La Ordenación del Territorio en las Ciudades Globales Europeas: El caso de Madrid

En la Comunidad de Madrid el modelo de ocupación del territorio en las dos últimas décadas ha obedecido a factores de oferta del mercado y no a las necesidades de la población, ello provoca un consumo de suelo y de recursos que conducen a una sobrexplotación insostenible. Las metrópolis globales están experimentando rápidas e intensas transformaciones, basadas en los paradigmas emergentes de la globalización, la gobernanza, la metropolizacion y la dispersión de las actividades en el territorio y a través de ellos se abordan los planes de Londres, París y las tentativas de Madrid. La globalización provoca la pérdida de soberanía de las administraciones publicas y la competitividad entre las ciudades globales en Europa, Londres, Paris y Madrid, son centros de poder, de concentración y crecimiento donde se produce la dualización del espacio y donde la desigualdad participa de la restructuración urbana, concentración de pobreza frente a espacios de la nueva clase emergente en donde dominan los sectores de servicios y las tecnologías de la información. Frente al desarrollo urbano neoliberal de regulación a través del mercado y basada en criterios de eficiencia de la Nueva Gestión Pública, se vislumbra la posibilidad de que la sociedad se administre a si misma por medio de acciones voluntarias y responsables que promuevan los intereses colectivos mediante el reconocimiento de su propia identidad, introduciendo el concepto de gobernanza. Frente, a la explotación del territorio por parte de la sociedad extractiva que genera corrupcion, se propone un modelo de cooperación público-privada basado en la confianza mutua, un marco regulador estable, la transparencia y la información a cuyo flujo más homogéneo contribuirán sin duda las TICs. En todo este proceso, las regiones metropolitanas en Europa se erigen como motores del crecimiento, donde los límites administrativos son superados, en un territorio cada vez más extendido y donde los gobiernos locales tienen que organizarse mediante un proceso de cooperación en la provisión de servicios que ayuden a evitar los desequilibrios territoriales. El fenómeno de la dispersión urbana en desarrollos de baja densidad, los centros comerciales periféricos, la expulsión hacia la periferia de las actividades de menor valor añadido y la concentración de funciones directivas en el centro, conducen a una fragmentación del territorio en islas dependientes del automóvil y a procesos de exclusión social por la huida de las rentas altas y la expulsión de las rentas bajas de los centros urbanos. Se crean fragmentos monofuncionales y discontinuos, apoyados en las autovías, lugares carentes de identidad y generadores de despilfarro de recursos y una falta de sostenibilidad ambiental, económica y social. El estudio de la cultura de la planificación en Europa ayuda a comprender los diferentes enfoques en la ordenación del territorio y el proceso de convergencia entre las diferentes regiones. Los documentos de la UE se basan en la necesidad de la competitividad para el crecimiento europeo y la cohesión social y en relación al territorio en los desarrollos policéntricos, la resolución del dualismo campo-ciudad, el acceso equilibrado a las infraestructuras, la gestión prudente de la naturaleza, el patrimonio y el fomento de la identidad. Se proponen dos niveles de estudio uno actual, los últimos planes de Londres y Paris y el otro la evolución de las tentativas de planes en la Región madrileña siempre en relación a los paradigmas emergentes señalados y su reflejo en los documentos. El Plan de Londres es estratégico, con una visión a largo plazo, donde se confiere un gran interés al proceso, al papel del alcalde como líder y su adaptación a las circunstancias cambiantes, sujeto a las incertidumbres de una ciudad global. El desarrollo del mismo se concibe a través de la colaboración y cooperación entre las administraciones y actores. La estructura del documento es flexible, establece orientaciones y guías indicativas, para la redacción de los planes locales, no siendo las mismas vinculantes y con escasa representación grafica. El Plan de París es más un plan físico, similar al de otros centros europeos, trabaja sobre los sectores y sobre los territorios, con información extensa, con características de “Plan Latino” por la fuerza de la expresión gráfica, pero al mismo tiempo contiene una visión estratégica. Es vinculante en sus determinaciones y normativas, se plantea fomentar, pero también prohibir. Ambos planes tratan la competitividad internacional de sus centros urbanos, la igualdad social, la inclusión de todos los grupos sociales y la vivienda como una cuestión de dignidad humana. Londres plantea la gobernanza como cooperación entre sector público-privado y la necesaria cooperación con las regiones limítrofes, en París las relaciones están más institucionalizadas resaltando la colaboración vertical entre administraciones. Ambos plantean la densificación de nodos servidos por transporte público, modos blandos y el uso los TODs y la preservación de la infraestructura verde jerarquizada, la potenciación de la red azul y la mejora del paisaje de las periferias. En