Western Strategic Poverty: The Ukrainian Crisis and the New World Order. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 14 Special Issue, March 2014

From Introduction. The Ukrainian crisis, which deepened in February with the invasion of the Crimean peninsula by Russia, has exposed a serious poverty of strategy and leadership from Europe and the US. Such a lack of strategic vision in responding to the Ukrainian crisis, considered by Nicholas Burns among others, as one of the greatest crises in Europe since 1991, diverges between the European Union and the US. It is undeniable that the western leadership is unable to get its act together. In the US, the perpetual fratricide between the republicans and democrats over anything is affecting the development and implementation of sound foreign policies, while in the EU, there is no clear European leadership emerging, neither from the 28 Member States nor the High Representative and Presidents of the Council and Commission. The EU is once again facing its perpetual policy of risk aversion. On the one hand, the US remains conflicted in identifying its identity in this post-liberal world order, while the EU difficulty faces the inevitable limitation of its soft power. With a West in crisis, no decent strategy and/or policy to unravel, or at least contain, the Ukrainian crisis can emerge in this axiomatic moment with the making of the new world order.

Import policies and programs of the War Production Board and predecessor agencies, May 1940 to November 1945 /

"May 1, 1947."

Beyond Economics and Security: Strategic Export Control Practices in Advanced Countries

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Institutions, policies, and arguments:context and strategy in EU policy framing

Studies of framing in the EU political system are still a rarity and they suffer from a lack of systematic empirical analysis. Addressing this gap, we ask if institutional and policy contexts intertwined with the strategic side of framing can explain the number and types of frames employed by different stakeholders. We use a computer-assisted manual content analysis and develop a fourfold typology of frames to study the frames that were prevalent in the debates on four EU policy proposals within financial market regulation and environmental policy at the EU level and in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The main empirical finding is that both contexts and strategies exert a significant impact on the number and types of frames in EU policy debates. In conceptual terms, the article contributes to developing more fine-grained tools for studying frames and their underlying dimensions.

An assessment of computer usage within the Bahamian public school system and recommended guidelines towards the development of a strategic national computer plan

Computers have dramatically changed the way we live, conduct business, and deliver education. They have infiltrated the Bahamian public school system to the extent that many educators now feel the need for a national plan. The development of such a plan is a challenging undertaking, especially in developing countries where physical, financial, and human resources are scarce. This study assessed the situation with regard to computers within the Bahamian public school system, and provided recommended guidelines to the Bahamian government based on the results of a survey, the body of knowledge about trends in computer usage in schools, and the country's needs. ^ This was a descriptive study for which an extensive review of literature in areas of computer hardware, software, teacher training, research, curriculum, support services and local context variables was undertaken. One objective of the study was to establish what should or could be relative to the state-of-the-art in educational computing. A survey was conducted involving 201 teachers and 51 school administrators from 60 randomly selected Bahamian public schools. A random stratified cluster sampling technique was used. ^ This study used both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Quantitative methods were used to summarize the data about numbers and types of computers, categories of software available, peripheral equipment, and related topics through the use of forced-choice questions in a survey instrument. Results of these were displayed in tables and charts. Qualitative methods, data synthesis and content analysis, were used to analyze the non-numeric data obtained from open-ended questions on teachers' and school administrators' questionnaires, such as those regarding teachers' perceptions and attitudes about computers and their use in classrooms. Also, interpretative methodologies were used to analyze the qualitative results of several interviews conducted with senior public school system's officials. Content analysis was used to gather data from the literature on topics pertaining to the study. ^ Based on the literature review and the data gathered for this study a number of recommendations are presented. These recommendations may be used by the government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas to establish policies with regard to the use of computers within the public school system. ^

Document Management System: Strategic Plan, 1996

This Strategic Plan provides the Iowa Department of Transportation with guidelines for defining the acquisition and implementation of a document management system to automate current manual methods of document handling and distribution. In preparation for the production of the Strategic Plan, the USI Team conducted a series of user interviews at the DOT Ames and East Central Iowa Transportation Region facilities, and reviewed various documents relating to day-to-day operations.

