LESSONS FROM APPROACHES TO INCREASE WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT: WORKSHOP SUMMARY

Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital,

The black minority ethnic third sector: a resource paper

Contributing towards building a foundation of knowledge on the black minority ethnic (BME) third sector, this paper offers an introductory resource on research in this field. The paper begins with discussion on the (contested) concept of a BME third sector (BME TS) and the existing narrative of distinctiveness; it then goes on to highlight the importance of robust comparative analyses to identify empirical trends of difference between subsectors in order to examine the policy implications for the different subsectors. In an attempt to bring together a disparate collection of material on the BME third sector the remaining section of the paper provides brief overviews of material about different types of organisation that might constitute the BME TS in the broadest sense of the term. These include: refugee and asylum seeker organisations (RCOs), faith based organisations, diasporic immigrant community organisations, black organisations, gypsy and traveller organisations and multicultural organisations. In closing, the paper identifies gaps in the current research base that will be of interest to the wider research community and will inform TSRC's cross-cutting equality research programme

What are Some Best Practices in Assessing Employee Performance Without Using Performance Reviews?

[Excerpt] A 2014 Deloitte Survey reported that 58% of organizations believed that performance appraisals were an ineffective use of time. This finding carries great significance given a typical manager spends on average 210 hours a year working on appraisals. Due to the incongruence between time spent and value, many companies are eliminating formal reviews. Some companies are opting to eliminate ratings all together while others are choosing to eliminate the numerical/ranking component of the appraisal. Case studies that include outcomes are a useful tool in examining how this pertains to the management of low performers

Preconception nutrition knowledge, dietary intakes and lifestyle characteristics of Auckland women : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nutritional Science at Massey University

Introduction Adequate nutritional status prior to conception and during early pregnancy is important in achieving a healthy pregnancy outcome. This study examined preconception nutrition knowledge, and dietary and lifestyle habits in Auckland women of childbearing age. Methods Women aged 18-45 years (n=115) were recruited and data collected using a detailed questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and a diet history to evaluate dietary intakes. Results 18 women were attempting to conceive and 97 women indicated they were not currently planning pregnancy. The reproductive history of the women identified that 53 women had previously been pregnant but only 47% of these pregnancies had been planned. Nearly all of the women (93.7%) had heard of folic acid and 65% were aware that folic acid was required for pregnancy. Although 53.9% of the women knew that folic acid prevents birth defects, only 31.3% of women had specific knowledge that folic acid use a month before conception can prevent neural tube defects. All of the women in the study who were currently planning a pregnancy had heard of folic acid and 13 (72%) were taking a folic acid supplement (≥400μg). Although 80% of the women thought that dietary habits in the preconception period could affect pregnancy outcome few women thought preconception diet could influence risk of miscarriage, preterm delivery or maternal deficiencies. 83% of women used alcohol, 13.0% had a caffeine intake >300 mg/day, 8% smoked and 26.0% were overweight or obese. Conclusions Women recruited to the study demonstrated a lack of awareness of the importance of preconception nutrition and were not in an optimal physical state for pregnancy. The high rate of unplanned pregnancies in New Zealand is a significant obstacle to preconception care and efforts to increase the awareness of the importance of preconception nutrition are needed

Using the Rural Economic and Enterprise Development (REED) framework for analysis and joint action: outline and workplan for action research

The framework for fostering Rural Economic and Enterprise Development (REED) which is based on the analysis of successes and experiences of programmes and projects by an international group of practitioners from different professional backgrounds and countries is an example of a more holistic and spatial approach to local, rural and urban development. The framework, which tries to address the shortcomings of the traditional rural-urban dichotomy, is comprised of ten cornerstones for successful intervention, covering the policy and institutional dimension, access to infrastructure, services and markets, entrepreneurial competence and stakeholder links (see Figure 1). The REED framework can be applied at different levels, i.e., national and regional, because it is areabased. For example, many decisions concerning the political, economic and institutional environment for Rural Economic and Enterprise Development are made at national level. Decision-makers on public policies for rural areas are charged with designing strategies for rural development. Increasingly, this is done in a programmatic way, such as in inter-ministerial committees for designing PRSPs, sector investment programmes (SIPs) and sector-wide approaches (SWAPs). The REED framework adds value to the planning process because it feeds the perceptions, needs and experiences of relevant stakeholders in a systematic way. Where the focus is on developing a certain region (at sub-national level), regional development authorities can use the REED framework to create a dynamic environment for economic activity and to stimulate innovation. In this way, the specific characteristics of the region and the relevant framework conditions can be taken into consideration when elaborating and formulating key strategies, processes and possible ways to implement them, related to the individual cornerstones (see Figure 1). Within the cycle of typical government and donor-supported public investment, policies/ interventions, there are several options for applying the REED framework

The “new managerialism”: Experiences of introducing formal management education into the public sector through the mechanism of the MBA dissertation

Paper presented at the 3rd international Integrating for Excellence conference at Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, UK, 27-28 June 2007.This paper reflects upon the authors' experience of supervising dissertations on a public sector executive MBA programme run for a large metropolitan council. The research method is based on participant observation and reflection whilst directing the work undertaken by the MBA students in carrying out their dissertation. We assess the benefits that accrue to staff teaching on the programme and reflect on the new opportunities, in terms of career development and better management practice afforded to executives who have participated in the programme. Academic staff benefits include: interesting and stimulating work which sometimes leads to refereed publications at conferences and in journals; consultancy & significant applied teaching materials and improvements to the applied knowledge base of teaching staff. Lessons have also been learned about good practice in supervising dissertations. Executive benefits include progression to promoted posts & gaining new insights into better or best working practices. Organisational benefits include cross fertilisation of ideas produced through interaction between programme members. This paper discusses how the MBA programme meets the demands of various interested parties

\Gamma-extensions of the spectrum of an orbifold

We introduce the \Gamma-extension of the spectrum of the Laplacian of a Riemannian orbifold, where \Gamma is a finitely generated discrete group. This extension, called the \Gamma-spectrum, is the union of the Laplace spectra of the \Gamma-sectors of the orbifold, and hence constitutes a Riemannian invariant that is directly related to the singular set of the orbifold. We compare the \Gamma-spectra of known examples of isospectral pairs and families of orbifolds and demonstrate that it many cases, isospectral orbifolds need not be \Gamma-isospectral. We additionally prove a version of Sunada's theorem that allows us to construct pairs of orbifolds that are \Gamma-isospectral for any choice of \Gamma.Comment: To appear in the Transactions of the AM