Conclusion : on multiple levels of analysis, context, contingency and capital

In this concluding chapter, we bring together the threads and reflections on the chapters contained in this text and show how they relate to multi-level issues. The book has focused on the world of Human Resource Management (HRM) and the systems and practices it must put in place to foster innovation. Many of the contributions argue that in order to bring innovation about, organisations have to think carefully about the way in which they will integrate what is, in practice, organisationally relevant — but socially distributed — knowledge. They need to build a series of knowledge-intensive activities and networks, both within their own boundaries and across other important external inter-relationships. In so doing, they help to co-ordinate important information structures. They have, in effect, to find ways of enabling people to collaborate with each other at lower cost, by reducing both the costs of their co-ordination and the levels of unproductive search activity. They have to engineer these behaviours by reducing the risks for people that might be associated with incorrect ideas and help individuals, teams and business units to advance incomplete ideas that are so often difficult to codify. In short, a range of intangible assets must flow more rapidly throughout the organisation and an appropriate balance must be found between the rewards and incentives associated with creativity, novelty and innovation, versus the risks that innovation may also bring.

Washashores

Washashores was a comic novel exploring the secrets and relationships in a fictional Massachusetts seaside town. Rose Waters, who'd come to Nauset after a failed relationship, encountered two women with a tangled and duplicitous history, and a young autistic savant the women had helped to raise. The boy's uncle, Simon Beadle, once the town drunk, had run away from his past for seventeen years until an event occurred which initiated his journey home. Rose and Simon's paths converged, bringing about complications both whimsical and serious, with events reaching a crisis at the town's Tri-centennial celebration. Here, all that had been hidden was revealed through Rose and Simon's collaborative efforts, and the truth led to reconciliation and the promise of romance. Chapters alternated Rose and Simon's points of view, which permitted the reader to follow their misunderstandings and misreadings of the town and each other.

Risk from cattle trampling to nests of an endangered passerine evaluated using artificial nest experiments and simulations

Grasslands are often grazed by cattle and many grassland birds nest on the ground, potentially exposing nests to trampling. We tested for trampling risk introduced by cattle to nests of endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus) using experimentally paired grids of artificial nests (i.e., clay targets) similar in size to nests of Florida Grasshopper Sparrows and counted the number of clay targets that were broken in paired grazed and ungrazed enclosures. Clay targets in grazed grids were trampled 3.9% more often than their respective ungrazed grids, and measurements of cattle presence or density were correlated with the number of broken clay targets, suggesting that excluding cattle during breeding is an important management recommendation for the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. Trampling rates within grazed enclosures were spatially homogeneous with respect to cattle infrastructure such as supplemental feeding troughs and fences, and forests and stocking density were poor predictors of trampling rates when excluding ungrazed grids. We used population viability analysis to compare quasi-extinction rates, intrinsic growth rates, and median abundance in grazed and ungrazed Florida Grasshopper Sparrow aggregations to further understand the biological significance of management aimed at reducing trampling rates during the breeding season. Simulations indicated that trampling from grazing increased quasi-extinction rates by 41% while reducing intrinsic growth rates by 0.048, and reducing median abundance by an average of 214 singing males after 50 years. Management should avoid grazing enclosures occupied by Florida Grasshopper Sparrows during the nesting season to minimize trampling rates. Our methods that combine trampling experiments with population viability analysis provide a framework for testing effects from trampling on other grassland ground-nesting birds, and can directly inform conservation and management of the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow.

Projected responses of North American grassland songbirds to climate change and habitat availability at their northern range limits in Alberta, Canada

Across North America, grassland songbirds have undergone steep population declines over recent decades, commonly attributed to agricultural intensification. Understanding the potential interactions between the impacts of climate change on the future distributions of these species and the availability of suitable vegetation for nesting can support improved risk assessments and conservation planning for this group of species. We used North American bioclimatic niche models to examine future changes in suitable breeding climate for 15 grassland songbird species at their current northern range limits along the boreal forest–prairie ecotone in Alberta, Canada. Our climate suitability projections, combined with the current distribution of native and tame pasture and cropland in Alberta, suggest that some climate-mediated range expansion of grassland songbirds in Alberta is possible. For six of the eight species projected to experience expansions of suitable climate area in Alberta, this suitable climate partly overlaps the current distribution of suitable land cover. Additionally, for more than half of the species examined, most of the area of currently suitable climate was projected to remain suitable to the end of the century, highlighting the importance of Alberta for the long-term persistence of these species. Some northern prairie-endemic species exhibited substantial projected northward shifts of both the northern and southern edges of the area of suitable climate. Baird’s Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii) and Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus spragueii), both at-risk grassland specialists, are predicted to have limited climate stability within their current ranges, and their expansion into new areas of suitable climate may be limited by the availability of suitable land cover. Our results highlight the importance of the preservation and restoration of remaining suitable grassland habitat within areas of projected climate stability and beyond current northern range limits for the long-term persistence of many grassland songbird species in the face of climate change.

Quantifying avian relative abundance and ecosystem service value to identify conservation opportunities in the Midwestern U.S.

