Agenda For Change Research Articles

Nonprofit Advocacy Tactics: Thinking Inside The Box?

As part of a social change agenda, nonprofit organisations engage in activities that contribute to debate and influence the development of public policy. This article presents the initial findings from a study investigating whether nonprofit organisations do participate in advocacy activities and if they do, how are they advocating and engaging in public debate without risking their current and future sources of funding. The key findings from the research have identified that the extent of advocacy by the nonprofit organisations studied has not diminished. A model, built on the findings from the literature on how nonprofit organisations approach advocacy, is applied to explain the advocacy activities by the case study organisations. These nonprofit organisations are identifying what they see to be the appropriate advocacy strategies to fit their organisational objectives, policies, funding sources and resources.

Immigrant women’s occupational struggles during the socioeconomic crisis in Spain: Broadening occupational justice conceptualization

ABSTRACTOccupational scientists claim that further development of the concept of occupational justice is needed to enact the discipline’s commitment to social transformation. We argue that immigrant women’s experiences of occupations in Spain can contribute to this dialogue. Although research on occupations after migration has expanded internationally, limited studies have adopted a critical stance towards health and occupation simultaneously. Thus, we propose that advancing understanding of immigrant women’s experiences of daily participation in occupations and identifying health/well-being mediators to generate actions to promote health from a critical perspective might advance the conceptualization of occupational justice. A participatory health research study informed by Epistemologies of the South was undertaken with six women from Latin America. Data were generated through group discussion, interviews, diaries and Metaplan. A critical narrative analysis and a participatory thematic analysis were performed. Immigrant women's daily life in Spain (shared trajectories and experiences, occupational struggles, and health and well-being mediators and consequences) and an Agenda for change set by the participants (Daily challenges to overcome and possible formula to improve daily living) are reported. Findings are aligned with previous research revealing similar threats to occupational rights, impact on health and the strategies used to navigate both. New insights from the findings expand occupational justice conceptualization, portraying how structural elements such as class, gender and ethnicity shape occupational opportunities which create daily injustices negotiated through occupations, namely occupational struggles. These occupational struggles impact both negatively and positively on well-being. A specific action agenda towards occupational justice is recommended by the participants.

Service-Providing Nonprofits Working in Coalition to Advocate for Policy Change

Nonprofit organizations that primarily provide social or health services can play an important role in policy advocacy, as indicated by recent research. Less is known about how and why they participate in policy advocacy, and concerns remain that their advocacy is overly self-interested. This case study of an urban immigrant health policy advocacy coalition made up primarily of service-providing nonprofits in New York City suggests that (a) service-providing nonprofits’ insights as daily case-level advocates for their clients generate unique contributions to policy change agendas, particularly at the policy implementation level rather than at the legislative level; (b) these organizations do not necessarily see a conflict between their organizational survival imperatives and social change objectives, nor between case-level and higher level advocacy; and (c) a coalition structure, leadership by an experienced advocacy organization, and dedicated foundation funding can elevate case advocacy concerns into a higher level and more sustained advocacy agenda.

TOWARDS AN INTEGRATIVE MODEL TO MANAGE RESISTANCE TO CULTURAL CHANGE

This paper describe the development of an effective model in managing resistance to cultural change. The starting point of the description is the corporate culture, mainly its value and assumptions. It, then, shows the forms and manifestations of change manifestations and possible causes of the resistance. This paper addresses the change resistance issues by introducing two opposing views and their limitations. The first view, the cause-driven model, argues that the strategies to overcome resistance depend on its causes. The main limitation of this model is that it fails to acknowledge the multidimensional aspects of change. On other hand, the systematic view asserts that resistance is unchangeable and that the best method is to work with resistance rather than to overcome or beat the resistance. However, this model tend to ignore the individual aspects of resistance. I would argue that the best model should be the combination of both models. The suggested model consists of six steps: building a shared mission, communicating the mission-based change agenda, encouraging the employees’ participation, building trust through dialogue, and institutionalising the cultural change. However, this model has three major limitations. Firstly, the implementation of the model should be integrated with the other change programs. Another limitation relates to the assumptions of this model (time availability, information needed, and resistance power). The last limitation is that this model undermines the stress and high tension.

