Alternative Governance Models Research Articles

Biodiversity Offsets in New Zealand: Challenges, Opportunities, Options

The purpose of this paper is to examine, in a largely non-technical way, key issues and challenges associated with the use of biodiversity offsets in New Zealand. After describing the state of New Zealand biodiversity (as far as it is known), the existing legal and policy framework is briefly summarised. This is followed by a discussion on notable issues that have been identified to date.A number of ‘best practice’ guidance documents are surveyed, and alternative governance models discussed. Whether there is effective monitoring and enforcement of approved offset arrangements is also considered, drawing on recent research.Finally, future developments are examined, including the prospects of national policy guidance and statutory reform.

Urban Stormwater Governance: The Need for a Paradigm Shift

Traditional urban stormwater management involves rapid removal of stormwater through centralized conveyance systems of curb-gutter-pipe networks. This results in many adverse impacts on the environment including hydrological disruption, groundwater depletion, downstream flooding, receiving water quality degradation, channel erosion, and stream ecosystem damage. In order to mitigate these adverse impacts, urban stormwater managers are increasingly using green infrastructure that promote on-site infiltration, restore hydrological functions of the landscape, and reduce surface runoff. Existing stormwater governance, however, is centralized and structured to support the conventional systems. This governance approach is not suited to the emerging distributed management approach, which involves multiple stakeholders including parcel owners, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. This incongruence between technology and governance calls for a paradigm shift in the governance from centralized and technocratic to distributed and participatory governance. This paper evaluates how five US cities have been adjusting their governance to address the discord. Finally, the paper proposes an alternative governance model, which provides a mechanism to involve stakeholders and implement distributed green infrastructure under an integrative framework.

Overcoming barriers to renewable energy diffusion: business models for customer-sited solar photovoltaics in Japan, Germany and the United States

Transformative change of energy systems towards distributed renewable technologies requires not only technological but also organisational innovation in order to engage broad segments of the private consumer market. Using the business model concept as an analytical tool, this comparative study investigates organisational configurations related to the deployment of customer-sited photovoltaic (PV) systems in Germany, Japan and the United States. Results show how the deployment of customer-sited PV systems in these three countries has been enabled and catalysed through distinctively different business models. Specifically, solar firms have managed to overcome various barriers to the adoption of PV in distinct ways. Furthermore, we identify a number of contextual conditions that have shaped the design and mode of operation of the respective business models in the three countries. The study provides novel insights for both policy makers and solar firms that wish to develop alternative governance models and new business strategies, respectively. Such insights are important to support the accelerated diffusion of distributed PV systems.

The future of corporate governance: Network governance - a lesson from the financial crisis

Abstract 10.2 trillion dollars have been lost in the US alone in the first two years after Lehman Brothers collapse. In its wake 45% of world’s wealth has been destroyed and three of the largest bankruptcies in the US have occurred. Just as the majority of observers thought lessons from Enron had been learned, crisis had struck again. Massive government intervention, the collapse of the banking system, and public outrage at the missteps of executives have highlighted once more the weaknesses of mainstream corporate governance systems. Contrary to popular opinion the principal cause of the crisis was not sub-prime mortgage defaults but a failure of corporate governance, states the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. While the OECD is brainstorming new corporate governance codes, public policy makers are calling for more comprehensive and tougher regulation. How likely will those changes help to prevent a future crisis? Not very likely, we argue, unless we fundamentally rethink the underlying failures inherent to the Anglo- Saxon structure of corporate governance and regulation. In the following article, we thus examine the systemic shortcomings of Anglo-Saxon corporate governance that arise from too much power being vested in a single board. We also lay out alternative governance models based on the natural science of communication and control. We then identify why a single board cannot adequately and reliably control the complex firms that wield influence over our lives. Examples of alternative models provide evidence that managers can design governance architectures that significantly reduce the risk of systematic blind spots, and the ensuing massive wealth destruction.

