CSO and Media Contributions to the Fight Against Corruption in Ghana’s Extractive Sector: A Political Economy Analysis

Estimates show that Ghana losses approximately 30 percent of domestic revenue to corruption. Although losses due to corruption in Ghana’s extractive sector have not yet been quantified, the sector is plagued with incidents of corruption despite the country's commitment to international conventions, transparency mechanisms and best practices. A concerted efforts by state and non-actors is key to ease this canker. Understanding the role of CSOs and media in exposing corruption, promoting oversight and identifying the enablers and obstacles to their work is key to informing practise in the development space. This study examines the role of CSOs and media in the fight against extractive sector corruption. It identifies political economy factors that enable or hinder them in exposing corruption. Lastly, it identifies practical suggestions for surmounting the identified adverse political and economic factors. The research examines two cases of corruption, based on a desktop review and a survey of 11 state and non-state actors. A direct association between the role of CSOs and media and the level of corruption were established. Coalition building, using legal suits, sustaining advocacy, collaborations between media and CSOs are some enabling political economy factors identified. Inadequate resources to sustain advocacy, excessive duplicity of roles amongst oversight institutions, vested interests in extractive sector, inadequate prosecution of offenders by the legal system, inadequate evidence-based policy solutions by government, inadequate political will, limited access to information; little or no funding for legal action, increasing CSO and media employee turnover rates, are identified as some key political economy factors militating against efforts towards stemming corruption in Ghana’s extractive sector. These findings provide reliable information for CSOs and media in development practice, informs advocacy design, evaluates and improves media and CSO effectiveness in ridding the extractive sector of corruption.

The risk assessment on the security of industrial internet infrastructure under intelligent convergence with the case of G.E.'s intellectual transformation

<abstract> <p>The industrial internet depends on the development of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and big data analysis. Intelligent fusion is dependent on the architecture and security features of the industrial internet. Firstly, the paper studies the infrastructure mode that needs to be solved urgently in the industrial internet and provides a possible infrastructure mode and related security evaluation system. Secondly, it analyses the digital transformation process with the case of G.E.os industrial nternet development practice. It clarifies that G.E. is forming a new value closed-loop through digital and strategy mixed channels. Thirdly, industrial internet security research is described within multiple viewpoints based on industrial internet applications, the security service and security assurance defense systemos architecture, and the non-user entrance probability model. Finally, the paper illustrates the changes in knowledge workflow and social collaboration caused by the industrial internet under intelligent manufacture.</p> </abstract>

The Grounded Theory Methodology in Organization Studies Within Qualitative Research

It is believed that the grounded theory (GT) approach works best for researchers who are concerned about the gap between academic and practical research because of the importance they place on applied research. The chapter aimed to explain the GT methodology and identify its application in organizational research context. In this regard, the theory-research-development-practice cycle, the factors affecting the choice of organization research methodology, and the types of qualitative research methods have been studied by comparing four qualitative methods of case study, GT, phenomenological study, and content analysis. Also, in this regard, the four main GT schools including Glaserian classic GT, Straussian GT, Charmazian constructivist GT, and Clarkeian situational GT, as well as the GT process involving the phases of data collection, coding, memo-ing, sorting, and validation are discussed in detail.

THE INTERNATIONAL POPULARISATION OF LESSON STUDY: EARLY STUDIES AND THEIR RELEVANCE IN LATER LITERATURE

Lesson study (LS) is a teachers’ professional development practice with a Japanese origin that, at present, is practiced in more than 30 countries. Literature on LS acknowledges the works of Stigler and Hiebert and of Yoshida in 1999 as the origin of its internationalization. However, earlier studies described its practice and have mostly remained under the radar of LS previous researcher. This historical and documentary literature review sheds light on these previous studies describing LS, analyses their bibliometric relevance, and uncovers the first use of ‘lesson study’ as the terminology adopted in the international literature. Results reveal eight studies clearly describing LS before 1999 and more oblique references in the 1980s. ‘Lesson study’ appeared first in 1997, but we make the case for the previous use of other terminology. Findings also show that only those studies written by authors who later became key in the field of LS have received a high number of citations. These results bring attention to LS-related literature that has infrequently been cited, granting it recognition in the international history of LS, and expanding our current view in relation to its practice.

