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.     

Reform process in Bulgaria： Challenges and perspectives after joining EU

The paper＇s objective is to analyze and outline the key challenges and perspectives in achieving a modern type of governance and a well functioning and transparent administrative system, capable to apply the best European practices and policies. The study summarizes the main results, achievements and shortcomings of the reform process and reveals that the progress has been slower and more limited than expected despite all efforts of the government. The conclusion made is that Bulgaria needs to not only substantially enhance its administrative and judicial capacity, but also drastically intensify its reforms to improve the management of EU funds and achieve concrete results in the fight against corruption. All this requires strong political will and determination.     

Local administration of community psychological servicest

The paper examines the necessity of delivering community psychological services and outlines the role of local government. The research employs both quantitative and qualitative techniques, primarily surveys, questionnaires and interviews. There are increasing psychological problems in China, in particular in first-tier cities such as Shanghai. Municipal administration of said services is discussed in terms of location, community awareness and attitude. Moreover, the extensive use of civilian volunteers, managed by the local government, is analyzed since it is integral to the effective delivering of community psychological services. The case of Liangcheng Community presents positive results achieved in delivering psychological services. It describes the experience of local administrators as well as their focus. Furthermore, the study looks at the consciousness of staff, the involvement of civilian volunteers, the available funding and the support of professional institutes. This paper also discusses the main reasons of the shortage of delivering these services in most communities in China. They are to be a lack of supervision from the central government, poor awareness of local administration, a severe lack of relevant skills and experiences in this field, and ineffective implementation by local administration. Finally, the paper attempts to make clear the daunting challenges faced by the local administration in dealing with this serious social issue in China. Besides the huge number and the types of mental illness, there is also a shortage of professional people. Public perception needs to be changed and more funding should be redirected into the necessary services.     

Reengineering in the organizational thinking： A vital need in the third millennium

The crucial challenges that facing the economic, cultural and social situations of the 21st century are calling for new initiatives and thinking. The recent decade has witnessed an increasing growth in corporate strategies focused on creating a competitive advantage, using knowledge management and organizational thinking to reengineer through entrepreneurship. Public and private organizations are trying to identify the challenges in the global economic environment. In the current chaos environments, all business regardless of size and age must do organizational thinking reengineering in form of entrepreneurial dimensions to effectively survive and compete This is a conceptual paper. It gives an overview of the entrepreneurial thinking and then proposes a parsimonious conceptual model.     

Strengthening intergovernmental relations for improved service delivery in South Africa： Issues for consideration

Fifteen years after South Africa＇s first democratic elections in 1994, a significant percentage of the population is yet to access basic services and infrastructure because of government＇s slow pace of service delivery. Following the recent elections in April 2009, various forums have placed the debate on good governance and issues of service delivery high on their agendas. This has led to an increasing call for the present government to speed up service delivery and improve the living standards of majority of the people of South Africa. In this regard, government must seriously consider all mechanisms that have hindered delivery and other issues （that have contributed to government＇s slow delivery pace） must be revisited. Amongst other challenges is the issue of managing intergovernmental relations （IGR） in a more effective and efficient manner. The paper reconsidered the extent to which IGR could be maximised as a facilitative element in governance and argued that what needed to be earnestly pursued are integrated and improved administrative processes, as well as coordinated and aligned governmental systems. This paper therefore sought to position IGR as a possible opportunity for the improvement of service delivery＇. It further reflected on some of the pertinent challenges that impact on IGR, as well as presented some pointers for the future.     

Dealing With Breast Cancer： The Journals of Audre Lorde

This paper analyzes how Caribbean-American poet and activist Audre Lorde textualizes the experience of breast cancer in her journals. Lorde confronts the narrative of the female body provided by the biomedical approach and challenges the passive role she is expected to play as a sick person. She deplores misinformation to patients and the insistence on reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy. Lorde denounces the discursive aggression toward women that is the result of the hidden patriarchal impositions insidiously operating within medical practices. She believes medical discourse has often been used to implement many of the precepts that underlie a male-centered society, shaping the gendering of women in line with a patriarchal worldview. This paper examines how Lorde faced with such a hostile situation, managed to overcome it, by speaking up and putting her fears and her hopes into words. Her personal diaries, The Cancer Journals （1980） and A Burst of Light （1988）, constitute today a fundamental point of reference and an important contribution to the feminist cause.     

