Perspectives on the Liverpool crisis

Conclusion The discussion above remains only one example of a local government responding to the pressures of increasing scarcity in budgetary resources and in several senses increasing policy tasks. In Liverpool's case those increasing tasks have to a considerable extent been self inflicted, as a socialist council pursues policies that fly in the face of national government policy. While budgetary restraint and the response of Liverpool Council have not resulted in major reform, the restrictive nature of central government regulation has led to a major and national debate on the sovereignty of the local as against the national state. To some extent, in Liverpool at least, there has been a cultural reform in the past few years that has produced considerable public support for a series of socialist reactive policies. The style of policy making in the period is affected by an ideologically committed party that for better or worse has accepted a brand of democratic centralism as a vital mechanism to achieve extremely ambitious aims in deleterious circumstances. The success of this brand of politics and policies is unproven. But one thing is certain. Liverpool local politics will remain in the foreseeable future a hotbed of ideological zeal and resistance to central dictat, an ongoing thorn in the side of national monetarist policies and a continuing reminder that localgovernment in Britain still has some life left in it. Unfortunately, the role of the law in all this is capable of being seen as merely repressive, as Parliament passes statutes imposing increasing restrictions upon local authorities and councillors and the courts are called upon to implement them.Assisted by Robina S. Dexter, Current Developments Editor.     

Insider-controlled Firms in Russia

Privatisation Vouchers in Russia were heavily invested in the holders' own firms. Using data from a recent survey, we show that insider control in firms privatised in 1992-4 through the voucher process (as distinct from the earlier leased buy-out method) is insecure and dependent on managers' support. For employees, investment in insider control appears to have been motivated by employment income insurance rather than expected excess returns on the equity. Managers are predominantly the same individuals as before privatisation and display considerable hostility to outside investors, probably because they fear dismissal should outsiders gain control. Despite insider control, firms are shedding labour quite rapidly through voluntary resignations. Employment dynamics appear to be unrelated to insider equity ownership.     

Which knowledge? Whose reality? An overview of knowledge used in the development sector

This article provides an overview of issues relating to the use of knowledge by development organisations. It starts by exploring the various definitions of knowledge that exist in a world of many cultures and intellectual traditions, and the role of language. It considers their relationship with each other and with the many and varied ‘informational developments’ – information-related changes in work, culture, organisations, and technology across the world. It argues that these issues pose a number of fundamental strategic challenges to the development sector. The second part considers where, in practice, development organisations get their information and knowledge from and identifies problems with many of the channels used. Its conclusion is that most current practice consistently militates against the type of relationship and type of communication that are essential if development policy and practice is to be anything other than an imposition of external ideas, however well intentioned.     

Administration in a national aboriginal organization: Impacts of cultural adaptations

Abstract: The Aboriginal Healing Foundation, established in 1998, is a self‐governing organization that administers a $350‐million fund for community initiatives across Canada to heal the legacy of physical and sexual abuse in Indian residential schools, including inter‐generational impacts. The foundation is required to adhere to terms of a funding agreement with the federal government, reporting to Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Drawing on the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's final report on its first mandate, 1998–2005, this article details adaptations of administrative practice introduced by the foundation, with the objective of clarifying how respect for cultural context can be implemented while maintaining high standards of administrative practice. Modified approaches and their impacts are examined in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and accountability.     

Academic entrepreneurship and business schools

In this paper, we employ resource-based and institutional theories to examine the current role of business schools in academic entrepreneurship. In particular, we seek to identify and understand the challenges to business schools contributing to the transfer of knowledge to enable academic entrepreneurship. Employing a case-based method, we present evidence from 42 interviews with technology transfer officers (TTOs), business school deans, business school entrepreneurship faculty and scientists in eight UK universities. Our empirical analysis is focused on analyzing the challenges arising from the links between business schools and three other principal stakeholders of academic entrepreneurship (i.e., the university management, TTOs and academics in science departments). The findings suggest that in addition to concerns about the nature of their human capital, the ability of business schools to fill knowledge gaps in the development of academic entrepreneurship is constrained by the institutional structures of universities which influence: the strategies of the university and the business school; links between business schools, TTOs and scientists; and process issues relating to differences in language and codes, goal differences, incentives and rewards, expertise differences and the content of interactions. We conclude that if business schools are to play a more prominent role in academic entrepreneurship there is a need to develop internal university processes and policies that promote rather than hinder internal knowledge flows between business schools, TTOs and science departments.     

Convergence or path dependency in policies to foster the creation of university spin-off firms? A comparison of France and the United Kingdom

This paper examines attempts by French and UK governments to fill the gap between the US and Europe with respect to the creation of academic spin-offs. Analysis of the contrasting cases of the UK and France, shows that there is no convergence of national policies to foster the creation of firms by academics. Rather, the two countries demonstrate different rationales and approaches to policy in this area. In UK, the rationale for spin-off policy is mainly to develop a third stream of financing. Spin-offs are a part of a policy to commercialize technology and knowledge created by universities. Policy is at the university level, leading to the creation of diverse structures. Public schemes bring public money directly to universities. In France, the rationale for policy towards the creation of new ventures by academics is the development of high technology new ventures as part of a technological entrepreneurship policy. The notion of a third stream of financing for universities is an argument that is never advanced. The UK has placed the universities at the heart of policies aimed at the creation of spin-offs, this is not the case in France.     

Dancing To Whose Tune? Change And Investigations In Hm Customs And Excise

The public sector has been subject to significant organizational and cultural change in the past two decades. The purpose of change has been the cost-efficient and cost-effective delivery of public services and functions. The process of change has been concerned with the best means to do this, whether in structural, cultural and procedural terms. Without careful determination of the services and functions from the onset, the process, however, can become an end in itself, reflecting the comments of the Head of the Civil Service when he said that he did not know the final shape of the civil service on the grounds that ‘it is not unusual . . . for an organisation in the process of evolution not to know what its final state will be’ (Dynes and Walker 1995, p. 99). Where an organization has assumed its core functions are clearly defined and understood but where they are not explicitly used to provide the purpose to shape and direct the process of change, that process may be influenced more by generic external imperatives on structural, cultural and managerial reform that developed from the 1988 Next Steps report than by the organization’s core functions. The article questions assumptions that, by itself, an emphasis on the former will facilitate the performance of the latter. It suggests that the process of challenging culture and structure may have adverse consequences until the purpose of change and the functions of the organization are used to shape and inform the process. It looks at the impact of the process of change on a core organizational function in one large government department that has undergone significant change – major investigations within HM Customs and Excise. It considers that change may be, to use the idiom of earlier research into change and the department, partly about teaching organizations to dance the Next Steps, and partly about ensuring that they keep dancing, but it is also about teaching departments that dancing is best done to tunes that inform the steps.     

Changing coverage of domestic violence murders: a longitudinal experiment in participatory communication

Stressing relation-building and participatory communication approaches, the Rhode Island Coalition against Domestic Violence worked with journalists to develop a best practices handbook on news coverage of domestic violence murders. This study compares print coverage of domestic violence murders prehandbook (1996-1999) and posthandbook (2000-2002). Significant changes include increased labeling of the murder of intimates as domestic violence and doubled usage of advocates as sources. As a result, domestic violence murders, previously framed as unpredictable private tragedies, are more commonly framed posthandbook as social problems warranting public intervention. The authors conclude that relation-building approaches can affect news cultures and public discourse when conducted in conjunction with comprehensive participatory communications strategies.