las “tentativas” de planes territoriales de Madrid se constata que estuvieron sujetas a los ciclos económicos. El primer Documento las DOT del año 1984, no planteaba crecimiento, ni económico ni demográfico, a medio plazo y por ello no proponía una modificación del modelo radio concéntrico. Se trataba de un Plan rígido volcado en la recuperación del medio rural, de la ciudad, el dimensionamiento de los crecimientos en función de las dotaciones e infraestructuras existentes. Aboga por la intervención de la administración pública y la promoción del pequeño comercio. Destaca el desequilibrio social en función de la renta, la marginación de determinados grupos sociales, el desequilibrio residencia/empleo y la excesiva densidad. Incide en la necesidad de viviendas para los más desfavorecidos mediante el alquiler, la promoción suelo público y la promoción del ferrocarril para dar accesibilidad al espacio central. Aboga por el equipamiento de proximidad y de pequeño tamaño, el tratamiento paisajístico de los límites urbanos de los núcleos y el control de las actividades ilegales señalando orientaciones para el planeamiento urbano. Las Estrategias (1989) contienen una visión: la modificación del modelo territorial, mediante la intervención pública a través de proyectos. Plantea la reestructuración económica del territorio, la reconversión del aparato productivo, la deslocalización de actividades de escaso valor añadido y una mayor ubicuidad de la actividad económica. Incide en la difusión de la centralidad hacia el territorio del sur, equilibrándolo con el norte, tratando de recomponer empleo y residencia, integrando al desarrollo económico las periferias entre sí y con el centro. Las actuaciones de transporte consolidarían las actuaciones, modificando el modelo radio concéntrico facilitando la movilidad mediante la red de cercanías y la intermodalidad. El plan se basaba en el liderazgo del Consejero, no integrando sectores como el medio ambiente, ni estableciendo un documento de seguimiento de las actuaciones que evaluara los efectos de las políticas y su aportación al equilibrio territorial, a través de los proyectos realizados. El Documento Preparatorio de las Bases (1995), es más de un compendio o plan de planes, recoge análisis y propuestas de los documentos anteriores y de planes sectoriales de otros departamentos. Presenta una doble estructura: un plan físico integrador clásico, que abarca los sectores y territorios, y recoge las Estrategias previas añadiendo puntos fuertes, como el malestar urbano y la rehabilitación el centro. Plantea la consecución del equilibrio ambiental mediante el crecimiento de las ciudades existentes, la vertebración territorial basada en la movilidad y en la potenciación de nuevas centralidades, la mejora de la habitabilidad y rehabilitación integral del Centro Urbano de Madrid, y la modernización del tejido productivo existente. No existe una idea-fuerza que aglutine todo el documento, parte del reconocimiento de un modelo existente concentrado y congestivo, un centro urbano dual y dos periferias al este y sur con un declive urbano y obsolescencia productiva y al oeste y norte con una dispersión que amenaza al equilibrio medioambiental. Señala como aspectos relevantes, la creciente polarización y segregación social, la deslocalización industrial, la aparición de las actividades de servicios a las empresas instaladas en las áreas metropolitanas, y la dispersión de las actividades económicas en el territorio por la banalización del uso del automóvil. Se plantea el reto de hacer ciudad de la extensión suburbana y su conexión con el sistema metropolitano, mediante una red de ciudades integrada y complementaria, en búsqueda de un mayor equilibrio y solidaridad territorial. Las Bases del PRET (1997) tenían como propósito iniciar el proceso de concertación en que debe basarse la elaboración del Plan. Parte de la ciudad mediterránea compacta, y diversa, y de la necesidad de que las actividades económicas, los servicios y la residencia estén en proximidad, resolviéndolo mediante una potente red de transporte público que permitiese una accesibilidad integrada al territorio. El flujo de residencia hacia la periferia, con un modelo ajeno de vivienda unifamiliar y la concentración del empleo en el centro producen desequilibrio territorial. Madrid manifiesta siempre apostó por la densificación del espacio central urbanizado, produciendo su congestión, frente al desarrollo de nuevos suelos que permitieran su expansión territorial. Precisa que es necesario preservar los valores de centralidad de Madrid, como generador de riqueza, canalizando toda aquella demanda de centralidad, hacia espacios más periféricos. El problema de la vivienda no lo ve solo como social, sino como económico, debido a la pérdida de empleos que supone su paralización. Observa ya los crecimientos residenciales en el borde de la region por el menor valor del suelo. Plantea como la política de oferta ha dado lugar a un modelo de crecimiento fragmentado, desequilibrado, desestructurado, con fuertes déficits dotacionales y de equipamiento, que inciden en la segregación espacial de las rentas, agravando el proceso de falta de identidad morfológica y de desarraigo de