Democratic Transition and Economic Transition： The Case of Tunisia

This paper develops the issue of economic transition linked to a democratic transition that a developing country, Tunisia, is living following the revolution of 2011. Tunisia has made a profound change, it is currently developing new institutions, however, it is not an annuitant country, its activities and economic performances depend on political stability and the choice of the implemented politico-economic system. The question is whether the operating political forces will affect the direction of structural changes, thus toward a transition of breakage or the direction of adaptive transition. Neo-liberalism, practiced for 30 years, has developed an entrepreneurship structured as small and medium enterprises, whose performances are variable according to the sector and the state role. With the revolution, the country entered in a phase of political, social, and economic instability. A new constitution is passed, the political system installs the multiparty system, the country has a tradition of openness to the rest of the world, the challenges are numerous and the question of the role of the state in the economic sphere is very acute. The analysis is based on the observation of facts and the review and analysis of data relating to politics and economy, observed in the period before the revolution and after the revolution.     

China＇s Political Stability and Comprehensive National Power： A Case Study of the Conflict in Xinjiang

The concept of comprehensive national power （CNP） is proposed and developed by several Chinese scholars and academic institutions. Many material capabilities, for example, economic growth and military might, are incorporated into the concept to measure China＇s national power vis-h-vis other major powers, especially the U.S. This paper, however, contends that understanding China＇s CNP through material capabilities is only part of the story. Yet, China＇s political stability is by no means assured and fully incorporated into the concept. China has undoubtedly faced many threats and challenges to its political stability. Apart from the Two Ts＇ problem （Taiwan and Tibet）, the conflict in Xinjiang not only threatens China＇s political stability since the establishment of the People＇s Republic of China （PRC） in 1949, but also affects its CNP as a whole. This paper concludes that measuring the genuine CNP should be based on the factors from which a country would earn or benefit, and also on those of which it would have to pay a price. Needless to say, the conflict and political instability in Xinjiang are an example of the price which China has to pay.     

Management Control,Performance Factor in Moroccan Universities ＂Case of the University Hassan I of Settat＂

The reform of higher education and the promulgation of the Law 01-00 in 2000 were a solid foundation of governance renovated in Moroccan universities. In 2009 the emergency plan has come to supplement and reaffirm the achievements of this reform. Indeed, following the deployment of the emergency plan and the introduction of an approach to contracts and projects in public education, Moroccan universities have moved from a logic means to a logic of results. Faced with this situation, and in order to ensure effective control, effective and efficient emergency plan, management control is then the ＂backbone＂ to meet the challenge of all reforms and make successful its deployment.     

Flexible Industrial Land Policies on Exit Strategies in the Rapid Transition Period： A Case Study of Hongkou District,Shanghai

Currently, the maximum tenure of industrial land use in China is 50 years, which far exceeds the manufacturing life cycle. In the absence of an effective exit mechanism, a large number of manufactories are waiting for land value-added income or illegal sublease for commercial use rather than returning the land-use rights for urban redevelopment. As one of the urban central areas in Shanghai, Hongkou District is facing a serious challenge on land scarcity and impending speculative inflows during the critical period of rapid transition. The objective of this research is to explore flexible industrial land policies on exit strategies in Hongkou District, where local government plays a major role in the urban land transfer, eventually to strengthen the initiative of land-use cycling of the governments for a better adaption to the changing demand in the future. So the research mainly consists of two parts： （1） finding bottlenecks： after deep investigation and analysis on the causes which restrict land users＇ access to land transfer, the findings reveal that profit mechanism, no alternative policy for land-use change, low compensation, low costs of illegal behavior and high rate of planned non-profitable land on these industrial land blocks are the main bottlenecks; and （2） breaking bottlenecks： regarding the importance of comprehensive arrangement and government intervention, this research is about to discuss flexible industrial land policies on exit strategies in Hongkou District during the transition period, such as profit distribution mechanism, flexible exit mode, priority compensation, trans-regional land supply and combination of regular review and public supervision, as well as their application value and feasibilities.     

