The smiling assassin? Reconceptualising redundancy envoys as quasi-dirty workers.

Despite redundancies having far-reaching consequences for organisations, relatively limited attention has been paid to the conflicting experiences of those implementing the redundancy process - the redundancy envoys. By drawing on theories of cognitive dissonance and "dirty work", we explain how individuals implementing redundancies can experience a disconnect between their outward and inner emotions. We reconceptualise redundancy envoys as quasi-dirty workers, as they intermittently perform "dirty work" tasks that may be perceived as morally tainted, whilst recognising their conventional role incorporates tasks perceived as contrary to that of "dirty work". Our study draws on insider research access to redundancy envoys over a five-year period during the implementation of four consecutive redundancy programmes, providing the opportunity to observe decisions and actions in "real time". We offer a contemporary reconceptualisation of the redundancy envoy, which permits a deeper understanding of the negative impact on redundancy envoys and offers opportunities to examine how this can be reduced. In addition, it is anticipated that the results of this study will offer support to HR functions in reducing the stigma of "dirty work" for redundancy envoys with the intention of enhancing the management of redundancy implementation

L'eau, chose commune : un statut juridique à confirmer

Cet article reprend le contenu d'un mémoire présenté à la Commission sur la gestion de l'eau au Québec dans le cadre de l'importante consultation publique tenue récemment dans cette province. La partie A traite du statut juridique de l'eau en droit québécois. Le gouvernement du Québec appuie sa gestion actuelle des eaux souterraines sur la prémisse que celles-ci appartiennent au propriétaire du fonds sous lequel elles sont situées. Cette interprétation du droit actuel est mal fondée : l'eau souterraine constitue plutôt, à l'instar des eaux de surface, une chose commune. La partie B traite du statut juridique de l'eau dans les provinces de common law. Le droit de ces provinces ne reconnaît pas que les individus puissent être propriétaires de l'eau dans son état naturel : il consacre plutôt des droits d'usage de l'eau. On admet parfois que l'État a une certaine propriété de l'eau. Toutefois, il ne s'agit pas de propriété ait sens du droit privé québécois, mais d'une responsabilité fiduciaire qu'a l'État de protéger et de contrôler l'utilisation de l'eau par les particuliers, dans l'intérêt public.This article is based on a paper submitted to the Commission sur la gestion de l'eau au Quebec during the important public hearings recently held in that provinces . Part A deals with the legal status of water in Quebec. The Government of Quebec has recently taken the position that according to Quebec civil law, groundwater is privately owned by the owner of the land where it is located. This interpretation, in our view, is ill founded: groundwater, like surface water, is a res communis. Part B examines the legal status of water in the common law provinces. The law of those provinces does not grant individuals any proprietary rights in the water itself, only rights to use. The title to water is sometimes said to be vested in the Crown. However, what is meant is not aproprietary right in the water, but a public trust to protect the resource and control its use by individuals, in the public interest

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in France and Ireland: parents' groups' scientific and political framing of an unsettled condition

http://www.csi.mines-paristech.fr/Items/WorkingPapers/Download/DLWP.php?wp=WP_CSI_024.pdfExamines how groups representing children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in France and Ireland engage within this contested medical domain, and challenges the frequently made association between the process of medicalisation and de-politicisation

The amalgamation of secondary schools : a case study of amalgamation culture shock in a rural New Zealand Catholic community : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This case study examines the process which led to the formation of Chanel College by the amalgamation of St Bride's and St Joseph's colleges in 1978. From 1970 - 1999 a radical restructuring of Catholic secondary education in New Zealand resulted in the closure of twelve single sex secondary schools for girls and the amalgamation of twenty-six secondary schools. Chanel College was the first New Zealand Catholic secondary school to bypass the co-institutional transitional phase of amalgamation and to be a co-educational college from its beginning. As time passes there is the possibility that important understandings that were part of the history of the merger might be lost and stakeholders in each of the merging organisations might feel that their own roots and mission have not been given enough recognition and respect in the new organisation. The community which provides the focus of this case study had experienced a long period of stability followed by years of rapid cultural, educational, and leadership change. The tortuous progress of amalgamation for the Catholic community in the Wairarapa provides an ideal opportunity to examine the importance of leadership and process in the management of significant educational change. The importance of managing the culture shock of amalgamations is often underestimated or overlooked. This form of culture shock involves the confusion, disorientation and severe emotional stress associated with moving from a familiar culture to one most unlike the old environment. If this management issue is not addressed effectively there can be a significant area of 'unfinished business' which leaves a bitter legacy for a new school struggling to create an accepted culture of its own. The stakeholders also find themselves involved in a situation which is often not of their choosing where they face the often unwelcome task and ongoing process of creating a new culture where the unconscious taken for granted beliefs, thoughts and values which had provided the foundation for the merging schools must be revisited until a new culture develops which is accepted by the new community as appropriate to its needs. In the Conclusions and Recommendations section the stakeholder and community management issues often encountered in the amalgamation process are summarised and management recommendations are made and solutions proposed