Grassland birds are highly imperiled because of historical habitat loss and ongoing conversion of grasslands to agricultural and urban land uses. Therefore, prioritizing and further justifying conservation action in remaining grasslands is critical to protecting what remains. Grassland bird conservation has focused on identifying and protecting large grassland complexes referred to as Grassland Bird Conservation Areas (GBCAs). We identified and classified GBCAs in a region highly impacted by both agricultural and urban land conversion using previously developed methods. Then, we extended the analysis to include estimated relative abundance of five grassland focal species in each GBCA. Models of relative abundance were built using eight years of monitoring data collected by citizen scientists. Finally, we quantified the value of ecosystem services provided by each GBCA. There were nearly 55,000 ha of grassland habitats in the Chicago Metropolitan Region that met GBCA criteria, 33% (18,415 ha) of which were protected. Proportion of abundance in protected versus unprotected areas was similar for Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus; 46%), Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum; 52%), and Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis; 48%), whereas, Henslow’s Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii; 75%) had a higher proportion of relative abundance in protected GBCAs and Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) had lower proportions (37%). GBCAs provisioned just under $900 million annually in ecosystem services, 73% of which is because of flood control. Outputs of this comprehensive approach will inform grassland bird conservation by providing detailed information about the value for birds and people of grassland habitats.

Juniperus navicularis - a study of Portuguese population structure and fitness

Juniperus navicularis Gand. is a dioecious endemic conifer that constitutes the understory of seaside pine forests in Portugal, areas currently threatened by increasing urban expansion. The aim of this study is to assess the conservation status of previously known populations of this species located on its core area of distribution. The study was performed in south-west coast of Portugal. Three populations varying in size and pine density were analyzed. Number of individuals, population density, spatial distribution and individual characteristics of junipers were estimated. Female cone, seed characteristics and seed viability were also evaluated. Results suggest that J. navicularis populations are vulnerable because seminal recruitment is scarce, what may lead to a reduction of genetic variability due solely to vegetative propagation. This vulnerability seems to be strongly determined by climatic constraints toward increasing aridity. Ratio between male and female shrubs did not differ from 1:1 in any population. Deviations from 1:1 between mature and non-mature plants were found in all populations, denoting population ageing. Very low seed viability was observed. A major part of described Juniperus navicularis populations have disappeared through direct habitat loss to urban development, loss of fitness in drier and warmer locations and low seed viability. This study is the first to address J. navicularis conservation, and represents a valuable first step toward this species preservation. 

Travel, back and forth, to the myth. Cinema´s contribution to the formation of the tourist iconography of Mallorca

Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands, is a well-known summer holidays destination; an ideal place to relax and enjoy the sun and the sea. That tourist gaze reflected on postcards results from advertising campaigns, where cinema played an important role with documentaries and fiction films. The origins of that iconography started in the decades of the 1920’s and 1930’s, reflecting the so-called myth of the “island of calm”. On the other hand, the films of the 1950’s and 1960’s created new stereotypes related to the mass tourism boom. Busy beaches and the white bodies of tourists replaced white sandy beaches, mountains and landscapes shown up in the movies of the early decades of the 20th century. Besides, hotels and nightclubs also replaced monuments, rural landscapes and folk exhibitions. These tourist images mirror the social and spatial transformations of Mallorca, under standardization processes like other seaside mass tourist destinations. The identity was rebuilt on the foundations of "modernity". Although "balearization" has not ceased, nowadays filmmaking about Mallorca is advertising again a stereotype close to that one of the 1920s and 1930s, glorifying the myth of the "island of calm". This singular identity makes the island more profitable for capital that searches socio-spatial differentiation in post-fordist times.

The signalling effect of eco-labels in modern coastal tourism

As the demand for environmentally sustainable tourism grows, eco-labels are becoming increasingly popular as a signal of environmental quality. However, the existence of a causal link between awarding a seaside eco-label and the increase in tourism flows is still under discussion in the literature. In this article, we gauge the signalling impact of a specific eco-label, the Blue Flag award, using detailed data on tourism flows to seaside Italian destinations during the period 2008-2012. We adopt a recent econometric modelling strategy - the synthetic control method - in shaping estimation results and testing the sensitivity and robustness of our results. We find that being awarded the Blue Flag increases the flow of domestic tourists for up to three seasons after assignment. However, we find no effect for the flow of international tourists. Investigating the mechanisms driving the results, we find that the award of a Blue Flag only positively affects the flow of domestic tourists when it is used as a driver of organisation, coordination and integrated management of the tourism supply.

Do acesso clássico à comercialização: especificidades do mercado imobiliário informal na área especial de interesse social de Mãe Luiza, Natal/ RN.

This study presents research regarding affordable housing and their effects on the spatial reconfiguration of Natal/ RN, aiming to identify the specificities of the informality of urban land. This study aims to understand how informal housing market operates housing provision for the population located in popular informal settlements, through buying and selling market and rental market of residential properties irregular / illegal. This understanding will be through the neighborhood of Mãe Luisa, Special Area of Social Interest (SASI), located between neighborhoods with a population of high purchasing power and inserted into the tourist shaft of seaside of town. The characterization of informal housing market in Mãe Luiza, from buyers, sellers and renters, will help to understand how these informal transactions operate on SASI and housing provision for public policy development and implementation of housing programs and land regularization for low-income population, adequate to dynamic and reality of housing of informal areas

Do acesso clássico à comercialização: especificidades do mercado imobiliário informal na área especial de interesse social de Mãe Luiza, Natal/ RN.

