The reforming appeal of distributed leadership

With a systematic literature review, this article examines the significance of distributed leadership in healthcare, assessing the extent to which it reflects a consistent set of values, meanings, practices and outcomes. It identifies key mediating factors and their importance in enabling or constraining distributive leadership processes. The findings indicate that clinicians without formal leadership titles are inspiring change and driving improvements, although countervailing pressures are limiting this in practice. Distributed leadership is evident in the way that clinical teams function, and more could be made of this for the modernisation of healthcare. At present, this potential tends to be constrained, and subject to competing interpretations that reflect distinct occupational identities. Greater attention could be given to educational and developmental programmes that claim space for distributed influence among current and aspiring leaders, and for enabling arrangements that can help ‘ordinary leaders’ to feel less vulnerable and more confident about this aspect of their practice. Established approaches to leader development could be usefully refocused to prioritise collective processes and refine relational abilities, ideally with more inclusive, joint venture initiatives that bring formal and informal leaders together for mutual learning and effective engagement

Exchange Rate Pass-through in Central and Eastern European Member States

This paper provides estimates of the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) to consumer prices for nine central and eastern European EU Member States. Using a five-variate cointegrated VAR (vector autoregression) for each country and impulse responses derived from the VECM (vector error correction model), we show that ERPT to consumer prices averages about 0.6 using the cointegrated VAR and 0.5 using the impulse responses. We also find that the ERPT seems to be higher for countries that have adopted some form of fixed exchange rate regime. These results are robust to alternative normalisation of the VAR and alternative ordering of the impulse responses. JEL Classification: E31, F31central and eastern Europe, Exchange Rate Pass-Through, inflation

'Just about coping': precarity and resilience among applied theatre and community arts workers in Northern Ireland

In March 2015, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) cut grant funding to some arts organisations by 40-100%, in order to manage an 11% reduction from the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) in its 2015/16 Budget (ACNI, 2015). This was despite a high-profile ‘13p for the arts’ ACNI campaign, which had lobbied the NIE to preserve existing levels of arts funding (estimated at 13p per capita per week), already significantly lower than in other parts of the UK (‘far less than the 32 pence per week spent in Wales’, Litvack, 2014, online). Alongside cuts to spending on Social Development, Health and Education, and a reduction in European Union Peace funding, these have reduced the financial support available to applied theatre and community arts practitioners in Northern Ireland, despite such initiatives as the 2013 UK City of Culture programme. In these increasingly precarious conditions, how can community-based artists survive

My How You\u27ve Grown: The St. Mary\u27s Law Journal Turns Forty Remark.

Abstract Forthcoming

My How You\u27ve Grown: The St. Mary\u27s Law Journal Turns Forty Remark.

Abstract Forthcoming

H1 photonic crystal cavitites for hybrid quantum information protocols

Hybrid quantum information protocols are based on local qubits, such as trapped atoms, NV centers, and quantum dots, coupled to photons. The coupling is achieved through optical cavities. Here we demonstrate far-field optimized H1 photonic crystal membrane cavities combined with an additional back reflection mirror below the membrane that meet the optical requirements for implementing hybrid quantum information protocols. Using numerical optimization we find that 80% of the light can be radiated within an objective numerical aperture of 0.8, and the coupling to a single-mode fiber can be as high as 92%. We experimentally prove the unique external mode matching properties by resonant reflection spectroscopy with a cavity mode visibility above 50%.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Habeas Corpus Proceedings in the Supreme Court of Texas.

Writs of habeas corpus, anchored both in the common law and Constitution of Texas, are vitally important to secure the freedom of those wrongfully imprisoned. However, minimal literature on the subject exists to assist attorneys who must prepare and present an application for writ of habeas corpus to the Supreme Court of Texas. To address the gap in literature, this article lays out the process attorneys should follow when filing a writ of habeas corpus. The most important items which should be brought before the Court are: (1) a motion for leave to file the application; (2) the application for writ; (3) a brief in support of the alleged grounds of illegal restraint; (4) the filing fee and additional fee if motion for leave is granted; (5) proof that the party is illegally restrained; (6) a transcript of relevant orders, judgments and commitment; (7) a transcribed statement of facts in certain cases; and (8) provision for an adequate bond in the event the writ is granted. It is crucial that attorneys understand how to properly file a writ of habeas corpus in order to advance its vital function. Writs of habeas corpus provide a prompt and efficacious remedy for the party intolerably restrained. History proves that the writ of habeas corpus is inextricably intertwined with the expansion of fundamental rights of personal liberty. A discussion of the relevant statutes and case law makes abundantly clear its continuing importance in a civilized society. Writs of habeas corpus ensure that the government is held accountable for a person’s improper imprisonment and make certain that the party has been afforded due process of the law

Mobilising for equality? Understanding the impact of grass roots agency and third party representation

Does mobilisation theory provide telling insights into the collective expression of gendered grievances? By analysing the dynamics of activism on pay inequality in the British local authority sector, this article offers a negative evaluation, calling for a deeper understanding of grass roots agency and third-party representation beyond the workplace

Research data management as a “wicked problem”

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the usefulness of the concept to thinking about Research Data Management (RDM). The concept of “wicked problems” seeks to differentiate very complex, intractable challenges from tamer issues where approaches to problem solving are well-understood. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on and co-authored by a collaboration of practitioners from libraries, information technology and research administration, with facilitators from the Sheffield Information School. Participants worked together in two-day-long workshops to understand the wicked problem concept and advice on leadership in wicked problem contexts. Findings – Participants concurred that RDM had many features of a wicked problem and most of Grint’s advice on leadership for wicked problems also resonated. Some elements of the issue were simple; participants were optimistic about improving the situation over time. Participants were resistant to the more negative or fatalistic connotations of the phrase “wicked problem”. Viewing RDM as a wicked problem is an interesting way of looking at it as a challenge for support professionals. Practical implications – The notion of a wicked problem is a generative concept that can be usefully added to professional vocabulary. Originality/value – The paper captures an in-depth response from practitioners to the notion of wicked problems as a lens for examining RDM