Tujuan Pembangungan Berkelanjutan (TPB): Hilirisasi Inovasi Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi menuju Independent dan Smart Village

Towards an independent and smart village that is successful, advanced, and independent, and prosperous, forms of active participation from various parties, including universities, to support the success of the program are needed. Therefore, this community service activity will be carried out in order to downstream information and communication technology innovation to go independent and smart village which will be carried out in Rukti Endah Village seputih Raman District of Central Lampung Regency. The purpose of this activity is to hold the official village page, train human resources, and digitize data and information and public services. This activity will be carried out by methods of presentation, discussion, model development, practice, and simulation. Through this activity, it is expected that partner villages will be able to improve the quality of service so that it is no longer confusing and time-consuming so that the village apparatus will not be busy with administrative problems. In addition, village data and information will be more organized so that decision making for data-driven development purposes can be done appropriately and various potential villages will be accessible to anyone and at any time. Digital village progress for the future is very good because with the smart village it is expected that the village can become independent and able to run it. The structure of the village is also important because it makes the community an important part of the development and progress of the village so that almost all village policies will always pay attention to the existence of the community.

Trying out loud: Leadership development as experimentalism

Where does leadership development turn if its heroic ideals are no longer tenable? This study takes leadership practice, not the classroom, as its point of departure. Leadership studies have demonstrated the romance in leadership theory of an individual, stable, and coherent leadership figure, even if this figure does not connect to actual practices. In other streams of research, practice increasingly appears to be a resource for less presumptuous theorizing about leadership. These more situationally sensitive approaches call for equivalent leadership development practices, and extant literature in particular has escaped the confines of the executive management classroom to only a limited extent. While experiential learning has proved an efficient means of instigating and harvesting in-classroom experiences for subsequent reflection and learning, translating these experiences into (later) leadership practice has proved problematic. The mundanity of practice rarely corresponds to the theoretical exposés emanating from classrooms. Using a leadership development program (LDP) as our case, we explore accounts from managers carrying out in-practice experiments and analyze these processes in light of Dewey’s notion of experimentalism. Identifying a series of attributes associated with the experimental intervention, we illuminate some future avenues for situated leadership development as well as offer considerations for leadership development practice.

Decolonising development practice pedagogy: ways forward and persistent challenges in the synchronous online classroom

Although decolonisation is a pressing goal for many front-line instructors, there are few pedagogical resources for how to do this in the online environment. This article provides a set of strategic approaches that can help combat dominant power dynamics in the classroom and open opportunities for transformative learning. The research draws on instructor focus groups and student surveys from the synchronous, online Master of Development Practice programme at Regis University, USA. Six pedagogical approaches are described in light of their successes and remaining challenges: building community, learning from each other and co-creating knowledge, opening spaces for participation, de-centring Western voices and epistemologies, focusing on the critical thinking, reflection and action cycle and creating connection in virtual spaces.

The Experiences of Development Practitioners and Challenges in Community Engagement in Laos

<p>Poverty alleviation is a top priority of the global development agenda. Laos is still on the list of Least Developed Countries as measured by the United Nations. Poverty in the Lao context is socially and culturally unique. The Government of Laos works collaboratively with development partners and non-governmental organisations to overcome poverty through development programmes throughout the country. However, the universal development and poverty definitions, including the development and poverty interventions which are influenced by such definitions, do not necessarily match the local contexts and practices. This thesis examines development practice and community engagement in the Lao context through exploring experiences and perspectives of development practitioners who have worked in and engaged with community development in Laos. The thesis adopts a qualitative approach, drawing upon a social constructivist epistemology and a postcolonial framework. Semi-structured interviews, a form of qualitative methodologies, were employed for data collection. The interviews involved thirteen participants from both governmental and non-governmental organisations, and included both local development workers and expatriates. The focus of interviews was to investigate experiences of and opinions about their development practice and community engagement in Laos. The findings reveal that development practice in Laos requires sufficient time to understand and learn about communities and their actual problems. Development discourses have conceptualised understandings associated with development and this has shaped how governments, donors, development partners, policymakers and development practitioners perceive mainstream development. The conceptualisation was mainly influenced by Western ideologies and was undeniably a legacy of colonialism. Participatory development approaches have been recommended by all research participants as one of the most effective approaches to bring about success and long-term sustainability. The findings also suggest that participation is required from the beginning of the development process, including in problem analysis, planning, monitoring and evaluating stages. In short, a sense of belonging and ownership needs to be present throughout the entire process of development. Furthermore, it is important for development practitioners to thoughtfully recognise and reflect critically on their roles as to whether they are insiders or outsiders when working on the ground. This can determine development outcomes. This research recommends local people be employed more to work as part of development projects in their own communities. By using these approaches, community development can be more effective and meaningful in a sustainable manner and truly respond to the real needs of communities. This can also contribute to a new phase of participatory development practice.</p>

