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This study is concerned with an aspect of public sector resource allocation, specifically the mechanisms whereby United Kingdom central government public expenditure within the New Towns budget heading was utilised for the planned expansion of the town of Northampton from 1965 to 1985. The distinctive feature of the town expansion process associated with Northampton was that, for the first time in the history of the New Town programme, such expansion involved a designated area which contained within it the whole of a County Borough. The consequences of this were that the central government and its agent, the development corporation, found themselves involved in establishing a pattern of allocative, decision making relationships which included a major role for the County Borough. A partnership was established and codified between central government and the County Borough of Northampton that involved institutional, functional and process arrangements of a unique kind, that have not, in total, been replicated elsewhere in the New Town programme. This unique partnership between central government and the County Borough of Northampton provided a focal point for the wider consideration of the role of 'policy communities' in central-local relations. The detailed consideration of the policy community associated with Northampton's town expansion has been based on the model devised by R A W Rhodes. The use of the model in this way has both tested it as a methodological tool and provided an opportunity for indicating possible further areas for development. In addition, its specific application to the Northampton experience has raised issues and indicated possible policy options that are of significance for other centrally funded urban development schemes such as the regeneration of the United Kingdom's inner city areas.

On the surface, airlines appear to embrace a 'soft', people-centred approach to HRM, demonstrated by the deployment of a range of HR strategies aimed at the 'soft' ideals of cooperation, commitment and trust. However, within the context of tight profit margins and competitive markets, a range of 'hard', cost-centred HR strategies, may dominate. In other words, the deregulated, competitive environment of the airline industry may find airline companies shifting from a 'soft', people-centred approach to a 'hard', cost-centred approach, where cost considerations take priority over all other concerns, including those relating to employee health and safety. In an industry that claims 'people are our most important asset', one might expect 'good practice' in terms of occupational health and safety (OHS). However, the present research finds that cabin crew OHS is being overshadowed by airline companies' profit imperatives. Based on a cabin crew perspective, the research examines developments in OHS, in terms of the range and extent of OHS risks that are experienced by cabin crews. These developments in turn, provide an insight into the case study airlines' approach to people management. The research identifies a high prevalence of a range of illnesses and OHS risks, which can be linked to airline companies' people management policies. Overall, the thesis challenges the rhetoric of airlines' 'people-centred' approach, as well as current notions of the range and extent of OHS risks relating to the cabin crew labour process. In addition, the thesis offers an innovative review and analysis of HRM taken from an OHS perspective.

Water is vital for the lives of First Nations people, but many First Nations’ communities are persistently dealing with unsafe drinking water. Over the years studies have repeatedly conveyed the deplorable drinking water conditions of First Nations. These conditions undermine the economic, social, and cultural health of these communities. Despite the ongoing attempts by various actors to change these conditions; water related concerns remain a major issue for First Nations across Canada. The intent of this research is to explore water institutions and how they are influencing water governance and management in a First Nations context. Oneida Nation of the Thames (hereafter referred to as Oneida) is used as a case study for this research because of the current drinking water concerns and the institutions commonly used in governing and managing water resources in First Nations throughout Ontario. To accomplish this research, Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework was used to analyze how institutions are influencing water governance and management in Oneida. Through this analysis, an opportunity was afforded to describe the water institutions (formal and informal) and to enhance the understanding of how these institutions are guiding the behavior of people involved in water governance and management in Oneida. This research revealed several issues that are influencing the overall performance of the institutional arrangements including 1) the jurisdictional division of responsibilities to manage water resources in the Thames watershed; 2) the deficiency in public trust between the community and Elected Council; and 3) the inequity in the involvement of Traditional Council and women in water governance and management.

While resource based theory (RBT) addresses the importance of both possessing and orchestrating resources that have the potential of creating competitive advantage, it suggests little about the effects of unintentionally losing such resources. Further, RBT is silent about the manners in which firms replace after such losses by acquiring external resources. Attending to these gaps, this study considers the loss of professional human capital (PHC) in a panel data set of the largest U.S. based law firms, the contingencies of loss that effect subsequent firm performance, and the manner in which firms replace with new PHC. Results suggest that losing PHC with less firm specificity and PHC that has greater redundancy in geographic locations weakens the negative effects of loss. Additionally, organizational strain is theorized to cause replacement of PHC with external PHC hires similar to those already in the firm. Results show that this is the case for greater volumes of PHC loss and greater geographic diversification, but the opposite is true of prior performance and the manager-subordinate ratio. Implications for RBT, the attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) model, and strategic human capital theory are discussed.

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No description available.