Risky Endeavour Research Articles

Friends, peers and safeguarding

Friends, peers and safeguarding

JUVENILE INFORMERS: IS IT APPROPRIATE TO USE CHILDREN AS COVERT HUMAN INTELLIGENCE SOURCES?

AbstractRecently, attention has been given to the question as to whether children should be used as covert human intelligence sources (CHIS), aka informers. Being a CHIS is a risky endeavour, particularly when the person is deployed against serious crime, for example, gang violence. Questions arise over the propriety of using adolescents as CHIS, and whether the regulation of covert sources serves to minimise the risk to them. This article considers the regulatory environment. It concludes that the use of juveniles as CHIS can be justified, but that additional safeguards must be put in place to ensure their safety.

Robert Kentridge

Robert Kentridge

Measuring impact of Lean implementation on construction safety performance: a structural equation model

The construction industry is a risky endeavour. Therefore, it is essential to develop significant safety measures for lowering risks and ensuring safety during projects. However, current safety applications are yet to be developed given the increasing number of workplace accidents. Among these, Lean applications have the potential to improve safety standards and enhance safety performance. Within this context, this study develops components for Lean implementation and construction safety performance, and it presents a conceptual framework to study the relationship between them. A questionnaire was designed and given to Lean practitioners to quantify the impact of the components. Structural Equation Modelling was used to analyse the framework and validate the relationship between Lean implementation and safety performance. The results of the study indicate that there is a significant relationship between Lean implementation and safety performance. The findings also imply that firms that perform well in implementing Lean practices achieve better safety performance. The primary contribution of this research is to prove that Lean practices are closely related to safety performance, with the aim of encouraging construction practitioners to work in a safer environment by using well-established Lean practices. Moreover, the study aims to expand the use of Lean practices to achieve better safety performance by revealing the strong ties between safety and Lean. Finally, this study can guide construction practitioners to adopt Lean techniques and apply them in their projects to enhance safety performance.

The future of otology

The field of otology is increasingly at the forefront of innovation in science and medicine. The inner ear, one of the most challenging systems to study, has been rendered much more open to inquiry by recent developments in research methodology. Promising advances of potential clinical impact have occurred in recent years in biological fields such as auditory genetics, ototoxic chemoprevention and organ of Corti regeneration. The interface of the ear with digital technology to remediate hearing loss, or as a consumer device within an intelligent ecosystem of connected devices, is receiving enormous creative energy. Automation and artificial intelligence can enhance otological medical and surgical practice. Otology is poised to enter a new renaissance period, in which many previously untreatable ear diseases will yield to newly introduced therapies. This paper speculates on the direction otology will take in the coming decades. Making predictions about the future of otology is a risky endeavour. If the predictions are found wanting, it will likely be because of unforeseen revolutionary methods.

Moonshot innovations: Wishful Thinking or Business-As-Usual?

‘Our mind-set will be to avoid the moonshot’ said Boeing CEO James McNerney at a Wall Street analysts meeting in Seattle nearly 5 years ago (see Gates, 2014). The ambitious, exploratory and risky endeavour dubbed as moonshot project of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner had sunk billions of dollars in an industry where end-users demanded more comfort and convenience for less cost. According to McNerney, moonshots do not work in a price-sensitive environment. It is argued that they also tend to take the focus away from more immediate value capture opportunities as seen through Google’s loss on its core Cloud Platform to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Google’s parent company Alphabet which oversees Google X (a semi-secret moonshot project lab) more recently reported that it had incurred a US$1.3billion in operating loss on moonshot projects with a sizeable increase in compensation of employees and executives working on these projects (Alphabet, 2018). Notably, none of the Google X lab spin-outs (e.g. Loon – a balloon-based internet project, Waymo – self-driving car project, Wing – drone delivery project) have been identified as commercially viable. Despite the uncertainties and failures, the focus on moonshot innovations continues to proliferate in academia (Kaur, Kaur and Singh, 2016; Strong and Lynch, 2018) and practice (Martinez, 2018). Yourden (1997) even wrote an interesting book on perseverance and tenacity to keep going even after failed projects. Proponents of moonshot thinking have claimed that it can help solve society’s biggest challenges (e.g. cure cancer, see Kovarik, 2018) with some suggesting to encourage such thinking by paying failure bonuses (Figueroa, 2018). Yet others remain sceptical, positing that moonshot is ‘awesome and pointless’ (Haigh, 2019, p.4). A proverbial question, thus, emerges: are moonshot innovations simply wishful thinking or can they be part of business-as-usual? In part, the answer may be two-fold – 1) understanding the value of moonshot thinking, and 2) understanding moonshot challenges. (...)

