Computerizing Accounting Systems in Developing Bureaucracies: Lessons from Kenya

Kenya's agriculture ministries are reforming their accounting systems and the reform includes computerization. This article examines the impact of computers on accounts and the lessons that can be drawn from Kenya about building computerized accounting systems.
Four propositions emerge about the impact of computers on the accounting systems. First and surprisingly, the initial impact of computers is indirect. Their primary impact is to strengthen the manual accounts which the ministries continue to rely upon. Second, computers promote effectiveness reforms by changing procedures, rather than efficiency reforms by accelerating the throughput of data with existing procedures. Third, computers do not initially promote document processing but do improve data processing. Fourth, computers do promote rudimentary analysis.
One conclusion from the Kenya case is that modular implementation of computerized accounting is helpful. Implementing modules rather than an integrated system means that accounting reforms can begin without waiting for lengthy procedural reforms. Modular implementation also facilitates agency involvement in the design of the system.     

Procedural fairness and organizational commitment under conditions of growth and decline

We surveyed employees from seven relocating firms undergoing either an expansion or decline. Employees' judgments of procedural fairnes regarding the decision procedures used to implement the change showed a stronger effect on normative commitment for sites undergoing decline than for those undergoing growth. Procedural fairness concerns therefore seem to be more important to employees experiencing organizational decline. The finding has implications for research and for the management of organizational decline.     

A Note on the Use of County-Level UCR Data

County-level crime data have major gaps, and the imputation schemes for filling in the gaps are inadequate and inconsistent. Such data were used in a recent study of guns and crime without considering the errors resulting from imputation. This note describes the errors and how they may have affected this study. Until improved methods of imputing county-level crime data are developed, tested, and implemented, they should not be used, especially in policy studies.     

Healthy Families America Research Practice Network: a unique partnership to integrate prevention science and practice

The goal of the Healthy Families America Research to Practice Network (RPN) was to foster communication among academic researchers, community-based evaluators, and practitioners to integrate science-based prevention practices into practice settings. The RPN goals were guided by and are a response to the limitations of past and current research paradigms in the social sciences. Accomplishments included creation of a 40-member researcher-practitioner council, development of a national Program Information Management System, and completion of a 4-year national Implementation Study, employing data from over 100 sites in nine states. The discussion examines what was learned about this rare experiment in creating practitioner-scientist partnerships and the impact of the RPN on child abuse and neglect prevention. A five-year plan to sustain and strengthen a practice-research collaborative is recommended.     

Emotional distress in African American women with HIV

This study identified factors associated with emotional distress in 109 African American women with HIV. The relationship of personal factors (demographic, social conflict, social support, and spirituality), health-related factors (perception of health, physical and mental health problems, and years diagnosed), and cognitive/coping responses (stigma, worry, and emotion focused coping) on depressive symptoms and mood state was examined. Younger age, more social conflict, less social support, lower perception of health, and more HIV worry were associated with higher depressive symptom scores. Variables most often affecting various mood states included personal factors (public housing, unemployment, and social conflict) and worry about having HIV worry.     

In Hot Pursuit of NRD Claims

Federal- and state-designated entities' ability to pursue claims for damages to the nation's natural resources have long existed under statutory and common law but, until recently, were placed on the back burner.

Pursuit of Natural Resource Damage (NRD) claims by federal and certain state governments have drastically increased. New Jersey and New Mexico have been among the most aggressive. Issues surrounding NRD claims such as allocation of liability, calculation of damages using formulas and technical factors, and causation are the focus of litigation. New Jersey's groundwater initiative and New Mexico's program are being watched closely to determine future success of NRD claims.