Financialization and Value-based Control: Lessons from the Australian Mining Supply Chain

abstractLead firms operate on multiple scales, and although their corporate functions may be globally organized, they are anchored in various territories through the formation of relations with local suppliers, some of whom have specialized knowledge, capabilities, or technologies that are essential to the lead firms’ business activities. Global value chain and global production network analyses have recognized that financialization is increasingly driving the way that lead firms coordinate their relationships with supplier firms. The contribution of this article is to unpack the mechanisms that lead firms adopt to govern their supply chains in the context of financialization and the implications this has for the territorial embeddedness of lead firms. The boom–bust cycle of mining, arising from massive fluctuations in global commodity prices, provides a revealing context in which to explore the changing agendas of financial markets and their implications for lead firm connections to territory. This article examines the mechanisms lead firms use to coordinate relations with local suppliers in the Queensland coal industry, which accounts for 50 percent of international trade in metallurgical coal and which has evolved in the context of the most recent boom–bust cycle of global coal prices.

Local Climate Governance in the Global South: The case of eThekwini Municipality and the Responsible Accommodation Campaign

AbstractLocal climate governance has become a key focus of the climate change agenda. Much research has been conducted on the topic in northern countries, but more research is needed in the South, where local governments often are less equipped to deal with challenges associated with climate change. This paper discusses different forms of local climate governance, with a specific focus on the relevance of networks. Local climate governance in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa, is used as a case study, particularly focusing on a campaign that was implemented in 2011 before the international climate conference (COP17). The modes of governing in eThekwini are considered through a framework of local climate governing and identified mainly as self‐governing and governing through enabling, the campaign being an example of the latter. The campaign also exemplifies how network governance can shape climate policy and significantly alter a project from initiation to implementation. While networks can contribute to improved communication and information exchange, there may be an inherent risk of private partners having a perverse incentive against implementing effective climate policies due to their own interests in maintaining current structures. It is not clear whether the change from regulative governance to governing by enabling will lead to more effective climate policies in the longer term. More research is required to determine this. While this study is too small to make broader generalizations, it does provide insight into how the introduction of network governance may impact climate governance at the local level in the South. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Politicising the ‘personal’: the resistant potential of creative pedagogies in teaching and learning ‘sensitive’ issues

ABSTRACTDrawing upon student narratives gleaned through qualitative interviews, this paper argues that teaching and learning ‘sensitive’ issues surrounding gender and sexualities through ‘creative’ pedagogies can be a mode of resistance against the reproduction of problematic social discourses, and to the negative impacts of neoliberalism on student’s learning within higher education. The findings point to the importance of speaking about sensitive issues; the value of creative approaches for enhancing learning; and that together these can enable students to articulate an agenda for social change. Students saw the ‘personal as political’ – of sharing personal journeys around sensitive issues as important. They further spoke of ‘apathy’ in an neoliberal era of student ‘consumers’ and how this could curtail ‘creative’ teaching and jeopardise learning. Overall, it is argued that creative approaches to teaching and learning sensitive issues can invoke a resistant potentiality which exposes the ‘hidden injuries’ (Gill, 2010) of the neoliberal university.

Development of marginal abatement cost curves for the building sector in Armenia and Georgia

Armenia and Georgia are taking climate change agenda seriously and contributing to efforts for mitigating global climate change through various ways including preparation of low carbon development strategies for their future economic growth. The improvement of energy efficiency is one of the key elements of the low carbon development strategies. This study develops a methodology to estimate marginal abatement cost (MAC) curve for energy efficiency measures and apply in the building sector in both countries. The study finds that among the various energy efficiency measures considered, the replacement of energy inefficient light bulbs (i.e., incandescent lamps) with efficient light bulbs is the most cost effective measure in saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector. Most energy efficiency improvement options considered in the study would produce net economic benefits even if the value of reduced carbon is not taken into account. While the MAC analysis conducted demonstrates the cost competitiveness of various energy efficiency measures in Armenia and Georgia, the study also offers a caution to policy makers to have supplemental analysis before prioritizing the implementation of these measures or introducing policies to support them.