Detumbling of a non-cooperative target with unknown inertial parameters using a space robot

The detumbling of a non-cooperative, tumbling target by a space robot for the purpose of performing on-orbit servicing is a challenging and risky endeavour. The formulation of a detumbling control strategy must respect end-effector force/torque limits of the space robot without prior knowledge of the target’s inertial parameters (mass, inertia tensor, location of center of mass). Prior studies have formulated detumbling strategies with the assumption of accurate knowledge of the target’s inertial parameters. However, obtaining accurate estimates of the target’s inertial parameters is difficult, and parameter uncertainty may lead to instability and violation of the end-effector’s force/torque limits. In this paper, a novel detumbling strategy is presented to detumble targets without prior knowledge of their inertial parameters. Detumbling of the target is achieved by controlling the space robot to follow a reference force/torque that is designed to detumble the target while respecting force/torque limits at the end-effector, without the use of the target’s inertial parameters. To ensure stable detumbling of the target, a robust compensator is designed based on bounds of the target’s unknown inertial parameters. Furthermore, in order to reduce the robust control gains, bounds on the target’s unknown inertial parameters are estimated in real-time once the post-grasping detumbling process starts. Stability proof of the closed-loop system has been provided. Numerical simulations have been conducted, and the results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The ‘front stage’ of substance auditing: A study of how substance auditing is presented in performance audit reports

AbstractPerformance audit is a practice with a potentially high degree of democratic and political relevance. Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) have the authority to determine whether the undertakings in central government ‘are working’; therefore, SAIs tend to be regarded as important guardians of transparency and ‘good’ public sector performance. For this purpose, audits of ‘substance’ are regarded as crucial by both the research community and the INTOSAI. Still, the literature on performance audit concludes that substance audits are rare, although they do exist. One explanation for this is that substance auditing can be a risky endeavour for the auditors, since the lack of generic accounting standards for ‘good’ public sector performance makes the performance audit reports vulnerable to criticism. The aim of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of substance auditing by detailing the ways in which such audits are presented in performance audit reports. Thus, the paper focuses its analysis on the ‘front stage’ of substance auditing and finds that the auditors rarely choose to stand on the front stage alone. Instead, they regularly support their authority by relying on other authorities, and when such authorities are lacking, the auditors are reluctant to present judgements in terms of ‘good’ (or poor) performance. In such cases, this paper suggests that the democratic relevance of the audits can be questioned.

Senior stakeholder views on policies to foster a culture of openness in the English National Health Service: a qualitative interview study.

SummaryObjectivesTo examine the experiences of clinical and managerial leaders in the English healthcare system charged with implementing policy goals of openness, particularly in relation to improving employee voice.DesignSemi-structured qualitative interviews.SettingNational Health Service, regulatory and third-sector organisations in England.ParticipantsFifty-one interviewees, including senior leaders in healthcare organisations (38) and policymakers and representatives of other relevant regulatory, legal and third-sector organisations (13).Main outcome measuresNot applicable.ResultsParticipants recognised the limitations of treating the new policies as an exercise in procedural implementation alone and highlighted the need for additional ‘cultural engineering’ to engender change. However, formidable impediments included legacies of historical examples of detriment arising from speaking up, the anxiety arising from increased monitoring and the introduction of a legislative imperative and challenges in identifying areas characterised by a lack of openness and engaging with them to improve employee voice. Beyond healthcare organisations themselves, recent legal cases and examples of ‘blacklisting’ of whistle-blowers served to reinforce the view that giving voice to concerns was a risky endeavour.ConclusionsImplementation of procedural interventions to support openness is challenging but feasible; engineering cultural change is much more daunting, given deep-rooted and pervasive assumptions about what should be said and the consequences of mis-speaking, together with ongoing ambivalences in the organisational environment about the propriety of giving voice to concerns.

Postgraduate writing groups as spaces of agency development

Abstract Academic writing is a peculiar phenomenon – it varies greatly from discipline to discipline and its requirements are rarely made overt. Taking on the writing practices of the academy has implications for identity and it is thus unsurprising that it is seen to be a risky endeavour. This article analyses the experiences of postgraduate scholars who have participated in writing groups that meet weekly to read each other’s work and provide supportive critique. Thirty-two people provided detailed, anonymous evaluations of their writing groups and these were analysed using a discourse analysis. Three main findings are discussed here. Firstly, writing circles allowed for academic writing development to be engaged with as a social practice, where the disciplinary norms could be made more explicit through peer deliberation, and where they could also be challenged. Secondly, the lack of hierarchical power in the writing groups was key to making safe spaces for agency development, and also for providing positive peer pressure whereby participants were spurred on to work on their writing. Thirdly, the fact that the groups were interdisciplinary, within cognate disciplinary families, provided an interesting challenge in that the students had to consider what these non-specialist readers would or would not understand. This process assisted students in clarifying their writing. Participants’ evaluation of the writing groups revealed an overall sense that these contributed to postgraduate student wellbeing and were places of significant agential development.

