The Limitations and Opportunities of Business Process Re-engineering in a Politicized Organizational Climate

This paper is concerned with the organizationalchange and project management issues raised by theimplementation of a business process re-engineering(BPR) approach in the politicized hospital context. This is a report of research in progress,focusing on the issues arising at the problem definitionand project planning stages of a BPR application in anoperating theaters department experiencing problems with scheduling and delays. The research designrelies on a case study approach, with the researcher asparticipant observer, as both an adviser to the projectteam and as field interviewer. The paper argues that an ambitious BPR agenda is compromised inat least two regards. First, the lack of precisionsurrounding the focus and methodology of BPR givespolitically motivated actors considerable influence with respect to defining terms of reference in wayswhich will shape potential outcomes in their favor.Second, the complexity and indeterminacy of the businessprocess or patient trail can also diluteredesign attempts. The principal limitations of theapproach thus concern the impracticality of embarking onrapid and radical change working from a blanksheet of paper with respect to organizational and job design. BPR, unlike other organizationdevelopment interventions, is not a contextsensitive approach. The role of project manageris critical in establishing a working balance betweenindividual, occupational, and organizational goals in a manner perceivedto be legitimate in the context. Effective BPR projectmanagement thus requires a combination of political andprocess analysis skills. The principal opportunities of BPR derive from its process orientation,which brings a fresh perspective to a traditionally andfunctionally fragmented organizational setting, andwhich presents a potentially valuable platform for anevolutionary approach to process improvement.     

Call My Bluff: Multiple Interpretations of an Organizational Process

This paper attempts to illustrate the value of interpreting organizational processes from a variety of perspectives. It demonstrates that this approach reflects the natural richness of organization and avoids the rather blinkered search for single-paradigm explanations. It does not seek to offer the answer, but rather some possible insights. By combining both actor and researcher frames, it sheds light upon a particular process of social interaction within an organization. Both the context, an NHS trust hospital, and the content, a significant change scenario, brings richness and relevance to the debate.
The paper outlines the macro and micro context before focusing on the interpretative methodological approach. The research involved collecting and analysing over thirty hours of taped, semi-structured interview discourse with senior and middle management and some junior staff. After describing the change initiative, an attempt at multi-skilling and the response of recipient actors to the proposals, the paper outlines three readings which seek to explain the events that occurred. The reader is invited to play the game 'Call my Bluff' and to choose the scenario that represents the most plausible explanation. The three interpretative frames employed are a managerial, a cultural and a political perspective. The paper concludes by raising some important issues in research, organizational change and the NHS.     

从身心到艺术：魏晋名士艺术境界的形成路径

魏晋名士艺术境界的形成路径清晰而富于哲理,他们通过心身外在表现的审美追求以获得艺术对象审美外观的人格化,通过“远”之本体追问与“远”之身体探寻来实现人生和艺术的玄远境界,使得“心”臻至“无”之境与“美”臻至“无我”之境在人生与艺术层面完美融通。如此,魏晋名士与肉身以及欲望存在的自我渐行渐远,而生命精神却始终作为不可或缺的逻辑线索,延续于人生、艺术之中,成为艺术精神和人格蕴含的内在逻辑线索。     

现实与表达：1945年中共对“胡世合事件”的建构——以《新华日报》为考察中心

“胡世合事件”是1945年2月20日在国统区发生的一起特务非法枪杀电力工人胡世合所引起的全国高度关注的惨案。中共对于“胡世合事件”的大力宣传，一方面引起了广大工人群众对于保障人权、争取民主、反对特务统治的呐喊，另一方面从侧面论证了中共在抗战末期追求民主、实现民主政治的正当性。     

河道冰体的可爆性研究

冰是一种特殊的固体介质,具有非均匀性、各向异性、应变速率及温度敏感性等特点。本文以黄河爆炸破冰为背景,针对-10℃冰体结构与物理力学性能进行检测,以及冰体在不同加载条件下,所表现的响应特征与破坏特征进行了试验研究。通过分析冰晶体结构与冰内气泡特征,冰体在静载条件下的塑性破坏特征,以及对冰体对爆炸冲击载荷的响应特征,获得冰体的可爆性能与破碎单位体积冰体所需炸药能量计算公式。研究成果可为黄河冰体爆破作业提供理论依据。     

The Politics of Lesbian Specificity

ABSTRACT

The notion of lesbian specificity must be understood in the context of heteronormative society. Heterosexual norms affect negotiations of power and sexual desire in lesbian relationships. But this investigation into woman-to-woman sexual practices also views the possibility of lesbian specificity as potentially subversive, in the sense that it poses fundamental questions about conventional discourses on sexuality and eroticism.     

The Ethical Challenges of Socially Responsible Science

Social responsibility is an essential part of the responsible conduct of research that presents difficult ethical questions for scientists. Recognizing one’s social responsibilities as a scientist is an important first step toward exercising social responsibility, but it is only the beginning, since scientists may confront difficult value questions when deciding how to act responsibly. Ethical dilemmas related to socially responsible science fall into at least three basic categories: 1) dilemmas related to problem selection, 2) dilemmas related to publication and data sharing, and 3) dilemmas related to engaging society. In responding to these dilemmas, scientists must decide how to balance their social responsibilities against other professional commitments and how to avoid compromising their objectivity. In this article, we will examine the philosophical and ethical basis of social responsibility in science, discuss some of the ethical dilemmas related to exercising social responsibility, and make five recommendations to help scientists deal with these issues.     

Spaces of Pride: A Visual Ethnography of Gay Pride Parades in Italy and the United Kingdom

Gay pride parades represent an active site of production of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), intersexual and queer identities, featuring a spatial and social articulation of political and human rights claims. While the multiplication of these events in different countries suggests the existence of a coherent and cohesive community which shares the same collective identity beyond national borders, different patterns in the organisation, part-taking and social and political connotations given to these events can be observed in different contexts. By means of a comparative visual ethnography of Italian and British Gay Pride Parades, this article investigates how the creation, mobilisation and challenge of quasi-normative LGBT identities occur within the spatial context of gay pride marches. It is argued, in particular, that while gay pride parades are sites in which the socio-political status quo can be successfully challenged, participants are also faced with the possibility of falling prey to dynamics of identity commodification and homonationalism which may ultimately deprive their claims of their subversive potential.     

技治主义与当代中国关系刍议

20世纪80、90年代以来，一些国外学者认为，当代中国正在从社会主义走上技治主义的道路。因为定义不清，数据和论证存在问题，以及对中国政治精英选拔理解偏差，这种观点是错误的。技治主义对当代中国政治产生了一定程度的影响，但远未到影响社会根本制度的程度。对技治主义的评价必须结合中国的具体国情，不能一味追随西方的观点。作为一种工具，对中国政治进行适度的技治主义改良在现阶段具有一定的积极意义。     

论和平发展战略对台湾政党政治的影响

随着两岸关系和平发展的持续推进,这项战略已经产生了强大的溢出效应。影响所及,两岸关系结构、台湾民众对两岸关系的认知结构以及台湾岛内话语结构等都发生了根本性变化,这种局面对岛内政党政治的基本生态和未来发展趋势产生了较大影响,两个主要政党都针对环境的变化进行了一定的调整,以求适应台海局势的结构性变化,谋求未来更多的发展空间。