Consensus Among Public Managers as Strategy for Standardization of Performance Indicators

ABSTRACT

The usefulness of performance indicators increases when organizations compare their data. However, most discussions have failed to emphasize two lines of action that could improve the relevance of such comparisons: a) agreement among service managers on the indicators to be used in the evaluation; b) homogenization of the indicators to be used by organizations, and of the process used to calculate them. In this context, this paper proposes a methodology based on the participation of and consensus among managers, which helps to standardize the construction and presentation of performance indicators. The aim of this proposal is to improve the comparative evaluation of organizations. Finally, in order to test the proposal, a practical application is carried out on the local culture departments of nine large municipalities in southern Spain.     

Pregnancy,Cesarean, and Pheochromocytoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

A 43‐year‐old full‐term pregnant woman (gravida 2, para 1, medical history of gestational diabetes mellitus) developed a sudden and malignant hypertension with hemoptysis, sweat, and tachycardia during a scheduled C‐section. A dead newborn was delivered and was successfully resuscitated. The mother died after resistant cardiac arrest. Autopsy and pathological analyses revealed an acute pulmonary edema and a necrotic and hemorrhagic voluminous tumor of the left adrenal gland, which was a pheochromocytoma. Pheochromocytoma is a rare tumor of the adrenal glands which secretes catecholamines. In pregnant women, its symptoms can mimic gestational hypertension, preeclampsia or eclampsia, and gestational diabetes mellitus. The gestational diabetes mellitus was presumed to be a symptom of the pheochromocytoma, and cardiopulmonary failure the result from the necrosis of the tumor provoked by gravid uterus compression. From a medico‐legal point of view, the tumor could not have been suspected during the pregnancy.     

Odontological Approach to Sexual Dimorphism in Southeastern France

Abstract: The aim of this study was to establish a prediction formula to allow for the determination of sex among the southeastern French population using dental measurements. The sample consisted of 105 individuals (57 males and 48 females, aged between 18 and 25 years). Dental measurements were calculated using Euclidean distances, in three‐dimensional space, from point coordinates obtained by a Microscribe. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to establish the prediction formula. Among 12 selected dental distances, a stepwise logistic regression analysis highlighted the two most significant discriminate predictors of sex: one located at the mandible and the other at the maxilla. A cutpoint was proposed to prediction of true sex. The prediction formula was then tested on a validation sample (20 males and 34 females, aged between 18 and 62 years and with a history of orthodontics or restorative care) to evaluate the accuracy of the method.     

How to use Lire le Capital

Abstract

This article contributes to a pragmatist analysis of pricing and valuation through an account of the production of closing prices at the Paris Bourse. The Paris Bourse is an electronic stock exchange and the actors in charge of its technological configuration often need to face concerns about the quality of the prices that the configuration produces. Closing prices are particularly important because they constitute references that circulate widely. The author analyses how a problem of representativeness of closing prices was raised in the late 1990s and how several techniques aimed at solving it. In order to deal with this problem of representativeness, the author proposes the consideration of prices as signs in a pragmatist manner. Adapting Charles S. Peirce's theory of the sign to the study of prices, the author concentrates attention on the material display of prices, on their capacity to stand as traces of some event, and on the way they may suit a set of calculative conventions.     

Lessons from El Barrio—the East Harlem real great society/urban planning studio: A Puerto Rican chapter in the fight for urban self‐determination∗

Abstract

During the 1960s, the Lower East Side and East Harlem were among the principal contested terrains in New York City, and the emerging Puerto Rican community was being challenged on many fronts. As contested terrains, they were the arenas where transforming forces in American society were being articulated. Responses to these forces varied from neighborhood to neighborhood. Among the responses were groups organized around community development, particularly to fight urban renewal projects. In this essay, I examine a year in the life of the East Harlem Real Great Society/Urban Planning Studio (RGS/UPS). RGS/UPS emerged in a transition period in the development of Puerto Rican institutions. It combined several characteristics of groups organized during those years. It was founded by grassroots community youth; it was also a professionally staffed organization; it was structured around an advocacy model; and it valued its ethnic‐specificity, its Puertoricanness. Its staff's eagerness to speak for the needs and aspirations of Puerto Ricans was a clear example of ethnicity‐based struggle.     

Distributive Politics and Regional Development: Assessing the Territorial Distribution of Turkey’s Public Investment

Turkey is often perceived as a country with low bureaucratic capacity and prone to political manipulation and ‘pork-barrel’. This article tests whether this is the case, by analysing the extent to which politics, rather than equity and efficiency criteria, have determined the geographical allocation of public investment across the 81 provinces of Turkey between 2005 and 2012. The results show that although the Turkish government has indeed channelled public expenditures to reward its core constituencies, socioeconomic factors remained the most relevant predictors of investment. Moreover, in contrast to official regional development policy principles, we uncover the concentration of public investment in areas with comparatively higher levels of development. We interpret this as the state bureaucracy’s intentional strategy of focussing on efficiency by concentrating resources on ‘the better off among the most in need’.     

