title: Realising Our Best Intentions: Vision, Values and Voice in Community Non-government Organisations of the Aotearoa \New Zealand Mental Health Sector

authors: Barber, Kirsty Frances Mary

subjects: organising

abstract: This thesis examines the effectiveness of establishing a recovery orientation in community, non-government, mental health organisations in Aotearoa\New Zealand.  It addresses the discursive constructions of key concepts such as madness, recovery and community care.  In addition, it examines the wider, societal and institutional pressures that influence how important features of a recovery discourse, such as empowerment and an ordinary life in community, are articulated and enacted within organisational environments.  It also investigates how institutional hegemonies are contested, and opportunities identified for institutional change and organisational transformation.  
Critical and postmodern perspectives in healthcare provided a rationale for utilising the framework for organisational communication research, developed by Dennis Mumby and Cynthia Stohl (1996, 2007).  The framework addressed the problematics of (1) voice, (2) rationality, (3) the relationship between organisations and the state, as well as (4) the problematic of organising itself.  
Critical Appreciative Inquiry (Grant & Humphries, 2006) was the methodology used for this project.  Focus groups and interviews facilitated dialogue among support workers, team leaders and senior managers from a range of community mental health organisations throughout Aotearoa\New Zealand.  These encounters encouraged conversations about what worked well in organisations, and how to enhance a recovery-orientation, without shying away from a critical analysis of what was impeding best practice.  The dialogues also enabled examination of how these organisations were situated within the larger socio-political and cultural environment.  
The findings of the study showed that organisational stakeholders constructed and translated the discourses of madness, illness and recovery very differently.  Translations reflected the relative power of particular discourse communities, with powerful groups able to control meaning systems through their greater social legitimacy.  Institutionalised discourses of biomedicine and managerialism proved difficult to “deinstitutionalise”, and institutional agents “translated” recovery discourses in ways that ensured little disruption to powerful and privileged interests.  In addition, it was apparent that institutions undertook defensive institutional work when challenged.  Defensive strategies were primarily discursive, e.g. translation, but were important mechanisms through which institutional interests subsumed alternative discourses, and maintained power over an organisational field.
This thesis contributes to the field of organisational communication by demonstrating that perceptions of organisational, and institutional change, are frequently discursive, rather than substantive.  Effective organisational change, therefore, needs to challenge institutional structures and systemic relationships of power.  Sustained, and sustainable, change requires fundamental shifts in the rational bases of institutional logics.  This has important implications for how less powerful actors and organisations can establish alternative discourses in institutionalised fields, such as mental healthcare.

text: Realising Our Best Intentions: Vision, Values and Voice in Community Non-government Organisations of the Aotearoa \New Zealand Mental Health Sector This thesis examines the effectiveness of establishing a recovery orientation in community, non-government, mental health organisations in Aotearoa\New Zealand.  It addresses the discursive constructions of key concepts such as madness, recovery and community care.  In addition, it examines the wider, societal and institutional pressures that influence how important features of a recovery discourse, such as empowerment and an ordinary life in community, are articulated and enacted within organisational environments.  It also investigates how institutional hegemonies are contested, and opportunities identified for institutional change and organisational transformation.  
Critical and postmodern perspectives in healthcare provided a rationale for utilising the framework for organisational communication research, developed by Dennis Mumby and Cynthia Stohl (1996, 2007).  The framework addressed the problematics of (1) voice, (2) rationality, (3) the relationship between organisations and the state, as well as (4) the problematic of organising itself.  
Critical Appreciative Inquiry (Grant & Humphries, 2006) was the methodology used for this project.  Focus groups and interviews facilitated dialogue among support workers, team leaders and senior managers from a range of community mental health organisations throughout Aotearoa\New Zealand.  These encounters encouraged conversations about what worked well in organisations, and how to enhance a recovery-orientation, without shying away from a critical analysis of what was impeding best practice.  The dialogues also enabled examination of how these organisations were situated within the larger socio-political and cultural environment.  
The findings of the study showed that organisational stakeholders constructed and translated the discourses of madness, illness and recovery very differently.  Translations reflected the relative power of particular discourse communities, with powerful groups able to control meaning systems through their greater social legitimacy.  Institutionalised discourses of biomedicine and managerialism proved difficult to “deinstitutionalise”, and institutional agents “translated” recovery discourses in ways that ensured little disruption to powerful and privileged interests.  In addition, it was apparent that institutions undertook defensive institutional work when challenged.  Defensive strategies were primarily discursive, e.g. translation, but were important mechanisms through which institutional interests subsumed alternative discourses, and maintained power over an organisational field.
This thesis contributes to the field of organisational communication by demonstrating that perceptions of organisational, and institutional change, are frequently discursive, rather than substantive.  Effective organisational change, therefore, needs to challenge institutional structures and systemic relationships of power.  Sustained, and sustainable, change requires fundamental shifts in the rational bases of institutional logics.  This has important implications for how less powerful actors and organisations can establish alternative discourses in institutionalised fields, such as mental healthcare.

