scholarly journals Environmental conceptions and the ideological commitments that guide the management of the environmental organizations

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
José Kennedy Lopes Silva ◽  
Osmar Siena

Environmental organizations actively take part in the proposition of strategies, studies and environmental practices that aim at reducing the environmental degradation of the planet. These organizations have conceptions and commitments that guide their actions. The objective of the research that led to this article was to understand the environmental conceptions and the ideological commitments that guide the actions and the management of the environmental organizations. The research focused on three environmental organizations, two located in the state of Mato Grosso and one in the state of Rondônia, all of them belonging to the Brazilian Legal Amazon region. A qualitative research with multiple case study was carried out. Participant observation, semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis were used as strategies. Several environmental conceptions that influence the performance and management of organizations were identified, with a greater presence of the socio-environmentalist and of the environmental justice conceptions. However, the latter is not discussed strategically. Regarding the ideological commitments, the eco-socialist vision is the one that seems to have more influence over organizations.

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1622
Author(s):  
Camila Fagundes ◽  
Dusan Schreiber ◽  
Moema Pereira Nunes ◽  
Maria Eduarda Fernandes

Concern with the adequate use of natural resources has increased the relevance of products certifications in the wood supply chain, especially in companies established in Brazil, the cradle of one of the largest forest reserves. This study investigates the perception of companies on the potential and concrete benefits resulting from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. To achieve this, a multiple case study was carried out with data triangulation through semi-structured interviews, documentary research and non-participant observation. Four FSC certified industries established in Brazil were analyzed. The results showed that of the four companies participating in the study, only one did not achieve the desired economic benefits, whereas all organizations accomplished the advantages of the other areas of sustainability, both the social and environmental.


2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (669) ◽  
pp. e293-e300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Atherton ◽  
Heather Brant ◽  
Sue Ziebland ◽  
Annemieke Bikker ◽  
John Campbell ◽  
...  

BackgroundNHS policy encourages general practices to introduce alternatives to the face-to-face consultation, such as telephone, email, e-consultation systems, or internet video. Most have been slow to adopt these, citing concerns about workload. This project builds on previous research by focusing on the experiences of patients and practitioners who have used one or more of these alternatives.AimTo understand how, under what conditions, for which patients, and in what ways, alternatives to face-to-face consultations present benefits and challenges to patients and practitioners in general practice.Design and settingFocused ethnographic case studies took place in eight UK general practices between June 2015 and March 2016.MethodNon-participant observation, informal conversations with staff, and semi-structured interviews with staff and patients were conducted. Practice documents and protocols were reviewed. Data were analysed through charting and the ‘one sheet of paper’ mind-map method to identify the line of argument in each thematic report.ResultsCase study practices had different rationales for offering alternatives to the face-to-face consultation. Beliefs varied about which patients and health issues were suitable. Co-workers were often unaware of each other’s practice; for example, practice policies for use of e-consultations systems with patients were not known about or followed. Patients reported benefits including convenience and access. Staff and some patients regarded the face-to-face consultation as the ideal.ConclusionExperience of implementing alternatives to the face-to-face consultation suggests that changes in patient access and staff workload may be both modest and gradual. Practices planning to implement them should consider carefully their reasons for doing so and involve the whole practice team.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Hervas ◽  
José Luis Medina

Purpose“Content Representations” (CoRes) is an instrument that links content with aspects about its teaching and is recognized for its utility designing lessons and elucidating teachers' knowledge. Lesson study (LS) is a practice through which teachers collaborate to plan, teach and reflect on a lesson. Both have been acknowledged separately as being valuable for teachers' training; however, there is little research addressing the consequences of combining them. This study filled in that gap by examining how higher education (HE) teachers used the CoRes and perceived its integration within LS.Design/methodology/approachThe authors performed a multiple case study with features of ethnomethodology and conducted an inductive content analysis of the data gathered through document analysis, in-depth semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The research was approved by the ethics committee of the host university, and participants were faculty members from different health sciences disciplines.FindingsThe authors found that participants considered that the use of the CoRes during LS allowed them to organize their ideas, consider more details for lesson design, address new topics and engage in greater reflection. However, participants (specially senior faculty) showed a superficial dedication to filling in the CoRes and considered the instrument bothersome, urging caution when engaging in the combined practice of CoRes and LS.Originality/valueThis is the first research in the international literature approaching the integration of the CoRes and LS with HE teachers. Its results fill a research gap and can help LS practitioners make an informed decision about whether to incorporate CoRes into it.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 272-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Royston Morgan ◽  
Des Doran ◽  
Stephanie Jean Morgan

