The use of events/interaction research by the intelligence community

This review essay applies academic and operational research community criteria of evaluation to a project founded on events/interaction data. The project, the Early Warning and Monitoring System (EWAMS), is built on solid academic research but also takes into account requirements of the operational community. Differences in form and content from typical academic events/interaction research have been instrumental in putting the EWAMS into operational use.The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the author and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed of implied, of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or any other agency of the U.S. Government.     

Systems theory and policy practice: An exploration

Systems approaches in policy analysis have had a chequered history. Expectations that hard (quantitative) systems analysis would lead to better answers to policy problems have largely been disappointed. Yet systems theory has itself moved on, to embrace the concept of autopoiesis and a variety of soft systems methodologies. Collectively, these theories offer a way of analysing policy quite distinct from the institutionalist approaches which tend to dominate the theory and practice of policy-making. Rather than selecting instruments to fit a particular kind of policy problem (the conventional approach to policy design) systems analysis suggests that the nature of the problem cannot be understood separately from its solution. For policy problems characterised by complexity (such as those concerned with environmental management and regulation, and urban re-development) using systems concepts offers a way of rationalising aspects of existing practice and of suggesting directions for improvement.     

The expected performance of single nucleotide polymorphism loci in paternity testing

We discuss the utility of single nucleotide polymorphism loci for full trio and mother-unavailable paternity testing cases, in the presence of population substructure and relatedness of putative and actual fathers. We focus primarily on the expected number of loci required to gain specified probabilities of mismatches, and report the expected proportion of paternity indices greater than three threshold values for these loci.     

How can network leaders promote public value through soft metagovernance?

The aim of this article is to explore the opportunities and challenges of employing ‘soft’ metagovernance to promote public value in governance networks. Soft metagovernance can be defined as a form of relational leadership that is exercised through face‐to‐face contact. This involves making an emotional connection with people to exert influence through a collaborative endeavour, rather than employing bureaucratic authority. Drawing on a case study of a local social enterprise—The Bristol Pound—in the UK, this article examines how soft metagovernance can be used by non‐state actors as a form of leadership to create public value. Evidence reveals that relational forms of leadership are a powerful asset in helping leaders of networks to create public value. Moreover, if network leaders understand how soft metagovernance functions they can use it more purposefully to maximize public value creation and mitigate the risks of public value destruction in governance networks.     

Performance Appraisal or Performance Development? a Tale of Two Schemes

After reviewing some of the literature on performance appraisal, this evaluation presents a case study of the introduction of two related schemes in a single Australian government agency. The reasons one was successful and the other less so included the ownership by the agency of the successful scheme; its rapid implementation; and its focus on development rather than appraisal