The main research question of this thesis is: How can cross-border access to human genetic resources, such as blood or DNA samples, be governed to achieve equity for developing countries? Access to and benefit sharing for human biological resources is not regulated through an international legal framework such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, which applies only to plants, animals and micro-organisms as well as associated traditional knowledge. This legal vacuum for the governance of human genetic resources can be attributed (in part) to the concern that benefit sharing might provide undue inducements to research participants and their communities. This thesis shows that: (a) Benefit sharing is crucial to avoiding the exploitation of developing countries in genomic research. (b) With functioning research ethics committees, undue inducement is less of a concern in genetic research than in other medical research (e.g. clinical trials). (c) Concerns remain over research involving indigenous populations and some recommendations are provided. In drawing its conclusions, the thesis resolves a highly pressing topic in global bioethics and international law. Originally, it combines bioethical argument with jurisprudence, in particular reference to the law of equity and the legal concepts of duress (coercion), unconscionable dealing, and undue influence.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of forecasting on supply chain via a system dynamics perspective. Method/approach: Techniques from Control Theory (such as block diagram, z-transforms, Fourier transforms, Jury’s Inners approach, and frequency response analysis) and Time Series Analysis are used to investigate the performance of supply chains analytically. Simulation is also used to verify the results. Findings: This thesis provides a new and complete proof to the knowledge that Naïve, simple exponential smoothing, and Holt’s forecasting when used in the Order-Up-To (OUT) policy always produce the bullwhip effect for any demand pattern and for all lead-times. In terms of the bullwhip performance when Damped Trend (DT) forecasts are used in the OUT policy, the bullwhip effect is always generated for traditional parameter suggestions. However, the bullwhip avoidance behaviour occurs for some unconventional parameter values. Using these unconventional parameter values, the DT / OUT system acts like a low-pass filter that can eliminate the bullwhip effect and maintain good inventory performance at the same time. The thesis also proves that the Proportional Order-Up-To (POUT) policy is able to reduce system nervousness at the manufacturer. Moreover, the proportional future guidance (PFG) mechanism proposed may reduce system nervousness and inventory costs at the manufacturer and reduce the bullwhip effect in the supply chain simultaneously. Implications: This thesis shows that the bullwhip and net stock variance reduction behaviours exist when unconventional parameter values are used in the DT forecasting procedure. It is the first evidence that it is possible to design a system with good financial performance but without directly looking into the performance of forecasting. The thesis is also the first to consider the MRP nervousness problem and the bullwhip effect at the same time. The PFG method proposed is easy to understand, and since it does not require sophisticated integrated IT systems, or demand / inventory information sharing, it should be easy to implement.

This Thesis is concerned with multilevel and multi-sector forest governance in the Malaysian State of Sabah. It begins by amending the theory of vertical institutional interplay by applying constructivist and historical new institutional theoretical approaches, which contrasts with the more static theoretical foundations that have characterised study of this area to date. It then develops an analytical framework that uses policy frame analysis. This is designed to apply this new theoretical approach to the empirical context of Sabah. This framework analyses empirical subject through three stages. The first stage investigates the development of forest governance institutions at the global level and the state level within Sabah. The second stage then considers how the intersection of these developments, specifically focusing on role of ideas, discourse and agency, created the impetus for new policy initiatives in two local-level empirical examples. The third stage then considers the extent to which these initiatives were successful in institutionalising new forest conservation practices, or conversely how they were impeded by state level historical institutional continuities. The findings of this Thesis differentiate two forms of vertical institutional interplay. The first is the way global institutions affect state level ones where key actors mobilise ideas and discourses to in order to shift the direction of policy and initiate institutional change. The second is where the influence of global institutions is blocked by barriers created by long term historic institutional legacies that have shaped state level institutions. These findings show that vertical institutional interplay has initiated a partial shift in forest institutions and policy in Sabah. This shift varies between different locations according to the relative influence of these two forms of institutional interplay, and has created more dynamism and uncertainty in Sabah’s forest governance institutions. This Thesis contributes to existing literature through its ability to better conceptualise the role of vertical institutional interplay in a way that can account for the tension between the fixed and dynamic aspects of institutions. This contrasts to older approaches that have focused largely on the fixed aspects of institutions. The contribution is also demonstrated in the way this theoretical approach is able to better conceptualise fine grain variations in these dynamics at a local level of scale.

