Overlooking the front line: Impacts of front-line worker inclusion on implementation and outcomes of collaborative innovation

Policymakers acknowledge the need to drive innovation in health and social care, given the complex, “wicked” problems that such services are tasked with solving and the concept of collaborative innovation is proposed as a tool in which to reach solutions to these problems. Prior case studies have overlooked the element of front-line worker inclusion on processes of collaborative innovation. This research explores this element through a case study of an intermediate care facility in Scotland. This collaboration produced innovation, but the strength of the innovative solution was diluted by the omission of front-line workers in key phases of the innovation process. This paper contributes to the broader public administration literature by operationalizing a novel conceptual framework of collaborative innovation and by exploring the problematic implications of neglecting to include front line worker perspectives throughout the process of collaborative innovation.     

Bank regulatory authority in China

In China the regulation of credit and capital is conducted by the banking system. Originally this system was highly centralized under the direct control the Ministry of Finance. More recently, as the Ministry of Finance has become busier with additional responsibilities such as the management of an increasingly complex tax system, and the banking system has gained its independence.

For the banks, this reorganization not only represents an increase in authority and status, it also makes possible an increased effectiveness in carrying out existing regulatory responsibilities. The need for increased effectiveness becomes evident on review of the role that the banks have played in Chinese society prior to the 1985 reforms. Without the means to enforce their authority, the banks could not be as influential in regulating the economy as had been intended.

Because they have been provided with enforcement regulations, the banks can now influence not only the provision of credit and currency but also the management of group and individual businesses and organizations throughout China. As the communist party stepping back from law and policy enforcement, the banks are partially filling the vacuum.     

Top-Down Approaches to Joined-Up Government: Examining the Unintended Consequences of Weak Implementation

Since forming part of Blair’s modernization agenda in the UK, joined-up government has become a central ambition of governments in many industrialized countries. While there continues to be an absence of core methods and principles for achieving joined-up government, consensus has emerged around the effectiveness of top down approaches. Research has found that joining must happen at multiple levels and be supported by a range of cultural and structural interventions. This article presents findings from a study into the Australian Social Inclusion Agenda and explores the long-term and unintended consequences of joined-up initiatives that take a top-down approach.     

Normative power and organized hypocrisy: European Union member states' arms export to Libya

The 2011 Libyan civil war prompted a reassessment of the normative foundation of the EU's conventional arms export control regime as armaments manufactured in Europe were used by Gaddafi's forces during the war. The EU's foreign policy identity is based, partly, upon a common approach to arms export involving respect for common criteria for export licences. Yet, prior to the civil war, considerable amounts of military equipment had been exported by member states to Libya, notwithstanding grounds for restraint on the basis of several of the criteria. This article traces member states' arms export to Libya during 2005–2010 to explore whether member states favoured restraint or export promotion. It concludes that although aware of the risks of exporting, in a competitive market for military goods, member states sought commercial advantage over restraint, and comprehensively violated export control principles. This casts doubts on assertions of the EU acting as a “normative power”.     

Abuse behavior inventory: cutpoint, validity, and characterization of discrepancies

This study determines a clinical cutting score for the 29-item Abuse Behavior Inventory (ABI) developed by Shepard and Campbell (1992) to measure both physical and psychological abuse experiences. The authors report on a sample of 392 White and African American women from primary care waiting rooms, who completed the ABI and the revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2). An ABI cutoff score of 10 maximizes validity and produces a sensitivity of 77% and a specificity of 81% compared to the CTS2. Cronbach's alpha is .92 for the entire scale, .91 for the psychological subscale, and .86 for the physical subscale. Correlation between the ABI and CTS2 is .76, with subscale correlations of .74 between ABI psychological and CTS2 verbal aggression, and .71 between ABI physical and CTS2 physical aggression, injury, and sexual coercion.     

Regulating for Fair Dealing in Work Contracts: A New South Wales Approach

From 1959 till 2006, all workers in New South Wales had recourseto review of contracts ‘and arrangements’ underwhich work is performed on the grounds of ‘unfairness’.This jurisdiction—initially instigated to capture schemesand subterfuges by which employers escaped industrial awardsby contracting out to dependent contractors—has been expandedover the years to allow review of all sorts of arrangementsunder which work is performed. This article will review thatjurisdiction to demonstrate the potential of statutory unfaircontracts review to meet some of the challenges that changesin labour market structures have presented for the protectiveagenda of labour law.