A vulnerability analysis: Theorising the impact of artificial intelligence decision-making processes on individuals, society and human diversity from a social justice perspective

In Ethiopia, the practice of land management started three decades ago in order to address the problem of land degradation and to further boost agricultural production. However, the impact of land management practices in curbing land degradation problems and improving the productivity of the agricultural sector is insignificant. Various empirical works have previously identified the determinants of the adoption rate of land management practices. However, the sustainability of land management practices after adoption, and the various factors that control the sustainability of implemented land management practices, are not well addressed. This study analyzed the factors affecting the sustainability of land management practices after implementation in Mecha Woreda, northwestern Ethiopia. The study used 378 sample respondents, selected by a systematic random sampling technique. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the quantitative data, while the qualitative data were qualitatively and concurrently analyzed with the quantitative data. The sustained supply of fodder from the implemented land management practices, as well as improved cattle breed, increases the sustainability of the implemented land management practices. While lack of agreement in the community, lack of enforcing community bylaws, open cattle grazing, lack of benefits of implemented land management practices, acting as barrier for farming practices, poor participation of household heads during planning and decision-making processes, as well as the lack of short-term benefits, reduce the sustainability of the implemented land management practices. Thus, it is better to allow for the full participation of household heads in planning and decision-making processes to bring practical and visible results in land management practices. In addition, recognizing short-term benefits to compensate the land lost in constructing land management structures must be the strategy in land management practices. Finally, reducing the number of cattle and practicing stall feeding is helpful both for the sustainability of land management practices and the productivity of cattle. In line with this, fast-growing fodder grass species have to be introduced for household heads to grow on land management structures and communal grazing fields for stall feeding.

Download Full-text

Sustainable Investments in Responsible SMEs: That’s What’s Distinguish Government VCs from Private VCs

Journal of Risk and Financial Management ◽

10.3390/jrfm14010025 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 25

Author(s):

Jeaneth Johansson ◽

Malin Malmström ◽

Joakim Wincent

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Investment Decisions ◽

Societal Impact ◽

Venture Capitalists ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Micro Level ◽

Sustainable Investments ◽

Private Venture ◽

The Impact ◽

Level Performance

Researchers question the impact of governmental venture capitalists (GVC) compared to private venture capitalists (PVC), but we know little about why this difference occurs and if this criticism is justified. We observed a group of GVCs and developed a new model that describes the way that GVCs process signals pre- and post-decisions. Certain macro level factors severely undermine micro level performance, causing GVCs to financially underperform with respect to PVCs. This helped us to understand that GVCs do not make investment decisions in the same way as PVCs, and what undermines the performance of GVCs’ decision-making processes. The main goals of GVCs are to promote investments in responsible SMEs, mobilizing societal impact. We discuss that the criticism of GVC needs to be more nuanced, as they have a different role than PVC in the financial system as providers of sustainable investments in responsible SMEs.

Download Full-text

Pharmacy premises licensing policy formulation: experience from Ghana

Health Research Policy and Systems ◽

10.1186/s12961-021-00680-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Augustina Koduah ◽

Reginald Sekyi-Brown ◽

Joseph Kodjo Nsiah Nyoagbe ◽

Daniel Amaning Danquah ◽

Irene Kretchy

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Pharmacy Practice ◽

Policy Formulation ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Select Committee ◽

Limited Participation ◽

Pharmacy Council ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Regulatory Bodies ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Licences to operate pharmacy premises are issued by statutory regulatory bodies. The Health Institutions and Facilities Act (Act 829) and Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act (Act 857) regulate pharmacy premises and the business of supplying restricted medicines by retail, respectively, and this could create a potential regulatory overlap for pharmacy practice in Ghana. We theorise that the potential overlap of regulation duties stems from how law-makers framed issues and narratives during the formulation of these Acts. Objective To describe the policy actors involved, framing of narratives and decision-making processes relating to pharmacy premises licensing policy formulation. Methods A qualitative study was conducted and data gathered through interviewing eight key informants and reviewing Hansards, reports, bills, memoranda and Acts 829 and 857. Data were analysed to map decision-making venues, processes, actors and narratives. Results The Ministry of Health drafted the bills in July 2010 with the consensus of internal stakeholders. These were interrogated by the Parliament Select Committee on Health (with legislative power) during separate periods, and decisions made in Parliament to alter propositions of pharmacy premises regulations. Parliamentarians framed pharmacies as health facilities and reassigned their regulation from the Pharmacy Council to a new agency. The Pharmacy Council and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana could not participate in the decision-making processes in Parliament to oppose these alterations. The laws’ contents rested with parliamentarians as they made decisions in venues restricted to others. Legislative procedure limited participation, although non-legislative actors had some level of influence on the initial content. Conclusion Implementation of these laws would have implications for policy and practice and therefore understanding how the laws were framed and formulated is important for further reforms. We recommend additional research to investigate the impact of the implementation of these Acts on pharmacy practice and business in Ghana and the findings can serve as bargaining information for reforms.

