This study investigated the direct experiences and preferences of Ontario community college board members and board secretaries to determine how specific programming related to governor recruitment, selection, training and performance evaluation assisted, or may contribute to, governance and leadership experiences during their term in office. These experiences and viewpoints were referenced against the scholarly literature in the domains of contemporary human resources management as well as board governance and leadership. Particular attention was paid to two recent models developed by Leblanc and Gillies (2005) and Chait, Ryan and Taylor (2005) which focus attention on desired leadership and governance practices in not-for-profit institutional settings. Two principal research groups, including college governors and board secretaries, at twenty-two provincial community colleges were invited to complete separate on-line questionnaires which addressed their experiences in four specific human resources management program areas as well as their preferences for how such activities should be carried out. Trends in survey results for both groups were then explored via telephone interviews with five board leaders at community colleges that had participated in the on-line surveys. The results of the study identified several areas where Ontario community colleges utilized contemporary human resources management processes in dealing with members of their boards of governors. The research results also confirmed opportunities for strengthening certain board management practices, through the sharing of expertise with the college’s human resources staff or with the assistance of third party expertise, to strengthen the individual and collective leadership of those serving in governing roles at these higher education institutions.

This study investigated the direct experiences and preferences of Ontario community college board members and board secretaries to determine how specific programming related to governor recruitment, selection, training and performance evaluation assisted, or may contribute to, governance and leadership experiences during their term in office. These experiences and viewpoints were referenced against the scholarly literature in the domains of contemporary human resources management as well as board governance and leadership. Particular attention was paid to two recent models developed by Leblanc and Gillies (2005) and Chait, Ryan and Taylor (2005) which focus attention on desired leadership and governance practices in not-for-profit institutional settings. Two principal research groups, including college governors and board secretaries, at twenty-two provincial community colleges were invited to complete separate on-line questionnaires which addressed their experiences in four specific human resources management program areas as well as their preferences for how such activities should be carried out. Trends in survey results for both groups were then explored via telephone interviews with five board leaders at community colleges that had participated in the on-line surveys. The results of the study identified several areas where Ontario community colleges utilized contemporary human resources management processes in dealing with members of their boards of governors. The research results also confirmed opportunities for strengthening certain board management practices, through the sharing of expertise with the college’s human resources staff or with the assistance of third party expertise, to strengthen the individual and collective leadership of those serving in governing roles at these higher education institutions.

«Kysten er klar» er et samarbeidsprogram mellom Sør-Trøndelag Fylkeskommune og de 11 kommunene på trøndelagskysten. Programmets mål er å fremme de ressurser, fortrinn og kvaliteter som regionen har, for å gjøre kystkommunene attraktive for innbyggere, tilflyttere og næringsliv. Det er igangsatt en rekke tiltak og prosjekter under tre overordnede innsatsområder for regional utvikling; omdømmebygging og bolyst, kompetanseutvikling, og helhetlig arealforvaltning. Oppgaven beskriver hvordan samhandling og styring foregår i nettverket, og forsøker å svare på hvordan det at flere aktører samarbeider om politikkutforming påvirker gjennomføringen av programmets prosjekter. Programmet settes i sammenheng med endringer i offentlig styring, som ofte beskrives som en utvikling fra tradisjonell hierarkisk styring, via New Public Management, til Governance. «Kysten er klar» blir analysert med utgangspunkt i organisasjons- og governanceteori, intervjuer med involverte aktører, en gjennomgang av tidligere forskning og evalueringer, og kriterier for evaluering av nettverkssamarbeid. Programmets organisering, effektivitet, kvalitet, demokratiske forankring og legitimitet blir drøftet, og det blir funnet at de mulighetene og utfordringene som er ansett å være spesielt tilknyttet denne styringsformen kan bekreftes i stor grad for caset. Fordelene programmet ser ut til å ha oppnådd er et mer helhetlig fokus, felles problemforståelse, kompetansedeling, større tillit i samarbeidet, tilgang på flere ressurser, fleksibilitet, lokal tilknytning, etterrettelighet, og legitimitet utad. Ulempene er knyttet til transaksjonskostnader ved samhandlingen, fragmentering, uklarheter ved programmet, varierende grad av forpliktelse og engasjement, en viss elitedannelse, uthuling, og i at beslutningene blir tatt delvis utenfor det representative demokratiet. Styringsformen fremstår som normativ, og legitimiteten til nettverket ser ut til å ligge mye i evnen til å produsere resultater på en effektiv måte, som kan sees som en avveining med en begrenset demokratisk forankring.

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Urban spaces are an increasingly common indigenous reality, and while urban spaces often involve great social and geographic distances from traditional communities, many urban populations have built vibrant communities in cities. This thesis will examine the creation of Métis cultural spaces in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as a community building strategy. It is situated in thirteen in-depth interviews with Métis community builders conducted in Winnipeg over the Summer of 2008. The Winnipeg Metis community is rhizomatic in makeup, situated not in geographic locations, but in the networks of instantaneous and spontaneous social interaction of community members and institutions—elders, political organizations and governance structures. Rhizomatic space is a form of social organization, which emerges out of everyday social life, and because it is only observable during the brief instances of human interaction, it is nearly invisible to outsiders and thus difficult to colonize. It is also a primary means by which Métis people are reclaiming space in their traditional homeland on the Red River. This paper theorizes an alternative tactic to resistance through a decentered form of political organization, grounded in the community and its organic institutions. It proposes that the everyday creation of social and cultural spaces in urban centres is an effective way to build urban indigenous communities with minimal interference or involvement of the State, and that this develops more or less organically without the need for bureaucratic oversight. The paper concludes that the everyday creation of rhizomatic space is a highly effective means of community building and resistance. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2009-08-20 19:43:50.279

