The objective of this research is to evaluate Human Resources managerial/development effectiveness (HRM/DE) of frontline managers from the perspectives of managers themselves and stakeholders in the public health sector (PHS) of Ghana. The study did this through the development of a conceptual framework which combined the use of integrated organisational and management theoretical perspectives and contextual variables. The study employed the mixed methods research methodology which combined both empiricism and post post-positivists' views with critical realism as the underpinning philosophy. A total of 18 district directors of health, from two regions were purposively sampled and interviewed utilising an in-depth open ended questionnaire through the discussion. Additionally, key policy makers were interviewed and focus group discussions held and a structured questionnaire completed by another group of employees, who assessed managers' capabilities. Discourse analysis was used for the analysis with the aid of Nvivo 7 for the qualitative material whilst quantitative data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics. Findings were triangulated using Marquart and Zercher's (2000) cross-over track analysis framework. Findings show research questions were answered. Majority of district directors lack managerial competencies; are less interested in HRM/D activities, less confident of their human resource skills and less sure of the political and representational skills required of managers. In particular, it is necessary to take account of the political structure of the PHS of Ghana; significant differences exist in power, individual or group interests, values, assumptions and expectations. However, most district directors have tried to indigenise HRM/D practices as a way of motivating and retaining staff. Core Human resources managerial competencies from the perspectives of the three sampled groups have been compiled. It is the first time such a study has been conducted in the PHS of Ghana and which has therefore made inroads in the existing literature and has contributed to HRM/D literature information in Africa particularly Ghana. It also paves the way for understanding management in the African context and perspective and specifically in health care settings. This study has gone beyond the two groups of respondents and proved that the use of multiple respondents generates rich findings and unveiled what would normally have not been possible if single respondents were used.

This research is in response to the current debate on aid in Australia. The debate focuses on the volume of money allocated to aid rather than the impact. While Australian aid is still far from the UN commitment of 0.7 per cent of gross national income, this focus has kept public debate superficial and has deflected attention away from the more important discussion: is aid achieving outcomes and impacting positively in areas identified by developing countries as essential for their sustainable development. / The release of the first Annual Review of Development Effectiveness provided the impetus to investigate whether the newly formed Office of Development Effectiveness (ODE) will introduce changes that will improve Australia’s approach to aid. Framed within national interest, development and aid literature, this research analyses what limitations, if any, there are to reform of aid policies and practices in Australia. / The thesis concludes that the potential for the ODE to significantly improve the effectiveness of Australia aid is limited. It is one of many voices – including the powerful national interest agenda furthered by foreign policymakers – shaping Australian aid policy and practice. However, the furthering of Australian national interest – narrowly defined as security and economic considerations – through the aid program is at the expense of poverty alleviation objectives. This negatively affects how the development ‘problem’ is framed and thus the focus of aid policy. Furthermore, efforts to prioritise national interest considerations undermine the adoption of ‘good’ practice essential for sustainable development. / This is a political reality that is unlikely to change. Thus, the role of the ODE is to provide recommendations within this restricted framework. However, it is only through scrutiny, discussion and debate that the discrepancy between ‘good development’ in theory and in practice can be narrowed. This should also be the role of the ODE.

This study examines employees' perceptions of the training and development system in a large Federal government agency. Data come from a database built from a survey with over 3800 respondents. The survey is representative of five populations: executives, managers, supervisors, professional/ administrative and technical/clerical support staff. The survey instrument used to measure employee' perceptions of the training and development system consisted of 68 items in three sections. Section I addressed demographic data, Section II addressed respondents' overall satisfaction with training and development and their perceptions of the training and development system's achievement of elements of effective training and development practice, and Section III addressed the content of training and training delivery methods. Sections II and III employed a Likert scale for respondents' rating of indicators of satisfaction with training and development and respondents' perceptions about the effectiveness of the training and development system. This study provides conclusions about the factor structure underlying the indicators in the survey. It describes the relationships among employees' perceptions of the status and effectiveness of the training and development system and their perceptions of the value of training and development. The study also presents recommendations for further study and for training and development practice. / Ed. D.

This study aims to establish the effectiveness and sustainability of Kenya‟s Constituency Development Fund as a fiscal decentralized initiative aimed at poverty reduction. The study focuses on the contribution of CDF on education and how this has brought about changes related to increased access to education, better education facilities and improved performance. The study also seeks to highlight prime factors such as participation in decision making as necessary for the implementation of the CDF, while also highlighting those factors that hinder the effective and sustainable implementation of the program.

This study aims to establish the effectiveness and sustainability of Kenya‟s Constituency Development Fund as a fiscal decentralized initiative aimed at poverty reduction. The study focuses on the contribution of CDF on education and how this has brought about changes related to increased access to education, better education facilities and improved performance. The study also seeks to highlight prime factors such as participation in decision making as necessary for the implementation of the CDF, while also highlighting those factors that hinder the effective and sustainable implementation of the program.

