Institutional Bureaucracy Research Articles

The Media's Influence on Uganda's Security Sector Reforms: An Analysis of a Few Broadcast and Print Media Stations in Kampala

The goal of this study was to investigate how the media and other external variables influenced Uganda's security sector reform. The study especially looked at the several ways that Uganda's media shaped the country's security sector reforms, noted the difficulties that the media in Uganda experienced in implementing these reforms, and determined the other elements that affected Uganda's security sector reform. The study population included Kampala city residents, security personnel, and media personnel. This study used a quantitative, descriptive, and correlative research approach to investigate how the media and other factors shaped the security sector changes. Conversely, a qualitative method was applied to evaluate the difficulties encountered by the media, involving the collection of data through in-depth interviews with journalists. According to the study's findings, the mass media—that is, radio, television, and print—accounted for 47.9% of the security sector's performance (adjusted R2 = 0.479). This indicates that other factors not taken into consideration by this model accounted for 52.1% of the contribution. Nonetheless, just two media outlets—radio (β = 0.568, p = 0.000 < 0.05) and television broadcasting (β = 0.271, p = 0.004 < 0.05)—had a positive and noteworthy impact on the security sector's performance in Uganda, whereas print media (β = -0.090, p = 0.312 < 0.05) had a negative and negligible impact. The results of the journalist interviews also showed that, despite the media's beneficial influence on the performance of the security sector, the media in Uganda has certain obstacles to reforming the security sector. The primary obstacles identified by the interviewees were the absence of legal provisions or instruments that enable journalists to obtain information, coupled with the preservation of antiquated laws on statute books that restrict access, bureaucratic red tape in government, insufficient funding and institutional bureaucracy, political violence, and inadequate training. The results of the study showed that, as 45.2% of the data showed, there is a positive correlation between the other parameters and the performance of the security sector (p = 0.05). These other elements include company culture, resource availability, and leadership. This means that, despite a number of restrictions and laws put in place by governments to restrict media impact, the Ugandan media does its function. The study also comes to the conclusion that performance in the security industry is influenced by other factors. The report suggests that in order to enhance their effectiveness, the UPDF and UPF, which are the main security agencies, should rebrandtheir organizational culture, leadership, and structure. Keywords: Media, security sector, Uganda, Broadcast, Reform

Academic Librarian Search Committee Members Identify Inclusivity Concerns with On-Campus Interview Practices

A Review of: Houk, K. & Neilson, J. (2023). Inclusive hiring in academic libraries: A qualitative analysis of attitudes and reflections of search committee members. College and Research Libraries, 84(4), 568-588. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.84.4.568 Objective – To understand how academic librarian search committee members’ perceptions and attitudes affect the equitability and inclusiveness of the on-campus interview process. Design – Thematic text analysis of open-ended responses to short-answer questions from an online survey. Setting – Online survey conducted between February and March of 2021. Subjects – 166 academic librarians who had served on hiring committees for academic librarians in North America between 2016 and 2020. Methods – Participants for the 33-question survey were recruited through several academic library listservs and social media postings on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The researchers first individually reviewed and coded all responses for short answer survey questions, then reviewed the codes together. Finally, a thematic map was developed after the researchers reached a consensus on their shared approach to coding and generating clusters of meanings. Main Results – Six major clusters were identified through thematic coding of participants’ text responses concerning their experiences of on-campus interview practices as hiring committee members. These themes represented challenges to the inclusiveness of academic librarian searches, and included search committees’ treatment of the interview process as either intentional or situational tests (1), reliance on the ambiguously defined selection criteria of fit (2), experience with varying levels of commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, antiracism, and accessibility (DEIAA) values (3), frustration with prevalence of institutional bureaucracy throughout the hiring process (4), and uneven adoptions of inclusive hiring (5) or reflective practices (6). The researchers also noted a common respondent mistake of misinterpreting equal (i.e., identical) treatment of candidates as evidence of equitable interview practices. Conclusion – Findings from this study highlighted the importance of academic institutions and hiring committees adopting reflective practices to critically and intentionally incorporate DEIAA-informed practices in planning and conducting academic librarian searches. The authors also stressed the need to reduce possible biases in hiring practices favoring candidates who conforms to White, ableist, and heteronormative culture and values. Examples of these efforts included considering the necessity of each interview element for assessing candidate performances, proactively ensuring full accessibility of the interview itinerary, and operationalizing the definition of “fit” in assessing candidates’ abilities.

