Accountability of NGOs in Bangladesh A critical overview

NGOs in Bangladesh have been recognized as effective change agents in the socio-economic arena throughout the world. Their contributions in micro credit, non-formal education and primary health care are widely known. NGOs play a significant role in society. NGO accountability, as a result, has become a critical issue. NGO accountability in Bangladesh has been examined here in relation to patrons, clients and themselves. Of the three relationships only accountability to patrons is in a near satisfactory state. Accountability to clients is handicapped by lack of opportunities of beneficiaries to participate meaningfully in NGO policy making. Accountability to themselves is adversely affected due to the adherence to a strictly hierarchical system and the influence of founding and charismatic NGO leaders.     

Towards an Asian model of human resource management? A comparative analysis of China,Japan and South Korea

There has been much discussion regarding the possible decline and weakening of national systems of human resource management (HRM). Yet, culture and institutions are often cited as the major stumbling blocks to this outcome. Such constraints may dissipate in the analysis, particularly if ‘regional clusters’ are considered where geographic and cultural closeness and ‘openness’ to similar economic pressures exist. In such cases, it might be postulated that convergence in HRM will occur. We argue that China, Japan and South Korea represent such a cluster. This article examines these countries, to see if a degree of convergence is taking place and if it is towards an identifiable ‘Asian’ model of HRM. A model of change is presented that distinguishes between levels of occurrence and acceptance. Details of the development and practice of HRM in each country are then set out. The article ends with a discussion and implications section and a brief conclusion.     

Towards a Theory of Serendipity: A Systematic Review and Conceptualization

Serendipity – the notion of making surprising and valuable discoveries – plays a major role in the success of individuals and organizations alike. Previous research has established the importance of serendipity and identified important individual- and organizational-level antecedents. However, the literature has been dispersed and the boundaries of the concept have been blurry, leading to a lack of conceptual clarity and structure, and thus limiting validity and managerial actionability. Based on a systematic literature review, I synthesize existing management-related research on serendipity and explicate the emergence and composition of serendipity in the organizational context. I first identify three necessary conditions that differentiate serendipity from related concepts such as luck or targeted innovation: agency, surprise, and value. Then, I draw from the literature on sensemaking, event-based theorizing, and quantum-based approaches to management to conceptualize the process of cultivating serendipity in the organizational context as a process of enabling potentiality and materialization, and develop a multi-level theory of (cultivating) serendipity. This conceptualization contributes to our collective understanding of how, why, and when (i.e., under what conditions) organizations can leverage the value in the unexpected, which opens up fruitful avenues for further research.     

Development in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics

This paper outlines the ICT statistical developments that the ABS has undertaken over recent years. These developments have been on both the supply side (ICT industry) and the demand side (use of IT by sector). The content of ABS ICT surveys has changed significantly over the last few years and are expected to develop further in line with industry changes and emerging policy needs.
Recent developments in household collections have been the inclusion of IT use questions in the 2001 Census of Population and Housing and in various ABS social surveys such as Children's Participation in Culture and Leisure Activities. Annual business IT use surveys are now conducted and include topics such as Internet commerce and IT security. Biennial ICT industry surveys are conducted to provide data on ICT production, imports and exports, ICT industry employment, performance and structure information. An Internet activity survey is run every six months and provides regional Internet access details and infrastructure details on Internet service providers.
A major development for 2002–03 will be the compilation of an ICT satellite account. ABS intends to produce an ICT Information Development Plan to guide its future statistical development work in the ICT field.     

Value at Risk in the Suburbs: Eminent Domain and the Geographical Politics of the US Foreclosure Crisis

Several US counties and local governments have recently considered a novel solution to the foreclosure crisis. They plan to use eminent domain to compel the owners of mortgage debt—and specifically of private‐label mortgage‐backed securities—to sell the debt to the government at a price reflecting the loan's market value. The government would then restructure the debt and resell it to new investors. The plans are striking because—in contrast to both development‐driven eminent domain and the federal subprime bank bailout—they would force investors to assume asset devaluation and increased long‐term risk. Notably, the plans have emerged as an instance of financialization‐focused politics in suburbs and suburban cities of color, specifically majority‐black and ‐Latino/a suburbs. Local support for the plans, we argue, is rooted in the long‐term disinvestment of these ‘suburbs of exception', which became targets of subprime lending and eventually sites where the ‘financial exception' has been localized. But these demographic shifts, fragmentation and fiscal pressures have at the same time created a suburban political terrain in which the plans have gained their strongest political support.     

In the shadow of loommg, global Economy Crisis we take pro-achve Measures, Aiming at Lofty Goals we sharpen our compehhve edge

This paper touches on impact of global financial crisis on economic entity and how QRRS as leading railway equipment in China re-act by taking proactive measures;it also points out weakness of this company and give suggestions on possible solutions.     