year: 2015

title: The use of boat electrofishing for koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) control in the Kauri Point catchment.

authors: Hicks, Brendan J.

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: The koi carp is an ornamental strain of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) which is believed to be one of the most ecologically detrimental of all freshwater invasive fish species. They are widespread in the Auckland and Waikato region and appear to be spreading both north and south of these areas. The presence of koi carp in 3 ornamental ponds at Kauri Point, Katikati which is located in the western Bay of Plenty region was confirmed in late 2006. Because koi carp is designated an unwanted organism under the Biosecurity Act it was decided by the Department of Conservation (DOC) that an attempt to eradicate them from this locality would occur. One possible option for eradication of koi carp in this catchment was the use of and electric fishing boat from the University of Waikato. This boat operates by putting a pulsed DC current into the water column where it attracts and then incapacitates fish, allowing operators to remove them from the water with hand nets.
The Centre for Biodiversity and Ecology Research (CBER) at the University of Waikato was contracted to attempt to eradicate koi carp from the three ponds at Kauri Point by boat-electrofishing. The objectives were (1) to survey the fish abundance, (2) to remove as mand koi as possible in an attempt for eradication and (3) to estimate the proportion of koi carp removed from the system by boat-electrofishing. On 21 and 22 April 2008, a total of 327 fish comprising of 307 koi carp (137.5 kg of biomass), 1 goldfish(Carassius auratus) and 19 koi-goldfish hybrids were captured and removed from the 3 ponds located within the Kauri Point catchment by a combination of electric fishing (307 fish) and gill netting (20 fish). The majority of these fish (299 koi, 1 goldfish, 19 koi-goldfish hybrids) were removed from the largest pond (pond A). Boat-electrofishing caught a wide size range of koi (70 mm to 510 mm) and at least four distinct size classes of koi were apparent. The high proportion of juvenile (<200 mm) caught along with reasonable numbers of mature males and females in pond A strongly suggests that breeding is occurring within the Kauri Point aquatic ecosystem. Results from analysing scales of a small sub sample of koi (n=34) also shows that there was a wide range of ages of pond A (ages 1 to 8 years old). Pond A had a relatively high density of 4.6 koi carp 100 m⁻² compared to pond B and C which had low densities of 0.5 and 0.2 koi carp 100 m⁻² respectively. No juvenile carp were observed to be present in ponds B and C.
Population and total biomass estimates for koi carp in pond A prior to removal of fish were calculated to be 358±66 koi carp and 145.14 ±44.27 kg (mean ±95% C. I) respectively. 299 koi carp or 122.30 kg of biomass (71-84% of the estimated population) were removed from pond A over two days of electric fishing, leaving a possible 125 koi carp or 67.11 kg of biomass remaining in the pond. Boat-electrofishing proved to be a successful too for removing a large proportion of the estimated biomass of koi carp in the Kauri Point ponds. Eradication of koi carp by boat-electrofishing from this system was not possible due to poor water visibility (difficult to spot narcotised carp), limited time allocated and successful koi carp breeding occurring in the ponds. Viable options of koi carp eradication in the Kauri Point catchment would involve the partial draining and poisoning of the three ponds and the associated tributaries where koi carp are found.