Assessment of the performance of cruise ship waste management: Case study of the Rio de Janeiro port, Brazil

The significant growth of the cruise ship industry has resulted in economic benefits, but there are also waste management-related challenges. The aim of this case study was to contribute to the research of cruise ship waste management at the Port of Rio de Janeiro. A3 methodology, applied for the first time in this context, was used to create questionnaires to assess the stakeholders involved, revealing that institutional bureaucracy has a negative effect on waste management. In addition, secondary data on unloaded waste, obtained from the transport manifests, showed that 56 % contained reliable information. The main wastes were plastics (57 %), glass (17 %), metal (9 %), and others. With respect to destinations, 41 % were sent to landfills, 55 % recycled and 4 % thermally treated. Only 5 % of cruise ship moorings removed waste at the Port of Rio de Janeiro, attributed to factors such as high costs.

Was there a Portuguese economic corporatism? Political economy, transnational ideas and institutions in Salazar’s New State

The corporatist ideas associated with the dictatorship regime of António de Oliveira Salazar (1932-1968) were prominently expressed through a set of institutions created by the State to promote social order and to govern the economy. This institutional bureaucracy was particularly dense and resilient, as it withstood various social and economic changes, including external shocks. Based on previous historiographical contributions, namely from the history of economic thought, this article explores the interaction established in the Portuguese case between the transnational dissemination of corporatist ideas and the political construction of institutions governing the economy and interests. A critical analysis of the doctrinal rhetoric of Portuguese corporatists, who always exalted the ‘national and specific’ character of Salazar’s corporatism, will help to identify forms of transnational circulation of corporatist economic ideas. More than a political economy of Portuguese corporatism, there was an emulation of foreign authors, especially Italian, and an instrumental adaptation of ideas and institutions.

Even hungrier for knowledge: A 10-year follow-up study on vulnerability to food insecurity amongst students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

Research on the extent of food insecurity amongst the South African university student population has gained momentum over the past decade, and for good reason. Along with the multiple other challenges that South African university students face (e.g. funding shortfalls, limited access to student housing, high levels of failure and dropout, institutional bureaucracy, and oppressive colonial legacies), students being chronically hungry and unable to access safe and nutritious food on a regular basis remains a notable crisis. This article reports on a 10-year follow-up study on the extent of vulnerability to food insecurity amongst students registered at the University of ABC (UABC). Whereas data collected for the initial 2007–2009 study only targeted students from one of the five UABC campuses, the current study improved on the sampling strategy and collected data from 438 students registered across all five UABC campuses in 2018. Using the University Students Food Insecurity Questionnaire, as developed during the initial study and adapted from the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, the findings from the current study suggest that 49% of the UABC student population experience serious to severe levels of vulnerability to food insecurity. This is more than double the reported levels of serious to severe vulnerability to food insecurity found in the initial study. This article reports on how and why food insecurity levels may have escalated unchecked over the past decade.

Inclusive Approach of Türkiye on Access and Integration of Refugees to Higher Education

Türkiye stands at the forefront of countries that have embraced a considerable number of refugees and asylum-seekers, making it a prominent host for displaced populations worldwide. In recent years, Türkiye has developed a novel and inclusive approach designed to facilitate the access of refugees to higher education. This article endeavours to examine Türkiye’s policy framework and intricate challenges that arise during its implementation, with a keen focus on how top-down policy interventions interact with institutional bureaucracies and the socio-cultural context. The
 study postulates that while Türkiye boasts a national inclusive policy, the effectiveness and outcome of its implementation lie within the realm of decentralization. The success or failure of
 the policy hinges on the institutional capacity, willingness of the higher education institutions to accept refugee students and the sociological dynamics between locals and refugee students. For the
 policy to genuinely thrive, it necessitates addressing institutional disparities and variances among higher education institutions.

