Formal Agreements Research Articles

Cost analysis and barriers to implementing and sustaining an international surgical resident rotation: a retrospective review

BackgroundThe overwhelming need and interest in global surgery has led to increasing numbers of international surgery resident rotations. Despite the validity of global surgical education, financial and logistical barriers remain when implementing these international rotations. The Mount Sinai Department of Surgery, New York, USA, established an international resident rotation in 2005. Here, we describe some of the costs and barriers to establishing and maintaining a global surgery rotation with the aim of providing a guideline for academic institutions interested in building an international rotation. MethodsThis study is a retrospective review of the international rotation with the Hospital Jose Maria Cabral y Báez (Cabral) in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The exchange programme is an opportunity for two resident doctors from Dominican Republic to join Mount Sinai third year residents in a 1-month surgical rotation. We reviewed data collected from budgets, financial investments, resident and programme director experiences, and formal agreements between the two institutions. FindingsWith the Mount Sinai funding, there have been three residents from the Dominican Republic who have completed an exchange rotation at the Mount Sinai Hospital. An optimum international site requires a balanced alliance between the US academic institution and the international site. The Cabral and Mount Sinai collaborative partnership allows residents from both institutions to benefit from the exchange of experiences and surgical practices. Site selection is contingent on: hospital infrastructure (eg, operative variety and volume, faculty oversight); suitable living accommodations that allow personal safety, access to food, running water, electricity, and an internet connection; and overcoming language barriers. Successful implementation requires a time commitment from staff at both institutions. The monthly operational cost of this programme is US$3530, with 37% for visiting resident accommodation, 30% for transport, 20% for visiting resident expenses, and 13% for health and communication expenses. The time required by the US programme director includes an annual trip to the international rotation site and approximately 100 h per year, which includes monthly orientations and debriefings, and research. Finally, this programme requires adherence to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and Residency Review Committee guidelines. InterpretationGlobal academic surgery combines surgery with education, clinical service, research, and advocacy in resource-limited settings. Mitigation of logistical barriers and addressing financial costs allows for successful global academic surgery programmes. FundingNone

Life beyond Arms Control: Moving toward a Global Regime of Nuclear Restraint & Responsibility

Today, we are on the verge of a world without nuclear restraint. In the absence of formal arms control, how do we proceed? What broad principles and norms would we want? What measures might nuclear-armed states take, even without formal agreement, that would reduce the risk of nuclear war and control the arms race? I suggest that nuclear-armed states move toward a global regime of nuclear restraint and responsibility. Restraint would primarily take the form of reciprocal commitments and unilateral measures to avoid an arms race and reduce nuclear dangers. Responsibility refers to the fact that nuclear-armed states must pursue limited forms of deterrence and are accountable to the international community. I suggest several steps that governments, with the help of civil society, could take, beginning with the most minimal, declaratory initiatives and unilateral measures, and proceeding to steps that require more action.

Krijg je nog rente voor een lied?

Abstract This article presents the first diachronic overview of the economic, social and symbolic profits of ‘city poets’ (‘stadsdichters’) in the Low Countries. From the early fifteenth century onwards, there have been many (more or less) official relationships between city councils and poets. The prominence and the form of these relationships, however, diverged greatly in different periods: whereas official appointments were the standard in the fifteenth, sixteenth and the twenty-first centuries, the period in between saw a much more diverse landscape of informal appointments and relationships. After presenting a historical overview of the role of city poets throughout the centuries, this article focuses on two well-documented periods in which formal agreements were made between town governments and poets: the late Middle Ages and the start of the 21st century. We analyze political and financial agreements explicitly in relationship to the complexities surrounding the production of city poetry. City poetry, paid by public money, is bound to be controversial: in general because its status is subject to changes and political discussions, but also because this form of commissioned poetry is sometimes seen as a form of propaganda. Official city poetry seems to flourish most in societies with a stable political-religious climate (as in the Southern Low Countries in the fifteenth and sixteenth century) and/or with a keen interest in city marketing (as in Flanders and the Netherlands in the twenty-first century).