los valores urbanos. El plan señalaba que la presión sobre el territorio creaba su densificación por las limitaciones de espacio, Incidía en limitar el peso de la intervención pública, no planteando propuestas de cooperación público-privado. La mayor incoherencia estriba en que los objetivos eran innovadores y coinciden en su mayoría con las propuestas estudiadas de Londres o Paris, pero se intentan implementar a través de un cambio hacia un modelo reticulado homogéneo, expansivo sobre el territorio, que supone un consumo de suelo y de infraestructuras para solucionar un problema inexistente, la gestión de la densidad. Durante las dos últimas décadas en ausencia de un plan regional, la postura neoliberal fue la de un exclusivo control de legalidad del planeamiento, los municipios entraron en un proceso de competencia para aprovechar las iniciales ventajas económicas de los crecimientos detectados, que proporcionaban una base económica “sólida” a unos municipios con escasos recursos en sus presupuestos municipales. La legislación se modifica a requerimiento de grupos interesados, no existiendo un marco estable. Se pierde la figura del plan no solo a nivel regional, si no en los sectores y el planeamiento municipal donde los municipios tiende a basarse en modificaciones puntuales con la subsiguiente pérdida del modelo urbanístico. La protección ambiental se estructura mediante un extenso nivel de figuras, con diversidad de competencias que impide su efectiva protección y control. Este proceso produce un despilfarro en la ocupación del suelo, apoyada en las infraestructuras viarias, y un crecimiento disperso y de baja densidad, cada vez más periférico, produciéndose una segmentación social por dualización del espacio en función de niveles de renta. Al amparo del boom inmobiliario, se produce una falta de política social de vivienda pública, más basada en la dinamización del mercado con producción de viviendas para rentas medias que en políticas de alquiler para determinados grupos concentrándose estas en los barrios desfavorecidos y en la periferia sur. Se produce un incremento de la vivienda unifamiliar, muchas veces amparada en políticas públicas, la misma se localiza en el oeste principalmente, en espacios de valor como el entorno del Guadarrama o con viviendas más baratas por la popularización de la tipología en la frontera de la Región. El territorio se especializa a modo de islas monofuncionales, las actividades financieras y de servicios avanzados a las empresas se localizan en el norte y oeste próximo, se pierde actividad industrial que se dispersa más al sur, muchas veces fuera de la región. Se incrementan los grandes centros comerciales colgados de las autovías y sin población en su entorno. Todo este proceso ha provocado una pérdida de utilización del transporte público y un aumento significativo del uso del vehículo privado. En la dos últimas décadas se ha producido en la región de Madrid desequilibrio territorial y segmentación social, falta de implicación de la sociedad en el territorio, dispersión del crecimiento y un incremento de los costes ambientales, sociales y económicos, situación, que solo, a través del uso racional del territorio se puede reconducir, apoyado en una planificación integrada sensible y participativa. ABSTRACT In Madrid the model of land occupation in the past two decades has been driven by market supply factors rather than the needs of the population. This results in a consumption of land and resources that leads to unsustainable overexploitation. Addressing this issue must be done through sensitive and participatory integrated planning. Global cities are experiencing rapid and intense change based on the emerging paradigms of globalization, governance, metropolization and the dispersion of activities in the territory. Through this context, a closer look will be taken at the London and Paris plans as well as the tentative plans of Madrid. Globalization causes the loss of state sovereignty and the competitiveness among global cities in Europe; London, Paris and Madrid. These are centres of power, concentration and growth where the duality of space is produced, and where inequality plays a part in urban restructuration. There are concentrated areas of poverty versus areas with a new emerging class where the services sector and information technologies are dominant. The introduction of ICTs contributes to a more homogeneous flow of information leading, us to the concept of governance. Against neoliberal urban development based on free market regulations and efficiency criteria as established by the “New Public Management”, emerge new ways where society administers itself through voluntary and responsible actions to promote collective interests by recognizing their own identity. A new model of public-private partnerships surfaces that is based on mutual trust, transparency, information and a stable regulatory framework in light of territorial exploitation by the “extractive society” that generates corruption. Throughout this process, European metropolitan regions become motors of growth where administrative boundaries are overcome in an ever expanding territory where government is organized through cooperative processes