Factors Influencing Research Culture at Public Universities in Pakistan

The study was conducted to explore factors influencing research culture at universities in Pakistan. The present study was delimited to six general public universities in Pakistan. Two universities from each region of Punjab were selected for data collection. PhD faculty members of head of departments were the sample of the study. Interviews for head of departments and faculty members were developed for data collection. Respondents were asked about the factors affecting research culture at universities. The discourses of the respondents explored that institutional support, collaboration and communication, transparency, reward system, diversity and inclusion, national policies and regulations were the major factors that affecting research culture at universities in Pakistan. Findings of the research study explored that institutional support was playing affective role in developing research culture. Institutional support for conducting high quality research involved funding, availability of physical infrastructure, resources, provision of support to young researchers through trainings and workshops, and university policies and managers priorities. Collaboration and communication was an important factor that affects research culture but respondents stated that the situation of collaboration at universities was pathetic. Transparency, credibility and ethical behavior of researchers developed trust that ensured healthy research culture at universities. It was reported that rewards, incentives, appraisal and research grants played a positive role in research production and motivate the researchers to conduct high quality research. Diversity and inclusion had a momentous impact on the research culture at universities. Research teams having different socioeconomic background, experience and mental abilities conduct comprehensive and strong research studies. Policies and regulations about appointment and promotion, smooth funding, developing local and international collaboration, security of intellectual property rights and strict guidelines for research ethics were the major factors that contributed to develop research culture at universities. Results explored that shortage of physical resources, lack of collaboration, unawareness from global trends, funding issues, pressure of publications, institutional bureaucracy, political instability, favoritism and lack of mentorship were major issues that were affecting research culture negatively at universities in Pakistan. Whereas, incentives, expertise of supervisors, conducive work environment, seminars, working in collaboration, autonomy, managerial support, functioning of ORIC, feedback and foreign fellowship were the major factors that were affecting research culture positively at universities in Pakistan.

Legalitas Penetapan Kerugian Keuangan Negara Oleh Aparat Pengawas Internal Pemerintah (APIP) Sebagai Dasar Memeriksa Perkara Korupsi

To prevent and eradicate criminal acts of corruption in the bureaucracy of government institutions and prevent errors and irregularities in the implementation of duties by apparatus in the government bureaucracy, the existence of the government internal supervision apparatus (APIP) is considered very important to conduct internal supervision of government apparatus in carrying out government duties. However, the authority given by law to APIP is often not in line with APH (Law Enforcement Officers) often use the results of the State loss calculation report by APIP as a basis for prosecuting someone suspected of committing a Criminal Act of Corruption. This type of research is normative juridical. The type of research is descriptive-analytical. The source of legal materials uses primary legal materials and secondary legal materials. Techniques for collecting legal materials through literature study and qualitative analysis of legal materials. The results showed that the only institution that has the authority to calculate and determine State Financial Losses is the Audit Board by attribution given by the Constitution Therefore, every charge committed by APH (Law Enforcement Officer) must be null and void or can be canceled because it is not in line with existing regulations.