Rapid identification information and its influence on the perceived clues at a crime scene:an experimental study

Crime scenes can always be explained in multiple ways. Traces alone do not provide enough information to infer a whole series of events that has taken place; they only provide clues for these inferences. CSIs need additional information to be able to interpret observed traces. In the near future, a new source of information that could help to interpret a crime scene and testing hypotheses will become available with the advent of rapid identification techniques. A previous study with CSIs demonstrated that this information had an influence on the interpretation of the crime scene, yet it is still unknown what exact information was used for this interpretation and for the construction of their scenario. The present study builds on this study and gains more insight into (1) the exact investigative and forensic information that was used by CSIs to construct their scenario, (2) the inferences drawn from this information, and (3) the kind of evidence that was selected at the crime scene to (dis)prove this scenario. We asked 48 CSIs to investigate a potential murder crime scene on the computer and explicate what information they used to construct a scenario and to select traces for analysis. The results show that the introduction of rapid ID information at the start of an investigation contributes to the recognition of different clues at the crime scene, but also to different interpretations of identical information, depending on the kind of information available and the scenario one has in mind. Furthermore, not all relevant traces were recognized, showing that important information can be missed during the investigation. In this study, accurate crime scenarios where mainly build with forensic information, but we should be aware of the fact that crime scenes are always contaminated with unrelated traces and thus be cautious of the power of rapid ID at the crime scene

Rapid identification information and its influence on the perceived clues at a crime scene:an experimental study

Crime scenes can always be explained in multiple ways. Traces alone do not provide enough information to infer a whole series of events that has taken place; they only provide clues for these inferences. CSIs need additional information to be able to interpret observed traces. In the near future, a new source of information that could help to interpret a crime scene and testing hypotheses will become available with the advent of rapid identification techniques. A previous study with CSIs demonstrated that this information had an influence on the interpretation of the crime scene, yet it is still unknown what exact information was used for this interpretation and for the construction of their scenario. The present study builds on this study and gains more insight into (1) the exact investigative and forensic information that was used by CSIs to construct their scenario, (2) the inferences drawn from this information, and (3) the kind of evidence that was selected at the crime scene to (dis)prove this scenario. We asked 48 CSIs to investigate a potential murder crime scene on the computer and explicate what information they used to construct a scenario and to select traces for analysis. The results show that the introduction of rapid ID information at the start of an investigation contributes to the recognition of different clues at the crime scene, but also to different interpretations of identical information, depending on the kind of information available and the scenario one has in mind. Furthermore, not all relevant traces were recognized, showing that important information can be missed during the investigation. In this study, accurate crime scenarios where mainly build with forensic information, but we should be aware of the fact that crime scenes are always contaminated with unrelated traces and thus be cautious of the power of rapid ID at the crime scene

How neighbourhood governance entities are located within broader networks of governance : A cross-national comparison

This research considers how neighbourhood-based governance entities are located in broader networks of governance, by undertaking an international comparative investigation in two cities (Baltimore, Maryland in the US and Bristol in England). It uses an empirically-grounded approach to ascertain the function of such governance forms according to the way they are structured and operate. It assesses the governance context, focused at the urban level, within which these entities are located, considering the key actors and their relative power and the focus on deprived neighbourhoods versus broader strategies. This leads to consideration of how these strategies and actors shape the functions of neighbourhood governance and the implications in terms of the relative power vested at the neighbourhood level. The research demonstrates the localist and privatist nature of Baltimore's urban governance context, and the centrist and managerial nature of Bristol's. Within both networks a policy subsystem is evident with regard to neighbourhood approaches, but it is the broader governance network which determines the state and market imperatives pursued. In Baltimore and latterly in Bristol, tackling deprivation is a subservient agenda to the predominant imperative of growth. This highlights the importance of the two cities' shared neo-liberal context despite their different governmental systems. In Baltimore, neighbourhoods do not gain resource from the city-level governance network if they lack the assets this network seeks. The function of neighbourhood governance which results is self-help, as long as neighbourhoods have the capacity to do so. In Bristol, neighbourhood governance is steered by central government via its funding regimes and policy approaches. Changes in these have heralded a shift from the targeting of deprived areas via area-based initiatives' to seeking to link deprived neighbourhoods to the benefits of broader growth. Neighbourhood governance entities are being steered to adopt self-help strategies, irrespective of their capacity to do so