Industry Professionals Who Attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accreditation: An Examination of Motivations in Human Resource (HR) Training and Development

Despite the economy, the green building industry continues to grow and drive the demand for environmentally conscious, highly skilled professionals (USGBC 2009). LEED Accredited Professionals (APs) have the knowledge and skills to meet such demand; however, information is limited regarding LEED APs or their motivations and expectations toward prospective employers. The author surveyed a sample of LEED Accredited architects and found a combination of job and personal factors motivated them to attain accreditation. LEED APs value both a competitive salary and commitment to sustainability in prospective employers. To attract, retain, and utilize LEED APs, executives in this industry must reexamine corporate culture, their willingness to pay for credentialing, and the alignment of their reputation with the desires of potential applicants.

Contributing Factors in Corporate America's Implementation of Policies and Procedures That Protect and Enhance the Work Experience for Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender (GLBT) Employees: An Examination of Corporate GLBT Initiatives

Business organization executives today are routinely challenged to attract and retain key talent and employ innovative techniques to expand their consumer-base. Moreover, these executives have advanced their business initiatives to include workplace equality initiatives with a motivation to attract and retain key talent. In this research the author examined the contributing factors that lead executives in corporate America to implement Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) initiatives as business strategies. The case study methodology applied in this examination illustrated that the implementation of GLBT initiatives can increase a business organization's ability to attract and retain key talent, and increase employee work productivity while expanding the consumer base. Therefore, the business organization's competitive advantage in the marketplace is increased.

Too high and too low: The problems with energy prices in the EU. OSW Commentary No. 122, 03.12.2013

On 11 October, the top executives of ten European energy companies, which jointly own about half of the European Union’s electricity generating capacity, warned that “energy security is no longer guaranteed” and once again called for changes to EU energy policy. Due to persistent adverse conditions in the energy market (linked to, for example, the exceptionally low wholesale energy prices) more and more conventional power plants are being closed down. According to sector representatives, this could lead to energy shortages being seen as early as this winter. Meanwhile, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph published in September of this year, the European industry commissioner Antonio Tajani warned – in a rather alarmist tone – of the disastrous consequences the rising energy prices could have on European industry. Amongst the reasons for the high prices of energy, Tajani mentioned the overambitious pace and methods used to increase the share of renewables in the sector. In a similar vein, EU President Herman Van Rompuy has highlighted the need to reduce energy costs as a top priority for EU energy policy1. The price of energy has become one of the central issues in the current EU energy debate. The high consumer price of energy – which has been rising steadily over the past several years – poses a serious challenge to both household and industrial users. Meanwhile, the declining wholesale prices are affecting the cost-effectiveness of energy production and the profits of energy companies. The current difficulties, however, are first and foremost a symptom of much wider problems related to the functioning of both the EU energy market as well as to the EU’s climate and energy policies.

Development of Multisector Alliances (MSAs): Organization and Leadership. ACES Working Papers, 2012

The research team reviewed numerous several multi- sectoral entities and identified nine GGNs that became the subject of our case studies. The research team conducted semi-structured interviews with executives and staff from each of these GNNs and prepared a profile, including a description of the unique evolution of the organization, goals and objectives, organizational structure and governance arrangements for each GGN. The following list provides an overview of the nine GGNs profiled: 1. Every Woman Every Child is an unprecedented global effort that mobilizes and amplifies action by governments, multilaterals, the private sector, research centers, academia and civil society to address life-threatening health challenges facing women and children globally. 2. HERproject catalyzes global partnerships and local Networks to improve female workers’ general and reproductive health in eight emerging economies. 3. R4 Rural Resilience Initiative is a cutting-edge, strategic, large-scale partnership between the public and private sectors to innovate and develop better tools to help the world’s most vulnerable people build resilient livelihoods. 4. Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative is a coalition of governments, companies, civil society groups, investors and international organizations that aims to improve transparency and accountability in the extractives sector. 5. Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases works with international partners at the highest level of government, business and society to break down the logistical and financial barriers to delivering existing treatments for the seven most common neglected tropical diseases. 6. Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is an alliance that supports public-private partnerships to increase access to the missing nutrients in diets necessary for people, communities and economies to be stronger and healthier. 7. Inter-Agency Network For Education in Emergencies is a global Network of individuals and representatives from NGOs, United Nations and donor agencies, governments, academic institutions, schools and affected populations working to ensure all persons have the right to a quality and safe education in emergencies and post- crisis recovery. 8. mHealth Alliance works with diverse partners to advance mobile-based or mobile-enhanced solutions that deliver health through research, advocacy, support for the development of interoperable solutions and sustainable deployment models. 9. The Rainforest Alliance is a global non-profit that focuses on environmental conservation and sustainable development and works through collaborative partnerships with various stakeholders.

