Governmental Rationales for Installing Electronic Information Systems: A Quest for Responsive Social Work

Various authors have argued that electronic information systems (EIS) do not necessarily improve the responsiveness of social work. One of the main reasons given for these failings is the flawed implementation of EIS by professionals. However, we argue that the ongoing debate fails to be explicit about governmental rationales for installing EIS. This article presents the findings of a content analysis that aimed to uncover the governmental rationales for installing EIS in the Flemish child and welfare protection (CWP) system. Our analysis revealed three clusters of rationales. The first cluster supports the use of EIS as an instrument to better match supply and demand. The second cluster shows that the gathered data also serve as an instrument for accountability. A third cluster focuses on the aim of creating more uniformity. Based on our analysis, we argue that it is not flawed implementation that impedes the development of responsive social work; rather, the governmental rationales themselves are flawed.     

New Rage,New Perspectives?

The Eurozone crisis has led to a long and remarkable protest wave. Civil society raised its voice against the ever-harsher austerity measures implemented to deal with the crisis. The article focuses on the role of civil society and its potential to contribute new perspectives to the debate. Such a contribution would depend on two preconditions: 1. Civil society actors need to mobilize successfully to make their voices heard. 2. Civil society actors contribute a perspective that differs to the perspectives of actors from institutionalized politics. Both preconditions are analyzed empirically for two countries that are in very different situations in the crisis scenario: Greece and Germany. Greece has been hit most severely by the crisis; Germany is the most prominent country defining the crisis management, and it provides the largest share of credit guarantees for “crisis countries.” Social movement theory is used to explain the differing evolution of protests in the two countries. In the early phase of the crisis, the established landscape of political parties in both countries offered few opportunities for their citizens to vote in opposition to the crisis management, which is conducive to extra-parliamentary protest. Differences in deprivation, discursive opportunities and the resource basis of mobilization structures can explain differences in protest frequency but also to some extent the evolution of protest over time. Taking up Habermas’ argument regarding the specific perspective of civil society actors in the public debate, we then analyze to which extent the arguments of civil society actors deviate from those of more institutionalized actors. A discursive actor attribution analysis unveils that civil society actors are more sensitive to social problems and grand systemic questions. Moreover, civil society actors are less hesitant to blame actors on the EU level and other EU Member States, even though their overall contribution to the crisis debate is rather marginal.     

Theoretische und statistische Modellierung von Cross-Pressures in Kontextanalysen

Cross-pressures can be defined as individually perceived social pressure that results from heterogeneity in the social context, mainly due to conflicting social expectations of relevant social actors. In this paper we discuss the theoretical position of “cross-pressures” in the structural-individualist paradigm and present methods for modeling cross-pressures in multilevel regression models. We argue that cross pressures form a specific class of context effects, that is macro-micro links, and sketch a reconstruction as part of the problem of defining the social situation in the Model of Frame Selection. The theoretical model implies that empirical applications of the concept would ideally use multiplicative terms for the specification of cross-level interactions in multilevel models. Modeling random slopes and context fixed-effects the interaction can be identified empirically. As an example we analyze the relation between postmaterialism and environmental concern, moderated by national wealth using WVS data. Our results indicate that postmaterialism and environmental concern form an integrated value cluster in wealthy societies, but are separate constructs in poorer societies.     

Beyond professional snail races: Contextualizing corporate communication in Indonesia

This study provides an overview of the current state of corporate communication in some of Indonesia’s largest companies. A cross-cultural survey of senior managers highlights the uniqueness of Indonesia by comparing practitioners’ perceptions with results from two Western countries, namely Austria and Australia. The results reveal the limitations of traditional professionalization theories; embedding corporate communication into the cultural and institutional context has proved to be more instructive. Practitioners in Indonesia employ a comparably critical distance to their own cultural environment. However, at the same time, they are highly adaptive when it comes to the stringently regulated and politicized institutional context of their work. From a normative perspective, we would instead support a self-understanding of professional communicators as societal change agents.     

The frustrated generation youth exclusion in Arab Mediterranean societies

In Arab Mediterranean countries (AMCs), insecurities and a lack of opportunities have continuously kept young people from becoming independent and being full, active, and integrated members of society; a process commonly referred to as social exclusion. This paper explores the driving factors of youth exclusion in Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Tunisia. It is argued that not only the extent but also the structure of social exclusion varies across countries. Based on the social exclusion framework developed by the UNDP [2011. Beyond Transition – Towards Inclusive Societies. Bratislava: United Nations Development Programme], we construct a social exclusion index that takes economic, social, and political factors into account. The results obtained indicate that the share of young people suffering from social exclusion is highest in Tunisia (46.7%), followed by Algeria (43.4%), Egypt (42.1%), and Lebanon (33.2%). In contrast to the prevailing assumptions on social exclusion, we find that economic exclusion does in fact play a minor role. The strongest driver of youth exclusion in all Arab Mediterranean countries is the exclusion from social and political life.     

