‘Letters aren’t good’: the operation of the right to request flexible working post-maternity leave in UK small and medium-sized companies

This article contributes to existing literature on flexible working at an organisational level by presenting the results of a qualitative study of women employees and managers in small firms who have been involved in negotiating part-time hours on return to work post-maternity leave. The study finds that the right to request flexible working has become embedded in the policies of small firms and that the overwhelming experience of women employees was positive: their requests were accepted because they were perceived as valuable and consequently their managers wanted to retain them. However employees who lacked ongoing managerial support had a less positive experience. The study also examines other aspects of the operation of the right to request such as the efficacy of written policies on flexible working and the extent to which the negotiation process was formalised.     

Volunteerism and technology transfer: A case study

The withdrawl of Federal funds in a number of social service programs and state and local government budgets calls for an upsurge in volunteerism. Since August 1978, a Technical Volunteer Service (TVS) has been doing just that at one of the nation’s largest Federal laboratories. As measured by service to the community, acceptance by laboratory management, and satisfaction for the volunteers, this program has been an outstanding success. The time is ripe to transfer this program to other Federal laboratories, universities and industry. This paper describes the program and offers practical suggestions for its transfer to other organizations.     

China–Taiwan diplomatic competition and the Pacific Islands

Abstract

China and Taiwan have become important actors in South Pacific affairs due to their diplomatic rivalry. Securing the diplomatic recognition of the Pacific Islands countries is expensive for China and Taiwan. There are limits to what the rivals are willing to spend, and they attempt to reduce costs. This dynamic shapes how Taiwan and China engage Pacific Islands politicians. It also motivates their high level official visits to the region, and how they engage South Pacific regional organizations. Despite criticisms that China–Taiwan rivalry corrupts and destabilizes the South Pacific, the issue of whether China and Taiwan's diplomatic rivalry has been beneficial or detrimental to the region remains contentious. China and Taiwan appear to have recently called a truce in their decades-old rivalry. This tacit agreement is still tentative, and the involvement of China and Taiwan in the region has yet to change significantly. However, Taiwan has reportedly begun to reduce funding, and is likely to reform its aid delivery in order to satisfy demands from the South Pacific region's dominant power, Australia, and to improve its image as a humanitarian aid donor. China is also likely to reduce funding while the truce holds. However, China considers its ties with South Pacific governments more important than responding to Australian pressure, and is unlikely to reform its South Pacific aid programmes as a result of the diplomatic truce.     

Expanding the R&;E tax credit to drive innovation,competitiveness and prosperity

The research and experimentation (R&E) tax credit has long been the subject of criticism. Some argue that if the goal is more research and innovation, it’s better to increase direct federal funding of research. Others argue that the credit is not effective, that companies would do the research in any case. Some object the very notion of using tax policy to influence private sector behavior, preferring instead a more “neutral” tax code. Still others, including Tassey in this volume, point to what they see are a host of design flaws in the current credit, including that its incremental nature reduces its effectiveness. I will argue here that most of these arguments are mistaken. To promote innovation in a global economy both direct funding and indirect tax incentives are needed. The credit, while it can be improved, has been shown to be effective in stimulating research. Moreover, far from distorting the market, the credit corrects for a market failure where firms are unable to capture all of the benefits of corporate research, leading them to under invest in research. Finally, while reform and expansion are needed, it would be a mistake to shift to a completely flat credit. However, several important changes should be made including doubling the current value of the credit, modifying the Alternative Simplified Credit to become incremental, and expanding the flat credit for collaborative R&D.

Restructuring Local Government in Hampshire: A Case of Mistaken Community Identity?

This article examines the impact of the idea of community identity upon the Local Government Review in England. It considers the extent to which the notion of community identity was built into the Local Government Review nationally and, moreover, locally in Hampshire, and the extent to which it shaped the outcomes of the Local Government Review. Three conceptions of community identity are examined - affective, effective and deliberative community identity - and their interplay assessed in shaping the process of restructuring local government. The article argues that the issue of community identity figured prominently in the early stages of the Local Government Review, but faded away as it got caught up with the political machinations of central government, local authorities and political parties.     

