Journal articles on the topic 'Effigy management Public Relations means of communication organization'

The article considers verbal communications in public administration of united territorial communities in order to make their functioning more effective. It is shown that in the minds of the administrative reform and the increasing the local self-government advancement role of the verbal communication on the basis of the information exchanged, direct to the management of the publication functions. It is confirmed that marketing techniques and tools are increasingly used by managers of non-manufacturing firms and companies, because they give government and municipal officials certain benefits in creating conditions for sustainable development and improving the quality of life, which is especially important during administrative reform, organization of united territorial communities, amalgamation of districts. It is believed that in the context of decentralization of territorial management tools of verbal communication, information exchange, presentation and legitimation of public administration will provide targeted management influence on potential consumers and the general public. It is shown that in order to support their actions on the part of society, managers and marketers have their own advertisements for goods and services, texts of TV and radio messages, posters and billboards, communicative public relations models, Internet advertising and others to combine as much as possible with goods and services of opposite value categories (social orientation), which are demonstrated with the communication use of certain verbal means. Thus, it is proved that the use of marketing communication approaches and tools in the public administration system, fixing them in relevant regulations and use the specialists of state and local governments at all levels in their activities is not only appropriate but necessary.

The article highlights issues related to the formation of demand for products, emphasizes the importance of developing an effective strategy for promoting a product or service. Attention is focused on the importance of public relations for new organizations that have not yet found their niche in a competitive market and for existing ones. The paper pays considerable attention to the competitiveness of a banking institution. The article considers the concept of bank competitiveness from the point of view of scientists in terms of determining the key aspects of the bank's activities, including: competition, diversity, evaluation, leadership, system. Based on the analysis of existing interpretations of the concept of bank competitiveness, it is determined that none of them includes aspects of effective management of the public relations system, which is currently important in promoting a banking product to a client. To confirm this statement, the paper examines in detail the essence of PR, provides historical examples of public relations that have become the prototype of current PR campaigns, and considers the main advantages of public relations in comparison with other means of influencing the consumer. The paper notes that PR is a long-term process that requires clear planning, time and step-by-step implementation and involves not only building a reputation but also strengthening trust in the organization. The article defines and reveals the essence of the main stages of PR, which include: setting its tactical goals, assessing the external communication environment, planning a PR campaign; its implementation, control and evaluation of the effectiveness of PR activities. Based on the study, it is noted that an effective PR strategy is the foundation of an organization's growth and competitiveness and therefore it is proposed to expand the main indicators of competitiveness and add an effective PR strategy of the bank to them. The paper examines the impact of external and internal factors on the bank's competitiveness to operate successfully in today's environment and proves that organizations must be able to adapt to changes in the external environment and the banking market, improve strategic management and invest in development for further long-term success.

Digitalization creates new challenges for public policy in the regulation of labor relations. The purpose of the article is to identify the most complex problems associated with the introduction of information and communication technologies in labor relations, and to outline ways of their legislative solution. For this purpose the analysis of Russian and foreign scientific literature, labor legislation, judicial practice, documents of the International Labor Organization, including those adopted in 2020 in response to threats to labor relations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is used. The inefficient use of already available electronic resources for the implementation of electronic case management is noted. The idea of the need to extend modern technology not only to the electronic exchange of documents, but also to their creation, storage, processing is supported. It is concluded that it is inexpedient to use an enhanced electronic signature of an employee in labor relations, in connection with which it is proposed to use special digital platforms supported by the state. It is proposed to gradually get rid of the practice of duplicating electronic and traditional “paper” records management. Relationships formed in the process of application of distant labor contain all the classical features of the employment relationship, which is facilitated by the employer’s use of modern means of control over the behavior of the employee. Digital technologies create new opportunities for the use of labor resources and make it possible to include new forms of employment in the scope of labor legislation, where to a greater or lesser degree there is economic, organizational dependence of the executor (employee) on the customer (employer), based on innovative means of control and management, as well as the dependant’s need for traditional means of social protection. Differentiation and decentralization of legal regulation is proposed to maintain the stability of labor relations.