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.     

Unemployment in transition countries： Albanian case

In this paper, the topic how the unemployment rate is changing year after year in Albania will be treated. Nearly 20 years of transition is a long period and seeing changes in the affect of the flow of foreign direct investment （FDI） on the unemployment rate. As a result of numerous changes, people migrate from other districts of the capital, investment concentrates in some areas that cause different development from one area to another. Other which highlights problems is the fact that a part of the unemployed are unregistered. Most of the data are presented only to unemployed individuals living in Tirana. However, the number of the unemployed has increased uniformly, while the number of the unemployed treated with economic assistance and payment of unemployment has reduced, because the state through the Office of the Employment Promotion employed persons in this category Although we say that year after year employed individuals who are able to work should not forget that every year new graduates are added to the labor market and again unemployment remains a problem in our society, causing a series of problems. The unacceptable reality is directly affecting people＇s physical, psychological, moral and spiritual health, not only the unemployed but also every citizen in Albania. This social pathology is named unemployment, and we wish that their values are going to change soon.     

Searching for sustainable competitive advantage --From tangibles to intangibles

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize on the growing importance of the intangible assets for a firm＇s sustainable competitive advantage--by considering both the features that a strategic asset must meet and the high potential of the intangible assets to fulfill those features. First, we outline the changing environment finns are operating in--at global and industry＇s level as well; second, we emphasize on the evolving theory of the resource-based view of the firm--as the main framework integrating all the assets of a firm and its relationships with the environment; third, we underline the need for organizational and managerial change and development by making the shift from tangibles to intangibles. We find that the theory in the field evolved within last years, but the conceptual framework is far from being exhaustive and unitary. The paper may be continued with the developing of a conceptual framework which is able to identify the specific intangible assets that may become strategic, their determinants, the interconnections between them, and their integration into successful competitive strategies. The practical implications of the paper consist in offering some guidelines for firms in the search of global competitiveness through the valorization of there intangible assets. The paper emphasizes that, in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, strategic management must develop a comprehensive, dynamic and innovative resource-based model--unique for each firm.     

Comprehensive security： Challenge for China in the age of globalization

Traditionally, security is understood as merely ＂national defense＂. During an on-going process of globalization, economic, political and cultural interdependence between individuals, nations and regions have changed the traditional ideas of national security to broader dimensions. The notion of incorporating economic security, environmental security and human security, with national security into a single whole, formulate the idea of comprehensive security （CS）. This paper tries to explore the origin, components, and significance of comprehensive security. In case studies, the rise of China in the twenty-first century is not an assumption any more, but a reality already. In this research, the author focuses on China, a country which not only experiences comprehensive development, but also faces comprehensive security challenges in the age of globalization. The author discusses China＇s security challenge from a comprehensive perspective and argues that understanding them and finding the solution will not only benefit China itself, but also benefit other nations as a whole in the age of globalization.     

Administrative Innovation and Culture： Pillars of the Competitive Strategies in Horticultural Companies of Sinaloa

In contemporary times, a fundamental aspect for organization has been to achieve innovation through culture and approach to encourage the search and development of new ideas, new products, and new services; this is a key point to fulfill the competitive advantages which a company needs to be successful in the global market. The Sinaloa horticultural company has more than 100 years＇ history in the United States export market, and is presenting new challenges and demands from the market in order for it to achieve its permanence. The objective of this research is to identify and propose different strategies to implement management innovation, which in its essence is the one that coordinates, directs, and controls the human resource considering culture as an integral part, with a capacity to generate the spark and function as a motivating source which drives companies to consolidate and integrate supply chains.     