to provide services that protect against regional imbalances. Urban sprawl or low-density development as seen in peripheral shopping centres, the off-shoring of low added-value activities to the periphery, and the concentration of business and top management functions in the centre, leads to a fragmentation of the territory in automobile dependent islands and a process of social exclusion brought on by the disappearance of high incomes. Another effect is the elimination of low income populations from urban centres. In consequence, discontinuous expansions and mono-functional places that lack identity materialize supported by a highway network and high resource consumption. Studying the culture of urban planning in Europe provides better insight into different approaches to spatial planning and the process of convergence between different regions. EU documents are based on the need of competitiveness for European growth and social cohesion. In relation to polycentric development territory they are based on a necessity to solve the dualism between field and city, balanced access to infrastructures, prudent management of nature and solidifying heritage and identity Two levels of study unfold, the first being the current plans of London and Île-de-France and the second being the evolution of tentative plans for the Madrid region as related to emerging paradigms and how this is reflected in documents. The London Plan is strategic with a long-term vision that focuses on operation, the role of the mayor as a pivotal leader, and the adaptability to changing circumstances brought on by the uncertainties of a global city. Its development is conceived through collaboration and cooperation between governments and stakeholders. The document structure is flexible, providing guidance and indicative guidelines on how to draft local plans so they are not binding, and it contains scarce graphic representation. The Plan of Paris takes on a more physical form and is similar to plans of other European centres. It emphasizes sectors and territories, using extensive information, and is more characteristic of a “Latin Plan” as seen in its detailed graphic expression. However, it also contains a strategic vision. Binding in its determinations and policy, it proposes advancement but also prohibition. Both plans address the international competitiveness of urban centres, social equality, inclusion of all social groups and housing as issues of human dignity. London raises governance and cooperation between public and private sector and the need for cooperation with neighbouring regions. In Paris, the relations are more institutionalized highlighting vertical collaboration between administrations. Both propose nodes of densification served by public transportation, soft modes and the use of TOD, the preservation of a hierarchical green infrastructure, and enhancing the landscape in urban peripheries. The tentative territorial plans for the Madrid region provide evidence that they were subject to economic cycles. The first document of master guidelines (1984) does not address either economic or demographic growth in the mid term and therefore does not propose the modification of the radio-concentric model. It is a rigid plan focused on rural and urban recovery and the dimensioning of growth that depends on endowments and infrastructures. It advocates government intervention and promotes small business. The plan emphasizes social imbalance in terms of income, marginalization of certain social groups, the imbalance of residence/employment and excessive density. It stresses the need for social rent housing for the underprivileged, promotes public land, and the supports rail accessibility to the central area. It backs facilities of proximity and small size, enhancing the landscaping of city borders, controlling illegal activities and draws out guidelines for urban planning. The strategies (1989) contain a vision: Changing the territorial model through public intervention by means of projects. They bring to light economic restructuring of territory, the reconversion of the productive apparatus, relocation of low value-added activities, and greater ubiquity of economic activity. They also propose the diffusion of centrality towards southern territories, balancing it with the north in an attempt to reset employment and residence that integrates peripheral economic development both in the periphery and the centre. Transport would consolidate the project, changing the radius-concentric model and facilitating mobility through a commuter and inter-modality network. The plan derives itself from the leadership of the minister and does not integrate sectors such as environment. It also does not incorporate the existence of a written document that monitors performance to evaluate the effects of policies and their contribution to the territorial balance. The Preparatory Document of the Bases, (1995) is more a compendium, or plan of plans, that compiles analysis and proposals from previous documents and sectorial plans from other departments. It has a dual structure: An integrating physical plan covering the sectors and territories that includes the previous strategies while adding some