This study presents research regarding affordable housing and their effects on the spatial reconfiguration of Natal/ RN, aiming to identify the specificities of the informality of urban land. This study aims to understand how informal housing market operates housing provision for the population located in popular informal settlements, through buying and selling market and rental market of residential properties irregular / illegal. This understanding will be through the neighborhood of Mãe Luisa, Special Area of Social Interest (SASI), located between neighborhoods with a population of high purchasing power and inserted into the tourist shaft of seaside of town. The characterization of informal housing market in Mãe Luiza, from buyers, sellers and renters, will help to understand how these informal transactions operate on SASI and housing provision for public policy development and implementation of housing programs and land regularization for low-income population, adequate to dynamic and reality of housing of informal areas

HRM and innovation:looking across levels

Studies are starting to explore the role of HRM in fostering organizational innovation but empirical evidence remains contradictory and theory fragmented. This is partly because extant literature by and large adopts a unitary level of analysis, rather than reflecting on the multi-level demands that innovation presents. Building on an emergent literature focused on HRM’s role in shaping innovation, we shed light on the question of whether, and how, HRM might influence employees’ innovative behaviours in the direction of strategically important goals. Drawing upon institutional theory, our contributions are three-fold: to bring out the effect of two discrete HRM configurations- one underpinned by a control and the other by an entrepreneurial ethos, on attitudes and behaviours at the individual level; to reflect the way in which employee innovative behaviours arising from these HRM configurations coalesce to shape higher-level phenomena, such as organizational-level innovation; and to bring out two distinct patterns of bottom-up emergence, one driven primarily by composition and the other by both composition and compilation.

Work, class and conflict: a comparative study of three Cork factories, incorporating oral testimony

This dissertation presents a comparative study of three factories in Cork Harbour area, Sunbeam Wolsey (1927-90), Irish Steel (1939-2001) and the Ford Marina Plant (1917-84). All three factories were significant industrial employers in both a domestic (Irish) and a local (Cork) context and are broadly representative of the Irish manufacturing industry that was developed under the policies of tariff protection introduced in the 1930s and gradually phased out between the late 1950s and the mid-1980s. Sunbeam Wolsey was a textile and clothing concern located on the north side of Cork City that possessed a borderline monopoly within its economic sector and was among the largest private employers of female labour in twentieth century Ireland. Irish Steel was the country’s only steel mill, located on Haulbowline island, a brief ferry-ride from the seaside town of Cobh, and was unusual in being one of the few manufacturing concerns operated as a nationalised industry under the auspices of the state. The Ford Marina plant predated the introduction of protectionism by more than a decade and began as the centre of the Ford empire’s tractor manufacturing business, before switching to the production of private motor vehicles for the Irish market in 1932. All three industries were closed or sold off when the state withdrew support, either in the form of tariff protection (Ford, Sunbeam) or direct funding (Irish Steel). While devoting much attention to the three firms, the central concern of this dissertation is not the companies themselves (though the economic history portion of the dissertation is substantial), but the workers they employed, examining the lives of these individuals both as members of the Irish working class, and, more specifically, as employees of the three factories under consideration. The project can be best described as a comparative factory study, comparing and contrasting the three workforces, focusing primarily on industrial relation and the experience of work. This dissertation utilises both documentary evidence and a significant quantity of oral testimony, breaking new ground by making the workplace the central focus of its investigation. The principal aims of the study are: 1. To document the lives of those who worked in these factories, capturing through oral testimony their subjective experiences of social class and factory life, as well as differences among narrators in terms of gender and status. In achieving this aim, the study will provide a broader social context for its detailed analysis of work and industrial relations in each firm. 2. To analyse the three workplaces and determine how and why each developed such distinct systems of industrial relations at the factory level, as well as to compare and contrast these systems. 3. To examine the nature of work in each factory and to determine how work and industrial relations in each firm developed over time, relating these changes both to internal and external factors. Additionally, the project will provide a comparative analysis of these changes.

Análisis de las sanciones internacionales en el marco del tratado de no proliferación nuclear. Estudio de caso: energía atómica en Irán (2006-2015)

El presente trabajo de Grado tiene como propósito examinar la incidencia de las sancionesinternacionales en el marco del régimen de no proliferación nuclear en el caso de Irán durante el periodo 2006-2015, teniendo en cuenta factores históricos de años anteriores. Se analiza y explica cómo las sanciones internacionales pueden ser una medida persuasiva por violar ciertos artículos del Tratado de no Proliferación Nuclear. Finalmente identifica y analiza los tipos de sanciones económicas, financieras y comerciales que los Estados y el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas le han impuesto a Irán, así como la manera en que estas han incidido en la esfera política iraní y mundial.