Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Botswana's population and water demand are growing at a high rate particularly in the dry south eastern part of the country. In 1999, a Water Conservation Policy and Strategy framework document was formulated to guide a transition from a supply driven water management approach to water demand management. This study investigated whether there was a disparity between the framework policy and strategy recommendations and their actual implementation. / South Africa

This dissertation examines the role of military officers as policy implementers by investigating the discretion of Swedish force commanders in the multinational military campaign in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2013. By developing an analytical framework that takes both an outside-in and an inside-out perspective, and that encompasses both the objective implications that structural factors project on force commanders as well as their subjective perceptions of those structural factors, and applying that framework to a range of official documents as well as unique interview data, the thesis describes the discretion that force commanders have had in interpreting, choosing and shaping their mission and concept of operations. The findings show that Swedish force commanders in the Afghanistan campaign have had considerable discretion in interpreting and framing the principal’s overarching mission, the mission of their own force, as well as their force’s concept of operations. Their discretion can be understood as a combination of structurally induced freedom to make choices, the force commanders’ perceptions of that freedom and their inclination to use it. Circumstances regarding structural factors such as duality of command, passive authority of superiors, non-specific tasks and ambiguous implications of allocated resources has created this discretion and rendered force commanders disproportionately influential in the policy implementation process. Although this influence can be regarded as a manifestation of modern management ideals such as Auftragstaktik and mission command in the military, or management by objectives in government and business, it can also be regarded as a downwards passing of the buck where strategic implementation decisions trickle down to the level of force commanders in the field, making them “strategic colonels”.

This thesis explores Thailand's efforts to pursue greater competitiveness in global markets by enhancing the effectiveness of its National System of Innovation. The concept of national system of innovation (NSI) has been employed widely to study and describe the development of science, technology and innovation in a national context. NSI studies seek to explain systematic differences between national economies in their innovation performance in terms of the flow of knowledge among actors/players and the impacts of institutions and factors on their relationships or interactions. The concept was formally introduced into Thai policies in 2001 and it was adopted widely by the organisations directed to build up a strong national innovation system. However, the Thai innovation system has been identified by previous studies as a weak and fragmented system. This study investigates the current situation of the Thai NSI by exploring the relationships and the patterns of knowledge flows among actors in the Thai innovation system; heavily focusing on exploitation of public sector research. A comparative study was undertaken of innovations arising as a result of initiatives arising through the Thai NSI policy. Eighteen case studies were undertaken including 6 that were seen as successful and 12 failures. The study was carried out using in-depth interviews with relevant staff in both public and private sectors together with secondary analysis of science and technology policy implementation in Thailand. The interviews show that there are still many problems hindering the attempt to build up an effective relationship between the public and private sectors; many of them fail to construct R&D collaboration and to conduct technology transfer. The influential factors are analysed and identified from the cases. Those found repeatedly among successes, but largely absent in the failure cases include technological readiness, R&D capability, good management skills, and positive attitude towards R&D while some external factors are found specific to the individual case. Some of them can be contingent factors for particular features of the case resulting in diversity among the cases especially successful ones. The analysis of science and technology policy implementation is also integrated to explore the case studies in order to investigate the impact of those policies on the pattern of the Thai innovation system. Particularly, the policy that has been implemented after the introduction of the NSI concept which was intended to fix the linear model of innovation in Thailand. However, the analysis from this research demonstrates that there is a shortcoming in the adoption of the NSI policy in Thailand as it still follows the 'linear plus' model of innovation (Tait and Williams, 1999) revolving around promoting knowledge flows from research. The development of ST&I is embedded in the advanced science (most in the public sector) not for building up the competitive firms. The centre of development is not on firm capability development to create learning economies but on a science push model. To summarise from the empirical findings, the concept of NSI adopted in Thailand is used as a tool to briefly analyse the big picture of science and technology development at the national level and to identify the problems facing the country. However, this concept alone is not enough to stimulate a country's innovation process. The NSI concept has been understood in two broad ways: the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) mode and the Doing, Using and Interacting (DUI) mode. In Thailand the former has prevailed. Secondly, the concept itself is too broad and vague to be used as the main guideline for building up innovative capacity; it only tells what should be done not how to do it. The NSI helps Thailand to initiate change in its ST&I development process although greater attention should be given to the DUI mode. However, the process requires other frameworks to support and translate the NSI concept into the level of action plans. As a result this research suggests that the factors that determine the success of technology/knowledge transfer are not only from the policy level but also other factors from the bottom up level such as social factors determining the relationships among actors.