The Trouble in Mali—corruption,collusion, resistance

The combined force of the 2012 coup in Bamako and the rebellion in the north entailed an unmasking of Mali. What had been presented as a showcase of democracy, good governance, and peace and reconciliation proved to be a facade for institutional weakness and mismanagement. The collusion between regional and national ‘big man’ interests that the crisis revealed showed little if any respect for human security and development. This article will analyse the causes of the crisis and the strategies of key actors, including the Islamist rebels. The consequences of and responses to the conflict will also be addressed before the article ends with some tentative conclusions concerning the future stability of Mali and the Sahel region. The article is based on the authors’ long engagement with Mali, spanning more than a decade, but the most recent material presented is based on a series of in-depth interviews conducted there in February and March 2013.     

Power,Paradise and Fantasy

Change: Threat or Opportunity for Human Progress? / Üner Kirdar. ‐ New York : United Nations, 1992.‐5 v.

Contents: vol. 1. Political change; vol. 2. Economic change; vol. 3. Globalization of markets; vol. 4. Changes in the human dimension of development, ethics and values; vol. 5. Ecological change: environment, development and poverty linkages. ISBN 92–1–126029–9. ‐ ISBN 92–1–126024–8 (vol.1). ‐ ISBN 92–1–126025–6 (vol.2). ‐ ISBN 92–1–126026–4 (vol.3). ‐ ISBN 92–1–126027–2 (vol.4). ‐ ISBN 92–1–126028–0 (vol.5)

Le commerce des armes / par Romain Yakemtchouk. ‐ Bruxelles : Institut Royal des Relations Internationales. Centre interuniversitaire de recherche independant, 1992. ‐ 320 p. ‐(Studia diplomatica; 1–3)

Droga, problema europeo : una “terza via” fra proibizionismo e legalizzazione? / Andrea Chiti‐Batelli. ‐ Milano: F. Angeli, copyr. 1992. ‐ 239 p. ‐ ISBN 88–204–7440–9

L'economia italiana net mondo che cambia : 1990–911 / a cura di Franco Bruni e Fabrizio Onida. ‐ Bologna: il Mulino, copyr.1992. ‐ 291 p. ‐ ISBN 88–15–03655–5

L'elmo di Scipio : studisutmodello di difesa italiana a cura di Carlo M. Santoro. ‐ Bologna: iI Mulino, copyr. 1992. ‐ 297 p. ‐ ISBN 88–15‐ 03656–3

L'Europe et le Monde arabe : cousins, voisins / Bichara Khader. ‐ Paris : Publisud; Ottignies : Quorum, 1992. ‐ 254 p. ‐ (Horizons euro‐arabes). ‐ ISBN 2–86600–644–5 (France). ‐ ISBN 2–930014–06–7 (Belgium)

Le Grand Maghreb et l'Europe: enjeux et perspectives I Bichara Khader. ‐ Paris : Publisud; Ottignies : Quorum, 1992. ‐ 263 p. ‐ (Horizons euro‐ arabes). ‐ ISBN 2–86600–643–7 (France). ‐ ISBN 2–930014–02–4 (Belgium)

Le interrelazioni fra iniziativa esagonale e Alpe‐Adria in un’ Europa che cambia : prima riunione degli Istituti di relazioni internazionali dell'iniziativa del Centro‐Europa = Die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen “Esagonale” un “Alpen‐Adria” in einem sich wandelnden Europa : erstes Treffen der Institute für internationale Beziehungen der mitteleuropäischen Initiative = Inter‐relations between the “Esagonale” and the “Alps‐Adria” initiatives in a changing Europe : first workshop of the institutes of international affairs of the Central‐European initiative : Trento ‐24.1.19921 a cura del Servizio studi della Regione autonoma Trentino‐Alto Adige. ‐ Trento : Regione Autonoma Trentino‐Alto Adige, 1992. ‐197 p.

The Pentagonal/Hexagonal experiment: new forms of cooperation in a changing Europe / Hanspeter Neuhold (ed.). ‐Wien : W.Braumüller, copyr.1991. ‐145 p. ‐ (The Laxenburg papers; 10). ‐ ISBN 3–7003–0945–7

Red Microchip : Technology Transfer, Export Control and Economic Restructuring in the Soviet Union / Daniel L. Bughart. ‐ Aldershot : Dartmouth, copyr. 1992. ‐ x, 250 p. ‐ ISBN 1–85521–308–7

Vers une nouvelle Europe? l publié sous la direction de Mario Telò. ‐ Bruxelles : Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 1992. ‐ XIV, 561 p. ‐ (Etudes européennes). ‐ ISBN 2–8004–1055–8

Les voix du soulèvement palestinien 1987–1988 : édition critique des communiqués du Commandement National Unifié du Soulèvement et du Mouvement de la Résistance Islamique / Jean‐François Legrain; traduction française en collaboration avec Pierre Chenard. ‐ Le Caire : CEDEJ, 1991. ‐ 270, 351 p. ‐ (Dossiers du CEDEJ). ‐ ISBN 2–905838–23‐X

Western Europe and the Gulf : a Study of West European Reactions to the Gulf War / carried out under the auspices of the Institute for Security studies of Western European Union; edited by Nicole Gnesotto and John Roper. ‐ Paris : WEU. The Institute for Security Studies, 1992. ‐ viii, 219 p. ‐ ISBN 2–909567–00–1