HostelLand. Boardgame Theatre and Social Dialogue

Abstract HostelLand. Boardgame teatral is one of the most recent productions at Teatru Fix in Iaşi, a project that has been made in collaboration with Asociaţia Addarta. This paper will focus on the work methods used in the creative process and the performance form that has resulted – a form that is based on several rules that belong both to the principles of the boardgame that has been created, and to the way in which we interact with the audience. Director Alex Iuraşcu’s decision to structure the performance as a game generates a context in which audience participation is a factor that doesn’t only determine the way in which the performance takes place, but the very possibility of it taking place. A risky endeavour, one might say, but one that, up to this moment, has proven functional every time. The spectators have to become actants, alike the performers, and they gradually go from their role as (active or passive) players to that of citizens who are involved in a debate on the new laws of a state – the fictive, independent state HostelLand, a community formed by the boardgame players.

Exploring variation in how ambulance services address non-conveyance: a qualitative interview study

ObjectivesThere is considerable variation in non-conveyance rates between ambulance services in England. The aim was to explore variation in how each ambulance service addressed non-conveyance for calls ending in telephone...

Can Argentina’s Experience Help Predict the Effects of a Potential Grexit?

In the debate about a possible exit of Greece from the euro area, Argentina is often referred to as an example–both by those in favour of and those warning of the adverse effects of a Grexit. Yet, while Argentina pulled off an impressive economic recovery after its 2001-02 crisis–one that goes beyond a mere commodity boom–there are important structural differences between the two countries, which still render a potential Grexit a very risky endeavour.

Ukrainian volunteer fighters in the eastern front: ideas, political-social norms and emotions as mobilization mechanisms

Following the outbreak of the insurgency in eastern Ukraine, thousands of volunteers joined pro-Kiev battalions. Although they have fiercely fought against pro-Kremlin forces, very little is known about them. The article will investigate why individuals have engaged in such a risky endeavour for no obvious material reward. It will claim that ideas, political-social norms and emotions have functioned as mobilization mechanisms that can explain individual decisions. Based on interviews, the article will argue that the mobilization of Ukrainian volunteer fighters has a strong cognitive-normative-emotional dimension that cannot be ignored and should be further explored.

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH AND MODEL ANALYSIS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF TOURIST TRENDS

The draw and diversity of the destination’s offer is an antecedent of the tourism visits growth. The destination supply differentiation is carried through new, specialised tourism products. The usual approach consists of forming specialised tourism products in accordance with the existing tourism destination image. Another approach, prevalent in practice of developed tourism destinations is based on innovating the destination supply through accordance with the global tourism trends. For this particular purpose, it is advisable to choose a monitoring and analysis method of tourism trends. The goal is to determine actual trends governing target markets, differentiating whims from trends during the tourism preseason. When considering the return on investment, modifying the destination’s tourism offer on the basis of a tourism whim is a risky endeavour, indeed. Adapting the destination’s supply to tourism whims can result in a shifted image, one that is unable to ensure a long term interest and tourist vacation growth. With regard to tourism trend research and based on the research conducted, an advisable model for evaluating tourism phenomena is proposed, one that determines whether tourism phenomena is a tourism trend or a tourism whim.

Interpretive structural modelling of risk sources in medical device development process

Development of new devices is known to bring substantial amount of revenues to medical device manufacturing companies, but is often a risky endeavour. The risks are stemmed from number of sources which have catastrophic effects on medical device development (MDD) process. This paper explores risk sources in MDD process. A model of interaction among these sources is developed based on contextual mutual relationships among them. The risk sources which can jeopardize the MDD processes in terms of cost, time of development and quality of device are identified primarily through experts’ opinions and literature review. The mutual relationship among them is established using interpretive structural modelling methodology. They are further classified based on the mutual influence and dependence using MICMAC analysis. The results show that the risk sources have mainly two groups; one has high dependence and low driving power representing the resulting actions. Another group has high driving power and low dependence indicating the need for systematic attention. Third group is of autonomous risk sources which are relatively disconnected from the system but are important when considered separately. This research is a unique effort and will be a lighthouse for the developers, decision makers and researchers to focus and deal with the risk sources which can impede the processes and may even result in harmful events related to devices. This study is focused on risk sources in MDD process but can be applied to product development in other areas to improve the development processes.

