The ban on virginity testing

The world is characterised by the conflict existing between human rights and customary practices. Customary laws and practices appear to be in major and difficult conflict to harmonise. It differs from country to country as to one must be applied when the two are in conflict or contrary to each other. Virginity testing is one of the practices which grabs a lot of attention in conflicting with human rights from country to country. The harmonization of customary laws and human rights is not given the attention it seeks by authors around the world.     

On the issue of comparison research in politics

Comparison is a very important method in social science and human science research. This text thinks that comparison should be pondered and illustrated more deeply, which will help us to understand it more clearly for improving the performance and advance of the research in politics and it＇s theory system.     

Introducing the Non-Financial Indicators Into the Enterprise Evaluation

Currently, the enterprise performance becomes a hot topic because it inherently captures all areas of the enterprise activities that should be combined so that the enterprise is prosperous in the long term and has a long-term perspective of existence. New approaches to measure and evaluate the enterprise performance are being implemented, which come from the traditional system based on financial indicators, and also other aspects of a non-financial character are added to them. The modern way of performance evaluation is based on the assumption that the company is efficient if it is able to achieve pre-defined strategic objectives. A new set of financial and non-financial performance indicators are identified, which helps to monitor and control decision-making and strategy realization in small and medium industrial enterprises. This paper shows the importance and necessity of the use of the non-financial indicators in measuring the enterprise performance. These indicators are nowadays commonly used tools for the performance evaluation in all areas of the enterprise. The concepts of ISO （International Standardization Organization） standards, TQM （Total Quality Management） concepts, and Balanced Scorecard concept belong among the most common concepts defining the necessity of measuring with the non-financial indicators and describing also the concrete areas of the enterprise evaluation.     

The role of educational strategies in human development： An example of using key word method in teaching Arabic as a second language in Malaysia

This paper is an attempt to discover and recognize the important role of educational strategies in developing human capital in which they become positive agents of human society, such as academic achievement, intellectual abilities, interpersonal skills and also self-esteem. These will be measured using a survey instrument that classifies learning performance via test scores, to test the hypothesis that learning a language will lead to comparable positive self-development, but indirected language learning will affect academic achievement negatively. Therefore, key word methods in learning Arabic language will be used as directed Arabic language learning to measure the significant correlation to both academic and non-academic development of the learners in which the effectiveness of mnemonic strategy in vocabulary memorization is associated with the self-consciousness and personal psyches of the learners. Consequently, they appreciate the knowledge and values they gained from their learning activities, which help them to perform better than students who did not use this type of learning strategy in learning Arabic language. Teachers, on the other hand, would also able to observe the important impact of Arabic language learning on learners＇ academic performance and personality development. Therefore, education is simply a process of acquiring a new knowledge in creating an environment in which students and teachers learn something for themselves.     

Analysis on the Human Resource Management in Chinese Agricultural Sector： Case Study From State-Owned Farms in Heilon~iang Province

The aim of this paper is to understand and clarify the strategies, characteristics, and practices of human resource management （HRM） in Chinese agricultural sector from the case study of state-owned farms in Heilongjiang Province. First of all, the technical efficiency of state-owned farms is analyzed using Data Envelopment Analysis （DEA）. Secondly, the characteristics of HRM in three farms are analyzed through person to person interview of managers in farms. Thirdly, questionnaire survey to the employees in two farms for their job satisfaction is analyzed for understanding the effect of HRM. Following results are obtained based on the empirical analysis. Firstly, by introducing new strategy so-called ＂Baiqianwan Talents Project＂ （BTP）, more attentions to the importance of human resources and cultivating managers have started to be paid in state-owned farms. Secondly, the importance of material HRM and the promotion opportunity as well as learning opportunity are recognized through questionnaire survey to the employees of farms. Thirdly, different corporate culture in each farm such as ＂learn by doing＂, ＂harmonization＂, and ＂development＂ is attempted to be established through trial and error.     

