Le syndrome du SUrViVant et les fonctionnaires fédéraux du Quebec: vers une répudiation du discours managériel dominant

Sommaire: La littérature en études managérielles et en gestion des ressources humaines concemant la décroissance organisationnelle et la réduction des effectifs maintient depuis une quinzaine d'années que leur principal effet néfaste serait le syndrome du survivant. Menace très réelle A l'accroissement de l'efficacité et de I'effi‐cience recherché par la décroissance organisationnelle, le syndrome du survivant nécessiterait d'être combattu par des pratiques de gestion des ressources humaines stratégiques pouvant éliminer ou amoindrir les symptômes couramment associés à ce syndrome. Cette recherche s'intéresse aux variations du syndrome du survivant dans des organisations de I'administration publique fédérale au Québec suite à sa sévère réduction des effectifs durant les années quatre‐vingt‐dix. Construite à partir d'un questionnaire complété par 3 307 fonctionnaires de vingt‐trois (23) ministères et agences de la Fonction publique fédérale du Canada répartis dans les seize (16) régions administratives du Québec, cette recherche suggère que le syndrome du survivant est un phénomène de faible intensité dans le cas des fonctionnaires fédéraux du Québec. Elle suggère également, suite à l'analyse factorielle et la régression linéaire, que les pratiques de gestion des ressources humaines privilégiées dans ces organisations publiques n'expliquent que très faiblement la variation des symptômes couramment associés au syndrome du survivant. En ce sens, cette recherche dément le discours pratique dominant sur le syndrome du survivant et le guide d'action managériel qui le sous‐tend, sans pour autant suggérer que la réduction des effectifs soit une décision et un processus exempt de tout effet pervers ou de conséquence non voulue. Abstract: Mainstream literature in human resource management (hrm) and managerial studies have suggested repeatedly over the last fifteen years that the main unintended consequence of downsizing is the so‐called survivor syndrome, a potentially     

Enhancing Delivery and Assessment: A Case Study in Module Redesign for Improved Transition Into Higher Education

Understanding student transition into higher education is an important aspect of module design, linking content, delivery, and assessment with a student’s prior educational experience and knowledge bases. However, reflections on how modules designed choices are, generally, not widely disseminated. Here, we document the reflections of a junior lecturer responsible for redesigning a Level-4 Political Systems module and analyze the intentions of change via a transition pedagogy perspective, presenting a program renewal that establishes connected curriculum as an enabling infrastructure for students to actively engage with learning. First-year experience is considered as a major impacting factor of a student’s subsequent success on a program of higher education and the diversification of student cohorts requires teaching staff to consider a wider number of intersectional factors that may impact on a student’s opportunity to succeed in their studies. With a focus on simulations and active-learning, by providing examples of the thinking behind the resultant activities and assessment realignment we hope to provide an example of how a transition approach to a first-year module can be explored.     

Feelings of Safety In The Presence Of the Police,Security Guards,and Police Volunteers

Uniformed presence is commonly thought to create feelings of safety in people. However, do differently uniformed people contribute to an equal amount of safety and are there situation-dependent differences? The present study examined the association between various types of uniformed presence and people’s feelings of safety through a questionnaire among 352 respondents (18–86 years) (49.1 % women). The questionnaire contained pictures of situations perceived as relatively safe and unsafe with or without uniformed presence. The respondents estimated how safe they thought they would feel in these situations with no uniformed presence, two police officers, six police officers, a police vehicle, two security guards, or two police volunteers. Results showed that uniformed presence did not increase feelings of safety in a situation perceived as relatively safe, making patrol unnecessary. In situations perceived as relatively unsafe however, all types of uniformed presence increased feelings of safety. Foot patrolling police contributed to the greatest increase in feelings of safety. Security guards and police volunteers created similar amounts of feelings of safety making police volunteers a cost-effective alternative. All types of foot patrol were better than vehicle patrol, making non-police groups an alternative to vehicle patrol. Some situational, gender, and age differences were found.     

Policy reforms in sub-Saharan Africa: Conditions for establishing a dialogue

Third World debt continues to be a critical and intractable issue. A particularly interesting aspect of the story is the effort by external donors and lenders to promote specific policy changes in exchange for assistance in dealing with indebtedness and promoting economic development. This study looks at the interactions between donors and decision-makers in sub-Saharan African countries, an area where donors rather than private banks play a dominant role. Donors have been learning from the uneven response to the reforms and are attempting to tailor the reforms somewhat to different contexts and to encourage more consultations. To succeed in these efforts they need to reexamine their view of analysis as a purely technocratic exercise among experts. They can learn from recent changes in the policy sciences, here called an interactive approach to policy analysis. It makes three assumptions: policy relevant knowledge includes time and space information and is diffused; participants can reason together and learn from each other; and there is a need for procedures and institutions to facilitate interaction and learning. The study explores the assumptions implicit in donor actions and proposes that an interactive approach, with its more open-ended perspective on knowledge, can stimulate greater dialogue and expand the kinds of information that are fed into the process. Louise G. White is associate professor in the department of public affairs at George Mason University, Fairfax VA 22030–4444. Her research is in the general areas of development management and policy analysis. Her most recent books areCreating Opportunities for Change: Approaches for Managing Development Programs, andPolitical Analysis: Technique and Practice. She has recently published articles inPublic Administration Review andWorld Development.     

Legal Professionalism and International Criminal Proceedings

In criminal practice before international tribunals, the boundariesbetween lack of professionalism (serious misconduct) by prosecutionand taking an erroneous position on the law (procedural error)are particularly blurred, if only because the backgrounds andexpectations of all persons involved in the proceedings areprofoundly different and the playing field is still insufficientlydefined. This is illustrated by the Furundija case brought beforean International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia(ICTY) Trial Chamber in 1998. In that case the Chamber heldthat the prosecution, by failing to disclose a document to thedefence, had both engaged in serious misconduct and made a seriousprocedural error. Instead, the Lord Advocate and the Crown Agentof Scotland, later consulted by the ICTY Prosecutor, concludedthat there had only been an error of judgment. National caselaw, for instance that of Canadian courts, makes it clear thata good faith decision not to disclose a document, made in theexercise of professional judgment on a difficult and novel issue,may constitute an error of judgment, but certainly does notamount to misconduct.