Policy tends to be formulated at the upper level of an organization and handed down to policy actors on the frontline for enactment. Since policy can be vague, ambiguous, or send conflicting messages, it can create uncertainty about its meaning. Moreover, policy is rarely accompanied by explicit instructions for implementation. Therefore, when frontline workers, or streetlevel bureaucrats, are pressed to make sense of policy's meaning in realistic terms, they engage in what Weick describes as sensemaking (1995). Sensemaking is a cognitive process entered into during times of uncertainty or change. Streetlevel bureaucrats engage in sensemaking by drawing on cues in their environment, their prior experience, professional identity, and social interactions to understand and interpret policy. They rely upon their understanding to exercise professional discretion while incorporating the new policy into their daily work. It is their use of discretion that accounts for variations in policy implementation and outcomes (Lipsky, 1980, Mills, 1998, Spillane, 2004). This study explored how streetlevel bureaucrats in higher education institutions engaged in sensemaking during policy implementation. For this study, academic tracking initiatives were regarded as policy that academic advisors (streetlevel bureaucrats) were tasked with enacting. Historically, academic advisors have been identified as advocates for holistic student development while academic tracking has been defined as a prescriptive approach to advising aimed at accountability and efficiency. This qualitative study presents the findings from interviews with 16 academic advisors from three public institutions involved in the implementation of tracking. The study's findings suggest recommendations that may be helpful to leaders seeking to close the gap between policy and practice. Implications for practice include developing a strategic approach to implementation in which upper level administrators guide change by acting as sensegivers. As such, administrators would serve as filters for the messages received by streetlevel bureaucrats. Additionally, findings suggest the inclusion of frontline workers in decision making and the provision of planned learning opportunities for collective sensemaking during the implementation process. This study seeks to inform leaders involved in policy change about the critical role of sensemaking in initiating, guiding, and sustaining organizational change.

This is a case study with purpose to examine the implementation of the European Union Youth Strategy and the action of reducing early school leavers, which was put in force with the youth field of the European Union in 2010. The strategy contains of eight action fields, onwards only the field within education & training will be examined further in line with the strategy’s main objective to provide equal opportunities for young people in education. The theory of Normalization Process Theory focuses on policy implementation and how it becomes fully embedded within the intended society. Throughout the examination will be of how the implementation is supposed to work and how it actually is put into action within the two member states selected for this study, Sweden and Cyprus. The question to examine is to what degree has ‘the EU Youth Strategy’, and the fact of it being implemented within the member states, influenced the reduction of early school leavers. Through the method of comparative case study approach, materials were gattered throughout a variety of forms such as legislations, policies, evaluations, reports and many more. The analysis consists of the implementations of the action into the states, through what institutions and national legislations, as well as analysing the received grant from the European Union and what it has produced within the states. In conclusion, presenting the results of Sweden and Cyprus, both succeeding to reduce early school leavers, nevertheless, through different actions and interpretations of the strategy.

