Research on policies and institutions to support small and medium scale enterprise in the Caribbean: Trinidad adn Tobago report

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago continues to provide support to SMEs in order to enhance their international competitiveness. The increasing effects of globalization and the reality of several trade agreements require that local businesses attain and maintain a level of competitiveness which ensures their continued survival and growth. This report examines in detail the policy environment within which these enterprises operate. It also examines the role of the key implementing agencies such as the BDC and NEDCO for government’s policy on the sector and also the role of the respective line ministries. These organizations strive to deliver value added technical, financial and export promotion services to its clients on a subsidised basis. The services offered reflect five key business areas such as financing, training, technical assistance, trade assistance, business re-engineering, project management and export promotion. In the case of the BDC its services target six sectors: food and beverage, metal processing, leisure marine, including yachting, information and communication technology/electronics, printing and packaging and entertainment. These said sectors are identified by the government, on the basis of a study which was done by TIDCO, for the promotion of a cluster development strategy. In the case of NEDCO it targets the following sectors: art and craft, food and beverages, fashion and fashion accessories, culture and ecotourism, bed and breakfast operations, indigenous entertainment and light manufacturing.

An Innovation System Perspective on Adaptation Strategies to Climate Variability and Water Management in India

Government policies play a critical role in influencing market conditions, institutions and overall agricultural productivity. The thesis therefore looks into the history of agriculture development in India. Taking a political economy perspective, the historical account looks at significant institutional and technological innovations carried out in pre- independent and post independent India. It further focuses on the Green Revolution in Asia, as forty years after; the agricultural community still faces the task of addressing recurrent issue of food security amidst emerging challenges, such as climate change. It examines the Green Revolution that took place in India during the late 1960s and 70s in a historical perspective, identifying two factors of institutional change and political leadership. Climate change in agriculture development has become a major concern to farmers, researchers and policy makers alike. However, there is little knowledge on the farmers’ perception to climate change and to the extent they coincide with actual climatic data. Using a qualitative approach,it looks into the perceptions of the farmers in four villages in the states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. While exploring the adaptation strategies, the chapter looks into the dynamics of who can afford a particular technology and who cannot and what leads to a particular adaptation decision thus determining the adaptive capacity in water management. The final section looks into the devolution of authority for natural resource management to local user groups through the Water Users’ Associations as an important approach to overcome the long-standing challenges of centralized state bureaucracies in India. It addresses the knowledge gap of why some local user groups are able to overcome governance challenges such as elite capture, while others-that work under the design principles developed by Elinor Ostrom. It draws conclusions on how local leadership, can be promoted to facilitate participatory irrigation management.

Land use policies and practices for reducing vulnerability in rural Tajikistan

Tajikistan, with 93% of its surface area taken up by mountains and 65% of its labor force employed in agriculture, is judged to be highly vulnerable to risks, including climate change risks and food insecurity risks. The article examines a set of land use policies and practices that can be used to mitigate the vulnerability of Tajikistan’s large rural population, primarily by increasing family incomes. Empirical evidence from Tajikistan and other CIS countries suggests that families with more land and higher commercialization earn higher incomes and achieve higher well-being. The recommended policy measures that are likely to increase rural family incomes accordingly advocate expansion of smallholder farms, improvement of livestock productivity, increase of farm commercialization through improvement of farm services, and greater diversification of both income sources and the product mix. The analysis relies for supporting evidence on official statistics and recent farm surveys. Examples from local initiatives promoting sustainable land management practices and demonstrating the implementation of the proposed policy measures are presented.

Ethiopia's Food Reserve Policies and Practice

Ethiopia has for a long time been one of the world’s most food-insecure countries. Efforts by the government and a multitude of sponsors including NGOs have developed an array of institutions and instruments to mitigate the negative impact of production and supply disruptions. Public stockpiles are one such tool, the use of which is rapidly increasing worldwide. This brief field study examines the Ethiopian policies and practice in context, including various instruments operated by farmers, processors and traders. The study finds that the multiple objectives assigned to food reserves as well as the present management structure may not be well-suited at a time of high world market prices and when international food aid is dwindling, and as the international regulatory trade and investment environment remains a matter of unfinished business from a global food security perspective. A comprehensive study of various options for improvements would lay out policy alternatives for public authorities and stakeholders.

