How important is the coast? A survey of coastal objectives in an Australian regional city

Defining goals and objectives is a critical component of adaptive management of natural resources because they provide the basis on which management strategies can be designed and evaluated. The aims of this study are: (i) to apply and test a collaborative method to elicit goals and objectives for inshore fisheries and biodiversity in the coastal zone of a regional city in Australia; (ii) to understand the relative importance of management objectives for different community members and stakeholders; and (iii) to understand how diverse perceptions about the importance of management objectives can be used to support multiple-use management in Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef. Management goals and objectives were elicited and weighted using the following steps: (i) literature review of management objectives, (ii) development of a hierarchy tree of objectives, and (iii) ranking of management objectives using survey methods. The overarching goals identified by the community group were to: (1) protect and restore inshore environmental assets; (2) improve governance systems; and (3) improve regional (socio-economic) well-being. Interestingly, these goals differ slightly from the usual triple-bottom line objectives (environmental, social and economic) often found in the literature. The objectives were ranked using the Analytical Hierarchical Process, where a total of 141 respondents from industry, government agencies, and community from across Queensland State undertook the survey. The environment goal received the highest scores, followed by governance and lastly well-being. The approach to elicit and rank goals and objectives developed in this study can be used to effectively support coastal resource management by providing opportunities for local communities to participate in the setting of regional objectives.

Learning Management Systems (LMS) and e-learning management: an integrative review and research agenda

Information Technology (IT) can be an important component for innovation since enabling e-learning it can provide conditions to which the organization can work with new business and improved processes. In this regard, the Learning Management Systems (LMS) allows communication and interaction between teachers and students in virtual spaces. However the literature indicates that there are gaps in the researches, especially concerning the use of IT for the management of e-learning. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the available literature about the application of LMS for the e-learning management, seeking to present possibilities for researches in the field. An integrative literature review was performed considering the Web of Science, Scopus, Ebsco and Scielo databases, where 78 references were found, of which 25 were full papers. This analysis derives interesting characteristics from scientific studies, highlighting gaps and guidelines for future research.

How important is the coast? A survey of coastal objectives in an Australian regional city

Defining goals and objectives is a critical component of adaptive management of natural resources because they provide the basis on which management strategies can be designed and evaluated. The aims of this study are: (i) to apply and test a collaborative method to elicit goals and objectives for inshore fisheries and biodiversity in the coastal zone of a regional city in Australia; (ii) to understand the relative importance of management objectives for different community members and stakeholders; and (iii) to understand how diverse perceptions about the importance of management objectives can be used to support multiple-use management in Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef. Management goals and objectives were elicited and weighted using the following steps: (i) literature review of management objectives, (ii) development of a hierarchy tree of objectives, and (iii) ranking of management objectives using survey methods. The overarching goals identified by the community group were to: (1) protect and restore inshore environmental assets; (2) improve governance systems; and (3) improve regional (socio-economic) well-being. Interestingly, these goals differ slightly from the usual triple-bottom line objectives (environmental, social and economic) often found in the literature. The objectives were ranked using the Analytical Hierarchical Process, where a total of 141 respondents from industry, government agencies, and community from across Queensland State undertook the survey. The environment goal received the highest scores, followed by governance and lastly well-being. The approach to elicit and rank goals and objectives developed in this study can be used to effectively support coastal resource management by providing opportunities for local communities to participate in the setting of regional objectives.

Territorial innovation, social ventures and local development: An exploratory case study

Social innovation is recognized as an important driver of growth and social value creation. Social innovative strategies are often pursued at the local level, by (social) organizations which have a more comprehensive knowledge of the complex social problems that a specific community is facing. The objective of the present study is to analyse the extent to which innovative social ventures are able to contribute to local development. By means of a qualitative approach, based on the case study method, we attempt to illustrate the innovative strategies conceived on the ground by a social venture specifically created to foster the local development of its inhabitants. The results shows that social innovation is a viable strategy to revitalize the economic growth of a region, through the creation of local employment on the basis of village’s traditional activities that are redefined in a new and competitive way. However, to be successful the strategy demands the deep knowledge of existing social problems as well as the availability of endogenous local resources and capabilities that could be used by social entrepreneurs. Therefore, social innovation ensures that local development and social cohesion are achieved in a sustainable way, at the same time that cultural and environmental heritage are also preserved.

Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems

Virtual-Build-to-Order (VBTO) is an emerging order fulfilment system within the automotive sector that is intended to improve fulfilment performance by taking advantage of integrated information systems. The primary innovation in VBTO systems is the ability to make available all unsold products that are in the production pipeline to all customers. In a conventional system the pipeline is inaccessible and a customer can be fulfilled by a product from stock or having a product Built-to-Order (BTO), whereas in a VBTO system a customer can be fulfilled by a product from stock, by being allocated a product in the pipeline, or by a build-to-order product. Simulation is used to investigate and profile the fundamental behaviour of the basic VBTO system and to compare it to a Conventional system. A predictive relationship is identified, between the proportions of customers fulfilled through each mechanism and the ratio of product variety / pipeline length. The simulations reveal that a VBTO system exhibits inherent behaviour that alters the stock mix and levels, leading to stock levels being higher than in an equivalent conventional system at certain variety / pipeline ratios. The results have implications for the design and management of order fulfilment systems in sectors such as automotive where VBTO is a viable operational model.

Objectives for management of socio-ecological systems in the Great Barrier Reef region, Australia

A wide range of goals and objectives have to be taken into account in natural resources management. Defining these objectives in operational terms, including dimensions such as sustainability, productivity, and equity, is by no means easy, especially if they must capture the diversity of community and stakeholder values. This is especially true in the coastal zone where land activities affect regional marine ecosystems. In this study, the aim was firstly to identify and hierarchically organise the goals and objectives for coastal systems, as defined by local stakeholders. Two case study areas are used within the Great Barrier Reef region being Mackay and Bowen–Burdekin. Secondly, the aim was to identify similarities between the case study results and thus develop a generic set of goals to be used as a starting point in other coastal communities. Results show that overarching high-level goals have nested sub-goals that contain a set of more detailed regional objectives. The similarities in high-level environmental, governance, and socio-economic goals suggest that regionally specific objectives can be developed based on a generic set of goals. The prominence of governance objectives reflects local stakeholder perceptions that current coastal zone management is not achieving the outcomes they feel important and that there is a need for increased community engagement and co-management. More importantly, it raises the question of how to make issues relevant for the local community and entice participation in the local management of public resources to achieve sustainable environmental, social, and economic management outcomes. © 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

New Foods, New Consumers: Innovation in Food Product Development

BACKGROUND: Today, new lifestyles, higher incomes and consumer awareness are creating consumer demand for a year-round supply of high-quality, diverse and innovative food products. However, when it comes to innovation, the food sector is less changeable when compared to other sectors, such as high technology. Still, in the past decades much and important developments have been achieved in several areas related to foods and the food industry. METHODS: A systematic review of scientific literature was conducted on Science Direct. The topics investigated were: aspects related to innovation in food development (such as the transfer of innovation, open innovation, collaborative innovation and consumer perception and its role in the developing process); the innovation in the food industry (particularly regarding the processing technologies and packaging, which are two prominent areas of innovation in this sector nowadays); the innovation in the cooking sector (particularly in regards to the molecular gastronomy and science based cooking). RESULTS: A total of 146 articles were included in the review and the aspects focused allowed confirming that innovation has been recognized as a key driver of economic growth. Within the framework of ‘open innovation’, a number of key issues related to the acquisition of external knowledge in food technology must be taken into consideration. Food product development is highly dependent on the consumer perception and acceptance, and hence it is of utmost importance to include the consumer in the development process to minimize failure probabilities. The sectors of the food industry where important developments and innovation are registered include the processing technologies and the packaging systems, where the latest progresses have produced very significant outcomes. CONCLUSION: The present work allowed verifying the latest improvements and trend towards food product development from two perspectives, the product itself and the industrial processing. This sector is undoubtedly a major key for the success and competitiveness nowadays in the food industry.

MSW: from pollution/degradation source to resource

Municipal Solid Waste is one of the biggest challenges that cities are facing: MSW is considered of the main sources of energy consumption, urban degradation and pollution. This paper defines the major negative effects of MSW on cities and proposes new solutions to guide waste policies. Most contemporary waste management efforts are focused at regional government level and based on high tech waste disposal by methods such as landfill and incineration. However, these methods are becoming increasingly expensive, energy inefficient and pollutant: waste disposal is not sustainable and will have negative implications for future generations. In this paper are proposed all the principle solutions that could be undertaken. New policy instruments are presented updating and adapting policies and encouraging innovation for less wasteful systems. Waste management plans are fundamental to increase the ability of urban areas effectively to adapt to waste challenges. These plans have to give an outline of waste streams and treatment options and provide a scenario for the following years that significantly reduce landfills and incinerators in favor of prevention, reuse and recycling. The key aim of an urban waste management plan is to set out the work towards a zero waste economy as part of the transition to a sustainable economy. Other questions remain still opened: How to change people’s behavior? What is the role of environmental education and risk perception? It is sure that the involvement of the various stakeholders and the wider public in the planning process should aim at ensuring acceptance of the waste policy.

