Structural heterogeneity in farm structures: a configurational approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-83
Author(s):  
Bruno Varella Miranda ◽  
Anna Grandori
Keyword(s):  
Structural Heterogeneity ◽  
System Level ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Legal Form ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Property Rights Protection ◽  
Farm Structures ◽  
Development Paths ◽  
And Control ◽  
Corporate Farm

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a multidimensional framework for the identification, description and comparative analysis of alternative farm structures and their properties for economic development. Design/methodology/approach Integrating previous typologies and considering a large set of examples, the authors identify six attributes that are necessary to characterize and compare farm structures: size; strategy; organizational form; legal form; who the owners are; and degree of separation of ownership and control. They also discuss potential complementarities between those organizational attributes and specific features of the institutions of developing and emerging countries, such as contract enforcement and property rights protection regime, and developed capital markets and corporate law. Findings Conceptually and empirically, effective farm structures can deviate from the templates traditionally considered – “small family-owned farm” or “large factory-like corporate farm,” combining structural attributes in diverse ways. The dimensionalization of farm structures also helps in revealing complementary institutional traits at the regional or larger system level that may foster development processes. Research limitations/implications The paper is limited to theory building and case-based evidence. Nevertheless, it provides dimensions that can be measured on a larger scale and by quantitative studies. Originality/value This paper sheds light on organizational diversity in agriculture and on a wider set of feasible development paths.

Shifting the balance of power

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Whaley ◽  
Di Domenico ◽  
Jane Alltimes
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disability ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
System Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Ordinary Life ◽  
System Service ◽  
Care And Support ◽  
Service Redesign ◽  
And Control

Purpose This purpose of this paper is to examine the role of engagement and empowerment in “Transforming Care”, for people with a learning disability. The aim is to shift the balance of power so that people are able to live ordinary lives in the community, in the home they choose, close to people they love. It shares ideas to support people to take control over their own lives and to influence the system, so that it works with people, rather than “doing to” people. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines barriers and enablers to people having their rights as citizens. So that people have as much choice and control as they are comfortable with to live an ordinary life (bearing in mind any legal restrictions). The paper includes people’s involvement in system/service redesign. It critiques traditional views of looking at language, participation and power. The authors have used the language throughout which people have told us they prefer as a descriptor. Findings The authors present a framework for looking at the power of, and around, people with a learning disability who have mental health issues or have displayed behaviour that can challenge services. Originality/value This paper offers advice on how to address power imbalances at individual level and at organisational/system level. It looks at the language we use, the information we share and how we work with experts by experience to ensure we can transform care and support and enable people to live ordinary lives as citizens.

Rethinking dementia: how autonomy and control can be fostered through the development of person centred services

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo de Waal
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Service Design ◽  
System Level ◽  
Care Planning ◽  
Planning Tool ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Person With Dementia ◽  
And Control ◽  
Dementia Services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the loss of autonomy and control as the core problem in dementia and highlights the individuality of the lived experience of dementia. It analyses the failure of dementia services to keep the individual central to their design and identifies that failure as the unavoidable result of methodological error. Design/methodology/approach – The paper guides the reader through the conceptual error in dementia service design and highlights the disconnect between clinical symptomatology and the lived experience of the person with dementia. The analysis continues with the fact that dementia diminishes those brain functions central to the lived individuality, a characteristic which should inform service design. Findings – The paper proposes an approach, building on these insights, to build a personalised care plan and resource centre, thus filling the gap system-level design of dementia services are bound to leave open. Practical implications – The paper presents a pragmatic approach using a digital, portable and editable care planning tool and personalised resource centre, which can be populated by the person with dementia and/or carer(s) with facilitation from, e.g. trained volunteers or others. Social implications – The care planning tool will have a range of functions, including facilities to aid staying in touch with relatives or peers (or anyone else, dependent on personal preferences), enable building peer-to-peer support networks and thus minimise social isolation and loneliness. Originality/value – There is limited understanding of the reasons why dementia services struggle to be user-friendly, accessible, transparent and responsive. The paper provides new insight into why this is comprehensively the case and its description of a digital healthcare platform, owned and formulated by the person with dementia, directly builds upon this insight and identifies how such a device can form part of a solution.

