A Contingent Approach to the Organization and Management of Public–Private Partnerships: An Empirical Study of English Health Care

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have become a prominent feature of contemporary public policy. Although research shows variation in the contractual configuration of partnerships, there is little evidence of how these shape service and workforce organization. Through comparative ethnographic research on two PPP health care providers in the English National Health Service, this article develops the idea that PPPs exhibit “tight” and “loose” arrangements that relate to “downstream” service and workforce management. It induces four empirically grounded mediating factors to describe this relationship. The first relates to the “dependence” between partners in terms of financing, strategy, and resource sharing; the second to the “strategic orientation” of leaders; the third to the composition of the “professional workforce”; and the fourth to the “management approach” to service and workforce organization. The article contributes to the research literature by exploring the contingencies in how PPPs are operationalized on the ground.     

Policing and Crime Act 2017: Changes to pre-charge bail and the impact on digital forensic analysis

Following the enactment of the Police and Crime Act 2017, subsequent amendments to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 have seen a ‘cap’ placed on the length of time a suspect can be released on bail; a process commonly referred to as ‘police bail’ or ‘pre-charge bail’. Whilst designed to instil consistency and certainty into bail processes to prevent individuals being subject to lengthy periods of regulation and uncertainty, it places additional pressures on forensic services. With a focus on digital forensics, examination of digital media is a complex and time-consuming process, with existing backlogs well documented. The need for timely completion of investigations to adhere to pre-charge bail rules places additional stress on an already stretched service. This comment submission provides an initial analysis of new pre-charge bail regulations, assessing their impact on digital forensic services.     

The Non-Resident Parental Role for Separated Fathers: A Review

Ideas about the role of fathers in the separated family havechanged over the last few decades. The prevalent legal constructof ‘co-parenting’ implies that children should beable to maintain contact with a non-resident parent, usuallythe father, if they wish, except in cases where there has beenabuse or violence. Research in several disciplines has soughtto explain the processes of contact by examining the behaviourof separated fathers, their relationships within the family,and the separated family as a whole. Quantitative studies haveexplored levels of involvement, the father–child relationshipand the inter-parental relationship as factors affecting children’soutcomes, while an expanding body of qualitative work has soughtto map the practice of co-parenting through identifying thediversity of separated parenthood and the perspectives of non-residentfathers in particular. The contributions of these diverse approachesto current debates on non-resident fathers are reviewed in thisarticle.     

The institutional logic of small-firm economies in Italy and Taiwan

This article compares the small-firm economies of Taiwan and Italy, utilizing an institutional oganizational approach in the analysis of economic structures. It is divided into three sections. First, there is a presention of the main features of the Italian and the Taiwanese economies to draw out their distinctive similarities. The second part identifies a set of institutional factors which help us understand the similarities observed in the two economies, and classifies them along two analytical headings: individual values and social structure. The third section explores the significance of the author's crossnational comparison of small-firm economies for improving the status of an institutional theory of economic structures. By, emphasizing the role of institutional factors and the social embeddedness of economic activities in Italy and Taiwan, the article provides a corrective to the unilateral emphasis on an East versus West model of economic action and shows the obvious inadequacies of restrictively cultural, political, or economic interpretations of national economies. Marco, Orrù is assistant professor of sociology at the University of South Florida. Recent publications include “Patterns of Inter-Firm Control in Japanese Business” (Organization Studies, December 1989, 549–74) and “Organizational Isomorphism in East Asia” inThe New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis P. Dimaggio and W. Powell, eds., (University of Chicago Press, 1991). Dr. Orrù's research has also appeared inThe British Journal of Sociology, Sociological Forum, Japan'sFinancial Economic Review, and other professional journals. He is currently working on a monograph,Patterns of Asian Capitalism, co-authored with Gary G. Hamilton and Nicole Woolsey Biggart.     

Book reviews

Justin Rosenberg, The Empire of Civil Society. A Critique of the Realist Theory of International Relations, Verso Books, London, 1994, 224 pp, £12.95, ISBN 0 86091 607 3 (pbk). Also hbk ISBN 0 86091 442 9, £39.95.

Cable, Vincent and Henderson David (eds), Trade Blocs? The Future of Regional Integration, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 1994, 198 pp, £9.95, ISBN 0 905031 81 4 (pbk).

Marian A. L. Miller, The Third World in Global Environmental Politics, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1995, 181 pp, £13.99, ISBN 0 335 19500 8 (pbk). Also hbk ISBN 0 335 19501, £40.00.

Javed Siddiqi, World Health And World Politics. The World Health Organization and the U.N. System, Hurst and Company, London, 1995, 272 pages, £32.50, ISBN 1 85065 205 8(hbk).

Donald M. Snow and Eugene Brown, Puzzle Palaces and Foggy Bottom. U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy‐Making in the 1990s, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1994, 284 pp, £14.95, ISBN 0 312 08654 7 (pbk). Also hbk ISBN 0 312 10268 2.

Desmond Dinan, Ever Closer Union? An Introduction to the European Community, Macmillan Press, Houndmills, 1994, 533 pp, £12.99, ISBN 0 333 61687 1 (pbk).

Christine Chinkin, Third Parties in International Law, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993, 422 pp, £45.00, ISBN O 19 825715 5 (hbk).

Mohamed Munavvar, Ocean States: Archipelagic Regimes in the Law of the Sea, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht/Boston/London, 1995, 240 pp, ISBN 0 7923 2882 5(hbk).     

The effect of stakeholder culture on managers’ perceptions of stakeholder attributes in Australian not-for-profit organizations

We examine the relation between stakeholder culture and managers’ perceptions of stakeholder attributes of power, legitimacy, and urgency in Australian not-for-profit (NFP) organizations. Examination of this relation is important because managers’ perceptions of stakeholder attributes determine how stakeholder relationships are managed, which affects (positively or negatively) the ability of NFP organizations to fulfil their social mission. Data were collected through a survey of top managers of 478 NFP organizations. Our results show that the stakeholder cultures of altruist and instrumentalist, manifesting different moral values, differentially affect NFP managers’ perceptions of the three stakeholder attributes for clients and government. Specifically, an altruist stakeholder culture affects managers’ perception of client legitimacy, while an instrumentalist culture affects managers’ perception of government power. We also investigate the mediating effects of power and legitimacy on the relation between stakeholder cultures and urgency. We find that managers’ perceptions of power and legitimacy act as crucial cues for managers to perceive stakeholder urgency. Our study contributes to the stakeholder management literature and has important implications for managers of NFP organizations in managing stakeholder relationships in the contemporary environment.     

Whole bovine blood use in forensic research: Sample preparation and storage considerations

Mammalian whole blood sources are often used for forensic research and training when human samples cannot be sourced. While porcine, ovine and equine blood have been shown to be viable alternatives to whole human blood for forensic purposes, procurement can still pose a problem, especially for smaller and remote institutions. This work explores the use of whole bovine blood for basic bloodstain simulation. Sample preparation through the addition of ACD-A anticoagulant was optimized and storability was explored. Viscosity, surface tension, density, and packed cell volume, four fluid properties relevant to bloodstain pattern analysis, were monitored over four days and in two temperature conditions. Linear mixed models accounting for variation in the donor demonstrated that these fluid properties of the bovine blood changed predictably over time and with temperature. Whole bovine blood with 12.5% v/v ACD-A was found to be viable for use in basic bloodstain simulation at ambient and physiological temperature.