Chances for children: The 22‐year journey of psychodynamic/attachment‐based infant mental health in underserved communities

AbstractThis paper follows the 22‐year journey of a small community‐based program with roots in a psychoanalytic training institute, to the program's current status as an independent non‐profit organization serving families throughout the Bronx with psychodynamic, attachment‐based parent‐infant treatment. The product of an unusual collaboration among a psychoanalytic training institute, a program of the NYC Department of Education and several generous foundations, we aimed to offer teen mothers a dyadic model of parent‐infant intervention based on the principles of psychodynamic theory, attachment theory, and mentalization through the lens of an infant mental health perspective. Underlying the creation, implementation, and expansion of the Chances for Children organization at every level were questions of basic trust and mistrust, class, and culture. With this in mind, we describe the development of the model, collaborations with institutions and communities, and the obstacles we encountered along the way. On a macro level, we consider questions of class, culture, and institution that we encountered on every level in institutional bureaucracy, in community outreach, and in collaborating programs. On a more micro level, we use the contexts of a teen‐parent therapeutic group and a dyadic mother‐child treatment to address issues that arise when white, middle‐class clinicians of privilege work in communities of color that are frequently suffering insufficiencies in food, housing, jobs, and experiencing random violence. Finally, we reflect on what has made the work of Chances for Children possible, successful, and enduring even as we embarked on the telehealth practices necessary during the COVID pandemic.

Exploration of the Activities of Rural Households Participating in Village Alive Development Initiative (VADI) in Kwara State, Nigeria

The study examined credit sources of rural households under the Village Alive Development Initiative (VADI) scheme in Kwara State. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select one hundred and twenty (120) respondents. Data were collected on the various sources of credits available to rural households and how it affects their output. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as percentages, mean, frequency counts and chi-square. Respondents’ mean age was 56 years, average household size was 5 persons, and farming experience was 7 years. Majority (50.7%) was males and married (49.3%). About average (54.5%) had secondary education while majority (87.7%) accessed credit from VADI scheme. The most critical constraint to credit accessibility was institutional bureaucracy (MS = 2.85). Age (p = 0.014), sex (p = 0.013) and source of labour (p = 0.058) of the respondents significantly influenced their choice of credit sources. The study concluded that the output of rural households is directly dependent on the sources of credit. Farmer friendly sources of credit should be encouraged and made available to them. Improvement in credit bureaucracies and provision of incentives for prompt repayment behavior should be ensured.

EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY: DATA’S USE IN SUPPORTING PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS

Bureaucratic reform became the backbone in changing the life of the nation and state. Through bureaucratic reform, arrangements are carried out on the system of government administration to make it more effective and efficient. One of the important bureaucratic reform agendas to realize is improving the quality of policies. Therefore, through this article, the author aims to provide an overview of the meaning of data / evidence in the public policy process. The writing of this article uses the literature review method, namely by utilizing secondary data or sources in the form of journals, books, documentation, the internet and various libraries that are relevant to the issues and topics of this article. The researcher concluded that the contribution of the EBP approach in the bureaucracy and policy of public institutions in each policy cycle can be a breakthrough in the birth of innovative policies. The use of research data is an important aspect in the success of government bureaucratic policies. Moreover, superior research as a source of data can identify problems more precisely and help governments design the most effective and innovative policy options.

Methodological reflections on health system-oriented assessment of maternity care in 16 hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa: an embedded case study.

Health facility assessments (HFAs) assessing facilities' readiness to provide services are well-established. However, HFA questionnaires are typically quantitative and lack depth to understand systems in which health facilities operate-crucial to designing context-oriented interventions. We report lessons from a multiple embedded case study exploring the experiences of HFA data collectors in implementing a novel HFA tool developed using systems thinking approach. We assessed 16 hospitals in four countries (Benin, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda) as part of a quality improvement implementation research. Our tool was organized in 17 sections and included dimensions of hospital governance, leadership and financing; maternity care standards and procedures; ongoing quality improvement practices; interactions with communities and mapping of the areas related to maternal care. Data for this study were collected using in-depth interviews with senior experts who conducted the HFA in the countries 1-3months after completion of the HFAs. Data were analysed using the inductive thematic analysis approach. Our HFA faced challenges in logistics (accessing key hospital-based respondents, high turnover of managerial staff and difficulty accessing information considered sensitive in the context) and methodology (response bias, lack of data quality and data entry into an electronic platform). Data elements of governance, leadership and financing were the most affected. Opportunities and strategies adopted aimed at enhancing data collection (building on prior partnerships and understanding local and institutional bureaucracies) and enhancing data richness (identifying respondents with institutional memory, learning from experience and conducting observations at various times). Moreover, HFA data collectors conducted abstraction of records and interviews in a flexible and adaptive way to enhance data quality. Lessons and new skills learned from our HFA could be used as inputs to respond to the growing need of integrating the systems thinking approach in HFA to improve the contextual understanding of operations and structure.