Sometimes you cannot make it on your own; drivers and scenarios for regional cooperation in implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive

Implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive explicitly calls for regional cooperation between the EU Member States in the different regional seas. This regional cooperation, although set in a general framework of EU Member States and non-EU states utilising existing Regional Sea Conventions as focal point, develops along different tracks. Based on a series of interviews with different stakeholder groups in the different regional seas the drivers for this regional cooperation were determined. These drivers were used to develop a set of scenarios to depict possible ways and structures for cooperation at the different regional seas. In this paper the result of this analysis and the different scenarios developed are presented. The five scenarios developed were very helpful in elaborating alternative governance models for regional cooperation. From the validation by the stakeholders it became clear that both the drivers used, as the scenarios developed were found to be relevant. There is no single solution that is going to fit all regional seas, or that is going to appeal to all stakeholders within a regional sea. Especially in this setting the scenario approach does help people to explore the full range of possibilities that exists for the development of alternative governance models that address two issues raised but not detailed in the MSFD: cooperation and participation.

Views on Emerging Issues Pertaining to Data Monitoring Committees for Adaptive Trials.

In this paper, the authors express their views on a range of topics related to data monitoring committees (DMCs) for adaptive trials that have emerged recently. The topics pertain to DMC roles and responsibilities, membership, training, and communication. DMCs have been monitoring trials using the group sequential design (GSD) for over 30 years. While decisions may be more complicated with novel adaptive designs, the fundamental roles and responsibilities of a DMC will remain the same, namely, to protect patient safety and ensure the scientific integrity of the trial. It will be the DMC's responsibility to recommend changes to the trial within the scope of a prespecified adaptation plan or decision criteria and not to otherwise recommend changes to the study design except for serious safety-related concerns. Nevertheless, compared with traditional data monitoring, some additional considerations are necessary when convening DMCs for novel adaptive designs. They include the need to identify DMC members who are familiar with adaptive design and to consider possible sponsor involvement in unique situations. The need for additional expertise in DMC members has prompted some researchers to propose alternative DMC models or alternative governance model. These various options and authors' views on them are expressed in this article.

A APLICABILIDADE DO CONCEITO DE CLUSTERS PARA A GOVERNANÇA DO TURISMO EM SALVADOR – UM ESTUDO SOBRE A PERSPECTIVA DOS RESIDENTES

A proposta deste artigo é analisar a aplicabilidade do conceito de cluster turístico como uma alternativa de modelo de governança para a atividade do turismo na cidade do Salvador, sob a ótica da participação comunitária. A pesquisa de campo que serviu de

The Big Question: Which Country Will Emerge as the Leading Power?

The Big Question: Which Country Will Emerge as the Leading Power?

Private – Public Partnerships in Urban Water Supply Sector: A Study of the Regional Trends

Historically, public utilities have been mainly delivered by the public sector. However, as a result of financial and technological constraints faced by public sector entities in developing infrastructure facilities and due to management related inefficiencies in the public sector, various alternative governance mechanisms have been considered by governments in developing public utility infrastructure and providing the related services to the end-users. Consequently, for nearly three decades now countries have relied on the procurement model of public-private partnerships (PPP) to finance, develop and manage infrastructure facilities in the water sector. In order to analyze the viability of PPP as an alternative governance model for water, it is important to examine a sample of PPP projects from around the world and analyze the reasons for their successes and failures. For this purpose, Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, has undertaken a research project to compile a database of PPP projects in the urban water supply sector in different regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Australia and Middle East and North Africa). This paper presents a brief analysis of PPPs as a water governance architecture based on the study of 672 PPP projects from the said database, the selection being made on the basis of availability of data, and presents the preliminary findings on current usage of PPP for water governance.

Complexity Theory, CSR, and Corporate Governance - The Need for Alternative Governance Models

