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Various Stakeholders (various + stakeholder)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	50%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	21%

Selected Abstracts

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, UNEXPECTED DEPRECIATION AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE ADJUSTMENT

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2010
Robyn Pilcher
Prior management and manipulation of financial accounting information research has overwhelmingly been focused within a private sector setting. This study adopts a public sector focus in empirically examining the use of a specific discretionary accrual (i.e., depreciation) to adjust the financial performance of New South Wales (Australia) local governments. Findings indicate a significant positive association between absolute unexpected depreciation and absolute local government income before capital contributions, and a significant positive association between absolute unexpected depreciation and capital contributions. Overall, the results make significant contributions to various literature streams with implications for various stakeholders interested in local governmental financial performance. [source]

Toward a More Embedded Production System?

GROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2009
Automotive Supply Networks, Localized Capabilities in Poland
ABSTRACT The article addresses the embeddedness of automotive production in Poland in terms of supply networks. A comprehensive analysis of more than 550 suppliers, supported by company interviews, shows that foreign-owned producers become embedded in Poland in the automotive supplier networks they have largely created themselves. Numerous local suppliers gain access to export markets and become integrated in a Europe-wide production system. This trend has been accompanied by significant upgrading of foreign affiliates and domestic firms in terms of product quality, cost efficiency, adaptability, and fast response, but far less in nonproduction competences such as R&D. It is argued that the competences of automotive suppliers in Poland are built upon the localized capabilities, which are a product of the dynamic interplay between the activity of foreign firms and the changing local environment comprising various stakeholders. The localized capabilities constitute elements of a company's sunk costs and are embedding automotive producers in Poland. At the same time, the dependence on decisions and innovations from abroad and the limited development of local design and brands may constrain the future role of suppliers from the semiperipheral economy of Poland. [source]

From Habermas's communicative theory to practice on the internet

INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2003
Michael S. H. Heng
Abstract., Communication plays a crucial role in influencing our social life. However, communication has often been distorted by unequal opportunities to initiate and participate in it. Such conditions have been criticized by Habermas who argues for an ideal speech situation, i.e. a situation of democratic communication with equal opportunities for social actors to communicate in an undistorted manner. This ideal situation is partially being realized by the advent of the internet. The paper describes how an internet-based tool for collaborative authoring was conceptualized, developed and then deployed with Habermas's Critical Social Theory as a guiding principle. The internet-based electronic forum, known by its acronym GRASS (Group Report Authoring Support System), is a web tool supporting the production of concise group reports that give their readers an up-to-date and credible overview of the positions of various stakeholders on a particular issue. Together with people and procedures, it is a comprehensive socio-technical information system that can play a role in resolving societal conflicts. A prototype of GRASS has been used by an environmental group as a new way in which to create a more equal exchange and comparison of ideas among various stakeholders in the debate on genetically modified food. With the widespread use of the internet, such a forum has the potential to become an emergent form of communication for widely dispersed social actors to conduct constructive debate and discussion. The barriers to such a mode of communication still remain , in the form of entrenched power structures, and limitations to human rationality and responsibility. However, we believe that the support provided by the comprehensive system of technological functionality as well as procedural checks and balances provided by GRASS may considerably reduce the impact of these obstacles. In this way, the ideal speech situation may be approximated more closely in reality. [source]

Healthcare financing reform and the new single payer system in the Republic of Korea: Social solidarity or efficiency?

INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY REVIEW, Issue 1 2003
Soonman Kwon
In July 2000, national health insurance in the Republic of Korea was transformed into a single insurer system. This major reform in healthcare financing resulted from the merger of more than 350 health insurance societies. Inequity in healthcare financing and the chronic financial situation of the health insurance societies for self,employed workers in rural areas have been the driving forces leading to the unified health insurance system. The unique institutional context together with political change opened the window of policy change, and various stakeholders such as politicians, rural self,employed workers, trade unions and civic groups were involved in the healthcare reform process. Fair income assessment of the self,employed and the role of the single insurer as a prudent purchaser of medical care will be vital for the new system to achieve its intended goal and improve social solidarity and efficiency of healthcare. [source]

The GMO food arena in the EU (1998,2001)

JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2003
Rinus van Schendelen
Abstract A highly politicised arena in the EU has been caused by the 1998 Commission legislative proposal with regard to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The debate over different interests became more intense. During the EU decision-making process concerning GMOs, two larger coalitions cutting across institutions and countries waged the fight: one was led by industry and was in favour of GMOs and the other was against and mainly rooted in nongovernmental lobby groups. In mid-2001, the ,anti' movement had gained a (temporary) winning position. In an attempt to explain this, it was concluded that the industrial lobby has been nonchalant in its preparatory work for public affairs management, by not carefully studying the various stakeholders, issues, time developments and the boundaries of this arena. With the benefit of hindsight it can be seen that the industrial lobby itself has missed opportunities and made unforced errors. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications [source]