The study attempted to unravel the influence of occupational stress to employee performance. The findings revealed that 97.6% of respondents have experienced stress at their place of work. 60% of respondents attributed occupational stress to work overload, 31.7% reported stress arising from negative work relations, 21.9% reported role ambiguity and conflict as a source of stress and 14.6% reported long hours as a source of stress. Other minor causes of stress include lack of job security, low salaries, and facilitation, which in turn creates financial strains, hence the occupational stress. Findings further show that occupational stress has an effect on the employee at work. 51.2% reported a fall in their job performance as a result of stress, 29.2% reported psychological effects like mood swings, feelings of anger towards other employees, and frequent arguments with co-workers, and 19,5% reported physiological effects which include excessive perspiration, frequent headaches, and nausea coupled with fatigue. Occupational stress has an effect on the organization itself. 41.5% of respondents observed a decline in the overall performance of employees who experience occupational stress due to the delays observed in the execution of tasks at the organization. 26.8% reported a fall in timely and quality service delivery from the organization. A few respondents reported no significant effect noticed on the organization, in fact, it improved service delivery and performance. Using relaxation techniques like listening to music and watching soccer as a means of managing occupational stress, 22% of respondents utilized social support networks like counseling and interacting with colleagues, and 29.3% had to improve on-time management in order to manage occupational stress. The study recommends more personal and group wellness programs, improvement in workplace communication and working environment, redesigning of jobs and their description to reduce on job ambiguity hence managing occupation stress.

The human nature does not live in isolation from people, but circumstances require life to communicate with others and cooperate with them, while communicating with others and cooperate with them, either to leave the person a good impact for the rest of the people, or to leave a bad impact, if left a good impact helped him to Spend his work quickly and with less effort and vice versa. Thus, adapting individuals and groups to social reality is important and an indispensable necessity for the common good. This is the case for any organization. It does not live in isolation from the public and the surrounding society. It needs it and needs it. There must be good relations between them, and each knows the importance of the role played by society. Without the good connections between the organizations and the surrounding public or the surrounding society, they can not guarantee peace and stability, and the larger the distance between them and their audience and society, the more urgent it becomes to know the views of thousands or millions of individuals and groups. And then explain them to them in order to gain their trust and respect and support and this is what the Department of Public Relations does.
 Public relations, scientific insight is a social phenomenon based on its activities to interactive processes, in order to find the psychological effects related to the motives and human needs of the human personality and its components, and the trends of individuals and their different tendencies and methods of measuring these trends and ways of influencing them, so they are based mainly on the recruitment of elements These elements are scientific research, planning, coordination, communication, and evaluation, to achieve certain effects in the patterns of behavior of a particular audience, with the aim of achieving predetermined goals. Which is sometimes known as the engineering of behavior, which means a method or method the American scientist Skinner in 1955 to launch this label with the intention of similar with the technical methods used by engineers, the purpose is to subject these methods and use in the management of human behavior and control or control behavior.
 
 Public relations are an important aspect of the work of institutions at the present time and are more specific in government institutions because of the enormous burdens and responsibilities of the community, as well as the need for good relations between the organization and the public by informing them of the facts, information, objectives, policies, programs and plans of the organization. And to convince the public of the importance of the efforts of government institutions to serve the citizens

