Ecosystems and human well-being : health synthesis

This report synthesizes the findings from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's (MA) global and sub-global assessments of how ecosystem changes do, or could, affect human health and well-being. Main topics covered are: Food, fresh water, timber, fibre, and fuel, nutrient and waste management, pollution, processing and detoxification, cultural, spiritual and recreational services, climate regulation, and extreme weather events.

Linking human and ecosystem health: the benefits of community involvement in conservation groups

This study explored the health, well-being, and social capital benefits gained by community members who are involved in the management of land for conservation in six rural communities across Victoria. A total of 102 people participated in the study (64 males; 38 females) comprising 51 members of a community-based land management group and 51 controls matched by age and gender. Mixed methods were employed, including the use of an adapted version of Buckner’s (1988) Community Cohesion Scale. The results indicate that involvement in the management of land for conservation may contribute to both the health and well-being of members, and to the social capital of the local community. The members of the land management groups rated their general health higher, reported visiting the doctor less often, felt safer in the local community, and utilized the skills that they have acquired in their lifetime more frequently than the control participants. Male members reported the highest level of general health, and the greatest satisfaction with daily activities. Members also reported a greater sense of belonging to the local community and a greater willingness to work toward improving their community than their control counterparts. Of equal importance is evidence that involvement in voluntary conservation work constitutes a means of building social capital in rural communities which may help reduce some of the negative aspects of rural life.

Tapping global human resources in an MBA teaching team : insights with implications for management education worldwide

It is found that geographic diversity, respect for differing beliefs, encouraging feedback, active participation and interaction with the students, and techniques such as active listening, contribute an architecture and atmosphere to student learning, teacher effectiveness and program excellence in virtual education. One functioning teaching team in University of Maryland University College’s online MBA program provides the action research foundation underpinning the findings. A widely dispersed team of academics and assistants have documented the ways they enhance educational information for students in the program. Assessment activities, supplementary communications and biographical information contribute to student perception of the quality of management education in the program. Mechanisms for effectively tapping a global faculty team are discussed and are informative for administrators and academics alike.

Human resources development for sustainable aquaculture in the new millennium

Human resources development (HRD) is pivotal to aquaculture development in the new millennium, particularly so in the changing global pressure for all development to be environmentally and socially acceptable, irrespective of the economic status of nations. In the above context, HRD in the aquaculture sector has to have a more holistic approach, and the type of training provided has to be changed accordingly. Most nations in which aquaculture plays a significant role in poverty alleviation recognise that HRD is a key to sustained development of the sector. The types and levels of training required in the sector in the foreseeable future are discussed. The need to increase specialised training, particularly for researchers, in some of the developing nations likely to play adominant role in the aquaculture sector in the ensuing years, is also underlined. Examples are presented to indicate that current development programmes do not cater to HRD to the extent that is desirable to have a long-term impact.

Suzhi development: Indigenous approaches to enhancing the quality of human resources

Purpose- This paper aims to examine the Chinese indigenous concept of suzhi ((ProQuest: Non US-ASCII text omitted)) by analyzing its historical evolution and its contemporary implications for human resource management (HRM) research and practice at the national and organizational levels.Design/methodology/approach- An integrated review of literatures in sinology, political science, anthropology and sociology concerned with suzhi-related research, combined with recent incidents associated with suzhi.Findings-Suzhi is an indigenous concept embedded in the centuries-long historical context of China.Suzhi development has been focused on three key dimensions, moral, physical and mental, as a way of building quality employees and citizens. Yet developing and quantifying the moral aspects ofsuzhi is more challenging than measuring its physical and mental dimensions. Linkingsuzhi development to human capital theory enriches the understanding of this indigenous concept at both organizational and national levels.Research limitations/implications- By analyzing a three-dimensionalsuzhi composite, the article offers an example of howsuzhi may be linked to human capital theory and identifies directions for future research.Originality/value- By analyzingsuzhi at organizational and national levels for HRM purposes, this article broadens thesuzhi literature from its place in the political sciences and social anthropology to encompass a theoretical analysis in HRM and development for the benefit of organizations and the society.

Managing work health and safety : recent developments and future directions

Effective management of occupational health and safety ( OHS) continues to pose a challenge to many organisations. While significant advancement has occurred in knowledge about traditional workplace risks, organisational and labour market changes have created new risks, psychosocial risks are more prevalent, and the trend towards the adoption of OHS management systems has produced only mixed results. These issues are the focus of this review of recent developments in workplace health and safety. We argue there is a need for organisations to refocus systematically on a collaborative approach to identifying and controlling workplace risks, and on improving the integration of OHS into broader systems and every day management to better meet existing and future OHS challenges.

Modelling solute transport in structured soils: performance evaluation of the ADR and TRM models

The movement of chemicals through the soil to the groundwater or discharged to surface waters represents a degradation of these resources. In many cases, serious human and stock health implications are associated with this form of pollution. The chemicals of interest include nutrients, pesticides, salts, and industrial wastes. Recent studies have shown that current models and methods do not adequately describe the leaching of nutrients through soil, often underestimating the risk of groundwater contamination by surface-applied chemicals and overestimating the concentration of resident solutes. This inaccuracy results primarily from ignoring soil structure and nonequilibrium between soil constituents, water, and solutes. A multiple sample percolation system (MSPS), consisting of 25 individual collection wells, was constructed to study the effects of localized soil heterogeneities on the transport of nutrients (NO−3, Cl−, PO3−4) in the vadose zone of an agricultural soil predominantly dominated by clay. Very significant variations in drainage patterns across a small spatial scale were observed (one-way ANOVA, p < 0.001 indicating considerable heterogeneity in water flow patterns and nutrient leaching. Using data collected from the multiple sample percolation experiments, this paper compares the performance of two mathematical models for predicting solute transport, the advective-dispersion model with a reaction term (ADR), and a two-region preferential flow model (TRM) suitable for modelling nonequilibrium transport. These results have implications for modelling solute transport and predicting nutrient loading on a larger scale.

The role of human resource management (HRM) in Australian-Malaysian joint ventures

This article examines human resource management (HRM) for successful Australian-Malaysian joint ventures (JVs), on the basis of survey data and case studies. The findings suggest that each phase of JV development had its own pattern of HR practices. Three phases of development were distinguished - initiation, transitional, and maturational. The first phase involved selecting, recruiting and training a skilled workforce and formulating rudimentary human resource policies. Cultural differences were most marked in this phase. The second phase, after three years of operation, involved evolution of human resource policies better suited to local conditions, and more polycentric management staffing. The final phase, after six years of operation, saw the development of a distinctive human resources system, and the minimisation of cultural differences as an operational issue. In this phase there was also a move to more geocentric management staffing.

Time to curtail summary dismissal in Australia

It is assumed that the right to summarily dismiss an employee for certain forms of misconduct is a fundamental legal right reposed in employers. It is argued that the scope of this right in Australia is too expansive and should be significantly curtailed. In its current form, the right to summarily dismiss employees offends several widely accepted legal and normative maxims and is incompatible with several behavioural norms. While this paper focuses on Australian summary dismissal law, the doctrinal analysis and the reform suggestions advanced in this paper are of relevance to all market economy jurisdictions. Studies of human well-being show that employment, independent of its wealth-creating aspect, is important to well-being. Matters that are central to a person's well-being should not be taken away readily. This moral prescription is given legal recognition by the legal principle of proportionality, which prescribes that there should be proportion between the punishment and harm caused by the wrongdoing. Moreover, it is not the case that a single impertinent act is defining of a person's character or necessarily evinces a predisposition to behave in a like manner in the future.