Promoting the Safe and Strategic Use of Technology for Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: Evaluation of the Technology Safety Project

The Technology Safety Project of the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence was designed to increase awareness and knowledge of technology safety issues for domestic violence victims, survivors, and advocacy staff. The project used a “train the trainer” model and provided computer and Internet resources to domestic violence service providers in order to (1) increase safe computer and Internet access for domestic violence survivors in Washington; (2) reduce the risk posed by abusers by educating survivors about technology safety and privacy; and (3) increase the ability of survivors to help themselves and their children through information technology. Evaluation of the project suggests that the program is needed, useful, and effective. Consumer satisfaction was high and there was perceived improvement in computer confidence and knowledge of computer safety. Areas for future program development and further research are discussed.     

Preparing physicians to contend with the problem of dual loyalty

Abstract

Dual loyalty is defined as, particularly as it pertains to the field of medicine, a conflict or potential conflict between a healthcare professional's simultaneous obligations–expressed or implied–to a patient and to a third party. Dual loyalty situations often compromise physicians' ethical behavior, leading them to participate, either knowingly or unknowingly, in human rights violations perpetrated by a third party, often the state. Classic dual loyalty situations include the participation of physicians in state-sanctioned torture or the death penalty. However, there are a number of other dual loyalty scenarios that arise routinely in clinical practice in both closed institutions such as prisons, psychiatric facilities, and the military and in open societies promulgated by discriminatory practices, policies, and laws that can lead physicians and other health care professionals to contribute to the violation of individuals' human rights. Healthcare professionals are, for the most part, not formally trained to contend with these dual loyalty conflicts. While physicians routinely learn about bioethical frameworks to assist them in resolving difficult clinical dilemmas created, for example, by modern technology that extends life or by limited resources, few are taught a human rights framework that can assist them in protecting patients' human rights in cases of dual loyalty. This paper presents a case-based approach that utilizes a human rights framework for teaching dual loyalty in the undergraduate medical education curriculum. The medical profession is in dire need of training its workforce to grapple with the myriad dual loyalty issues that confront the profession today, and must institute curriculum reform to prepare future health care professionals to deal with dual loyalty scenarios that threaten individuals' human rights.     

Obstacles to organizational change: the creation of the Canadian Space Agency

Abstract: This article begins with the observation that the recently established Canadian Space Agency possesses very few of the organizational attributes that its early promoters had envisioned. The agency is much less autonomous, for example, and is located much farther from the industry than was originally expected. We describe three rather distinct perspectives on organizational change and argue that each one has a contribution to make in understanding the evolution of the Canadian Space Agency away from its initial conception. As backdrop to this theoretical argument we outline the structure of the space industry, the various initiatives undertaken to guide industry development, and the circumstances surrounding the creation of the space agency. In the final section of the article, drawing on interviews with public officials and private actors, we show how, in creating the space agency, bureaucrats, politicians and industry representatives were unable to surmount several key obstacles previewed in the introductory section. Sommaire: Cet article commence par le constat que l'Agence spatiale canadienne qui vient d'être mise sur pied ne possède que très peu des attributs organisationnels que ses premiers promoteurs avaient envisagés. Par exemple, l'agence est nettement moins autonome et eile est située beaucoup plus loin de l'industrie que ce qui avait été prévu à l'origine. Cet article présente trois perspectives distinctes sur l'évolution organisationnelle, affirmant que chacune peut contribuer à la compréhension de l'évolution de l'Agence spatiale canadienne par rapport à sa conception d'origine. Pour étayer cet argument théorique, l'article précise la structure de l'industrie spatiale, les diverses initiatives entreprises pour guider le développement du secteur, ainsi que les circonstances entourant la création de l'agence spatiale. La dernière section de l'article, s'appuyant sur des entrevues avec des fonctionnaires et des intervenants privés, montre pourquoi, lorsqu'ils ont créé l'agence spatiale, certains fonctionnaires, politiciens et représentants de l'industrie ont été incapables de surmonter plusieurs obstacles clés décrits dans l'introduction