Purpose There is a view that strong preventative contracts are essential to control supplier opportunism and delivery during an outsourcing implementation. The purpose of this paper is to test the proposition that contractual project environments, typical of outsourcing engagements, are essentially conflictual and that context and circumstance can act to overwhelm formal contractual and project control and lead to poor outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports on a supply case study focussed on the outsourced delivery of an application development in the defence sector. Data were gathered by a participant observation in situ for a period of three years. A grounded analysis from observations, diaries, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, documentary analysis, and e-mails was carried out with six case organisations within the extended supply chain. Findings Collaboration between suppliers and buyers can be blocked by preventative fixed price contracts and as a result when requirements are incomplete or vague this adversely impacts success. Practical implications Strong contractual control focussed on compliance may actually impede the potential success of outsourcing contracts especially when collaborative approaches are needed to cope with variability in demand. Originality/value The research raises the important practical and conceptual notion that an outsourcing can be a conflictual inter-firm phenomenon especially where multiple actors are involved and business uncertainty is present.


2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug Knapp ◽  
Gregory M. Benton

The multiple case study described further investigates and identifies elements associated with successful interpretive programs through assessing what is perceived as important elements by interpreters in five U. S. National Park units. Data sources included semi-structured interviews with interpretive personnel, analysis of documentation related to interpretive programs in the units, and participant observation of interpretive programs conducted at each site. Four themes surfaced from this data: (a) an interpretive program must relate to the visitor, (b) it must attempt to achieve its goals through innovative techniques, (c) attain basic program needs and, (d) promote community outreach. One discrepancy found, based on the researchers’ analysis of program observations, was no attempt at receiving responses from the program participants. This “one-way” form of communication differs from the profession's interest in connecting with the visitor. One recommendation from this study is to explore constructivist learning strategies that could help bring about “two-way” communication between the interpreter and visitor.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-94
Author(s):  
Fiona C Sampson ◽  
Alicia O’Cathain ◽  
Steve Goodacre

IntroductionInadequate pain management in EDs is a worldwide problem, yet there has been little progress in understanding how pain management can be improved. There is only weak evidence and limited rationale to support interventions to improve pain management. We used naturalistic, qualitative methods to understand the factors that influence how pain is managed within the adult ED.MethodsWe used a multiple case study design incorporating 143-hour non-participant observation, documentary analysis and semistructured interviews with 37 staff and 19 patients at three EDs in the North of England between 2014 and 2016. We analysed data using thematic analysis.ResultsOur analysis demonstrated that pain management was not well aligned with the core priorities of the ED and was overlooked when other works took priority. We identified that (1) pain management was not perceived to be a key organisational priority for which staff were held accountable and staff had limited awareness of their performance, (2) pain management was not a core component of ED education and training, (3) ED processes and structures were not aligned with pain management and pain reassessment was overlooked unless staff escalated pain management outside of normal processes and (4) staff held embedded beliefs that conceptualised pain management as distinct from core priorities and limited their capacity to improve. However, EDs were able to improve pain management by aligning processes of pain management with other core works, particularly patient flow (eg, nurse-initiated analgesia at triage).ImplicationsEDs may be able to improve pain management by ensuring pain management processes align with key ED priorities. Undertaking multifaceted changes to structures and processes may enable staff to improve pain management and develop a culture in which pain management can be prioritised more easily. Future interventions need to be compatible with the wider work of the ED and enable patient flow in order to be adopted and maintained.


Author(s):  
Marcia Brito Nery Alves ◽  
Ana Eleonora Almeida Paixão

This article aims to analyze the intellectual property in Brazilian agriculture, taking as reference the protection of sugarcane cultivars of the Inter-University Network for the Development of the Sugar-Energy Sector (RIDESA). At first, a review of the literature was carried out with the objective of situating the problem of the protection and registration of cultivars, especially in the Brazilian case, as well as the procedures and stages of mapping and technological prospection of cultivars. Using a descriptive and exploratory methodology, guided by the multiple case study, information was systematized regarding the data obtained in documentary analysis and technological prospection that allowed the construction of a characterization of each of the ten federal universities participating in the network: Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), Federal University (UFG), Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Federal University of Sergipe (UFMT), Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Federal University of Goiás , Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) and Federal University of Piauí (UFPI). The results allowed to visualize the objective conditions of research of the Network, performing a mapping of the cultivars registered by each one of the institutions, in the last 15 years, and that, therefore, they are still legally protected. Although the results presented by RIDESA reflect the state of the Network as a whole, it was considered that the need for more in-depth analyzes on the inequality of conditions and resources, as well as resources and technical capacity, which could possibly have a direct influence on the results in terms of intellectual property, observed for each of the institutions that make up the Network.


2022 ◽  
pp. 20-39
Author(s):  
Haudec Herrawan ◽  
Nurhady Sirimorok ◽  
Munajat Nursaputra ◽  
Emban Ibnurusyd Mas'ud ◽  
Fatwa Faturachmat ◽  
...  

