bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Group Interaction Styles on Problem-Solving Effectiveness
Authors: Cooke Robert A. , Szumal Janet L.
Published: March 2006

Research on group interaction styles and problem-solving effectiveness suggests that group behavior can be analyzed in terms of three general styles: constructive, passive, and aggressive. Empirical studies, however, have tended to focus on only one or two of these styles in examining their relation to measures of problem-solving effectiveness. Using data based on 61 groups that participated in a simulated survival exercise, the research reported in this article compares the effects of all three styles on criteria of effectiveness (e.g., solution quality and acceptance). Consistent with the hypotheses, constructive styles are found to be positively related, and passive styles negatively related, to the effectiveness criteria. Aggressive styles are shown to be generally unrelated to solution quality but negatively related to solution acceptance. The results suggest that future empirical research as well as early team development interventions should consider the unique effects of different group interaction styles on problem-solving effectiveness.
Measuring Self-Expression in Volunteer Organizations: A Theory-Based Questionnaire
Authors: Bonjean Charles M. , Markham William T. , Macken Patrick O.
Published: March 2006

This article introduces a measure of self-expression in volunteer organizations and examines its reliability and validity. Using a model derived from the work of Argyris and others, we examine how the fit between member predispositions and organizational rewards affects the attitudes and behaviors that influence organizational success. Ratings of the importance of predispositions toward volunteer participation and the extent to which members were able to express them were obtained from representative samples of members of a higher status women's volunteer organization in 1975 and again in 1992. Factor analysis of the importance ratings identified the same five dimensions at both times: community involvement, organizational efficiency and flexibility, sociability and affiliation, leadership and self-development, and status attainment and maintenance. An overall measure of each member's expression of her predispositions was related to several organizationally relevant outcomes: satisfaction with membership, plans to remain in the organization, time spent on organization activities, and low interpersonal friction. The instrument is being used in a self-assessment packet by many chapters of the organization studied; other organizations have modified it successfully for their use.
Appreciative Inquiry as a Team-Development Intervention: A Controlled Experiment
Authors: Bushe Gervase R. , Coetzer Graeme
Published: March 2006

In a controlled laboratory experiment, the effects of a team-development intervention based on the theory of appreciative inquiry were compared with task-oriented team development (TOTD) and lectures on group processes, outcomes, and performance. Undergraduate students (96) in two semesters of an introductory organization behavior course participated in four-person teams and had 13 weeks to complete a task worth 25% of each member's final grade. One third of the teams received an appreciative inquiry intervention, another third received a TOTD intervention, and the final third received a lecture on group dynamics (placebo). Pre-and postsurveys assessed group process and outcomes; project grades were used to assess task performance. ANOVAs and ANCOVAs on each of the process and outcome measures showed groups receiving appreciative inquiry, and TOTD scored significantly higher than those receiving the placebo on almost all measures, including task performance. Teams receiving TOTD scored significantly higher than appreciative inquiry on task performance. Implications for organization development and directions for future research are discussed.
Managing Diversity: Translating Anthropological Insight for Organization Studies
Authors: Jordan Ann T.
Published: March 2006

Anthropologists working in the field of organization studies experience difficulty explaining their unique perspective to managers, organization studies specialists, and consultants. The two fields of organization studies and anthropology view organizations from two different paradigms, and this paradigm difference leads to the misunderstanding when similar terminology is used. The purpose of this article is to translate between the field of anthropology and organization studies using an anthropological approach to translation. This translation will prove useful in exploring anthropological and organization studies approaches to managing diversity. Several salient differences are discussed in this article including definitions of "organization" and "culture," management centric versus culturally relative research emphases, the anthropological distinction between "ideal" and "real" cultures, and methodological distinctions between "emic and "etic" and between quantitative and qualitative approaches.
Two Aspects of Japanese and American Co-Worker Interaction: Giving Instructions and Creating Rapport
Authors: Miller Laura
Published: March 2006

This study uses ethnographically contested microanalysis of natural conversation to investigate communication in the bicultural workplace. Audiotapes and videotapes were made of conversations between Japanese and Americans who work together at three firms in Tokyo. Transcriptions of the data are used to help locate misinterpretations that can arise from differing assumptions about the communicative task of giving instructions. The data also provide evidence for how co-workers create rapport despite cultural differences. Some of these group-bonding strategies are joking and teasing, cooperative complaining, conversations in a form of mixed English and Japanese ("code switching "), doing appropriate listening, and producing talk that has an echoing effect. The findings suggest that a context-sensitive, interactional approach to situated talk will enable us to locate pragmatic misunderstandings and other important communicative phenomena that other methods will fail to identify.
Do You have to Start at the Top? The Chief Executive Officer's Role in Successful Organization Development Efforts
Authors: Boss R. Wayne , Golembiewski Robert T.
Published: March 2006

