Suchergebnisse

The new case of transformations in the Baltic region and in the European Union in general, as well asthe unified social, economic and technological space formation processes in the Baltic region are describedand analysed. These processes are comprehended as an important factor of further social, economic andtechnological modernization in the Baltic countries, as an precondition for more intensive and active integrationof Baltic economic systems into the European and global economic and technological structures, aswell as an knowledge based society and knowledge economy creation factor.The arguments determining the idea of the Baltic region community and unity, as well as opposingarguments are evaluated. The main principles of integration in the Baltic region, as well as the possibleintegration strategies are analysed. The unified social, economic and technological space in the Balticregion as an research area is described.Raktaþodþiai: integracija, transformacijos, vieninga socialinë, ekonominë,technologijø raidos erdvë,Baltijos regionas

The article deals with the issues of Lithuanian labour market policy development from the restoration of independencein 1990 till 2008. In view of various factors impacting the situation in the labour market, the articleproposes stages of the labour market development that serve as a basis for their analysis and assessment. The stagesare defined in connection with changes in the labour market and management environment which impacts the employmentpolicy and are reflected in the implementation of the existing policy. According to the authors, for the purposeof the analysis, the analysed period might also be divided into other stages on the basis of other indicators (e.g., bythe dynamics of unemployment only, by wage developments, by adoption of legislation relevant to the labour marketpolicy, etc.).The article invokes scientific, methodological and statistical information to conduct a comparative analysis andassessment of analytical findings as well as to briefly present findings of the applied Expert Interview approach. Thestudy evidences that in 18 years the Lithuanian labour market policy has undergone a long road from the then poorlyunderstood national labour market and unemployment problem (resulting in passive labour market policy predominantlyfollowed at the first stage, underdeveloped system for reliable regulation of employment of local residents, insufficientattractiveness of labour market authorities for job seekers, eventually making most of them use the servicesof "unofficial labour market"), through EU pre-accession period and harmonisation of the Lithuanian labour marketpolicy with EU legislation, up to implementation of the common EU employment strategy.This article is the first attempt of such a kind to provide with an analytical assessment of the changes in the developmentof the labour market and peculiarities of its management in the independent Lithuania. The article containspractical and theoretical insights on changes in the labour market and prospects of the labour market policy.

Performance is one of the key terms of modern public administration. Most of reform proposals speak in one or another form of strengthening performance or of introducing new performance measures/instruments into public sector organizations. Traditional public administration is usually poor in offering stimulating job contents, particularly because of over-bureaucratized regulations and narrow decision-making competencies which limit the job autonomy of civil servants. In contrary, implementing performance appraisal into public personnel management makes job more attractive regarding to career perspectives (clear and secure promotion) and extra payments for outstanding performance.

The paper aims to evaluate the main features of the creation and development of the integral culturalspace in Europe and the main problems of provision of equal rights in the context of the transitionprocesses in the Central and Eastern Europe. The paper has used the outcomes of the researchconducted over the recent several years, dedicated to the diagnostics of the problems of transformationsas well as economic and social development in Central and Eastern Europe with a special referenceto the development of the integral cultural space and human rights. Major findings show that thecreation and development of the integral cultural space in Europe is a very complex and controversialprocess and in this course various problems and conflicts arise. Therefore, to encourage the creationof the integral cultural space in Europe appropriate cultural policies are necessary to be implemented.These policies may embrace many priorities including: the preservation of cultural diversity,adaptation and dissemination of integrated European dimensions, elimination of inappropriate factorswithin humanism and democracy of all European countries, provision of equal rights in all groups ofmodern society. For implementation of key priorities of cultural policies the use of a number of pan-European scale special programmes is suggested.

This article is aimed at describing a system of society governance by indicating its constituent parts-levels ofgovernance, stages of governance and layers of governance. Governance at the regional layer is characterized as acombination of allocation of governing functions, which are assigned to different groups, among different types ofthe subjects of territorial governance. Using a theoretical model a current system of public governance in Lithuaniaas well as its layer of regional governance is characterized. Having considered the tendencies of reforms at theregional layer of governance, which have presently shown up in European countries, as well as the models ofgovernance at the regional layer existing in other countries, a system (provisions and versions) how to reform thegovernance of higher territorial units (counties) of Lithuania in the years 2005–2011 is presented.

Road surface monitoring is a key factor to providing smooth and safe road infrastructure to road users. The key to road surface condition monitoring is to detect road surface anomalies, such as potholes, cracks, and bumps, which affect driving comfort and on-road safety. Road surface anomaly detection is a widely studied problem. Recently, smartphone-based sensing has become increasingly popular with the increased amount of available embedded smartphone sensors. Using smartphones to detect road surface anomalies could change the way government agencies monitor and plan for road maintenance. However, current smartphone sensors operate at a low frequency, and undersampled sensor signals cause low detection accuracy. In this study, current approaches for using smartphones for road surface anomaly detection are reviewed and compared. In addition, further opportunities for research using smartphones in road surface anomaly detection are highlighted. ; Sattar, S., Li, S., & Chapman, M. (2018). Road surface monitoring using smartphone sensors: A review. Sensors, 18(11), 3845 ; (This article belongs to the Section Intelligent Sensors)

