The Climate of Hope

Hogg Foundation for Mental Healt

What informs a firm’s Attractiveness as an Alliance Partner? The development of a survey instrument.

Strategic alliances are defined as inter-organisational collaborative arrangements whose purpose is to achieve the strategic targets of partners (Das and Teng, 1998). Within the pharmaceutical industry, they represent a key form of disintegration that enables organisations to create a network based on partnerships, whereby the overarching goal is to pursue a set of agreed-upon goals, in which they share the benefits (Chen and Chen, 2002). Despite the high prevalence of strategic alliances within this industry, only 50% are considered stable or achieve performance perceived by the partners as satisfactory (McCutchen et al., 2008) and up to 70% terminate early (Kogut, 1989; Park and Russo, 1996; Park and Ungson, 1997). Nevertheless, 85% of the senior executives still believe alliances are and will continue to be essential or important to their business (Powerlinx, 2014), and as such have invested significantly in becoming attractive alliance partners, or partner of choice. Further, both conceptual and empirical evidence has signaled that a partner’s attractiveness can have significant contribution to the success of the alliance itself (Coombs and Deeds, 2000; Lee, 2007). Despite this evidence, there is no validated approach for a firm to test how attractive they are perceived to be by prospective partners. Without this, a firm is not able to tangibly understand what their perceived strengths and weaknesses are, and how these evolve over time. The purpose of this research is to address this gap. Further, the research aims to understand the impact of firm’s Alliance Strategy on their attractiveness scores. As such, this research makes three overarching and significant contributions; (1) the identification of two key antecedents of a firm’s Attractiveness as an Alliance Partner (2) the development of a self-assessment questionnaire for a firm to use in order to quantify their attractiveness, and (3) the development of research propositions for how an Alliance Strategy moderates the relationship between Attractiveness and its antecedents. This research applies Network Theory, which, in its most simple terms, refers to a firm’s relationships with others that have important and desired resources (Ireland et al., 2002). Networks promote alliance formation and firm success through ‘social capital’, described as the benefits a firm derives from their relationships (Coleman, 1988). Social capital increases in alliances with greater diversity within their networks (Baker, 2000) and with the quality of the alliances themselves (Glaister and Buckley, 1999). As such, this theory plays a key part in explaining the identified antecedents of Attractiveness - Previous Alliance Performance and Alliance Portfolio Diversity. In turn, this research extends Network Theory in two ways. Firstly, by introducing the novel concept of Attractiveness as an Alliance Partner as an indicator of a firm’s success or performance. Secondly, by introducing the novel concept of an Alliance Strategy as an important condition that will moderate a firm’s attractiveness. A mixed method approach has been used, comprising of four Empirical Studies in order to develop and finalise the research propositions and questionnaire. This research has been conducted within and for the pharmaceutical industry specifically but can be applied to other industries

Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour: A Critical Review

Over the past decade, anti-social behaviour (henceforth referred to as ASB) has become a focus of much policy-making and debate within central and local government and the police. Clear definitions of ASB are lacking, but the term is usually understood to refer to relatively minor criminal activity and non-criminal ‘nuisance’ behaviour that affects the social and/or physical environment of public or semi-public places. The term ASB is frequently used synonymously with ‘disorder’, and is sometimes associated with the concept of ‘incivilities’. Policy-makers and strategists, at national and local levels alike, reiterate that problems of ASB can have a massively detrimental effect on neighbourhoods as a whole, and on the lives of individuals. Hence strenuous and wide-ranging efforts are being made to support, develop and implement schemes for tackling ASB – involving a variety of enforcement and preventive measures

Volunteering within the Police: Summary

Key Findings 1. Volunteers bring a range of skills that are useful for the police. Many want to use these skills; however, some want to explore volunteering opportunities that are new to them. A skills analysis of new volunteers will be highly useful, but some will want to do something completely different. 2. Motivations for volunteering vary, from wanting the join the Regulars through to just wanting to do something worthwhile. Managers need to be aware of these differences. 3. Most volunteers enjoy their time with the police and get a lot out of it; yet some feel underused or under-informed, a concern for volunteer retention. 4. Volunteers are generally complementary about their supervision and have good relations with other volunteers and with Regular officers. 5. Special Constables and PSVs see their role as being in support of Regular officers. Whilst this supporting role is important, so too are their roles in improving legitimacy, providing a ‘bridge’ between the regulars and communities, and in making the police more representative of communities. 6. PSVs generally see their role as quite different to the Regulars, and so when asked about PSVs potentially being given powers, most are against the idea

Citizens in policing:The lived reality of being a Police Support Volunteer

The focus of this article is the Police Support Volunteer (PSV), a brand of non-warranted and usually non-uniformed volunteer that was introduced in England and Wales from the 1990s onwards. The article draws on participatory action research with PSVs in Lancashire Constabulary. The background to greater use of volunteers within policing is discussed with particular reference to the political projects of austerity and responsibilisation – the later involving calls for citizens to take greater responsibility for their own safety and security. In these contexts, the article considers volunteers’ motivations, skills and deployment. The article focuses particularly on the lived reality of being a PSV, including the assumed role of PSVs within the wider police family. A subordinate relationship with other paid colleagues within the police family is challenged. The effective use of PSVs is discussed, including the introduction of police powers for volunteers with the 2017 Policing and Crime Act. Implications for our understanding of policing, and for the future of non-warranted volunteers, are discussed

