Coloso fragmentado: la agenda “interméstica” y la política exterior latinoamericana

Los asuntos “intermésticos”, como el comercio, la migración y el narcotráfico, tienen un gran peso en las relaciones contemporáneas entre Estados Unidos y América Latina y son de suma importancia para los estados latinoamericanos y del Caribe. Pero, pese a su trascendencia para los líderes y las sociedades de Latinoamérica, el éxito que han tenido los diplomáticos del continente en influir sobre la política estadounidense en estos temas ha sido aún menor que en otras esferas. Esto se debe, al menos en parte, a las dinámicas que los asuntos intermésticos generan en el proceso de la política exterior de Estados Unidos. Si bien dichas dinámicas han sido ampliamente estudiadas, se ha prestado menos atención a cómo inciden en la política exterior de América Latina y el Caribe hacia Estados Unidos. A partir de los trabajos de Putnam, Milner y Tsebelis, entre otros, este artículo sostiene que los asuntos intermésticos enfrentan más actores con capacidad de veto y tienen menos “conjuntos ganadores” (win-sets) que los asuntos de política exterior tradicionales, lo que dificulta aún más los intentos por influir en las políticas estadounidenses. Esta tesis se examina tomando como ejemplo el caso de la disputa entre Estados Unidos y México por el cruce fronterizo de camiones y los veinte años que el gobierno mexicano tuvo que luchar contra funcionarios y grupos de interés estadounidenses para lograr que aquel país cumpliera con lo dispuesto en el TLCAN. Luego de examinar brevemente otros asuntos similares, el artículo concluye que los asuntos intermésticos exigen estrategias diplomáticas diferentes por parte de los legisladores latinoamericanos.

Living up to the value agenda: the empirical realities of through-life value creation in construction

Current research agendas are increasingly encouraging the construction industry to operate on the basis of 'added value'. Such debates echo the established concept of 'high value manufacturing' and associated trends towards servitization. Within construction, the so-called 'value agenda' draws heavily from the notion of integrated solutions. This is held to be especially appropriate in the context of PFI projects. Also relevant is the concept of service-led projects whereby the project rationale is driven by the client's objectives for delivering an enhanced service to its own customers. Such ideas are contextualized by a consideration of broader trends of privatization and outsourcing within and across the construction industry's client base. The current emphasis on integrated solutions reflects long-term trends within privatized client organizations towards the outsourcing of asset management capabilities. However, such trends are by no means uniform or consistent. An in-depth case study of three operating divisions within a major construction company illustrates that firms are unlikely to reorientate their business in response to the 'value agenda'. In the case of PFI, the tendency has been to establish specialist units for the purposes of winning work. Meanwhile, institutionally embedded operating routines within the rest of the business remain broadly unaffected.

Innovation care pathways and the healthcare built environment: An explanatory framework and research agenda

The built environment in which health and social care is delivered can have an impact on the efficiency and outcomes of care processes. The health-care estate is large and growing and is expensive to build, adapt and maintain. The design of these buildings is a complex, difficult and political process. Better use of care pathways as an input to the design and use of the built environment has the potential to deliver significant benefits. A number of variations on the idea of care pathways are already used in designing health-care buildings but this is under-researched. This paper provides a framework for thinking about care pathways and the health-care built environment. The framework distinguishes between five different pathway ‘types’ defined for the purpose of understanding the relationship between pathways and infrastructure. The five types are: ‘care pathways’, ‘integrated care pathways’, ‘patient pathways’, ‘patient journeys’ and ‘patient flows’. The built environment implications of each type are discussed and recommendations made for those involved in either building development or care pathway projects.

The construction industry and its resources: a research agenda

The desirable coverage of the journal is considered including the need to focus on research which can lead to positive action. Criteria for establishing the desirability of research projects are proposed and these are then applied first, to four broad issues and, secondly, to the inputs and other requirements for a well functioning industry. Some conclusions are drawn as to the research most likely to enable action to be taken to improve the industry. It is found that certain other difficulties can sometimes be dealt with by experimentation with actual projects or, where there is consensus on desirable action, by bringing pressure to bear on those able to initiate change.

IEPs in mainstream secondary schools: an agenda for research

Providing children with special educational needs with individual education plans (IEPs) was advocated in the 1994 code of practice for SEN, and retained in the 2000 code. Specifically as it relates to mainstream secondary schools, this has proved highly controversial: many SENCos report that the writing and implementing of IEPs is a bureaucratic encumbrance, whilst others, going about the process of writing IEPs in very different ways, report that the process is both manageable and beneficial to the children concerned. Given this contradictory evidence, there is an urgent need for research into this area. Having looked at three case-studies of schools using very different methods to write IEPs in ways with which they feel comfortable, a research agenda is set out with a view to informing policies which ensure that resources spent on SEN are used as productively as possible.

Subjectively construed identities and discourse: towards a research agenda for construction management

Identity issues are under-explored in construction management. We provide a brief introduction to the organization studies literature on subjectively construed identities, focusing on discourse, agency, relations of power and identity work. The construction management literature is investigated in order to examine identity concerns as they relate to construction managers centred on (1) professionalism; (2) ethics; (3) relational aspects of self-identity; (4) competence, knowledge and tools; and (5) national culture. Identity, we argue, is a key performance issue, and needs to be accounted for in explanations of the success and failure of projects. Our overriding concern is to raise identity issues in order to demonstrate their importance to researchers in construction management and to spark debate. The purpose of this work is not to provide answers or to propose prescriptive models, but to explore ideas, raise awareness and to generate questions for further programmatic research. To this end, we promote empirical work and theorizing by outlining elements of a research agenda which argues that 'identity' is a potentially generative theme for scholars in construction management.

Barriers and commitment of facilities management profession to the sustainability agenda

The practice of sustainable facilities management (FM) is rapidly evolving with the increasing interest in the discourse of sustainable development. This paper examines a recent survey of the experiences of facilities managers in the rapidly growing and evolving industry in regard to the barriers and their commitment to the sustainability agenda. The survey results show that time constraints, lack of knowledge and lack of senior management commitment are the main barriers for the implementation of consistent and comprehensive sustainable FM policy and practice. The paper concludes that the diversity of the FM role and the traditional undervaluation of the contribution it makes to the success of organisations are partially responsible for lack of success in achieving sustainable facilities. The overwhelming barrier for sustainable FM practice is the lack of understanding, focus and commitment of senior executives in appreciating the opportunities, threats and need for strategic leadership and direction in driving essential change, and hence further the sustainability agenda.