This paper is part of a larger project investigating the relative roles of ideology and gender composition in determining organizational structure and behavior. The project's genesis arose from a study by Meinhard and Foster (2003) that found that Canadian women's voluntary organizations (WVOs) differed from gender-neutral and men's organizations on many different measures. Women's organizations were less likely to adopt a business orientation or pursue new revenue strategies, but were more likely to collaborate with other organizations and more likely to downsize. They also tended to be more pessimistic in their outlook and engaged in more advocacy and political action. Meinhard and Foster (2003) also found that among women's organizations, those that were members of the Canadian National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC), an umbrella organization for feminist groups, were more extreme in their differences. In other words, although both NAC and non-NAC organizations differed significantly from gender-neutral organizations, NAC organizations differed the most. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Meinhard, A., Schwartz, S. & Handy, F. (2009). Mission (Im)possible? Determining Organizational Ideology by Examining Mission Statements (Working Paper Series Volume 2009 (1)). Toronto: Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Ryerson University.

The voluntary sector has long been seen as the foundation of a healthy civil society (DeTocqueville, 1961; Leonard & Onyx, 2003). Yet, substantial growth in the last two decades in demand for voluntary sector services in Canada has been accompanied by a significant reduction in government resources supporting the sector's activities (Browne, 1996). This confluence of demand growth and decreased governmental support has resulted in increased competition among voluntary organizations for both capital and human resources (Meinhard & Foster, 2000). Furthermore, the ethnic transformation of Canadian society has raised knowledge, policy and practical issues across all sectors, including the voluntary sector. These conditions have pushed many in the voluntary sector to reach beyond their traditional bases of support to consider hitherto untapped segments of society, and have pushed governments to rely more and more on the voluntary sector for the development of social integration. However, research on the Canadian voluntary sector, particularly with a cross-cultural lens, is a relatively new research domain, with many gaps in the knowledge base. As a starting point, Berger (2004) and Berger & Azaria (2004) have proposed, tested and supported a framework that traces the relationship between sub-group identity and volunteering, as mediated by attitudes, norms and social barriers. In this paper we extend this framework and consider the role of civic engagement in processes of social cohesion and social integration. We use the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey (EDS) to investigate how engagement in the voluntary sector contributes to the development of both bonding and bridging social cohesion, and thereby, social integration. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Berger, I., Foster, M. & Meinhard, A. (2005). Civic engagement, social cohesion and social integration in Toronto, Canada (Working Paper Series Volume 2005 (4)). Toronto: Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Ryerson University.

This paper brings together findings from three separate investigations to provide a deeper understanding of the changing roles of the government, for-profit and nonprofit sectors in ensuring civil society. The first study, based on a survey of 645 nonprofit organizations from across Canada, revealed a nonprofit sector changing to meet the challenges of the times, despite a general pessimism among leaders of nonprofit organizations as to their future (Meinhard & Foster, 2003a & b). The second, based on interviews with 20 Government of Ontario officials with links to the nonprofit sector, demonstrated how civil servants struggled to help nonprofit organizations adjust to the new policies and also encouraged them to form partnerships with the for-profit sector (Meinhard & Foster, 2003c). The research reported in this paper, based on interviews with 17 senior officers of Ontario-based corporations active in philanthropy, focuses on the corporations and probes more deeply in to the myriad of ways they are getting involved in their communities as socially responsible corporate citizens.The findings from the corporate interviews are compared and melded with those from previous interviews with government officials and nonprofit organizations to provide a three-dimensional perspective of the direction in which Canadian civil society may be moving. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Meinhard, A., Foster, M. & Berger, I. (2005). Closing the loop: corporate links to the voluntary sector (Working Paper Series Volume 2005 (3)). Toronto: Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Ryerson University.

This paper addresses concerns with authenticity claims that surround mental illness and author identity in fanfiction. I will apply the critiques surrounding representation in media (see Mitchell and Snyder, 2001; Couser 2003, 2009) found in disability studies and fandom studies (see Jenkins 2012) to fanfiction. In this paper, I analyze two pieces of fanfiction which focus on Thorin II also known as Thorin Oakenshield, a character from J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit novel and Peter Jackson's film adaptations. I explore how in these texts the authors portray mental illness through their characterization of Thorin II. How the author's actual or perceived personal mental health status may impact their writing, and readers' responses to their writing, is explored through the lenses of identity politics (see Calhoun, 1994) and authenticity (Couser, 2009; van Dijk, 1989). In the context of disability and fandom studies, these fanfictions act as examples of a) combination fictional/ autobiographical writings which work to provide what the authors' perceive as accurate portrayals of mental illness, and b) how the author's mental health status impacts the perceived credibility of their work.

AbstractIn the first edition of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, published in London in 1776, the 'by the same author' list is presented in a very unusual place: directly opposite the table of contents. That placement suggests a continuity and unity in Smith's published works. A photograph provides a touchstone to discuss: (a) the Language essay, (b) the full title of The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and (c) Wealth of Nations under the ethical umbrella of Moral Sentiments.