Impact of administrative reform of the European Commission: results from a survey of heads of unit in policy-making directorates

2009 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Bauer

The Kinnock reform has changed the European Commission. This article discusses the link between reform effects and policy output. A survey of more than 100 heads of unit (HoU) of policy-making Directorates-General serves as the empirical basis. It is concluded that the recent reform of the Commission does indeed comprehensively redefine the role of the HoU. Their resource base to focus on policy drafting has been hugely reduced. Negative consequences for the organization’s potential to deliver policy draft of high quality are therefore very likely. Points for practitioners This article deals with the following areas: • Middle management as organizational backbone • The perils of decentralizing management functions • The impact of administrative reform on policy output.

2007 ◽  
Vol 09 (02) ◽  
pp. 141-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENNIFER FRANZ ◽  
COLIN KIRKPATRICK

Since the adoption of the EU's first Sustainable Development Strategy in 2001, the European Commission has been committed to undertaking impact assessments of its major policy proposals, covering the potential positive and negative economic, social and environmental effects both inside and outside the European Union. This paper provides as evaluation of a sample of the Commission's recent EC Impact Assessments, focusing on the extent to which the goal of sustainable development has been integrated into the impact assessment analysis.


Author(s):  
Iryna ROZINA

The relevance of the research is related to the need for studying the character of psychosomatic disorders in adolescence, which is insufficiently investigated and requires more in-depth research, in particular designing a comprehensive program that includes a system of training exercises to overcome psychosomatic disorders. The problem of studying psychosomatic relationships is one of the most difficult problems of modern psychology and medicine, despite the fact that the close connection between mental and somatic has been studied for several centuries. Mental trauma is a leading cause of neuroses formation and progress, its pathogenic significance is determined by the complex interaction with many other factors being a result of an individual’s life, formation of his body and personality, especially in adolescence. The subject of the research is to study special features of psychosomatic disorders, as well as to design a program for adolescents with signs of neurotic disorders. The subject matter of the research is the peculiarities of psychosomatic disorders manifestation and neurotic signs in adolescence. The article presents a theoretical analysis of modern approaches in psychology to the study of psychosomatic disorders peculiarities, their classification, considering the signs of neurotic disorders in adolescence. The work analyzes age characteristics of psychosomatic disorders in adolescence. Modern adolescents are exposed to various stressors, to the impact of audiovisual information, school overload, extra classes, exams, and a special problem that is a change in quality of life and prevalence of alcoholism, smoking, drug addiction, especially drug addiction among adolescents. The complex of these factors has negative consequences both on a psychological and physical level. Most authors who study the causes of psychosomatic illnesses recognize the important role of parents in the development of mentally and physically healthy children. Many studies highlight the role of early mother-child relationships in the formation of psychosomatic pathology. Various violations of this relationship usually lead to abnormalities in a child’s development. (M. Mahler, E. T. Eidemiller, Yustitskis, D. Winnicott, M. Klein). The results of an empirical study aimed at identifying signs of psychosomatic disorders are considered. The following methods were used: observation, questionnaires, and such methods as diagnosis of neurotic disorders in adolescence (DND), diagnosis of the level of school anxiety by Phillips, “Non-existent animal” by M.Z. Drukarevich. The peculiarities of designing and testing the correction program, which is aimed at reducing the signs of neurotic manifestations in adolescence, are revealed. Objectives of the correction program are: searching for interaction of adolescents with society, finding and testing skills of effective response to external stimuli; increasing the level of self-esteem; removal of emotional tension; reducing anxiety. The results confirm the possibility of reducing the signs of neurotic manifestations of adolescents and help to delay or completely stop a possible personality disorder.


