Pure meat – Public perceptions of risk reduction strategies in meat production

Experience has shown that both the assessment and implementation of new technologies in food production are challenged by negative assessments of the technologies by the public. This article seeks to deepen our understanding of the concerns that may underlie negative attitudes to various kinds of risk reduction strategy in meat production, with the aim of distinguishing between forms of risk reduction in terms of their acceptability. The paper reports the result of a focus-group study. Six focus groups with Danish citizens (N: 5–9) were conducted during May 2006. The design of the groups took a bottom-up approach and included elements of meat quality, meat safety and risk reduction strategies. The study shows the dilemma risk reduction presents to members of the public. On the one hand, people want safe meat; on the other, the study showed that with the exception of hygiene practices, people generally have an aversion to risk reduction strategies. Some variation was found, however, in the rejection of the strategies. Thus, more acceptable strategies are characterised by a low degree of technological interference, and by being close to the consumer’s experience in everyday life and/or familiar to the participants’ picture of meat production. It is also important that the strategy does not alter the quality of the end-product (meat) in an unfavourable way. The implications of the results and the inherent dilemma for meat safety policy formation are discussed.     

Accountable Management Reforms: Why the Norwegian Hospital Reform Experiment Got Lost in Implementation

There is an international tendency to replace governmental funding based on fixed grants by different reforms implying accountable management methods. In this article we focus on the implementation problems of New Public Management reforms in the Norwegian hospital sector. These reforms are built on a belief that more accountable methods will improve efficiency and better resource allocation. The term New Public Management includes different cost-improvement programmes like Prospective Payment Systems, which were introduced as a new basis of funding in four Norwegian hospitals during a three year experimental period. The studies presented here support the findings from similar reforms in other countries, stating that there are very few, if any, documented efficiency gains by these reforms. The explanation may be that the reforms have disregarded the importance of internal organisational processes, like high quality management, communication and participation as parts of the implementation phases.     

Combining work and informal care: the importance of caring organisations

Population ageing and rising costs of long‐term care mean that organisations will be confronted in the future with a growing number of employees who combine paid work with providing informal care to a relative or non‐kin. Combining work and informal care successfully partly depends on job and care‐related features, but more information is needed on the importance of organisational aspects in this regard. The impact of organisational support on work outcomes (work–care balance and perceived need for job adaptations) was studied among 1,991 employed informal caregivers in 50 different organisations. Multilevel logistic regression analyses revealed that a heavy care burden decreased the odds of combining work and care successfully. Caregivers who felt supported by colleagues and supervisors, and who worked in supportive organisations had higher odds of good work outcomes. The findings imply that organisations should be explicit about their concern for informal caregivers and be particularly aware of colleagues with heavy care responsibilities.     

Doing by learning: Embedded application systems

We argue that the computerized information system should not look like a system on its own. Rather, it should be conceived as an inherent part of the work of its users. We therefore introduce the concept of an embedded system, which describes work tasks and organization. Computer‐supported information tasks are embedded in this environment: They are not parts of a system separated from other activities. This concept is based on the experiences gained during the development of a user‐interface prototype, derived from a theoretical frame of reference, called act orientation, to information systems, in which all computerized tasks are interpreted as acts performed by the actual user. Our suggestion continues the tradition of on‐line help and support, reaching radically deeper than usual in related approaches. We expect that our suggestion will, when applied, improve the control, productivity, quality of the outcome of work, and quality of working life, assessed from the user's point of view.     

Televised Consumption: Women,Advertisers and the Early Daytime Television Industry

This article looks at ways in which the US broadcasting and advertising industries conceptualized the female consumer in the immediate Post War period. It explores the emergence of daytime television and discusses broadcasters' views of their predominantly female audience. The article argues that by grasping the underlying principles that were developed in the early daytime television industry, one can gain a better understanding, not only of the manner in which female audience members were addressed in the 1950s, but also, to some extent, of the ways mass media address women today.     

Managerialism and Profession‐Based Logic: The Use of Accounting Information in Changing Hospitals

The hospital sector has undergone significant management reforms over the last decades. These reforms include more use of accounting information. This paper focuses on the kinds of logic that guide clinical managers’ perception of their management control practices when including accounting information in decisions. A survey study was undertaken among clinical managers, and it was completed by interviews to go deeper into the management control processes in three large hospitals in the middle and northern parts of Norway. We found that there is a triangle of logic which may change and form different patterns, according to different contexts and variations in professional background.     

Appetizing learning in Swedish comprehensive schools: an attempt to employ food and tasting in a new form of experimental education

The word taste has several meanings: biopsychological, and cultural and social. Taste also influences food choice, though there is a widespread belief that tasty food is not synonymous with healthy eating patterns. In Sweden compulsory school daily meals are provided and Home Economics is a compulsory subject, while tasting lessons form an additional experimental form of education. The aim of this study has been to make a general evaluation of tasting lessons in four fifth‐year classes. The focus of the results is on pupils’ learning about, and interest in, food, and the opinions and reflections of teachers, catering staff and school heads. The participants were three professional focus groups comprising staff from four schools, and 48 pupils (eight groups with boys and girls in separate groups) from the same schools. Results showed that the children were prepared to be exposed to different foodstuffs, and the adults were prepared to be exposed to new educational methods. Two stages of children's learning have been described in connection with tasting: practice and experience, and verbalization and reflection.     

The quality of food risk management in Europe: Perspectives and priorities

In this paper, we address the issue of food risk management as practised in Western Europe. We begin by considering how food risks are managed, and then go on to consider how well they are managed. There are multiple answers to the ‘how well’ question, which are related to the varied perspectives of the different key stakeholders – from the food risk managers and producers, to the general public and the media. Consequently, there is no clear answer to the question of quality. What our review does identify is two priorities relevant to our understanding of effective food risk management: first, a need for further research to determine the source and nature of the different evaluative perspectives, and second, a need for the key stakeholders to appreciate and understand the alternative perspectives in order to enhance the effectiveness of the food risk management process.