Globalization and Reunification: Administrative Reforms and the China–Hong Kong Convergence Challenge

When Hong Kong reintegrated with China in 1997, one critical issue was whether the flourishing center of economic activity with an efficient administrative framework would lose its advantages and become just another city of the People's Republic of China. This article examines the process of managing transition as socialist China tries to accommodate capitalist Hong Kong. With strong forces of globalization at play, both units have had to embark on administrative reforms to make their systems compatible with the demands of the new circumstances. An overview of the reforms they have undertaken reveals that convergence is possible despite markedly different points of departure. However, while the forces of globalization press for increased convergence, the forces of institutional arrangements and history present a major challenge. The balance of the push and pull of convergent and divergent forces will determine the direction and outcome of administrative reforms in China and Hong Kong.     

Public policy and privatisation: the case of the Qatari experience

This article uses a qualitative methodology employing the elite model to describe and analyse the complex interplay of political and economic factors in the privatization experience of the state of Qatar. The article begins by providing a theoretical framework for privatisation in the context of public policy and classifying policies of privatisation into two categories: macro‐ and micro‐privatisation. The second part uses this framework to discuss the factors that gives the Qatari experience its distinguished flavour. These factors include: elite legitimacy and social culture, bureaucratic power, international pressure and patron–client networks. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The revival of ‘native administration’ in the Sudan: A pragmatic view

The basic theme of this paper is to trace the pragmatic attempts of different governments in the Sudan to revive the system of native administration. The need for this revival became clear shortly before the overthrow of Nimeiry's government in April 1985. The approaches to this revival followed two main lines. The first approach adopted piecemeal reforms initiated by individual regional governments before 1986. In the second approach the central government adopted a comprehensive strategy to revive native administration. The implications of these attempts and their expected influence on the new multi-party system in the Sudan are briefly analysed in this paper. The data for this article was collected by the author while touring the Eastern and Western regions with an ILO project identification team between March and June 1986 as a consultant on local government and popular participation.     

Hungry minds: Investigating the food insecurity of minority community college students

Research on food insecurity has investigated urban environments at the neighborhood and city level but neglected the importance of college institutions. Community colleges, which serve a larger population of low‐income, food insecure, and minority students than 4‐year institutions, have been especially neglected. In this mixed methods study, we examined how 50 low‐income minority students in an urban community college access food on campus and how the features of their college foodscape shape their food insecurity. We also investigated how students' ability to access food on campus shaped their perceptions of the college institution and their academic endeavors. Our survey findings reveal high levels of food insecurity among our participants. Students' written narratives demonstrate their desire for more appealing and affordable food on campus and reveal their distrust of the college institution. Furthermore, students connect their food insecurity to their ability to concentrate on academic tasks. Thus, the accessibility of food on campus appears to affect students' perceptions of their community college institution and has implications for their emotional and academic development. Our work suggests that both researchers and college institutions must examine the inadvertent signals that institutions send to food insecure students through their food policies.     

The politics of local government reform in rural Bangladesh

Several changes have been introduced in the system of local government in rural Bangladesh following the country's independence. Examination reveals that they were changes only in nomenclature, and did not result in significant improvements. The constant effort by the central government to retain control over local bodies, and the tendency of the ruling elite not to disturb the existing local government system, have worked to the detriment of reforms. The existing local government system failed to satisfy the aspirations of the rural Bangladeshis for increased participation in local affairs. After the first change of government in Bangladesh, the new ruling group felt the need for a support base in the rural areas. The formation of a new political party and the necessity of extending it to the grass roots, increased the desire of the people to participate in local affairs, and the realization of the importance of initiating and completing rural development programmes at the lowest level made the government aware of the need for local government institutions based in the villages. The government was impressed by the success of the Swanirvar Bangladesh Andolon, and introduced Swanirvar Gram Sarkar as a major reform in the local government system.     

Experience of a financial reforms project in Bangladesh

This article reviews the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh aimed at reforming the public sector financial management system as part of overall public administration reforms through a technical assistance project jointly sponsored by the government and the Department for International Development, Government of the UK. It has evolved through initial setbacks into a highly successful project delivering tangible outputs over the last three years, with prospects for future extension until reforms are internalized and become self‐sustaining. Attempts have been made in this article to analyse and evaluate the underlying reasons for the problems in the first year of implementation as well as the factors that contributed to the recovery of the image of the project and its continuing successes in successive phases. The article highlights the lessons learned from the project in its bad as well as good times and suggests that this experience can be of great value to those undergoing the same type of reform experiment. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategic port classification: International clustering‐based approach for decision‐making optimization

This comprehensive study aims to identify from a strategic perspective a new port classification approach based on port features and characteristics. Data of 3,685 ports worldwide have been collected, and 25 dimensions with 62 factors have been identified and utilized to analyze and classify ports worldwide. The K‐means clustering technique has been utilized to conduct the port classification process at several levels. First, ports have been classified into two general clusters (low capabilities and moderate‐to‐high capabilities). Then only ports with moderate‐to‐high potentials were classified and taxonomized. In addition to identifying and classifying ports with moderate‐to‐high capabilities, findings of the second round demonstrate the existence of three main clusters. The new port classification has been used to provide new insights about the top 50 terminal ports as a real case study. This innovative approach is valuable for most port‐related decision‐making situations and facilitates the global supply chain management processes.