Carbon stocks, tree diversity, and the role of organic certification in different cocoa production systems in Alto Beni, Bolivia

This study compares aboveground and belowground carbon stocks and tree diversity in different cocoa cultivation systems in Bolivia: monoculture, simple agroforestry, and successional agroforestry, as well as fallow as a control. Since diversified, agroforestry-based cultivation systems are often considered important for sustainable development, we also evaluated the links between carbon stocks and tree diversity, as well as the role of organic certification in transitioning from monoculture to agroforestry. Biomass, tree diversity, and soil physiochemical parameters were sampled in 15 plots measuring 48 × 48 m. Semi-structured interviews with 52 cocoa farmers were used to evaluate the role of organic certification and farmers’ organizations (e.g., cocoa cooperatives) in promoting tree diversity. Total carbon stocks in simple agroforestry systems (128.4 ± 20 Mg ha−1) were similar to those on fallow plots (125.2 ± 10 Mg ha−1). Successional agroforestry systems had the highest carbon stocks (143.7 ± 5.3 Mg ha−1). Monocultures stored significantly less carbon than all other systems (86.3 ± 4.0 Mg ha−1, posterior probability P(Diff > 0) of 0.000–0.006). Among shade tree species, Schizolobium amazonicum, Centrolobium ochroxylum, and Anadenanthera sp. accumulated the most biomass. High-value timber species (S. amazonicum, C. ochroxylum, Amburana cearensis, and Swietenia macrophylla) accounted for 22.0 % of shade tree biomass. The Shannon index and tree species richness were highest in successional agroforestry systems. Cocoa plots on certified organic farms displayed significantly higher tree species richness than plots on non-certified farms. Thus, expanding the coverage of organic farmers’ organizations may be an effective strategy for fostering transitions from monoculture to agroforestry systems.

Keeping citizens, companies, and organizations informed by Web KnowARR

For the main part, electronic government (or e-government for short) aims to put digital public services at disposal for citizens, companies, and organizations. To that end, in particular, e-government comprises the application of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to support government operations and provide better governmental services (Fraga, 2002) as possible with traditional means. Accordingly, e-government services go further as traditional governmental services and aim to fundamentally alter the processes in which public services are generated and delivered, after this manner transforming the entire spectrum of relationships of public bodies with its citizens, businesses and other government agencies (Leitner, 2003). To implement this transformation, one of the most important points is to inform the citizen, business, and/or other government agencies faithfully and in an accessible way. This allows all the partaking participants of governmental affairs for a transition from passive information access to active participation (Palvia and Sharma, 2007). In addition, by a corresponding handling of the participants' data, a personalization towards these participants may even be accomplished. For instance, by creating significant user profiles as a kind of participants' tailored knowledge structures, a better-quality governmental service may be provided (i.e., expressed by individualized governmental services). To create such knowledge structures, thus known information (e.g., a social security number) can be enriched by vague information that may be accurate to a certain degree only. Hence, fuzzy knowledge structures can be generated, which help improve governmental-participants relationship. The Web KnowARR framework (Portmann and Thiessen, 2013; Portmann and Pedrycz, 2014; Portmann and Kaltenrieder, 2014), which I introduce in my presentation, allows just all these participants to be automatically informed about changes of Web content regarding a- respective governmental action. The name Web KnowARR thereby stands for a self-acting entity (i.e. instantiated form the conceptual framework) that knows or apprehends the Web. In this talk, the frameworks respective three main components from artificial intelligence research (i.e. knowledge aggregation, representation, and reasoning), as well as its specific use in electronic government will be briefly introduced and discussed.

The tower of David : a book of stories for the program of women's organizations

by Elma Ehrlich Levinger

Gender-Fair Language in Organizations: Attracting Potential Leaders and Promoting the Organizational Image of Gender Equality

In many languages, masculine generics are the traditional way of referring to women and men. However, gender-fair forms (e.g., feminine-masculine word pairs) can enhance gender equality: for instance, they counteract male biases in mental associations (Stahlberg et al., 2007) and evoke more neutral perceptions of gender-stereotypical professions (Merkel et al., 2013). Compared to masculine forms, use of gender-fair language in advertisements for leadership positions also helps to achieve gender equality in hiring decisions (e.g., use of German Geschäftsführerin/Geschäftsführer 'CEO fem/masc' instead of Geschäftsführer 'CEO masc', cf. Horvath & Sczesny, 2012). The present research investigates how potential applicants react to the use of gender-fair vs. masculine forms in German job ads for leadership positions (Study 1) and how the respective organization is perceived in response to these forms (Study 2). In Study 1, 251 participants showed higher intentions to apply for a leadership position when it was advertised with a feminine-masculine word pair instead of a masculine form; this was mediated by job appeal and organizational attraction. In Study 2, 154 participants perceived the organization as more discriminatory when masculine forms were used. This was mediated by the organizational image of gender equality. Thus, gender-fair language affects the social perception of a job and the respective organization and can impact social behavior in an organizational context.

Inseparable, incapable, or invisible: Why public organizations award no-bid contracts

No-bid contracting is a highly prevalent practice in public procurement of technology services. Alt-hough no-bid contracting is a substantial problem since it reduces competition and welfare, the litera-ture lacks theoretical explanations and empirical tests for why public organizations award no-bid con-tracts. In this paper, we propose three theoretical explanations for no-bid contracting, drawing on transaction cost economics, organizational learning, and institutional theory. We also present how we test these explanations using a comprehensive sample of public procurement transactions. We expect to contribute theoretical explanations for no-bid contracting and practical implications for policy-makers.

Cognition, Redundancy, and Learning in Organizations

No abstract available.