The purpose of the article is to highlight the importance of introducing information technologies into PR activities as a necessary element of the digital transformation of modern society, to characterize the most appropriate and effective means of information and communication technologies in the field of public relations and the effectiveness of their use by considering the PR activities of the American company Airbnb; to find out the main advantages of using interactive network technologies in the organization of public relations and to outline the challenges in implementing modern technologies. The research methods include analysis of previous studies on the use of information technology in PR activities, systematisation and generalisation to determine the effectiveness of information technology implementation in modern PR activities, content analysis of pages and official communication channels of Airbnb, including the corporate website, mobile application and social media. The scientific novelty lies in the reflection of current trends in the use of modern technologies in the field of public relations and the substantiation of the advantages and challenges of their implementation. For the sake of argumentation, the study analyses the digital PR communication of Airbnb in order to identify the key aspects of a successful strategy for using information technology in various areas of PR activities. Conclusions. The essence of the use of information technology in PR activities in the application of modern Internet communication channels, network tools and programs have been determined. It is confirmed that their implementation is a necessary aspect of digital transformation in modern society. The authors identify aspects of the effectiveness of information technology use: reputation control, crisis management, achievement of strategic business goals, and solving marketing tasks. Among the wide range of information tools, social networks, chatbots and immersive technologies are singled out, and their impact is substantiated. The main advantages of using information technologies are characterised: by expanding global access, flexibility and increasing the efficiency of measuring results; and challenges: lack of technical training, competition and information overload, risk of cyber-attacks and privacy violations. The study of Airbnb’s experience confirms the effectiveness of attracting the target audience through a mobile application, a user-friendly Internet platform, and a video campaign on YouTube.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate and nonprofit leaders partner on public relations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. Design/methodology/approach Through semi-structured interviews across the USA, and stretching into Europe and South America, leaders (n=24) from US-based corporations top-ranked for corporate citizenship, and the nonprofit organizations with which they have developed CSR programs, shared insights and best practices. Findings Corporate and nonprofit leaders who collaborate on CSR programs spoke independently about several essential shared values, including community-focused collaboration, fiscal responsibility, and strategic alignment. How they described their CSR partnerships reflects a mutual commitment to a distributed leadership model, which involves the need to span organizational boundaries, share unique expertise across levels and roles, and sustain long-term relationships. Consistent with prior research, this study also suggests that communication leaders in both corporations and nonprofit organizations leverage transactional (process-focused) and transformational (people-focused) leadership styles, as they work to build and foster these long-term partnerships. Research limitations/implications The findings pinpoint how principles of the distributed leadership model come to life across CSR partnerships and contribute to the success of such partnerships. Corporations and their nonprofit partners must mutually focus on spanning, sharing, and sustaining as they build programs together. These shared principles exemplify a distributed leadership model and help define what CSR partnership truly means. Originality/value This study looks at CSR programs beyond just the perspective of the corporation and the public, taking into account the critical role the nonprofit organization plays as a partner in some CSR programming, and within a distributed leadership model.

The study of society in the legal aspect is related to the question of the state, as the latter is a form of organization of society. The state acts as an institution of society management. In this context, the relationship between society and the state is one of the complex problems of jurisprudence. It's about establishing effective ways and channels of communication. In the theory of management of socio-economic processes, control is considered as one of the main functions. The National Strategy for Civil Society Development for 2016–2020 contains the thesis that there is no effective public control over the activities of public authorities and local self-government bodies. Given this, the legal basis of the relationship between society and the state, the search for the most effective forms of public control over the state are urgent tasks of legal science. Control as a legal form of interaction between civil society and state bodies has been investigated. The theoretical, legal and practical principles of public control over the exercise of state power in Ukraine from the point of view of political science, economic and legal science are considered. The socio-economic and legal nature of the controlling function of public administration and the influence of control on the effectiveness of the activity of state bodies are analyzed. It has been found out that the control of civil society by the activity of state bodies is feedback between society and the state. The factors that influence the effectiveness of public control and the interaction of civil society institutions and state bodies are identified. Thus, civil society is a real social phenomenon that has a complex socio-political nature. Civil society carries out the social determination of many elements of people's way of life. Its role in a concentrated form is manifested in the demarcation of the legal means of all spheres of public life. The condition of public control is the transparency of government and the guarantee of the right to information. Civil society control over state bodies can be defined as activities carried out by civil society actors in the forms established by regulations on monitoring, evaluation of the results of the state apparatus to ensure compliance with certain criteria to improve the efficiency of public authorities. Keywords: control, legal form, civil society, state bodies, interaction.