A critical and interpretative investigation of the ethical dimension of policies about school digital technologies

This thesis examines digital technologies policies designed for Australian schools and the ways they are understood and interpreted by students, school staff, teachers, principals and policy writers. This study explores the ways these research participant groups interpret and understand the ‘ethical dimension’ of schools’ digital technologies policies for teaching and learning. In this thesis the ethical dimension is considered to be a dynamic concept which encompasses various elements including; decisions, actions, values, issues, debates, education, discourses, and notions of right and wrong, in relation to ethics and uses of digital technologies in schools. In this study policy is taken to mean not only written texts but discursive processes, policy documents including national declarations, strategic plans and ‘acceptable use’ policies to guide the use of digital technologies in schools. The research is situated in the context of changes that have occurred in Australia and internationally over the last decade that have seen a greater focus on the access to and use of digital technologies in schools. In Australian school education, the attention placed on digital technologies in schools has seen the release of policies at the national, state, territory, education office and school levels, to guide their use. Prominent among these policies has been the Digital Education Revolution policy, launched in 2007 and concluded in 2013. This research aims to answers the question: What does an investigation reveal about understandings of the ethical dimension of digital technologies policies and their implementation in school education? The objective of this research is to examine the ethical dimension of digital technologies policies and to interpret and understand the responses of the research participants to the issues, silences, discourses and language, which characterise this dimension. In doing so, it is intended that the research can allow the participants to have a voice that, may be different to the official discourses located in digital technologies policies. The thesis takes a critical and interpretative approach to policies and examines the role of digital technologies policies as discourse. Interpretative theory is utilised as it provides a conceptual lens from which to interpret different perspectives and the implications of these in the construction of meaning in relation to schools’ digital technologies policies. Critical theory is used in tandem with interpretative theory as it represents a conceptual basis from which to critique and question underlying assumptions and discourses that are associated with the ethical dimension of schools’ digital technologies policies. The research methods used are semi-structured interviews and policy document analysis. Policies from the national, state, territory, education office and school level were analysed and contribute to understanding the way the ethical dimension of digital technologies policies is represented as a discourse. Students, school staff, teachers, principals and policy writers participated in research interviews and their views and perspectives were canvassed in relation to the ethical use of digital technologies and the policies that are designed to regulate their use. The thesis presents an argument that the ethical dimension of schools’ digital technologies policies and use is an under-researched area, and there are gaps in understanding and knowledge in the literature which remain to be addressed. It is envisaged that the thesis can make a meaningful contribution to understand the ways in which schools’ digital technologies policies are understood in school contexts. It is also envisaged that the findings from the research can inform policy development by analysing the voices and views of those in schools. The findings of the policy analysis revealed that there is little attention given to the ethical dimension in digital technologies at the national level. A discourse of compliance and control pervades digital technologies policies from the state, education office and school levels, which reduces ethical considerations to technical, legal and regulatory requirements. The discourse is largely instrumentalist and neglects the educative dimension of digital technologies which has the capacity to engender their ethical use. The findings from the interview conversations revealed that students, school staff and teachers perceive digital technologies policies to be difficult to understand, and not relevant to their situation and needs. They also expressed a desire to have greater consultation and participation in the formation and enactment of digital technologies policies, and they believe they are marginalised from these processes in their schools. Arising from the analysis of the policies and interview conversations, an argument is presented that in the light of the prominent role played by digital technologies and their potential for enhancing all aspects of school education, more research is required to provide a more holistic and richer understanding of the policies that are constructed to control and mediate their use.

