Social and environmental reporting in local authorities

There has recently been a resurgence of interest in social and environmental reporting (SER) in both the private and the public sector; however, its meaning and application in the public sector are relatively new, and it has been little investigated. Our article is aimed at gaining a better understanding of the reasons underlying the adoption of SER by Italian local authorities by applying the concept of management fashion (Abrahamson ). Empirical analysis shows that both socio-psychological and techno-economic forces combine to shape the SER phenomenon, and a managerial fashion is currently in place among Italian local authorities. Thus, even when SER is adopted in response to ‘technical’ gaps, its label largely depends on its being driven by the need to signal that LAs are adopting a tool which is gaining momentum in academic and professional discourse. However, both forces are influenced not so much by a concern for sustainability as by the context of public-sector reform processes.     

El desempeño económico financiero y responsabilidad social corporativa Petrobrás versus Repsol

Alterations in the institutional environment, as a result of the markets integration process and the consequent alterations in stakeholders’ conduct are one of the important vectors of changes in companies’ behavior. In that context, in addition to their yields those companies happen to worry about their attitudes in relation to social and environmental factors. Thus, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) is seen as one more strategy to maintain or increase their income and to harness the enterprise development. The main purpose of this study is the verification of the existing relation between Social Responsibility and the economic and financial performance of two companies in the business of Petroleum, Gas and Bio-combustibles. The investigation was based on a comparison of social-environmental practices developed by Petrobras S/A (Brazil) and Repsol S/A (Spain). For the purpose of verification of the relation between social-environmental performance and the economic-financial one, a linear regression analysis was carried out.     

Beyond a Livable and Green Neighborhood: Asserting Control,Sovereignty and Transgression in the Casc Antic of Barcelona

During the past 15 years, the Casc Antic, a traditionally low‐income and immigrant neighborhood in Barcelona, has been the site of community‐based mobilization to revitalize abandoned areas and improve local environmental conditions. The organization of residents and their supporters is situated within a broader context of urban political and socioeconomic change — the transformation of the urban economy into a decentralized, global and technology‐ and service‐focused system, accompanied by rising socioeconomic inequality and displacement in inner‐city areas. To date, few studies in the urban environmental arena have been placed within processes of urban change and offer specificity on the purposes, intents and goals that poor and minority residents develop as they understand, resist and challenge their marginality. Why do residents of marginalized neighborhoods and their supporters organize to proactively improve livability and environmental quality? To what extent do the environmental struggles of marginalized communities serve as means to advance more complex political agendas in the city? Through the examination of neighborhood organization for livability in the Casc Antic, I analyze how activists use their environmental endeavors as tools to address stigmas attached to their place, control the land and its boundaries, and build a more transgressive form of democracy.     

Community in a recreational setting

Abstract

The loss of community and of traditional communal ties characteristic of modern industrial society has caused many people to search for alternative sources of social identification and solidarity. Recreational sites may afford some people opportunities for constructing communities on the basis of common interests. As part of an ongoing investigation, data have been gathered over several years to discover whether elements of community can be found in a marina's social system; evidence is being sought through examination of patterns of social interaction, the system of social ranking, and ties of affection that characterize the marina's social network. Data reveal a social organization at the marina comprising subgroups with complex interaction patterns, affective ties, and communal solidarity. It appears, therefore, that at this recreational site the structure and dynamics of an alternative form of community have been constructed by boaters.     

Pyrrhic victories – anticipating the closedown effect

Previous studies with empirical evidence on social responsible driven closedowns have identified a productivity increase effect that occurs during the process of organizational closedowns, known as the closedown effect. Our proposition is that this effect can be anticipated as a consequence of a closedown decision. Encountering four different non social responsible closedown cases, of various durations, we statistically test this proposition. Further, we identify a need for an analytical distinction of the phases of the closedown process, in terms of the primary ‘advanced notice period’ and the secondary ‘countdown period’. Based on the analysis, and with this distinction, we are able to conclude that the productivity increase effect can be anticipated during the countdown period. The comparably longer time frame in the Studding case provides the strongest support for our proposition. From the analysis we suggest hypotheses for further research.     

浅议整体治疗模式下住院楼建筑的优化设计策略

随着医院经营模式的转变,医院开始以患者为中心为其提供医疗服务,病者的生理、心理需求、住院舒适性、住院体验日益受到重视,医疗关注点也从以前的局部治疗开始向全方位医治患者的整体治疗模式转换。关怀住院病人,为病人提供优质的住院服务,已成为各医院创造医疗技术和设备以外最主要的竞争策略。为住院者营建舒适、健康、满足患者身心以及社会需求;为医护人员创造舒适、人性化的工作、休憩空间,也成为这一时期建筑师必须积极应对的设计问题。     

开放式公园管理是促进社会和谐矿区稳定发展的有效途经

开放式公园管理是黑龙江大庆石化公司园林公司在落实党的十六届四中全会提出的构建社会主义＂和谐社会＂新理念的具体体现。也是落实党的十七大精神和科学发展观,创建和谐矿区,保持社会稳定的真实写照。通过调研和社会实践表明,开放式的公园管理是促进社会和谐矿区稳定发展的有效途经。     

新会计准则下盈余管理中的"会计魔法"揭秘

盈余管理一直是企业会计研究中的热点问题。虽然新会计准则在一定程度上抑制了某些盈余管理手段的应用空间，但也产生了新的盈余管理空间。在阐述盈余管理概念的基础上，重点介绍了新会计准则下企业进行盈余管理所实施的“会计魔法”，旨在加强对新会计准则下企业盈余管理行为的正确认识，从而提高广大投资者和社会公众识别不正当盈余管理的能力。     

Embedding consumer culture in health and social care education – a university office's perspective

Health and social care services are changing – and this change is radical. Service user and carer involvement has been a key aspect of health and social care policy for a number of years. In terms of the National Health Service (NHS), this has been significantly strengthened by the report ‘High Quality Care for All’. The NHS will no longer be a monolith dictating what services it offers. It is beginning to take seriously the views of its consumers: the patients, service users and carers. The NHS is starting to put the patient experience at the centre of everything it does, and its regulators are asking for evidence of public and patient involvement. This process may yet prove to be one of the NHS' greatest challenges as it transforms to prioritize the consumer viewpoint. Social care, though further down the line in relation to involvement, is now responding to the relatively new personalization agenda. This paper will consider what the university sector can do to embed the consumer and service culture within the education of health and social care professionals. It looks at the challenges of involvement and required culture change, highlighting the key points to address in the early and middle stages of involvement from a university office's perspective. It includes examples of consumer involvement in teaching, assessment and the selection of students and how their input is starting to make a difference. Finally, the paper outlines what is needed in a development office to establish and support effective service user and carer involvement on health and social care courses in higher education. The article concludes by acknowledging that there is much more work that needs to be done in this field to embed the work of a development office, but that early steps have been promising.     

土地征收中的社会稳定风险评估——以广州新客站周边土地储备项目二期征地为例

土地征收作为一种重大事项,必须进行社会稳定风险评估。依据风险评估的有关要求,以广州某征地项目为例,介绍了社会稳定风险评估报告的主要内容和程序、方法,风险评估结果表明:新客站征地拆迁项目总体社会稳定风险较小,但部分内容仍然可能诱发风险,因此需制定详细的预案,注意加强对风险的防范。