strengths. One such point is the urban discomfort and the rehabilitation of the centre. It also poses the achievement of environmental balance through the growth of existing cities, the territorial linking based on mobility, strengthening new centres, improving the liveability and comprehensive rehabilitation of downtown Madrid, and the modernization of the existing production network. There is no one powerful idea that binds this document. This is due to the recognition of an existing concentrate and congestive model, a dual urban centre, two eastern and southern suburbs suffering from urban decay, and an obsolescent productive north and west whose dispersion threatens the environmental balance. Relevant aspects the document highlights are increasing polarization and social segregation, industrial relocation, the emergence of service activities to centralized companies in metropolitan areas and the dispersion of economic activities in the territory by the trivialization of car use. It proposes making the city from the suburban sprawl and its connection to the metropolitan system through a network of integrated and complementary cities in search of a better balance and territorial solidarity. The Bases of PRET (1997) aims to start the consultation process that must underpin the development of the plan. It stems from a compact and diverse Mediterranean city along with the need for economic activities, services and residences that are close. To resolve the issue, it presents a powerful network of public transport that allows integrated accessibility to the territory. The flow of residence to the periphery based on a foreign model of detached housing and an employment concentration in the centre produces territorial imbalance. Madrid always opted for the densification of the central space, producing its congestion, against the development of new land that would allow its territorial expansion. The document states that the necessity to preserve the values of the housing problem is not only viewed as social, but also economic due to the loss of jobs resulting from their paralysis. It notes the residential growth in the regional border due to the low price of land and argues that the policy of supply has led to a fragmented model of growth that is unbalanced, unstructured, with strong infrastructure and facility deficits that affect the spatial segregation of income and aggravate the lack of morphological identity, uprooting urban values. The pressure on the territory caused its densification due to space limitation; the proposed grid model causes land consumption and infrastructure to solve a non-problem, density. Focusing on limiting the weight of public intervention, it does not raise proposals for public-private cooperation. The biggest discrepancy is that the targets were innovative and mostly align with the proposals in London and Paris. However, it proposes to be implemented through a shift towards a uniform gridded model that is expansive over territory. During the last two decades, due to the absence of a regional plan, a neoliberal stance held exclusive control of the legality of urban planning. The municipalities entered a competition process to take advantage of initial economic benefits of such growth. This provided a “solid” economic base for some municipalities with limited resources in their municipal budgets. The law was amended without a legal stable framework at the request of stakeholders. The character of the plan is lost not only regionally, but also in the sectors and municipal planning. This tends to be based on specific changes with the loss of an urban model. Environmental protection is organized through an extensive number of protection figures with diverse competencies that prevent its effective protection. This process squanders the use of the land, backed by increasing road infrastructure, dispersed occupations with low-density growth causing a social segmentation due to space duality based on income levels. During the housing boom, there is a reduction in social public housing policy mostly due to a boost in the market of housing production for average incomes than in rental policies for needy social groups that focus on disadvantaged neighbourhoods and southern suburbs. As a result, there is an increase in single-family housing, often protected by public policy. This is located primarily in the west in areas of high environmental value such as Guadarrama. There is also cheaper housing due to the popularization of typology in the border region. There, territory works as a mono-functional islands. Financial activities and advanced services for companies are located to the north and west where industrial activity is lost as it migrates south, often outside the region. The number of large shopping centres hanging off the highway infrastructure with little to no surrounding population increases. This process leads to the loss of dependency on public transport and a significant increase in the use of private vehicles. The absence of regional planning has produced more imbalance, more social segmentation, more dispersed growth and a lot of environmental, social and economic costs that can only be redirected through rational territorial.