Over the past decades the traditional development agenda of a donor-beneficiary model has been replaced by one builton partnerships with mutual benefits. In recent years the paradigms of ‘aid effectiveness’ and ‘developmenteffectiveness’, characterized by a set of new and emerging actors that play an important role in development and arenewed focus on economic growth, have emerged. One of the actors that is becoming more important is the privatesector, as they increasingly have the opportunity to take on a new profound role as development driver. While there hasbeen a trend of decreasing government spending for development aid, the private sector has considerable financial assetsat their disposal. However, the financial contribution of the private sector in sectors related to the SustainableDevelopment Goals remains low. Public-private partnerships are seen as a way that can attract the private sector indoing investments in sustainable development. Especially for global agri-food chains, partnerships have the ambitionto bring about sustainable change. In order to attract the private sector in such collaborations, an understanding of theirinformation needs regarding public-private partnerships and sustainability is necessary. The focus of this research wasto explain those information needs. As part of a case study research, interviews with the private sector were conducted.To gain additional insights, web testing tasks were conducted with the same interviewees. It is found that p the two mainreasons to join in a partnership for the private partners of this case study are because it is a platform for collaborationand knowledge exchange. Understanding these motivations helps to articulate a message that is seen as valuable. Next,with regard to sustainability interests, these mainly fall under the three pillars of sustainability – economic,environmental, social – but it was also found that the companies can use information on traceability and connectingtheir work to the Sustainable Development Goals as ways to communicate about their sustainability efforts. Relatingthis to the findings on information needs and how to communicate about such topics, the main findings suggest that theinformation should be concrete, result-oriented and proof of impact. In general, the information needs of the privatesector all to less or more extent have to do with continuation of the business, while also interest is shown for makingsustainability a viable business case and being a thought leader on sustainability topics. These findings are parallel tothe dominant paradigms of development effectiveness and aid effectiveness that continue to shape the agenda ondevelopment collaboration. / <p>I cannot select the correct organization/department for my supervisor and evaluator as both ar connected to SLU, not UU.</p><p>For Cecilia: Department of Forest Products at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences</p><p>For Per: Department of Economics; Rural Entrepreneurship at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences</p><p></p>

This paper evaluates the benefits of investments in cycling infrastructure for regional development. The case study deals with socio-economic impacts of cycling transport infrastructure built for the Orlicko-Třebovsko region. The main thesis does not assume profitability of such investments in socio-economic realm of the region. Overall societal benefit has been assessed through the cost-benefit analysis. Individual elements of the analysis are focused on short-term, long-term, direct and indirect effects for the development of the region. The benefits are to be found in connection with implementation, management and operation of the project as well as transport sector, services sector and recreation. Specific positive effects take mainly the form of business sales, employment and savings for the population. The analysis has taken note of certain positive effect that is nevertheless economically inadequate to the amount of initial investment. Therefore in this case cycling transport infrastructure proved to be ineffective tool of regional development.