InterConf ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 54-59
Author(s):  
Bohdana Hunko

The paper analyzes the role of Industry 4.0 in the process of overcoming the global economy from the crisis situation associated with the total Covid-19 pandemic. The aspect of economic profitability of using the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution to improve world economic development in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic was also identified. The author identified the positive and negative consequences of the involvement of technology Industry 4.0, on the basis of which a number of recommendations for small and medium-sized businesses were formed in order to quickly overcome the negative effects of the crisis. Based on the work, the author formulated a number of trends and prospects for global economic development, taking into account the current conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic.


Author(s):  
Anne-Marie D'Aoust

Foreign policy analysis (FPA) deals with the decision-making processes involved in foreign policy-making. As a field of study, FPA overlaps international relations (IR) theory and comparative politics. Studies that take into account either sex, women, or gender contribute to the development of knowledge on and about women in IR, which is in itself one of the goals of feminist scholarship. There are two main spheres of feminist inquiries when it comes to foreign policy: the role of women as sexed power holders involved in decision-making processes and power-sharing in the realm of foreign policy-making, and the role of gendered norms in the conduct and adoption of foreign policies. Many observers insist that feminism and foreign policy are linked only by a marriage of convenience, designed to either acknowledge the political accomplishments of women in the sphere of foreign policy such as Margaret Thatcher and Indira Ghandi, or bring attention to so-called “women’s issues,” such as reproduction rights and population control. Scholarship on women and/or gender in relation to foreign policy covers a wide range of themes, such as the role of women as political actors in decision-making processes and organizational structures; women’s human rights and gender mainstreaming; the impact of various foreign policies on women’s lives; and the concept of human security and the idea of women’s rights as a valid foreign policy objective. Three paradigms that have been explored as part of the study of women in comparative politics and IR are behavioralism, functionalism, and rational choice theory.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-23
Author(s):  
Mihane Berisha-Namani

Information systems in the world of business and management exist to serve varied needs. This article examines the role of information systems technology in business activities and management functions and discusses how organisations can best use information systems. This study provides managers and researchers with a framework for effective use of information systems for business and management purposes and offers an alternative approach to investigate the impact of new technology. The author concludes that a need exists for further research in this field to increase understanding of information systems usage in business and management. The study recommends that more attention be paid to information systems technology, as it is key to better management and succeeding in business.


2009 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-112
Author(s):  
Michel Boucher

ABSTRACT This paper examines the role and practices of the Quebec Transport Commission (QTC), and attempts to assess the significance of regulatory restrictions in this province and their impact on the performance of the Quebec trucking industry. So the interpretation given by the QTC to the test of "public convenience and necessity" makes the requirement for a licence a major obstacle to entry. The rate approval process in Quebec, on the other hand, appears to be largely a formality; the proportion of requests for rate changes granted in whole or in part by the QTC tends to generally be well over 90 percent. These aspects, along with the significant role of the Quebec Tariff Bureau, suggest that regulation is likely to substantially reduce competition and provide for the realization of monopoly rents. However, a number of factors have eroded the influence both of the QTC and the Quebec Tariff Bureau. The availability of substitute transport services has substantially reduced the effects of the QTC's entry restrictions. In this regard, it is refered specifically to the services of freight brokers and leasing (or pseudo-leasing) firms, and to the potential alternatives in the form of rail and private carriage. In addition, "illegal trucking" has become an important phenomenon in the province as a result of the rather lax enforcement of the Commission's regulations and the low fines for violations. As for the activities of the Quebec Tariff Bureau, it is pointed out that it does not and could not effectively "cartelize" the industry given its inability to enforce rates and production quotas, and the strong incentive of individual members to undermine any such cartel. An examination of various aspects of the performance of the Quebec trucking industry was found to confirm the importance of competitive factors. Although some permits in the province have acquired a market value, these were estimated to be quite low (as a percentage of operating revenue), well below the levels found for the U.S. This suggests that regulation is not giving rise to very substantial excess profits for the industry as a whole. A comparison of before-tax rates of return for firms in Quebec and firms in Alberta supports this finding. More generally, the analysis of market structure and performance leads to the conclusion that trucking regulation in Quebec is largely ineffective. The availability of intra-modal and inter-modal substitutes has considerably reduced the impact of regulation on industry performance and greatly diminished its negative consequences for allocative efficiency.