Governance Under Surveillance in South Africa

Good governance and legitimacy are becoming more and more important in South African society. Increasingly there are tendencies and trends of corruption, poor service delivery, crime, violence, and xenophobia in South Africa. The lack of accountability, responsiveness, and transparency reflects negatively on governance principles. It is becoming more evident that governance in South Africa must be investigated. Government is finding it difficult to tend to public participation, maintain law and order, provide for the basic needs of citizens, and combat unemployment and strikes. There is a direct link between governance and legitimacy because good governance is one of the essential elements and a prerequisite for legitimacy. Legitimacy depends on the government＇s performance and the support of citizens for the ruling party.     

Toward a Framework for the Sustainable Management of Social （Public） Housing Estates in Nigeria

Housing is a centre for many socio-economic activities and often provides a mark of prosperity, social acceptance, and an element of urban development and growth in a country. However, it is suspected that the significance of housing to people in the Niger Delta of Nigeria is lacking because of poor post-construction management practice that is currently in place. At the same time, there are housing shortages, uncompleted, vandalized and abandoned social housing stock in the Nigeria Delta. This has been a continuing challenge facing people in this region as reported in previous studies. Therefore, the overall aim of the study is to develop a framework for the sustainable management of social （public） housing estates in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. This paper aims to set out the context for the research, identify its overall aim and objectives and thereafter considers issues related to the determination of an appropriate scope for the study. It argues that the management of social housing estates in a sustainable manner needs to adopt the principles of sustainability in combination with effective people-centred management and building maintenance practices. It further asserts that the development of such a framework would be a panacea approach in meeting the social housing challenges faced in the Niger Delta and in Nigeria at large.     

About Historical Centers： Is the Trend Toward D6cor Really Irresistible？

In this paper, it is set out that projects in the historical centers of the large European cities are characterized either by historical truth, by authenticity, or by spectacle （d6cor）. There is always a formatting of space and behaviors, but it is either for culture or for entertainment （＂atmospheres＂）. This is confirmed when companies using Internet, which are specialized in ＂events＂, manage historical monuments. Also, a monument can be used for entertainment, as if it was a piece of d6cor. Possibly, preservation of heritage leads to d6cor. Therefore, the question of the limits of the trend toward d6cor is posed, and the topic is dealt with in the paper. The ideas of the French philosopher Lipovetsky are used. In a society with these characteristics, democracy, individualism and consumption, when in a group tastes and desires are shared, it can obtain decisions in accordance with the preferences of its members. The opinion of consumers （visitors or tourists） and inhabitants is paramount. Therefore, the set of the projects in the historical center of some cities should be somewhere in a triangle made up of historical truth, authenticity and spectacle. It is because if there is a need of entertainment, there is also a need of authenticity （and memory）. This ambiguity exists for a long time in tourism, architecture and even in the science called history. No wonder if it exists also in the projects chosen to fashion the historical centers.     

The Effectiveness of Citizen Participation in Public Hearing of Current China

Public hearing system is regarded as the soul and core of modem administrative procedure; it plays a more and more important part in modem administrative affairs. Public hearing is an important way to listen to the voice of the public, and the main method to gauge public opinion before making public policies, laws, and regulations. In recent years, with the growing awareness of civic participation, public hearing system has played a big role in public policy-making process in contemporary China, but there is also a phenomenon that citizen participation is largely symbolic in most of the hearing, citizen participation cannot play its due role, and the effectiveness of citizen participation in public hearing is limited. Based on this background, the analyses about how to strengthen public hearing system construction, improve the representativeness of the representative and information disclosure system, are all very important to improve the validity of citizen participation in public hearings now to China.     

Simplification： A single tax and a single entitlement

The United States is experiencing a very serious economic downturn. It is now necessary to consider some significant changes in government policy. The system of revenue collection should be simplified with a single tax levied and itemized at the national, state, and local levels. Likewise, the system of benefit distribution should be simplified with a single entitlement paid to each individual at every level with absolutely no strings attached. Such simplification would save a massive amount of time and money even if it was neutral in terms of overall revenue and expenditure. And, it would minimize fraud, waste and abuse. The gains in efficiency and accountability would be enormous.     