Using Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management Studies： Not a New Agenda

Today, many researchers publish their qualitative works in top accounting and management journals. The contribution of this approach in accounting and management studies continues to gather momentum. Policymakers in both public and private sectors have been increasingly recognizing the importance and value of this method, since it offers detail and rich analysis of accounting and management practices in an organization. Various current literatures indicate that the interest in qualitative approach in the field of accounting and management seems to grow. However, there are still many researchers in these fields reluctant or even reject to implement this method arguing that qualitative approach is not scientific and the results are also not scientific. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue of using qualitative method in accounting and management studies. The paper is started by looking at the conceptualization of qualitative research. After that, a paradoxical view of qualitative and quantitative methods is discussed. This is followed by discussions of using qualitative research method in accounting and management studies, particularly the use of interpretive case study and grounded theory will be reviewed and discussed in this paper.     

Reviewing, Reflecting and Constructing Research on Grassroots Social Organizations in Rural China

The purpose of this paper is to review previous studies on grassroots social organizations （GSOs） in rural China and provide a new framework for future research. This article uses the method of comparative analysis to review relevant research from the perspective of different disciplines and different theories, and adopts the method of inductive reasoning to analyze and draw conclusions. Previous researches can be divided into four categories according to their disciplines, and there are three theories frequently used to explain the development of rural GSOs in China. Obviously, plenty of valuable researches have been done, but examining a certain kind of GSOs in a single discipline and analyzing the cause of the development of GSOs with an isolated theory are two issues impeding further study on rural GSOs in China. By integrating three theories, a new and comprehensive research framework of ＂interest-identity-institution＂ is presented for future research on all kinds of GSOs. To improve and enrich this frame, a lot of empirical and specific researches need to be done in the future.     

Walking the walk vs. talking the talk： A comparative analysis of the ASA and ASPA ethics initiatives

The American Sociological Association and the American Society for Public Administration are widely recognized as being among the premier professional associations in their respective fields within academia and beyond. Although a commitment to the promotion of ethical competence among their members is clearly viewed by both organizations as being central to the accomplishment of their missions, their techniques for doing so have included both similar and unique initiatives. It is the purpose of this paper to provide a comprehensive, comparative inventory of their ethics-related programs with a view toward determining if the establishment of what would appear to be a mutually beneficial, collaborative relationship between the ASA and ASPA in the ethics arena should be pursued.     

Educational challenges after year 2007 post election violence in Kenya

This paper sorts to examine the effects of post election violence on education in Kenya, after the presidential election results were disputed over by the two main presidential candidates. The rationale of the paper is due to the fact that among many other aspects of society that were affected in such a case is education. All levels of education were affected, and particularly primary and secondary education could not proceed on schedule as had earlier been planned. Other issues raised in this paper include the trauma experienced by students, loss of parents and guardians among others. The objectives of this paper therefore include： （1） To determine the effects of political violence on the education system in Kenya; （2） To establish the challenges facing students in Kenya after the post election violence; （3） To analyze individual attitudes of students towards the role of education in promoting national unity; （4） To determine how to re-imagine the role of education in promoting peace and peaceful coexistence in Kenya.     

The matrix of complex negotiations case study： Negotiating with the Chinese at a time of crisis

This paper seeks to outline the profile of the Chinese negotiators in light of the negotiations that took place during the month of October 2008 between a major Brazilian importer of manufactured goods, which the authors will call ＂Brazilian company＂ and six Chinese companies from the cities of Guangzhou, Pinghu and Hangzhou. The authors will provide succinct examples of stages in the negotiation process and seek to link them to the ten elements of the matrix of complex negotiations, namely： context, interests, options, power, cognition, relationship, concessions, compliance, criteria and time; There are four steps involved in the process： preparation, value creation, value division and execution.