Studies of the commons grew out of responses to Hardin's bleak prediction of “tragedy of the commons,” that without state intervention or privatization, any commons will eventually be destroyed by allegedly self-interested users. As such, the commons studies traditionally tend to demonstrate cases where common pool resources (CPR) can be sustainably managed by groups of people beyond the state and market interventions. This paper shows a case from Sulawesi, Indonesia, where a state social forestry program can create a space for the program beneficiaries to build a commons. Through fieldwork that involves participant observation and in-depth interviews with program extension workers and beneficiaries in two social forestry farmer groups, this study found that the program can stimulate beneficiary groups to build collective action in managing the state forest plots admitted to them and that the two groups are the only successful ones among 14 neighboring groups that are involved in the same program. The study also shows that the management of the state-sponsored commons requires extension workers with deep knowledge about local people and landscape, economic incentives, and the flexibility of the local state agency in bending the rules based on bottom-up demands. Therefore, the case study shows that, on the one hand, the state program can actually stimulate the creation of the commons. On the other hand, commoning seems to be the only way to ensure a successful social forestry program.    


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojtaba Khorram Niaki ◽  
Fabio Nonino

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the impacts of additive manufacturing (AM) in manufacturing, business strategies and business performance and to determine the contingent factors driving performance. Accordingly, this study also clarifies the relationship between these impacts and company and product characteristics. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted an exploratory study using multiple case research methodology, sampling 16 heterogeneous companies based on the theoretical replication approach. The potential impacts of AM were identified by reviewing the previous literature. For the driving factors, the paper follows the literature on AM, as well as the theories arisen from technology management literature. The qualitative information was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis to measure the effectiveness of AM in these aspects. Findings The paper derives and provides empirical insights regarding how this technology affects the industry. This study reveals how the implementation of AM in the Rapid Manufacturing (RM) of products made of metal has boosted productivity. These findings also demonstrate an increasing competitiveness of the early adopter SMEs using RM. Research limitations/implications This empirical research has been conducted by means of qualitative data. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the propositions by quantitative measures. Practical implications The paper provides insights for the adaption of AM and its impacts on business strategies and performance. Originality/value This paper contributes to expanding the literature by depicting explicit links between the implementation of this revolutionary technology and business strategies and performance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-66
Author(s):  
Joyce Valdovinos

The provision of water services has traditionally been considered a responsibility of the state. During the late 1980s, the private sector emerged as a key actor in the provision of public services. Mexico City was no exception to this trend and public authorities awarded service contracts to four private consortia in 1993. Through consideration of this case study, two main questions arise: First, why do public authorities establish partnerships with the private sector? Second, what are the implications of these partnerships for water governance? This article focuses, on the one hand, on the conceptual debate of water as a public and/or private good, while identifying new trends and strategies carried out by private operators. On the other hand, it analyzes the role of the state and its relationships with other actors through a governance model characterized by partnerships and multilevel networks.Spanish La provisión del servicio del agua ha sido tradicionalmente considerada como una responsabilidad del Estado. A finales de la década de 1980, el sector privado emerge como un actor clave en el suministro de servicios públicos. La ciudad de México no escapa a esta tendencia y en 1993 las autoridades públicas firman contratos de servicios con cuatro consorcios privados. A través de este estudio de caso, dos preguntas son planteadas: ¿Por qué las autoridades públicas establecen partenariados con el sector privado? ¿Cuáles son las implicaciones de dichos partenariados en la gobernanza del agua? Este artículo aborda por una parte, el debate conceptual del agua como bien público y/o privado, identificando nuevas tendencias y estrategias de los operadores privados. Por otra parte, se analizan el rol y las relaciones del Estado con otros actores a través de un modelo de gobernanza, definido en términos de partenariados y redes multi-niveles.French Les services de l'eau ont été traditionnellement considérés comme une responsabilité de l'État. À la fin des années 1980, le secteur privé est apparu comme un acteur clé dans la fourniture de certains services publics. La ville de Mexico n'a pas échappé à cette tendance et en 1993, les autorités publiques ont signé des contrats de services avec quatre consortiums privés. À travers cette étude de cas, nous nous interrogerons sur deux aspects : pourquoi les autorités publiques établissentelles des partenariats avec le secteur privé ? Quelles sont les implications de ces partenariats sur la gouvernance de l'eau ? Cet article s'intéresse, d'une part, au débat conceptuel sur l'eau en tant que bien public et/ou privé, en identifiant les tendances nouvelles et les stratégies menées par les opérateurs privés. D'autre part y sont analysés le rôle de l'État et ses relations avec d'autres acteurs à travers un modèle de gouvernance, défini en termes de partenariats, et des réseaux multi-niveaux.


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