This three-essay dissertation first examines the impact of tax enforcement on the incidence of stock option backdating. Consistent with the theoretical prediction that tax authority enforcement can operate as a valuable monitoring tool by narrowing the scope for managerial entrenchment, we find robust evidence that the incidence of stock option backdating is lower when firms are more likely to be subject to IRS audits. Our results reinforce calls in the public policy discourse for institutions that protect investors by curtailing companies’ “degrees of freedom” to engage in corporate misbehaviour. The second essay examines how the market reacts to announcements of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by well performing acquirers and evaluates the results in light of three hypotheses: 1) managerial ability, 2) empire building, and 3) chief executive officer (CEO) overconfidence. Our results indicate that an empire building motive drives the relationship between past superior operating performance and M&A announcements. Long-term operating performance drops significantly for acquiring firms with past superior operating performance. Our evidence also indicates that the presence of insider directors helps to alleviate the negative perception of acquisitions made by firms with better operating performance or empire building CEOs. The final essay investigates the controversial issue of whether information asymmetry affects the cost of equity capital. We re-examine this unanswered question using a unique and simple measure of information risk rooted in the growing literature on geographic proximity. Relying on their distance from financial centers to gauge when firms are better known, we provide robust evidence that information risk shapes equity pricing. In particular, we find that firms located in remote areas exhibit a higher cost of equity capital. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-15 18:48:04.361

The traditional model of corporate governance is comprised of three main players: the board of directors, the management, and the shareholders who own of the corporation. This model has received a wave of criticism. The two most important complaints were that the directors had little to do with the day-to-day business of the corporation, and in their decision making the interests of the shareholders were not being taken into account. This situation has led to the creation of what has been called the "expectation gap" which is defined as the gap which exists between the shareholder's expectation, and the performance and actions of the board of directors. / To reduce this gap, the corporate governance actors have called for an increase in the independence of the board. / The purpose of this study is to give advisors to the French government a comparative understanding of the way that corporate governance in general, and in particular, the way the issue of the independence of the board has been dealt within the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Recent studies have focused on the study of social networks among local resource users, but few have attempted to study co-management networks. The objective of the research was to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Chilean shellfish co-management system from an organizational network perspective. Starting with one detailed case study, representatives of 38 small-scale fisher associations from two administrative regions were interviewed to investigate (1) networks of actors in each co-management arrangement, (2) the functions of these actors in co-management, and (3) fisher perceptions about Chile’s co-management arrangement. Results indicate that decision-making is highly centralized and power is concentrated in government, with little horizontal exchange and cooperation among fisher associations. However, the network approach indicates the presence of a rich set of players, some seven sets of actors by function. Grassroots management innovations are hampered by the existing co-management structure, suggesting that the system may benefit from a modification of the arrangements to allow greater learning-by-doing and increase in flexibility.

The direction of this research is directed by the question ‘How well is co-management working?’ within the context of the arrangements between government agencies and an Indigenous organization. The Girringun Aboriginal Corporation represents the interests of nine Traditional Owner groups and has been involved in working through regional natural resources and protected areas partnerships with government over many years. These partnerships include an Indigenous ranger unit, Australia’s first Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement, and the plans for an Indigenous Protected Area, which will be the first over a mainstream multi-tenure area, as well as the first to incorporate both land and sea country. Girringun country is located in Northern Queensland Australia, at the coastal interface of the Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef eco regions, which are World Heritage Areas represented by their respective authorities. Other tenures include public freehold lands, State forests and reserves, and National parks.

Jurisdictional ownership of all natural resources, including wetlands and river channels, belongs to the state in Bangladesh, and access to and control over wetland resource are determined by the existing top-down, command-and-control, bureaucratic management regimes. Grounded solely in the economic aspects of natural resources, the wetland management objective of the government focuses on rent-seeking to maximize revenues and other economic benefits. At the operational level, this approach presumes bounded and closed economic and social systems and an equilibrial environment. The purpose of this research was to investigate options for institutionalizing participation of stakeholders in wetland (haor) resource management. It was intended to seek alternatives to the state-governed management approach (SMA) and find a means of governance that would encompass multi-stakeholders in the management of natural resources. The specific objectives of this research were to: i) Examine the state-governed management approach and the relationship between formal and informal institutions concerned with access and control over wetland (haor) resources; ii) Analyze, as an alternative to SMA, the processes and structures of stakeholders’ participation and deliberations in decision-making; and iii) Examine the potential for multi-stakeholder governance in wetland resource management. This research selected three development initiatives in Hakaluki haor (major wetland of Bangladesh) for assessment. A set of PRA methods, which included baseline surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews, individual discussion meetings, addah (informal chatting with friends and fellows), and workshops, was used during the research to attain the objective of the study. The research findings have revealed that the community-based organizations (CBOs) were capable of contributing effectively to the community-based or co-management approach in wetland resource management. Establishing a multi-level stakeholder governance system as an institutional structure and process is necessary to sustain CBOs’ operations in decision-making. The participation of local resource users would require appropriate degree of integration of the “bottom-up” and “top-down” approaches to include all relevant stakeholders in the decision-making processes at multiple levels of social organizations. This alternative approach could be an effective instrument to facilitate the deliberations of stakeholders and to strengthen institutional linkages to engender benefits to the local resource users.