Has government been "reinvented"? : hearing before the Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, second session, May 4, 2000.

Shipping list no.: 2001-0068-P.

Assessing the progress of performance management in the District of Columbia : hearing before the Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, second session, October 3, 2000.

Shipping list no.: 2001-0130-P.

High risk : human capital in the federal government : hearing before the Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, first session, February 1, 2001.

Shipping list no.: 2001-0303-P.

Role of the Department of Commerce in federal statistical gathering, analysis, and dissemination, and opportunities for reform and consolidation : hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, first session, April 9, 1997.

Shipping list no.: 98-0027-P.

Department of Commerce's technology grant programs : hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, first session, June 3, 1997.

Shipping list no.: 98-0002-P.

Arts funding : public funding profiles of the NEA, states and cities : fact sheet for Congressional committees /

"B-246348"--P. [1].

Defense procurement fraud : information on plea agreements and settlements : fact sheet for the Honorable Christopher Shays, House of Representatives /

"B-250029"--P. [1].

Budget function classification : agency spending and personnel levels for fiscal years 1994 and 1995 : fact sheet for the Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate /

"B-260508"--P. [1].

Internal Revenue Service : impact of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act on Year 2000 efforts /

"B-280420"--P. <1>.

Good beginnings last a lifetime : how the federal government can promote affordable, quality child care : hearings before the Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, second session, field hearing held at St. Louis, Missouri, January 28, 2002.

Shipping list no.: 2003-0081-P.

Implications of restructuring and privatisation for competitiveness and perfomance:two Brazilian steel companies

The thesis examines the effects of the privatisation process on productivity, competitiveness and performance in two major Brazilian steel companies, which were privatised in between 1991 and 1993. The case study method was adopted in this research due to its strengths as a useful technique allowing in-depth examination of the privatisation process, the context in which it happened and its effects on the companies. The thesis has developed a company analysis framework consisting of three components: management, competitiveness/productivity and performance and examined the evidence on the companies within this framework.The research indicates that there is no straightforward relationship between privatisation, competitiveness and performance. There were many significant differences in the management and technological capabilities, products and performance of the two companies, and these have largely influenced the effects of privatisation on each company. Company Alpha's strengths in technological and management capabilities and high value added products explain strong productivity and financial performance during and after privatisation. Company Beta's performance was weak before the privatisation and remained weak immediately after. Before the privatisation, weaknesses in management, commodity type low value added products and shortage of funds for investment were the major problems. These were compounded by greater government interference. Despite major restructuring, the poor performance has continued after privatisation largely because the company has not been able to improve its productivity sufficiently to be cost competitive in commodity type markets. Both companies state that their strategies have changed significantly. They claim to be more responsive to market conditions and customers and are attempting to develop closer links with major customers. It is not possible to assess the consequences of these changes in the short time that has elapsed since privatisation but Alpha appears to be more effective in developing a coherent strategy because of its strengths. Both companies accelerated their programme of organisational restructuring and reducing the number of their employees during the privatisation process to improve productivity and performance. Alpha has attained standards comparable to major international steel companies. Beta has had to make much bigger organisational changes and cuts in its labour force but its productivity levels still remain low in comparison with Alpha and international competitors.

Retail restructuring and consumer choice 2:understanding consumer choice at the household level

This paper complements the preceding one by Clarke et al, which looked at the long-term impact of retail restructuring on consumer choice at the local level. Whereas the previous paper was based on quantitative evidence from survey research, this paper draws on the qualitative phases of the same three-year study, and in it we aim to understand how the changing forms of retail provision are experienced at the neighbourhood and household level. The empirical material is drawn from focus groups, accompanied shopping trips, diaries, interviews, and kitchen visits with eight households in two contrasting neighbourhoods in the Portsmouth area. The data demonstrate that consumer choice involves judgments of taste, quality, and value as well as more ‘objective’ questions of convenience, price, and accessibility. These judgments are related to households’ differential levels of cultural capital and involve ethical and moral considerations as well as more mundane considerations of practical utility. Our evidence suggests that many of the terms that are conventionally advanced as explanations of consumer choice (such as ‘convenience’, ‘value’, and ‘habit’) have very different meanings according to different household circumstances. To understand these meanings requires us to relate consumers’ at-store behaviour to the domestic context in which their consumption choices are embedded. Bringing theories of practice to bear on the nature of consumer choice, our research demonstrates that consumer choice between stores can be understood in terms of accessibility and convenience, whereas choice within stores involves notions of value, price, and quality. We also demonstrate that choice between and within stores is strongly mediated by consumers’ household contexts, reflecting the extent to which shopping practices are embedded within consumers’ domestic routines and complex everyday lives. The paper concludes with a summary of the overall findings of the project, and with a discussion of the practical and theoretical implications of the study.

Retail restructuring and consumer choice 1:long term local changes in consumer behaviour : Portsmouth 1980-2002

Over the last two decades fundamental changes have taken place in the global supply and local structure of provision of British food retailing. Consumer lifestyles have also changed markedly. Despite some important studies of local interactions between new retail developments and consumers, we argue in this paper that there is a critical need to gauge the cumulative effects of these changes on consumer behaviour over longer periods. In this, the first of two papers, we present the main findings of a study of the effects of long-term retail change on consumers at the local level. We provide in this paper an overview of the changing geography of retail provision and patterns of consumption at the local level. We contextualise the Portsmouth study area as a locality that typifies national changes in retail provision and consumer lifestyles; outline the main findings of two large-scale surveys of food shopping behaviour carried out in 1980 and 2002; and reveal the impacts of retail restructuring on consumer behaviour. We focus in particular on choice between stores at the local level and end by problematising our understanding of how consumers experience choice, emphasising the need for qualitative research. This issue is then dealt with in our complementary second paper, which explores choice within stores and how this relates to the broader spatial context.

Reaction-driven surface restructuring and selectivity control in allylic alcohol catalytic aerobic oxidation over Pd

Synchronous, time-resolved DRIFTS/MS/XAS cycling studies of the vapor-phase selective aerobic oxidation of crotyl alcohol over nanoparticulate Pd have revealed surface oxide as the desired catalytically active phase, with dynamic, reaction-induced Pd redox processes controlling selective versus combustion pathways.