<p>In this study, five real-life problem situations were used to explore the challenges of developing and implementing decision support tools for management of an urban water utility in Uganda. The study sought to explore how the degree of adoption of formal decision support tools in practice, generally perceived to be low, could be improved. In the study, an Action Research (AR) approach was used. AR is an inquiry process that involves partnership between researchers and practitioners for the purpose of addressing a real-life problem issue, while simultaneously gener-ating scientific knowledge. Unlike other research methods where the researcher seeks to study organizational phenomena but not to change them, the action researcher attempts to create or-ganizational change and simultaneously to study the process. It is recognized that AR methods provide a potential avenue to improve the practical relevance of Information Systems (IS) re-search.</p><p>The five cases that were considered in the study involved participatory problem structuring to address water distribution bottlenecks; identification of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) reduction strategies; facilitation of decentralized management of customer accounts; monitoring and con-trol of procurements and expenditure; and geospatial investigation of declining water sales. Dur-ing the study, participation in problem identification was achieved through discussions and brain-storming sessions bringing together top and middle managers within the organization. A number of prototype decision support tools were developed and implemented. Maps and other geovisu-alization tools were also used to inform and enhance the processes of collective problem identifi-cation and structuring.</p><p>Results of the study emphasized the need for proper problem structuring prior to the formula-tion of actions; the challenge of moving from planning to action; the importance of user in-volvement in the development of tools; and the need to manage IS implementation as part of a holistic, organization-wide change process. The challenges of embedding formal decision support within existing work systems in organizations were highlighted, and recommendations were made on how best to achieve this. The AR approach was found to be useful in bridging the gap be-tween academic research and technological practice, thus supporting the development of IS with immediate and practical benefits to organizations.</p>

Despite of significant role of collective decision making in strategic community development towards sustainability, this area is seen to be generally underestimated by community planners and ecovillage members, comparing with, for example, legal, financial and technological aspects of community life. This study aims to understand how Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) perspective can contribute to decision making procedures in ecovillages in Sweden. The research examines how decision making procedures work in ecovillages today and to which extent strategic component, viewed through SSD perspective, is currently incorporated. Secondly research explores how SSD perspective could possibly be incorporated into decision making procedures in ecovillages, in order to foster their development towards sustainability. To address this purpose decision making model was created, based on literature review; three ecovillage studies were conducted; and recommendations were offered, based on findings from literature and findings from current experience of selected ecovillages in Sweden.

Governing agencies increasingly employ collaborative forms of decision-making in fisheries management to improve decision quality and legitimacy. However, crafting fair and effective collaborative processes which will achieve these benefits is often difficult. In an effort to identify keys and obstacles to success, this research evaluated the Commercial Groundfish Initiative, a collaborative planning process tasked with reforming the management of Canada's Pacific groundfish fisheries. Using semi-structured interviews, I gathered the perspectives of participants from the two committees within the process: a consensus-based committee of commercial representatives and a committee broadly representative of other interest groups for which consensus was encouraged but not mandated. Control over the design of a proposal for management reform was asymmetrically divided between the two committees, giving the commercial committee the primary role. Participants from the commercial committee expressed high levels of support for their consensus process. Keys to this committee’s success in reaching a high quality agreement were (i) a strong incentive to cooperate, (ii) consensus decision-making, and (iii) independent process facilitation. The latter two functioned as security measures against the potential for process manipulation by participants or governing agencies. Results from an examination of the broader committee indicate non-commercial respondents were largely accepting of an “oversight” role provided that the scope for their input remained sufficient, which it did not. Early involvement in tasks such as designing the process and defining objectives were particularly critical to non-commercial respondents’ perceptions of procedural fairness and their ability to participate effectively. Several participants also raised concerns that the process was not appropriately representative of groups with an interest in groundfish management. The poor performance of the process in these respects overshadowed positive aspects of broadening participation beyond commercial users. Consensus approaches have gained currency among commercial participants as a result of their positive experience and made some of them more willing to consider meaningful collaboration with a broader range of interest groups. The ineffectiveness of the broader committee suggests there is still work to do in designing processes that will actually achieve this meaningful, broad collaboration.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the actual and desired levels of shared decision making in some private and secondary schools in Ankara, Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of 253 teachers from 12 private primary and secondary schools in Ankara. Shared Education Decisions Survey-Revised by Prof.Dr.Donna Ferrara was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyze data. The results revealed that teachers are consulted in some but not all areas of school decisions. They always participate in the decisions about the general issues of their schools. Other areas which they are consulted in are curriculum/instruction, student achievement, pupil personnel, and parental involvement. Likewise, the decisions which they sometimes participate in are in the areas of policy, staff personnel, and staff development. However, it seems that teachers think they rarely or never participate in the decisions about school/community relations, budget, and plant management. According to the results of the survey, teachers always desire to be consulted in most of the decisions. It is understood that only for the curriculum/instruction area some of them stated that they sometimes would like to participate in the decisions.

