Male and female in organizational behavior

The human division of male and female sexes has profound unacknowledged consequences for behavior in organizations. Sex is not simply an individual difference (like eye color), but is an essential part played in life with others. This essay finds sex to be the main organizing principle of human life. Bringing this fact to light, the essay shows how we can begin to understand many perplexing problems of reconciling men and women in organizations today. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regional reports or structure plans? Opportunities for strategic planning in England and Wales

The British Government is proposing a new system of single‐tier development plans for England and Wales, with clear implications for the strategic level of planning. This paper considers a proposal by the Committee of Inquiry into Town and Country Planning set up by the Nuffield Foundation, for a revised strategic planning network which includes a ‘local strategy’. The paper considers the lessons to be drawn from the use of regional reports in Scotland since the early 1970s and concludes on a note of caution for the Government's proposals.     

MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL WATER SUPPLY IN CIUDAD JUAREZ,MEXICO1

Rapid industrialization and population growth in the north Mexican desert city of Ciudad Juarez are placing a serious strain on the city's municipal water resources. Water deliveries and service area have more than doubled over the past decade, and plans for additional expansion are presently being implemented. This expansion is already contributing to water table declines and salinity increases in the Mexican portion of the Heuco Bolson, the sole source of water for the city. Continued mining of the limited fresh water reserves should produce serious water supply problems in the near future. New estimates of future water consumption incorporated into a digital aquifer simulation model indicate that these problems may show up much sooner than was anticipated in previous investigations. The results of this study point to the need to accelerate the gathering of basic data on alternative water resources. The problems faced by Cd. Juarez are illustrative of the kinds of difficulties likely to confront other rapidly developing cities of the arid zone.     

RECREATION AT THE MC CLELLAN-KERR ARKANSAS RIVER NAVIGATION SYSTEM1

ABSTRACT: Recreation has produced substantial employment, incomes, economic development, and migration impacts since completion of the McCle-lan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. These impacts support the influence of navigation, hydropower, flood control, and channel stabilization outputs on regional development. The marked success is not without substantial costs in public resources, including manpower which are devoted to recreational management. Increasing the share of financial resources obtained from recreational users and transfer of management responsibilities to nonfederal agencies, including private concessionaires is recommended.     

Implementing comprehensive plans: indicators for a task-sheet based performance evaluation process

Evaluation in spatial planning aims to raise effectiveness of plans as well as efficiency in planning processes. Given that research regarding evaluation of performance and especially plan implementation is sparse, this study presents a minimal set of indicators for a task-sheet based performance evaluation approach for Swiss cantonal comprehensive plans. Thematic task-sheets are a promising characteristic of cantonal comprehensive plans. They translate the comprehensive planning strategy into concrete evaluable tasks. The presented indicators allow assessing procedural efficiency of coordination and implementation of planning tasks (performance). We argue that if task-sheets comply with certain plan quality characteristics, a task-sheet based performance evaluation approach can support the effectiveness of plans and promote the objectives of the planning strategy. We point out plan content and characteristics necessary for effective execution of our approach. As a result, our findings can serve as a framework for designing evaluation processes for comprehensive planning documents beyond Switzerland.     

Prioritizing species conservation programs based on IUCN Green Status and estimates of cost-sharing potential

Over 1 million species around the world are at risk of extinction, and conservation organizations have to decide where to invest their limited resources. Cost-effectiveness can be increased by leveraging funding opportunities and increasing collaborative partnerships to achieve shared conservation goals. We devised a structured decision-making framework to prioritize species’ conservation programs based on a cost–benefit analysis that takes collaborative opportunities into account in an examination of national and global conservation return on investment. Conservation benefit is determined by modifying the novel International Union for the Conservation of Nature Green Status for Species to provide an efficient, high-level measure that is comparable among species, even with limited information and time constraints. We applied this prioritization approach to the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo, Canada, a nonprofit organization seeking to increase the number of species it assists with conservation translocations. We sought to identify and prioritize additional species’ programs for which conservation translocation expertise and actions could make the most impact. Estimating the likelihood of cost-sharing potential enabled total program cost to be distinguished from costs specific to the organization. Comparing a benefit-to-cost ratio on different geographic scales allowed decision makers to weigh alternative options for investing in new species’ programs in a transparent and effective manner. Our innovative analysis aligns with general conservation planning frameworks and can be adapted for any organization.     