Tax incentives and control: the ways of improvement and evaluation of their implementation in the Russian Federation

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-82
Author(s):  
T. N. Vinogradova ◽  
I. V. Kravchenko
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Tax Incentives ◽  
Topical Issue ◽  
Maximum Increase ◽  
Major Development ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Tax Payments ◽  
Development Paths ◽  
And Control

The article is devoted to the topical issue of tax incentives and control in Russia. We have evaluated effectiveness of these measures in terms of current legislation and identified the main problems encountered during their implementation. Additionally, in this article we have covered major development paths of tax incentives and control in modern conditions to enhance their efficiency and achieve maximum increase in tax payments in budgets of the Russian Federation.

scholarly journals Creating and Maintaining Structural Hindrances to Criminal Justice Control – A Policy Analysis on the Normalisation of Parental Violence as a Crime in Finland

2021 ◽  
pp. 096466392110208
Author(s):  
Riikka Kotanen
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Interpersonal Violence ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Legal Form ◽  
Parental Violence ◽  
Control Policies ◽  
And Control

In the context of home, violence remains more accepted when committed against children than adults. Normalisation of parental violence has been documented in attitudinal surveys, professional practices, and legal regulation. For example, in many countries violent disciplining of children is the only legal form of interpersonal violence. This study explores the societal invisibility and normalisation of parental violence as a crime by analysing legislation and control policies regulating the division of labour and involvement between social welfare and criminal justice authorities. An empirical case study from Finland, where all forms of parental violence were legally prohibited in 1983, is used to elucidate the divergence between (criminal) law and control policies. The analysis demonstrates how normalisation operates at the policy-level where, within the same system of control that criminalised these acts, structural hindrances are built to prevent criminal justice interventions.

Antecedents and consequences of replacing international independent intermediaries

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 218-237
Author(s):  
Erik B. Nes
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Operation Mode ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Performance Variables ◽  
Direct Sales ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Process Theories ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
Communication Control ◽  
And Control

Purpose – What characterizes the relationships with intermediaries that are soon to be replaced, and are the replacements successful? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The study applies a longitudinal design. The paper conducted a survey among a sample of exporters concerning their relationships with independent intermediaries in terms of trust, commitment, communication, control and two performance variables; financial performance and strategic goal achievement. Five years thereafter the author contacted the same companies again and questioned which independent intermediaries had been replaced in the period. The author then compared the replaced intermediaries with the extended intermediaries before they were replaced and analysed changes in the evaluations of the relationships and of the performance after the replacement. Findings – The relationships with terminated intermediaries that were replaced by sales subsidiary or home-based direct sales were characterized having higher trust, communication and control than extended relationships before replacement. While it may be surprising that these quite successful relationships were terminated, this is in line with internationalization process theories. The replacements, both intermediaries that were replaced by other intermediaries and by sales subsidiary/home-based direct sales, were highly successful in terms of improvement in performance and behavioural relationship variables. Research limitations/implications – The empirical findings are limited by the sample and by data collection from the principal only in the dyadic relations. Practical implications – International independent intermediaries should analyse the likelihood of being replaced by the principal because the relationship or the performance is unsatisfactory, but also because of satisfactory evaluations. Terminations of satisfactory relationships tend to be accompanied by change in operation mode to internal organization. The independent intermediary should in such cases build a defence structure against unwanted termination and/or prepare for buyout. The success of the replacements suggests that international marketers benefit from being proactive in replacing intermediaries with new intermediaries or with a hierarchal entry mode. Originality/value – This is the first study that applies most of these variables from interorganizational relations theory in the study of international independent intermediary replacements. It is also the first to give insight into the consequences of intermediary terminations.