What are the police for? Re-thinking policing post-austerity

In the context of the global financial crisis and after inheriting a record budget deficit, the British Coalition Government decided in 2010 that the best way forward was a programme of austerity. What followed were major cuts to public expenditure, including a substantial reduction in police budgets. Whether this was the right decision is beyond the remit of this chapter. However, the effect on the police has been substantial. The police in Britain had enjoyed a sustained period of growth – both in terms of police numbers and increased responsibilities undertaken by police personnel – despite increases in competition and falls in recorded crime (Millie and Bullock, 2012; Millie, 2013). This was to change. In Scotland cuts came through the merging of all eight forces into a single Police Service of Scotland (Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012). With the 2010 Comprehensive spending Review (HM Treasury, 2010) government funding of the police in England and Wales was reduced by 20 per cent through to 2015. The scale of these cuts was unprecedented and has required police services to reconsider their priorities. At the same time the police have had to deal with major change in governance structures with the introduction of elected Police and Crime Commissioners in November 2012 – albeit following an election where only 15 per cent of the electorate turned up to vote (Rogers and Burn-Murdoch, 2012). The new policing landscape of fewer resources and (assumed) greater democratic accountability has generated a lot of uncertainty among serving police officers and questions over what form policing will take post-austerity. In this context the question of what the police are for becomes pertinent and is the focus for this chapter

Volunteering within the Police: Experiences of Special Constables and Police Support Volunteers

The focus for this study is those who volunteer for Lancashire Constabulary as either Special Constables or Police Support Volunteers (PSVs). The main difference between Specials and PSVs is that PSVs are unwarranted and usually non-uniformed – although some forces have given uniforms to public-facing PSVs to make them appear more professional (Bullock, 2014). Volunteering in policing is an example of social action, of trying to encourage more active participation in society (Putnam, 1995). Volunteers are also a resource to improve police responses to crime and improve community engagement. If used effectively, volunteers can add considerable value to the knowledge and skills available to police managers. Yet volunteers are an under-researched aspect of modern policing (e.g. Millie and Jacobson, 2002; Gravelle and Rogers, 2009; Bullock, 2015b). The mainstreaming of the voluntary sector across public services has resulted in differentiation of provision, but we possess incomplete understanding of its character, potential and impact. Greater understanding of the motivations and experiences of volunteers will have important benefits for police managers and ultimately for the governance of policing. The lack of research poses a range of issues for the police’s understanding of volunteers, and of making the most of volunteers’ contributions. Whilst volunteering has long been a feature of the police service, these issues take on new significance in the context of a contracting state. As noted, the focus for this study is those who volunteer for Lancashire Constabulary as either Special Constables or PSVs. The aims of the study are to investigate: - The factors that inhibit or facilitate the participation of volunteers within the police; - Wide ranging matters related to the recruitment, management and supervision of volunteers within the police; and - Factors which might inhibit or reinforce the operation of and outcomes associated with volunteering within the policing context

The case for a narrower focus to policing

In October 2014, the Second International Conference on Law Enforcement and Public Health took place at the Free University, Amsterdam. A particular highlight was a plenary debate between Professor Andrew Millie of the UK’s Edge Hill University, and the AIPM’s Dr Victoria Herrington on how wide should the police’s remit be. The genesis of this debate was a chapter published by Professor Millie in Jennifer Brown’s influential book on the Future of Policing (published in 2014), which itself informed Lord Stevens’ independent review on the future of policing in England and Wales (2013). This chapter developed ideas that Millie had put forward in a special edition of the scholarly journal Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2013 and set out the potential opportunities for policing to recast its role in society as a result of contraction enforced through austerity, and with it to reconsider the sense in police being involved in a range of non-crime issues. There is of course a counter argument to be made, particularly within the context of public health, which was the focus of the conference for which this debate was prepared. Dr Herrington assumes this counter position here and as such this Research Focus sets out both arguments and invites you to draw your own conclusions. In line with the AIPM tradition of advancing provocative ideas, we hope you will see this document as the starting point for further discussion, rather than an end point in and of itself

Research on volunteering within the police

Opportunities for volunteers are throughout the police service and can include joining the ranks of the Special Constabulary or perhaps becoming a Police Support Volunteer (PSV). The roles that PSVs undertake are diverse. For instance, the volunteers included in this study were involved in cadet leadership, Community Road Watch, early action, restorative justice, crime trend analysis, survey work, work on foreign language phone lines, administration, audit work, role play, work with vulnerable victims, supporting their local Neighbourhood Policing Team, custody visiting and holding voluntary positions on various advisory groups and panels. There are few areas of policing where volunteers cannot be involved in some way