For decades, the Department of Defense has been plagued by persistent cost, schedule, and performance problems in defense acquisition programs. Recent changes in Department of Defense acquisition policy were intended to improve efficiency and are demonstrating some improvement in terms of overall cost improvements, yet little is understood about whether training efforts related to the new policies are producing policy-compliant behavior on the job. Using Edgar Schein's 'Onion Model' of organizational change as the theoretical construct, the purpose of this study was to examine through an ex post facto, cross-sectional longitudinal study whether there is a significant relationship between learning achieved from Defense Acquisition University (DAU) training in acquisition policy and application of learned policy-compliant behavior, as represented by the variables learning achieved and applied training. Data were obtained from DAU that spanned 19 months and over 334,000 training events separated into 40 course-type subgroups. These data were analyzed through hierarchical regression analysis to test whether concepts learned in policy training predicted policy compliance. The findings confirmed that the independent variable of 'learning achieved' is predictive of policy compliance.

Thesis (PhD.(Education)) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / The purpose of this study was to critique the level of influence the Whole School Evaluation (WSE) policy framework had on the quality of teaching and learning in the Limpopo Province schools. Limpopo Province comprises of five districts with different learner performance levels. At the time when this study was conducted Sekhukhune District had the worst learner performance results followed by Mopani. Up to the early 1990s schools in South Africa became sites of struggle against Apartheid, as most citizens rejected a system of government that was characterized by inequality (Seedat, 2004:190). As a result (Herselman & Hay, 2002: 239), many schools in South Africa, including those in Limpopo Province were destroyed morally and physically to the level of becoming less productive and some totally dysfunctional. The WSE policy is a mechanism that was developed to address the above problem. In addition, among others, the WSE policy was aimed at the development of a collaborative approach that would enable a school (individually or as a cluster) to deliver, quality services to the community , including the improvement of circumstances in schools that could create conditions for the facilitation of quality education within a particular given school period. All schools in Limpopo Province were made aware of the WSE policy framework and how it was implemented. As early as 2003 the Quality Assurance Directorate ensured that all schools had the relevant material and policy documents for implementing WSE. Circuit Managers, School Principals and three educators per school were subjected to an intensive training programme on how WSE policy framework is implemented. The empirical research was done through the observation of educators and learners within their schooling environment, perusal of primary and secondary documents and interviewing of the policy implementing agents, i.e. the Principals, Educators and Circuit Managers. The study: • Indicated that there is a serious problem to implement WSE policy in schools; • Exposed school managers, SMTs and educators` incompetence to comply with the prescription of the policy; • Revealed the inhibitors of the effective implementation of WSE process; • Aroused the awareness to the researcher of the operational discord that was experienced by the schools that had a problem in complying with the WSE policy requirements. • Some schools were reluctant to comply with the prescripts of the policy. • Schools had their School Improvement Plans (SIPs), School Development Plans (SDPs) and Academic Performance Improvement Plans (APIPs) but their day-to-day operations in no way showed compliance to what was put on the improvement document as their operational guide. Furthermore, the study clearly argue that quality education can only exist in situations where school communities and education officials are equally striving at reconciling the complex and dynamic relationships that exist between the learner, the centre of learning or school, the broader education system and the social, political and economic context of which they are part. The study developed, on completion, a full programme that can clearly show elements in our education system the negatively impacts on the desired progress, based on the findings in the Limpopo Province. In conclusion, the study revealed challenges that impacted negatively on the implementation of the WSE policy framework in the Limpopo Province Schools. As a way forward strategies were suggested that if complied with the WSE policy framework could be successfully implemented and quality teaching and learning enhanced.