The central role of the chief executive officer (CEO) in an organization development project is illustrated by two different CEOs in a medium-sized medical center during a 4-yearperiod. Organization climate, nursing turnover, net profits, and market share data showed no significant improvement during the first 2 years but improved during the second 2-year period. The other critical variables-the consultant, the design of the project, the number of days the consultant spent in the organization, the general approach to delivering patient services, the medical staff the economy, the medical job markets, and the organizational population-all remained approximately the same during the 4-year period. Results from questionnaire and interview data attribute both the negative results during the first 2 years and the positive results during the second to the person who filled the role of the CEO.
Treatment Teams that Work (and those that don't): An Application of Hackman's Group Effectiveness Model to Interdisciplinary Teams in Psychiatric Hospitals
Authors: Vinokur-Kaplan Diane
Published: March 2006

Recent studies of small work groups emphasize comprehensive models of team effectiveness. A survey-based operationalization of one such model, Hackman `s Model of Group Effectiveness (Hackman, 1987, 1990), is applied to 15 interdisciplinary treatment teams working in three public psychiatric hospitals. Mental health professionals answered a self-administered questionnaire I developed (N = 98, response rate = 91%). Analysis was conducted at three levels: (a) by all respondents; (b) by team; and (c) by organizational characteristics and professional discipline, and their interaction. Through use of a structural equation model, particular initial and enabling conditions successfully predict teams' meeting standards of the required task teams' cohesion, and members' personal well-being; standards met and cohesion of team also predict overall team effectiveness. These findings emphasize the importance of measuring the various types of organizational and group factors contributing to team effectiveness, as well as the specific aspects of team effectiveness. Implications for team training are discussed.
When the Stories are Different: The Influence of Corporate Culture Mismatches on Interorganizational Relations
Authors: Wilkof Marcia V. , Brown Deborah Wright , Selsky John W.
Published: March 2006

Informatics Inc. purchases computer hardware from Framus Computers (fictitious names of actual companies) and other computer vendors, adds its own software, and resells the complete system (a hardware and software package designed for a specific use) to its own customers. This article analyzes a specific aspect of the working relationship between Framus and Informatics, their interactions during system maintenance and outages, that had been fraught with difficulty for years. Drawing on the interorganizational and corporate culture literatures, the article examines this interorganizational relationship and highlights the importance of understanding the impact of each organization `s culture(s) as a requirement for improving the situation. Managers, consultants, and others dealing with strategic alliances and interorganizational dynamics should benefit from this focus on the management of long-term interorganizational dyads.
Achieving Consensus in Public Decision Making: Applying Interest-Based Problem Solving to the Challenges of Intergovernmental Collaboration
Authors: Andranovich Greg
Published: March 2006

This article examines how interests can be used to guide collaborative public decision making in an intergovernmental setting. A brief overview of the governance challenge at the local level in the United States is provided first, highlighting the unorganized nature of the domain of interlocal relations. At the local level, the need for regional solutions to public policy problems has been a major challenge for policy makers over the past decade. Jurisdictional and locality-based interests have demanded a new set of intergovernmental management skills in interlocal relations. The interest-based problem-solving process is then delineated, focusing on the application of a collaborative approach in a regional, interlocal context. Interest-based problem solving was applied in a novel way to the problem domain of interlocal relations in a setting that includes four municipalities and 13 unincorporated areas. This article concludes with a discussion of the implications of using interest-based collaborative processes in regional public decision making.
Social Change within the "Establishment": A City's Response to National Antiabortion Protesters
Authors: Lindgren Jon G. , Lindgren H. Elaine
Published: March 2006

From 1988 to 1992, antiabortion groups such as Operation Rescue attempted to close abortion clinics through use of innovative protest techniques. Their strategy was to overload local institutions such as police departments, render them ineffective, and allow protesters to block and subsequently close abortion clinics. This study viewed reaction to these new protest techniques from within a local community rather than from a national perspective. The study found that local institutions surprised protesters with animated defenses that ultimately caused the protest groups, rather than local institutions, to be overextended. The article attributes this effective response to a view that public officials became activists. The authors defined activists as those whose behavior changed from the predictable and routine to that which was unexpected and had not been experienced previously by opponents. The authors were participant observers.
An Anthropological Approach to Multicultural Diversity Training
Authors: Garcia Mikel Hogan
Published: March 2006