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.

Current Challenges regarding the International Refugee Law, with focus on EU Policies and EU Co-operation with UNHCR. CEPS Paper on Liberty and Security in Europe No. 59, September 2013

From an examination of the instruments of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and related policy measures regarding border surveillance and migration management, two interrelated issues stand out as particularly sensitive: Access to asylum and responsibility for refugee protection. The prevailing view, supported by UNHCR and others, is that responsibility for the care of asylum seekers and the determination of their claims falls on the state within whose jurisdiction the claim is made. However, the possibility to shift that responsibility to another state through inter-state cooperation or unilateral mechanisms undertaken territorially as well as abroad has been a matter of great interest to EU Member States and institutions. Initiatives adopted so far challenge the prevailing view and have the potential to undermine compliance with international refugee and human rights law. This note reviews EU action in the field by reference to the relevant legal standards and best practices developed by UNHCR, focusing on the specific problems of climate refugees and access to international protection, evaluating the inconsistencies between the internal and external dimension of asylum policy. Some recommendations for the European Parliament are formulated at the end, including on action in relation to readmission agreements, Frontex engagement rules in maritime operations, Regional Protection Programmes, and resettlement.

Enhancing European Cooperation in Financial Supervision and Crisis Management. ACES Working Papers, August 2009

To overcome the regulatory pitfalls, regulatory capacity and resources in financial markets governance need to be enhanced, not only at national but also at global levels. In order to shed light on policy issues and agendas in international financial policy cooperation, this paper focuses on the case of European financial integration and regulations. The analysis of policy developments at the European level in coordinating differing national interests, supervisory systems, and practices among EU member states highlights fundamental elements of global financial regulatory cooperation.

Electronic journals in ARL libraries : policies and procedures /

"August 1994."

Federal personnel policies and practices-- perspectives from the workplace.

Mode of access: Internet.

Internal communication: policies and procedures.

Cover title.

Guidelines for the development of policies and procedures : juvenile training schools /

"Intended to be a companion to ACA's Standards for juvenile training schools."--Introd.

A summary of CSC internal placement and promotion policies and procedures.

Mode of access: Internet.

How to prepare a personnel policy manual; a tested step-by-step procedure for establishing general personnel policies and maintaining fair and effective personnel administration,

A Dartnell management manual.

Personnel policies and salary administration in 200 offices.

Cover title: Office personnel policies and salary administration.

The interaction between the implementation of an occupational health and safety management system and safety culture:a case study in the rubber industry

A prominent theme emerging in Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) is the development of management systems. A range of interventions, according to a prescribed route detailed by one of the management systems, can be introduced into an organisation with some expectation of improved OSH performance. This thesis attempts to identify the key influencing factors that may impact upon the process of introducing interventions, (according to B88800: 1996, Guide to Implementing Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems) into an organisation. To help identify these influencing factors a review of possible models from the sphere of Total Quality Management (TQM) was undertaken and the most suitable TQM model selected for development and use in aSH. By anchoring the aSH model's development in the reviewed literature a range ofeare, medium and low level influencing factors were identified. This model was developed in conjunction with the research data generated within the case study organisation (rubber manufacturer) and applied to the organisation. The key finding was that the implementation of an OSH intervention was dependant upon three broad vectors of influence. These are the Incentive to introduce change within an organisation which refers to the drivers or motivators for OSH. Secondly the Ability within the management team to actually implement the changes refers to aspects, amongst others, such as leadership, commitment and perceptions of OSH. Ability is in turn itself influenced by the environment within which change is being introduced. TItis aspect of Receptivity refers to the history of the plant and characteristics of the workforce. Aspects within Receptivity include workforce profile and organisational policies amongst others. It was found that the TQM model selected and developed for an OSH management system intervention did explain the core influencing factors and their impact upon OSH performance. It was found that within the organisation the results that may have been expected from implementation of BS8800:1996 were not realised. The OSH model highlighted that given the organisation's starting point, a poor appreciation of the human factors of OSH, gave little reward for implementation of an OSH management system. In addition it was found that general organisational culture can effectively suffocate any attempts to generate a proactive safety culture.