Governing agencies increasingly employ collaborative forms of decision-making in fisheries management to improve decision quality and legitimacy. However, crafting fair and effective collaborative processes which will achieve these benefits is often difficult. In an effort to identify keys and obstacles to success, this research evaluated the Commercial Groundfish Initiative, a collaborative planning process tasked with reforming the management of Canada's Pacific groundfish fisheries. Using semi-structured interviews, I gathered the perspectives of participants from the two committees within the process: a consensus-based committee of commercial representatives and a committee broadly representative of other interest groups for which consensus was encouraged but not mandated. Control over the design of a proposal for management reform was asymmetrically divided between the two committees, giving the commercial committee the primary role. Participants from the commercial committee expressed high levels of support for their consensus process. Keys to this committee’s success in reaching a high quality agreement were (i) a strong incentive to cooperate, (ii) consensus decision-making, and (iii) independent process facilitation. The latter two functioned as security measures against the potential for process manipulation by participants or governing agencies. Results from an examination of the broader committee indicate non-commercial respondents were largely accepting of an “oversight” role provided that the scope for their input remained sufficient, which it did not. Early involvement in tasks such as designing the process and defining objectives were particularly critical to non-commercial respondents’ perceptions of procedural fairness and their ability to participate effectively. Several participants also raised concerns that the process was not appropriately representative of groups with an interest in groundfish management. The poor performance of the process in these respects overshadowed positive aspects of broadening participation beyond commercial users. Consensus approaches have gained currency among commercial participants as a result of their positive experience and made some of them more willing to consider meaningful collaboration with a broader range of interest groups. The ineffectiveness of the broader committee suggests there is still work to do in designing processes that will actually achieve this meaningful, broad collaboration.

Governing agencies increasingly employ collaborative forms of decision-making in fisheries management to improve decision quality and legitimacy. However, crafting fair and effective collaborative processes which will achieve these benefits is often difficult. In an effort to identify keys and obstacles to success, this research evaluated the Commercial Groundfish Initiative, a collaborative planning process tasked with reforming the management of Canada's Pacific groundfish fisheries. Using semi-structured interviews, I gathered the perspectives of participants from the two committees within the process: a consensus-based committee of commercial representatives and a committee broadly representative of other interest groups for which consensus was encouraged but not mandated. Control over the design of a proposal for management reform was asymmetrically divided between the two committees, giving the commercial committee the primary role. Participants from the commercial committee expressed high levels of support for their consensus process. Keys to this committee’s success in reaching a high quality agreement were (i) a strong incentive to cooperate, (ii) consensus decision-making, and (iii) independent process facilitation. The latter two functioned as security measures against the potential for process manipulation by participants or governing agencies. Results from an examination of the broader committee indicate non-commercial respondents were largely accepting of an “oversight” role provided that the scope for their input remained sufficient, which it did not. Early involvement in tasks such as designing the process and defining objectives were particularly critical to non-commercial respondents’ perceptions of procedural fairness and their ability to participate effectively. Several participants also raised concerns that the process was not appropriately representative of groups with an interest in groundfish management. The poor performance of the process in these respects overshadowed positive aspects of broadening participation beyond commercial users. Consensus approaches have gained currency among commercial participants as a result of their positive experience and made some of them more willing to consider meaningful collaboration with a broader range of interest groups. The ineffectiveness of the broader committee suggests there is still work to do in designing processes that will actually achieve this meaningful, broad collaboration. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

The purpose of this study is to examine the perspectives of selected high school administrators and schoolteachers regarding the extent to which schoolteachers should be involved in making educational decisions in light of the recent educational reform initiatives in the State of Qatar. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews that centered on schools’ developmental and implemental decisions related to educational goals and policies, curriculum and instruction, schools’ administrative policies for teachers, and for students. Participants included 182 school administrators and 480 schoolteachers who completed the 40-item questionnaire while five school administrators and five schoolteachers participated in the interviews. Findings demonstrate that school administrators were more enthusiastic than schoolteachers about schoolteachers’ involvement in making decisions related to school’s educational goals and policies. School administrators and schoolteachers recorded some similar responses regarding schoolteachers’ involvement in decision-making in the area of curriculum and administrative policies for students but there were differences between schoolteachers and administrators in several areas related to administrative policies for teachers. Findings also indicate differences between the perspectives of male and female school administrators, male and female schoolteachers, and the citizen and expatriate schoolteachers. A number of recommendations are made that highlight the importance of considering schoolteachers’ involvement in any educational reform attempting to improve the decision-making process and the educational system.

