District Management Research Articles

On management processes in education Towards international exams – the case of the Meitzav

The purpose of the current study is to examine the differences in the functioning of school staff and management in the southern district (a peripheral area) and in the central district. This, in light of the Meitzav test (Hebrew acronym for School Efficacy and Growth Measures) administered in junior high schools from 2016-2019. The preparations undertaken by the school management and educational staff for the Meitzav and the resources allocated by the school principal for studying for these tests were examined. The research findings indicate that the significance of the Meitzav tests as perceived by the principal is critical for success on the tests in the core subjects of math, Hebrew, English, and science. The more principals see the Meitzav as an effective measurement tool for them and for the school’s progress, the more they will act to provide reinforcement learning, focus days in the core subject, individual learning, so that the preparation for this test will be optimal. The contribution of the current study is in understanding the pedagogic and organizational school processes that occur at the schools, which are required for the purpose of reaching measurable achievements. Understanding these processes and identifying them is extremely significant for the school principal and for the educational system in general regarding expectations of the school, its goals, and how they are achieved. The research findings might have a practical contribution to school principals and policy makers in the school educational system, while characterizing and examining positive change components in school management.

A Bayesian Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Malaria in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana from 2015 to 2019.

The Greater Accra Region is the smallest of the 16 administrative regions in Ghana. It is highly populated and characterized by tropical climatic conditions. Although efforts towards malaria control in Ghana have had positive impacts, malaria remains in the top five diseases reported at healthcare facilities within the Greater Accra Region. To further accelerate progress, analysis of regionally generated data is needed to inform control and management measures at this level. This study aimed to examine the climatic drivers of malaria transmission in the Greater Accra Region and identify inter-district variation in malaria burden. Monthly malaria cases for the Greater Accra Region were obtained from the Ghanaian District Health Information and Management System. Malaria cases were decomposed using seasonal-trend decomposition, based on locally weighted regression to analyze seasonality. A negative binomial regression model with a conditional autoregressive prior structure was used to quantify associations between climatic variables and malaria risk and spatial dependence. Posterior parameters were estimated using Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation with Gibbs sampling. A total of 1,105,370 malaria cases were recorded in the region from 2015 to 2019. The overall malaria incidence for the region was approximately 47 per 1000 population. Malaria transmission was highly seasonal with an irregular inter-annual pattern. Monthly malaria case incidence was found to decrease by 2.3% (95% credible interval: 0.7–4.2%) for each 1 °C increase in monthly minimum temperature. Only five districts located in the south-central part of the region had a malaria incidence rate lower than the regional average at >95% probability level. The distribution of malaria cases was heterogeneous, seasonal, and significantly associated with climatic variables. Targeted malaria control and prevention in high-risk districts at the appropriate time points could result in a significant reduction in malaria transmission in the Greater Accra Region.

Child health and the implementation of Community and District-management Empowerment for Scale-up (CODES) in Uganda: a randomised controlled trial

IntroductionUganda’s district-level administrative units buttress the public healthcare system. In many districts, however, local capacity is incommensurate with that required to plan and implement quality health interventions. This study investigates...

The role and impact of oil palm plantations in landscape management in South Tapanuli District, North Sumatra, Indonesia

This study was conducted in South Tapanuli District, which is one of the two oil palm centres implementing the landscape management project. Data collected from Regional Plan documents and 169 smallholder samples and analysed with Cross Tabulation and Compare Means Test. The results show that landscape management has been implemented through Regional Planning and various regulations. However, many institutions are authorized to manage landscape, which occasionally result in confusing and contradictory decisions. Through regulations, the Government has limited the expansion of oil palm plantations by specifying Forest and Food Regions. Intensification and diversification approaches are also considered as alternatives for balancing land allocations among sectors and commodities. Intensification is taught through the Sustainable Oil Palm Field School Program, which can improve smallholder knowledge and implementation of landscape management. However, smallholders with larger plantation areas are less interested in participating in the program. Diversifications were indicated through the smallholder cropping system, which is focused on potential commodities such as rubber, coffee or cacao. Smallholders perceive other commodities as less profitable because most of their agribusiness systems are less developed than the palm oil agribusiness system. Therefore, improvement in every potential agribusiness system is recommended to optimize landscape management in South Tapanuli.