Climate information websites: an evolving landscape

The climate change agenda is populated by actors and agencies with different objectives, values, and motivations, yet many seek decision scale climate information to inform policy and adaptation responses. A central element of this network of activity is the climate information website (CIW) that has seen a rapid and organic growth, yet with variable content and quality, and unfettered by any code of practice. This builds an ethical–epistemic dilemma that warrants assessment as the presence of CIWs contribute to real‐world consequences and commitment. This study considers the context of CIW growth, and reviews a representative sample of CIWs to draw out key issues for consideration in CIW development. We assess content, function, and use‐case value through a dual approach of a typology and user experience narratives to evaluate the general efficacy of a CIW. The typology reveals strong contrasts in content, complicated interfaces, and an overload of choice making it difficult to converge on a stable outcome. The narratives capture user experience and highlight barriers that include navigation difficulties, jargon laden content, minimal or opaque guidance, and inferred information without context about uncertainty and limits to skill. This illuminates four concerns: (1) the ethics of information provision in a context of real‐world consequences; (2) interfaces that present barriers to achieving robust solutions; (3) weak capacity of both users and providers to identify information of value from the multimodel and multimethod data; and (4) inclusion of data that infer skill. Nonetheless, results provide a positive indication of a community of practice that is still maturing. WIREs Clim Change 2017, 8:e470. doi: 10.1002/wcc.470This article is categorized under: Climate Models and Modeling > Knowledge Generation with Models Assessing Impacts of Climate Change > Scenario Development and Application

RCN members demand rebanding of NHS roles.

RCN members have called on the college to demand a 'systematic rebanding' of NHS jobs under Agenda for Change (AfC).

A fairer agenda.

I couldn't agree more with the RCN's decision to push for Agenda for Change (AfC) rebanding (online news, 16 May).

The impediments to the change to UK university accounting education, a comparison to the USA pathways commission

ABSTRACTThere is much debate in the literature concerning the changes necessary for university accounting education to meet the needs of the business environment and broader society. In the USA the Pathways Commission has responded by implementing a programme of evaluation and improvement. In the UK there is no formal agenda for change. This paper compares the situation in the UK to that set out in the Pathways Commission. Two research questions are asked. (1) What should be included in a programme of change in the UK? (2) What are the impediments to the change? The questions are answered by reviewing the literature to firstly consolidate the calls for change and secondly to analyse the circumstances affecting UK accounting degrees. The paper calls on the accountancy profession, universities and academics in the UK to embark on a programme of change similar to the USA to agree a core curriculum, an appropriate academic resourcing strategy and a revised pedagogy. It argues that for significant and lasting change to emerge impediments in three areas need to be addressed. (1) The interface between professional accountancy bodies (PABs) and university academics. (2) The impact of institutional policies on accounting degrees. (3) The identity of UK university accounting academics.

‘We cannot be at the forefront, changing society’: exploring how Swedish property developers respond to climate change in urban planning

ABSTRACTIt is increasingly expected that private actors play the role as entrepreneurs and front-runners in implementing climate measures, whereas empirical studies of the position, role and engagement of private actors are scarce. Situated in the context of urban planning, a critical arena for triggering climate transitions, the aim of this paper is to explore how Swedish property developers respond to climate change. Qualitative analyses of corporate policy documents and semi-structured interviews with property developers reveal a vast divergence between the written policies, where leadership ambitions are high, and how the practice of property development is discussed in interviews. In the latter, there is little evidence of property developers pursuing a forward-looking or cutting-edge climate change agenda. Instead, they are critical of increased public regulation for climate-oriented measures. Explanations both confirm previous studies, highlighting lack of perceived customer demand, uncertainty of financial returns and limited innovations, and add new elements of place-dependency suggesting that innovative and front-runner practices can only be realized in the larger urban areas. Municipalities seeking to improve their climate-oriented profile in urban planning by involving private property developers need to develop strategies to maneuver the variance in responses to increase the effectiveness of implementation.

Implementing the EU Agenda for Change: Corruption and Good Governance

On 13 October 2011 the EU Commission adopted the Agenda for Change (AfC). The AFC stated that EU assistance should focus on two priority areas: (i) Human rights, democracy and other key elements of good governance, and (ii) Inclusive and sustainable growth for human development.This study investigates how the EU and other international actors have treated the nexus between good governance and corruption in policy and practice. It focuses on three core areas specifically that deserve further attention as part of the implementation of the AfC, namely: (i) ‘Corruption and Good Governance’, (ii) Corruption and Human Rights’ and (iii) ‘Corruption and Development’.

