An Organisational Study of the Free Kindergarten and Playcentre Movements in New Zealand

<p>The free kindergarten and playcentre organisations were subjects of case studies for an examination of strategic choice processes in voluntary organisations, using an open-systems theoretical framework. The patterns of strategic choices in each movement, over time, were described; then four recent decision processes and their consequences analysed. The data about the strategic choice processes gathered by participant observation were validated by three small surveys: one of 138 parents of pre-school children, one of 62 free kindergarten and playcentre staff, and one of 162 playcentre and kindergarten volunteers. General conclusions are that the patterns of strategic choice processes both reflect and influence each organistion's structure and functioning. Both voluntary organisations are constrained from making strategic choices which would satisfy the demands of prospective clientele who desire new forms of early childhood education services – the playcentre movement is constrained by its ideology and its method of delivering pre-school education via parent participation in all aspects of the organisation; and the kindergarten movement is constrained by the accumulation of many rules which inhibit the organisation's ability to adapt to changing social conditions. The playcentre organisation's pattern of decision making has been ahead of its time in the extent of members' participation, and so also has it been with its dual education programme – children and parents learning together; but the kindergarten organisation's children's programme – children and parents learning together; but the kindergarten oganisation's children's programme is better matched with the greater demand for kindergarten pre-school education.</p>

An Organisational Study of the Free Kindergarten and Playcentre Movements in New Zealand

<p>The free kindergarten and playcentre organisations were subjects of case studies for an examination of strategic choice processes in voluntary organisations, using an open-systems theoretical framework. The patterns of strategic choices in each movement, over time, were described; then four recent decision processes and their consequences analysed. The data about the strategic choice processes gathered by participant observation were validated by three small surveys: one of 138 parents of pre-school children, one of 62 free kindergarten and playcentre staff, and one of 162 playcentre and kindergarten volunteers. General conclusions are that the patterns of strategic choice processes both reflect and influence each organistion's structure and functioning. Both voluntary organisations are constrained from making strategic choices which would satisfy the demands of prospective clientele who desire new forms of early childhood education services – the playcentre movement is constrained by its ideology and its method of delivering pre-school education via parent participation in all aspects of the organisation; and the kindergarten movement is constrained by the accumulation of many rules which inhibit the organisation's ability to adapt to changing social conditions. The playcentre organisation's pattern of decision making has been ahead of its time in the extent of members' participation, and so also has it been with its dual education programme – children and parents learning together; but the kindergarten organisation's children's programme – children and parents learning together; but the kindergarten oganisation's children's programme is better matched with the greater demand for kindergarten pre-school education.</p>

Challenges of Development in Nibgee Village, Ethiopia

<p>This thesis examined why the Nibgeean community, situated in a deep valley 70 kilometres from the capital city of Ethiopia, has chosen to stay in a place where travel is difficult, and amenities are very basic or nonexistent. They have remained there independently, peacefully, and relatively unchanged, for generations; largely untouched by famines and wars that have afflicted wider Ethiopia. Various methods were employed in order to determine the points of view of the people of Nibgee and find out how they regard their own development and whether they subjectively experience deprivation. It was expected that they would feel profoundly in need of a road but direct observation, dream mapping and interviews established that they feel happy and proud as they are, and in fact their isolation is a strategic choice to maintain their self-sustainability and preserve their safe haven. Their traditional culture of cooperation, conservation and resistance to outside interference was found to have kept them safe for generations. They showed some interest in development, however, with different groups within the community showing particular interest in the development of a school and electricity.</p>

Challenges of Development in Nibgee Village, Ethiopia

<p>This thesis examined why the Nibgeean community, situated in a deep valley 70 kilometres from the capital city of Ethiopia, has chosen to stay in a place where travel is difficult, and amenities are very basic or nonexistent. They have remained there independently, peacefully, and relatively unchanged, for generations; largely untouched by famines and wars that have afflicted wider Ethiopia. Various methods were employed in order to determine the points of view of the people of Nibgee and find out how they regard their own development and whether they subjectively experience deprivation. It was expected that they would feel profoundly in need of a road but direct observation, dream mapping and interviews established that they feel happy and proud as they are, and in fact their isolation is a strategic choice to maintain their self-sustainability and preserve their safe haven. Their traditional culture of cooperation, conservation and resistance to outside interference was found to have kept them safe for generations. They showed some interest in development, however, with different groups within the community showing particular interest in the development of a school and electricity.</p>

Strategic entrepreneurial choice between competing crowdfunding platforms

This paper investigates strategic entrepreneurial choice between the UK Big 3 platforms–Crowdcube, Seedrs and SyndicateRoom–that exemplify the three main equity crowdfunding (ECF) shareholder structures identified in the literature. ECF has become a strategic choice for both entrepreneurs and angel and venture capital funds as it offers mutually beneficial advantages to both, especially under the co-investment ECF model where these funds co-invest alongside the crowd. The multinomial probit results show that large founder teams are more likely to choose the co-investment model (SyndicateRoom) but are less likely to opt for the nominee ownership structure (Seedrs). Although less heterogeneous teams are more likely to choose the Seedrs and Crowdcube ownership structures, our results suggest that the probability of choosing the co-investment model (SyndicateRoom) monotonically increases as teams become more heterogeneous. The conclusion is that larger and heterogeneous teams are more likely to raise ECF funds from campaigns explicitly involving professional investors.

Four Types of Japanese Regional Policy in the Perspective of Liberal Intergovernmentalism

What are the determinants of Japan’s regional policies? This article argues that Japan’s regional policy is the result of the government’s strategic choice made through processes of domestic and international bargaining. Based on liberal intergovernmentalism, this article focuses on the level of domestic preferences for East Asia and the threat of China. In the first stage, the preference of the Prime Minister and political winning-coalition groups matter. In the second stage, the level of the threat of China is a pivotal variable. In combining these two variables, the article proposes the following four types of ideal regional policies for Japan: (1) pro-East Asia policy; (2) expanded-Asia policy; (3) interactive policy; and (4) reactive policy. To substantiate this idea, the article traces Japan’s regional policy trajectory from the Yoshida Cabinet to the Hatoyama Cabinet. An in-depth case study shows that Japanese cabinets vary in their regional policies in the way this article expected from each ideal type based on liberal intergovernmentalism.