Normative transformations in EU external relations: the phenomenon of ‘soft’ international agreements

The European Union increasingly uses ‘soft’ international arrangements rather than formal international agreements in establishing relations with non-EU states. This contribution aims to raise the question of to what extent a move from hard to soft law in relations between the EU and its partners can be seen as allowing the Union to ‘step outside’ the legal framework (if that indeed is what is happening) and disregard the rules and principles that define the way in which EU external relations are to take shape. Possible consequences include the risk that these instruments are not subject to appropriate safeguards, that parliamentary influence (by the European Parliament as well as by national parliaments) is by-passed and that transparency is affected. There are various reasons for the EU not to use formal procedures, but a turn to informality does come at a price.

Kingdom of the Netherlands - Aruba

This Technical Assistance report on Kingdom of the Netherlands—Aruba focuses on the mission undertaken to assist the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in assessing and improving the national accounts. The CBS plans to recompile and disseminate the revised annual current price estimates by January 2020, and improved constant 2013 price estimates by June 2020. The mission and the Director of the CBS met with the Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Culture to discuss the rebased estimates and the 2020–2025 action plan. The budget, staffing, and data coordination plans of the CBS were also discussed. The Minister agreed to establishing formal data coordination agreements between the CBS and other government institutions, and on the need for the legislation and related reporting procedures to be strengthened. She also agreed to the 2020–2025 action plan to implement the Special Data Dissemination Standard for real-sector statistics, the need for benchmark and regular surveys, and to incrementally increasing the CBS budget and staffing, subject to Cabinet approval.

Trust, Control, and Value Creation in Strategic Networks of SMEs

This paper investigates the role of trust and control in networks of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on both their direct and interaction effects on value creation. To delve into the interplay between trust and control, we unpack control mechanisms into three different forms: output, process, and social control. Our hypotheses are tested on a sample of 58 Italian SME networks based on formal agreements. Results show that the competitiveness and sustainability of inter-firm networks require trust-based relationships among entrepreneurs. Additionally, the adoption of output control mechanisms reinforces the positive link between trust and value creation, whereas a substitution effect exists between trust and process control and, with limited significance, between trust and social control.

Strategies to Increase the Number of Centers Reporting Data to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR)

<h3>Introduction</h3> Many developing countries do not have a consolidated registry to report hematopoietic stem cell transplant outcomes (HSCT), what poses a great challenge to understand the HSCT results. The CIBMTR is an excellent strategy for these countries to report, validate, and to have their own nationwide data. <h3>Objective</h3> To report strategies and tools developed in Brazil to increase the number of active centers reporting data to the CIBMTR. <h3>Methods</h3> The Brazilian Society of Bone Marrow Transplant (SBTMO) and Sao Paulo State Bone Marrow Association (AMEO), in partnership with the CIBMTR and support from the Brazilian government (PRONON-SUS), have outlined strategies and developed tools to improve data reporting: data managers visited the CIBMTR for specific training, online-based learning tools were developed in Portuguese; the SBTMO has constituted a formal data manager working group and has worked on a formal agreement with the CIBMTR to have organized nationwide data back to the country. The data managers group organized an online real time communication tool (WhatsApp) with the senior data managers and with an outstanding Portuguese-speaking staff of the CIBMTR (Figure 1). <h3>Results and Discussion</h3> Since the beginning of the project in 2016, the number of centers registered at the CIBMTR has increased from 24 to 33 and among them, the number of centers with current reports increased from 9 to 16 (Figure 2). With the expected delay in starting this process complete CIBMTR affiliation, inclusion of new centers in the study for reporting data in the nationwide Platform, submission to the local ethics committee, and training of data managers, we expect this number to further increase in the next months. There was a 50% increase in the number of participants at the SBTMO meeting organized for Brazilian data managers, 23 participants in 2017, and 52 in 2019. The participation of data managers at the Tandem Meetings increased from 3 in 2016 to 10 in 2019. The SBTMO data managers working group has their mission, vision and values published in the society's webpage. A multicenter study was approved in 2017 to send national data to the CIBMTR and in 2019 it gained Central Brazilian IRB (CONEP) approval, currently with 19 participating centers. AMEO has started training of new data managers with governmental support (Pronon), currently with 144 students from 36 centers. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The actions developed in our country have reached a large number of centers and professionals being prepared to report high quality data to the CIBMTR. The SBTMO recognition may help to establish data managers as an official activity in the country. We hope the Brazilian example may encourage other centers and countries, ultimately aiming at improving the quality of care for patients who need HSCT.