The Social Movement Archive

The Social Movement Archive

The information behaviours of disadvantaged young first-time mothers

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the information behaviours of socioeconomically disadvantaged young first-time mothers, an understudied and at-risk group (health and well-being).Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaire and semi-structured interviews with 39 young mothers (aged up to 25 years of age) from UK areas of multiple deprivations.FindingsOur participants' preferred sources of information are interpersonal sources with which they have formed close supportive relationships. Support groups are important sources of interpersonal connection, but young mothers are reluctant to attend groups involving older mothers. With the exception of support group staff and health visitors, institutional and professional information sources are used very little. Societal stigma is a significant issue influencing behaviours, but issues of institutional bureaucracy, information overload, conflicting information and practical access are also reported. A further key factor influencing behaviour is self-identity.Research limitations/implicationsFindings should not be considered representative of young mothers as a whole as not all young mothers are disadvantaged. As our participants identified as ethnically white, findings also cannot speak to the additional barriers experienced by women of colour. Further studies with further population groups are recommended. More broadly, further studies exploring the influence of self-identity on people's information behaviours are also recommended.Practical implicationsFindings provide practical direction for health and welfare services, and public libraries, to better support young mothers.Originality/valueFindings contribute to conceptual and practical understanding of information poverty in the socio-ecological context. Findings also evidence the role of self-identity in shaping people's information behaviours.

Colonial legacies and contemporary urban planning practices in Dhaka, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Effective urban planning is said to be crucial for ensuring liveable, equitable and viable urban areas progress towards sustainability. This study combines a review of the relevant literature, key informant interviews and field observations to explore contemporary planning practices in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We problematize ineffective urban planning practice in Dhaka as a prime expression and reproduction of colonial planning, which manifests itself through institutional bureaucracy and centralization, technocracy, and ad hoc planning. We argue that these imprints have rendered planning institutions weak and fostered dependency on imported ideologies and practices. The situation, we further argue, not only stifles local planning creativity but also makes the planning profession unattractive. Apart from limited local innovations and political aspirations for meeting global development targets, urban planning and city management have followed a reductionist approach under neoliberalism. With little to no social resonance, attempts at creating ordered spaces are, instead, contributing to increased spatial fragmentation and segregation, informality, and widespread urban poverty. To promote urban sustainability, this paper urges the contextualization of colonial ideologies and practices against the social, political and economic realities of urban Bangladesh.

Theorizing empirical court research: The test case of the trial of Hissène Habré

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to advocate for new methods of studying international law. Hissène Habré, former President of Chad, was convicted by a hybrid tribunal in Dakar. Our book on this judicial process (The President on Trial: Prosecuting Hissène Habré, Oxford University Press, 2020) develops a novel empirical format of first-person testimonials, followed by expert analyses, to trace and contextualize the decades-long story of attempts to bring Habré to justice. The empirical materials collected in our book demonstrate that the Habré trial challenges a linear distribution of power from international (global) actors to local, demonstrating rather a series of horizontal relations between the local and international. Based on this research experience, the article lays out the method we developed. It facilitates an assessment of the legal and political impact of court decisions, routines and broader bureaucratic politics through which the practices of judging are constructed. “Justice” does not speak with one voice; it is made up of multiple actors with different professional interests and personal goals. It is also impacted by power dynamics and by the structure of the institution, including by institutional routine and legal bureaucracy.