Accountability for public priorities in South Dakota higher education

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, Issue 135 2006
Mario C. Martinez
South Dakota used roundtables with various stakeholders to formalize a set of public priorities and build a system of public accountability. [source]

Understanding the changing role of public sector performance measurement in less developed countries

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2010
Sandra Tillema
Abstract This article develops a framework for understanding changes in the demand for and supply of performance information in public sector organizations in less developed countries (LDCs). New Institutional Sociology (NIS) is used to argue that pressures from specific stakeholders stimulate organizations to produce particular performance information. The article distinguishes three groups of stakeholders (i.e. funding bodies, statutory boards and purchasers), and elaborates on the performance dimensions these stakeholders are interested in. The group of funding bodies, with their interest in financial performance information, used to be the most important group of stakeholders. However, statutory boards and purchasers are gaining importance as a result of recent public sector reforms, which include decentralization, marketization and the implementation of anti-corruption programs. As a consequence of pressures coming from these stakeholders, new performance dimensions, such as the quality and quantity of services and the political governance structure, will be added to organizations' performance measurement (PM) systems. Whether these and other,often more traditional financial,performance dimensions will be balanced and integrated throughout organizations depends on the power positions of the various stakeholders. The arguments presented in this article intend to stimulate public sector organizations in LDCs to design and redesign PM systems as a response to changing stakeholder interests. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Joint sector reviews,M&E experiments in an era of changing aid modalities: Experiences from JSRs in the education sectors of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2009
Nathalie Holvoet
Abstract Aid policy and practice have been thoroughly shaken up over the past few years. One of the reform areas relates to monitoring and evaluation (M&E). In short, aid recipients are asked to elaborate result-oriented frameworks while donors are expected to harmonise and align their policies and frameworks. This article examines the extent to which joint sector reviews (JSRs) could take the M&E reform agenda forward. JSRs are M&E exercises at the sector level which have the potential to satisfy the M&E needs of various stakeholders while, at the same time, also contributing to the M&E reform agenda. They are increasingly utilised on the ground, yet, so far, there do not exist any systematic stocktakings and/or analyses of them. Our own analysis of a sample of JSRs from the education sectors of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger indicate that JSRs score highly on harmonisation, coordination, leadership and broad-based participation, but poorly on alignment. They generally prioritise accountability over learning needs and largely neglect accountability and learning at the level of the sector institutional apparatus. In this article, findings from the field are contrasted with insights from evaluation theory and practice so as to provide suggestions for on the ground JSR improvements. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Cooperation at different scales: challenges for local and international water resource governance in South Africa

THE GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010
N MIRUMACHI
Theory on environmental governance and water governance emphasises decentralised, devolved forms of interaction between stakeholders. As previously excluded actors are empowered to take part in governance, new forms of cooperation are created. This paper examines how the cooperative principle has influenced stakeholder interaction at the local and international scales of water governance in South Africa. Water policies and initiatives have been set up to promote multi-level governance that emphasises cooperation between various stakeholders. The emphasis on cooperation and inclusiveness is particularly pertinent to the South African context because of its apartheid past. The paper asks whether there have been new forms of cooperation between a wider array of actors, as the theory proposes. By using the case studies of the Sabie catchment and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project to examine local and international level governance, the paper finds challenges related to power disparity and interdependence of actors, and risk perceptions of inclusive decision-making. It is found that at both the local and international level, the state, which is a ,traditional' actor, still plays an influential role in decision-making. ,New' actors such as businesses, civil society, and regional institutions are more visible but have limited decision-making power. Non-linear, time-consuming forms of cooperation occur in water governance. [source]

The Roles of a Bioethicist on an Organ Transplantation Service

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 4 2005
Linda Wright
Organ transplantation centers have expanded and increased in the last 20 years as transplant recipient outcomes have improved steadily and transplantation has moved from experimentation to treatment of choice for several indications. Transplantation presents difficult ethical and legal challenges for the transplant community and society. These include declarations of death, consent to donation and allocation of a scarce societal resource, i.e. transplantable organs. Policy and practice reflect the law, societal beliefs and prevailing values. A bioethicist contributes to a transplant team by clarifying values held by various stakeholders or embodied in decisions and policies, conducting clinical consultations, developing and interpreting policy and researching the ethics of innovations for rationing and increasing available supply of organs for transplantation. The bioethicist's interdisciplinary education, preparation, experience and familiarity with ethics, law, sociology and philosophy and skills of mediation, communication and ethical analysis contribute to addressing and resolving many issues in transplantation. This paper outlines the various roles of a bioethicist on a transplantation service, using case examples to illustrate some of the ethical issues. [source]

Front and Back Covers, Volume 24, Number 3.

ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Issue 3 2008
June 200
Front cover and back cover caption, volume 24 issue 3 Front cover Front cover: Front cover In this issue of ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Adrian Peace takes a critical look at the way in which neo-evolutionary theories and anthropological concepts are brought together in an award-winning campaign to sell more meat in Australia (his article is debated by four respondents on pp 23,25). Among others adopting a critical perspective, the animal rights movement was outraged at claims made about red meat as a ,natural', ,healthy' and ,essential' part of the average Australian diet. Just as a prominent film star was recruited to the ,Red Meat , Feel Good' campaign, the hugely popular Missy Higgins was deployed to front the response from the animal rights movement. The youthful and fresh-faced Australian singer-songwriter, cuddling the vulnerable white piglet, iconically represents an informed, intelligent and humane vegetarian approach to the future in the relationship between human and non-human animals. Higgins here makes a striking plea for ,enlightenment'. Enlightenment of a different kind is offered by the poster reprinted on the back cover, where an Indian transvestite celebrates the joy of a minority gender identity. Although the rights of both human minorities and non-human animals may be ,universal', they must be rendered in culturally specific terms in order to be politically effective. Back cover Back cover: modern enlightenment in ancient sacred sites ,Be enlightened!' In 2006 ,Shelly Innocence' launched a new phone service in Bodhgaya, Bihar, offering customers the opportunity to receive personal text messages of EnlightenmentÔ on their mobile phones. Large billboards with images of this virtual transgendered guru were erected outside the main temple to advertise the service. Not only is Bodhgaya a site of inspiration for millions of Buddhists around the world, but the seat of enlightenment has also come to mean very different things as this cosmopolitan pilgrimage town goes global. For many decades the state of Bihar, where Bodhgaya is located, has been one of the least attractive destinations for pilgrims, tourists and anthropologists because of its notorious reputation as one of the most impoverished and ,lawless' states in the country. However in recent years the Mahabodhi Temple complex in Bodhgaya has become the object of global attention as a UNESCO World Heritage site, setting in motion a series of initiatives to encourage tourism and city development plans. As a result of new conservation policies and demands on the built environment, the World Heritage designation has become invested with a diverse set of claims and meanings by various stakeholders and religious communities. As a site of dense historical, religious and political significance, Bodhgaya today is a unique locus where spiritual and digital worlds collide in the shade of the bodhi tree. [source]

Biofuels, trade and sustainability: a review of perspectives for developing countries

BIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 1 2010
Peter Oosterveer
Abstract Recent growth in demand for biofuels is resulting in rapid increases in their production and trade. Although this may offer interesting export opportunities for tropical countries who can produce biomass more efficiently, whether this effectively leads to growing exports depends to a large extent on the conditionalities that prevail on the major biofuel markets. Market protection by developed countries, concerns about the environmental impact of producing biofuels, and demands for securing food production are all conditions preventing the world biofuels market from being a level playing field. These conditions for international trade are not yet fixed, however, and various stakeholders struggle with the desired arrangement. This review provides an overview of the state-of-the-art biofuels trade, with special emphasis on issues of access, trade barriers and sustainability relevant for developing countries. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source]

Decoding the Signal Effects of Job Candidate Attraction to Corporate Social Practices

BUSINESS AND SOCIETY REVIEW, Issue 2 2010
SARAH SORENSON
ABSTRACT This article seeks to go beyond the implied assumption from previous research that job candidate attraction to corporate social practices is equivalent across individuals. To this end, we propose a framework for categorizing individuals' attraction to different corporate social performance profiles. Our framework is grounded in relational models theory and Mitroff's model of managers' "ideal organizations." An inductive approach was used to elaborate upon the model and assess the extent to which candidates preferences vary. Data were collected from prospective job seekers regarding their attraction to social practices that benefit or harm various stakeholders, and these responses were used to develop profiles of job candidates' attraction to distinct profiles of organizations' social practices. The results provide a guide for managers who wish to improve the likelihood that an organization's social practices reflect what is best about its culture. [source]

Integrating environmental and stakeholder management

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 2 2001
Henning Madsen
Regulation has been an important instrument in pushing the business community towards improved environmental performance. However, there has also been increasing pressure from a growing number of stakeholders, including employees, customers, neighbours, NGOs etc. In order to improve corporate relationships with various stakeholders, companies need to be able to identify these stakeholders and assess their influence. The first part of this paper will discuss the relevant theory and introduce a model to analyse and identify the most significant stakeholder groups and their influence on corporate behaviour. Based on a recent survey of Danish companies, the second part of the paper will report on the success of a variety of stakeholders in forcing companies to introduce environment-related initiatives. The results will then be discussed in light of the theory and other reported results. The paper closes with a discussion of research implications. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [source]