Data warehouse para el Centro de Documentación Regional "Juan Bautista Vázquez"

El proceso de toma de decisiones en las bibliotecas universitarias es de suma importancia, sin embargo, se encuentra complicaciones como la gran cantidad de fuentes de datos y los grandes volúmenes de datos a analizar. Las bibliotecas universitarias están acostumbradas a producir y recopilar una gran cantidad de información sobre sus datos y servicios. Las fuentes de datos comunes son el resultado de sistemas internos, portales y catálogos en línea, evaluaciones de calidad y encuestas. Desafortunadamente estas fuentes de datos sólo se utilizan parcialmente para la toma de decisiones debido a la amplia variedad de formatos y estándares, así como la falta de métodos eficientes y herramientas de integración. Este proyecto de tesis presenta el análisis, diseño e implementación del Data Warehouse, que es un sistema integrado de toma de decisiones para el Centro de Documentación Juan Bautista Vázquez. En primer lugar se presenta los requerimientos y el análisis de los datos en base a una metodología, esta metodología incorpora elementos claves incluyendo el análisis de procesos, la calidad estimada, la información relevante y la interacción con el usuario que influyen en una decisión bibliotecaria. A continuación, se propone la arquitectura y el diseño del Data Warehouse y su respectiva implementación la misma que soporta la integración, procesamiento y el almacenamiento de datos. Finalmente los datos almacenados se analizan a través de herramientas de procesamiento analítico y la aplicación de técnicas de Bibliomining ayudando a los administradores del centro de documentación a tomar decisiones óptimas sobre sus recursos y servicios.

Regional differences of outpatient physician supply as a theoretical economic and empirical generalized linear model

BACKGROUND: Regional differences in physician supply can be found in many health care systems, regardless of their organizational and financial structure. A theoretical model is developed for the physicians' decision on office allocation, covering demand-side factors and a consumption time function. METHODS: To test the propositions following the theoretical model, generalized linear models were estimated to explain differences in 412 German districts. Various factors found in the literature were included to control for physicians' regional preferences. RESULTS: Evidence in favor of the first three propositions of the theoretical model could be found. Specialists show a stronger association to higher populated districts than GPs. Although indicators for regional preferences are significantly correlated with physician density, their coefficients are not as high as population density. CONCLUSIONS: If regional disparities should be addressed by political actions, the focus should be to counteract those parameters representing physicians' preferences in over- and undersupplied regions.

A model to achieve sustainable improvement and innovation in organisations, industries, regions and communities

The achievement and measurement of improvements and innovations is not often an overt practice in the design and delivery of government services other than in health services. There is a need for specific mechanisms proven to increase the rate and scale of improvements and innovations in organisations, communities, regions and industries. This paper describes a model for the design, measurement and management of projects and services as systems for achieving and sustaining outcomes, improvements and innovations.The development of the model involved the practice of continuous improvement and innovation within and across a number of agricultural development projects in Australia and nternationally. Key learnings from the development and use of the model are: (1) all elements and factors critical for success can be implemented, measured and managed; (2) the design of a meaningful systemic measurement framework is possible; (3) all project partners can achieve and sustain rapid improvements and innovations; (4) outcomes can be achieved from early in the life of projects; and (5) significant spill-over benefits can be achieved beyond the scope, scale and timeframe of projects

Program for the Fall 2015 MARAC Meeting: Moving Mountains: Ingenuity and Innovation in Archives

The program for the Fall 2015 MARAC meeting, "Moving Mountains: Ingenuity and Innovation in Archives" held October 8-10 in Roanoke, Virginia.

Transition to Product Service Systems: methodology based on scenarios identification, modelling and evaluation

Part 4: Transition Towards Product-Service Systems

Applying Platform Design to Improve Product-Service Systems Collaborative Development

Part 3: Product-Service Systems

A Performance Measurement System to Manage CEN Operations, Evolution and Innovation

Part 16: Performance Measurement Systems