Partnership Perspective Research Articles

Role of men in promoting the uptake of HPV vaccinations: focus groups’ finding from a developing country

Better outcomes of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination would be expected if men become full partners and advocates in vaccination initiative. Men involvement has important implication especially within the context that they are equally responsible for spreading the virus. Twenty-seven men took part in four focus group discussions carried out to assess men's attitudes toward the HPV vaccine between October and November 2007. The results revealed that men have low awareness about the newly release vaccine and minimal knowledge of HPV and its association with cervical cancer. When provided with information, most men were in favor of protecting their spouses, partners, or daughters from cervical cancer using the vaccine. They were aware of the effects of men's risk behavioral patterns on women's risk for acquiring HPV infections. Many needed assurance about the vaccine's long-term safety and efficacy. They also expressed concern over the high cost of the vaccine. Men in this study played an influential role in the vaccination decision of their child and sexual partners. Many were in favor of male vaccination for cervical cancer prevention of their spouse or partner. Vaccine advocacy should put special emphasis on men as sexual partners, husbands, and fathers from a gender equality and partnership perspective. The findings are useful in facilitating the development of strategies for effective immunization initiatives.

Mindfulness and CBT: A Natural Partnership or Alien Perspectives?

Mindfulness and CBT: A Natural Partnership or Alien Perspectives?

Supply Chain Partners Selection Criterion in United Arab Emirates: A Study of Packaged Food Products Supply Chain

Application of supply chain management tools and techniques may not lead us very far in implementing them and yielding the benefits of relationship without understanding the partner's selection criterion. While there is plenty of published literature that explains or espouses benefits of partnering relationship there is a relative lack of empirical studies examining the partner selection practices in the context of different countries. The purpose of this paper is to understand the supply chain partner selection criterion of supply chain members of United Arab Emirates for successful collaboration, alignment and integration of the businesses. In order to study the partner selection criterion various perspectives of supply chain management practices and criterion of partner selection are grouped under five perspectives of partnership as characteristics, economics, dynamic capabilities, technology, and institutions and a survey instrument was developed to evaluate the criterion of the partner selection. The study results suggest that customer and suppliers do not appear willing to embrace the long-term relationship concept readily. The business environment such as market dynamics, globalization process and economy of the specific country or region has a bigger impact on partner selection process. The research results provide a rich basis for further theory development in the areas of supply chain practices in transition economic environment and the global supply chain management practices beyond the United Arab Emirates market.

Business–IT fit in e‐procurement systems: evidence from high‐technology firms in China

Abstract. Because of the influence of globalization and updated information technologies (IT), firms in China face an urgent need to adopt e‐procurement systems (EP) to deal with their daily procurement activities. However, implementing EP in China encounters various uncertainties from internal and external business environments. To address this issue, this research aims to examine the fit between business and the IT environment and to study its impact on system performance. The literature review allows the proposal of two internal business environmental uncertainties and two external business environmental uncertainties covering the perspectives of process, knowledge, partnership and environment. Based on a multiple‐case study performed in four Chinese firms that supply various personal computer components to a Taiwanese original equipment manufacturer via an EP, it was found that the firms’ external and internal uncertainty factors affected the performance of EP. In addition, an EP with a low level of integration – the EP type used most frequently in China – can only achieve great performance when the adopting firms faced a low uncertainty of environment, partnership and process, and had low levels of IT knowledge. It was also observed that lack of fit between the business environment and EP produced extra burdens and costs in the buyer–supplier relationship. This significantly reduced the system performance of the Chinese firms. Hence, the contribution of this research can be twofold. First, practitioners in China can use this framework to diagnose their environmental conditions and then choose the appropriate type of EP to implement. Second, researchers can build upon this model to further examine the impact of fit on EP performance and generalize the results.