„Gekommen,um zu bleiben“ – eine Analyse des Zusammenhangs zwischen personen- und kontextbezogenen Faktoren und Studienerfolg in Studiengängen der öffentlichen Verwaltung

The present study aims to investigate impact factors on study success and turnover intentions for students from different fields of public administration and management. The empirical analysis focuses on interrelations between individual (e.?g., personality, achievement satisfaction, self-efficacy) and contextual factors (procedural justice, social integration) and general study satisfaction and the intention to leave the university. The sample consisted of N?=?147 students from police and general public administration. The results indicated that there is an empirical evidence for the relevance of realistic academic and job expectations, individal personality facets, as well as for perceived justice and social integration of the students related to the discipline. Regression models showed that the expected person-job-fit predicted aspects of study satisfaction and turnover intention. In addition, individual and contextual factors moderated the interrelation, however, differently for the evaluated disciplines. Implications for students and for the design of different study programs as well as for a target group oriented communication are discussed.     

Prospective analysis of time out-of-home and objectively measured walking duration during a week in a large cohort of older adults

Background

Physical activity is considered an effective measure to promote health in older people. There is evidence that the number of outdoor trips increases physical activity by increasing walking duration. The objective of this study was to analyse the relationship between daily time out-of-home and walking duration. Furthermore, predictors for walking duration and time out-of-home were evaluated.

Methods

Walking duration was measured prospectively over a 1 week period by a body-fixed sensor and the time out-of-home was assessed by a questionnaire at the same days. Seven thousand, two hundred and forty-three days from 1289 older people (mean age 75.4 years) with both sensor-based measures and completed questionnaires were included in the analyses. To account for several observation days per participant multilevel regression analyses were applied. Analyses were stratified according to the time out-of-home (more or less than 100 min/day).

Results

In the group with less than 100 min out-of-home, each additional minute out-of-home added 20 s to overall walking duration. If the time exceeded 100 min the additional increase of walking duration was only moderate or weak. Leaving the home once added 40 min of walking, the following trips 15 to 20 min. Increasing age, lower gait speed, comorbidities, low temperature, rain and specific week days (Sunday) decreased both the time out-of-home and walking duration. Other variables like gender (female), isolation or living with a spouse reduced the time out-of-home without affecting walking duration.

Conclusions

Being out-of-home increases daily walking duration. The association is strongest if the time out-of-home is 100 min or less.

     

Effectuation or causation as the key to corporate venture success? Investigating effects of entrepreneurial behaviors on business model innovation and venture performance

Corporate Venturing sets the stage for entrepreneurial behavior in order to create business model innovation (BMI). Moreover, prior literature indicates the importance of BMI as a source of performance advantage, especially in growing industries. However, an empirical examination of the effectiveness of entrepreneurial behaviors for achieving BMI is still lacking. Hence, this study investigates the effectiveness of effectuation and causation as primary entrepreneurial logics to create BMI. Analyzing data obtained from 128 corporate ventures with partial least squares structural equation modeling, the effectiveness of both entrepreneurial logics for BMI with respect to different industry growth levels is clarified: The results point out that both behaviors lead to BMI in situations of moderate industry growth while effectuation (causation) is more effective in high (low) industry growth settings. Furthermore, the results point out that BMI in turn enhances corporate venture performance. Thus, corporate entrepreneurs should carefully align their entrepreneurial approach with industry growth projections to effectively develop BMI and achieve high venture performance.     

The unique character of involvement in multi-site evaluation settings

As the number of large federal programs increases, so, too, does the need for a more complete understanding of how to conduct evaluations of such complex programs. The research literature has documented the benefits of stakeholder participation in smaller-scale program evaluations. However, given the scope and diversity of projects in multi-site program evaluations, traditional notions of participatory evaluation do not apply. The purpose of this research is to determine the ways in which stakeholders are involved in large-scale, multi-site STEM evaluations. This article describes the findings from a survey of 313 program leaders and evaluators and from follow-up interviews with 12 of these individuals.Findings from this study indicate that attendance at meetings and conferences, planning discussions within the project related to use of the program evaluation, and participation in data collection should be added to the list of activities that foster feelings of evaluation involvement among stakeholders. In addition, perceptions of involvement may vary according to breadth or depth of evaluation activities, but not always both. Overall, this study suggests that despite the contextual challenges of large, multi-site evaluations, it is feasible to build feelings of involvement among stakeholders.