text: The use of boat electrofishing for koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) control in the Kauri Point catchment. The koi carp is an ornamental strain of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) which is believed to be one of the most ecologically detrimental of all freshwater invasive fish species. They are widespread in the Auckland and Waikato region and appear to be spreading both north and south of these areas. The presence of koi carp in 3 ornamental ponds at Kauri Point, Katikati which is located in the western Bay of Plenty region was confirmed in late 2006. Because koi carp is designated an unwanted organism under the Biosecurity Act it was decided by the Department of Conservation (DOC) that an attempt to eradicate them from this locality would occur. One possible option for eradication of koi carp in this catchment was the use of and electric fishing boat from the University of Waikato. This boat operates by putting a pulsed DC current into the water column where it attracts and then incapacitates fish, allowing operators to remove them from the water with hand nets.
The Centre for Biodiversity and Ecology Research (CBER) at the University of Waikato was contracted to attempt to eradicate koi carp from the three ponds at Kauri Point by boat-electrofishing. The objectives were (1) to survey the fish abundance, (2) to remove as mand koi as possible in an attempt for eradication and (3) to estimate the proportion of koi carp removed from the system by boat-electrofishing. On 21 and 22 April 2008, a total of 327 fish comprising of 307 koi carp (137.5 kg of biomass), 1 goldfish(Carassius auratus) and 19 koi-goldfish hybrids were captured and removed from the 3 ponds located within the Kauri Point catchment by a combination of electric fishing (307 fish) and gill netting (20 fish). The majority of these fish (299 koi, 1 goldfish, 19 koi-goldfish hybrids) were removed from the largest pond (pond A). Boat-electrofishing caught a wide size range of koi (70 mm to 510 mm) and at least four distinct size classes of koi were apparent. The high proportion of juvenile (<200 mm) caught along with reasonable numbers of mature males and females in pond A strongly suggests that breeding is occurring within the Kauri Point aquatic ecosystem. Results from analysing scales of a small sub sample of koi (n=34) also shows that there was a wide range of ages of pond A (ages 1 to 8 years old). Pond A had a relatively high density of 4.6 koi carp 100 m⁻² compared to pond B and C which had low densities of 0.5 and 0.2 koi carp 100 m⁻² respectively. No juvenile carp were observed to be present in ponds B and C.
Population and total biomass estimates for koi carp in pond A prior to removal of fish were calculated to be 358±66 koi carp and 145.14 ±44.27 kg (mean ±95% C. I) respectively. 299 koi carp or 122.30 kg of biomass (71-84% of the estimated population) were removed from pond A over two days of electric fishing, leaving a possible 125 koi carp or 67.11 kg of biomass remaining in the pond. Boat-electrofishing proved to be a successful too for removing a large proportion of the estimated biomass of koi carp in the Kauri Point ponds. Eradication of koi carp by boat-electrofishing from this system was not possible due to poor water visibility (difficult to spot narcotised carp), limited time allocated and successful koi carp breeding occurring in the ponds. Viable options of koi carp eradication in the Kauri Point catchment would involve the partial draining and poisoning of the three ponds and the associated tributaries where koi carp are found.

year: 2008

title: Serendipity, shot-gun, strategic: Does it make a difference?

authors: Glover, Marewa

subjects: Maori

abstract: Kaupapa Māori research methodology
demands practical outcomes of tangible
benefit to Māori. This paper reflects on the
steps taken to ensure benefit resulted from
my PhD research on the
cessation of Māori smoking behaviour, and I ask where is that
benefit now?
Ensuring benefit starts before the
project begins when the idea is conceived.
Thus, I first reflect back to the birth of the
idea. Then the consultation undertaken,
and the conduct of the research, is reviewed
with a utilisation focus. The personal costs
undertaking research are then considered
the sections looking at contribution and
career. Finally, the question from the title
this paper is posed. Examples of the
barriers to strategic action, such as,
competition and the difficulty of achieving
consensus are presented. Finally, the
consequences of the research are outlined.

text: Serendipity, shot-gun, strategic: Does it make a difference? Kaupapa Māori research methodology
demands practical outcomes of tangible
benefit to Māori. This paper reflects on the
steps taken to ensure benefit resulted from
my PhD research on the
cessation of Māori smoking behaviour, and I ask where is that
benefit now?
Ensuring benefit starts before the
project begins when the idea is conceived.
Thus, I first reflect back to the birth of the
idea. Then the consultation undertaken,
and the conduct of the research, is reviewed
with a utilisation focus. The personal costs
undertaking research are then considered
the sections looking at contribution and
career. Finally, the question from the title
this paper is posed. Examples of the
barriers to strategic action, such as,
competition and the difficulty of achieving
consensus are presented. Finally, the
consequences of the research are outlined.

year: 2003