The work presented here is a sociological and bioethical analysis of the medical condition known as Syndrome X/Metabolic Syndrome. The term is a recent name given to a group of cardiac/diabetic risk factors that include high cholesterol, insulin resistance, obesity, high blood pressure and high fat levels in the blood (Garber 2004). Interest in the topic was reawakened by Reaven (1988) who first coined the term ‘Syndrome X’ to describe a cluster of risk factors that he believed was linked to insulin resistance. In recent years the number of ‘new’ diseases that have been detected and identified by medicine has increased rapidly, with examples such as clinical obesity and infertility. Commentators have speculated as to why this may be happening and one suggestion is that our lives are becoming ever more medicalised (Moynihan and Smith 2002). The thesis consists of three main strands. The first strand is a sociological analysis of the Metabolic Syndrome concept and how it came to be constructed as a medical condition, with particular emphasis on whether the syndrome represents an example of the medicalisation of obesity. The second strand looks at the relationship between sociology and bioethics, and whether research from the former can help inform the ethical debate in the other. In this regard, I hope to show in this thesis that it is possible to conduct social and bioethical analyses side by side, and that these can be complementary and give you a richer understanding of a topic. The third strand is a discussion of the main ethical issues surrounding this ‘new’ diagnosis, with particular emphasis on the issue of blame and responsibility in relation to this condition.

Background This PhD study was an examination of the mechanism adopted by a change agent during an organisational change in healthcare. The context for the study was the secondary analysis of action research in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) that had developed practice at an organisational level to address the excessive waiting list impacting upon that service. Aims and Objectives The research question addressed in the thesis was How does a change agent facilitate organisational change in a health setting? The objectives of this study were to i. explore the current literature available discussing the role of the change agent, thus identifying what is already known about this mechanism ii. through a secondary analysis of the data generated through the aforementioned action research in CAMHS examine the relationship between the change agent and the change participants iii. formulate an understanding of the mechanism of the change agent during organisational change. iv. use these findings to make recommendations for practice and further research. Methods The impact of the change agent during this organisational change was investigated using a triangulation of three methods: interviews with change participants, observations in the field and a reflexive diary. Findings The data were thematically analysed looking at the interaction between the change agent and participants. The way that the change agent used anxiety through the change process was presented in three themes: introducing anxiety into the system to initiate change; tolerating anxiety through the change process; sustaining the change. Analysis if the data generated through this study illustrated the change agent acknowledged the anxiety expressed by change participants and used this in a functional way to lever, maintain momentum and sustain the change process in the field. Conclusion This builds on the available literature that discusses how change agents might hold or contain anxiety during change processes. This thesis presents evidence that the change agent introduces and then uses anxiety functionally to initiate organisational change in a way similar to that described by Mason (1993) in his safe uncertainty theory. Mason had developed that theory to explain the work a family therapist does with families. Mason suggested that a family therapist invites a family into a position of ‘safe uncertainty’ in order to facilitate behavioural change within that family. From this study, there is evidence to suggest that a change agent working with health organisations works in a similar way, by inviting participants in an organisation to move into a position of safe uncertainty in order for change to be effected.

In the study reported in this thesis a conceptual framework drawing on a range of social, organisational and educational theories was used to underpin an investigation into the social organisation of practice nurses’ knowledge utilisation. Particular attention was paid to the concept of ‘clinical mindlines’. Changes in healthcare delivery, particularly in primary care, have resulted in changes to practice nurses’ roles. Macro level policy has focused increasingly on standardisation of care within the primary care environment, specifically in relation to management of chronic/long term conditions. Practice nurses have additionally taken on roles that include diagnostic and treatment elements for which they were not prepared for in their initial training. Set against this background ethnographic data were generated relating to meso level organisation of knowledge utilisation in two study sites. Interviews, observation and documentary analysis of available knowledge sources including guidelines and protocols were used to generate data relating to how knowledge is accessed and subsequently used at the micro level of the clinical patient encounter. Findings illustrated that a mixture of organisational and individual factors impacted on knowledge utilisation. Practice nurses used a combination of knowledge which they applied within the context of the individual patient encounter. This was accessed partly through their ‘mindlines’ developed from education, clinical experience and social learning and partly through accessing a ‘bricolage’ of knowledge which included seeking advice from a variety of sources. Specific elements of note were enthusiasm towards evidence based practice, both amongst the nurses and at practice level and a supportive organisational culture towards continuing education and sharing of knowledge. Standardisation embedded into computer templates that guided the chronic disease management consultations had both a positive and negative influence, positive in its focus on improving evidence based care, whilst negative in promoting template driven care that takes little account of individual patient need. Organisational elements constraining effective knowledge dissemination and use included information being disseminated to the practice nurses through vertical rather than horizontal networking; professional training that had not prepared nurses to deal with uncertainty; the part time nature of the practice nurse role; limitations in accessing evidence in ‘real time’ and lack of applicability of evidence to all patient scenarios.