Faktor-Faktor Yang Mempengaruhi Akuntabilitas Pengelolaan Dana Desa (Studi Kasus Desa Di Kecamatan Simeulue Barat)

This study aims to analyze the influence of leadership, transparency, use of information technology and internal control systems on the accountability of village village fund management in villages in West Simeulue District. The problem that arises is whether leadership, transparency in the use of information technology and internal control systems affect the accountability of village fund management in West Simeulue District? With a sample of 70 respondents and data obtained by distributing questionnaires to respondents. To test each item on each variable has been tested the validity and reliability of the instrument. The results show that simultaneously there is an influence between leadership, transparency, use of information technology, internal control systems and accountability of village fund management by 0.678 or 67.8% and 0.322 or 32.2% influenced by other variables. after the F test, the number Fcount > Ftable or (34,293>3.13) and a significant test that the p value of 0.000 <p is set at 0.05 which means it is significant. Partially shows that: 1. Leadership affects the accountability of village fund management Tcount 2.392> T table 1.667 and p value 0.020 < from p 0.05 means significant. 2. Transparency affects the accountability of village fund management Tcount 2,231 > Ttable 1,667 with p value 0.029 from <0.05 means significant. 3. The use of information technology affects the accountability of village fund management Tcount 1.953> Ttable 1.667 with p value 0.030 from <0.05 means significant. 4. The internal control system affects the accountability of village fund management Tcount 4.511> Ttable 1.667 with p value 0.000 from <0.05 means significant. This means that partially the influence of the internal control system on the accountability of village fund management is more dominant than leadership, transparency and the use of information technology.

Spatial Optimization and Tradeoffs of Alternative Forest Management Scenarios in Macedonia, Greece

Managing forests has been demonstrated to be an efficient strategy for fragmenting fuels and for reducing fire spread rates and severity. However, large-scale analyses to examine operational aspects of implementing different forest management scenarios to meet fire governance objectives are nonexistent for many Mediterranean countries. In this study we described an optimization framework to build forest management scenarios that leverages fire simulation, forest management, and tradeoff analyses for forest areas in Macedonia, Greece. We demonstrated the framework to evaluate five forest management priorities aimed at (1) protection of developed areas, (2) optimized commercial timber harvests, (3) protection of ecosystem services, (4) fire resilience, and (5) reducing suppression difficulty. Results revealed that by managing approximately 33,000 ha across all lands in different allocations of 100 projects, the area that accounted for 16% of the wildfire exposure to developed areas was treated while harvesting 2.5% of total wood volume. The treatments also reduced fuels on the area that are responsible for 3% of the potential fire impacts to sites with important ecosystem services, while suppression difficulty and wildfire transmission to protected areas attainment was 4.5% and 16%, respectively. We also tested the performance of multiple forest district management priorities when applying a proposed four-year fuel treatment plan that targeted achieving high levels of attainment by treating less area but strategically selected lands. Sharp management tradeoffs were observed among all management priorities, especially for harvest production compared with suppression difficulty, the protection of developed areas, and wildfire exposure to protected areas.

DESIDS: An Integrated Decision Support System for the Planning, Analysis, Management and Rehabilitation of Pressurised Irrigation Distribution Systems

Pressurized irrigation distribution systems (PIDSs) play a vital role in irrigation intensification, especially in the Mediterranean region. The design, operation and management of these systems can be complex, as they involve several intertwined processes which need to be considered simultaneously. For this reason, numerous decision support systems (DSSs) have been developed and are available to deal with these processes, but as independent components. To this end, a comprehensive DSS called DESIDS has been developed and tested. This DSS has been developed to bear in mind the needs of irrigation district managers for an integrated tool that can assist them in taking strategic decisions for managing and developing reliable, adequate and sustainable water distribution plans which provide the best services to farmers. Hence, four modules were integrated in DESIDS: (i) irrigation demand and scheduling module; (ii) hydraulic analysis module; (iii) operation and management module; and (iv) design and rehabilitation module. DESIDS was tested on different case studies, proving itself a valuable tool for irrigation district managers, as it provides a wide range of decision options for the proper operation and management of PIDSs. The developed DSS can be used as a platform for future integrations and expansions, and to include other processes needed for better decision-making support.