Neoliberalization,Housing Institutions and Variegated Gentrification: How the ‘Third Wave’ Broke in Amsterdam

Neil Smith argues that in the last two decades gentrification has become a generalized global urban phenomenon. His theory is at a high level of abstraction, as it links urban gentrification to globalization, financial capitalism and neoliberalization. With these global processes, all cities have experienced ‘third wave’ gentrification. The theory, however, leaves little room for variegations of gentrification, apart from characterizing geographical differences as idiosyncrasies or as minor variations. This downplays the role of intervening mechanisms that impinge upon the pursuit and social outcomes of gentrification. This article aims to amend abstract theory by looking at Amsterdam from a historical institutional perspective. In Amsterdam, gentrification was particularly made possible by a process of neoliberalization within the housing system. However, as institutional change is incremental and based on layering and conversion, many older institutional arrangements remain in place. These arrangements tend to slow gentrification and assuage social consequences. Nevertheless, neoliberal modifications to the housing system have been accelerating the pursuit of gentrification. Current policies will very likely lead to exclusionary displacement.     

Measuring the impact of R&;D on Productivity from a Econometric Time Series Perspective

In this paper we argue that the standard sequential reduction approach to modelling dynamic relationships may be sub-optimal when long lag lengths are required and especially when the intermediate lags may be less important. A flexible model search approach is adopted using the insights of Bayesian Model probabilities, and new information criteria based on forecasting performance. This approach is facilitated by exploiting Genetic Algorithms. Using data on U.K. and U.S. agriculture the bivariate time series relationship between R&D expenditure and productivity is analysed. Long lags are found in the relationship between R&D expenditures and productivity in the U.K. and in the U.S. which remain undiscovered when using the orthodox approach. This finding is of particular importance in the debate on the optimal level of public R&D funding.JEL Classification: C22, C51, Q16     

How selected primary schools in rural New Zealand manage their financial resources of limited government funding in order to effectively meet their schools objectives

This study evaluates the extent to which primary schools in a region of New Zealand are challenged by limited funds to enable the effective management and performance of their school. The study involved interviews with school principals and analysis of their schools＇ financial statements. The aim of this project is to gain a current understanding of the issues and challenges facing primary schools in a defined region （Waikato） to see whether the trends identified in national research studies, confirms the problem that schools are underfunded. The results of the current study identified the issues experienced by the Waikato schools and in most cases supported previous research findings. The findings of the current study also suggest that schools share the dilemmas associated with limited government funding and rely significantly on local funding sources to achieve their basic objectives. Although schools may be effective in the management of their school objectives, there is more government funding required to relieve the pressures and challenges.     

What helps? Women engineers' accounts of staying on

We have considerable understanding of the obstacles that women engineers encounter and the reasons that they leave the field, but we know less about what enables them to remain. Adopting an interpretivist approach, this article examines how a group of British women engineers in two FTSE 100 companies account for “staying on” in their male‐dominated work settings. We delineate four specific forms of help that facilitate women's retention in the field. We argue that exposure to help leads to women developing a habitus that enables them to continue working in engineering. To conclude, we draw on our findings to outline HR practices that will facilitate supportive relationships in the workplace and pave the way towards developing more positive organisational climates.     

建筑的高度与采光:罗马式与哥特式

建筑艺术博大精深,历史悠久,它是最早进入到人类生活当中的一种艺术形式。同时,也是记录历史的一本"史书"。本文主要探讨一下罗马式与哥特式建筑的各自特点。     

Linguistics and Economics: Is Entrepreneurship Innate?

One of the great scientific achievements of the second half of the twentieth century was the advance in linguistics. Noam Chomsky was one of its foremost exponents. Chomsky and his followers claim that human beings have an inbuilt ‘language acquisition device’ which allows children to acquire language with extraordinary ease. Language is as much part of human nature as flying is that of birds. This paper argues that, like language, the propensity to trade is an inbuilt characteristic of human beings. Language permeates all human faculties including the ability to plan for the future. As a result human economic activity shares many important features with language, in particular its recursive and unbounded character. There is also evidence that the concept of property is innate. It follows that attempts to frustrate or limit the exercise of property rights and their use in trade works against the grain of human nature. Limits on the natural expression of entrepreneurship may be as damaging as other constraints on human flourishing.     