Author(s):  
Vladislav Gennad'evich Morzheedov

The subject of this research is the relations between Napoleonic France and German states in the early XIX century. The object of this research is the various models of the development of German political space during the Napoleonic Wars. Analysis is conducted on the role of France in transformations that influences the Holy Roman Empire, as well as in the process of creating Confederation of the Rhine. Under the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, France pursues active foreign policy, competing for hegemony in Europe. The article considers positive and negative consequences of transformations that took place in the German political space, the importance of political modernization for the Confederation of the Rhine member-states, as well as the corresponding territorial and institutional changes. The novelty of this work lies in the original approach towards the problem. An attempt is made to reconsider the known events of the early XIX century from the perspective of evolution of the models of German political space. The research employs chronological, historical-comparative, and historical-systematic methods. It is claimed that without analyzing the impact of foreign policy of Napoleonic France upon the German states, it is impossible to fully understand the trends of further development of Germany, goals and ways of reaching national unity, and peculiarities of Franco-German relations in the late XIX – early XX centuries. The main conclusion lies in recognition of the contradictory nature of transformations that took place in the German states, assessment of the ambiguous role of Napoleonic France in the German integration process, and importance of studying this topic for outlining further historical path of development of the German states towards political unity.


2019 ◽  
pp. 97-106
Author(s):  
P.Yu. Baryshnikov

The subject of the author's research is the development of transnational corporations (TNCs) as an organic component of modern international economic integration and globalization processes. The concept and features of TNCs are characterized. A brief historical overview of the formation and development of corporate transnationalism is proposed. Statistics on the largest TNCs are presented and analyzed. On the one hand, positive aspects of the impact of TNCs on the development of the world economy and its national components were identified, and on the other hand, the negative consequences of the expansion of these corporations for both host countries and home countries of TNCs. The relationship between TNCs and sovereign States is considered in many aspects. Thus, based on the analysis of the instruments of influence of the companies under consideration on the normative activities of the States, a shift from the interstate to the corporate legal field was recorded. One of the subjects of the article is mega regional trade agreements of a new type as a factor of increasing the contradictory impact of TNCs on the development of the world economy and its national components.


Author(s):  
Gaynor Macdonald

This paper explores the role of allocative power in constituting Wiradjuri personhood, in turn enabling practices they refer to as caring and sharing. New South Wales is one of Australia’s most developed states, and Wiradjuri people have undergone immense change since colonization began in the 1820s. What changed, why and how, has only recently become a focus for anthropology, partly in response to recent social stress. Enduring unemployment, reliance on social service benefits, and centralized control of their modest resource base has undermined Wiradjuri ways, introducing unanticipated contradictions. Experienced by some as opportunities, for many it became more difficult to address their experienced world and to sustain a known social order. Concerns voiced by Wiradjuri people often targeted other community members rather than changes they had little control over. A key to understanding both the concerns and why these were personalized lies in the way the allocative power essential to the expression of caring and sharing had been challenged by state programs ostensibly designed to achieve social justice and development. To explore the impact of changes introduced from the 1970s, I integrate an historical with a social analysis, drawing on my observations of Wiradjuri interactions over more than 30 years.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-372
Author(s):  
Howard P. Thomas

More and more articles have appeared on the negative consequences of poor parenting. Klaus and Kennel studied the impact of early separation or loss on family development. C. Henry Kemp has related the observation of faulty parent-child bonding to the subsequent occurrence of child abuse. In the April 1977 issue of Pediatrics (59:489, 1977) appeared a plea by William Turtle for group prenatal pediatric counseling to prevent childhood behavior problems. On the consumer side of the picture, groups such as the Childbirth Education Association have promoted the coming together of husband and wife in joint preparation for a more natural childbirth.


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