The Experiences of Development Practitioners and Challenges in Community Engagement in Laos

<p>Poverty alleviation is a top priority of the global development agenda. Laos is still on the list of Least Developed Countries as measured by the United Nations. Poverty in the Lao context is socially and culturally unique. The Government of Laos works collaboratively with development partners and non-governmental organisations to overcome poverty through development programmes throughout the country. However, the universal development and poverty definitions, including the development and poverty interventions which are influenced by such definitions, do not necessarily match the local contexts and practices. This thesis examines development practice and community engagement in the Lao context through exploring experiences and perspectives of development practitioners who have worked in and engaged with community development in Laos. The thesis adopts a qualitative approach, drawing upon a social constructivist epistemology and a postcolonial framework. Semi-structured interviews, a form of qualitative methodologies, were employed for data collection. The interviews involved thirteen participants from both governmental and non-governmental organisations, and included both local development workers and expatriates. The focus of interviews was to investigate experiences of and opinions about their development practice and community engagement in Laos. The findings reveal that development practice in Laos requires sufficient time to understand and learn about communities and their actual problems. Development discourses have conceptualised understandings associated with development and this has shaped how governments, donors, development partners, policymakers and development practitioners perceive mainstream development. The conceptualisation was mainly influenced by Western ideologies and was undeniably a legacy of colonialism. Participatory development approaches have been recommended by all research participants as one of the most effective approaches to bring about success and long-term sustainability. The findings also suggest that participation is required from the beginning of the development process, including in problem analysis, planning, monitoring and evaluating stages. In short, a sense of belonging and ownership needs to be present throughout the entire process of development. Furthermore, it is important for development practitioners to thoughtfully recognise and reflect critically on their roles as to whether they are insiders or outsiders when working on the ground. This can determine development outcomes. This research recommends local people be employed more to work as part of development projects in their own communities. By using these approaches, community development can be more effective and meaningful in a sustainable manner and truly respond to the real needs of communities. This can also contribute to a new phase of participatory development practice.</p>

Reading in the Wake: Empathy Debates, “The Reader,” and Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child

Toni Morrison’s 2015 novel God Help the Child complicates both naïve celebrations and outright rejections of empathy as one of reading’s goals. Explicating the protagonist Bride’s journey as a primer in empathy, I argue that in centring a Black protagonist as Everyreader, Morrison undermines the implicit whiteness of both “the reader” and the subject of scientific study and moral theory. Yet the role of racial prejudice in Bride’s childhood trauma refuses to let readers forget that the source of her trouble is not her own moral failing but, rather, what Christina Sharpe calls “the weather” of white supremacy. By the novel’s end, empathy emerges as a powerful source of interpersonal and societal care across racial, class, and generational difference, but one that can be undermined by white supremacy at its most basic, pre-conscious functioning, rendering the role of literature to develop readers’ capacity to empathize across difference all the more important. Ultimately, Morrison’s allegory of readerly empathy challenges not just popular discussions of literature’s good but also the entire interdisciplinary conversation among literary scholars, cognitive psychologists, and neuroscientists by insisting that we attend to the specific but so far under-acknowledged role of racism in the development, practice, and study of empathy.