Сlimate Change in the Arctic: Adaptation to New Challenges

Global climate change in the Arctic has been unfolding more rapidly than in other parts of the world, and its impacts affect vulnerable northern ecosystems, health and well-being of the Northerners, economic sectors and infrastructure in the polar regions of the eight Arctic states. Consequences of climate change for human society are analysed in synergy with ongoing transformations in social, economic and institutional systems in the Arctic region. Their cumulative effect exposes a variety of challenges for sustainable development of the northern communities, regions and countries; it reveals a number of uncertainties in the future pathways within the transformative context, as well as a combination of risks and opportunities for societies; it requires human responses and adaptations to consequences of the Arctic change. Adaptation to climate change in combination with greenhouse gases emission reduction turns into an important component of climate policies and measures of the Arctic states. This article presents innovative results of analysis of the major trends and features in formation of adaptive governance in the Arctic. It emerges to be based on a polycentric design, and particularly, on coordination of response actions at various levels, on interactions and networks of a variety of the Arctic stakeholders, on taking into account local environmental and socio-economic contexts, on combination of multidisciplinary approaches and packaging of governance mechanisms and instruments. The study analyses the major developments and innovations in adaptation approaches, policies, and practices of the Arctic regions in N. America (Canada) and Europe (Norway). Its foci is on assessment of priorities, strategies and planning, institutions, economic instruments, climate services, application of structural measures for disaster risk reduction. It explores possibilities of regional exchange of best practices in the Arctic, and core barriers for success in implementation of adaptation policy options. The role of the Paris agreement in formation and structuring of adaptation policies and measure of the northern regions of the Arctic states is analysed.

Professional educational programmes under pressure. Organizational challenges related to strengthening research

ABSTRACT Higher education institutions embed a large variety of organizational practices regarding how to organize, plan, and implement managerial decisions and processes. This variation is amongst others related to the multiple relationships the institutions, disciplines and professions have in their networks, formal agreements, and practical cooperation with the actors and agencies of surrounding societies. Here, we focus upon the challenges and contradictions experienced by leaders of educational programmes within teacher education, engineering and health and social care. The professional educational programmes have increasingly been under pressure to strengthen their research capacity. At the same time, these programmes are characterized by strong relationships with the community of practitioners. How does leadership of these programmes seek to solve the challenges and contradictions between on the one hand catering for the relevance of the programmes and on the other hand strengthening the research capacity of the programmes?

The Hannes Meyer Seminars at the Bauhaus Dessau (1980–1986) as a Contact Zone for Finnish and East German Architects

This article charts transnational exchanges between East German and Finnish architects in the development of adaptive housing solutions for urban sites. It focuses on the Hannes Meyer Seminars – a series of annual international design workshops held at the Bauhaus Dessau from 1980 to 1986 – as a contact zone. The seminars challenged dominant forms of mass housing, and put forth alternative models to suit historic contexts. These exchanges went beyond previous (one-directional) material and technical exports that stretched back as far as the mid-1950s. As a result of the policy of détente in the early 1970s, relations between Finland and the GDR began to form an ever more complex and entangled network, with greater emphasis on knowledge transfer and collaboration. Formal agreements on ‘scientific and technical cooperation’ thus provided the framework for the intensification of contacts between design schools such as the College for Architecture and Civil Engineering (HAB, Hochschule für Architektur und Bauwesen) in Weimar and the Technical University Tampere. This opened a dialogue about contextual design (the adaptation of industrialised housing to the different needs and lifestyles of individual users), as well as historic settings, new tools such as CAD/CAM, sociological and historical research, and the discourse of postmodernism.