The stakeholder approach has been, since the decade of 1980, one of the most relevant theories to understand the relationship that is established between the different groups that intertwine in everyday’s managerial practices of an organization. Such theory is relevant to comprehend school’s managerial process, since schools are constituted by stakeholders who long for their expectations to be met. This study aims at understanding how managerial practices of basic public schools, in relations with their interest groups (principal, supervisors, teachers, pedagogues, general service assistant, administrative officers, patrimonial agents, students’ parents), take place. A multicase study was carried out in four schools, data were collected from documents, direct observation and evaluated by means of the content analysis technique, based on categories from Chanlat’s (1996) participative management. Some findings were: (i) some stakeholders didn’t know or participated in school management, (ii) the need to engage the community to access resources, (iii) conflicting goals regarding stakeholders and the school, (iv) the need to strengthen the communication among stakeholders to make the control and evaluation system more effective, (v) how it’s necessary to engage stakeholders in the managerial process to obtain certain advantages.

<strong>The purpose of the article&nbsp;</strong>is to highlight the importance of introducing information technologies into PR activities as a necessary element of the digital transformation of modern society, to characterize the most appropriate and effective means of information and communication technologies in the field of public relations and the effectiveness of their use by considering the PR activities of the American company Airbnb; to find out the main advantages of using interactive network technologies in the organization of public relations and to outline the challenges in implementing modern technologies. <strong>The research methods&nbsp;</strong>include analysis of previous studies on the use of information technology in PR activities, systematisation and generalisation to determine the effectiveness of information technology implementation in modern PR activities, content analysis of pages and official communication channels of Airbnb, including the corporate website, mobile application and social media. <strong>The scientific novelty&nbsp;</strong>lies in the reflection of current trends in the use of modern technologies in the field of public relations and the substantiation of the advantages and challenges of their implementation. For the sake of argumentation, the study analyses the digital PR communication of Airbnb in order to identify the key aspects of a successful strategy for using information technology in various areas of PR activities. <strong>Conclusions.&nbsp;</strong>The essence of the use of information technology in PR activities in the application of modern Internet communication channels, network tools and programs have been determined. It is confirmed that their implementation is a necessary aspect of digital transformation in modern society. The authors identify aspects of the effectiveness of information technology use: reputation control, crisis management, achievement of strategic business goals, and solving marketing tasks. Among the wide range of information tools, social networks, chatbots and immersive technologies are singled out, and their impact is substantiated. The main advantages of using information technologies are characterised: by expanding global access, flexibility and increasing the efficiency of measuring results; and challenges: lack of technical training, competition and information overload, risk of cyber-attacks and privacy violations. The study of Airbnb&rsquo;s experience confirms the effectiveness of attracting the target audience through a mobile application, a user-friendly Internet platform, and a video campaign on YouTube.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizations can strategically frame their legitimate perspective on a specific issue in order to gain salience and public support in a social media context. Design/methodology/approach By means of framing theory and a critical perspective on strategic discourse in hypermodal spaces, the study examines in detail the discursive strategies and framing processes employed by a non-profit organization that faces local and global contestation of its corporate operations. Findings Through a critical discourse analysis of the organization’s 385 Facebook posts during two periods of time, the results not only show how the corporate perspective is strategically framed and legitimized, but also challenged and consequently adapted in this hypermodal issue sub-arena. In addition to legitimizing the organizational perspective by providing evidence-based facts and external expert views as reliable and neutral sources, and echoing supporters’ voices and actions as further endorsements, the organization also strategically manages the Facebook dialogue by delegitimizing counterarguments. Originality/value This study contributes to the corporate communication field by revealing how framing can be materialized in specific discursive strategies aimed to legitimize and delegitimize. It shows how such strategies are interrelated in hypermodal clusters in ways that sustain the organizational discourse, and can evolve across time and within the same actor’s strategy. Methodologically, this study expands the research toolkit by introducing hypermodality in exploring framing and strategic organizational discourse.