Analysis of District Heating and Cooling Energy Systems in Spain: Resources, Technology and Management

District heating and cooling (DHC) systems play an important role under the new European Union (EU) energy transition strategy. Thermal energy networks are helping to stimulate the development of alternative technologies based on a broad range of renewable energy sources. The present study analysed the current situation of DHC systems in Spain and provides an overview of the challenges and future opportunities that their use will entail. Its objective is to assess thermal energy conversion and management from a holistic perspective, including a study of existing energy infrastructures. The focus of this study lies on Spain given the country’s abundance of natural resources such as renewable energy sources including solar energy, biomass and geothermal energy, among others, as well as its strategic location on the map of the EU. Based on the analysis of the three factors for energy conversion in a district heating system, namely resources, technology, and management, the methodology provided an assessment of the different factors involved in running a DHC system. The results show an estimated total production for DHC networks of 1448 MWth, of which 72% is supplied purely by renewable energy sources.

Acceptability and feasibility of inter-related activities to improve agency among African district health managers: A four-country study

ABSTRACT District health managers (DHMs) lead and manage Ministry of Health programmes and system performance. We report on the acceptability and feasibility of inter-related activities to increase the agency of DHMs in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda using a cross-sectional rapid appraisal with 372 DHMs employing structured questionnaires. We found differences and similarities between the countries, in particular, who becomes a DHM. The opportunity to provide leadership and effect change and being part of a team were reported as rewarding aspects of DHMs’ work. Demotivating factors included limited resources, bureaucracy, staff shortages, lack of support from leadership and inadequate delegation of authority. District managers ranked the acceptability of the inter-related activities similarly despite differences between contexts. Activities highly ranked by DHMs were to employ someone to support primary care staff to compile and analyse district-level data; to undertake study tours to well-functioning districts; and joining an African Regional DHM Association. DHMs rated these activities as feasible to implement. This study confirms that DHMs are in support of a process to promote bottom-up, data-driven, context-specific actions that can promote self-actualisation, recognises the roles DHMs play, provides opportunities for peer learning and can potentially improve quality of care.

E-tourism: How ICTs Help the Local Tourist District Drive Economic Vitality. The Case of Campania, Italy

The purpose of the study is to answer to the following Research Question (RQ): “What are the perception and the application of ICTs for e-tourism in different LTDs in Campania?” To answer the RQ a qualitative study was done with a questionnaire to 144 managers of Local Tourist Districts (LTDs) in Campania, Italy. The questionnaire was summited in 2017. The acquired data were processed using the factor analyses. The study of the region’s 12 LTDs allowed for the identification of three district typologies i.e. three homogeneous groups. The one, defined as proactive, exhibited positive results thanks to the skills and competencies of its managers. By contrast, despite the wealth of attractions, the other districts did not fare as well mostly due to management inadequacies and organizational culture. The research was limited to only 12 LTDs located in Italy. Possible measures to address operational and cultural problems in the region have been identified in implementation of ITCs’ applications to foster e-tourism and the local entrepreneurial ecosystem as well as the accumulation of knowledge to enhance the awareness of the education as a strategic factor [ Masele , J. J. ( 2015 ). Towards e-commerce use for pro-poor tourism promotion: Local providers’ ICT training needs in Tanzania. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 12(4), 1550020]. Moreover, at the national and international level, other strategic elements can be identified in: analysis of good practices and cross contamination of proactive district managers with the participated and insensitive district managers.It is the first research paper on the Campania districts since their inception. The analysis of the phenomenon may be extended to other countries too.