Given the impact of increasing customer choice on operations, this thesis clarifies the role of customer preferences and its impact on the operations of a company in the house building industry. In doing so, an empirical investigation into customer choice requirements is offered and a framework that helps to align customer preferences with the product and processes is presented. A prioritisation of components is provided which ultimately helps to design houses that meet buyer requirements. Furthermore a method is presented that helps in prioritising problem areas. This study is built on two empirical pillars and the evidence drawn from these sources. First, on the basis of a case study a view of the house as a system of components and sub-components has been developed. This resulted in the set-up of a product architecture in which the Customer Order Decoupling Point (CODP) could be positioned. Second, a preference measurement task applying a pairwise comparison questionnaire was conducted so as to define the level of choice expected by customers for the components. An important outcome of the survey was to identify how customers actually prioritise categories and components in a prefabricated housing design. Combining the results of these two research exercises helps in making the correct decisions about the level of variety to offer. The generalisability of the findings is limited. However, the process of conducting the case study as well as the preference measurement is generalisable in research that concentrates on products with a complex product architecture. The framework can thus be adopted by practitioners manufacturing multi-attribute products seeking to pursue a mass customisation strategy. This research contributes by highlighting the importance of integrating process and product development in order to design a value chain that meets customer needs.

The aim of this study was to explore how visually impaired students’ learning journeys in educational environments vary by individual characteristics and prior experiences, and by the type and nature of the institution they attend. In particular the study aimed to uncover how both barriers to learning and good practice are understood, in relation to the enactment of inclusive education policies. Disability is formulated and enacted in the intersection between the individual, their impairment and psycho-emotional status, and the social context (Thomas 1999). For visually impaired students in further education settings, biographical experiences, impairments, and encounters with education all have an impact on their ability to access learning, to achieve educationally, and to formulate their sense of self and identity. The thesis draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted across three further education colleges, with six visually impaired Welsh students aged 16-25. Data were generated through interviews with student participants, staff members and peers, observation, and documentary analysis. Findings suggested that inclusion is only successful if tutors provide valid learning opportunities for visually impaired students. Access to information and other learning opportunities such as demonstrations, practical tasks, and physical activity may be compromised by inappropriate teaching and support methods. Access is also significantly affected by the nature of the visual impairment, the modes of information retrieval, and students’ attitudes and skills. The emphasis on the practical in further education settings makes this analysis particularly significant. Detailed specialist knowledge of appropriate teaching techniques and organisational considerations exists, but is located in the main in a very small number of specialist colleges across the UK. Analysis also identified two competing ideologies; commitment to the provision of inclusive mainstream learning environments as part of an inclusive society, or commitment to the provision of appropriate teaching in a specialist institution, to facilitate future inclusion in society.

This thesis interrogates what a whole family approach is in Welsh policy and practice utilising an Integrated Family Support Team (IFST) as the case study. The study examines the construction of ‘family’ in policy, practice and by parents themselves and the impact of gender on practitioner and parental normative constructions of mothering and fathering as care practices. Both the UK and Welsh governments locate their use of a whole family approach within a social exclusion framework that views strong familial bonds as the source of sustainable social capital. Documentary analysis is used to examine the policy construction of a whole family approach and of the target families themselves, as this has implications for the application of a whole family approach in practice and the type and nature of family engagement. To date there has been very limited articulation of the therapeutic process entailed in a whole family approach. Through the use of practitioner interviews this thesis addresses that gap in research. It is imperative to gain an understanding of how practitioners conceptualise and engage with families within a whole family approach as this determines which individuals are included and excluded. This is a particularly pertinent issue given the well-rehearsed arguments regarding mother-blaming and lack of father inclusion within child protection practice. Parental perspectives on the construction of ‘family’, and aspirations for both family life and their own mothering and fathering practices, are explored via analysis of parental accounts and values card-sort statements as recorded (and thereby mediated) by IFST practitioners. The findings from this analysis are that there is a considerable degree of constructive conceptual alignment between policy, practice and parental perspectives on the construction of family, and the gendering of parenting as care practices.

This thesis examines the lives of a group of young working-class men in a post-industrial community in the South Wales Valleys. Using a longitudinal ethnographic approach, I focus on how young masculinities within a specific community are performed across a variety of educational and leisure spaces and indicate how social, economic and cultural processes impact on the formation of self. This thesis also describes how, within the limits of place and during different social interactions, individual young men can be seen as active agents in their own construction of identity. Ideas and issues drawn from Erving Goffman’s work on the performance of self and the formation of social identity are central to the theoretical framing of the thesis. I suggest that Goffman’s dramaturgical framework has important implications for analysing performances of masculinities. When applied to masculinities (and femininities) this framework highlights how gender comes into being through socially constructed performances which are understood (consciously and unconsciously) as socially acceptable in a given situation, setting or community, not as innate biological accomplishments but as dramaturgical tasks. Throughout the thesis, through paying attention to the diversity of social identities and relations within an ostensibly homogeneous working-class community, I challenge commonly held beliefs about working-class young men that appear in the media and in policy discourses. I argue that for a group of young men in a community of social and economic deprivation, expectations and transitions to adulthood are framed through geographically and historically shaped class and gender codes.