Correlates of the desired family size among Indian communities.

The People of India database of the Anthropological Survey of India documents 631 cultural, ecological, and economic traits of the 4635 communities to which the entire Indian population is assigned. Focusing on 1342 communities of South India, we looked for correlates of low (1 or 2 children) and high (4 or more children) desired family size (DFS) reported as the norm for any given community by key informants. We found 10 cultural and 18 economic traits to be significantly correlated to high DFS and 21 cultural and 9 economic traits to low DFS. The economic traits so identified are compatible with high family size being desired by parents who have little capability of investing in quality of offspring, but whose children contribute economically from an early age. In contrast, communities desiring low family size are part of the modern intensive agriculture/organized industry/services sector and invest heavily in educating their children. A composite index based on 27 economic traits (CEI) has a high predictive value with respect to the DFS for the entire set of 4635 Indian communities. The 31 cultural traits highly correlated to high or low DFS constitute 5 clusters that can be identified as characterizing scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, rural and landless lower castes, urban upper castes, and Moslems. Whereas economic traits have similar influence on DFS within each of these ethnic categories, Moslems demonstrate a significantly higher DFS for lower values of CEI.

Manufacturing Europe's Future. Bruegel Blueprint 21, 2 October 2013

‘Industrial policy is back!’ This is the message given in the European Commission’s October 2012 communication on industrial policy (COM (2012) 582 final), which seeks to reverse the declining role of the manufacturing industry, and increase its share of European Union GDP from about 16 percent currently to above 20 percent. Historical evidence suggests that the goal is unlikely to be achieved. Manufacturing’s share of GDP has decreased around the world over the last 30 years. Paradoxically, this relative decline has been a reflection of manufacturing’s strength. Higher productivity growth in manufacturing than in the economy overall resulted in relative decline. A strategy to reverse this trend and move to an industrial share of above 20 percent might therefore risk undermining the original strength of industry – higher productivity growth. This Blueprint therefore takes a different approach. It starts by looking in depth into the manufacturing sector and how it is developing. It emphasises the extent to which European industry has become integrated with other parts of the economy, in particular with the increasingly specialised services sector, and how both sectors depend on each other. It convincingly argues that industrial activity is increasingly spread through global value chains. As a result, employment in the sector has increasingly become highly skilled, while those parts of production for which high skill levels are not needed have been shifted to regions with lower labour costs.

An aided economy: the characteristics of the Transnistrian economic model. OSW Commentary No. 108, 2013-05-14

The economy of breakaway Transnistria is a peculiar combination of the command-and-distribution model inherited from the USSR with elements of a free-market economy which is heavily dependent on Russian energy and financial subsidies. The main pillars of the region’s economy are several large industrial plants, built in the Soviet era, which generate more than half of its GDP (in 2012, Transnistria’s GDP reached around US$1 billion). As a consequence, the condition of each of these companies, whose production is almost exclusively export- -oriented, has a huge impact on the economic situation in Transnistria. This makes the region extremely sensitive to any changes in the economic situation of its key trade partners. This problem is additionally aggravated by the extremely low diversification of Transnistrian exports. The only major economic entity in Transnistria which regularly yields profits and is not so heavily dependent on the external situation is Sheriff. This corporation controls the greater part of the local wholesale and retail trade, as well as a major part of the services sector on the domestic market.

UBER: Innovation or déja vu? CEPS Commentary, 25 February 2015

The emergence of the controversial car service Uber has provoked a wide and heated discussion among economists specialising in the services sector in recent months. This Commentary explores the most salient questions being raised in the debate: Does Uber really offer a new service? And does it represent true innovation? The authors argue that there are some very interesting innovative elements associated with Uber, but those related to the specific industrial relations model might prove to be prejudiced against drivers.