STEMming the tide: New perspectives on careers and turnover

The question of why so many people leave science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs continues to echo through social science research and Government policy. This is not surprising given the considerable investments into uptake and quality of STEM education and that STEM workers have a pivotal role to play in addressing current and future grand challenges. Yet, too many individuals with tertiary degrees in STEM—disproportionately women, racial minorities, and the underprivileged—leave or pursue careers in non-STEM fields. While demand for employment in STEM continues to grow, such persistent STEM defections present a significant challenge. We offer an integrative special issue of eight empirical articles capturing current thinking and evidence on employee retention and turnover, both within and beyond the realm of STEM. Our thematic analysis of the articles reveals overarching themes around the fundamental question of why people choose to stay in their jobs and why they leave. From this, we provide a future research agenda recognizing the myriad work and nonwork factors influencing the desire and ability to stay in one's chosen profession, particularly in critical sectors where gender and minority attrition rates prevail.     

Carbon isotope forensics for methane source identification

Methane (CH₄) in ecosystems originates from ancient petroleum formed deep within the earth and/or via microbial fermentation of organic carbon and subsequent reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂). Given the complexity of different ecosystems, origins of CH₄ present can be difficult to determine. This issue was realized in a situation where an antimethanogenic in situ chemical reduction (ISCR) remedial amendment containing organic carbon plus zero‐valent iron was applied to treat chlorinated solvents in groundwater at a former dry cleaner facility. The technology rapidly and effectively reduced the concentration of tetrachloroethene in groundwater thus meeting project goals without the stoichiometric accumulation of catabolites such as trichloroethene (TCE), cis‐1,2‐dichloroethene, or vinyl chloride and without excessive methanogenesis (e.g., <2 mg/L) in the treated area. However, approximately 9 months after treatment, increased levels of CH₄ (from 5 to 10 mg/L) were observed downgradient from the treated area. The applied remedial amendment contained approximately 60% (weight basis) fermentation organic carbon and was therefore a potential source of this CH₄. However, there was <500 mg/L total organic carbon in groundwater emanating from the upgradient treatment area which was unlikely sufficient to produce that much CH₄. Moreover, the soil gas also contained benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes and other gasoline constituents. These data suggested that the presence of three gasoline/diesel underground storage tanks that were previously closed in place with no active remediation performed could be the source of elevated CH₄. Thirdly, there were sewer lines, utilities, multiple gasoline stations, and industrial activities in the immediate area. With an initial assumption that CH₄ source(s) could include the ISCR amendment over stimulation of production, gasoline sourced CH₄ from nearby leaking lines, or sewage from local fractured pipes, carbon isotope analyses—radiocarbon (Δ¹⁴C) and stable carbon (δ¹³C)—were coupled with CH₄ and CO₂ concentration data from groundwater samples to determine the origin of respired carbon. The δ¹³C range for carbon sources respired in the process would be approximately ?26.5‰ to ?33.0‰ for the ISCR amendment and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) residuals, respectively. Δ¹⁴C is approximately 0‰ and ?999‰ for the ISCR amendment (young carbon) and TPH (old carbon), respectively. The isotopic signature of respired gasses confirmed that elevated CH₄ downgradient of the treated area originated primarily from sewer gasses (or fermentation of liquids released from sewer lines). This study provides an overview of the capability to apply carbon isotope geochemistry to confirmation of remedial protocols and sources of anthropogenic carbon pools that conclusively identify the origin of CH₄ in a complex ecosystem undergoing a remedial action.