Role Of External Agents Research Articles

The role of participation and community mobilisation in preventing violence against women and girls: a programme review and critique

ABSTRACT Background Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a public health problem and one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world. Recently practitioners and researchers have taken an interest in community participation as a strategy for preventing VAWG. Despite the recent enthusiasm however, there has been little articulation of how participation in VAWG prevention programmes mobilises communities to challenge social norms and prevent VAWG. Objectives In an attempt to help address this gap, this article seeks to answer two research questions: (1) How does participation theoretically mobilise communities to prevent VAWG, and (2) how do nominally participatory programmes make use of these theoretical concepts in their (explicit or implicit) theories of change? Methods To answer the first question, we draw on two well-recognised theories of participation and community mobilisation – Rifkin and Pridmore’s continuum of participation and Freire’s steps towards achieving critical consciousness – to clarify theoretical assumptions about how participation can mobilise community to reduce VAWG. To answer our second research question, we present the results from a review of primary prevention programmes that seek to reduce VAWG through community participation. Our analysis examines the explicit and implicit theories of change for these prevention programmes against the assumptions outlined from the theoretical literature. Results Our results help to better articulate realistic goals for community mobilisation and outline a theoretical basis for how participation as part of programming can effectively mobilise communities to reduce violence. Conclusion We argue that, in order to be both effective and sustainable, the role of external agents in introducing programmes needs to be secondary to the ownership and empowerment of communities in designing and delivering their own strategies for VAWG prevention.

Learning from the Past in the Transition to Open-Pollinated Varieties

In Nepal, hybrid seed introduction caused major yield gains in agricultural production, but at high environmental costs. The development of high-yielding open-pollinated varieties has spurred hope for more sustainable production systems. Nepal’s government is interested in boosting their use. This research aimed to identify farmer perceptions on the factors behind the past adoption of hybrid seeds in order to propose guidelines to support the diffusion of open-pollinated varieties. Using in-depth interviews, a focus group and participant observation we explored how the process of hybrid seed diffusion has taken place in Panchkhal valley, a representative case study. Social influencers such as change agents, peers, neighbours and seed sellers, as well as economic gains emerged as major reasons for hybrid seed adoption. We learnt that the role of external agents, on which most of the governmental strategies rely, changed over time as peer-based strategies became essential after the diffusion process started. To boost the adoption of open-pollinated seeds, efforts should concentrate in developing high-yielding varieties, engaging early-adopters among influential caste members and seed sellers, distributing seeds to both disadvantaged and wealthy farmers, and using different instruments, from institutional agencies to NGOs, to deliver training on sustainable farming techniques and their economic and environmental advantages.

Analytic approach to explore dynamical osteoporotic bone turnover

BackgroundThe dynamics of the osteoporotic bone turnover is studied in this paper with the aid of stability analysis of the associated mathematical model. Osteoporosis, which is a common bone disorder, is studied in this papper in detail with an emphasis on the relative threshold values. We examine the expository signaling among the bone cells named osteoclast and osteoblast. Main functioning of osteoblasts is bone formation, whereas osteoclasts are bone removal cells.MethodsMathematical framework for osteoporotic bone turnover comprising of the communication between osteoclasts and osteoblasts has been presented to exhibit the conditions for stability in bone turnover.ResultsThe percentage ratios of the population of osteoblasts/osteoclasts have been determined via numerical simulations. The remedial upshots of targeting osteoporotic cells participating in such process are examined.ConclusionsFrom our analysis we have conclude that the role of external agents in treating the diseased bone can be better interpreted with the aid of a theoretical model.

Peran Aktor Eksternal Dalam Pengembangan Pariwisata Di Desa Wisata Samiran Kecamatan Selo, Kabupaten Boyolali

This research was to analyze The Role of External Agent to Tourism Development of Samiran Tourism Village. Samiran Tourism Village become mainstay tourism attraction at Boyolali Regency. Samiran Tourism Village have natural potential namely Merapi mountain dan Merbabu, Samiran Tourism Village is located on slope of the mountain. The development of Samiran Tourism Village is so rapid, as evidenced by the achievement that 3rd national champion in prestigious event of Tourism Village Competition held by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. The successfull of Samiran Tourism Village today, because of the high participation of local communities. But, who would have thought tucked into role of external agent in the development. The external agent to become a director in the development of Samiran Tourism Village. 
 This research conducted using qualitative methods, described through descriptive teqniques, data were collected through observation and depth interview on the informant. Selection of informant invitation purposive sampling technique.
 This study shows the role of external agent as a drafter, the mouthpiece in the information and tourism ambassador in the tourism development at the Samiran Tourism Village. Existing barriers be addressed to the quite and preferably local communities, especially younger generation must be learh how to be independent tourism area, in order to avoid dependency on external agent.
 