Manuscript Type: Conceptual Research Question/Issue: How can increased environmental complexity be managed better through more effective integration of corporate governance and CSR? What are the deficiencies of the predominant corporate governance architecture with regard to CSR support and how can the corporate governance architecture improve to support higher levels of managerial responsibility? Research insights/findings: Based on insights from complexity theory, we find that the prevailing complexity reduction approaches lead to suboptimal corporate governance and CSR with regard to establishing managerial responsibility. We suggest that the lens of complexity absorption provides ways to redesign the approach to both corporate governance and CSR. Integrating governance and CSR by establishing decentralized governance structures that divide labor and power among all strategic stakeholders ensure higher levels of managerial responsibility. Theoretical/Academic Implications: We outline the conceptual connection between corporate governance and CSR and advance thinking about integration that improve both. We outline why traditional, centralized governance architecture (e.g. unitary board structures) fail to support monitoring and strategic advice functions concerning CSR of the board adequately. We use complexity theory and argue that complexity reduction approaches to both governance and CSR are failing in complex environments. We also suggest that complexity absorption approaches can help address such failures. Finally, we suggest how governance and CSR can be integrated to absorb complexity and increase managerial responsibility. We thus contribute theoretically by advancing the conceptualization of corporate governance and CSR as well as by providing alternative thinking on governance structures. Practitioner/Policy Implications: We suggest that practitioners and policy makers consider complexity absorption as an alternative to integrate Corporate Governance and CSR which will lead to higher levels of managerial responsibility. We provide evidence that decentralized governance structures that actively divide labor and power among stakeholders can lead to better outcomes in a complex environment.

“From Mosaic To Multiversality”: Repriming Multicultural Governance in a Postnational Canada

The modernist politics of multicultural governance no longer resonate with authority in a postmulticultural era. Mosaic models of state multiculturalism are being contested by the changing nature of global transmigration and the proliferation of immigrant-driven differences. This paper argues that the transnational politics of multiversality in a globalizing and diversifying Canada are exerting pressure to rethink the limits of a “mosaic” multiculturalism (Mawani 2008; also Shome 2012). A “multiversal” multiculturalism is proposed instead as an alternative governance model for living together with a diversity-of-diversities (“multiversality”) across shifting and intersecting contexts (Latham 2007/08; Vertovec 2010; Ramadan 2011). The paper concludes by exploring whether Canada can move beyond a mosaic multiculturalism whose tendency to conflate cultures into a singular commonality papers over transmigrant identities and intrasecting differences. Time will tell if Canada is ready for a multicultural 2.0 governance in advancing a framework that ensures differentiated differences are kept safe from—yet safe for—a postnational Canada (Sandercock 2003; also Parekh 2005). La politique moderniste de gouvernance multiculturelle n’est plus en harmonie avec l’autorité dans une période post-multiculturelle. La mosaïque du multiculturalisme d’état propose un modèle mis à mal par la nature changeante de la transmigration mondiale et la prolifération de différences due à l’immigration. Dans cet article, nous soutenons que la politique transnationale de multiversatilité dans un Canada qui se mondialise et se diversifie, exerce une pression pour repenser les limites d’un multiculturalisme de ‘mosaïque’ (Mawani 2008 et Shome 2012), ou ‘multiversel’. Ce qui est proposé à la place, c’est un modèle alternatif de gouvernance pour vivre ensemble dans une diversité-des-diversités (‘multiversalité’), qui englobe des contextes changeants et croisés (Latham (2007/2008, Vertovec 2010 et Ramadan 2011). En conclusion, nous examinons si le Canada peut dépasser un multiculturalisme de mosaïque dont la tendance à assembler des cultures dans une standardisation unique masque des identités trans-migrantes et des différences croisées. Le temps dira si le Canada est prêt à promouvoir une gouvernance multiculturelle 2.0 structurée pour assurer que la différenciation des différences soit protégée de – et néanmoins pour – un avenir post-national (Sandercock 2003; aussi Parekh 2005).

The Future of Corporate Governance: Network Governance – A Lesson from the Financial Crisis

10.2 trillion dollars have been lost in the US alone in the past two years. 45% of world’s wealth has been destroyed and three of the largest bankruptcies in the US have occurred in the past year. Just as the majority of observers thought lessons from Enron had been learned, crisis has struck again. Massive government intervention, the collapse of the banking system, and public outrage at the missteps of executives have again highlighted the weaknesses of mainstream corporate governance systems. Contrary to popular opinion the principal cause of the crisis was not sub-prime mortgage defaults but a failure of corporate governance, states the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. While the OECD is brainstorming new corporate governance codes, public policy makers are calling for more comprehensive and tougher regulation. How likely will those changes help to prevent a future crisis? Not very likely, we argue, unless we fundamentally rethink the underlying failures inherent to the Anglo- Saxon structure of corporate governance and regulation. In the following article, we thus examine the systemic shortcomings of Anglo-Saxon corporate governance that arise from too much power being vested in a single board. We also lay out alternative governance models based on the natural science of communication and control. We then identify why a single board cannot adequately and reliably control the complex firms that wield influence over our lives. Examples of alternative models provide evidence that managers can design governance architectures that significantly reduce the risk of systematic blind spots, and the ensuing massive wealth destruction.

