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PurposeThe paper proposes to look at the transformational strategies undertaken in relation to the 1989‐1997 French administrative reform process and to examine their impact on the ministerial field services through using Burgelman's "model of the interaction of strategic behaviour, corporate context and the concept of strategy".Design/methodology/approachEmpirical research was carried out in a field service of the French Education Ministry with the presentation of the findings being structured around Burgelman's criteria for autonomous strategic behaviour. These criteria – operational slack, project champion, circumvention of the structural context and organisational champion – provided a mechanism to assess whether operational and institutional factors at field service level impeded or facilitated moves towards a more managerial logic of appropriateness as envisaged by the reform programmes during this period.FindingsThe explanatory insights of Burgelman's model show how the resilience of traditional institutional features minimised the transformational impact of the reforms.Research limitations/implicationsBurgelman's model is able to facilitate a greater understanding of the 1989‐1997 French administrative reform process through identifying those conditions conducive to micro‐organisational actors exercising greater autonomy in their operational management. In this way, the organisational dynamics that constrained the transformational impact of the reforms could be highlighted and an explanation provided of why the respective reform programmes had minimal effect at field service level.Originality/valueThe paper will be of relevance to those interested in the effect of the new public management agenda on national administrations in Europe and the applicability of private sector models in affording explanatory insights into such processes of change.

This essay examines the administrative reform process in France since the late 1980s. The key reforms undertaken during this period have sought to delegate greater managerial autonomy to the ministerial field‐service level. We undertook semistructured interviews with officials in the field services of three French ministries (Education, Agriculture, and Infrastructure) in the Champagne‐Ardennes region, as well as with members of the wider policy communities. The capacity of the field services to adopt a proactive approach to management reform depended on five key variables: internal organizational dynamics; the attitude of the central services to mesolevel autonomy; the degree of institutional receptivity to change; the type of service delivery, and the extent of penetration in local networks. The Infrastructure Ministry was more receptive to management change than either Education or (especially) Agriculture, a receptivity that reflects the institutional diversity of the French administrative system, and that supports new institutionalist arguments. The essay rejects straightforward convergence to the New Policy Management norm. Changes in public management norms require either endogenous discursive shifts or else need to be interpreted in terms of domestic registers that are acceptable or understandable to those charged with implementing reform.

This essay examines the administrative reform process in France since the late 1980s. The key reforms undertaken during this period have sought to delegate greater managerial autonomy to the ministerial field-service level. We undertook semistructured interviews with officials in the field services of three French ministries (Education, Agriculture, & Infrastructure) in the Champagne-Ardennes region, as well as with members of the wider policy communities. The capacity of the field services to adopt a proactive approach to management reform depended on five key variables: internal organizational dynamics; the attitude of the central services to mesolevel autonomy; the degree of institutional receptivity to change; the type of service delivery, & the extent of penetration in local networks. The Infrastructure Ministry was more receptive to management change than either Education or (especially) Agriculture, a receptivity that reflects the institutional diversity of the French administrative system, & that supports new institutionalist arguments. The essay rejects straightforward convergence to the New Policy Management norm. Changes in public management norms require either endogenous discursive shifts or else need to be interpreted in terms of domestic registers that are acceptable or understandable to those charged with implementing reform. 3 Tables, 49 References. Adapted from the source document.

This research note is the abridged version of the keynote speech delivered at the Second Conference of the East Asian Popular Culture Association (EAPCA II), on 4 December 2020 at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) workshop for the twentieth anniversary of the International Taiwan Studies Center, College of Liberal Arts, NTNU, Taipei, and its audio-recorded version with live discussion took place online on 11–12 January 2021, at Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. The oral keynote speech covered five parts. The first part sketches the geographical and conceptual idea of East Asia, with inclusion of a dichotomous self-concept based on gender identification. The second part covers a brief description on the history of the region, paying attention to the comparison between China's and Japan's development paths. This is followed by five selected case studies on Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan that single out some of the specificities of their popular culture products. The fourth section contextualizes these specificities against the background of five characteristics of the region's popular culture and identity politics. The concluding remarks reiterate the main points.

Abstract. Monitoring for mass flows on volcanoes can be challenging due to the ever-changing landscape along the flow path, which can drastically transform
the properties and dynamics of the flow. These changes to the flows require the need for detection strategies and risk assessments that are tailored
not only between different volcanoes but at different distances along flow paths as well. Being able to understand how a flow event may transform
in time and space along the channel is of utmost importance for hazard management. While visual observations and simple measuring devices in the
past have shown how volcanic mass flows transform along the flow path, these same features for the most part have not been described using
seismological methods. On 18 March 2007, Mt. Ruapehu produced the biggest lahar in Aotearoa / New Zealand in over 100 years. At 23:18 UTC the tephra dam
holding the Crater Lake water back collapsed causing 1.3×106 m3 of water to flow out and rush down the Whangaehu
channel. We describe here the seismic signature of a lake-breakout lahar over the course of 83 km along the Whangaehu River system using
three three-component broadband seismometers installed <10 m from the channel at 7.4, 28, and 83 km from the Crater Lake source. Examination of three-component seismic amplitudes, frequency content, and directionality, combined with video imagery and sediment concentration
data, was carried out. The seismic data show the evolution of the lahar as it transformed from a highly turbulent out-burst flood (high peak frequency
throughout), to a fully bulked-up multi-phase hyperconcentrated flow (varying frequency patterns depending on the lahar phase), to a slurry flow
(bedload dominant). Estimated directionality ratios show the elongation of the lahar with distance down the channel, where each recording station
depicts a similar pattern but for differing lengths of time. Furthermore, using directionality ratios shows extraordinary promise for lahar
monitoring and detection systems where streamflow is present in the channel.