A study on inter-city cooperation in the Yangtze river delta region, China

Inter-city cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta region is a new phenomenon and has received much governmental and scholarly attention in recent years. This paper examines inter-city cooperation from partnership perspective. In this study, three typical cases of inter-city cooperation, Suzhou–Wuxi–Changzhou City-region Planning, the Forum for the Coordination of Urban Economy of Yangtze River Delta Region and Jiangyin Economic Development Zone in Jingjiang are selected to examine three types of partnership arrangements, namely, hierarchical partnership, spontaneous partnership and hybrid partnership. This research applies the partnership approach to regional scale based on Chinese experiences. The research focus of this paper is the effectiveness of three types of inter-city cooperation. Through tracing the process of partnership formation and investigating stakeholder interactions, this paper argues that the effectiveness of inter-city cooperation depends on cooperation mechanism, the nature and scope of the cooperation, and partner selection and the roles of actors in partnership formation.

Political Dialogue and Security in the European Neighbourhood: The Virtues and Limits of ‘New Partnership Perspectives’

Abstract. This article examines the EU’s most prominent policy tool (short of further enlargement) intended to help stabilize and secure relations with its bordering states: the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Dealing with the problem of regional stabilization has been a central rationale of the ENP and in what follows we consider how the ENP’s concern with this problem has been pursued through the framework of political dialogue with partners, focusing particularly on cooperation in external relations. There are undoubted benefits which the ENP brings to this policy domain, however the initiative is also saddled with three sets of problems. The first relates to the question of local relevance and ‘value-added’, and is a concern largely for the ENP partners. The second is the challenge of policy coherence and is played out at the EU level and among EU Member States. The third is how the ENP relates to important regional actors (principally the USA and Russia) who have the potential to both facilitate and frustrate the initiative. These three challenges frame the context for two brief regional snapshots of the ENP in action, looking at EU security relations with the South Caucasus (and Georgia more specifically) and the Middle East.

Postponement and Speculation in Noncommercial Supply Chains

The principles of postponement and speculation (P/S) are well-known elements of logistics strategies. When entering new markets a firm must decide how to enter, for example, by investing in entities within the new market or relying on nonequity entry modes. Entry mode decisions significantly influence the P/S strategy. Different nations and organisations contribute to UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs). The decision to contribute military forces depends on political, not economic, considerations. Military units in PKOs do not choose geographical areas to enter based on psychic closeness. Further, they have both politically induced and time-induced restrictions on their choice of entry mode. Whereas commercial firms can base their internationalisation strategies on various factors, military units in PKOs are restricted to exporting items/supplies from home, cooperating with other actors within the mission, or utilising local markets and contractors. The Nordic Battle Group was on standby in highreadiness status during the first half of 2008. This was a temporary military unit not designated for a given crisis or area. The activation of such battlegroups normally depends on a UN Security Council resolution. Supplying food for the Nordic Battlegroup highlights the restricted choices of entry modes available within military logistics chains. Both humanitarian and military supply chains are noncommercial, operating in “markets” with high levels of uncertainty. When extending supply chains into such areas, the P/S strategies depend on how the organisation chooses to enter. Supply chains in complex crises might be described as logistics and manufacturing speculation by necessity. In future work the structure of the noncommercial supply chains will be addressed, for example, by how suppliers are included in P/S strategies, what role suppliers play when deciding on entry mode, how suppliers are perceived to contribute to effective supply chains in preparedness organisations, and so on. It is particularly interesting to study the supplier’s role-being governmental bodies-in military supply chains from a public private partnership (PPP) perspective.

Bank-Firm Relation Changes and Earnings Quality - An Analysis on Italian Small-Medium Sized Companies

In the last years banks and firms relationship in Italy has experienced deep changes due to a new revised national and international regulation and to an increasing globalization of economic environment. These evolutions imply a new bank-firm relationship with a deeper disclosure, in a perspective of partnership between them. In this scenario, Basel 1 and 2 accords have been contributing to revise bank-firm relationship, moreover in the specific perspective of small-medium sized firms. In Italy, the evolution of bank-firm relation has been also influenced by an intensive banking system restructuring process, characterized by big mergers and small local banks aggregations. This paper focuses on bank-firm relation impact on small-medium sized firms financial reporting quality. The analysis empirically examines some proxies for earnings quality for a sample of Italian small-medium sized firms over 10 years period. Earnings quality metrics are based on the relation between working capital accruals and cash flows, following Dechow and Dichev (2002) approach. Across these metrics we will perform a cross-sectional analysis on the relation between earnings quality and some variables regarding banks and firms governance, controlling for regulation changes and other variables such as size, sector etc.

