Management not models: adaptability,responsiveness, and a few lessons from football

Despite a swathe of critiques of logframes and other blueprint approaches to development over the last 30 years, most aid infrastructure continues to concentrate on the design and subsequent implementation of closed models. This article does not propose an alternative to blueprints, but challenges the inflexibility of their implementation, which is inadequate given the complex nature of social change. It proposes a supplementary management and learning approach which enables implementers to be dynamic, adaptive, and responsive to problems and opportunities. Emphasising the role of donors, the paper presents a case study of one donor-led programme in Bangladesh doing just this.     

物证技术学教学活动中教学媒体的选择运用

根据物证学教学活动中媒体选择的重要性、特性及评价方法,我们应把握好“教学媒体选择”这一重要环节的基本方法,以从根本上改变目前普遍存在的教学媒体运用机械化、形式化、单一化的局面。     

EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION IN DIVORCE CASES

Parties in a divorce case are faced with the challenge of dealing with highly charged emotional and financial issues simulataneously. Early Neutral Evaluation is a beneficial weapon in the dispute resolution arsenal that can help decrease the level of conflict between parties. This Note discusses the development of Early Neutral Evaluation as a form of dispute resolution and proposes the establishment of court-organized mandatory Early Neutral Evaluation programs to settle financial matters in a divorce case.     

对"网格化"巡逻勤务机制深度改革的调研和评估

"网格化"街面动态巡逻勤务机制自推行以来,取得了初步成效,已成为上海推行现代警务机制的成功典范,但仍存在一些制约改革深化的瓶颈因素.因此,我们必须客观分析原因,积极进行调研和试点,继续深化巡逻勤务机制改革,以不断提升巡逻机制的实效.     

论刑事政策的评估

刑事政策评估的内容包括效益评估、成本评估、影响评估、过程评估、价值评估 ,其评估方法有前后对比法、成本效益分析法。影响刑事政策评估的重要因素有 :评估体制、评估主体、评估方法、评估环境等 ,应建立多层次、多方位的刑事政策评估机制。     

新型农村社会养老保险政策评估——基于土地流转制度背景下的研究

面对人口老龄化加剧、劳动力乡城流动、土地流转加速、土地养老功能弱化、农村养老需求增长的严峻局势和新农保试点扩面迅速推进的整体性战略规划,以公共政策评估和政策外部性理论为基础,从政策执行主体、政策服务对象的双重视角评估土地流转制度背景下新型农村社会养老保险政策执行状况和实施效果,通过对东、中、西部新农保试点地区的实态调查,分别获取基层政府工作人员、新农保经办机构人员、农村常住居民三类群体共2779份有效问卷,综合运用描述性统计和通径分析方法,进一步探寻改善政策效果的有效路径。研究结果表明:政府一定程度存在职能缺位、越位,立法、财政、监管责任缺失等问题,而广大农民未能将土地流转潜在养老保障功能与新农保统筹考量,使政策难以达到预期目标,可通过发挥政府主导作用、增强农民土地流转意识、提升经办机构服务能力、有效整合养老政策等具体对策,进一步促进土地流转、提高新农保参保意愿、改善政策执行与实施效果。     

Doing development differently: Rituals of hope and despair in an INGO

Through an anthropological lens, using examples from working in an international NGO, I explore how and why a group of development workers navigated the coercive practices of aid in ways that benefitted their partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Rather than seeking conspiracies to explain the gaps between development rhetoric and practices, I suggest that people both contest and collude with bureaucratic systems of rule. Youth Rights reformed various rituals and created different management practices internally, as well as maintaining its long-established solidarity approach with partners, but only managed to challenge the donors’ controls to a limited extent.     

Under-development in practice: Nigeria and the enduring problem of corruption

Nigeria's abundant natural resource endowments should earn the country's bragging rights as the “Giant of Africa”. Instead, 52 years of corrupt practices among the often recycled ruling elites in post-independence Nigeria have crippled this giant and turned what should be one of the country's strongest assets – its vast oil wealth – into a curse. This article critically examines the concerns for corruption as an enduring obstacle to Nigeria's development writ large. After providing a historical trajectory of corrupt practices in Nigeria from the mid-1980s to the present, it discusses some of the recent corruption scandals in the country, in particular the issues surrounding the US$6.8 billion that was drained from Nigeria between 2009 and 2012 in the fuel subsidy scam. The conclusion makes a case for the reworking of a pervasive system in Nigeria that “pardons” corruption and “recycles” corrupt rulers.     

A quantitative assessment of the extent and distribution of textile fibre transfer to persons involved in physical assault

Knowledge of the number of fibres transferred during a particular activity is essential for the interpretation of findings in similar criminal cases. In this regard, violent contacts and physical assaults still present a challenge, due to a lack of robust published data. Hereby, we present the outcome of an empirical study where different assault activities were simulated by a Jiu Jitsu team and participants were asked to play either the role of an aggressive ‘assailant’ or a defensive ‘victim’, wearing cotton garments (i.e., Gi’s). Four different scenarios were simulated in replicates (n = 5), each of them involving different intensity levels (low and high) and duration times (30 and 60 s). Results showed that approximately 1,000 to 44,000 fibres were cross-transferred between the participants’ garments, with noticeable differences between the different scenarios. These values were significantly larger than those published in previous studies and, therefore, suggested the possibility of a current underestimation of the number of fibres transferred in physical assaults. Furthermore, statistical analysis by ANOVA indicated that the all the variables tested (i.e., intensity level, duration time, and participants role) had a significant effect on the number of transferred fibres (p < 0.001) and, consequently, that some knowledge of the case circumstances may be important to make more educated estimations. This is the first time that such a methodology has been applied for the quantitative assessment of fibre transfer between participants in assault activities. Data are expected to help practitioners with the interpretation of findings in real casework and lead to a more robust evidential assessment.     

Management and safety of a medical mission: occupational hazards of volunteering

Medical aid missions involve travel to conflict or danger zones, posing safety risks in addition to the usual occupational risks arising from daily medical work. The note reports on a volunteer mission, using personal reports, anecdotal experiences, and the formal annual report to undertake an assessment similar to worksite assessments for hazards and control measures. Hazards were found to be prevalent, including physical noise and heat, infectious exposure from patients and local vectors, poor water sanitation, and psychosocial stress from unfamiliar environments and large patient numbers with limited means. Implementable preventative measures include increasing awareness with appropriate protective equipment usage and safety guidelines. Mission planning and management should also involve occupational health input.