This article describes an anthropological training process for fostering multicultural diversity competence. Multicultural diversity competence refers to the ability to demonstrate respect and understanding, to communicate effectively, and to work collaboratively with people of diverse cultural backgrounds. Based on principles of anthropological fieldwork, the training process is multilevel. It is designed to address personal and interpersonal knowledge and skills, and organization-wide policies and procedures. Participants become aware of the multidimensions of current diversity problems and of the need for interpersonal and organizational intervention strategies.
Using Perspective Taking to Manage Conflict and Affect in Teams
Authors: Sessa Valerie I.
Published: March 2006

This article draws from the author's larger 1993 study on antecedents and consequences of conflict in teams. It looks at the influence of perspective taking on types of conflict and the influence of conflict on affect. Teams using perspective taking were hypothesized to perceive conflict as task oriented as opposed to people oriented. Although both types of conflict were hypothesized to lead to arousal within the team, people-oriented conflict was expected to lead to a more negative team tone. To test hypotheses on perspective taking, 15 medical teams participated in a perspective-taking training program while 15 teams served as a control group. Perspective taking was also measured using self-report scales. Conflict and affect were measured using observation and self-report. Although the training program had no impact on perceived conflict, teams with higher perspective taking (using self-report measures) were likely to perceive conflict as task oriented and less likely to perceive it as people oriented. Hypotheses on the impact of conflict on affect were supported. This study suggests that conflict and negative affect do not necessarily go hand in hand, and that perspective taking is one mechanism teams can use to help manage conflict.
The Perils of Precision: Managing Local Tensions to Achieve Global Goals
Authors: Wvestley Frances , Vredenburg Harrie
Published: March 2006

This article examines a case of managing local change to achieve global goals. The rapid disappearance of species worldwide has produced a completely new mission for many North American zoos: that of acting as the arks for endangered species. Such change in focus is tied to changes in technology, structure, specialization, and competitive context. From a local park offering recreation to local citizens and competing with other local amusement parks, zoos must attempt to become global arks offering conservation to endangered species and cooperating with other zoos at the national and international level. This article presents the case of one North American zoo and its director's success in overcoming the operational tensions inherent in these two competing definitions of the zoo's mission. The article concludes with a discussion of precision and ambiguity and their role in managing local change in a global context.
The Effectiveness of Massage Therapy Intervention on Reducing Anxiety in the Workplace
Authors: Shulman Karen R. , Jones Gwen E.
Published: March 2006

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an on-site chair massage therapy program in reducing anxiety levels of employees. A quasi-experimental pretest/posttest control group design was used to determine changes in anxiety levels due to the massage therapy intervention. Eighteen subjects participated in the chair massage therapy program for 6 weeks. Fifteen control group subjects participated in break therapy. For 15 minutes weekly, subjects either received a massage or were allowed a break, depending on their assignment to either the treatment or control condition. Participants' stress levels were measured with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Self-Assessment Questionnaire. This measure was administered twice during pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest to achieve stable measures. Significant reductions in anxiety levels were found for the massage group. Future research and implications for management are discussed.
Teaching Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
Authors: McNally Jeffrey A. , Gerras Stephen J. , Bullis R. Craig
Published: March 2006

The authors present a description and analysis of how they teach leadership to more than 1,000 cadets each year at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. These cadets, upon graduation and commissioning as second lieutenants, are the future leaders of the U.S. Army. The organizational and institutional context of this work has contributed to the authors `development of a unique methodology for teaching organizational leadership. The authors recently have extended this methodology to the development of leaders in the Los Angeles Police Department and in various police departments throughout New Jersey. The success of this experience over several years has convinced the authors of the merit of their approach for teaching leadership to both aspiring and practicing leaders across military and civilian organizational contexts.
Researcher "Projection" Revisited: A Response to Kahn
Authors: Godwin Jeffrey L. , Neck Christopher P.
Published: March 2006

In a recent issue of this journal (The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science), Neck, Godwin, and Spencer (1996) analyzed a case study in an effort to highlight the problems of researcher projection from a conscious (attributive) projection perspective. Along with that article, Kahn (1996) provided a reviewer's comment in which he approached the issue from an unconscious (classic psychoanalytic) projection perspective. Due to the lack of a clear development and comparison of these two underlying projection frameworks, the relative contribution of each perspective remains unclear Consequently, the purpose of this article is to attempt to bring further clarity to the issue of researcher projection in interpreting data.
Organization Science as Social Construction: Postmodern Potentials
Authors: Gergen Kenneth J. , Thatchenkery Tojo Joseph
Published: March 2006