The evaluation of the National Partnership Project in England: processes, issues and dilemmas in commissioned evaluation research

This article reviews the processes, issues and dilemmas involved in evaluation research undertaken in the context of changing and evolving government policy in education. The article is grounded in an evaluation of the National Partnership Project (NPP), the team conducted on behalf of England's Teacher Training Agency (TTA) in 2004–2005. It will not present a critique of partnership in England, but will draw on perspectives of partnership to provide some background information to the project. It will also discuss the processes of evaluation research in the context of frameworks from recent and relevant research and will raise issues for future commissioned evaluation research to address.

Factors that determine the facilitation of stakeholders in environmental management – some philosophicalhistorical thoughts with the Merafong area as example

In essence, the article covers some fundamental principles of stakeholdership within a democratic process of environmental management. An effort is also made to point out several historical features of stakeholdership within the Wonderfonteinspruit (WFS) Catchment in the Merafong study area. Both these facets in the discussion accentuate stakeholdership as being primary participants (especially organisations that are government directed) and secondary participants (especially non-governmental organisations) in which both groups can reflect sufficient historical evidence in this economic environment to identify them as either the injurers, the injured or the participants/interested parties. To meaningfully conclude the discussion of stakeholdership in environmental management, some international and philosophical models and perspectives were also utilised to obtain a broader holistic perspective of a meaningful long-term stakeholder partnership. These applications, as reflected against a less fruitful awareness of the environmental practices in the past, can be applied efficiently in future stakeholder discussions regarding the WFS area as part of an approach featuring environmental justice and environmental remediation, compensation and monitoring.

‘I am much more than just a mum’. Social capital, empowerment and Sure Start

An earlier article published in this journal sought to recover the views of professionals concerned with the delivery and implementation of a ‘Third Way’ multiagency programme tackling the social exclusion of young children and their families known as Sure Start. The tentative findings suggested a ‘bottom‐up’ partnership perspective was held by professionals as they engaged in a process of ‘civic entrepreneurship’ to build social capital within the local community. This article tells a further part of that story as through qualitative data it recovers the views of local parents involved with the programme. The findings are important as they suggest a meaningful change in the power relationship between parents and professionals. The parents report how the project built holistically on existing strengths within the community, how professionals valued, listened to, and acted on their views, how the project changed them personally, and how collectively they became increasingly involved with the programme and empowered in the social capital building process. The concluding discussion draws on the work of Granovetter (1973) on social capital and Zimmerman (1995) on empowerment to theoretically locate and discuss the findings.

Examining the National Response Plan in Response to a Catastrophic Disaster: Hurricane Katrina in 2005

Over the years, the Federal Response Plan (FRP) and the National Response Plan (NRP) have reflected policy learning and changes that result from disasters. Since its initial release in 1992 the FRP was amended twice then replaced by the NRP in 2004. In the past, revisions to these plans have occurred in response to Hurricane Andrew and the September 11 terrorist attacks. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the state of U.S. emergency management has been widely questioned. This article examines developments in NRP and its implementations in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 from collaboration and partnership perspectives. Information was collected from a variety of print and electronic sources for the study.

Japan–UK: perspectives of partnership

One of the most remarkable developments that took place in the postwar international order is the relationship between the United Kingdom and Japan, two major world powers. Formerly bitter enemies in war, their relationship is today perhaps at the best ever. They are connected by a network of shared interests in the politico-strategic, scientific-technological and socio-cultural spheres, beyond the economic realm. Nonetheless, as cooperation between Japan and Europe has been the fragile side of the triangle of “Japan–US–Europe” relations, the promotion of Japan–UK ties at bilateral, regional and international levels might have a significant effect. The trilateral structure of “Japan–Britain–EU” relations also creates diverse dynamics that involve all three forces in a broader regional cooperation including the security arena, than would be possible on just a bilateral Britain–Japan level. These impulses might help to facilitate Europe to become a more influential global actor and to serve as a key enabler of the British foreign policy toward the Asia-Pacific region. Under this context, this article strives to explore how Japan–UK bilateral relationship, one of the strongest ties binding Asia to Europe, stands today, by shedding light on the new horizons of their partnerships for global responsibilities.