Designing Efficient Subsidy Policies in a Regional Economy: A Multicriteria Decision-Making (MCDM)-Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Approach

Since policy-makers usually pursue several conflicting objectives, policy-making can be understood as a multicriteria decision problem. Following the methodological proposal by André and Cardenete (2005) André, F. J. and Cardenete, M. A. 2005. Multicriteria Policy Making. Defining Efficient Policies in a General Equilibrium Model, Seville: Centro de Estudios Andaluces. Working Paper No. E2005/04, multi-objective programming is used in connection with a computable general equilibrium model to represent optimal policy-making and to obtain so-called efficient policies in an application to a regional economy (Andalusia, Spain). This approach is applied to the design of subsidy policies under two different scenarios. In the first scenario, it is assumed that the government is concerned just about two objectives: ensuring the profitability of a key strategic sector and increasing overall output. Finally, the scope of the exercise is enlarged by solving a problem with seven policy objectives, including both general and sectorial objectives. It is concluded that the observed policy could have been Pareto-improved in several directions.

Human resource management reform in the Indonesian civil service : towards strategic fit?

Studies of strategic HRM have dominated HRM research over the last three decades. Focusing on the HRM-organisation performance relationship, researchers take various themes and perspectives in their approach to strategic HRM. Among these themes, two contrasting approaches of strategic HRM continue to flourish: first, the best practice approach suggests that certain HRM practices will have the same effect irrespective of context and, second, the best fit approach suggests that the choice of HRM practices should be designed in accordance with an organisations’ specific context. While there is little consensus on what constitutes strategic HRM, the most common feature agreed in this field is the notion of the strategic integration; aligning HRM practices with organisations’ overall strategic objectives (vertical fit) and with each other (horizontal fit). Utilising the best fit approach as its theoretical framework, this study examines how vertical and horizontal fit is practised in the Indonesian civil service and what factors likely influence the prevalence of vertical and horizontal fit in the Indonesian civil service context. This study is significant for two important reasons. Firstly, the literature suggests that there are limited studies examining the best fit concept in the civil sector despite its implementation in the private sector positively contributing to organisational performance improvement. Secondly, the study provides enlightenment on how the best fit approach could contribute to performance improvement in the Indonesian civil service. This is in line with the fact that negative images of the Indonesian civil service are continuously highlighted although various HRM reform initiatives have been put in place. To achieve the objectives of the study, the qualitative case study approach accompanied by semi-structured interviews was employed involving 53 senior officials and one focus group discussion from eight Indonesian government agencies, consisting of three central agencies mandated to manage human resources, the National Bureaucratic Reform Team and four line agencies from both central and local governments. Thematic analysis was employed for data analyses and NVIVO software was used to manage the data. The study suggests three main findings. First, various HRM initiatives in relation to the HRM reform have been introduced in the Indonesian civil service differentiating them from the old HRM practices. However, the findings indicate that some HRM policies are still contradicting and hinder vertical and horizontal fit. Second, despite the contradictory policies, vertical and horizontal fit can be seen in the line agencies which have been acknowledged as ‘reformed agencies’. This demonstrates that the line agencies play an important role in aligning HRM practices with the line agencies’ goals and objectives and with one another although they are bounded by HRM policies that are unlikely to support the vertical and horizontal fit concept. Third, factors influencing the prevalence of vertical and horizontal fit include knowledge of contemporary HRM in both central agencies and line agencies, commitment from the line agencies’ leaders, devolvement of HRM to the line agencies and the socio-political and economic environments of the Indonesian civil service. The findings of the study raise policy, practical and theoretical implications. In terms of policy implications, the study highlights the importance of fit in HRM policies to support the achievement of the line agencies’ goals. Therefore, when formulating an HRM policy, the central agencies need to ensure that the HRM policy is linked to line agencies’ goals and to other HRM policies. This is to ensure synchronisation among the policies and thus maximising the achievement of the line agencies’ goals. From the practical perspectives, the study highlights important points which can be learned by the central agencies in carrying out their strategic role with regard to the formulation of HRM policies; by the line agencies in maximising the contribution of HRM to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the agencies through the implementation of the best fit concept, and by the leaders of the agencies in providing continuous support to each of the involved parties in the line agencies and involving the HRM department in all agency’s strategic decision-making. In relation to the theoretical implication, it is clear that the best fit approach is not thoroughly applied due to factors discussed previously. However, this does not mean that the best fit concept cannot be implemented. As argued by McCourt & Ramgutty-Wong (2003), instead of adopting the whole concept of best fit, a modulated approach reflecting the best fit concept, such as selecting individual HRM practices and experimenting with devolution, is possible for civil service organisations which still embrace centralised HRM systems. As demonstrated in the findings, some of the line agencies being studied seem to be ready to adopt the best fit approach given that they have knowledge of the best fit concept, strong support from the top leader, less political intervention and less corruption, collusion, and nepotism practices in their HRM practices.

