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Management Capacity (management + capacity)
Selected AbstractsThe five capabilities of socially responsible companiesJOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Issue 2 2004Leeora D. Black Abstract This paper develops and tests a model that integrates processes of public affairs management with stakeholder engagement and dialogue, business ethics and social reporting to explain social responsibility capabilities in organisations. The model, called Corporate Social Responsibility Management Capacity, describes social responsiveness as arising from a firm's social responsibility orientation and its public relations orientation. The paper shows how the model can be used by managers to measure, manage and improve their company's ability to be socially responsible. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications [source] Modelling Soil Erosion by Grazing: Recent Developments and New ApproachesGEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2007JOHN B. THORNES Abstract Grazing is still widely held responsible for land degradation. The interaction between grazing and erosion is still rather poorly understood. As a consequence, counter-measures and associated management techniques have been slow to develop in southern Europe compared with Australia. Developments in ecological and economic-ecological modelling have improved our understanding of the processes and enhanced management capacity. Some of these developments are reviewed and two applications are described. One is a model for semi-extensive grazing in dry Mediterranean mountain conditions in which the shepherds, on random paths, seek to optimise resources use for economic benefit. The other is a spatial optimisation of vegetation canopy to minimise erosion rates. [source] A sustainability assessment of a health equity fund initiative in CambodiaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2007Bart Jacobs Abstract All but one of the health equity funds (HEFs) currently operating in Cambodia, introduced to address the adverse effects of low user fee exemption rates, rely heavily on external funding and have high administrative overheads. This article reports on a study of one type of HEF, based in Kirivong Operational Health District (KOD) and operated through local pagoda structures, which demonstrates minimal reliance on external funding and low administrative overheads. We utilize an adapted sustainability assessment framework to assess the ability of pagoda structures to enable financial access for the poorest to public sector health services. We further analyse the strengths and limitations of the pagoda-managed equity fund initiative, with a view to assessing not only its sustainability but its potential for replication in other settings. Our study shows that, against key sustainability indicators (health service utilization and health outcomes; management capacity and financial viability; community mobilization and government support), the pagoda-managed equity fund initiative scores well. However, it is evident that some external financial support is needed to allow the HEFs to function effectively. We conclude with recommendations for replicating the initiative, which include working innovatively with indigenous grassroots organizations to enhance community HEF ownership and to keep administrative overheads low. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Building drought management capacity in the Mekong River basin,IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE, Issue 3 2008Wilfried Hundertmark gestion de la sécheresse; développement des capacités; organisation de bassin; Mékong Abstract Over the past decades the Mekong River basin has experienced several droughts, the most recent of which occurred in the hydrological year 2004/2005. Impacts extended across agriculture, forestry, water resources, supply, industry, transport and the environment. In early 2006, the Mekong River Commission Secretariat initiated close consultations with the MRC member states Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam, aiming at the formulation of a common Drought Management Programme, which would enhance the existing drought management capacity and ensure effective support. This paper draws attention to the programme formulation process. It shows how national capacity needs were assessed and synthesized into a basin-wide capacity development programme. The paper concludes that in the context of international waters enhancing cooperation and capacity in drought management requires a strategic framework as an overall guideline for programme formulation and implementation. It defines a common terminology, mechanisms and linkages to integrated water resources management plans. The programme's long-term success depends on the ability to sustain the interest of the national partner institutions. Ultimately, enhanced capacity in drought management must demonstrate its impact on the level of vulnerability of the population living under drought-prone conditions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Au cours des dernières décennies, le bassin du Mékong a connu plusieurs sécheresses, la plus récente ayant eu lieu dans l'année hydrologique 2004/2005. L'impact a concerné l'agriculture, la forêt, les ressources en eau, la distribution, l'industrie, les transports et l'environnement. Au début de 2006, le Secrétariat de la Commission du Mékong a entamé des consultations étroites avec les états membres, le Cambodge, la RDP du Laos, la Thaïlande et le Vietnam, visant à l'élaboration d'un programme commun de gestion de la sécheresse, qui permettrait de renforcer les capacités existantes de gestion de la sécheresse et d'assurer un soutien efficace. Cet article attire l'attention sur le processus de formulation des programmes. Il montre comment les besoins nationaux de formation ont été évalués et synthétisés dans un programme de développement des capacités pour l'ensemble du bassin. L'article conclut que, dans le contexte des eaux internationales, le renforcement de la coopération et des capacités dans la gestion de la sécheresse a besoin d'un cadre stratégique d'ensemble et d'un guide global pour la formulation des programmes et leur mise en ,uvre. Il définit une terminologie commune, les mécanismes et les liens avec les plans de gestion intégrée des ressources en eau. Le succès à long terme du programme dépend de la capacité à maintenir l'intérêt des institutions nationales partenaires. En fin de compte, le renforcement des capacités dans la gestion de la sécheresse doit démontrer son impact sur le niveau de vulnérabilité de la population vivant dans les régions soumises à la sécheresse. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A critical cross-cultural perspective for developing nonprofit international management capacityNONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 4 2009Terence Jackson Issues of the effectiveness of international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are becoming critical among a claim that cultural sensitivity to people's needs and the appropriateness of interventions is a competitive advantage of the sector. Here, the cross-cultural management agenda is set out, particularly in terms of the transferability or appropriateness of management knowledge and development interventions. Research propositions are presented that, if supported through future empirical findings, suggest cultural hybridization is a process that can be managed through greater stakeholder involvement, leading to greater appropriateness as well as effectiveness of international NGOs. [source] "Our Usable Past": A Historical Contextual Approach to Administrative ValuesPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 5 2009Donald P. Moynihan In responding to Professor Lynn's criticism that the field of public administration has been insufficiently attentive to law, this article offers an alternative perspective on the source of administrative legitimacy. Leonard White understood that public administration is shaped by its broader context. It does not assert its own values but, in an effort to maintain legitimacy, reflects the political and cultural values of its environment. In White's time, the extraordinary challenges that the state faced, and its subsequent transformation, demanded a management capacity that previously had not existed. While the role of law as a formal means of control is generally accepted, it must take its place with management and other administrative values in the exercise of legal discretionary behavior. Asserting law, or any other single administrative value, as dominant undercuts other values that act as sources of legitimacy. [source] Toolkit for assessing the readiness of local safeguarding children boards: origins, ingredients and applicationsCHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 5 2005Tony Morrison Abstract A central plank in the transformation of children's services in England and Wales is the creation on a statutory footing of Local Safeguarding Children Boards in every local authority area. The focus of the boards will be on the promotion, multiagency coordination and scrutiny of services to safeguard and promote children's welfare. They replace Area Child Protection Committees, which were judged to be ineffective. This paper presents the origins, ingredients and applications of an audit and preparation Toolkit designed to support the establishment of the new boards. The Toolkit was developed from the findings of a survey of 204 members of 16 ACPCs by the first author, and has been tested and refined through work with a large number of ACPCs. This survey identified problematic aspects of interagency collaboration that will need remedying if the new boards are to succeed where the previous committees failed. These include: the board's strategic relationship to wider children's planning fora; operational definition of the term ,safeguarding'; collective accountability; level of membership; performance management capacity; service user consultation. The ingredients of the Toolkit are described in relation to the findings of the survey. The paper concludes with a discussion of the applications and approaches to be considered in using the Toolkit. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A Capability-Based Framework for Open Innovation: Complementing Absorptive CapacityJOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 8 2009Ulrich Lichtenthaler abstract We merge research into knowledge management, absorptive capacity, and dynamic capabilities to arrive at an integrative perspective, which considers knowledge exploration, retention, and exploitation inside and outside a firm's boundaries. By complementing the concept of absorptive capacity, we advance towards a capability-based framework for open innovation processes. We identify the following six ,knowledge capacities' as a firm's critical capabilities of managing internal and external knowledge in open innovation processes: inventive, absorptive, transformative, connective, innovative, and desorptive capacity. ,Knowledge management capacity' is a dynamic capability, which reconfigures and realigns the knowledge capacities. It refers to a firm's ability to successfully manage its knowledge base over time. The concept may be regarded as a framework for open innovation, as a complement to absorptive capacity, and as a move towards understanding dynamic capabilities for managing knowledge. On this basis, it contributes to explaining interfirm heterogeneity in knowledge and alliance strategies, organizational boundaries, and innovation performance. [source] |