Quality in healthcare organizations: Its meaning and measurement

This dissertation explores two important aspects of quality in healthcare: its meaning and its measurement. For a better understanding of what quality means, the history of quality in the manufacturing and service industries is reviewed. Concepts that are similar are pointed out as are concepts that are different. The definition introduced by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for quality in healthcare and the six IOM aims of safety, timeliness, patient-centeredness, effectiveness, efficiency, and equitableness for a high quality healthcare system are adopted. The current activities by various organizations that proclaim improvement in quality or measurement of quality as their goal are reviewed. This is followed by examining what is offered by these organizations in terms of how many of IOM aims they address.^ This dissertation ends by offering a quality measurement framework that satisfies all IOM aims. Operational aspects of the measurement framework are discussed. Future areas of research are also discussed.^

Performance in healthcare organizations: The quality dimension

In the context of a healthcare organization, such as a hospital that provides medical care to its community, performance cannot be measured without special attention to quality. Indeed, quality is as important as finance not only in measuring performance for the organization, but also in securing the organization's viability and competitiveness in the long run.^ Yet quality today is not adequately understood and managed. An inductive framework for integrating finance and quality for purposes of organizational performance measurement as well as strategic planning is proposed in this dissertation. Future areas of research are discussed.^

Corporate decision-making: A case study of decision support systems and financial performance in health care organizations

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) To describe the relation of the intensity of DSS implementation to financial performance as an empirical exploration of improved performance at the organizational level. (2) To describe the relation of the intensity of DSS implementation to the type of organizational decision culture. A multiple case study design was utilized to compare three groups of paired cases. A pattern matching strategy was applied in this study. Four predictions were specified and compared to the empirical data. A progressively upward trend in the scores was predicted for the following theoretical relationships. (1) The greater the number of DSSs, the higher the sophistication index. (2) The greater the number of DSSs, the higher the financial ratios. (3) The greater the number of DSSs, the higher the culture score. (4) The higher the culture score, the higher the financial ratios. The data did not support any of the predicted trends except the relation between the number of DSSs and the financial ratios. The Income/Revenue ratio indicates the efficiency of a company's operations. One would expect that this ratio would be most affected by the operational and financial decision support systems. The majority of the systems measured in the study supported decisions tangential to the patient service areas. The evidence suggested that the type and number of decision support systems affects the bottom line. ^

Planning for Emotional Labor and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Child Welfare Organizations

This analysis provides an emergent framework that emphasizes a neglected component of both direct practice with families and organizational development. Human emotions, both beneficial (positive emotional labor) and harmful (negative emotional labor), have received short shrift in leadership development, supervision, direct practice preparation and supports, and workforce stabilization, and professionalization. Significantly, a key indicator of negative emotional labor—secondary traumatic stress (STS)—often has been ignored and neglected, despite the fact that it may be endemic in the workforce. STS typically results from traumatic events in practice, but it also stems from workplace violence. Often undetected and untreated, STS is at least a hidden correlate and perhaps a probable cause of myriad problems such as questionable practice with families, life-work conflicts, undesirable workforce turnover, and a sub-optimal organizational climate. Special interventions are needed. At the same time, new organizational designs are needed to promote and reinforce positive emotional labor. Arguably, positive emotional labor and the positive organizational climates it facilitates are requisites for harmonious relations between jobs and personal lives, desirable workforce retention, and better outcomes for children and families. What’s more, specialized interventions for positive emotional labor constitute a key component in the prevention system for STS. A dual design for positive emotional labor and STS (and other negative emotional labor) prevention/intervention is provided herewith. Early detection and rapid response systems for STS, with social work leadership, receive special attention. Guidelines for new organizational designs for emotional labor in child welfare are offered in conclusion.

El cooperativismo agropecuario argentino en la actualidad : Presentación y análisis de tres casos desde la perspectiva del capital social

En este trabajo, presentamos una caracterización sobre el cooperativismo agropecuario en la Argentina de los últimos tiempos desde una lente en particular: la capacidad de estas organizaciones para generar capital social, traducida en la presentación de algunos casos concretos. De este modo, el trabajo -que forma parte de una investigación mayor- se divide en dos apartados y conclusiones. En el primero de ellos destacamos los aspectos teóricos en torno al capital social y las organizaciones cooperativas. En el segundo, mostramos, desde la clave teórica anterior, tres casos de cooperativas, de distinto tipo, de larga data en nuestro país: FeCoVita, AFA y SanCor. En cuanto a la metodología utilizada, se consideró una exhaustiva revisión de bibliografía vinculada al tema del capital social y, para la preparación de los casos, se tuvieron en cuenta información institucional provista por cada organización, estudios especializados y entrevistas en profundidad.

El cooperativismo agropecuario argentino en la actualidad : Presentación y análisis de tres casos desde la perspectiva del capital social

En este trabajo, presentamos una caracterización sobre el cooperativismo agropecuario en la Argentina de los últimos tiempos desde una lente en particular: la capacidad de estas organizaciones para generar capital social, traducida en la presentación de algunos casos concretos. De este modo, el trabajo -que forma parte de una investigación mayor- se divide en dos apartados y conclusiones. En el primero de ellos destacamos los aspectos teóricos en torno al capital social y las organizaciones cooperativas. En el segundo, mostramos, desde la clave teórica anterior, tres casos de cooperativas, de distinto tipo, de larga data en nuestro país: FeCoVita, AFA y SanCor. En cuanto a la metodología utilizada, se consideró una exhaustiva revisión de bibliografía vinculada al tema del capital social y, para la preparación de los casos, se tuvieron en cuenta información institucional provista por cada organización, estudios especializados y entrevistas en profundidad.