A knowledge creation perspective on ‘LEAN’ approaches to policing in England and Wales

The police service in England and Wales continue to face intense pressures to manage and reduce budgets while simultaneously maintaining and improving levels of service. In achieving reform, attention has been directed towards the implementation of proven operational improvement frameworks, such as ‘lean thinking’ taken from the automotive industry. However, the qualitatively different contexts have resulted in ‘lean’ interventions making only limited contribution to police reform. This research draws on contemporary views of ‘lean’ as a knowledge creation process to assess how such a reconceptualization may contribute to more successful police transformation

Do the citizens of Europe trust their police?

Purpose - The maintenance of public order and the control of crime are clearly amongst the primary objectives of global law enforcement agencies. An important antecedent to this is the consideration of public trust in their police force. The purpose of this paper is to utilise data from the 5th Round European Social Survey (ESS), to investigate how public social indicators may highlight the level of trust in a country’s police force. Design/methodology/approach – The results from the ESS are analysed using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), multiply conjunctional causal configurations of the considered social indicators are then established and analysed. Findings - A consequence of using fsQCA, asymmetric causal configurations are identified for the relative high and low limiting levels of trust towards the police in the considered countries. The results offer novel insights into the relationship between social indicators and police trust, as well as expositing a nascent technique (fsQCA) that may offer future potential in this area. Originality/value – This paper introduces a novel technique to analyse a major European data set relating to citizens perceptions of the police. The findings might prove useful for policing organisations as they develop strategies to maintain/improve the level of trust and confidence of citizens in the policing services they provide

Contributions of Vacuum and Plasmon Modes to the Force on a Small Sphere near a Plate

The force on a small sphere with a plasma model dielectric function and in the presence of a perfectly reflecting plane is considered. The contribution of both the vacuum modes of the quantized electromagnetic field and of plasmon modes in the sphere are discussed. In the case that the plasmon modes are in their ground state, quasi-oscillatory terms from the vacuum and plasmon parts cancel one another, leading a monotonic attractive force. If the plasmon modes are not in the ground state, the net force is quasi-oscillatory. In both cases, the sphere behaves in the same way as does an atom in either its ground state or an excited state.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, talk presented at "Quantum Fields under External Conditions - 2005", Barcelona, Spain, September 200

Two-phase flow patterns in turbulent flow through a dose diffusion pipe

A numerical investigation is carried out for turbulent particle-laden flow through a dose diffusion pipe for a model reactor system. A Lagrangian Stochastic Monte-Carlo particle-tracking approach and the averaged Reynolds equations with a k-e turbulence model, with a two-layer zonal method in the boundary layer, are used for the disperse and continuous phases. The flow patterns coupled with the particle dynamics are predicted. It is observed that the coupling of the continuous phase with the particle dynamics is important in this case. It was found that the geometry of the throat significantly influences the particle distribution, flow patterns and length of the recirculation region. The accuracy of the simulations depends on the numerical prediction and correction of the fluid phase velocity during a characteristic time interval of the particles. A numerical solution strategy for the computation of two-way momentum coupled flow is discussed. The three test cases show different flow features in the formation of a recirculation region behind the throat. The method will be useful for the qualitative analysis of conceptual designs and their optimisation

Apollo oxygen tank stratification analysis, volume 2

An analysis of flight performance of the Apollo 15 cryogenic oxygen tanks was conducted with the variable grid stratification math model developed earlier in the program. Flight conditions investigated were the CMP-EVA and one passive thermal control period which exhibited heater temperature characteristics not previously observed. Heater temperatures for these periods were simulated with the math model using flight acceleration data. Simulation results (heater temperature and tank pressure) compared favorably with the Apollo 15 flight data, and it was concluded that tank performance was nominal. Math model modifications were also made to improve the simulation accuracy. The modifications included the addition of the effects of the tank wall thermal mass and an improved system flow distribution model. The modifications improved the accuracy of simulated pressure response based on comparisons with flight data

A new model for evolution in a spatial continuum

We investigate a new model for populations evolving in a spatial continuum. This model can be thought of as a spatial version of the Lambda-Fleming-Viot process. It explicitly incorporates both small scale reproduction events and large scale extinction-recolonisation events. The lineages ancestral to a sample from a population evolving according to this model can be described in terms of a spatial version of the Lambda-coalescent. Using a technique of Evans(1997), we prove existence and uniqueness in law for the model. We then investigate the asymptotic behaviour of the genealogy of a finite number of individuals sampled uniformly at random (or more generally `far enough apart') from a two-dimensional torus of side L as L tends to infinity. Under appropriate conditions (and on a suitable timescale), we can obtain as limiting genealogical processes a Kingman coalescent, a more general Lambda-coalescent or a system of coalescing Brownian motions (with a non-local coalescence mechanism).Comment: 63 pages, version accepted to Electron. J. Proba

Convergence and divergence dynamics in British and French business schools: how will the pressure for accreditation influence these dynamics?

This paper focuses on convergence and divergence dynamics among leading British and French business schools and explores how the pressure for accreditation influences these dynamics. We illustrate that despite historical differences in approaches to management education in Britain and France, these approaches have converged partly based on the influence of the American model of management education but more recently through the pursuit of accreditation, in particular AASCB and EQUIS. We explore these dynamics through the application of the resource-based view of the firm and institutional theory and suggest that whilst achieving accreditation is a necessary precursor for international competition, it is no longer a form of competitive advantage. The pursuit of accreditation has fostered a form of competitive mimicry reducing national distinctiveness. The resource-based view of the firm suggests that the top schools need a more heterogeneous approach that is not easily replicable if they are to outperform the competitors. Consequently, the convergence of management education in Britain and France will become a new impetus for divergence. We assert that future growth and competitive advantage might be better achieved through the reassertion of national, regional and local cultural characteristics