27,896 research outputs found
How (In)accurate Are Demand Forecasts in Public Works Projects? The Case of Transportation
This article presents results from the first statistically significant study
of traffic forecasts in transportation infrastructure projects. The sample used
is the largest of its kind, covering 210 projects in 14 nations worth US$59
billion. The study shows with very high statistical significance that
forecasters generally do a poor job of estimating the demand for transportation
infrastructure projects. The result is substantial downside financial and
economic risks. Such risks are typically ignored or downplayed by planners and
decision makers, to the detriment of social and economic welfare. For nine out
of ten rail projects passenger forecasts are overestimated; average
overestimation is 106 percent. This results in large benefit shortfalls for
rail projects. For half of all road projects the difference between actual and
forecasted traffic is more than plus/minus 20 percent. Forecasts have not
become more accurate over the 30-year period studied. If techniques and skills
for arriving at accurate demand forecasts have improved over time, as often
claimed by forecasters, this does not show in the data. The causes of
inaccuracy in forecasts are different for rail and road projects, with
political causes playing a larger role for rail than for road. The cure is
transparency, accountability, and new forecasting methods. The challenge is to
change the governance structures for forecasting and project development. The
article shows how planners may help achieve this.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1302.2544, arXiv:1303.6571,
arXiv:1302.364
Healthcare services managers: what information do they need and use?
Objectives: To gain insight into the information behaviour of healthcare services managers as they draw on information while engaged in decision making unrelated to individual patient care. Objectives – The purpose of this research project was to gain insight into the information behaviour of healthcare services managers as they use information while engaged in decision-making unrelated to individual patient care.
Methods – This small-scale, exploratory, multiple case study used the critical incident technique in nineteen semi-structured interviews. Responses were analyzed using ‘Framework,’ a matrix-based content analysis system.
Results – This paper presents findings related to the internal information that healthcare services managers need and use. Their decisions are influenced by a wide variety of factors. They must often make decisions without all of the information they would prefer to have. Internal information and practical experience set the context for new research-based information, so they are generally considered first.
Conclusions – Healthcare services managers support decisions with both facts and value-based information. These results may inform both delivery of health library services delivery and strategic health information management planning. They may also support librarians who extend their skills beyond managing library collections and teaching published information retrieval skills, to managing internal and external information, teaching information literacy, and supporting information sharing
Financial Coaching: A New Approach for Asset Building?
Through a literature review and interviews with nonprofit financial coaches, examines the concepts, training, and capacity building involved in financial coaching for low-income families, as well as critiques of existing models and their implications
Actor-relational planning in deprived areas : challenges and opportunities in luchtbal Antwerpen, Belgium
In this article we report and discuss our experience with actor relational approaches in the regeneration of a post war housing estate in Luchtbal, Antwerp, Belgium. Actor relational approaches are informed by post-structuralist ideas of space, complexity theory and actor network theory. Although ARA itself is not new, the application of ARA to deprived area’s such as Luchtbal is novel. We report how the approach has been elaborated, its process and outcome. We conclude with our evaluation from an insider’s perspective
Aligning Strategic Orientation with Information Resources
In today’s digital society, technology-based resources are emerging and changing far more rapidly than organizational systems and structures. While information management is critical to strategy at both the formulation and implementation stages, strategic decisions often must be made quickly, and with less rationality than is desirable. This paper provides an analytical framework based on the types of information needed for specific strategic orientations. The proposed framework, or information resource matrix (IRM), integrates the strategy typology of Miles and Snow (1978), the uncertainty dimensions of Milliken (1987), and the decision-making model of Simon (1963). The IRM identifies a firm’s information needs for a given strategic orientation. Using the IRM, managers can tailor information systems to fit their strategic information needs
Variable Affecting the Information Needs and Seeking Behavior of Educational Administrators: A Review
The
study aims at reviewing the research studies
conducted to find out the information needs and
seeking behavior of educational administrators, and
other stakeholders of education enterprise. The
purpose of this review is to identify the important
variables affecting the information needs and seeking
behavior of educational administrators.
An effort is also made to review the status of such
research studies in Pakistan. The paper is based on
comprehensive review of available literature. For the
literature search, valid sources of published and
unpublished information were consulted (i.e., books,
journal articles, reports, conference/workshop
proceedings, theses, etc.). Recommendations and
conclusions are also drawn in the light of reviewed
literature.
The study reveals that many variables are affecting the
information needs and seeking behavior of educational
administrators: such as their work context,
administrative responsibilities and
work experience
along with
source preferences and use of information.
It
was also found that no comprehensive research
study was conducted to find out the information needs
and seeking behavior of educational stakeholders
working at the administrative positions in Pakistan
(i.e., deans, registrars, heads of departments in universities, school and college principals etc.)
The State of Adaptation in the United States: An Overview
Over the past two decades the adaptation landscape has changed dramatically. From its early days as a vague theoretical concept, which was often viewed as a threat to advocating for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, it has developed into a widely, albeit not universally, recognized governmental mandate to reduce societal vulnerability to climate change. While it is important to appreciate the progress that we are making on this issue, it is impossible to ignore the urgent need to do more. Smart investment can be made by reflecting on what is already underway in order to determine where to build on existing efforts and where to innovate new approaches to fill the gaps in the path forward. In this report we provide illustrative examples of the variety of work on climate change adaptation that is underway in the United States. This is by no means an exhaustive survey of the field; however it does provide insight into the dominant focus of work to date, the resultant gaps, and the opportunities available for advancing this essential aspect of sustainability. We focus on four areas of activity -- agriculture, natural resources, human communities, and policy. The general trends relevant to these sectors can be applied more broadly to other sectors and countries. Adaptation can be thought of as a cycle of activities that ultimately -- if successful -- reduces vulnerability to climate change. This process starts with identifying the impacts of climate change to determine the types of problems climate change might pose. This includes all of the research on the causes and the global, regional, and local manifestations of climate change, often referred to as impacts assessments
Increasing Cultural Participation: An Audience Development Planning Handbook for Presenters, Producers and Their Collaborators
Looks at how people-centered strategies for building public participation in high-quality arts programs can help institutions of varied disciplines and sizes to diversify, broaden, and deepen relationships with their communities
Variable Affecting the Information Needs and Seeking Behavior of Educational Administrators: A Review
The
study aims at reviewing the research studies
conducted to find out the information needs and
seeking behavior of educational administrators, and
other stakeholders of education enterprise. The
purpose of this review is to identify the important
variables affecting the information needs and seeking
behavior of educational administrators.
An effort is also made to review the status of such
research studies in Pakistan. The paper is based on
comprehensive review of available literature. For the
literature search, valid sources of published and
unpublished information were consulted (i.e., books,
journal articles, reports, conference/workshop
proceedings, theses, etc.). Recommendations and
conclusions are also drawn in the light of reviewed
literature.
The study reveals that many variables are affecting the
information needs and seeking behavior of educational
administrators: such as their work context,
administrative responsibilities and
work experience
along with
source preferences and use of information.
It
was also found that no comprehensive research
study was conducted to find out the information needs
and seeking behavior of educational stakeholders
working at the administrative positions in Pakistan
(i.e., deans, registrars, heads of departments in universities, school and college principals etc.)
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