We critically examine three major assumptions of modernist organization science: rational agency, empirical knowledge, and language as representation. With these assumptions problematized, we are positioned for a postmodern turn in the discipline. From a postmodern standpoint, we are moved to replace rational agency with communal rationality, empirical knowledge with social construction, and language as representation with language as action. Outcomes for an organization science place special emphasis on reconstructing and enriching the aims and methods of research and on critical reflection, generative theorizing, and scholarly action within organizations.
The Bloodless Coup: The Infiltration of Organization Science by Uncertainty and Values
Authors: Connell Ann F. , Nord Walter R.
Published: March 2006

Recently, the organization sciences have been subjected to severe disputes about fundamental premises. To a degree, these battles appear to have involved disagreements about ontology and epistemology. This article analyzes two of these conflicts, the so-called Paradigm War in Britain and a related set of controversies in North America, using an agnostic interest-oriented framework. The analysis revealed a new perspective on the debates and the current direction of the field. Among other things, this new perspective suggested that previous interpretations of the debates have overstated the role of ontological and epistemological causes and understated the role of differences in interests. Moreover, recent development can be seen as accepting high degrees of metaphysical uncertainty and recognizing that interests or values have been and continue to be major factors in shaping what constitutes knowledge in the field.
The Role of Affect in Negotiations
Authors: Kumar Rajesh
Published: March 2006

This article analyzes the role that is played by affect in negotiations. I analyze the origins of affect and its implications for negotiation processes and outcomes. Negotiation may entail both positive and negative affect; in addition, the two kinds of affect may have positive as well as negative consequences. My analysis of the role played by affect occurs primarily at the level of the dyad; however, I do explore the impact of organizational context and its impact on the development of the negotiation process. Implications for future research are discussed.
Side Effects of Corporate Cultural Transformations
Authors: Gilmore Thomas N. , Shea Gregory P. , Useem Michael
Published: March 2006

As organizational leaders undertake cultural transformations to make themselves more competitive, they engender complex responses by those who lead and experience them. Some are intended, others not, and the latter, the unanticipated side effects of cultural agendas, can undermine-even defeat-the intended change process. Drawing on their observations of a diverse array of companies and managers that have undergone cultural transformations, the authors identify four leading side effects: (a) ambivalent authority, manifest in such directives as "ordering" employees to become "empowered"; (b) polarized images, evident in rhetoric that casts all that is new as progressive and all that is old as regressive; (c) disappointment and blame, seen in finger-pointing up and down the management hierarchy for the inevitable setbacks that accompany change; and (d) behavioral inversion, displayed in empowerment slogans that mask a reassertion of hierarchy. Cultural transformations generate fewer unwanted side effects when top managers openly address them during the transformation process.
Management Practice, Organization Climate, and Performance
Authors: Schuster Frederick E. , Dunning Karen E. , Morden D. Larry , Hagan Christine M. , Baker Thomas E. , McKay Ian S.
Published: March 2006

This study reports a single time-series quasi-experiment in a Canadian firm to evaluate the effect over a five-year period of implementing a structured, seven-step strategy to obtain improved organization performance through employee-centered management. A significant change in the condition of the human organization resulting from the intervention was measured over the five-year period and shown to be correlated with a 66% increase in profitability. The results of the study indicate that in the Canadian/U.S. context, employee-centered management is at least compatible with high performance and competitive advantage. There is also evidence that in some instances organization performance can be significantly enhanced through the participation and contribution of employees in problem-solving and decision-making processes.
Teams as Learners
Authors: Kasl Elizabeth , Marsick Victoria J. , Dechant Kathleen
Published: March 2006

Organizational literature heralds the value of team learning but does not provide a research-based description of it. This article describes a model of team learning that was derived empirically from case studies in two companies, one with a cross section of employees in a petrochemical company and the second in a data-processing unit that had been reorganized into self-managed teams in a manufacturing company. The authors draw conclusions about changes in learning processes, conditions, and perceptions of time and explore research implications regarding human dynamics.
Emotion in Organizations
Authors: Brown Reva Berman
Published: March 2006