Download Full-text

Perceptions of midwives on shortage and retention of staff at a public hospital in Tshwane District

Curationis ◽

10.4102/curationis.v42i1.1952 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mosehle S. Matlala ◽

Thanyani G. Lumadi

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Design Method ◽

Quality Care ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

The Status ◽

Generic Qualitative ◽

Tertiary Hospitals ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Group Interviews ◽

The Impact

Background: Midwifery is the backbone of women and child healthcare. The shortage of staff in maternity units is a crisis faced by many countries worldwide, including South Africa.Objectives: This study aims to explore the perceptions of midwives on the shortage and retention of staff at a public institution.Method: The study was conducted at one of the tertiary hospitals in Tshwane District, Gauteng Province. A total of 11 midwives were interviewed through face-to-face and focus group interviews. An explorative, descriptive generic qualitative design method was followed, and a non-probability, purposive sampling technique was used. Thematic coding analysis was followed for analysing data.Results: The impact of shortage of midwives was reported to be directly related to poor provision of quality care as a result of increased workload, leading to low morale and burnout. The compromised autonomy of midwives in the high obstetrics dependency units devalues the status of midwives.Conclusion: Midwives are passionate about their job, despite the hurdles related to their day-to-day work environment. They are demoralised by chronic shortage of staff and feel overworked. Staff involvement in decision-making processes is a motivational factor for midwives to stay in the profession. The midwives need to be in the centre of the decision-making processes related to their profession. The revision of the scope of practice and classification of midwifery profession away from general nursing complex by the South African Nursing Council (SANC) could place midwifery in its rightful status.

Download Full-text

Cultivating Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in Digital Government

Social Science Computer Review ◽

10.1177/0894439320980122 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 089443932098012

Author(s):

Teresa M. Harrison ◽

Luis Felipe Luna-Reyes

Keyword(s):

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Decision Making ◽

Policy Analysis ◽

Public Trust ◽

Governance Structures ◽

Cognitive Tools ◽

Lens Model ◽

Digital Government ◽

Government Decision ◽

Decision Making Processes

While there is growing consensus that the analytical and cognitive tools of artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to transform government in positive ways, it is also clear that AI challenges traditional government decision-making processes and threatens the democratic values within which they are framed. These conditions argue for conservative approaches to AI that focus on cultivating and sustaining public trust. We use the extended Brunswik lens model as a framework to illustrate the distinctions between policy analysis and decision making as we have traditionally understood and practiced them and how they are evolving in the current AI context along with the challenges this poses for the use of trustworthy AI. We offer a set of recommendations for practices, processes, and governance structures in government to provide for trust in AI and suggest lines of research that support them.

Download Full-text

Evolution of e-participation in Greek local government

Information Polity ◽

10.3233/ip-190174 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Constantina Costopoulou ◽

Maria Ntaliani ◽

Filotheos Ntalianis

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Big Data ◽

Local Government ◽

Local Governments ◽

Local Community ◽

New Technologies ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Digital Technologies ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

The Impact

Local governments are increasingly developing electronic participation initiatives, expecting citizen involvement in local community affairs. Our objective was to assess e-participation and the extent of its change in local government in Greece. Using content analysis for 325 Greek municipal websites, we assessed e-participation status in 2017 and 2018 and examined the impact of change between these years. The assessment regards two consecutive years since the adoption of digital technologies by municipalities has been rapid. The main findings show that Greek local governments have made significant small- to medium-scale changes, in order to engage citizens and local societies electronically. We conclude that the integration of advanced digital technologies in municipalities remains underdeveloped. We propose that Greek municipalities need to consider incorporating new technologies, such as mobile apps, social media and big data, as well as e-decision making processes, in order to eliminate those obstacles that hinder citizen engagement in local government. Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the need for enhancing e-participation and policymakers’ coordination through advanced digital technologies.