scholarly journals Impact of Substratum Surface on Microbial Community Structure and Treatment Performance in Biological Aerated Filters

2013 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lavane Kim ◽  
Eulyn Pagaling ◽  
Yi Y. Zuo ◽  
Tao Yan
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Community Analysis ◽  
Microbial Community Analysis ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Property Change ◽  
And Control ◽  
Start Ups

ABSTRACTThe impact of substratum surface property change on biofilm community structure was investigated using laboratory biological aerated filter (BAF) reactors and molecular microbial community analysis. Two substratum surfaces that differed in surface properties were created via surface coating and used to develop biofilms in test (modified surface) and control (original surface) BAF reactors. Microbial community analysis by 16S rRNA gene-based PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) showed that the surface property change consistently resulted in distinct profiles of microbial populations during replicate reactor start-ups. Pyrosequencing of the bar-coded 16S rRNA gene amplicons surveyed more than 90% of the microbial diversity in the microbial communities and identified 72 unique bacterial species within 19 bacterial orders. Among the 19 orders of bacteria detected,BurkholderialesandRhodocyclalesof theBetaproteobacteriaclass were numerically dominant and accounted for 90.5 to 97.4% of the sequence reads, and their relative abundances in the test and control BAF reactors were different in consistent patterns during the two reactor start-ups. Three of the five dominant bacterial species also showed consistent relative abundance changes between the test and control BAF reactors. The different biofilm microbial communities led to different treatment efficiencies, with consistently higher total organic carbon (TOC) removal in the test reactor than in the control reactor. Further understanding of how surface properties affect biofilm microbial communities and functional performance would enable the rational design of new generations of substrata for the improvement of biofilm-based biological treatment processes.

Moving the needle: can training alter officer perceptions and use of de-escalation?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. White ◽  
Victor J. Mora ◽  
Carlena Orosco ◽  
E. C. Hedberg
Keyword(s):  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Police Department ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Officer Safety ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Before And After ◽  
June July ◽  
Officer Attitudes ◽  
Excessive Use Of Force ◽  
And Control

PurposeDe-escalation training for police has received widespread attention as a method for reducing unnecessary and excessive use of force. There is virtually no research on de-escalation, and as a result, there is little understanding about what it is, what it includes and whether it is effective. The current study compares attitudes about the importance and use of de-escalation among officers who were randomly assigned to participate (or not) in de-escalation training.Design/methodology/approachThe current study draws from a larger randomized controlled trial of de-escalation training in the Tempe, Arizona Police Department (TPD). Approximately 100 officers completed a survey in June–July 2019 and again in June–July 2020. TPD delivered the de-escalation training to half the patrol force in February–March 2020. The authors compare treatment and control officers' attitudes about the importance of specific de-escalation tactics, how often they use those tactics and their sentiments de-escalation training. The authors employ an econometric random-effects model to examine between-group differences post-training while controlling for relevant officer attributes including age, race, sex, prior training and squad-level pretraining attitudes about de-escalation.FindingsTreatment and control officers reported positive perceptions of de-escalation tactics, frequent use of those tactics and favorable attitudes toward de-escalation before and after the training. After receiving the training, treatment officers placed greater importance on compromise, and reported more frequent use of several important tactics including compromise, knowing when to walk away and maintaining officer safety.Originality/valueOnly a few prior studies have has examined whether de-escalation training changes officer attitudes. The results from the current study represent an initial piece of evidence suggesting de-escalation training may lead to greater use of those tactics by officers during encounters with citizens.