Cyber-Physical Systems Improving Building Energy Management: Digital Twin and Artificial Intelligence

The research explores the potential of digital-twin-based methods and approaches aimed at achieving an intelligent optimization and automation system for energy management of a residential district through the use of three-dimensional data model integrated with Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The case study is focused on Rinascimento III in Rome, an area consisting of 16 eight-floor buildings with 216 apartment units powered by 70% of self-renewable energy. The combined use of integrated dynamic analysis algorithms has allowed the evaluation of different scenarios of energy efficiency intervention aimed at achieving a virtuous energy management of the complex, keeping the actual internal comfort and climate conditions. Meanwhile, the objective is also to plan and deploy a cost-effective IT (information technology) infrastructure able to provide reliable data using edge-computing paradigm. Therefore, the developed methodology led to the evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of integrative systems for renewable energy production from solar energy necessary to raise the threshold of self-produced energy, meeting the nZEB (near zero energy buildings) requirements.

It is beyond remuneration: Bottom-up health workers' retention strategies at the primary health care system in Tanzania.

Although Tanzania is operating a decentralized health system, most of the health workers' retention strategies are designed at the central level and implemented at the local level. This study sought to explore the bottom-up health workers' retention strategies by analyzing experiences from two rural districts, Rombo and Kilwa in Tanzania by conducting a cross-sectional exploratory qualitative study in the said districts. Nineteen key informants were purposefully selected based on their involvement in the health workers' retention scheme at the district and then interviewed. These key informants included district health managers, local government leaders, and in-charges of health facilities. Also, three focused group discussions were conducted with 19 members from three Health Facility Governing Committees (HFGCs). Qualitative content analysis was deployed to analyze the data. We uncovered health-facility and district level retention strategies which included, the promotion of good community reception, promotion of good working relationships with local government leaders, limiting migration within district facilities and to districts within the region, and active head-hunting at training institutions. Retention of health workers at the primary health care level is beyond remuneration. Although some of these strategies have financial implications, most of them are less costly compared to the top-bottom strategies. While large scale studies are needed to test the generalizability of the strategies unveiled in our study, more studies are required to uncover additional bottom-up retention strategies.

Optimalisasi Pengelolaan Limbah Tahu Menjadi Biogas Menuju Desa Mandiri Energi

Optimization of tofu waste management in Danger Village masbagik kemacatan East Lombok district has been done. Danger village is a village that focuses its economic sector on home indutrsi tofu making. Almost 50% of the total population in the village is involved in this field. Tofu waste, both solid waste and liquid waste, which was initially only disposed of and caused a foul smell, has now been optimally processed into biogas. This new energy source can be used by citizens as fuel for production. The purpose of this activity aims to improve the skills of citizens designing and building household-scale digesters in order to optimize the management of waste tofu into biogas. The method of activity used is focus discussion group to need assement problems that exist in the citizens, and then transfer biogas technology by providing assistance to citizens as partners ranging from digester making to slury management of biogas waste. The result of this activity is the establishment of household-scale digesters in partners and increased understanding of partners related to the use of waste tofu both solid and liquid to become biogas and the realization of the concept of energy independent villages

Emerging issues and barriers in access to menstrual hygiene management in a tribal district of India

Background: Access to Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) remains a critical challenge to Indian women especially in remote areas. The problem of poor availability, acceptance, and affordability of MHM products is further aggravated by negative social construct and environmental concerns. Poor menstrual hygiene is linked to significant morbidity and mortality due to reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and cervical cancer etc.Methods: A campaign “Chuppi Todo” was organized in Udaipur; a tribal district in Rajasthan aiming for menstrual health education of adolescent girls and mothers across public schools through interactive means. During the campaign interviews were conducted by trained field staff with participating girls to elicit perspectives related to menstrual hygiene and feedback of the education sessions.Results: Based on qualitative assesments it was observed that women largely ignore menstrual hygiene or follow old traditional practices. They don’t prefer using modern MHM products like sanitary pads etc owing to the difficulty in their disposal and embarrassment.Conclusions: The present study highlights existing knowledge gaps and barriers in providing universal access to MHM to adolescent girls and women living in remote areas in India.

