The three governances in social innovation

This paper explores the relationship between governance and social innovation in the area of organizations. In order to understand that relationship, we offer a model that links the absorptive capacity of knowledge [Cohen and Levinthal 1990. “Absorptive Capacity: A new Perspective on Learning and Innovation.” Administrative Science Quarterly 35 (1): 128–152] with open innovation [Chesbrough and Di Minin 2014. “Open Social Innovation.” In New Frontiers in Open Innovation, edited by H. Chesbrough, W. Vanhaverbeke, and J. West, 169–187. Oxford: Oxford University Press]. On the basis of the pilot study Regional Social Innovation Index carried out in the Basque Country (Spain), we empirically explore three types of governance (social, inter-organizational, and sustainable) in social innovation projects propelled by four types of key agents at a regional level: profit and non-profit organizations, universities, and technology centers. The proposed governance Index in Social Innovation contributes to discussions about governance and social innovation at a micro level and, and to the debate about the production of indicators in social innovation.     

The limitations of using school league tables to inform school choice

Summary. In England, so-called 'league tables' based on examination results and test scores are published annually, ostensibly to inform parental choice of secondary schools. A crucial limitation of these tables is that the most recent published information is based on the current performance of a cohort of pupils who entered secondary schools several years earlier, whereas for choosing a school it is the future performance of the current cohort that is of interest. We show that there is substantial uncertainty in predicting such future performance and that incorporating this uncertainty leads to a situation where only a handful of schools' future performances can be separated from both the overall mean and from one another with an acceptable degree of precision. This suggests that school league tables, including value-added tables, have very little to offer as guides to school choice.     

The application of a performance management system in hospitals: A hypothetical example

Abstract

The central theme of this article is performance management, defined as activities of organizations aimed at an effective and efficient use of their human resources. The organization focused on in particular is the hospital. Three principles taken from motivation theory are dealt with which are basic to performance management: goal setting, feedback and reinforcement. Next, a recently developed procedure (Pritchard 1990, Pritchard et al. 1988, 1989) for the design of performance management systems is described. This procedure, ProMES: Productivity Measurement and Enhancement Systems, is explained using a team of ward nurses as a hypothetical example. In addition to the nursing wards example, other potential applications of the ProMES technique to several hospitals areas are mentioned. Finally, some conditions that should be fulfilled in order to successfully start a ProMES project are discussed.     

Prevalence of Elder Mistreatment as Reported by Social Workers in a Probability Sample of Adult Day Health Care Clients

ABSTRACT

There are growing numbers of Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) programs providing needed health services to community-dwelling elderly. Therefore, ADHC staff are in an opportune position to identify and to intervene in suspected elder mistreatment (EM) cases. In this paper, prevalence estimates of EM are reported for a probability sample of ADHC clients in New York State, using data provided during a social worker informant interview. The abuse “signs and symptoms” items in the social worker informant interview schedule were divided into two categories: (1) physical indicators and (2) client's behavioral indicators. Physical indicators included unexplained bruises and welts, unexplained burns, unexplained lacerations or abrasions, human bite marks, and frequent injuries that are “accidental” or “unexplained.” Client's behavioral indicators included apprehension, being frightened, and afraid to go home. EM prevalence for all 8 items was 12.3 percent. When “apprehensive” was excluded, the EM prevalence was 3.6 percent in this sample. These findings suggest that ADHC provides a point of contact for the assessment and intervention of EM that might otherwise be overlooked among elders who are often isolated or homebound.     

建立与完善人才评价机制

人才评价对于实际工作具有配置、导向、激励和约束四重作用,是实现管理功能的动力所在。面对现阶段制约人才评价的诸多问题,为充分发挥管理的功能,需要对人才评价机制进行完善。在界定人才评价机制优劣标准的基础上,建立人才评价机制模型,以展示人才评价机制的结构、内部联系及运行机理,实现组织和人才的自加压、自运行和自寻优。     

基于债权人的非财务指标重要程度研究

国内外从未有人从债权人角度进行过非财务指标重要程度排序研究和分组研究，本文从债权人角度出发，对债权人所关注的反映其利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标的重要程度进行了排序研究和分组研究，研究得出结论：不同类的反映债权人利益要求和实现方式信息的非财务指标对债权人的重要程度存在显著差异；企业因素产生了债权人同一类反映其利益要求和实现方式，信息的非财务指标重要程度差异。     

Happiness is not Enough: Cognitive Judgements as Indicators of National Wellbeing

The European Social Survey, on which this issue of the journal focuses, is a 30-nation multi-funded survey series measuring attitude change. Started in 2001, it is characterised by unusually high standards of sampling and data equivalence. Its data are made available on-line with equal access to all, and have already attracted over 20,000 users. Many papers, articles and books based on the ESS have already appeared. But none has yet employed the data—whether alone or with other sources—to derive indicators of citizens’ cognitive judgements of their society. A recent EC grant is enabling the authors to fill this gap, covering topics such as trust in national institutions, tolerance, social cohesion, social trust and fear of crime. The aim is to be able to monitor changes over time in the distance between what citizens believe their society ought to be in these respects and how they actually perceive it to be.

Measuring Active Citizenship through the Development of a Composite Indicator

This article defines Active Citizenship within a European context as a broad range of value based participation. It develops a framework for measuring this phenomenon which combines the four dimensions of Protest and Social Change, Community Life, Representative Democracy and Democratic values. The European Social Survey 2002 is used to populate the framework as this survey provided the best data coverage available and covered 19 European Countries. In total 61 indicators were selected. A composite indicator (CI), The Active Citizenship Composite Indicator (ACCI), is built using the framework provided and using experts’ weights. In addition, the robustness of the results is tested using sensitivity analysis. The limitations to the ACCI are explained in terms of the limitation of the data availability in particular concerning the new forms of participation and less organised forms of participation. Nevertheless, ACCI proved to be statistically robust and reliable and proved to be a useful tool for monitoring levels of citizenship in Europe. The results of ACCI exhibit interesting and quite distinct regional patterns. The results showed that the Nordic countries, and in particular Sweden, have the highest rate of Active Citizenship, followed by Central Europe and Anglo-Saxon countries. Mediterranean countries are next followed by Eastern European countries that close the ranking.

Small area estimation for longitudinal surveys

Over the last few years many studies have been carried out in Italy to identify reliable small area labour force indicators. Considering the rotated sample design of the Italian Labour Force Survey, the aim of this work is to derive a small area estimator which borrows strength from individual temporal correlation, as well as from related areas. Two small area estimators are derived as extensions of an estimation strategies proposed by Fuller (1990) for partial overlap samples. A simulation study is carried out to evaluate the gain in efficiency provided by our solutions. Results obtained for different levels of autocorrelation between repeated measurements on the same outcome and different population settings show that these estimators are always more reliable than the traditional composite one, and in some circumstances they are extremely advantageous.The present paper is financially supported by Murst-Cofin (2001) Lutilizzo di informazioni di tipo amministrativo nella stima per piccole aree e per sottoinsiemi della popolazione (National Coordinator Prof. Carlo Filippucci).     

基于非财务指标的企业财务危机模糊预警模型研究

针对企业财务危机预警难以做到真实、准确的问题,提出了基于非财务指标的企业财务危机模糊预警模型。应用多级模糊综合评判法对财务风险因素进行定量化评价,对定性的非财务指标采用模糊统计的方法,从定量与定性相结合的角度出发,构建了财务危机的模糊预警模型,并对其进行了检验,以期使预警结果更加真实、准确。