Civic Hackathons: Innovation,Procurement, or Civic Engagement?

At all levels, governments around the world are moving toward the provision of open data, that is, the direct provision to citizens, the private sector, and other third parties, of raw government datasets, controlled by a relatively permissible license. In tandem with this distribution of open data is the promotion of civic hackathons, or “app contests” by government. The civic hackathon is designed to offer prize money to developers as a way to spur innovative use of open data, more specifically the creation of commercial software applications that deliver services to citizens. Within this context, we propose that the civic hackathon has the potential to act in multiple ways, possibly as a backdoor to the traditional government procurement process, and as a form of civic engagement. We move beyond much of the hype of civic hackathons, critically framing an approach to understanding civic hackathons through these two lenses. Key questions for future research emphasize the emerging, and important, nature of this research path.     

Training Child Welfare Professionals to Support Healthy Couple Relationships: Examining the Link to Training Transfer

Integrating healthy relationship and marriage education (RME) into child welfare services is a relatively recent initiative. Guided by the theoretical work in child welfare training evaluation, the current study describes the development and testing of a new RME training for child welfare professionals. Based on data collected from 272 trainees, results from structural equation modeling indicate a linear association between learner attitudes and newly acquired knowledge and skills to perceptions of training usefulness, which, in turn, influenced implementation of RME skills with clients. Implications for the delivery and evaluation of programming, in general and specific to RME, are shared.     

Child Welfare Assessment Practices in Scotland: An Ecological Process Grounded in Relationship-Building

Beginning with the initial contact with the family, Scottish child welfare policy and practice are grounded in ecological practice and community relationships. New guidance called “Getting it Right for Every Child in Scotland” (GIRFEC) is focused on universal child well-being and may have a significant impact on social work practice. This article explores the results of a multi-methods case study conducted in Scotland and highlights key aspects of new policy implementation and relational social work characteristics that are important to advance ecological child welfare practice. It may also have implications for other cultural contexts.     

How HIV-Positive Aboriginal Women (PAW) Talk About Their Mothering Experiences With Child and Family Services in Ontario

Aboriginal families are disproportionately involved with Children's Aid Societies (or CAS), which is of concern given the history of colonization, assimilation, and child welfare policies that fail to recognize Indigenous practices within Canada. There is no historical data regarding HIV-positive Aboriginal women's (PAW) experiences and interactions with the child welfare system, despite a high degree of HIV-related stigma and discrimination by CAS staff coupled with lack of HIV knowledge and sensitivity to provide culturally appropriate care to PAW and their children. This article is relevant to local and international child welfare practices, and specifically to CAS agencies across Ontario.     

“从试探性渗透”到“全面巧接触”——浅析美柬关系的新变化

美国奥巴马政府自2009年以来,出于战略考虑,加大了对柬埔寨外交力度。两国在政治、经济、军事、文化等领域的合作呈深化发展的趋势。本文试图在梳理美国在柬埔寨利益定位的基础上,分析奥巴马政府对柬政策调整的动因、手段、发展前景以及由此带来的影响。     

全面薪酬满意度能提高零售企业员工工作绩效吗？

以 C 超市员工为样本，探讨全面薪酬满意度的测量及其对工作绩效的影响，以及员工敬业度的 中介作用和全面薪酬沟通的调节作用。研究表明，零售企业全面薪酬满意度由薪酬、职业发展机会、绩效认可、 工作 - 生活平衡和福利满意度五个维度组成；其中，绩效认可、工作 - 生活平衡满意度对工作绩效有显著正向 影响，而薪酬、职业发展机会和福利满意度对工作绩效没有显著影响。同时，全面薪酬满意度五个维度对员工 敬业度均有显著正向影响，而绩效认可、工作 - 生活平衡满意度又通过员工敬业度，对工作绩效产生了影响。 再者，全面薪酬沟通正向调节了绩效认可、工作 - 生活平衡和福利满意度对员工敬业度的影响，也正向调节了 员工敬业度在绩效认可、工作 - 生活平衡、福利满意度与工作绩效之间的中介效应，即全面薪酬沟通程度越高， 员工敬业度的中介作用越强。     

心理契约破裂对员工工作投入的影响：有调节的中介作用

员工的工作投入直接或间接影响到组织的价值创造、竞争能力和发展前景,探究心理契约破裂对员工工作投入的影响具有重要的理论和现实意义。本研究整合社会交换理论和资源保存理论,探讨心理契约破裂对员工工作投入影响的作用机制和边界条件。实证检验结果表明:心理契约破裂对工作投入有负向作用,心理契约破裂对工作不安全感有显著的正向影响,工作不安全感在心理契约破裂对工作投入的影响中起到完全中介作用,雇佣类型调节了心理契约破裂与工作不安全感之间的关系。为了减少员工心理契约破裂的产生,本研究建议:组织应当做好与员工的沟通工作;组织应协助员工进行个人职业规划,提供必要的培训机会,并向其提供职业发展通道;管理者应帮助员工与组织及同事建立和发展长期的、互惠的、相互依赖的高质量交换关系。     

The Role of Civic Engagement in Trisectoral Governance Approaches as Factors for Success in East German Municipalities

The demographic diminution and the special economic situation in the East necessitate flexible strategies that make use of all available on-site resources. This includes taking into account economic concerns in governmental and developmental strategies for the public sector as well as improved integration of ‘active citizens’, for whom the government must provide adequate basic parameters in order to assure lasting and effective participation. In this context, the following article presents the findings of a study on East German municipalities that clarifies the obstacles and specific potentials of a stronger cooperation between the various societal sectors that is characterised by trisectoral governance.     

Working with Complexity: Community Engagement and the Murdi Paaki COAG Trial 2002–2007

Achieving improvements in indigenous health and education and reducing the incidence of crime and domestic violence in indigenous communities has proved heartbreakingly difficult. The Murdi Paaki COAG trial in western NSW aimed to break this pattern of failure by tailoring flexible Commonwealth and State government support to indigenous communities, working within a framework of shared responsibility. In this article we assess the trial as a policy strategy by comparing outcomes and patterns of outcomes across the sixteen communities. We found that the strategy worked best where ‘good enough’ governance was aligned with flexibility, rather than with control. This way of working is difficult for governments as it can be a slow process, and requires stability in the policy and engagement framework to deliver results. More broadly, our findings confirm the usefulness of complexity theory to illuminate and to explain the evolution of process in administrative contexts involving networked governance.