Practice-theoretical possibilities for social marketing: two fields learning from each other

PurposeThis paper aims to introduce key concepts from practice theory (PT) to the social change agenda and draw on the unique contributions of the social marketing field. PT has underpinned a growing stream of research in pro-environmental studies seeking to reduce impacts of particular behaviours, but it remains theoretical. By drawing on social marketing’s applied roots, this paper introduces a practice-theoretical intervention planning process (P-TIPP) which frames the unique contribution of social marketing in behaviour change and foregrounds practice- not individual-level change.Design/methodology/approachThe P-TIPP draws on the total process planning model, introducing the concept of “practice as entity” and “practice as performance” to frame intervention planning tasks. The process locates the contribution of social marketing within a transdisciplinary framework which emphasises transforming collective conventions.FindingsThis is a conceptual paper, but the possibility for PT to make a significant contribution to the world of social marketing is outlined.Research limitations/implicationsP-TIPP is untested. Also, practices can be difficult to identify and somewhat abstract. Finally, it can be challenging to introduce the approach to policy, funding and practitioner procedures.Practical implicationsThe implications of P-TIPP are that social change interventions are devised, underpinned and planned using insights from PT, such as the way behavioural patterns fit into broader understandings of practice. The subsequent social change agenda will be inherently transdisciplinary, sustainable and reduce focus on individual power to change.Originality/valueThis paper is a first attempt at exploring what PT, and social marketing can learn from each other for the future effectiveness of social change activity.

Purpose-driven consultancies’ negotiation of organizational tensions

ABSTRACTThis article examines the negotiation of organizational tensions by purpose-driven consultancies, for-profit firms also motivated by social change agendas in their implementation of organizational development for corporate clients. Using two case studies – APCom training ethical corporate leaders, and GreenD communicating environmental sustainability programs – we trace how such consultancies negotiate these tensions, and how their underlying purpose might accordingly transform. Our multi-case study suggests two broad tensions related to purpose and impact that are experienced in context-specific ways by the consultancies. Although members sought to frame these tensions in positive ways, as complementary dialectics or contradicting the dominant capitalist system, they were also at risk of devolving into more paradoxical contradictions and even debilitating double binds, without sustained discussion to ‘repurpose’ the firms. We close by discussing theoretical and practical implications for purpose-driven consultancies, given that their pursuit of social change is often at odds with the status quo.

Editor's Letter

Editor's Letter

Does your MP back fair pay?

An online petition demanding the government scrap the pay cap for Agenda for Change (AfC) staff garnered well over 100,000 signatures and forced a Commons debate on 30 January (news, 1 February).

Leadership through fellowship: distributed leadership in a professional recognition scheme for university educators

ABSTRACTResearchers in the field of teaching and learning in higher education have identified concerns with top-down leadership models. Distributed (or shared) leadership approaches may provide more successful engagement with institutional change agendas, and provide more options to reward and recognise staff leading teaching and learning initiatives. Through empirical research, Jones and colleagues have conceptualised the key criteria, dimensions and values that constitute effective distributed leadership in the Action Self-Enabling Reflective Tool (ASERT), together with benchmarks through which action taken to enable distributed leadership can be evaluated. Opportunities for distributed leadership were incorporated into the design of an Australian university’s professional recognition scheme for university educators. Through analysis of this case study in the context of the ASERT attributes and the benchmarks for distributed leadership, this paper explores the potential for systematic professional recognition of university educators to build institutional leadership capacity in the context of university teaching and learning.

Beyond the status quo – setting the agenda for effective change

In today’s competitive and rapidly evolving educational environment, the ability to implement appropriate and effective change is of critical importance to an international school’s ongoing success. This study examines leadership characteristics and styles that support the development and forward momentum of a change agenda within the context of an international school environment. Results from a mixed methods research design found that the leadership characteristics most frequently linked to effective change included: (i) being visionary; (ii) being committed to school/staff; and (iii) creating a collegial/supportive work environment. The paper analyzes these and other results through the lenses of: (i) setting directions; (ii) developing people; and (iii) developing the organization. Findings specific to the international school situation are also presented. Finally, suggestions for developing a framework for an international school ‘change management’ paradigm are presented.