The impact of regulation and ownership structure on market orientation in the tourism industry in China

The nature of market orientation and its impact on business performance and other related outcomes have been extensively researched in a range of service contexts including tourism. In contrast, our understanding of the factors that influence market orientation is still limited. This paper reports on a study that contributes to our understanding of the determinants of market orientation within the tourism sector by focusing specifically on the role played by two strategically important variables, namely government regulation and ownership structure. The study analyses two national samples of hotels and travel services in the rapidly growing tourism industry in China. The hotel sector has been open to foreign investment for two decades and has a diversified ownership structure, whereas the travel services sector has been dominated by government owned firms and relatively closed to foreign investment. The results of the survey suggest that of the two new antecedents, only government regulation has a significant role to play in driving market orientation. Internally, access to appropriate managerial and marketing capabilities was identified as a significant predictor of the development of market orientation.

People, technology, processes and risk knowledge sharing

The present global economic crisis creates doubts about the good use of accumulated experience and knowledge in managing risk in financial services. Typically, risk management practice does not use knowledge management (KM) to improve and to develop new answers to the threats. A key reason is that it is not clear how to break down the “organizational silos” view of risk management (RM) that is commonly taken. As a result, there has been relatively little work on finding the relationships between RM and KM. We have been doing research for the last couple of years on the identification of relationships between these two disciplines. At ECKM 2007 we presented a general review of the literature(s) and some hypotheses for starting research on KM and its relationship to the perceived value of enterprise risk management. This article presents findings based on our preliminary analyses, concentrating on those factors affecting the perceived quality of risk knowledge sharing. These come from a questionnaire survey of RM employees in organisations in the financial services sector, which yielded 121 responses. We have included five explanatory variables for the perceived quality of risk knowledge sharing. These comprised two variables relating to people (organizational capacity for work coordination and perceived quality of communication among groups), one relating to process (perceived quality of risk control) and two related to technology (web channel functionality and RM information system functionality). Our findings so far are that four of these five variables have a significant positive association with the perceived quality of risk knowledge sharing: contrary to expectations, web channel functionality did not have a significant association. Indeed, in some of our exploratory regression studies its coefficient (although not significant) was negative. In stepwise regression, the variable organizational capacity for work coordination accounted for by far the largest part of the variation in the dependent variable perceived quality of risk knowledge sharing. The “people” variables thus appear to have the greatest influence on the perceived quality of risk knowledge sharing, even in a sector that relies heavily on technology and on quantitative approaches to decision making. We have also found similar results with the dependent variable perceived value of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) implementation.

Does German foreign direct investment lead to job losses at home?

This paper provides firm-level evidence on the labour demand effects of outward investments using a panel of multinationals (MNEs) based in Germany. Distinguishing the type of investments and the location of subsidiaries around the world between 1997 and 2008, our evidence shows that for both the manufacturing and services sector the expansion of employment abroad does not occur at the detriment of employment at home. The analysis is extended to see whether outward FDI causes average wage cuts for workers employed in the German parent firm. Our findings indicate no clear average wage effects due to outward FDI. Given that domestic MNEs are seen to play an important role in the growth potential for an economy, these findings are somewhat re-assuring from a policy point of view.

German outward FDI and firm performance

This paper extends the limited literature on the link between productivity effects and outward FDI. By presenting German productivity growth effects across low and high cost locations over the period 1997 – 2006, our results show that the evidence relating outward FDI to productivity growth at home is generally positive but quite small. A 10 per cent increase in outward FDI is associated with an increase in parent TFP growth of between 0.1 to 0.9 per cent. The positive findings can be shown for parent firms operating in the manufacturing sector as well as the services sector. Our results show some evidence that home country performance is enhanced for firms which endeavour to invest abroad.

Fast Information Retrieval in the Open Grid Service Architecture

This is an extended version of an article presented at the Second International Conference on Software, Services and Semantic Technologies, Sofia, Bulgaria, 11–12 September 2010.