It is an open secret that one's place of work can be, and indeed often is, a hotbed of intrigue, loyalty, betrayal, back-scratching, back-stabbing, pain, and laughter. In short, work is a home away from home. The article uses aspects of the scientific method to reveal the submerged variable of emotion in an organization. It does not put forward suggestions of how emotion should or could be investigated more fruitfully, nor does it pretend to have produced knowledge of theoretical significance. It does not even tell academics anything that they might not otherwise have noticed about the emotional aspects of their academic lives. Nevertheless, the results of this semiscientific (or pseudoscientific) investigation may strike a cord in its academic readers, who will smile or even chuckle as they recognize themselves in what they read. The finest comedy works because it is serious at its core. This article may amuse, but the kernel of what it has to say is in no way amusing.
Social Capital and Career Mobility
Authors: Friedman Raymond A. , Krackhardt David
Published: March 2006

In this article, the authors examine the social conditions experienced by Asian employees in the workforce, focusing in particular on the lower returns to education that have been documented for both immigrant and U.S.-born Asians. The authors suggest that human capital translates into improved career outcomes by producing greater social capital and hypothesize that those who are more socially and culturally different from the dominant group-such as native-born and immigrant Asians-are less likely to be able to turn human capital into social capital. The theory is illustrated using data from five work teams at the computer services division of a major bank that was staffed with a sizable number of immigrant Asians. The authors found lower returns to education for Chinese and Asian Indians than for European Americans, in terms of managers' assessment of career potential, and also found that education translated into work team centrality only for European Americans.
The Effects on Union Membership of Race and Immigration Status
Authors: Kim Dong-One , Kim Seongsu
Published: March 2006

This study empirically examined the relationship between individuals' race and their union membership status, with particular emphasis on Asian Americans. Using a data set drawn from 14,178 respondents in the March 1996 Current Population Survey, the authors evaluated the predictions of three competing theoretical perspectives-the segmented labor market model, the assimilation model, and the self-protection model-on the union status of Asian Americans. Probit regression results showed that Asians are more likely to join unions than whites. Contrasted to the cases of blacks and whites, immigration-related variables (e.g., length of stay in the United States, naturalized citizens, and foreign nationals) were found to be more significant determinants of union status for Asians than the conventional explanatory variables of union status (e.g., earnings and age). These results are more compatible with the assimilation and the self-protection models than the segmented labor market model.
Facilitating Transformational Change
Authors: Nutt Paul C. , Backoff Robert W.
Published: March 2006

The authors offer a way to fashion radical change that is called for in an organizational transformation. In this approach, they show how a vision is required to trigger radical change and how to identify and deal with obstacles blocking the vision that limit the prospect of realizing a transformation. Issue tensions are used to reveal these obstacles. The authors use issue tensions to find win-win actions and show how complementary actions that make up a strategic circle of change provide a vehicle to realize a transformation.
Effects of Intervention Content and Timing on Group Task Performance
Authors: Woolley Anita Williams
Published: March 2006

This study explores the main and interactive effects on group task performance of two types of intervention (interpersonal vs. task focused) administered at two different times (the beginning vs. the temporal midpoint of work). The results show that timing and content of intervention interact to affect group task performance. The discussion draws on qualitative data to expand on these findings and outlines conditions necessary for optimizing group performance on open-ended tasks.
Organizational Learning Mechanisms
Authors: Popper Micha , Lipshitz Raanan
Published: March 2006

This article presents a two-faceted (structural and cultural) approach to organizational learning. The structural facet focuses on organizational learning mechanisms, which are institutionalized structural and procedural arrangements allowing organizations to systematically collect, analyze, store, disseminate, and use information that is relevant to the performance of the organization. The cultural facet focuses on the shared values, without which these mechanisms are likely to be enacted as rituals rather than as means to detect and correct error. The authors describe how this proposed approach deals with the problem of anthropomorphism in organizational learning and discuss its utility for researching organizational learning and for introducing it into organizations.
Employer-Sponsored and Self-Sponsored Participation in Collaborative Visioning
Authors: Helling Amy
Published: March 2006

Planners and community leaders around the nation use collaborative processes to create and advance shared visions of the future, yet these processes' biases are rarely discussed. Using data from a survey of stakeholders who participated in one metropolitan region's recent collaborative visioning process, this article compares participants sponsored at least in part by their employers during the year-long process (employer-sponsored) with those who participated entirely on their own time (self-sponsored). Although the two groups were similar in many respects, the research correctly anticipates differences in motivation and significantly lower levels of satisfaction and attendance among self-sponsored participants. These findings are consistent with the theory that the self-sponsored experience higher net personal costs of participation than do the employer-sponsored. This provides a theoretical basis for understanding and predicting how sponsorship affects self-interest when citizens participate in public planning, the important consequences this effect has, and how they might be addressed.
Accelerated Business Transformation and the Role of the Organization Architect
Authors: Cheyunski Fred , Millard Jamie
Published: March 2006