Incentive based policies on climate change: taxes and tradable emssions permits

The reduction of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) plays a central role in the environmental policies considered by countries for implementation not only at its own level but also at supranational levels. This thesis is dedicated to investigate some aspects of two of the most relevant climate change policies. The first part is dedicated to emission permit markets and the second part to optimal carbon taxes. On emission permit markets we explore the strategic behavior of oligopolistic firms operating in polluting industrial sectors that are regulated by cap and trade systems. Our aim is to identify how market power influences the main results obtained under perfect competition assumptions and to understand how actions taken in one market affects the outcome of the other related market. A partial equilibrium model is developed for this purpose with specific abatement cost functions. In Chapter 2 we use the model to explain some of the most relevant literature results. In Chapter 3 the model is used to analyze different oligopolistic structures in the product market under the assumption of competitive permits market. There are two significant findings. Firstly, under the assumption of a Stackelberg oligopoly, firms have no incentives for lobbying in order to manipulate permit prices up, as they have under Cournot competition...

Um estudo das políticas públicas de lazer de Brotas/SP = : Brotas leisure public policies, São Paulo State

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

O setor privado sem fins lucrativos e as políticas públicas de esporte e lazer (2008-2011) = : The non-profitable private sector and the public policies for sport and leisure (2008-2011)

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Na rede, pelo lado de fora? : Gestão matricial e politicas publicas de lazer na cidade de Santo Andre

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Oral Health in Brazil - Part I: public oral health policies

This paper reviews the historical development of public health policies in Brazil and the insertion of oral health in this context. Since 1988, Brazil established a Unified National Health System ("Sistema Único de Saúde" - SUS), which was conceived to assure access to health actions and services, including oral health. However, a history of lack of access to health services and the health problems faced by the Brazilian population make the process of building and consolidating the SUS extremely challenging. Since 2004, the Oral Health National Policy has proposed a reorientation of the health care model, supported by an adaptation of the working system of Oral Health teams so that they include actions of health promotion, protection and recovery. Human resources should be prepared to act in this system. The qualifying process must take in consideration knowledge evolution, changes in the work process and changes in demographical and epidemiological aspects, according to a perspective of maintaining a balance between technique and social relevance.

Do school based food and nutrition policies improve diet and reduce obesity?

OBJECTIVE: To review the effectiveness of school food and nutrition policies world wide in improving the school food environment, student's dietary intake, and decreasing overweight and obesity. METHODS: Systematic review of published and unpublished literature up to November 2007 of three categories of nutrition policy; nutrition guidelines, regulation of food and/or beverage availability, and price interventions applied in preschools, primary and secondary schools. RESULTS: 18 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most evidence of effectiveness was found for the impact of both nutrition guidelines and price interventions on intake and availability of food and drinks, with less conclusive research on product regulation. Despite the introduction of school food policies worldwide few large scale or national policies have been evaluated, and all included studies were from the USA and Europe. CONCLUSION: Some current school policies have been effective in improving the food environment and dietary intake in schools, but there is little evaluation of their impact on BMI. As schools have been proposed worldwide as a major setting for tackling childhood obesity it is essential that future policy evaluations measure the long term effectiveness of a range of school food policies in tackling both dietary intake and overweight and obesity.