An Assessment of the Penalties System for Infringements of EU Competition Law: Can Personal Sanctions be the Missing Piece of the Puzzle? IES WORKING PAPER 6/2013

Competition law seeks to protect competition on the market as a means of enhancing consumer welfare and of ensuring an efficient allocation of resources. In order to be successful, therefore, competition authorities should be adequately equipped and have at their disposal all necessary enforcement tools. However, at the EU level the current enforcement system of competition rules allows only for the imposition of administrative fines by the European Commission to liable undertakings. The main objectives, in turn, of an enforcement policy based on financial penalties are two fold: to impose sanctions on infringing undertakings which reflect the seriousness of the violation, and to ensure that the risk of penalties will deter both the infringing undertakings (often referred to as 'specific deterrence') and other undertakings that may be considering anti-competitive activities from engaging in them (often referred to as 'general deterrence'). In all circumstances, it is important to ensure that pecuniary sanctions imposed on infringing undertakings are proportionate and not excessive. Although pecuniary sanctions against infringing undertakings are a crucial part of the arsenal needed to deter competition law violations, they may not be sufficient. One alternative option in that regard is the strategic use of sanctions against the individuals involved in, or responsible for, the infringements. Sanctions against individuals are documented to focus the minds of directors and employees to comply with competition rules as they themselves, in addition to the undertakings in which they are employed, are at risk of infringements. Individual criminal penalties, including custodial sanctions, have been in fact adopted by almost half of the EU Member States. This is a powerful tool but is also limited in scope and hard to implement in practice mostly due to the high standards of proof required and the political consensus that needs first to be built. Administrative sanctions for individuals, on the other hand, promise to deliver up to a certain extent the same beneficial results as criminal sanctions whilst at the same time their adoption is not likely to meet strong opposition and their implementation in practice can be both efficient and effective. Directors’ disqualification, in particular, provides a strong individual incentive for each member, or prospective member, of the Board as well as other senior executives, to take compliance with competition law seriously. It is a flexible and promising tool that if added to the arsenal of the European Commission could bring balance to the current sanctioning system and that, in turn, would in all likelihood make the enforcement of EU competition rules more effective. Therefore, it is submitted that a competition law regime in order to be effective should be able to deliver policy objectives through a variety of tools, not simply by imposing significant pecuniary sanctions to infringing undertakings. It is also clear that individual sanctions, mostly of an administrative nature, are likely to play an increasingly important role as they focus the minds of those in business who might otherwise be inclined to regard infringing the law as a matter of corporate risk rather than of personal risk. At the EU level, in particular, the adoption of directors’ disqualification promises to deliver more effective compliance and greater overall economic impact.

Ethnic Politics, Regime Support and Conflict in Central and Eastern Europe

Ethnicity and ethnic parties have often been portrayed as a threat to political stability. There is also no shortage of conflicts with an ethnic flavor. Yet, this book challenges the notion that the organization of politics in heterogeneous societies should necessarily overcome ethnicity. Rather, descriptive representation of ethnic groups arguably has potential to increase regime support and reduce conflict. The book studies partisan-descriptive representation of up to 130 ethnic groups in central and eastern European democracies. Ethnic minority parties are found to only run and succeed if they can expect electoral support sufficient to pass the electoral threshold. Conditional on gender and strategies of representation, ethnic representation increases satisfaction with democracy among the minority population. While protest rises given moderate levels of representation, it is reduced once ethnic groups have access to executives. In conclusion, a proportional vision of power-sharing between ethnic groups receives some qualified empirical support.

TIC em hospitais privados: estudo do uso, do custo e da integração

A tese estuda e analisa as Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC) disponíveis em hospitais no Brasil, associados à ANAHP – Associação Nacional de Hospitais Privados que patrocinou a coleta de dados e apoiou a pesquisa com dois temas centrais: uso e custo; integração e interoperabilidade das TIC. A Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico (OECD), em estudo sobre TIC em saúde, afirmou que, se implantadas de maneira eficiente, as TIC podem resultar em melhoria da qualidade na prestação de serviços de saúde, aumento da segurança no atendimento ao paciente e custos menores. Para permitir a comparação de resultados e o uso de modelos de pesquisa confiáveis, este estudo adaptou o Modelo de Pesquisa de Uso de TI utilizado pelo GVcia - Centro de Tecnologia da Informação Aplicada da FGV – EAESP e realizou uma complementação dos instrumentos de pesquisa para levantar dados específicos da integração das TIC em hospitais utilizando com referência uma pesquisa aplicada a hospitais norte-americanos. A coleta de dados foi realizada para o período 2009 a 2015 em duas etapas. Na primeira, foi enviado o questionário eletrônico, validado por executivos de hospitais e apresentado no apêndice A. Na segunda etapa, os dados enviados foram validados e aspectos da integração foram esclarecidos por meio de entrevistas. O estudo de custo e uso das TIC resultou no cálculo de diversos indicadores. Gastos e investimentos com TIC em hospitais privados atingiu a 3,5% do faturamento anual dos hospitais da amostra enquanto que o setor da saúde, por sua vez, gastou e investiu 6,4% do faturamento anual com as TIC que implementou. Outro indicador inédito e importante para futuros estudos no setor é o custo anual das TIC por leito hospitalar que permaneceu estável em torno de US$ 39.000 entre 2010 e 2014 e caiu para US$ 36.000 em 2015, valor equivalente a R$ 120.000 de dezembro de 2015. Outras estatísticas e indicadores apresentados no estudo ajudam a entender a evolução e o desempenho das TIC na prestação de serviços de saúde e poderão ser úteis para decidir se as TIC ajudarão a melhorar a segurança e atenção ao paciente, aos profissionais de saúde no acesso a dados do paciente, e a necessária sintonia com o Modelo da Saúde Digital (e-Saúde), a custos adequados. Os resultados do presente estudo são comparáveis aos americanos semelhantes e permitem inferir que o parque tecnológico em uso nos hospitais privados brasileiros poderá alavancar a integração de sistemas existentes, permitindo a sintonia com Modelos de Saúde Digital, com a melhoria de desempenho da cadeia estendida da saúde na atenção ao cidadão que poderá ser assistido onde estiver, a qualquer momento, com segurança. Ação gerencial e investimentos são os tópicos centrais que envolvem a integração.