Nursing Opportunities Unleashed - A View Point

The nursing profession has the widest range of opportunities, but the unawareness and ignorance of nurses are making them be at a dependent level only rather than independent. In most of the scenarios, administrative nurses, health care policymakers, and administrators of institutions and agencies, make and implement roles and activities for nurses to fulfill the aims of medicine and institutional bureaucracy. This problem 'forces' nursing to travel a dependent path. A view is set forth that the problem stems from the collective failure of nursing to articulate and implement a function and product distinct from that of medicine and other professions. Making this distinction is critical to the charting of an independent path. Nursing's past and present are examined in terms of the service nursing does provide for society. This paper deals with the various emerging job opportunities for nurses and ways to choose the best working environment for career advancement. Keywords: Teaching Role, Clinical Role, Research Role, Entrepreneur Role, Indian Nursing Council, Migration.

INCUBATOR Art Lab: Reimagining Biotech Futures through Integrated Laboratory Practices

INCUBATOR Art Lab is an art and science research laboratory at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. This image/text document explores the invisible integrated laboratory practices developed within INCUBATOR Art Lab that reimagining how scientific research is conducted within institutional settings towards more joyful and inclusive biotech futures. The piece describes new modes of engaging with institutional bureaucracy, designing infrastructure, and community-building efforts that are central to how INCUBATOR Art Lab functions as a feminist bioart laboratory.

Facilitators and barriers perceived by health professionals in the implementation of Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM) psychotherapy in Santiago.

IntroductionPalliative care (PC) for advanced cancer is guaranteed by law in Chile, but the formal training for it is insufficient. Training models have emerged internationally that enable professionals to be better prepared for the provision of psychotherapy in PC. The objective of this study is to explore health professionals’ perceptions of the ‘Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully’ (CALM) psychotherapy and the perceived barriers and facilitators to its implementation, based on a theoretical training.MethodsA qualitative study was carried out with health professionals working in oncology and/or PC and participating in a CALM training. A focus group was conducted after to explore the experience of CALM training and the perceived barriers and facilitators to its implementation. A thematic analysis of the content and an analysis of the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of mental health services were carried out.ResultsTwenty four professionals participated in the training, six of whom were part of the subsequent focus group. There was a consensus that the training was a positive professional experience and that it is a culturally sensitive and feasible intervention for application in Chile. The barriers identified include institutional bureaucracy as resistance to change, the excess workload of the clinical teams and the absence of spaces for more in-depth training.ConclusionsCALM is a useful and relevant framework for the training of health professionals working in oncology and PC. In Chile, there is a need for training spaces on this topic. Future research and organisational studies should evaluate professionals’ beliefs about, and resistance to, adopting evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions.

Decentering social innovation: the value of dispersed institutes in higher education

PurposeThis paper aims to illustrate how dispersed institutes of social innovation operating as intermediary actors within higher education institutions (HEIs) may help overcome many of the institutional bureaucracies and structures that inhibit social innovation in higher education.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews core conditions for social innovation, along with the opportunities, challenges and tensions that emerge as HEIs work to apply these conditions in practice. It then describes how dispersed institutes enact principles of decentralization, localization and collaboration in pursuit of social innovation.FindingsFive main ways that dispersed institutes enable social innovation were identified in this review, including bridging academic–practice divides, enabling co-creation and co-production with users, facilitating experiential and co-curricular education, supporting interdisciplinary collaborations and generating customized and place-based solutions.Practical implicationsFindings suggest four strategies that HEIs can use to support dispersed institutes, including prioritizing social purpose organizations as institutional partners, incentivizing public engagement and collaboration, leveraging their convening power to strengthen global networks among dispersed institutes and using budgeting models that reflect the importance of creating both economic and social value.Originality/valueAlthough innovation labs in HEIs have long been a feature of natural sciences and technology services, they are still comparatively new for the social sciences and humanities. This paper addresses a gap in the literature on the value contributed by dispersed institutes of social innovation operating within HEIs such as living labs, makerspaces, incubators and excubators, social innovation parks, cooperation accelerators and technology transfer offices.