The scientific study highlights the theoretical foundations of the electronic docu- ment management system as an integral component of e-government in Ukraine. The relevance is substantiated, the legislative provision and regulation of this area are characterized, in particular, the basic features of e-government as a com- ponent of the system of relations between the state and business are determined. The normative and legal framework is formed by the laws of Ukraine, which establish the order of organization and activity of the state apparatus, and regu- late the general principles of state policy in the field of informatization in general and the administrative process in particular. The analysis of normative document resources such as: «Basic Principles of Development of the Information Society in Ukraine for 2007–2015», laws of Ukraine «About Information», «About Ac- cess to Public Information», «About Electronic Document and Electronic Doc- ument Management», «About Standardization» is highlighted etc. Taking into account the active implementation of the latest information technologies in the management activity, the law of Ukraine «On Electronic Documents and Elec- tronic Document Management» is important, which ensures the implementation of state policy in matters of document management and documentation manage- ment support. It is worth noting that this law represents a consistent theoretical basis for research during the introduction of electronic document management and regulates general issues in this area. The implementation of modern means of electronic government provides an opportunity to improve the quality of public services to citizens radically, and a new level of these services will be achieved through the system integration transformation and improvement of information systems at all levels. It was determined that information and communication tech- nologies open up new opportunities for improving the mechanisms of interaction with authorities, and the implementation of electronic governance in Ukraine is a powerful European integration factor that provides an effective impetus for the interaction of public authorities with citizens, public associations, and businesses by the requirements and standards of the European Union.

The new technological structure of all spheres of public life requires a large-scale reformatting of the organization of power and a qualitatively different legal regulation. The authors of the article substantiate the need for the participation of the state and law in shaping the information culture of users. In particular, the authors ask the extent to which the management and regulation of Internet relations should be carried out, in what ways, means and methods this impact should be implemented in order to improve and increase the level of information and communication culture of network users, rather than force them to anonymize actions in network, "go" to the deep Internet, use hidden networks of the virtual world. To date, the construction of the electronic state, which has enormous potential, has been successfully formed and is functioning in the Russian Internet space. But in the Russian digital environment, the electronic state is modeled on the basis of authoritarian organizational and managerial mechanisms. This, in turn, creates serious organizational and administrative barriers to the development and formation of an information and communication culture. Today it has become apparent that the scale of legal regulation in the social sphere and in the Internet space should be different. Modern legislation already lays down certain prerequisites for regulating Internet communications (digital rights are enshrined, non-jurisdictional processes are introduced, etc.). In order to preserve the value of an individual in the field of Internet communications, to prevent the leveling of human rights and freedoms for the sake of technological effectiveness and efficiency, it is necessary to form and improve an information and communication culture.