New approaches to business transformation are emerging to address significant need and to serve as successors to reengineering, which has acquired a reputation for being slow and ineffective. These approaches require new, innovative methods that target, integrate, and rapidly implement total business solutions. This article presents one particular accelerated approach. Like other approaches, the key to success with an accelerated method is a closer blending among the business process redesign, information technology, and organization development disciplines to help clients pursue an appropriate course for dramatic business improvement. Within this method, the organization architect role plays a significant part in enhancing interdisciplinary work and accelerating business transformation.
Whole System Design (WSD)
Authors: Levine Larry , Mohr Bernard J.
Published: March 2006

Rapid and repeatable redesign of business processes, supporting systems, and structures is one response to increasing competitive pressure. However, threshold challenge occurs when attention shifts from the technical system design (business process/work flow and equipment) to the social system design (roles, measures, and structures). During technical system design, strong emotions about loss-of status, authority, and certainty-can be suspended, but starting design of supporting social elements tends to unleash these concerns. The authors' thesis is that successful implementation is most likely when (a) the people who do the work are the ones engaged in the redesign of both the technical and social systems; (b) individual and structural change is addressed systemically among organizational development, information technology, and business process reengineering professionals; and (c) the predictable midpoint challenge (the threshold challenge) associated with shifting the focus of attention in whole system design (WSD) is understood and managed effectively.
Reaping the Benefits of Information Technology in Organizations
Authors: Boiney Lindsley G.
Published: March 2006

As organizations employ information technologies to facilitate business process redesign and other organizational changes, they are not consistently observing the high levels of group performance touted by proponents of this technology. To achieve the breakthrough performance desired, organizations need a clearer and more systematic understanding of how to effectively use the technologies in specific group environments. This article develops a conceptual framework for examining the interrelationships among group support system tools, group characteristics, and their joint influence on performance. Organizations can use this framework to train facilitators to more effectively appropriate group support technologies and garner more intended benefits for the firm.
Teaching knowledge organization: educator, employer and professional association perspectives
Authors: Morgan John , Bawden David
Published: March 2006

This paper describes a study of the teaching of knowledge organization in formal library/information courses. It is based on a questionnaire survey of academic institutions and professional associations in the UK, Australia and the USA, and of employers in various sectors in the UK, and supported by several in-depth interviews with educational specialists, and an analysis of the literature and of course content. The main findings are that: there is little divergence between the views of educators and employers/professional associations; all groups regard theoretical and conceptual knowledge as more important than practical skills; ‘cat and class’ retains its central role in the topic; there is an important role for continuing professional development.
Data representation factors and dimensions from the quality function deployment (QFD) perspective
Authors: Pinto Maria
Published: March 2006

In order to optimize access to the increasing amount of information, a classic solution has been data representation. The aim of this research is to uncover and systematize the factors and dimensions involved in the data representation issue and more exactly in the planning and design of the information products (IP) and their previous representation processes (RP). QFD (quality function deployment) is a planning tool based on user needs and expectations – quality functions – allowing the planning and design of IPs and RPs. A series of linked deployments provides the implied factors and dimensions: IP planning factors– representing, relating, filtering and seeking relevant information; IP design_dimensions– relevance, format, comprehensiveness, consistency, accuracy and currentness; RP planning factors– comprehension, synthesizing, structuring and selecting; and RP design dimensions – human resources, computers and tangibles. By means of these deployments, the analysis of the factors and dimensions and their corresponding relationships provides an excellent picture for the quality planning and design of information products and representation processes.
The convergence of digital libraries and the peer-review process
Authors: Rodriguez Marko A. , Bollen Johan , Van de Sompel Herbert
Published: March 2006

Pre-print repositories have seen a significant increase in use over the past fifteen years across multiple research domains. Researchers are beginning to develop applications capable of using these repositories to assist the scientific community above and beyond the pure dissemination of information. The contributions set forth by this paper emphasize a deconstructed publication model in which the peer-review process is mediated by an Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) peer-review service. This peer-review service uses a social-network algorithm to determine potential reviewers for a submitted manuscript and for weighting the influence of each participating reviewer's evaluations. This paper also suggests a set of peer-review specific metadata tags that can accompany a pre-print's existing metadata record. The combinations of these contributions provide a unique repository-centric peer-review model that fits within the widely deployed OAIPMH framework.
Science communication and information dissemination: the role of the information professional in the ‘Perception and Awareness of Science’ project
Authors: Libutti Luciana , Valente Adriana
Published: March 2006

