Search results

Inflation and federal monetary efforts to control it with interest rate hikes have very real and overwhelmingly negative consequences on US local governments following the onset of COVID-19. This study explores the post-pandemic inflationary environment of US local governments; examines the impacts of inflation and high interest rates on local government revenue, operating costs, capital costs, and debt service; reviews local government inflation management strategies, including the use of intergovernmental revenue; and assesses ongoing threats to local government financial health and financial resilience.

This study uses trend and literature analysis to comment on current issues local governments face.

The study finds that the growth of property values and resulting stability of property tax revenue has been important to local government revenues; that local governments bear very real burdens as operating and capital costs increase; and that the combination of high inflation and interest rates affects local government debt issuance by negatively affecting credit quality and interest costs, leading to municipal market contraction. Local governments have benefitted tremendously from intergovernmental revenue, but would be ill-advised to rely on it.

Vulnerabilities owing from revenue mismatch with the economy; inadequate affordable housing, inequality, and social issues; a changing workforce and tight labor market; climate change; and federal fiscal contraction—all of which are exacerbated by high inflation and interest rates—require local governments to act strategically, boldly and collaboratively to achieve fiscal health and financial resilience, and to realize positive returns of investments in people and capital.

This work is unique in addressing the post-pandemic impact of inflation and interest rates on local governments.

When we try to explain the dynamic relationship between actors and their environment, “unidirectional” paradigms clustered at either end of an agency–determinism continuum, theoretical absolutes, and a focus on final outcomes are of limited value. Comparative research is uniquely positioned to move beyond such limitations and toward accounts of organizing that incorporate variation, interests, and interaction. To guide comparative research toward this more relational approach, we (1) highlight a move toward the middle ground of the agency–determinism continuum, that is, varieties of interaction and mutual influence between actors and their environments across levels of analysis; and (2) propose to conceptualize actor–environment relations as a “negotiation.” We use this metaphorical lens to stimulate a focus on the variety of different “negotiation spaces” and “negotiation moves,” which actors may utilize in an organizational field to affect stability or change. We provide an exemplary application of the framework and conclude with some observation on the implications for future research.

The purpose of this research is to determine the competencies that predict highly effective performance in R&D managers and to explore where, along their career and life, managers develop these competencies.

Participants were 35 scientists and engineers working as first level managers at a major US government research center in the Mid‐West. Intended as a comprehensive inquiry into the competencies of R&D managers, three factors determined the design: establishing a criterion measure of performance to define Highly Effective and Typical groups; using a multi‐trait, multi‐method approach to measurement; and collecting data on competency development that preceded work history.

Nine variables were found to differentiate the two groups of managers. These were similar enough to collapse into two competencies: managing groups and interpersonal sensitivity. For the highly effective managers who demonstrated these two competencies, development of their capability began at young ages and prior to work experience. Effective and regular use of the two competencies occurred later in life and typically as a result of taking on leadership roles outside the work setting.

People skills are important to effective management of R&D; technical ability is not enough to be a highly effective manager of R&D; differences in learning styles are important in learning interpersonal skills; people skills can be developed; development does not mean training; and activities outside work are important in developing leadership competencies.

The authors examine the problems envountered when setting up a hypertext link (termed the identity link) for moving between bibliographic and full text databases. MEDLINE and CCAL are used as examples. They argue that these problems are symptomatic of deeper concerns, involving individuation criteria and classificatory fields.

The problems produced by changes in agricultural and food manufacturing practices, which have resulted in increases in reported cases of food‐borne illness, are discussed in relation to Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni, Clostridium botulinum, Aeromonas hydrophila, Listeria monocytogenes and Yersinia enterocolitica. Those areas where further research is urgently required in order to understand and reduce food‐borne microbial illness are examined, and solutions proposed.

Increased competitive pressure in the market for loanable funds has encouraged the banks to place greater emphasis on the marketing of their services to both corporate and personal customers. The small business sector of the corporate market covers the majority of corporate accounts and for a substantial volume of bank lending. However, the proliferation of product differentiation in relation to small business customers in order to improve banks′ competitive position appears to have been less than successful. The small business sector is heterogeneous; customer needs vary but there is little evidence to suggest that banks differentiate their products sufficiently to appeal to distinct market segments. On the contrary, despite competitive pressures and new marketing strategies, small business customers generally perceive the services provided by the different banks as indistinguishable.

Educational leadership preparation programs are expected to train graduates who change their practice and produce outcomes for teachers and students. However, programs are challenged to produce evidence of their impact while also evaluating for formative purposes. This paper describes collaboration between an educational leadership program director and a program evaluator to construct an evaluation system that incorporated program theory, processes, and outcomes. The leadership preparation program, grounded in ethical leadership practices, had a unique design with core tenets that informed choices about the evaluation design. Decisions about data sources were informed by evaluation foci, the availability of existing data sources, and resource constraints. The complexity of the evaluation design paralleled the complexity of the program itself. Leadership content expertise, evaluation design expertise, and genuine collaboration were all essential to the successful design of this evaluation plan. Several recommendations are offered for others collaborating to design evaluations of their programs.

Purpose — This paper describes what the authors believe to be the first GPS-only full-scale household travel survey.

Design/methodology — The survey commenced in early 2009 with the conduct of a pilot survey to help establish various parameters and procedures for the main survey. The main survey commenced in August 2009 and was completed in August 2010. It was designed as a household travel survey to be collected steadily over a 12 month period. The target sample size was originally set at over 3500 households, although this target was reduced downwards during the course of the survey. Each household member over the age of 12 was asked to carry a GPS device with them everywhere they went for a period of 3 days. After the 3-day collection period was completed, GPS devices were retrieved from households, the data were downloaded and processing of the data commenced. The study also involved a PR survey performed on the Internet.

Findings — The paper concludes with lessons learnt from this GPS-only survey and suggestions for how future GPS-only surveys might be conducted.

Originality/value of the paper — The paper describes the first GPS-only household travel survey and concludes that it is now feasible to conduct household travel surveys by GPS.

Foreign exchange exposure management has traditionally been viewed by corporate line management as a specialized and arcane corporate function. From its organizational position in Treasury or International Treasury, the function and the experts responsible for its execution, are frequently removed from the process of strategic planning and formulation of objectives. Foreign exchange experts are even less frequently consulted on matters of marketing and production investments and operation.