Organic conversion strategies for stockless farming systems

This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. The identification of appropriate stockless organic conversion strategies will help farmers and growers in their decision to convert to organic production. The current practice of a two-year red clover/ryegrass ley conversion relies on subsidies to be economically viable. This standard conversion and six alternatives were tested on a sandy loam soil entering organic conversion. A test crop of winter wheat will be grown across the entire experimental area in the first fully organic year (2001/2002). Strategies containing a legume ley phase returned the greatest amount of nitrogen to the soil. At the end of the second year, pre-cultivation, there were no differences in soil mineral nitrogen between strategies. Gross margins were greater from those strategies with cash cropping than those without, in spite of the generally depressed yields. Preliminary analysis suggests that growing red clover for seed in year 1 followed by a red clover ley in year 2 could be the most profitable option

The impacts of harvesting on the carbon balance of mangrove forests

The study is part of a five-year project “Mangrove forests potential carbon sinks for mitigating climate change”, being implemented at Gazi bay, Kenya, by Earthwatch Institute, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute and Edinburgh Napier Universit

The impacts of harvesting on the carbon balance of mangrove forests

The study is part of a five-year project “Mangrove forests potential carbon sinks for mitigating climate change”, being implemented at Gazi bay, Kenya, by Earthwatch Institute, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute and Edinburgh Napier Universit

What lies beneath? The role of informal and hidden networks in the management of crises

Crisis management research traditionally focuses on the role of formal communication networks in the escalation and management of organisational crises. Here, we consider instead informal and unobservable networks. The paper explores how hidden informal exchanges can impact upon organisational decision-making and performance, particularly around inter-agency working, as knowledge distributed across organisations and shared between organisations is often shared through informal means and not captured effectively through the formal decision-making processes. Early warnings and weak signals about potential risks and crises are therefore often missed. We consider the implications of these dynamics in terms of crisis avoidance and crisis management

Nonprofit-public collaborations: understanding governance dynamics

As many of the challenges facing society are too complex to be addressed by single organizations working alone, nonprofit organizations are increasingly working in collaboration with public authorities. The governance of nonprofit–public collaborations is important for their effectiveness, yet it remains poorly understood. Drawing on case study research, this article examines and develops an extant conceptual model developed by Takahashi and Smutny that seeks to explain the formation and demise of nonprofit collaborations in terms of “collaborative windows” and the inability to adapt initial governance structures. The research finds that while initial governance structures are an important constraint on development, they can be adapted and changed. It also suggests that the development of collaborations is not only influenced by changes in the collaborative window but also by how key actors in the collaboration respond to important internal tensions

Universal fractal scaling of self-organized networks

There is an abundance of literature on complex networks describing a variety of relationships among units in social, biological, and technological systems. Such networks, consisting of interconnected nodes, are often self-organized, naturally emerging without any overarching designs on topological structure yet enabling efficient interactions among nodes. Here we show that the number of nodes and the density of connections in such self-organized networks exhibit a power law relationship. We examined the size and connection density of 46 self-organizing networks of various biological, social, and technological origins, and found that the size-density relationship follows a fractal relationship spanning over 6 orders of magnitude. This finding indicates that there is an optimal connection density in self-organized networks following fractal scaling regardless of their sizes

Innovation in assessment: building student confidence in preparation for unfamiliar assessment methods

Innovative assessment methods in which students are active participants promote deeper learning. A group debate and a webfolio were implemented as methods of assessment in the 2015 undergraduate midwifery curriculum, with the assessment tools being evaluated by students. Thematic analysis of the evaluations showed students enjoyed undertaking innovative methods of assessment, they developed confidence and engaged meaningfully with the content to be assessed. Students also commented they developed multiple skills required for future professional practice as a midwife. Thorough preparation of students to undertake an innovative method of assessment however is vital in fostering student confidence

Developing Absorptive Capacity Theory for Public Service Organizations:Emerging UK Empirical Evidence

A strong public policy focus on high performance means that utilizing management knowledge effectively is at a premium for UK public service organizations. This study empirically examined two English public agencies to explore the inter-sectoral transfer of a strategic management model originally developed in the private sector – absorptive capacity – which is one way of conceptualizing an organizational competence in such knowledge mobilization. Two theoretical contributions are made. First, a new absorptive capacity framework for public service organizations is developed which recognizes the participation of public agency project teams during an innovation process proceeding over time with phases of co-creation, testing, metamorphosis and diffusion. Second, our novel framework modifies an early influential model of absorptive capacity. Counter to this model, we argue that realized absorptive capacity requires agency from skilled and embedded actors to turn ‘curbing routines’ into ‘enabling routines’ in all four stages. Project (middle) managers have flexibility in their roles to seize episodic moments of opportunity to innovate and achieve service delivery goals, and to build absorptive capacity capability. Absorptive capacity capability develops organically over time. Future research directions are discussed

Exploring leadership in multi-sectoral partnerships

This article explores some critical aspects of leadership in the context of multi-sectoral partnerships. It focuses on leadership in practice and asks the question, `How do managers experience and perceive leadership in such partnerships?' The study contributes to the debate on whether leadership in a multi-sectoral partnership context differs from that within a single organization. It is based on the accounts of practising managers working in complex partnerships. The article highlights a number of leadership challenges faced by those working in multi-sectoral partnerships. Partnership practitioners were clear that leadership in partnerships was more complex than in single organizations. However, it was more difficult for them to agree a consensus on the essential nature of leadership in partnership. We suggest that a first-, second- and third-person approach might be a way of better interpreting leadership in the context of partnerships