In this study, five real-life problem situations were used to explore the challenges of developing and implementing decision support tools for management of an urban water utility in Uganda. The study sought to explore how the degree of adoption of formal decision support tools in practice, generally perceived to be low, could be improved. In the study, an Action Research (AR) approach was used. AR is an inquiry process that involves partnership between researchers and practitioners for the purpose of addressing a real-life problem issue, while simultaneously gener-ating scientific knowledge. Unlike other research methods where the researcher seeks to study organizational phenomena but not to change them, the action researcher attempts to create or-ganizational change and simultaneously to study the process. It is recognized that AR methods provide a potential avenue to improve the practical relevance of Information Systems (IS) re-search. The five cases that were considered in the study involved participatory problem structuring to address water distribution bottlenecks; identification of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) reduction strategies; facilitation of decentralized management of customer accounts; monitoring and con-trol of procurements and expenditure; and geospatial investigation of declining water sales. Dur-ing the study, participation in problem identification was achieved through discussions and brain-storming sessions bringing together top and middle managers within the organization. A number of prototype decision support tools were developed and implemented. Maps and other geovisu-alization tools were also used to inform and enhance the processes of collective problem identifi-cation and structuring. Results of the study emphasized the need for proper problem structuring prior to the formula-tion of actions; the challenge of moving from planning to action; the importance of user in-volvement in the development of tools; and the need to manage IS implementation as part of a holistic, organization-wide change process. The challenges of embedding formal decision support within existing work systems in organizations were highlighted, and recommendations were made on how best to achieve this. The AR approach was found to be useful in bridging the gap be-tween academic research and technological practice, thus supporting the development of IS with immediate and practical benefits to organizations. / QC 20101115

Technology-enabled processes are prevalent in various domains of public administration. The integration of technologies is to bring substantial improvement into public processes, including public participation. For this, the government and advocates of deliberation strive to adopt digital means for citizen participation to attain effectiveness that the conventional participatory processes fail to achieve. Low-cost air quality sensors are emerging technologies that reinforce participatory decision-making, leveraging collective intelligence through information sharing. Nevertheless, it requires a careful evaluation of their association with citizen participation to determine how much attention stakeholders of public processes should spare. Scientists at the University of Central Florida developed and implemented Secure and Trustworthy Air Quality (STAIR) networks as part of interdisciplinary community-engaged research. The network consists of more than 100 affordable air quality sensors installed across the Greater Orlando area. It provides near real-time air quality data for individual and collective decision-making. This study reports on the relationship between technology use and citizen participation, evaluating the use of data from the STAIR air quality networks and other air quality monitoring technologies available in the geographical area. The study also assesses the interacting effect of trust in local government on this relationship. The main research question is: Does the use of air quality networks affect citizen participation in the state of trust in local government? The study employs a cross-sectional research design to evaluate survey data collected from random residents of communities throughout much of the Orlando area and adjacent cities. The results of the regression model infer that there is a positive relationship between air quality network use and citizen participation, and trust in the local government positively affects this relationship. The study contributes to the literature, providing further empirical perspectives on technologies for citizen participation.

It is widely agreed that marine protected areas (MPAs), which can provide long-term protection to marine ecosystems of high ecological, economic, social and cultural value, will only be successful if they are designed and implemented with the involvement and support of stakeholders and other key actors. Putting a collaborative approach into practice is not easy, though. Appropriate governance structures, which formalize and facilitate information sharing, consensus building, and decision making are necessary, but insufficient. Also needed is a shared interest on the part of all groups – beginning with MPA agencies themselves – to work together, notwithstanding the often considerable investments of time, effort and material resources that are required. Perhaps most fundamentally, effective collaboration depends on trust, and strong interpersonal relationships. Consistent with a global trend in favour of more inclusive and participatory approaches to protected area planning and management, Canada’s federal government has set out to develop a national system of MPAs in cooperation with a broad array of interest groups, including marine resource users and other stakeholders; government actors with responsibilities and authorities for oceans activities that relate to the objectives of MPAs; and Aboriginal communities and organizations within whose territories MPAs are situated. The overarching goal of the study was to understand the extent to which federal MPAs in British Columbia (BC), Canada, are established collaboratively, and what is required to overcome obstacles to successful collaboration. This goal was pursued through an in-depth investigation of two MPA planning processes in BC: the proposed Race Rocks MPA, at the southern tip of Vancouver Island; and the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, in the Haida Gwaii archipelago. Data for the study was collected through semi-structured interviews; documentary research; and a participant questionnaire. The study found that, while MPA agencies engaged with outside parties in a variety of ways to plan Race Rocks and Gwaii Haanas, these processes fell short of expectations for genuine collaboration in a number of respects. In the case of Race Rocks, this has resulted in the failure (for a second time) to designate the MPA. The dissertation illuminates the challenges and shortcomings that were encountered in both cases, and offers practical solutions to address them. / Graduate / 0366 / pipakins@gmail.com