school in a western state in the U.S. All participants experienced either a norm-referenced, summative or a criterion-referenced, formative skill test with or without choices. The Situational Intrinsic Motivation Scale (SIMS) was administered to assess situational motivation. A 2 (test type) × 2 (choice) × 2 (gender) MANOVA was used to test for significant differences on each of the four SIMS indices. Significant test type and gender and a significant test type by gender interaction were found. These findings suggest practitioners should use criterion-referenced, formative skill tests especially when teaching girls in physical education

Intellectual property reassembly: a novel approach to evaluate R&D collaboration outcomes

Research and development (R&D) collaboration outcomes have usually been evaluated based on the magnitude of outputs, such as new products, patenting, or productivity growth. However, they have yet to be evaluated based on the various directions of mutual learning between collaborators, which have a long‐term impact on the post‐partnership technology development of the collaborators. This study proposes a framework that evaluates intellectual property (IP) reassembly, which indicates how a focal firm produces new IP based on its learnings from its R&D partnership, as a novel approach to evaluate R&D collaboration. The proposed approach estimates the degree to which IP reassembly (a focal firm's independent patent applications drawing on co‐patents) occurs in the following directions: exploitation of, exploration beyond, or complementary to the pre‐partnership capabilities of each collaborator. Within the framework, a focal firm's performance can be compared to that of its partner. The proposed framework is illustrated and validated using the case of partnership between Samsung SDI and BOSCH (2008–2012) in their battery development. We discuss implications for contract design, partnership boundaries, and performance evaluation in the context of R&D collaboration