The Federal GPRA Evaluation Mandate

Abstract

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) mandates inclusion of evaluation in federal agency strategic plans, impacting human service programs receiving federal support. Recommended evaluation methods include flexible ongoing and participatory approaches. Yet social work may not be prepared to appropriately respond to the government's demands for accountability. This paper reviews GPRA and its implications for social work practice, evaluation, and research, offering response strategies. The paper suggests that the creation of a National Center for Social Work Research (S. 70/H.R. 663) could help bridge evaluation gaps, offering a centralized mechanism for monitoring evaluation activities and maximizing federal research resources.     

The role of QMS in the relationship between innovation climate and performance

The emergence of new global competitors, the convergence of high-technology industries and the increasing speed and cost of technological development promises an increasingly uncertain environment for organisations, making adaptation to changes in the environment a central theme in the study of the organisation for both organisation theory and strategic management. This study thus seeks principally to verify that, while innovation and quality management (QM) alone do not possess the qualities required to provide organisations with sustainable competitive advantages, the bundle of innovation and QM together with other resources and competencies will allow organisations to obtain a competitive advantage and adapt to their environment. The results show that the factors determining innovation – such as resistance to change, cohesion and workload pressures – have repercussions for the firms’ capacity to adapt to their environmentand that a QM context facilitates this adaptation. Finally, we can conclude that a climate of support for innovation is positively related to the organisation’s performance.     

课堂教学与学生的角色探微

本文从课堂教学角度出发阐述了学生课堂角色的重要意义,教师的课堂角色对学生运用语言的影响;并以建构主义的理论为依据分析了学生在课堂中的角色与他们运用英语能力的关系,以期寻找提高学生英语运用能力的最佳途径。     

金刚石与锯片使用性能之间的关系

根据试验研究结果和生产实践经验,把石材加工用金刚石圆锯片的性能及使用效果的诸多影响因素视为系统工程问题,分别从原材料、制造工艺与装备、锯片的合理选择和正确使用等各个方面进行了系统分析,着重分析了金刚石和金属结合剂对锯片使用性能的影响规律,指出了存在的问题和改进的途径.     

对项目审计中绩效问题的思考

现行项目审计主要是针对项目的合理合法性进行监督,但对审计的绩效却关注较少,导致审计过程低效,审计结论指导性差。本文针对项目审计中出现的绩效问题进行分析,提出了改善绩效的一些建议。     

家具设计的材料肌理美

家具设计中材料肌理表现主要分为视觉肌理和触觉肌理,不同的材料具有不同的视觉肌理和触觉肌理表现效果。肌理是家具形态的外在表现形式之一。家具设计中运用不同材料的肌理效果可丰富家具形态,通过不同的表现手法使之或自然、温馨、质朴;或丰富、新奇、多变。充分表现家具设计中材料的肌理美。     

Pareto analysis for the lifetime performance index of products on the basis of progressively first-failure-censored batches under balanced symmetric and asymmetric loss functions

One of the most important topics in manufacturing industries is the evaluation of performance lifetimes of products. Based on a given lifetime performance index, this paper deals with evaluating the performance of a process subject to a given lower specification limit. We confine ourselves to the progressively first-failure-censored data coming from a common Pareto distribution. With both the Bayesian and the non-Bayesian approaches being investigated here, we pay more attention to Bayesian estimators under balanced type loss functions. The results are presented under the balanced versions of two well-known loss functions, namely the squared error loss and the Varian's linear-exponential (LINEX) loss. Moreover, based on the Bayesian and the non-Bayesian approaches, the problem of testing hypotheses on the lifetime performance index is studied. Also, a simulation study is performed to assess the obtained results. Finally, two illustrative examples are given.     

The value of the Display® campaign as a voluntary energy and environmental performance certification system of buildings for sustainable municipal energy management in Ukraine

Although the significance of sustainable municipal energy management has not yet been widely recognized in Ukraine, important steps to popularize this idea among local authorities have been taken through the introduction of the Display® campaign in 11 Ukrainian municipalities. This European voluntary energy and environmental performance certification system of buildings aims to encourage local authorities to publicly demonstrate the energy and environmental performance of their buildings and to thereby convince citizens to stop wasting energy and water. This paper analyzes to what extent the campaign has been valuable for sustainable energy management in those Ukrainian cities that have set an example of an active bottom-up approach to enhancing the integration of a former Soviet Union country in the European Union on account of their support of the associations Energy Cities and “Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine”, as well as their own endeavors to implement EU climate protection policy.     

From bodies as ‘meat’ to bodies as ‘flesh’: the expression of performance management as ‘sacrificial acts’ within professional rugby

ABSTRACT

In this article, we argue that to extend the research on performance management we need to examine further how organisational members interweave the technology of such management into their work. Using Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy, we question the notion that technology acts on bodies in a linear manner as ‘meat’ to be manipulated. His reversible ontology suggests that these materials can be woven into the flesh of organising in a multitude of ways. Specifically, we refer to professional rugby, and the manner in which its players utilise the technology of performance management, to forge a localised expression of sacrifice. We suggest that this expression provides a means for players to define and evaluate themselves against ‘good rugby’. As forms of evaluation may vary in organisations, we recommend that researchers do not solely associate performance management with metrics but also look to other, more localised, expressions to inform their work.