Is it really performance that is measured？ A reflection of the South African Government＇s performance management system

The institutionalisation of performance management in the South African public service is a post-1994 intervention necessitated by the need to counteract the legacy of poor performance in public service institutions. Performance management as an integrated system is not a standalone intervention, but has direct links with other organisational processes. At both the micro- and macro-levels, PMS （performance management system） recognises institutional performance relationships between individuals＇, teams＇ and departments＇ performance contributions for attaining government performance targets. These institutional performance relationships in the South African public service have attracted excessive attention, whilst their performance impact in communities has been overlooked. In addition, the interdependence between the dichotomies of PMS： institutional performance relationships and performance impact have also been overlooked. In the South African context, this condition creates a disparity in terms of which government employees are rewarded for outstanding performance, whilst targeted beneficiaries express dissatisfaction, often with violent protests, over government＇s performance in the delivery of basic services. The protestors cite poor service delivery in prioritised key performance areas of the South African Government. The granting of performance rewards to government employees is an expression of performance excellence, which should translate into quality service delivery. Such delivery should not only meet the levels of service delivery expectations of targeted communities, but should also result in their total satisfaction. The article is founded on the basis that any disparity between targeted beneficiaries＇ service expectations and level of satisfaction can be linked directly to government progress in PMS implementation.     

Social Determinants and E-Disclosure： Empirical Evidence From Spain

In the last few years, new communication tools have been changing the relationship between administration and citizens in order to enhance public accountability that is essential for government transparency. Public accountability and transparency on the web are topics that have attracted the interest of several scholars, who have begun to investigate the determinants of disclosure. The local government＇s websites have become the main channel for communication with stakeholders and the most important disclosure tools. This paper explores the use of websites by local governments; especially, its aim is to find out which social determinants predict the diffusion of e-disclosure in the public sector in light of agency theory and neo-institutional theory. In particular, the paper contributes to increasing the literature on the e-disclosure, moreover, the scoring system for the e-disclosure analysis in public local government is proposed. The analysis is carried out on a sample of local governments （LGs） in Spain during 2012.     

Communication uncertainty and the fictional role of organizational culture

This theoretical investigation aims to critically analyze the concept of organizational culture as an example of ＂organizational fiction＂. In order to benefit from unveiling organizational fictions, it is necessary to be aware of how illusion is linked to stability and predictability. It is here proposed to consider communicational uncertainties as positive qualities in flexible organizations, where communicative flows between organizational spheres and individual spaces of employees or managers engender new ideas and foster creativity. Thus, a strong organizational culture, especially in intercultural contexts, may be a barrier to organizational health, but a strong and unified corporate identity is necessary to guarantee organizational stability and cohesion. The solution is the interplay between stability and contingent openness toward external influences.     

Correlation Between Employee Bonus and Company Performances＂ FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index Companies

In addition to examining the efl＇ect of employee compensation tools on its financial report, a public company should evaluate whether such tools could also retain or attract talent that can strengthen its competitiveness. This research aims to study how an employee reward system could impact on a company＇s performance, and develop a theory on how enterprises choose their employee reward plan. Taking into consideration that there is a lack of agreed objective of an employee reward plan, this paper attempts to evaluate the need for an employee reward system and its effectiveness from the perspective of how a system is implemented. In order to explore the relationship between an employee reward system and company performance, this research will compare in total the performance of 80 companies between 2002 and 2012：50 of them are from the FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 index that have a reward system and the other 30 are also listed companies but without a structured reward plan in place. The findings include that companies with an employee reward system generally perform better than those without one, and this is especially the case for those implementing a single employee bonus system than those with multiple systems. It is found that the employee reward tools can have a positive impact on a company＇s performance, particularly employee cash dividends and employee shares and bonuses.     

The understanding of the laws and bylaws and the methodology for drafting in the socialist regime

The methodology for drafting is one of the most important concepts in drafting of a policy paper and translating this policy into legislation. Regarding this, it is necessary to know how the legislative drafting developed in the past during the socialist regime, and how it has changed with time after the beginning of the democratic processes of the country. Due to the correct methodology of drafting, we enable a good correct legislation as an important element of good governance, where the concept of law lays on its foundations and the democratic system is the major goal.     