ECRI Institute and ISMP enter formal affiliation agreement

ECRI Institute and ISMP enter formal affiliation agreement

Towards a collaborative approach between practitioners and academics: insights from an academic–Fairtrade collaboration

Partnership approaches have been identified as crucial for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. In the context of an emerging literature on cross-sector partnerships, and more specifically reflections on how academic institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) create effective and mutually beneficial research collaborations, this paper draws on the experiences of a particular partnership between academic researchers and a Fair Trade organization partnership to contribute to building an understanding of how collaborative research can be achieved more effectively. A set of collaborative outputs resulted from the experience, including best practices for engagement and a training tool. It has contributed to changes in some of Fairtrade International’s ways of working with researchers. We found that we had more in common than what divided us in terms of skills and attitudes to knowledge, which is an important factor in the success of our relationship. Rooted in reflective practice, our project highlights the importance of trust and relationship building but also recognition of formal agreements and institutional structures to sustain the relationship.

I ANLEDNING 300-ÅRSJUBILEET: JOHAN ERNST GUNNERUS OG “AGDERS GUNNERUS” – ET BIDRAG TIL Å FORSTÅ HVORFOR BISKOP GUNNERUS FORESLO ET NORSK UNIVERSITET I KRISTIANSAND I 1771

The paper is written in connection with the 2018 300th anniversary of the birth of the professor and bishop, Johan Ernst Gunnerus (1718–1773), who founded modern science in Norway and who, in 1760, also founded the first learned society in the country: The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters in Trondheim. In 1758 Professor Gunnerus was appoined the bishop for the whole of northern Norway, as the bishop of Trondheim. In 1771 Bishop Gunnerus was called to the capital of the then Danish-Norwegian kingdom, Copenhagen, with the mission of reforming the Copenhagen university, at that time the only university in the entire dual kingdom. In his recommendation for reforms of the university, he also included a proposal for the establishment of a university in Norway. In this proposal, he argued for the city of Kristiansand as the most suitable location for that university. If the King would follow his recommendation, he would himself move to Kristiansand and also bring with him the Royal Society from Trondheim. Many people have subsequently wondered why he chose to point to Kristiansand for the establishment of the first Norwegian university, and not Oslo (where the university was finally opened in 1813) or Trondheim (where he had founded the Royal Society 11 years earlier). It has been thought that Gunnerus suggested Kristiansand mainly because the fact that the city was close to Denmark and a university there could perhaps have also recruited students from northern Jutland. Some have even suggested that Gunnerus proposed Kristiansand because he knew it would not be acceptable to Copenhagen or to the King, and then Trondheim (his “real” wish) could then emerge as a more plausible candidate, even if it was situated rather far north. In this paper, I argue that until now everybody who has discussed Gunnerus' choice of location for a Norwegian university has missed one decisive point: before Gunnerus moved from Copenhagen (where he was professor) to Trondheim (as bishop), Kristiansand was known in Norway, Denmark and the rest of Europe as the Norwegian centre for science and research. This was due to just one man, Bishop Jens Christian Spidberg (1684–1762). I show how Spidberg established himself through international publications as the leading scientist in Norway, and how everybody with a scientific question during the first half of the 18th century looked to Kristiansand and Spidberg for the answer. This, I argue, gaveKristiansand an academic and scientific reputation that Gunnerus was very well aware of and could exploit in his recommendation of Kristiansand as the location for the first Norwegian university. However, this knowledge about this reputation of Kristiansand’s in the first half of the 18th century has since been lost completely, mostly because Gunnerus’ fundamental seminal contribution in the second half of the 18th century has completely overshadowed the academic situation in Norway before his time. Finally in 2007 a university, the University of Agder, was established in Kristiansand, on the basis of a university college with academic roots going back to 1828. An academy of science, the Agder Academy of Sciences and Letters, was founded in 2002. A formal agreement of cooperation between the Royal Society and the then university college was signed 2001, and the academy joined the agreement in 2005. This agreement confirmed the long academic ties between Kristiansand and Trondheim, going all the way back to the scientific positions first held by Spidberg in Kristiansand and then by Gunnerus in Trondheim.