Share.TEC Portal: How the Metadata Repositories of Educational Resources Meet the Users’ Expectations

This is an extended version of an article presented at the Second International Conference on Software, Services and Semantic Technologies, Sofia, Bulgaria, 11–12 September 2010.

Union experience of social dialogue and collective participation in India

The labor regulatory framework in India provides a conducive environment for social dialogue and collective participation in the organizational decision-making process (Venkata Ratnam, 2009). Using data from a survey of workplace union representatives in the federal state of Maharashtra, India, this paper examines union experiences of social dialogue and collective participation in public services, private manufacturing, and private services sector. Findings indicate that collective worker participation and voice is at best modest in the public services but weak in the private manufacturing and private services. There is evidence of growing employer hostility to unions and employer refusal to engage in a meaningful social dialogue with unions. These findings are discussed within the political economy framework of employment relations in India examining the role of the state and judiciary in employment relations and, the links between political parties and trade unions in India.

Staff training in autism: The one-eyed wo/man….

Having well-trained staff is key to ensuring good quality autism services, especially since people affected with autism generally tend to have higher support needs than other populations in terms of daily living as well as their mental and physical health. Poorly-trained staff can have detrimental effects on service provision and staff morale and can lead to staff burn-out as well as increased service user anxiety and stress. This paper reports on a survey with health, social care, and education staff who work within the statutory autism services sector in the UK that explored their knowledge and training with regards to autism. Interview data obtained from staff and service users offer qualitative illustrations of survey findings. Overall, the findings expose an acute lack of autism specific training that has detrimental impacts. At best this training was based on brief and very basic awareness raising rather than on in-depth understanding of issues related to autism or skills for evidence-based practice. Service users were concerned with the effects that lack of staff training had on the services they received. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy routes to achieving quality staff training based on international best practice. The focus is on improving the quality of life and mental health for services users and staff as well as making potentially significant cost-savings for governments.

Overcoming Challenges to Service Innovation Process Implementation in an SME

This case study research reports on a small and medium-sized (SME) business-to-business (B2B) services firm implementing a novel new service development (NSD) process. It provides accounts of what occurred in practice in terms of the challenges to NSD process implementation and how the firm overcame these challenges. It also considers the implications for NSD in this and other firms’ innovation practices. This longitudinal case study (18 months) was conducted “inside” the case organization. It covered the entire innovation process from the initiation to the launch of a new service. The primary method may be viewed as participant observation. The research involved all those participating in the innovation system in the firm, including decision-makers, middle managers and employees at lower hierarchical levels and the firm’s external networks. Implications for researchers and managers focusing on structured innovation models for the services sector are also presented.

Princípios Lean aplicados à gestão da informação: um caso prático no departamento de custeio da ECCO

O pensamento lean, assim como os conceitos e práticas que lhe estão associados, são, hoje em dia, vistos pelas organizações como meios que promovem a busca pela excelência empresarial. A aplicação dos princípios lean ultrapassou já a barreira do domínio produtivo, conhecendo-se, cada vez mais, outros ramos de utilização, como é o caso do setor dos serviços, que tem demonstrado um potencial enorme no que diz respeito à exploração desta filosofia. No entanto, as experiências de aplicação destes princípios a outras áreas, que não a indústria de transformação, têm ainda poucos resultados concretos espelhados na literatura. Este projeto surge no sentido de contribuir para alcançar processos mais eficientes, aplicando ferramentas e metodologias da filosofia lean a processos de gestão da informação, tendo o caso prático decorrido no recém-criado Departamento de Custeio Global da ECCO. Por se tratar de um novo departamento, ergue-se a necessidade de construir e modificar ferramentas e práticas em toda a estrutura da empresa. Deste modo, o lean será utilizado como um possível caminho para promover a melhoria contínua dos vários processos, tendo em vista a obtenção de uma melhor relação entre os resultados obtidos e os recursos despendidos. Assim, serão apresentadas várias propostas de melhoria para o departamento em causa, no âmbito da gestão da informação e que, partindo de uma análise inicial baseada nos princípios lean, pretendem agregar mais valor aos processos, minimizando os desperdícios que lhes estão associados e, consequentemente, promovendo o seu melhoramento contínuo.