The performance appraisals system types and their applicability： Case and application

This study was conducted to construct a theoretical model of the performance appraisal system that including four types according to two dimensions： the programmed degree of task and the formalized degree of the performance appraisal system. The conclusion drawn by this paper was that, the Chinese enterprise should adhere to the principles of which compounding individual goal with the organization, and balancing the organization＇s adaptability and the stability, to design the performance appraisal system and then promote enterprise performance management innovation and construction of harmonious labor relationshios.     

Business Angel and risk capital： The impact on innovation

The aim of the analysis is to understand if the risk capital carried by Business Angels （B.A.） could affect firms with high innovation propensity in creating more innovations than receiving risk capital from other financial operators. Innovation is a critical factor for the competitiveness of national system especially when the economy of the latter has come to maturity. For realizing ＂the successful exploitation of ideas, into new products, processes, services or business practices, and the critical process for achieving two complementary business goals of performance and growth, which in turn will help to close the productivity gap＂ （DTI＇s Innovation Report, 2003, p. 8）, firms have to understand which are the right competences to increase. In this context, the authors have developed a framework that measures the propensity to innovate in the firms. The model considers the firm＇s competences （grouped into four macro areas as management, organization, ITC and marketing） to improve the creation, development and diffusion of the innovation. The work is structured as an empirical analysis as follows： （1） The authors analyzed a sample of 12 business plans （choices for high level of innovation in their business） that received risk capital from B.A. and other financial operators; （2） For each firm, their innovation propensity is measured through the author＇s model during their start-up period （the data analyzed are business plan＇s data）; （3） After a period of time （3 years）, the authors checked if the firms with high innovation propensity have created real innovation and if a correlation exists between risk capital origin （from Business Angels or not） and innovation propensity. The conclusion of the work is the finns with B.A.＇s risk capital have a high innovation propensity and create after a medium term period more innovation compared with the others.     

Economics and the Practice of Human Action： The Legacy of the Austrian School

Economics is the youngest of all sciences. Its task is to identify the secondary consequences, but it requires a perception of general consequences, including effects which are brought by an implemented or proposed economic policy not only to a certain special interests in short periods of time but also to a general interest for long periods, which somewhat contradicts the assumptions of many economic doctrines. Thus, the current state of economics or management science is difficult to be called autonomic. Economists ＂have opened＂ the domain previously reserved for ＂hard indicators＂ on the human aspects of the assessment of effectiveness. What is more, the discovery of regularity in the sequence and independence of market phenomena, in particular, a markdown role of the ＂invisible hand of the market＂ and ＂government interventionism＂ put into question the validity of the dogmas of traditional British or American schools, as a consequence of the operation of schools with the teaching of economics. This paper is the attempt to show the failure of the most popular scientific economical schools, including neoclassical ones in the area of human performance, comparing with Austrian School principles.     

On the implementation of standardizing public power

Public power, which comes from the will of its people, is a major component of national sovereignty and is enjoyed by the government in accordance with the law. However, various kinds of phenomena have emerged, such as the dislocation of administrative discretion, deficiency in administrative procedures and supervision. Therefore, it is very urgent and necessary for us to have a research on it from the aspect of theory and practice. This article focuses on the correctly exercising discretionary power and standardizing administrative procedures, improving administrative supervision and sound system of administrative procedure.     

What Could Be the ＂Imaginary Institution＂ of the City？

In his book The Imaginary Institution of Society, the French philosopher Castoriadis wanted to explain the radical change of societies and their diversity; the social imaginary matters, and explains social change. But what is it today？ The Castoriadis＇s answer is mainly a criticism of the imaginary of the bureaucratic society （perfect anticipations）. He hoped more autonomy. In the paper, it is proposed this interpretation of the imaginary of the city： The main myths are personal strength, chance （here the reference is Ulrich Beck＇s book The Risk Society）, and individual happiness （the reference being the works of the French philosopher Lipovetsky）. One is able to explain the discrepancy between public policies （including city planning） and the real social needs. It exists because the doctrines used lag behind the ＂social imaginary significations＂. The concerned fields are the beauty of cities, spatial segregation, women in the city, environment, drugs, etc.