Download Full-text

An Analysis of Congestion During Running Events from the Perspective of Runners: Prevalence, Impact on Safety and Satisfaction, and Preferred Controls

Event Management ◽

10.3727/152599521x16367300695870 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sean Peckover ◽

Aldo Raineri ◽

Aaron T Scanlan

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Survey Data ◽

Injury Risk ◽

Likert Scale ◽

Electronic Survey ◽

Safety Concerns ◽

The Future ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Cross Country ◽

The Impact

This study aimed to examine the views of runners regarding their experiences with congestion during running events, including its prevalence, its impact on their safety and satisfaction, and their preferred controls to mitigate congestion. Runners (n = 222) with varied experience participating in running events (1-5+ years, 5-km races to Ultramarathons, and a mixture of road, trail, and cross-country events) completed an electronic survey. The survey was developed to assess the characteristics of respondents, whether they have experienced congestion during running events, the impact of congestion they have experienced during running events on their safety and satisfaction, and their preferred controls for congestion during running events. Survey data indicated runners had experienced some form of congestion prior to the race in the start corrals (93% of respondents), as the race started (97% of respondents), and during the race while running (88% of respondents). In turn, 73% of respondents indicated their experiences with congestion somewhat to extremely (i.e., rating of at least 3 on a 5-point Likert scale) negatively impacted their satisfaction with an event, while 43% of respondents indicated congestion somewhat to extremely negatively impacted their safety during an event. Regarding the impact of congestion on runner safety, 38% of respondents indicated they had slipped, while 27% of respondents indicated they had fallen during running events due to congestion. Further, congestion was attributed to injuries sustained (9%) and not finishing a race due to sustaining an injury (5%) during running events in some respondents. Respondents identified seeding runners based on previous run times (91%), use of wave starts (91%), and designing courses with limited pinch points, U-turns, and narrow paths (89%) as their most preferred controls to mitigate congestion during running events. Respondents resoundingly indicated self-seeding is not an effective method of managing congestion during running events. This study provides novel evidence that congestion is an issue for runners during running events, subsequently diminishing their satisfaction with events and posing safety concerns. In this way, race directors should involve runners in their decision-making processes when implementing appropriate controls to combat congestion for minimising injury risk to runners and ensuring a viable participant base remains attracted to their events in the future.

Download Full-text

Stochastic Fuzzy Algorithms for Impairment of Assets Management

International Journal of Computers Communications & Control ◽

10.15837/ijccc.2020.1.3690 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Marcel Ioan Bolos ◽

Victoria Bogdan ◽

Ioana Alexandra Bradea ◽

Claudia Diana Sabau Popa ◽

Dorina Nicoleta Popa

Keyword(s):

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Decision Making ◽

Fuzzy Numbers ◽

Cash Flows ◽

The Other ◽

Dual Purpose ◽

Fuzzy Algorithms ◽

Tangible Assets ◽

The Impact

The present paper aims to analyze the impairment of tangible assets with the help of artificial intelligence. Stochastic fuzzy numbers have been introduced with a dual purpose: on one hand to estimate the cash flows generated by tangible assets exploitation and, on the other hand, to ensure the value ranges stratifications that define these cash flows. Estimation of cash flows using stochastic fuzzy numbers was based on cash flows generated by tangible assets in previous periods of operation. Also, based on the Lagrange multipliers, were introduced: the objective function of minimizing the standard deviations from the recorded value of the cash flows generated by the tangible assets, as well as the constraints caused by the impairment of tangible assets identification according to which the cash flows values must be equal to the annual value of the invested capital. Within the determination of the impairment value and stratification of the value ranges determined by the cash flows using stochastic fuzzy numbers, the impairment of assets risk was identified. Information provided by impairment of assets but also the impairment risks, is the basis of the decision-making measures taken to mitigate the impact of accumulated impairment losses on company’s financial performance.

Download Full-text

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON MIGRATION DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES: Case of Indonesian Student in University of Groningen

Jurnal Studi Pemuda ◽

10.22146/studipemudaugm.38010 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 515

Author(s):

Inayah Hidayati

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Social Media ◽

Migration Decision ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Migration Behavior ◽

Interview Guide ◽

Destination Area ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

The Impact

Objective: This research aims to explain the impact of social media on the migration decision-making process of Indonesian student migrants in University of Groningen who used a social media account. In detail, this research will consider the role of social media in the migration decision-making process of students who emigrated from Indonesia and how they uses social media in the context of the migration decision-making process. Methods: The data collected included qualitative data from in-depth interviews and supported by study literatures. An interview guide was formulated to facilitate the indepth interviews and generate a better understanding of migration behavior. Expectation: Social media help Indonesian student migrants on migration decision making process and they use social media for searching information about destination area. Result: Student migrant in University of Groningen use their social media to gain information before they choose that university for study. They use Facebook to making contact with their friends and collagues in the destination country. Student group on Facebook help Indonesian student to get information about school and daily life.

Download Full-text