Bottom-up innovation for health management capacity development: a qualitative case study in a South African health district

BackgroundAs part of health system strengthening in South Africa (2012–2017) a new district health manager, taking a bottom-up approach, developed a suite of innovations to improve the processes of monthly district management team meetings, and the practices of managers and NGO partners attending them. Understanding capacity as a property of the health system rather than only of individuals, the research explored the mechanisms triggered in context to produce outputs, including the initial sensemaking by the district manager, the subsequent sensegiving and sensemaking in the team and how these homegrown innovations interacted with existing social processes and norms within the system.MethodsWe conducted a realist evaluation, adopting the case study design, over a two-year period (2013–2015) in the district of focus. The initial programme theory was developed from 10 senior manager interviews and a literature review. To understand the processes and mechanisms triggered in the local context and identify outputs, we conducted 15 interviews with managers in the management team and seven with non-state actors. These were supplemented by researcher notes based on time spent in the district. Thematic analysis was conducted using the Context-Mechanism-Outcome configuration alongside theoretical constructs.ResultsThe new district manager drew on systems thinking, tacit and experiential knowledge to design bottom-up innovations. Capacity was triggered through micro-practices of sensemaking and sensegiving which included using sticks (positional authority, enforcement of policies, over-coding), intentionally providing justifications for change and setting the scene (a new agenda, distributed leadership). These micro-practices in themselves, and by managers engaging with them, triggered a generative process of buy-in and motivation which influenced managers and partners to participate in new practices within a routine meeting.ConclusionDistrict managers are well placed to design local capacity development innovations and must draw on systems thinking, tacit and experiential knowledge to enable relevant ‘bottom-up’ capacity development in district health systems. By drawing on soft skills and the policy resources (hardware) of the system they can influence motivation and buy-in to improve management practices. From a systems perspective, we argue that capacity development can be conceived of as part of the daily activity of managing within routine spaces.

Visibility and Analytics Network (VAN) approach to improve immunization supply chain and management performance system in Pakistan.

BackgroundPakistan has been experiencing several immunization related challenges. The supply chain management information system (MIS) is considered an important component of immunization services as it can improve visibility in key areas such as vaccine shortages or wastage. This study assessed the effectiveness of the Visibility and Analytics Network (VAN) approach in improving vaccine supply and availability of stocks by comparing the situation in intervention and non-intervention districts in Sindh province of Pakistan.MethodsWe utilized a quantitative and qualitative approach to collect data to assess the VAN approach in two districts of Sindh province in Pakistan. The data were collected between August and October 2017. VAN is a systematic monitoring system which measures the performance of vaccine supply chain management based on a set of indicators. We assessed storage facilities of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in Sindh and interviewed personnel involved using a pre-tested data collection tool. We also conducted in depth interviews with senior management to assess performance of VAN, adoption mechanism and needs to scale up the VAN approach.ResultsWe assessed 52 EPI facilities of Sindh province government. In the intervention district 83.3% managers were using MIS data for decision making related to vaccine supplies whereas in the non- intervention district no MIS based data were available. Ninety percent of stores were maintaining a stock registry and 100% supplies matched with requisitions in the intervention district compared to 40% and 35% in the non-intervention district for the same variables. Vaccine wastage was high in the non- intervention district (BCG 46.7% vs 33.9; OPV 13.5% vs 9.5%; pneumococcal 11.4% vs 7.4%). In-depth interview findings suggested that the VAN approach provided data guided monitoring in Pakistan for the first time. The approach also enabled district managers to make timely decisions.ConclusionThe VAN approach improves vaccine supply chain management. It should be scaled up and implemented at national or sub national especially in countries struggling with vaccine supply chain management.