Reforming Natural Monopolies: Theory and Practice

The article deals with the new theoretical approaches to natural monopoly. It describes essential features of the appropriate branches of economy. The role of the state in the regulation of natural monopolies in the developed and transition economies is also analyzed. The author compares the advantages and shortcomings of various institutional alternatives of organization of natural monopolies functioning as well as the perspectives of public-private partnership in this sphere. Special attention is paid to the analysis of Russian natural monopolies reforms.

Partnership Perspectives: Changing the Image of Physical Therapy in Urban Neighborhoods Through Community Service Learning

Background and Purpose. Anecdotally, residents of a local inner-city neighborhood have limited perception and understanding of the physical therapy profession. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a mixed design pilot study intended to investigate this community's perception of physical therapy and Lower Roxbury community members' assessment of Northeastern University's Department of Physical Therapy community service-learning (CSL) program. Community residents who have been exposed to physical therapy through CSL may have a better understanding and perception of the profession than residents who have not participated. Subjects. Subjects of the study included 53 community residents and 8 community agency outreach workers and program directors that were CSL partners. Methods. This mixed-design study featured data triangulation, including a review of the literature regarding community perception of physical therapy; a community resident survey; and community partner focus groups and interviews. Community residents were queried about their understanding of physical therapy (eg, education required, exposure to, problems treated by). Community partners were asked 3 open-ended questions in focus groups or interviews. Results. Sixty-four percent of community residents reported they had seen a physical therapist, 36% participated in weekly CSL physical activity programs, and 89% knew that physical therapists needed to be licensed in order to practice. Only 45% of the community residents knew that physical therapists need a college education. Community partners reported an improved understanding and positive perception of the physical therapy profession through CSL. A review of the literature revealed that the impact of service learning on community perceptions of physical therapy as a profession has not been studied in much detail. Discussion and Conclusion. This pilot study may be one of the first to investigate public perceptions of physical therapy in the United States. Community service learning appears to be a tool to help the physical therapy profession move closer to achieving Vision 2020, as it may increase consumer awareness of physical therapy services.

A governance perspective on destination development‐exploring partnerships, clusters and innovation systems

This paper deals with partnerships, clusters and innovation systems from a governance perspective. Very little tourism research has used this perspective, and relatively little attention has been brought to the two latter of the mentioned models. It is argued that the governance perspective makes sense when dealing with these models in the tourist destination context. As will be shown, the models draw attention to different features of governance and even suggest different forms of governance and government involvement. It also concludes that the partnership perspective makes sense in basically all tourist destinations, while fewer qualify for the cluster model, and even fewer for the innovation system model. Empirical observations are drawn from different studies of the Swedish ski resort of Are.

Build-to-order supply chain management: a literature review and framework for development

The build-to-order supply chain management (BOSC) strategy has recently attracted the attention of both researchers and practitioners, given its successful implementation in many companies including Dell computers, Compaq, and BMW. The growing number of articles on BOSC in the literature is an indication of the importance of the strategy and of its role in improving the competitiveness of an organization. The objective of a BOSC strategy is to meet the requirements of individual customers by leveraging the advantages of outsourcing and information technology. There are not many research articles that provide an overview of BOSC, despite the fact that this strategy is being promoted as the operations paradigm of the future. The main objective of this research is to (i) review the concepts of BOSC, (ii) develop definitions of BOSC, (iii) classify the literature based on a suitable classification scheme, leading to some useful insights into BOSC and some future research directions, (iv) review the selected articles on BOSC for their contribution to the development and operations of BOSC, (v) develop a framework for BOSC, and (vi) suggest some future research directions. The literature has been reviewed based on the following four major areas of decision-making: organizational competitiveness, the development and implementation of BOSC, the operations of BOSC, and information technology in BOSC. Some of the important observations are: (a) there is a lack of adequate research on the design and control of BOSC, (b) there is a need for further research on the implementation of BOSC, (c) human resource issues in BOSC have been ignored, (d) issues of product commonality and modularity from the perspective of partnership or supplier development require further attention and (e) the trade-off between responsiveness and the cost of logistics needs further study. The paper ends with concluding remarks.