Derivatives for Development? Small‐Farmer Vulnerability and the Financialization of Climate Risk Management

While agricultural production has always been a risky endeavour, it has become even more so in the current context of climatic change and increasing market uncertainty. Meanwhile, the rollback of state protections has rendered small‐scale farmers, especially marginalized peasant producers in the Global South, particularly vulnerable to these contemporary stressors. This essay critically evaluates the contemporary roll‐out of financial derivatives that purportedly aim to mitigate smallholder vulnerability. It gives particular attention to a novel type of derivative known as index‐based agricultural insurance (IBAI) that plays an increasingly prominent role in initiatives to ‘climate proof’ agriculture. The creation of IBAI markets has required significant work, including (1) technical interventions to debundle environmental risk from agricultural production and rebundle it in novel ways that support private financial capital and agricultural input suppliers, (2) extensive state support in the creation of risk markets, and (3) the construction of an accommodating ‘insurance culture’ among small‐scale producers. In addition to mitigating weather‐based risk, a primary objective of IBAI is to spur agricultural modernization. In promoting this agenda, IBAI initiatives may have the paradoxical effect of exposing smallholders to new risks while expanding their overall vulnerability to environmental and economic stressors.

Анализ бизнес-климата в современном Пакистане

The business climate which the organization faces is investigated, considering
 possibility of business in modern Pakistan. The study includes risks and
 opportunities found from both an economic, political, and cultural perspective.
 Doing business in Pakistan has become a risky endeavour because of
 environmental factors, which are due to the geopolitical situation around the
 region. What we have discovered through our SWOT analysis is that Pakistan’s
 business sector has many threats and opportunities, and the hostility in the
 region is perhaps the greatest threat to both the country and its ability to
 conduct business in a stable way. The hostile environment, coupled with
 strained ties with America and other nations, such as India, will make business
 in Pakistan a difficult ordeal. If Pakistan wants to create growth opportunities in
 the business sector, it has to cease the support of terrorists, make peace with
 India, and enhance their political standing as a democratic state to create
 opportunities for entrepreneurs. Education has to be given the utmost priority in
 order to create these entrepreneurs for the business sector.

Online Poker Gambling Among University Students: Risky Endeavour or Harmless Pastime?

This study aims to describe online poker gambling patterns and associated problems in a representative sample of university students. The study sample consisted of 366 past-year online and offline poker gamblers and was drawn from a larger survey sample of full-time undergraduate students (N=2,139) randomly selected across four university campuses in Montreal, Canada. The questionnaire included self-reported measures of poker gambling patterns and problems, negative consequences of gambling, drinking problems, and illicit drug use. Online poker was found to be associated with problem gambling, over-spending and debt, as well as problems with university studies, interpersonal relationships, and illicit drug use. Given the propensity of university students to adopt risky behaviours, on-campus prevention programs are warranted in the midst of the online poker craze, especially given that online gambling remains unregulated. Detection tools should be available for students to recognize critical shifts in their gambling habits from a leisure activity to a risky endeavour.

A theoretical framework of organizational change

PurposeOrganizational change is a risky endeavour. Most change initiatives fall short on their goals and produce high opportunity and process costs, which at times outweigh the content benefits of organizational change. This paper seeks to develop a framework, offering a theoretical toolbox to analyze context‐dependent barriers and enablers of organizational change. Starting from an organizational identity perspective, it aims to link contingency‐based approaches, such as environmental scan, SWOT and stakeholder analysis, with insights from organizational behaviour research, such as knowledge sharing and leadership.Design/methodology/approachThe framework is informed by long‐lasting field research into organizational change in an international policing environment. The theories in the framework are selected from the perspective of field validity in two ways; they were chosen because the topics covered by these theories emerged as relevant during the field research and therefore it can be expected they have applicability to the field. The authors' insights and suggestions are summarised in 13 propositions throughout the text.FindingsThe analysis provides a clear warning that organizational change is more risky and multifaceted than change initiators typically assume. It is stressed that the external environment and the internal dynamics of organizations co‐determine the meaning of managerial practices. This implies that cure‐all recipes to organizational change are bound to fail.Originality/valueThis paper makes an ambitious attempt to cross disciplinary boundaries in the field of organizational change research to contribute to a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of change processes by integrating perspectives that focus on the internal context and the external environment of organizations.