Financial battle against climate change – assessing effectiveness using a scorecard

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Candauda Arachchige Saliya ◽  
Suesh Kumar Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Financial System ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Banking Regulations ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how and to what extent the Fijian sustainable banking regulations or guidelines are designed, communicated, implemented and monitored within the financial system in Fiji. A scorecard is introduced for this purpose to assess the effectiveness of Fiji’s financial battle against climate change (FBACC). Design/methodology/approach This study uses a mixed-method methodology. Data were collected mainly from a survey and supplemented by interviews, observations and documents. The scorecard was developed by building on existing two theoretical frameworks, namely, the Sustainable Banking Assessment and Climate Change Governance Index, to make them more appropriate and practically applicable to less developed financial systems in emerging economies such as Fiji. This FBACC scorecard consists of four perspectives, eight critical factors and 24 criteria. Findings The results show that the overall FBACC score averages 40.75%, and all the perspectives scored below 50%, the benchmark. Only the CF “policy” scored 54.25% because of a high positive response of 82.3% for the “political leadership” criterion. The relative contributions of each perspective in constructing the overall score are distributed as 28%, 25%, 24% and 23% among planning, action, accountability and control, respectively. Research limitations/implications These results were complemented by the information shared during the interviews and confirmed that the existing political initiatives need to be effectively communicated and/or implemented in the financial system by the regulatory agencies. Practical implications This FBACC scorecard can be applied to other underdeveloped systems in emerging countries to assess the effectiveness of the sustainable banking regulations and/or guidelines in those countries in relation to the FBACC. It can also be applied to individual firms to assess their contribution to the FBACC. Originality/value To the authors’ best knowledge, this might be the first study in Fiji that considers the impact of climate-related financial risk on the Fijian financial system.

Impact of precarious employment on retirement planning for young workers and their parents: the case of Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ka Ki Chan ◽  
Tat Chor Au-Yeung
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Retirement Planning ◽  
Young Workers ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Retirement System ◽  
Working People ◽  
Social Insecurity ◽  
And Control

PurposeRetirement protection has been widely debated in Hong Kong over two decades. The debate about the relationship between social insecurity and retirement protection, and provoked consideration of a choice between a rights-based universal retirement system and means-tested protection for senior citizens are still contested. This study aims to explore the understanding and behaviours of young workers regarding retirement planning, their difficulties and worries with the implementation of providing support for their parents' retirement.Design/methodology/approachThis was an exploratory study to target young workers aged 20–34 years to participate. Qualitative data presented in this study were drawn from 16 young workers. Seven were female and nine were male young workers.FindingsThe research found that young workers who have a relatively low level of income, particularly for non-standard workers and the self-employed, both are likely to find difficulties to contribute to their own retirement planning and their parents' retirement with the emerging problems of job insecurity and instability. Young working people in lower socio-classes have further limited choices and control over their own retirement planning, as well as providing support for their parents' retirement that may cause a breach of intergenerational contract.Originality/valueWith the increasing number of young workers with precarious employment or unemployment, this study has contributed to a shift in views regarding intergenerational contracts, particularly in the need to support other generations of family members in a contemporary Hong Kong society.

Control of project data and team satisfaction as results of PMO effort in new product development projects

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanderson César Macêdo Barbalho ◽  
Gladston Luiz Silva
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Portfolio Management ◽  
New Product ◽  
Success Factor ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Satisfaction ◽  
Project Data ◽  
And Control

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how new product development (NPD)-based project management offices (PMOs) work, their drivers to deliver performance and their project success impact.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a survey of 35 Brazilian and multi-national companies that identified the effort to perform a list of PMO functions, some PMO drivers in the company and five project performance perception indicators. The authors apply a specific set of statistics to uncover the relations between these dimensions of interest.FindingsThe factorial analysis allows us to find the main functions influencing each other. The project teams’ perception of project management (PM) performance is suggested as a success factor that drives PMOs when working on portfolio management issues, managing project files and promoting PM over the company.Practical implicationsThis paper contributes to a contingency approach for designing a project machine involving PMOs to support NPD projects. Managers can set the most suitable PMO functions avoiding mimicry when structuring their NPD efforts.Originality/valuePMOs have impacted team satisfaction and control of project data but not indicators related to triple constraints.

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