Swedish tribalism and Tanzanian entrepreneurship: preconditions for trust formation

The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between entrepreneurship and the structure of the periphery. The objective is to reach an understanding of the entrepreneurial process within the context of the periphery, which is traditionally seen as a poor environment. The paper considers the concept of peripherality and identifies a process of gravitation that drains higher order services towards the core. However, this deterministic model does not correspond with the realities of the Scottish Highlands. The paradox is that new businesses are being created that appear to use old redundant peripheral values such as tradition. It is argued that it is the social construction of the periphery that produces this post-modern change. The qualitative methodology indicates the emergence of a new spatial paradigm of aesthetic consumption. Two indicative case studies are presented which show that entrepreneurship is the creation and extraction of value from the environment. Their businesses are the commodification of non-material and aesthetic values. Further analysis of these data demonstrates that entrepreneurs interpret their own version of the environment, rather than merely reacting to it. In turn, they enact this interpretation which forms the basis of their businesses.     

The Creation of the Office for National Statistics

A new Office for National Statistics was created in the United Kingdom in 1996 following a series of developments designed to strengthen the relevance and integrity of statistics. This paper describes these fundamental changes and sets out a blueprint for future progress. It also sets current developments in the United Kingdom in an historical and international context.     

Supply Chain Strategies in the UK Fashion Industry—The Rhetoric of Partnership and Realities of Power

This paper focuses on the fashion industry, one characterised by issues such as dramatic shifts in the scale and power of major retail buyers in the market, the advent of retailer own brands, and the nature of sourcing and supply chain decisions, issues that are increasingly global in nature. The aim of this research is to explore the nature of relationships between UK high street multiple fashion retailers and their contracted suppliers, many of whom are entrepreneurial firms by most definitions of the term. Four core themes emerge from the literature and provide a framework for the research, namely, power, process, partnership, and people. The research approach was qualitative, and conducted over a period of twelve months. The paper ends with an agenda for future research.     

浅析Java多线程中的同步和死锁

多线程在编程社会中是一个相当新的结构,非常强大,可以加大地提高程序的运行效率。Java是第一个在语言的核心中支持线程,通过多线程的并发运行提高了系统资源的利用率,改善了系统性能,但由于多线程要共享内存资源,为了避免数据资源的使用混乱,必须对线程的同步问题作出解决。本文对Java多线程中实现同步的方法和死锁产生原因及避免原则做出了简要分析。     

国内门户网站品牌塑造及模型构建——基于国内外门户网站的比较研究

互联网是全球化的虚拟化,虚拟体验直接影响顾客的认知与行为,从而影响网站的品牌。基于受众体验的国内门户网站品牌塑造模型的构建,是国内门户网站在参考国外先进的网站建设的成功经验的基础上,塑造适合国内门户网站的品牌策略和一项重要的竞争策略。     

Peruco: A Method for Producing Safe and Consistent Microdata

A new method for protecting microdata is introduced. This method, per turbation of u nsafe co mbinations (Peruco), eliminates unsafe combinations in the records in which they occur, by replacing them with safe combinations that are also consistent with the other values in the remainder of the records. Consistency is relative to a set of micro-edits that is supposed to be given along with the microdata. A deterministic optimization model is discussed, as well as possible extensions.     

Insurgent Building: Emerging Spatial Politics in the Bedouin–State Conflict in Israel

In the conflict between Bedouin representatives and government authorities in the southern Israeli Negev, the term ‘insurgent building’ refers to the construction of buildings erected in the full expectation that they will be demolished by the Israeli police shortly thereafter. This article analyses how insurgent building is employed as a spatial practice by emerging political actors to claim contested Bedouin landownership. Importantly, insurgent building relies on the ability of media and advocacy organizations to mobilize behind the issue. Most of the relevant scholarship takes the interpretative categories advanced by these actors at face value. Following anthropological debates regarding objectification and categorization, I examine the context of a specific case of insurgent building. Emerging political actors who employ insurgent building often rely on predefined ethnic categories and clear‐cut people–state polarities. This case demonstrates the need for a more differentiated understanding of multilayered local dynamics than the one offered by mainstream linear interpretations. At a more abstract level, political actors contribute to the reproduction of the very categories against which they mobilize.     

Statistical efficiency in the linear combination of forecasts

In seeking an efficient combination of forecasts which minimises the forecast error variance, many methods have been suggested. Through analysis, simulation and case studies, this paper seeks to develop insights into the statistical circumstances which influence the relative accuracy of six of these methods. The six methods chosen have all been advocated in various publications and consist of ‘equal weighting’ (i.e., pooled average), ‘optimal’ (i.e., error variance minimising), ‘optimal with independence assumption’ (i.e., error variance minimising assuming zero correlation between individual forecast errors) and three variations on the formulation of a Bayesian combination based upon posterior probabilities. The statistical circumstances reflected varying conditions of relative forecast errors, error correlations and outliers.