Family Caring Strategies in Neutropenia

Aggressive chemotherapy protocols result in neutropenia in approximately half of all patients receiving chemotherapy. Thus, neutropenia continues to be a significant and potentially life-threatening side effect of treatment, even with use of colony-stimulating factors. Families of patients with neutropenia often provide the primary healing environment because most chemotherapy protocols are managed on an outpatient basis. To learn about the family's experience of managing chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN), a grounded-theory methodology was used to analyze data from seven families. The central theme revealed by these families was "turbulent waiting with intensified connections." This meant that when families had a sense of greater vulnerability in response to the waiting after diagnosis of CIN, they connected intensely with each other and healthcare providers. Families reported that connections with nurses became more significant when neutropenia interrupted chemotherapy. Families also developed family caring strategies to manage this period of waiting for the chemotherapy to resume. These strategies included family inquiry, family vigilance, and family balancing. Nurses need to be aware of approaches to support the family's ability to manage CIN. Interventions and approaches constructed from the perspective of a family-professional partnership will enhance the family cancer experience as well as ongoing family growth and function.

Turbulent Waiting: Rural Families Experiencing Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia

To explore how rural families understand and manage the chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) experience. Qualitative, inductive approach using family interviews. Family homes in a rural community in the midwestern United States. A convenience sample (7 families [21 people] who had a family member experiencing CIN) recruited from a regional cancer treatment center. Semistructured family interviews that were recorded on audiotape occurred along with constant, comparative analysis over 12 months. An interdisciplinary research team analyzed the transcribed data using grounded theory methodology. The family experience of CIN. An overall family process of turbulent waiting with intensified connections was revealed. Families in the study experienced a sense of vulnerability in response to the diagnosis of CIN. Intensified connections existed within and beyond the families to nurses, physicians, and community members, emphasizing the value of relationships for rural families and highlighting trust in their care providers. Waiting for chemotherapy to resume created a sense of turbulence, an unsettling time described by families as "being on a roller coaster" or "dangling." To manage the period of waiting and protect the neutropenic patient, families developed family caring strategies, including inquiry, vigilance, and balancing. The process of turbulent waiting with intensified connections led families to a reframed family integrity that included an expanded capacity for caring and protecting. Rural families understand and manage CIN in a context of vulnerability. The threat posed by cancer is heightened by CIN. Family waiting is a rich, interactive process by which families reemphasize relationships to manage neutropenia and is a process that healthcare professionals should acknowledge. Findings suggest the need for further investigation of family caring strategies and for the development of family-level assessment measures in the instance of CIN. Findings contribute to theory development regarding family cancer care and suggest a need to develop an intervention protocol constructed from the perspective of a family-professional partnership.

Reforming the Security Sectors in South Eastern Europe: Lessons Learned and their Relevance for a Wider Black Sea Area Policy

After the end of the Cold War, the former Warsaw Pact countries committed themselves to building democratic institutions of civilian control over their militaries as part of the democratization process. In the early 1990s, that issue loomed high on the reform agenda because of the fear that the oversized armies, perceived as pillars of the former Socialist state, would seize power and set up dictatorships. Later on, once the basic framework of democratic control of the armed forces was put in place, new issues were incorporated under the rubric of security sector reform (SSR), a broader concept that not only included all the national security agencies but also focused on good governance and efficiency of democratic mechanisms. On the other hand, Russia withdrew its involvement in Central and South Eastern Europe, allowed the countries in the region to realign and integrate into Western security structures, and allowed more Western assistance to flow into the region. That was not the case of the former Soviet republics, considered by Russia as its “near abroad” area of responsibility. But the year 2004 brought the double enlargement of NATO and the EU, and countries such as Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine became the new eastern neighbors of both NATO and the EU. Meantime, the northern-oriented perspective of enlargement and partnership has been changed by the events of September 11. That one day put the issue of tackling the more complex problems of South Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region higher on the international policy agenda. Also, the Russian leadership is increasingly reluctant to countenance any further involvement of the West on the Northern European dimension, considering that the threats are rather coming from the South. Once the enlargement was confirmed and eight former socialist countries became EU members—seven of them also being NATO members—both NATO and the EU must develop a policy towards their new eastern neighbors and decide how to anchor them, either by enlargement or by a partnership. What are the challenges, opportunities, and threats in that area? Should they be handled at the bilateral or regional level?