Background: Indonesian schools are in the midst of implementing a new reform initiative, the 2013 Curriculum, mandated by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture. The new curriculum requires a drastic change in instructional practices from the traditionally teacher-centered to student-centered instruction. As school leaders, principals play an important role in the implementation and enactment of the 2013 Curriculum in schools. This research explores the leadership practices of Indonesian school principals in facilitating the implementation of new reform policies and initiatives. Purpose: The study served two purposes. The first was to examine Indonesian public school principals’ enactment of agency within the boundaries set by the social systems around them as they implemented the 2013 Curriculum. The second purpose was to develop a framework that can be used as a lens to further study school leadership practices in the context of Indonesia. Two research questions guided this study: (1) What leadership practices are shaped by which social systems and values? and (2) How does principal agency manifest when implementing the 2013 Curriculum? Responses to the research questions were used to develop the framework. Data Collection and Analysis: A case study for theory development approach to qualitative research was used. The study took place in the northern area of a small island located in east Indonesia. The primary source of data came from multiple interviews with three public elementary school principals whose schools served as pilot schools for the 2013 Curriculum. In addition to principal interviews, interview with teachers, documents, and observation field notes served as data sources. The data collected were analyzed and manually coded following the data analysis procedures of grounded theory. In the first coding cycle, I coded the data by assigning descriptive and InVivo codes summarizing topics. The second coding cycle involved assigning concepts and categories based on the open codes from the first cycle with a focus on the principals’ actions in facilitating the implementation process. In the third cycle, I compared the concepts and categories to respond to the research questions and examined the relationships between the concepts and categories to develop the framework from the ground up. Findings: The data analyzed indicated there are three major systems shaped the principals’ leadership practices during the implementation of the 2013 Curriculum: the educational system, the local culture and community, and the school system. In addition to the three systems, the principals’ personal and professional values served to guide the way they led their schools in alignment with the goals of the 2013 Curriculum. The systems and values provided them with rules and resources on which the principals drew in deciding specific actions to perform in order to meet the written and unwritten expectations of their stakeholders. The principals’ enactment of agency was primarily in the form of complying with government orders and balancing expectations from multiple systems, which, then, led to the discovery of three leadership categories in the implementation process: (1) compliance, (2) negotiation, and (3) independence. Compliance refers to those practices the principals perform to satisfy government expectations. Negotiation refers to practices the principals perform in their efforts to juggle expectations and pressures coming from multiple systems. Independence refers to practices the principals perform as they respond to government policies and regulations, as well as community expectations, in a way that is aligned with their personal and professional values.

The objective of this study is to examine the implementation of the first Chinese anti-domestic violence law at street-level in three cities located in central China. This study aims to document these street-level workers’ experiences with domestic violence, particularly the efforts they have made against domestic violence, as well as the challenges they face in their daily work. Sixteen qualitative interviews were conducted with nineteen street-level bureaucrats who work in judicial functionary (civil court), law enforcement (police), All-China Women’s Federation and residents’ committees (mass organizations). The results are analyzed with the theory of bottom-up implementation (Lipsky, 2010; Matland, 1995) and street-level bureaucracy (Erasmus, 2015). The study found that most Chinese street-level bureaucrats commonly believe that the first Chinese Anti-DV is characterized by ambiguity of goal and ambiguity of mean. Such vagueness causes frustrations, confusions and conflicts among these workers. Additionally, based on their experiences these street-level bureaucrats reflect that they do have some degree of discretion, but they are constantly under the pressure and limitation of time, resource and heavy workload. All these factors tend to indicate that the implementation of the first Anti-DV law in China still has a very long way to go. However, the result also show that the Chinese street-level bureaucrats are working diligently to ensure the successful implementation of China’s first anti-domestic law, while actively coping with the challenges mentioned previously and developing their own ways to cease the violence. / MFS

Pioneering legislation such as Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997, and the Assistive Technology Act of 1998 have increased attention to the needs of individuals with disabilities. These regulations require that public programs and services are accessible to people with disabilities (Griffin, 2004). This descriptive case study examines policy design to conform with Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 at a public research university through the lens of Bolman and Deal’s four frames of organizational analysis. These frames include: (a) the structural frame, (b) the human resource frame, (c) the political frame, and (d) the symbolic frame. Results of the study indicate that accessibility policies in postsecondary education that address access to web content and course materials should develop a systematic approach to establishing an action plan to identify barriers and develop solutions. This includes a strategic commitment to policy planning, development, implementation, monitoring, and assessment.