465 research outputs found

    Anarchy or Transformation? Scenarios for Change

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    SUMMARY The present period of crisis has stimulated a number of alternative ‘cognitive maps’ of change, among them the proposals contained in the Brandt, Palme and Thorsson reports. This article introduces six scenarios which portray some of these alternatives, including projects for crisis?management within the established international framework as well as for the transformation of that framework. SOMMAIRE Anarchie ou transformation? Ses scénarios pour un changement La période de crise actuelle a stimulé un certain nombre de “cartes de référence” alternatives de changement, parmi ceux?ci les propositions contenues dans les rapports de Brandt, Palme et Thorsson. Cet article introduit six scénarios qui montrent quelques alternatives, parmi scénarios lesquelles les projets relatifs à la crise de l'administration dans la structure établie internationale aussi bien que pour la transformation de cette structure. RESUMEN Anarquía o transformación? Scenarios para el cambio El actual período de crisis ha estimulado varios ‘mapas cognoscitivos’ alternativos de cambio, entre ellos las proposiciones contenidas en los informes Brandt, Palme y Thorsson. Este artículo presenta seis scenarios que describen algunas de estas alternativas, entre otros, proyectos para el manejo de crisis dentro del marco internacional establecido y también para la transformación de dicho marco

    Scoring and ranking farmland conservation activities to evaluate environmental performance and encourage sustainable farming

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    This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Kathleen Lewis, John Skinner, James Finch, Tina Kaho, Marguerite Newbold, and Keith Bardon, ‘Scoring and ranking farmland conservation activities to evaluate environmental performance and encourage sustainable farming’, Sustainable Development, Vol. 5 (2): 71-77, version of record online 4 December 1998. The final, published version is available online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1719(199708)5:2%3C71::AID-SD61%3E3.0.CO;2-F/pdf © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.The University of Hertfordshire, in collaboration with two UK agricultural establishments ADAS and IACR-Rothamsted are developing a computerised decision support system for environmental management of arable agriculture. Part of this system is aimed towards encouraging sound farmland conservation to protect existing plants and animals, to encourage greater biodiversity and to help the farming community adopt more sustainable practices. The software aims to assess performance, help identify areas where improvements to existing habitats can be made and highlight the potential for new habitat creation. The assessment routines used determine a numerical eco-rating and textual description of performance by comparing actual practices with best practice.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

    Editorial: Disarmament and Development – the International Context

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    The interconnections between international economic recession, the new Cold War and militarisation in the South provide the context for the articles in the IDS Bulletin 'Disarmament and World Development: Is There a Way Forward', from October 1985. Contributors were asked to reassess four key reports on development, disarmament and security issues. All were undertaken during a period of transition in the global economy and the Cold War (1979–83). Despite differences of emphasis they all advocate an integrated global approach to world economic and military problems, the restructuring of North-South economic relationships, strengthening of detente, and reductions in the allocation of resources for military purposes. But why, then, have they had so little impact on policy and still less on the march of events? Contributors to the Bulletin were also asked to address how disarmament and development could be put back on the international agenda. For instance, is there an adequate political case for linking disarmament to development and does military spending in fact entrench underdevelopment

    Identity and difference - re-thinking UK South Asian entrepreneurship

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    Purpose: This paper, which is part of a larger study, discusses from an ethno-cultural perspective, the notion of self-identification and difference pertaining to first and second-generation South Asian male entrepreneurs. In essence, previous studies have not explored this dimension to any sufficient depth. Therefore, evidence is unclear as to how ethno-culture has informed entrepreneurial identity and difference. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting a phenomenological research paradigm, 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted with first and second-generation Sikh and Pakistani Muslim male entrepreneurs in Greater London. A typology of second-generation entrepreneurs is developed and a research agenda proposed. Findings: First-generation respondents regard the UK as home, and do not suffer from shifts in identity. These particular respondents identify themselves as Sikh, or Pakistani Muslim, or a Businessman. However, the second-generation identify themselves via three distinct labels. Here respondents stress their ethnicity by using Hyphenated British identities, or hide their ethnicity behind the term a Normal Businessman, or appear opportunists by using ethnicity as a resource to espouse a True Entrepreneurial identity. Research limitations/implications: The research environment within the Greater London area where the respondents are located may not be as generalisible when compared with other parts of the UK. Originality/value: This paper offers a unique insight into self-prescribed identity and difference noted among London’s ethnic entrepreneurs

    Bureaucratization in Public Research Institutions

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    The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature of bureaucratization within public research bodies and its relationship to scientific performance, focusing on an Italian case-study. The main finding is that the bureaucratization of the research sector has two dimensions: public research labs have academic bureaucratization since researchers spend an increasing part of their time in administrative matters (i.e., preparing grant applications, managing grants/projects, and so on); whereas universities mainly have administrative bureaucratization generated by the increase over time of administrative staff in comparison with researchers and faculty. In addition, I show that research units with higher bureaucratization have lower scientific performance

    Comfort radicalism and NEETs: a conservative praxis

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    Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are construed by policy makers as a pressing problem about which something should be done. Such young people's lack of employment is thought to pose difficulties for wider society in relation to social cohesion and inclusion and it is feared that they will become a 'lost generation'. This paper(1) draws upon English research, seeking to historicise the debate whilst acknowledging that these issues have a much wider purchase. The notion of NEETs rests alongside longstanding concerns of the English state and middle classes, addressing unruly male working class youth as well as the moral turpitude of working class girls. Waged labour and domesticity are seen as a means to integrate such groups into society thereby generating social cohesion. The paper places the debate within it socio-economic context and draws on theorisations of cognitive capitalism, Italian workerism, as well as emerging theories of antiwork to analyse these. It concludes by arguing that ‘radical’ approaches to NEETs that point towards inequities embedded in the social structure and call for social democratic solutions veer towards a form of comfort radicalism. Such approaches leave in place the dominance of capitalist relations as well as productivist orientations that celebrate waged labour

    Sustaining cultural tourism through higher female participation in Nigeria: the role of corporate social responsibility in oil host communities

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    This paper adds to the gender discourse in sustainable African tourism development from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) perspective. Specifically, we examine the impact of CSR on the development of rural women in cultural tourism. A total of 600 rural women were sampled across the Niger Delta. Results from the use of a logit model indicate a significant relationship between CSR and cultural tourism development in oil host communities in Nigeria. This implies that CSR of a multinational oil company (MOC) is a critical factor for sustaining cultural tourism. The findings suggest increased female participation in General Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) interventions of MOC and the need to pay close attention to which extent the participation of rural women in the GMoU projects may be limited by cultural and traditional obstacles

    A Corporate Social Entrepreneurship Approach to Market-Based Poverty Reduction

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    In this article, we aim to conceptualize a market-based approach to poverty reduction from a corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) perspective. Specifically, we describe some market-based initiatives at the base of the economic pyramid and relate them to the social entrepreneurship literature. We refer to the entrepreneurial activities of multinational corporations that create social value as CSE. We then conceptualize CSE according to the corporate entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship domains and shed light on how corporations can implement CSE. Finally, by reviewing relevant literature, we propose some of the factors that can stimulate CSE in organizations and some of the benefits companies can gain by implementing CSE
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