 Keywords: Role, External Agent, Rural Tourism, Tourism Village

From cellular to tissue scales by asymptotic limits of thermostatted kinetic models

Tumor growth strictly depends on the interactions occurring at the cellular scale. In order to obtain the linking between the dynamics described at tissue and cellular scales, asymptotic methods have been employed, consisting in deriving tissue equations by suitable limits of mesoscopic models. In this paper, the evolution at the cellular scale is described by thermostatted kinetic theory that include conservative, nonconservative (proliferation, destruction and mutations), stochastic terms, and the role of external agents. The dynamics at the tissue scale (cell-density evolution) is obtained by performing a low-field scaling and considering the related convergence of the rescaled framework when the scaling parameter goes to zero.

Knowledge transfer in MNCs: Translators’ role and their professional identity

The literature on knowledge transfer in multinational organizations has suggested that language barrier can be overcome by utilizing an organization’s internal resources, such as employees’ language proficiency, or by considering external environments, such as cultural distance. However, it has paid little attention to the role of external agents, i.e., translators. This study thus fills the voids by analyzing how translators facilitate knowledge transfer in multinational organizations, particularly drawing on the role of their professional identities in relation to employees’ cultural capacity. Examining the survey data on 182 translators and 206 HRM managers in Seoul, South Korea, this study proposes that if translators identify themselves as facilitators of cross-cultural encounters (in task) and agents of international business (in job) rather than transmitters of texts and instruments of communications, the translators’ culture- and business-oriented identity complements employees’ cultural capacity ...

Conservation in Context: Variability in Desired and Perceived Outcomes of Community Based Natural Resources Governance in Ghana

Community resource management areas (CREMAs) in Ghana are protected areas managed under a community-based governance regime. This study examined five CREMAs to understand how desired outcomes and perceived performance of these CREMAs vary at a regional level, and the factors that might account for this variability. Importance-performance analysis showed that for all 29 outcomes examined, importance exceeded performance, indicating a need to improve on performance, but perhaps also to create more realistic expectations. Desired outcomes were factor analyzed, and the socioeconomic factor was rated as the most desired group of outcomes but was also the factor with the largest gap between desired and perceived achieved scores. Rankings of outcomes varied among the CREMAs, with attributes such as the role of external agents, communication strategies, social–ecological contexts, and local leadership appearing to be important. The demonstrated variability emphasizes the need to understand inter-CREMA variability in designing possible management interventions.

Patriotismo o universalismo proletario. El lugar del mundo en el obrerismo y el socialismo colombiano, 1904-1930

¿Cuál es el rol de los agentes y dinámicas externas en la introducción de una corriente política en un país como Colombia? ¿Una intensa conexión con el exterior es signo de una fructífera modernización de los discursos y las prácticas políticas? Este texto indaga acerca de la manera como los grupos obreristas y socialistas de comienzos del siglo XX se situaron ante el mundo, esto es, cómo definieron la patria a la que aspiraban y qué lugar le dieron en el conjunto universal. Se muestra cómo en un primer momento los activistas políticos ligados al mundo popular optaron por una baja intensidad de sus relaciones directas con Europa y Estados Unidos, afirmando su búsqueda de mayor igualdad dentro de una vindicación de la patria nacional. En una etapa posterior, los socialistas rechazarán la nación, ilusionados por un universalismo comunista que los puso en un amplio contacto con lo que llegó a considerarse como la matriz de una nueva humanidad, sólo que al precio de enajenarse la simpatía de quienes pretendían representar.

Crime, organised crime and corruption in post-communist Europe and the CIS

This article examines the incomplete and sometimes contradictory evidence on the crime, organised crime and corruption situations in post-communist states, and then seeks to explain the apparent increase in all three in early post-communism. Among the factors considered are the impact of weak states and economies, neo-liberalism, globalisation, Schengen and Fortress Europe, the Communist legacy (the ‘ghost from the past’), and collusion. The article then examines the dynamics of criminality and malfeasance in the region, and provides evidence to suggest that the crime and corruption situation has stabilised or even improved in most post-communist countries in recent times. The factors considered for explaining this apparent improvement are the role of external agents (notably the EU), the move from transition to consolidation, and the role of political will.

Tourism in the future: Cycles, waves or wheels?

Those who have studied tourism over the last few decades will be well aware that the pace of change in some areas has been phenomenal, while in other aspects of the field, there has been relatively little change. The rather confused pattern of tourism development and growth illustrates a major dichotomy which exists in tourism, namely, that between its dynamism and its inertia, and the tension between these two attributes accounts in part for a general difficulty in being able to predict the future patterns of tourism. This paper reviews some of the approaches used to describe and predict the future nature and scale of tourism and argues that few have been effective or accurate, and that this is due in part to the heterogeneous nature of tourism, in both its demand and supply, and that the role of external agents is constantly altering the anticipated pattern of growth and development. Particular attention is paid to the life cycle model which has been used for a quarter of a century to describe the process of development of tourist destinations, whether such a model can be used to predict future patterns, and whether cycles, waves or wheels are suitable analogies for the pattern of tourism growth. The paper argues for a blending of both evolutionary and revolutionary predictions in the case of tourism destinations, an approach which allows for the incorporation of ideas such as chaos theory and chance into the equation of growth, in order to reflect both the inertia and dynamism that are inherent in tourism.