Today's global economy requires many organizations to co-ordinate work across a variety of intra and inter-organizational boundaries (Armstrong & Cole, 1995; Lipnack & Stamps, 1997). Global competition, re-engineered product life cycles, mass customization, and the increased need to respond quickly to customer needs are just some of the more pronounced trends currently driving organizational change (Grenier & Metes, 1995; Miles & Snow, 1986; Miles & Snow, 1992). An organizations growth and profitability is largely due to the strategies of globalization. Firms developing products with global applications must build competencies to connect and leverage knowledge on a worldwide basis (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1998). In several industries product development is a crucial ingredient and therefore factors such as cost of development, cycle time and increased productivity are key drivers for market share and profitability. Product development is an expensive process particularly in the engineering and technology intensive segments. Technological advances have enabled many companies to assemble teams of employees from across the country or around the world into global teams to solve complex organizational problems (Lipnack and Stamps, 1997). Such teams are sometimes temporary, culturally diverse, geographically dispersed, and electronically communicating collections of individuals (Kristof, Brown, Sims, and Smith, 1995). These teams allow organizations to increase efficiency and effectiveness by tapping the knowledge, skills, and expertise of employees around the globe, increasing opportunities for information or knowledge exchange through expanded social networks (Wellman 1996). A large amount of investment is spent in human resources and hence ways to optimize the spending by leveraging global resources, directly helps the bottom line (Govindarajan & Gupta 2001). Models that could be used to understand better team development and effectiveness have been limited to those based on the traditional colocated group perspective. Theory development and empirical research are needed to help managers better understand and respond to the challenges that global teams face (Furst, Blackburn & Rosen, 1999). A literature review conducted found though team effectiveness has been fairly well researched the extension of the topic and as applied to global teams remains a gap. This study attempts to understand team effectiveness and its relevance when applied to a global team in a product development environment. The study involves developing a suitable model and understanding the causal relationships between the identified factors and explains the model based on the findings. Review of Literature The study reviewed a vast amount of literature relating to teams and small workgroups and summarized findings under; Team Definition, Team Types and Nature, Team Composition, Task Design, Team Development, Team Processes, Organizational Context and Global Teams. The literary review suggests that though research is steadily increasing, empirical studies on performance and effectiveness are limited. There has been very few studies on effectiveness as applied to global teams. Literature review on the subject of global teams, suggests that these teams, face even greater challenges because of their geographical separation, diverse cultures, and language. The study identified factors as applicable to global team effectiveness based on previous studies and calibrates them with findings in general team and workgroup study. The study considers Task design, Team composition, and Organizational context factors and attempts to empirically determine causal relationships with Team Processes and Team Effectiveness. Objectives and Methodology The objectives of the study are as follows: 1 To develop and validate a conceptual model that explains global team effectiveness in a product development environment. 2 To establish relationship between team design, team composition, knowledge management context and senior management context towards global team effectiveness in a product development environment. 3 To illustrate the application of the validated model and relationships for developing interventions to enhance effectiveness in a product development environment through a qualitative case study. The methodology adopted was to study contemporary team effectiveness models from literature and get an understanding of the key variables and factors that influence effectiveness. Next, based on prior studies on global teams, a model was developed using an established effectiveness model and extended it to global teams. The main study comprised of analyzing responses from 376 participants from 64 projects working together as global teams. The conceptual model developed consists of two key factors measuring effectiveness namely; Product Development Effectiveness and Team Process Effectiveness. The enabling factors, that are called as ‘global factors’ in the study that influence effectiveness in the model are; Team Design and Composition, Senior Management Context and Knowledge Management Context. Measures defining each factor were developed, refined and checked for reliability and validity. The factor analysis conducted suggested that Product development effectiveness variables include; Schedule compliance, Functional completeness, Product Quality, Cost compliance and Innovative Problem solving. Team Process effectiveness includes; Internal motivation in the team, Looking forward to team challenges, Willingness to share Knowledge, Conflict resolution, Openness to Learning and Quality team interaction. Similarly, factor analysis suggests Task design and team composition be combined as Team Design and Composition. The variables included are; Clear Goals, Well defined output or deliverable, Use of Judgment, Adequate skill sets (Technical, Functional, Program Management and Diversity) and Right size. Knowledge Management Context variables following factor analysis are; Knowledge management practice, Perceived importance of knowledge management, adequate infrastructure and Existent reward system. Senior Management context variables are; Global Senior management support, Management review support and Easy information flow. In order to achieve the objectives of the study a detailed Structural Equation Modeling using Partial Least Squares method was conducted. The measurement model and structural model was assessed, path coefficients studied, moderating effects studied and model evaluated for goodness of fit. In addition, an in depth case study is conducted and the model is applied in a practical scenario. Results and Discussion The study suggests the importance of global teams in a product development environment. This is particularly so as distance, time, culture and technology interface make it all the more important for global teams to have means of measuring effectiveness. It is also necessary to have an understanding of the enabling factors aiding effectiveness. The study suggests a model for measuring effectiveness in global teams involved in product development as; Meeting milestones and timely delivery of the output, Meeting product functional and technical requirements, Quality of output delivered, Cost and budget targets and Innovative problem solving are typical measurements of effectiveness. The model encourages using Team Process Effectiveness as a measure and suggests it has a moderating influence it has on Product Development Effectiveness. The Team Process Effectiveness measures are; Internal motivation amongst members within the team, Identifying if the team looks forward to challenges, Willingness to share knowledge with each other, Resolving conflicts within the team in a positive manner, Openness to learning and Quality team interaction. The model developed indicates that all paths defined and relationships are positive and the model is structurally valid. As hypothesized, factors, Team Design and Composition, Knowledge Management Context and Senior Management Context has significant relationship with Team Process Effectiveness. Further, Team Process Effectiveness has positive causal relationship with Product Development Effectiveness. Knowledge Management Context and Senior Management Context have a significant and positive relationship with Team Process Effectiveness. The study confirms the moderating influence Team Process Effectiveness has on Team Design and Composition, Senior Management context, Knowledge Management Context with Product Development Effectiveness. The in depth case study on a department of 75 members of product development global teams provided the insight into the empirical analysis, strengthened it and helped understand several other aspects of global teams. Conclusion The study provided an in-depth understanding of global team effectiveness by reviewing literature and identifying variables that influence global teams in a product development environment. A model was developed, empirically validated and tested. The model includes effectiveness factors and enabling factors and relationship between factors have been explained. A case study spanning a period of five years on a global team involved in product development was conducted and the model applied in practice. This study suggests that the model can be used by organizations and practicing managers for understanding, developing and leading global teams involved in product development.