Neglected intermediaries in bioenergy straw supply chains: Understanding the roles of merchants, contractors and agronomists in England

Outside of Denmark, straw-based bioenergy has seen uneven success across Europe. In the UK, straw-based bioenergy has been positioned as making a potentially important contribution to the UK government's energy and environmental objectives. However, growth of the sector has been modest and supply shortages have been experienced despite straw being anticipated as readily available in the UK and surplus to existing market requirements. This paper explores a previously under theorised and neglected aspect of this story, the role played by agricultural intermediaries, merchants, contractors and advisors. Drawing on interviews with farmers, bioenergy industry representatives, agronomists, straw merchants and contractors from three case study areas, it finds that intermediaries undertake key roles providing physical and social labour required to maintain straw supply chains. They provide baling equipment, maintain informal and formal agreements with producers and users, build and maintain trust, influence on-farm management of straw and increase supply chain resilience to market shocks. However, there is tension between agronomists who advise straw incorporation and the aims of straw merchants/bioenergy policy which seek to incentivise baling. If policy makers are committed to developing a straw-based bioenergy industry, then policy frameworks need to engage in a multi-actor approach that enables the development of committed and well-resourced intermediaries.

ORGANIZATION CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY: THE CASE OF PERAK AND SABAH HOTELS (A THEORETICAL REVIEW)

The study aims to perpetuate the understanding of affective commitment and its mediating role as a critical component in understanding organizational citizenship behaviour. This is a conceptual paper and the proposed framework comprising of organizational culture, turnover intentions, personality and transformational leadership are proposed as independent variables. Organization citizenship behaviour is referred to as a informal behaviour that employees engage themselves voluntarily in helping out organization. It is a form of behaviour that requires a minimal amount of monitoring but increases the effective functioning of the organization. This study intends to explore further the effect of the proposed components in elevating affective commitment among employees further increasing the exhibition of organizational citizenship behaviour. With the increased challenges and competition organization can merely survive by having employees who adhere to formal contractual agreements and it is critical for them to go the extra mile for the organization. There are five dimensions in OCB namely altruism, courtesy, sportsmanship, civic virtue and conscientiousness and all the dimensions conceptually play a important role holistically in developing employees who are citizenship oriented.

FORMA UGOVORA O POKLONU

Donation contract is a formal agreement. In order to be valid, donation contract must be completed in regulated form by law. The formalism of donations represents a big departure from the principle of consensus, as a dominant principle of modern agreement law. In the Republic of Srpska, by the proclamation of a law on notaries, for donation contract, the form of a notarized document is envisaged, as an important, constitutive form, whose deficiency makes the contract ineffective. The purpose of the notary form of donation contract is that legal relations are regulated in a way to avoid disputes and to provide guarantees of the highest degree of legal certainty. Given that this form has been prescribed by the legislator for the purpose of protecting the public interest, in the absence of the contract, the contract is inevitably affected by nullity, without the possibility of convalidation. However, when it comes to the donation of moving things, the lack of notarial forms in this case is replaced by the execution of the promised act. In this elaborat, we will use the normative and comparative method, in order to determine the similarities and differences in the regulation of the same issues in different legal systems.