The paper reports on the methodology and results of a project on the perception and awareness of science, carried out by the Italian National Research Council, the British Council Italy and the Rosselli Foundation. The project, addressed to upper high school and university students, aims to clarify understanding of the interaction between science and society both by means of information and communication technologies (ICT) and by means of public debates with scientists. Different obstacles encountered by the actors involved in the project are also outlined. Three topics have been chosen to stimulate public debate: GMOs, electromagnetic pollution and space exploration. The authors discuss the innovative methodology and the key stages involved in this process of awareness. Each public debate envisages four key steps: (i) setting up and supplying students with scientific documentation on a selected topic in electronic format, in order to highlight the potential of the internet in the process of information dissemination and how it can be effective in a project of science communication to the public; (ii) informed debate in the classroom between teachers and students on the chosen topic; (iii) public debate with Italian and British scientists; and (iv) a final report to be drawn up by the students.
Mobilizing Transnational Ethnic Linkages for Economic Development
Authors: Luova Outi
Published: March 2006

Transnational capital transfers have been taking place in China’s border regions inhabited by ethnic minorities. This article studies the mobilization of one minority’s transnational ethnic ties for local economic development. The analysis will concentrate on the local attempts to attract foreign investments, donations, and remittances. These activities are examined within a framework of “transnationalism from above.” Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture adjacent to the Korean Peninsula will serve as an example. The main findings suggest that compared with overseas Chinese work there are similarities in activities but clear differences in the selection of the organs engaged in them. Yanbian has been successful in attracting foreign Korean investments but significant small-scale resources remain untapped. The article suggests that appreciation of transnational ethnic resources would help to integrate ethnic minorities into China’s modernization program, in which they currently occupy a marginalized position.
Empowering communities in the peri-urban areas of Colombo
Authors: Dayaratne Ranjith , Samarawickrama Raja
Published: March 2006

This paper describes the work of community-based self-help groups, the community development councils (CDCs), initiated by the Colombo Municipal Council in the late 1970s. Although, initially, the CDCs were exclusively urbanbased, the creation of a new layer of local government in the mid-1980s, the provincial councils, allowed them to exist and operate across administrative boundaries in the peri-urban interface. This paper describes in detail the organization and functioning principles of the CDCs, and how the links to higher levels of the city administrative structure such as district, municipality and province have enabled communities to act in relation to the tensions typical of peri-urban settlements in transition from “rural” to “urban” characteristics.
Participatory action planning in the peri-urban interface: the twin city experience, Hubli–Dharwad, India
Authors: Halkatti Meera , Purushothaman Sangeetha , Brook Robert
Published: March 2006

This paper describes the process of participatory planning in five peri-urban villages in the Hubli–Dharwad twin city region. The objectives of the participatory planning project included enhancing the livelihoods of the poor and managing the natural resource base. The paper describes the characteristics of the villages involved and their specific peri-urban aspects; the tools used and the participatory planning process; the main issues which emerged from the process and their relevance to different groups (women, landowners, landless and lower castes). It also summarizes the main lessons learnt: what worked, the major problems and how these were addressed.
Women and household sustenance: changing livelihoods and survival strategies in the peri-urban areas of Ibadan
Authors: Jaiyebo Oluremi
Published: March 2006

This paper describes the livelihoods and survival strategies of lowincome households in two peri-urban locations in Ibadan, drawing primarily on interviews with 96 women who sell goods from makeshift stalls or who live in poorquality houses. This includes reports of these women’s perceptions of poverty, their incomes (44 per cent earned less than US$ 1 per day) and the strategies they used to avoid poverty (for all, working longer hours; for most, having their children engage in income-earning activities although, for most, this was after school or during holidays; and, for some, working in more than one business). Many had at one time farmed (mostly using “idle” land), but few now did so as the availability of land for farming had diminished.
A fund to secure land for shelter: supporting strategies of the organized poor
Authors: Mitlin Diana
Published: March 2006

Obtaining secure land tenure for housing is one of the biggest challenges facing the urban poor and the professionals who seek to address poverty. This paper describes how a UK£ 200,000 fund supported the acquisition of secure land and the construction of housing in 13 different communities (in Cambodia, Colombia, India, South Africa and Zimbabwe), as well as advocacy work to promote access to land in urban areas of Namibia. Over 40,000 people have benefited, and many more should benefit in the future from the processes now underway. The paper explains how it was possible for a fund of this size to benefit so many low-income households. It also discusses the different strategies that were used to obtain land in different places, and what we can learn from this experience to address the needs of the urban poor more effectively.
Community-designed, built and managed toilet blocks in Indian cities
Authors: Burra Sundar , Patel Sheela , Kerr Thomas
Published: March 2006