Managing Social-ecological Change and Uncertainty: Floodplain Agriculture and Conservation in Dryland Northern Cameroon

Managing change and uncertainty is important for effective environmental conservation, especially in semi-arid areas. This paper explores farmers' strategies adopted for managing change and uncertainty in­herent in social-agricultural interactions in the Logone floodplain of the Lake Chad basin. We do this through ethnographic participant observations, surveys and latent variable modelling. Among four cate­gories of strategies, those adopted to spread risks were shown to negatively impact farmers' efforts to manage change and uncertainty. Risk-spreading strategies relying on social networks, credit, common­pool resources, cultivation of multiple species and varieties, and alternative income-generating activities were seldom ineffective. In part, the ineffectiveness of risk-spreading strategies is explained by the fact that these strategies were subjected to similar human-environment conditions as agriculture. However, development interventions, corruption, democratic reform, re-negotiation of the commons and reluctance to seize risk-spreading opportunities have undesirable consequences for agro-ecological risk manage­ment. We discuss local potential and the role of external agents in enhancing management of change and uncertainty.

Global Dynamics, Domestic Coalitions and a Reactive State: Major Policy Shifts in Post-War Turkish Economic Development

The main objective of this study is to propose an analytical framework to explain the major policy shifts that has characterized post-war Turkish economic development; divided into four phases, starting respectively in 1950, 1960, 1980, and 2001. Its main contribution is to incorporate external and internal factors into this framework within a broadly political economy perspective, attaching particular significance to the role of economic crises in moving from one phase to the other. While the role of external agents is identified as the main factor behind policy shifts, the role of domestic coalitions in support of policy regime in each phase is also recognized. Drawing attention to the role of state in the impressive recent growth of countries such as China, India, and Ireland, the paper argues that there is still room for the state taking on a developmental role. The paper recommends that Turkey follows a similar path by improving state capacity not only with respect to its regulatory role but also in more developmental spheres, encompassing its redistributive and transformative role on the basis of a domestically-determined industrialization strategy.

The “agent effect” on business divorce

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore the introduction of agents, such as consultants and lawyers, when the continuation of a business relationship is threatened by conflict.Design/methodology/approachBased on findings in a distorted business relationship in the oil industry, describes an “agent effect” on managerial decisions.FindingsThe “agent effect” reduces uncertainty in the decision process by adding information, but also increases the uncertainty. This implies that their advice in fact may increase managerial uncertainty to a level of which the relationship may end up in a business divorce. The study is explorative and based on a single case study design where written communication between the battling parties, public media and court writs are investigated. Primary and secondary data sources are combined.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the paper's strength lies in it being an in‐depth analysis of a single case, this approach is also a limitation when claiming new knowledge.Practical implicationsFuture research should test the existence of “agent effect”, based on a quantitative, cross‐sectional survey design to secure a more general validity. The paper suggests a general carefulness when bringing in external agents into an inter‐organizational dispute, unless the agents are representing both parties as mediators.Originality/valueThe challenge of managing conflict and divorce in a business‐to‐business context has been well studied before, but the role of external agents has not, until now, been explored. This study fills this gap.

Rwanda: Beyond ethnic conflict'

This paper 1 explores some of the reasons for the failure of the international community to act decisively in preempting the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. These are rooted both in long-distant history and in the dynamics of post-Cold War international politics. Drawing on a decade of experience in Central Africa, the author looks critically at the widely accepted explanations of the genocide and its aftermath as 'simply tribal fighting', and considers the role of external agents - journalists and aid agencies alike - in fostering this view. The paper ends with a reflection on the complex challenges posed by 'reconciliation' in the wake of the genocide.

Industrial experience with total quality management

Total quality management (TQM) is a management philosophy which seeks continuous improvement in the quality of performance of all processes, products and services of an organization. While the concept is nothing new, having its origins in the work of W. E. Deming in the 1950s, it has recently become popular in Australia with a number of organizations in the public and private sectors taking an active interest in establishing programmes. This paper reports on the findings of a survey of several Western Australian organizations which have introduced TQM. Structured interviews were used to obtain information on a number of key aspects of the programmes in the selected companies. The following issues were addressed: implementing and sustaining TQM efforts, the structuring of TQM programmes, difficulties encountered and the claimed benefits. Attention is given to the structure and operation of quality improvement teams and how they fit into the overall quality management programmes. The role of external agents...