Preventing disease outbreaks has widespread benefits that are dependent on the actions of many agents but can be undermined by the inaction of others. This paper explores whether a voluntary biosecurity-related assurance scheme can be an effective mechanism for curbing the risks of animal and plant pests and diseases. The decision to engage in such schemes is modelled using a coalition game where agents consider both direct costs of infection and regional outbreak costs like trade bans and movement restrictions. We find that government needs to support the scheme through incentives that reduce members' outbreak costs like pre-agreed outbreak compensation or preferential regulatory treatment. Assurance schemes could provide significant improvements in biosecurity if membership is high; but without government incentives, stable coalitions are either small or ineffective at improving biosecurity. Government support can lead to large coalitions and robust improvement in overall biosecurity, with the optimal level of support being the smallest incentive that leads to a stable grand coalition. Policies that focus on either monetary or non-monetary incentives can lead to more robust improvements in biosecurity. In particular, targeting regional outbreak costs to members like movement restrictions leads to improved biosecurity for all levels of support.

Preventing disease outbreaks has widespread benefits that are dependent on the actions of many agents but can be undermined by the inaction of others. This paper explores whether a voluntary biosecurity-related assurance scheme can be an effective mechanism for curbing the risks of animal and plant pests and diseases. The decision to engage in such schemes is modelled using a coalition game where agents consider both direct costs of infection and regional outbreak costs like trade bans and movement restrictions. We find that government needs to support the scheme through incentives that reduce members' outbreak costs like pre-agreed outbreak compensation or preferential regulatory treatment. Assurance schemes could provide significant improvements in biosecurity if membership is high; but without government incentives, stable coalitions are either small or ineffective at improving biosecurity. Government support can lead to large coalitions and robust improvement in overall biosecurity, with the optimal level of support being the smallest incentive that leads to a stable grand coalition. Policies that focus on either monetary or non-monetary incentives can lead to more robust improvements in biosecurity. In particular, targeting regional outbreak costs to members like movement restrictions leads to improved biosecurity for all levels of support.

Funding: UK BBSRC grant BB/L012030/1 for the project New approaches for the early detection of tree health pests and pathogens. ; The challenges to forest health from climate change, globalization, contemporary trade practices and new recreational patterns require effective biosecurity. We asked: How is the biosecurity border for tree health understood and enacted by state and non-state actors? What are the consequences for tree health? Semi-structured interviews (N = 10) were conducted with scientists and other relevant actors (N = 21). The border was understood variously as: a biophysical boundary, often the coast; a geopolitical boundary, usually of the European Union; the points of main inspection focus; dispersed nodes of inspection; a 'pre-border' outside of UK; or by the location of detection activities. A wide range of state, non-state and hybrid groups are engaged in border practices. These practices have been altered due to trade and climate changes, are subject to cost and resource priorities and reflect particular knowledge flows and the biological nature of the agents. We suggest that there is an 'everyone' as well as 'everywhere' border that demands clarification of risks, roles and responsibilities, and we offer practical recommendations. We conclude that tree health border challenges are a manifestation of wider sustainability issues that enable us to explore human–nature relationships, democratic engagement and the pursuit of more sustainable futures. ; Publisher PDF ; Peer reviewed

This work was supported by a grant funded jointly by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Forestry Commission, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Scottish Government, under the Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Initiative. ; Innovation in environmental fields such as plant health is complex because of unbounded challenges and lack of certainty of commercial uptake. In this paper we present a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) framework, specifically to assist with assessment of technologies to support detection of tree pests and pathogens, but also for wider potential adaptation. Biosecurity can be enhanced by improved early detection of pests and pathogens, but development and deployment of new technologies requires robust scrutiny. We critically analyse the concept, practice and applicability of TRLs. Interviews revealed scientist perspectives during the development process of five novel early plant pest and pathogen detection technologies. A retrospective, collective narrative of one technology from concept to commercial deployment was undertaken. We then developed a calculator tool for assessment of biosecurity TRLs. Our findings illustrate the iterative process of technology development, the challenges in final TRLs of acquiring funding to move from proven success to viable product, inefficiencies created through the need for multiple projects for each technology and the imperative to consider the wider socio-ecological technical landscape, including policy context. End user engagement was particularly valuable at beginning and end of the TRL scale. We conclude that the TRL framework comprises a robust approach to assess technologies in that it facilitates progress tracking, evaluation of success likelihood and identification of opportunities for investment. However, its potential will only be realised for environmental management if it is integrated into the ...

Background  Studies have found that health checking in primary care led to the identification of previously unrecognized morbidity among adults with intellectual disabilities. The aim here was to evaluate whether health checking stimulated increased consultation with the general practitioner or another member of the primary care team, increased health promotion actions undertaken outside the health check or increased contact with specialists.Method  Data on the above three categories of activity were abstracted from the medical records of 77 adult participants with intellectual disabilities for eight 6‐month periods before and seven 6 month periods after they had undergone a health check. Comparisons of access to care before and after the health check were made using non‐parametric statistics.Results  On average, participants had 5.4 and 1.8 primary care and specialist consultations per year respectively. There were no significant differences in either rate before and after the health check. The frequency of health promotion actions increased significantly after the health check from a mean of 1.2 to 2.2/year.Conclusions  Comparison of the primary care and specialist consultations rates of people with intellectual disabilities with those for the general population might suggest that the former have greater access to these services. However, comparison to the general practitioner consultation rates of patients with other chronic conditions would seem to indicate that contact with primary care may not be commensurate with need. Attention to health promotion is inadequate. Further research is required to substantiate whether health checking increases health promotion and how increased health promotion activity would affect the health of this population.