If science is not the answer, what is? An alternative governance model for the world's fisheries

Worldwide, management of fisheries has repeatedly failed, despite substantial investment in scientific research, primarily in the natural sciences. We argue that the way in which ecosystems are viewed and the lack of explicit consideration of three key elements – corporate responsibility, social justice, and ethics –have contributed to this dismal history. Here, we turn classical ecosystem thinking on its head, proposing an alternative image of an “inverted trophic pyramid” that places humans at the bottom. The inverted pyramid encapsulates ecosystem-based management and the interdependent relationship between humans and the ecosystem. It requires business incentives, ethics, and a balance of power to prevent the pyramid from toppling and to avert a crisis.

Three Management Challenges for Protection of Aboriginal Cultural Heritage in a Tasmanian Multiple-use Conservation Area

Protected areas that are created to safeguard environmental values such as Indigenous culturescapes may in fact significantly fail in this task. This study concerns such an instance in far north-west Tasmania, where the government adopted a multiple-use resource conservation-development management model for the Arthur–Pieman Conservation Area (APCA). The model offers protection of cultural heritage values whilst permitting numerous community recreational and commercial uses. One particular objective is to protect ‘an extraordinary richness of Aboriginal cultural heritage’ in one of Earth's great archaeological regions (DPIWE, Arthur–Pieman Conservation Area Management Plan, 2002, p. iii). Yet under the auspices of multiple use, Aborigine and others report unremitting damage and loss of ancestral values. To examine how this is so in an actively managed protected area, perceptions of 16 environmental professionals and local residents engaged in APCA planning and management are used to identify three major challenges for appropriate custodianship of the Aboriginal cultural landscape: Aboriginal–Eurocentric conflicts; limited community governance capacities; and deficient regulatory provisions. It is concluded that APCA multiple-use management of heritage conservation is ineffectual and that an alternative governance model is required urgently. The management challenges examined here offer insights for problematic Indigenous cultural heritage conservation in other jurisdictions of Australia and elsewhere.

Corporate Governance in Emerging Capital Markets: whither Africa?

Having debated the pros and cons of alternative governance models in the developed market economies, a case is made for Africa’s choice to be in the direction of the institutionally‐based model. It is emphasized however that the African economies which are restructuring need to adapt the model to the peculiarities of specific economies and that the inputs from more than a single model will be necessary to provide for globally competitive capital markets in these economies.

HOW TIME AFFECTS TRANSACTION COSTS AND RELATIONAL GOVERNANCE IN THE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL: A REVIEW AND RESEARCH PROPOSITIONS

There has been a steady increase in the amount of research and theorising in the area of interorganisational research, especially with regard to buyer‐seller arrangements in marketing channels (Andersen and Narus 1990, Bergen et.al., 1992, Boyle et.al., 1992). Alternative interorganisational governance models, such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, and sole‐sourcing are the reality of modern business management (Borys and Jemison 1989, Buckley and Casson 1988), and so interfirm governance has become a strategic management issue. The much‐cited work of Porter (1985, 1991) has focused on the optimal linkage of interfirm activities, and regards the planning and governance of interfirm relations as an important competitive strategic issue, a point reiterated by Heide (1994). The issue of channel relationships has been one of concern for both practitioners and academics, and theories such as those of transaction cost analysis (TCA), agency theory, and relational norms have on the one hand shed much light on the problems, and on the other provided a fruitful backdrop to much empirical research. Less attention has been given to the effects of time on these notions, both in the literature and in empirical research. In this article we provide an overview of the theories, and attempt an integration. The purpose of this article is to focus on transaction cost economics (TCE) and relational exchange theory to provide an overview of the areas of interorganisational research where relationships play a role. A number of areas where the theories diverge and converge are outlined. More importantly, we endeavour to bring the effects of time into consideration, and to develop propositions for further research.