Mesure de la performance dans les organisations de réadaptation en déficience physique

La présente thèse vise à évaluer le degré d’implantation et d’utilisation de systèmes de mesure de la performance (SMP) par les décideurs des organisations de réadaptation et à comprendre les facteurs contextuels ayant influencé leur implantation. Pour ce faire, une étude de cas multiples a été réalisée comprenant deux sources de données: des entrevues individuelles avec des cadres supérieurs des organisations de réadaptation du Québec et des documents organisationnels. Le cadre conceptuel Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research a été utilisé pour guider la collecte et l’analyse des données. Une analyse intra-cas ainsi qu’une analyse inter-cas ont été réalisées. Nos résultats montrent que le niveau de préparation organisationnelle à l’implantation d’un SMP était élevé et que les SMP ont été implantés avec succès et utilisés de plusieurs façons. Les organisations les ont utilisés de façon passive (comme outil d’information), de façon ciblée (pour tenter d’améliorer des domaines sous-performants) et de façon politique (comme outil de négociation auprès des autorités gouvernementales). Cette utilisation diversifiée des SMP est suscitée par l’interaction complexe de facteurs provenant du contexte interne propre à chaque organisation, des caractéristiques du SMP, du processus d’implantation appliqué et du contexte externe dans lequel évoluent ces organisations. Au niveau du contexte interne, l’engagement continu et le leadership de la haute direction ont été décisifs dans l’implantation du SMP de par leur influence sur l’identification du besoin d’un SMP, l’engagement des utilisateurs visés dans le projet, la priorité organisationnelle accordée au SMP ainsi que les ressources octroyées à son implantation, la qualité des communications et le climat d’apprentissage organisationnel. Toutefois, même si certains de ces facteurs, comme les ressources octroyées à l’implantation, la priorité organisationnelle du SMP et le climat d’apprentissage se sont révélés être des barrières à l’implantation, ultimement, ces barrières n’étaient pas suffisamment importantes pour entraver l’utilisation du SMP. Cette étude a également confirmé l’importance des caractéristiques du SMP, particulièrement la perception de qualité et d’utilité de l’information. Cependant, à elles seules, ces caractéristiques sont insuffisantes pour assurer le succès d’implantation. Cette analyse d’implantation a également révélé que, même si le processus d’implantation ne suit pas des étapes formelles, un plan de développement du SMP, la participation et l’engagement des décideurs ainsi que la désignation d’un responsable de projet ont tous facilité son implantation. Cependant, l’absence d’évaluation et de réflexion collective sur le processus d’implantation a limité le potentiel d’apprentissage organisationnel, un prérequis à l’amélioration de la performance. Quant au contexte externe, le soutien d’un organisme externe s’est avéré un facilitateur indispensable pour favoriser l’implantation de SMP par les organisations de réadaptation malgré l’absence de politiques et incitatifs gouvernementaux à cet effet. Cette étude contribue à accroître les connaissances sur les facteurs contextuels ainsi que sur leurs interactions dans l’utilisation d’innovations tels les SMP et confirme l’importance d’aborder l’analyse de l’implantation avec une perspective systémique.

Official register of the United States ...

Biennial, 1879-1923.

A.I.D. and third world women, the unmet potential [microform] : hearing before the Select Committee on Hunger, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, second session, hearing held in Washington DC, May 11, 1988.

"Serial no. 100-26."

A company guide to the selection of salesmen.

Bibliographical footnotes.

Defining the manager's job: the AMA manual of position descriptions.

Includes bibliography.

The President's program directors : the Assistant Secretaries : a symposium, Charlottesville, Virginia, December 8-9, 1976 /

Mode of access: Internet.

Management Achievement Program MAP : managers handbook.

Cover title.

Education for public management : an interagency long-term training program /

Cover title.