PERILAKU IBU RUMAH TANGGA DALAM PENGELOLAAN SAMPAH DI KECAMATAN PAUH KOTA PADANG

The research objective aims to determine the behavior of housewives about 1) knowing where the housewives dispose of waste in Pauh Subdistrict, Padang City, 2) knowing the condition of the waste disposed of by housewives in Pauh Subdistrict, Padang City, 3) knowing whether housewives carry out waste management in Pauh District. The research method used is descriptive qualitative. The research instruments were housewives in Pauh District, Padang City, totaling 75 people. The data collection technique was done by means of observation, interview and documentation. The data analysis technique used is the analysis process of data reduction, data presentation, and data verification. The results of the research on the behavior of housewives in waste management in Pauh Subdistrict, Padang City show that, 1) the location of the housewives' garbage disposal is around the riverbank, on the side of the road, in the middle of the street park, TPS or temporary shelter, behind the house and in the yard. . 2) housewives do not do waste sorting before disposing of garbage, so that the condition of the waste to be disposed of is mixed together. 3) found in all PauhSubdistricts, only a few housewives know how to sort waste, recycle waste, and use sprouts into items of economic value. The waste management used is the Landfill management model or just letting the waste rot.

RETRACTED: Research on obstacles of socialization of old residential district management under the theory of community conflict—Regression analysis based on SPSS software

The socialization of old residential district management is an inevitable trend of urban development, but the current situation is not optimistic. According to the theory of community conflict, this paper analyzes obstacles of management socialization from four perspectives of environmental factors, opposite relations, power factors and emotional factors, and constructs an analysis system for the socialization obstacles of old residential district management. Regression analysis of the survey data through the establishment of orderly multiple Logit models, using IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 software to process the data. The regression analysis of the data shows that environmental factors, opposite relations, and emotional factors have a significant impact on the socialization of old residential district management. The results show that the transformation of old residential areas, diversified management of property service enterprises, increased publicity and establishment of supervision mechanisms, and the establishment and use of the role of owners' committees, which can effectively promote the socialization process of old residential district management, fill in shortcomings, and improve the quality of life of residents in old communities.

Pengaruh Kompetensi SDM, Prinsip Akuntabilitas Terhadap Pengelolaan Keuangan Desa Di Kecamatan Suwawa Selatan

This study aims to determine the effect of human resource competence and the principles of accountability in village financial management in South Suwawa District, Bone Bolango Regency partially or simultaneously. The research method used is quantitative methods by means of data through distributing questionnaires to employees. The data analysis used is multiple regression. The results showed that partially or simultaneously the competence of human resources of village officials and the principle of accountability in village financial management had a positive and significant effect on village financial management in Suwawa Selatan District, Bone Bolango Regency. The coefficient of determination is 0.435, which means that the determinant value of the competence of village officials and the principle of accountability for village financial management on village financial management in Suwawa Selatan District Bone Bolango Regency is 43.50%. While the remaining 56.50% can be provided by other variables not examined in this study. These factors are the knowledge of village officials, skills in village financial management, education of village officials, integrity of village officials, work motivation of village officials, transparency of village financial management, work discipline and the internal control system implemented by the village government.

Framing the Hierarchy of Cultural Tourism Attractiveness of Chinese Historic Districts under the Premise of Landscape Conservation

While empowering the revitalization of Chinese historic districts, the rapid development of the tourism industry may also endanger local cultures and streetscapes. To achieve the goal of sustainable development and find an approach for the Chinese historic districts to develop tourism while taking into account landscape conservation, district management, and living convenience, this paper uses expert interviews (including in-depth and Modified Delphi interviews) and structural observation to explore redefining Chinese historic districts and cultural tourism attractiveness in order to provide a hierarchical framework. The research results reveal: 1. The respective redefinitions of a Chinese historic district and cultural tourism attractiveness; 2. A hierarchical framework for the cultural tourism attractiveness of Chinese historic districts, using two aspects—the physical environment and the cultural and natural environments—and five criteria including the morphology of the landscape and tourism infrastructure, along with 21 elements, including the natural and cultural landscapes. This research is expected to provide a theoretical reference for the planning and management of tourism and landscapes in Chinese historic districts.