Factors hindering effective partnering in Indian public sector construction organizations

Purpose The Indian public sector construction industry is normally driven by traditional contracting practices. Though no formal partnering agreement is being used in public sector projects in India, improvement in Indian public sector organizations could be observed in the post-liberalization era, as they get the opportunities to work with multinational companies from countries with experiences in partnering. The purpose of this study is to explore the extent of partnering strategies being adopted by Indian public sector organizations and identify factors hindering the adoption of formal partnering. Design/methodology/approach Critical success factors for successful partnering were first identified through literature review. This guided the collection of primary data through semi-structured interviews with 36 top management personnel and secondary data in the form of organizational documents and site reports from several site visits of four public sector construction organizations. The evidence collected from four cases were arranged and compared against organizational strategies of successful partnering. Findings Most of the strategies adopted by the organizations were found to be in line with the suggested partnering practices. However, partnering performance of these organizations was found to be not satisfactory. This study has identified 14 factors hindering effective partnering such as reservations over joint risk-sharing process, limited bid evaluation criteria, difficulty in time-bound payment to contractor, absence of incentive mechanism, obsolete training procedures and absence of time-bound dispute resolution mechanism. Research limitations/implications The research findings are based on a case study with four public sector organizations only. Additional cases need to be undertaken to generalize the findings. Further study should also be undertaken to explore partnering relationships between contractors and subcontractors in public sector projects. Practical implications To improve project performance, top management of public sector organizations in India can take these factors into account while formulating strategies on introduction of project partnering in their organizations. Originality/value The work is novel providing insights into organizational strategies promoting and hindering partnering in Indian public sector construction organizations.

Importance of Business Correspondence for Micro-Business

The aims of this paper is to describe the important of business correspondence for micro-business. This study used a descriptive method to understand the benefits of creating business correspondence. The method used in this study is divided into three parts. The first part is the benefits for the SBO (Small Business Owner), the second part is the benefits for the SBO partner, such as another small business or larger companies, and the third part is the benefits for the consumer. The result of this research are twelve advantages of using business such as letter information exchange, establish business connection, create markets, personal visit substitute, cost saving, maintaining secrecy, a sign of goodwill, formal agreement, setting business transaction, as a future reference, legalities, local and international trade assistance. Business correspondence can help SBO gain the ability to improve their state of business by establishing a good communication between owner and other parties, help an SBO in case of criminal event or assisting in government bureaucracy, with business correspondence an SBO can also can also widen their connection whether local or international. Ultimately, for an SBO to gain the feature of creating business correspondence is an accepted method in increasing the profit.

Subnational Hydropolitics: Conflict, Cooperation, and Institution-Building in Shared River Basins. By Moore, Scott M. 2018. New York: Oxford University Press.

<i>Subnational Hydropolitics: Conflict, Cooperation, and Institution-Building in Shared River Basins</i>. By Moore, Scott M. 2018. New York: Oxford University Press.

Leadership in informal stormwater governance networks.

Recent transitions in the governance of urban stormwater, specifically developments that leverage the environmental and social benefits of green infrastructure (GI) including infiltration and neighborhood stabilization, often require capacities beyond those of any single municipal- or regional-scale organization. In many cities, transitions toward green stormwater infrastructure have been shepherded by networks of individuals spanning a diversity of organizations from governments to NGOs. These networks are often informal, that is, not established by legal mandate, governing authority, or formal agreement, and are often striking for their lack of formal hierarchy or formal leadership. Previous scholarship has revealed the importance of leadership in the development and efficacy of these multiorganizational, cross-sector environmental governance networks, but research has yet to empirically investigate and characterize informal network leaders within the context of GI for stormwater mitigation. To address this gap, we designed and administered a social network analysis (SNA) survey to individuals in a regional network of GI stormwater management professionals in and around Cleveland, Ohio USA. We collected network data on individual relationships, including collaboration and trust, and tested the impact of these relationships on peer-recognition of leaders in the GI network. Our findings suggest that network size, frequency of collaboration, and individual position within the network—specifically, betweenness centrality and openness—defined and likely supported leaders in the stormwater governance network. Leaders in this non-hierarchical, multi-institution context were more likely to be women and brokerage roles within the network benefitted women, not men, which contrasts with previous findings from research on single-organization and corporate networks. The implications of this research suggest that informal environmental governance networks, such as the GI network investigated, differ substantially from the generally more hierarchical networks of organizations. This finding is useful for municipalities and regional authorities grappling with complex environmental challenges, including transitions in strategies to manage excess stormwater for the protection of municipal drinking water sources and urban freshwater ecosystems.