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1 – 10 of 10Radhika Murti and Spike Boydell
The purpose of this paper is to provide background information on the land tenure and conflict issues surrounding sustainable forestry management initiatives on customary land in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide background information on the land tenure and conflict issues surrounding sustainable forestry management initiatives on customary land in Fiji.
Design/methodology/approach
An investigation of literature on land tenure, forestry and related conflict is augmented by two short case studies of sustainable forest management initiatives and the challenges in their execution attributable to customary land issues.
Findings
Conflicts occur within resource owning communities, between communities and external parties and among external parties. Often conflicts are based on confusion over property rights related issues. Conflicts stemming from differing views on ownership, tenure and property rights within forest management in Fiji, have led to delayed implementation of critical environmental management plans, loss of economic benefits and disintegration within landowning (mataqali) units.
Research limitations/implications
The paper highlights the importance of actively addressing conflicts in community based natural resource management initiatives in order for Fiji to reap the full benefits of community forestry.
Practical implications
The paper provides a useful general review for both researchers and forestry practitioners.
Originality/value
By providing a general overview of sustainable forest management in Fiji, the paper provides essential background for the subsequent testing of conflict management tools and conflict transformation strategies within a customary context.
Spike Boydell and Stuart Gronow
The Australian Institute of Valuers and Land Economists Incorporated introduced a mandatory discounted cash flow practice standard on 1 September 1996. Reviews the new standard…
Abstract
The Australian Institute of Valuers and Land Economists Incorporated introduced a mandatory discounted cash flow practice standard on 1 September 1996. Reviews the new standard, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses. Offers early constructive commentary for the refinement of the standard at its 12‐month review. As no such mandatory “practice standard” has yet emerged from the US Appraisal Institute or the UK Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, it is reasonable to assume that these bodies as well as their membership will view the Australian initiative with interest.
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Beverly Pasian, Shankar Sankaran and Spike Boydell
The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a doctoral thesis examining the limitations of project management maturity and associated models. It examines the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a doctoral thesis examining the limitations of project management maturity and associated models. It examines the management of undefined projects where the definition, repeatability and predictability of processes cannot be reasonably expected. The challenge to project management maturity theorists is to recognize the possibility of project management maturity in an environment characterized by undefined project elements and the requirement for greater flexibility in their management.
Design/methodology/approach
This inquiry was supported by a multimethod (MXM) research design with two stages: a content/textual analysis of two different collections of maturity models, and an exploratory case study of two university sites. The analysis (supported by grounded theory techniques) contributed to the development of a 4‐node conceptual framework that was used as the primary data collection instrument at two Canadian university sites.
Findings
Results indicate that multiple non‐process factors can contribute to a mature project management capability. These can include context‐specific values, specialized bodies of knowledge (instructional design), customer involvement, third‐party influence, and tacit “human factors” such as trust and creativity. The demands of this inquiry also demonstrated the need for a new data collection sequence in multimethod research design theory.
Practical implications
Practitioners are encouraged to consider customer involvement, organizational dynamics and adaptable variables such as leadership (among other non‐process factors) in their assessment of the maturity of their project management capability, and designers of future models could explore a multi‐dimensional approach that includes context‐specific factors to assessing and defining project management maturity.
Originality/value
This research expands the conceptual view and practical assessment of project management maturity; offers new analysis of the current generation of project management maturity models; documents e‐Learning project management; and defines a new data collection sequencing model.
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This study aims to propose a new research agenda for the theories of “organizational learning” and the “learning organization” in relation to the public sector. The research…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose a new research agenda for the theories of “organizational learning” and the “learning organization” in relation to the public sector. The research agenda can be used by researchers to make explicit accounts of how and where the results from their studies advance the current state-of-the-art in the intersection between public sector and organizational learning and/or the learning organization.
Design/methodology/approach
A combined systematic and bibliometric review methodology is applied based on the research that has been published in the past three decades.
Findings
Through an analysis of 238 journal publications obtained from the Scopus database, the authors determine the leading authors, countries, highly cited papers and take the stock of current literature. Similarly, by analyzing papers published between 2010 and 2020, the authors identify current tendencies and emerging themes of organizational learning and learning organization in the public sector and offer avenues for future research.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is potentially the first, fully refereed study published reporting on a bibliometric and a systematic review of organizational learning and learning organization in the public sector.
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Explores worker flexibility, through learning, union strategies, and resistance to learning. Issues of flexibility, learning, and quality are subject of much debate, negotiation…
Abstract
Explores worker flexibility, through learning, union strategies, and resistance to learning. Issues of flexibility, learning, and quality are subject of much debate, negotiation, and conflict in the Canadian pulp and paper industry. A key bargaining issue for management has been to harness flexibility among the manual craft workers, to improve labour productivity. Within this context, workplace learning is not neutral or independent of day‐to‐day union‐management relations: it is a contested issue. Learning new skills is viewed as a threat to job control and security and presents a paradox: learning new trade skills enhances individual workers’ flexibility and employability but collectively weakens the union through job losses. Data were collected from pulp mills in British Columbia between 1996 and 1999. Survey and qualitative data provides evidence that workers’ resistance to learning is part of the contested arena of productivity and job control.
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The contemporary rustler is a shrewd businessman, or rogue farmer exploiting food supply chain anomalies. Indeed, the first conviction in the UK for 20 years was a farmer stealing…
Abstract
Purpose
The contemporary rustler is a shrewd businessman, or rogue farmer exploiting food supply chain anomalies. Indeed, the first conviction in the UK for 20 years was a farmer stealing from neighbouring farmers. The theft of sheep in the UK is an expanding criminal enterprise which remains under researched. The purpose of this paper is to examine what is known of the illegal trade and its links to food fraud from a supply chain perspective with an emphasis on food integrity issues.
Design/methodology/approach
There is a dearth of current viable literature on livestock theft in a western context making it necessary to turn to socio-historical research and to official documents such as those published by the NFU and other insurance companies to build up a picture of this illegal practice. This is supplemented by documentary research of articles published in the UK press.
Findings
From this raw data a typology of rustlers is developed. The findings point to insider “supply chain” knowledge being a key facet in the theft of livestock. Other examples in the typology relate to urban thieves wrestling live sheep into a car and to industry insiders associated with the abattoir sector.
Research limitations/implications
The obvious limitations is that as yet there are few detected cases of rustling in the UK so the developing typology of rustlers is sketchy. Another limitation is that much of the evidence upon which the typology is developed is anecdotal.
Originality/value
The typology should prove helpful to academics, insurance companies, investigators, industry insiders and farmers to help them understand this contemporary crime and how to prevent its spread. It also sheds light on food integrity in relation to the purchase and consumption of the end product in that customers expect to be purchasing legally and ethically reared animal products.
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