This paper describes the ten-year programme of communitydesigned, built and managed toilet blocks undertaken by urban poor federations and women’s cooperatives, with support from the Indian NGO SPARC. This programme has reached hundreds of thousands of poor urban dwellers with much improved sanitation and facilities for washing; it has also demonstrated how such provision is affordable and manageable for all Indian cities. But this programme has also demonstrated to city authorities the capacity and competence of urban poor organizations, and helped change the relationship between the residents of slums and local government agencies. The paper begins by explaining why sanitation has been neglected, and describes the inadequacies in government sanitation programmes. It then describes the first experiments with community sanitation and the difficult negotiations in many cities, including Mumbai, Kanpur and Bangalore. Then it discusses the major community toilet programmes that developed in Pune and Mumbai. It highlights the innovations that allowed these to work better than previous public toilet blocks, the reasons why the urban poor organizations took on these projects, the lessons learnt and the ways in which community toilet blocks helped address other problems faced by the urban poor.
Drainage and stormwater management strategies for low-income urban communities
Authors: Parkinson Jonathan
Published: March 2006

Based upon a review of the literature, this paper focuses on the provision of drainage systems and stormwater management strategies in lowincome urban settlements. Although engineered infrastructure is a necessary component for drainage of urban runoff, non-structural approaches are important complementary measures, focusing on actions to prevent and mitigate problems related to flooding, as well as those related to pollution and deterioration in environmental health conditions. As these rely predominantly on behavioural changes to be effective, a participatory approach is recommended within a strategic framework of urban stormwater planning.
Urban and peri-urban agricultural production in Beijing municipality and its impact on water quality
Authors: Wolf J , van Wijk M S , Cheng X , Hu Y , van Diepen C A , Jongbloed A W , van Keulen H , Lu C H , Roetter R
Published: March 2006

This paper reviews water use and water resource issues in Beijing Municipality, the main trends in the agricultural production systems in and around the city with respect to land use, input use, production and economic role, and the impacts of agricultural activities on water quality. Rapid urbanization and strong intensification of agricultural production have meant that the quantity and quality of available water resources have become matters of concern. The agricultural sector still has a major role in supplying the municipality’s population with food products, but it is also a major water user and has contributed to large gaps between water supply and demand and to high levels of water pollution. Among the main changes in agriculture in the last decade are the loss of arable land to urbanization, the rapid reduction in the area under grain, and the rapid increase in livestock numbers and in areas under vegetables and orchards. Intensive crop and vegetable production and intensive livestock rearing are major water polluters. The paper also points to some measures being taken to address these problems.
Wastewater irrigation in Hubli–Dharwad, India: implications for health and livelihoods
Authors: Bradford Andrew , Brook Robert , Hunshal C S
Published: March 2006

The availability of permanent streams of sewage-contaminated wastewater emanating from the twin city of Hubli–Dharwad in India has enabled small-scale farmers to diversify their cropping practices. Close to the cities, farmers have adopted a year-round, intensive vegetable horticultural system. Not only do the nutrients in the wastewater increase crop yields, but this practice is particularly lucrative during the dry season when wholesale market prices rise between two- and six-fold. Further away from the cities, less intensive farming systems are used, but the wastewater still confers advantages in terms of early-season irrigation and increasing production from fruit trees in agroforestry systems. However, there are adverse health implications, including bacterial contamination of vegetables and intensive application of pesticides to combat the insect pests that infest these crops. Ways of managing these adverse effects are discussed.
An ethnographic study of the consequences of social and structural forces on children: the case of two low-income Beirut suburbs
Authors: Makhoul Jihad , Ghanem Dana Abi , Ghanem Mary
Published: March 2006

This ethnographic study of two low-income suburban communities in Beirut highlights the negative impacts that wider social circumstances can have on the young. The two communities of interest are a Palestinian refugee camp and another community in the suburbs of Beirut where displaced families and daily labourers reside. Using observations and in-depth interviews with residents and key informants in these communities over a period of four months, a research team obtained an inside view of the residents’ experiences. State political and economic policies place restrictions on work and mobility for the Palestinians in Lebanon and allow the religious sects to regulate civil life for the Lebanese. This paper discusses how, as a result of these and other difficult conditions, children and youth face consequences that can include illegal status, dropping out of school, abuse, child labour and substance abuse. Policies to alleviate these outcomes need to address the root causes situated within these structural forces.