The nexus of value chain integration and e-Business applications on public sector agriculture R&D management

This paper examines the potential impact of interconnectivity of supply chain partnerships through electronic means (e-business practices) on the governance and management of Public Sector Agriculture R&D in Australia. We review the global forces driving the move towards supply chain involvement in Public Sector Agriculture R&D in the first section of this paper. We show that this movement is largely a mechanism (consistent with fifth generation R&D) to spread risk and minimize market failure. Public sector R&D organizations are having to reassess who their customers are and in the case of Agriculture R&D, extend the arena past the farm gate to include all constituents along the supply chain. In the second section, we examine the communication and administrative processes that are theoretically consistent with the move towards supply chain involvement and the increase in active constituents in Public Sector Agriculture R&D. We then examine the potential of emerging e-business models to change the patterns of inter-connectivity, speed and omnipresence of partners in the supply chain that are on one hand eliminating these barriers and on the other creating new ones. Amongst the emerging new barriers is the increased instability of these supply chains because of the decrease in switching costs that the e-connectivity brings with it. Value net business models can potentially capture these fluctuations in alliances and may provide a useful tool for guiding public sector Agriculture R&D management. Implications of these e-business practices for R&D corporate governance and project management are discussed

Processes used by selected Illinois Extension agents (advisers) to produce high-quality programs

Previous research indicates that Extension advisers have not followed program planning models recommended in the literature. This study determined the actual processes Illinois county advisers have commonly used to produce high quality Extension programs. One reason the study was carried out was so that other advisers not already using these processes may become aware of them and adopt them if they are not already using them. This could result in more high quality programs in Illinois. The study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, Illinois regional Extension directors participated in a delphi survey to determine the criteria they consider most important in distinguishing high quality programs. These criteria were then used by each regional Extension director to select the home economics adviser and the agricultural adviser under their supervision who have most consistently produced high quality programs. Regional directors were also interviewed to discover more generally how they perceive high quality programs.In the second and major stage of the study the seven home economics advisers and the seven agricultural advisers selected by regional directors were interviewed in-depth to discover the processes they have commonly used to produce high quality programs. These processes were discovered based on descriptions advisers gave of programs they had produced. Qualitative data analysis focused on commonalities in advisers experiences. The mechanical aspects of data analysis were assisted through using Ethnograph, a microcomputer software program.Twenty four common processes were discovered. The processes commonly used by home economics advisers were compared with those commonly used by agricultural advisers. Fourteen were unique to home economics advisers and two were unique to agricultural advisers. The eight commonly used by both groups of advisers were labelled: knowledge of county, reviewing and identifying needs throughout each year, advisers rather than their program councils originally identifying many of the needs ultimately addressed through programs, flexibility, tailoring curriculum materials, organizing and coordinating program delivery, use of mass media and focusing on felt needs. An assessment was made of the extent to which the twenty four common processes have been incorporated into Boyle's (1981) model for a developmental program.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio

Purchaser-Provider Partnerships In The Public Service: Oh No, Not a New 4Ps for Business Networks!

This paper describes the initial establishment of a business-to-business network in a novel context – within and around a government department as it implements Purchaser-Provider relationships. A popular reform in public sector management over recent years has been the establishment of internal competition to increase efficiency and effectiveness under a "Purchaser-Provider" model. We applied the International and Industrial Marketing Purchasing (IMP) framework to capture some of the major transitions occurring within and around this organisation. We found the IMP approach useful for capturing the dynamic emerging structures. Just like relationships in private-sector business, Purchaser-Provider tends to operate as a network, with a mix of cooperation and competition, rather than competition alone. The public-sector context is unusual in that the network has been established by moving from an administrative control structure, cooperation alone, rather than from an open market, with competition alone. Implications for further research are raised

From clonal to sexual hybrids: Genetic recombination via triploids in all-hybrid populations of water frogs

Speciation via interspecific hybrids is very rare in animals, as compared to plants. Whereas most plants overcome the problem of meiosis between different chromosome sets by tetraploidization, animal hybrids often escape hybrid sterility by clonal reproduction. This comes at the expense of genetic diversity and the ability to purge deleterious mutations. However, here we show that all-hybrid populations of diploid (LR) and triploid (LLR and LRR) water frogs (Pelophylax esculentus) have secondarily acquired sexual reproduction. First, in a crossing experiment analyzed with microsatellite markers, triploid hybrids of both sexes and genotypes (LLR and LRR) recombined their homospecific genomes. Second, the great majority of natural populations investigated had low multilocus linkage isequilibrium, indicating a high recombination rate. As predicted from mating system models, the L genome had constant, low levels of linkage disequilibrium, whereas linkage disequilibrium in th e R genome showed a significant reduction with increasing proportion of recombining triploids. This direct evidence of sexual reproduction in P. esculentus calls for a change of the conventional view of hybridogens as clonally reproducing diploids. Rather, hybridogens can be independent sexually reproducing units with an evolutionary potential

Pollination biology of fruit-bearing hedgerow plants and the role of flower-visiting insects in fruit-set

Background and Aims: In the UK, the flowers of fruit-bearing hedgerow plants provide a succession of pollen and nectar for flower-visiting insects for much of the year. The fruits of hedgerow plants are a source of winter food for frugivorous birds on farmland. It is unclear whether recent declines in pollinator populations are likely to threaten fruit-set and hence food supply for birds. The present study investigates the pollination biology of five common hedgerow plants: blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), dog rose (Rosa canina), bramble (Rubus fruticosus) and ivy (Hedera helix). Methods: The requirement for insect pollination was investigated initially by excluding insects from flowers by using mesh bags and comparing immature and mature fruit-set with those of open-pollinated flowers. Those plants that showed a requirement for insect pollination were then tested to compare fruit-set under two additional pollination service scenarios: (1) reduced pollination, with insects excluded from flowers bagged for part of the flowering period, and (2) supplemental pollination, with flowers hand cross-pollinated to test for pollen limitation. Key Results: The proportions of flowers setting fruit in blackthorn, hawthorn and ivy were significantly reduced when insects were excluded from flowers by using mesh bags, whereas fruit-set in bramble and dog rose were unaffected. Restricting the exposure of flowers to pollinators had no significant effect on fruit-set. However, blackthorn and hawthorn were found to be pollen-limited, suggesting that the pollination service was inadequate in the study area. Conclusions: Ensuring strong populations of insect pollinators may be essential to guarantee a winter fruit supply for birds in UK hedgerows