Today, the problem of political leadership is, in fact, an actualized aspect which sets ground for identifying the changing political tendencies and realities in the contemporary world. In this given post-industrial context, to answer what the political leader and his team are, means to corroborate several vital issues in the field of political science at once: starting from the prerequisites for organizing and managing the policy, then passing to the characteristics of both the political interests and the means of political activity, communicative mechanisms for elite segmentation, and ending with the most important - the expressions illustrating the postmodern discourse in the field of political sciences. In this respect, the problemacy of the political leader is fairly favorable as long as it focuses on the key issues of contemporary political science and permits to elucidate the most characteristic features of political schism at once. The problem, which regards the political leader and his team, can be solved in two ways: The one which is traditional to political sciences, when the leader is treated as a representative of an organized political force, who is engaged in terms of the programmed doctrine and who is contingent with respect to ideological, political, and propagandist provisions; Postmodern, or (it is almost identical) communicative, standpoint, when the political leader and his team are treated unconventionally, first of all, in terms of competitive organization that renders the services of political activity. Postmodern paradigm of politics matures from communicative and informative changes in the existence of the society when the priorities of creating and practicing information resources come to prevail in the economic field, when the political activity is growingly termed by communicative structures, which inveigle virtually every social strata into the communal "turnover." In this place, we may speak of the concepts which are still quite unusual to the political ear: needs of politics, services of politics, and consumption of politics. The needs of politics can be defined as a type of public need justified by communicative structures, which manifest the political interests and activity of the consumers and mold the corresponding type of service, which can be exposed via a wide range of political behavior and action starting from classical elections and ending with the "participation" and "pressure" through the media, direct talks, contacts on telecommunicative nets, or the usual consumption of political information. With respect to this, the political activity may now on be interpreted from the position of modern theories of organization, among which the concepts of organizational communication and communication management, which have attained a universal character in relation to nearly each realm of the information society, dominate. In circumstances when almost the entire society (on state, regional, or even global scale) turns into political consumers and actors, social and ideological engagement is not the most important substance (i.e., division between left-right becomes real on the basis of values, not ideological position, alone). It comes to be countervailed by the competitiveness of the political activity itself. Nowadays, most probably, we can speak of a political consumer as a mass type, which, in fact, coincides with the consumption of mass and specific communication. Gradually, the parties evolve into administrative mechanisms, which adapt themselves to an expanded and invigorated political market. In this respect, mass media and other communicative structures and instruments become but sole means for political activity, safeguarding its inter-relationship with various social strata and interest groups. Thus, the maneuvers of a political team are increasingly identified with the practice of public relations oriented at the political needs. First of all, it should be emphasized that communicative ties fill the formal positions up, and implement them. There is a very close inter-relationship between the formal and information positions. Furthermore, the quality of the functioning of formal structures, plus, the optimization of organization depends upon the factors of information. As usual, the communicative system of the political team emerges as an outcome of some sort of competition - both, internal and external - and the rules characteristic to it. Communicative system of this sort of "competitive coexistence" sets a favorable ground for the emergence of the rules for identification of the team, as well as the system of strategic planning and preparation for substitution. Habitually, these rules alter but a little that allows, first, the maintenance of a relatively stable staff organization, and second, forges a long-term policy of ends. Within the staff, there is a communicative division of competence, which can be clear and chaotic, as well as formal and casual. It is the association of these competencies alone that make it possible to converse the team as such. Herein, in the face of concrete information relationships, where the freedom of movement is restrained by the rules and some behavioral model is expected, likewise in chess play - the pieces, we may propound a communicative legitimization of the competence. In other words, we may speak of the intersection of political and administrative behavior, the intersection which, due the fact that nowadays it has been made dependent on the technologies of information and communication, and the media pressure, becomes increasingly close and stable.

Suicide is a complex phenomenon that has attracted attention throughout the times of humanity. Since ancient times, its history has been approached in a general way. Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations already considered it the product of a melancholic state of mind. Virtually all religions agree in their rejection as a means of ending life. The common basis for this rejection is that it is God who gives life and He is the only one capable of taking it away. Most writers agree when considering it as the result of an act resulting from a distressing situation. Carrying out this study is justified since it is a topic that draws attention worldwide, due to the increase in the registration of cases, becoming a Public Health problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2020, 1.53 million people will die from suicide, one death every twenty seconds, and the number of attempts will be between ten and twenty times higher. Due to its seriousness, it requires our attention, although unfortunately, the large number of psychoeducational programs that exist for its prevention and control is not an easy task. With this work, we intend to understand its current reach in the young population and make known to what extent Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Neurocommunication with appropriate content on social networks could be applied to the management of Public Relations, to help alleviate, to a large extent, the envisaged attempts on the population concerned. Artificial Intelligence can be used to take advantage of real-time data to help us make more optimized and informed decisions. The advances made today in the field of advanced analytical techniques and statistical algorithms, to identify and obtain a better evaluation of what may happen in the future, processing data to identify patterns of behavior, managing with the media of communication, the issues derived from strategic consulting, academic research, can bring in various ways, great benefits in their application to Public Relations. This will increase the capacities that add value and can be considered as a prevention tool. New ways of acting that increase the efficiency between the sender and the receiver are necessary, through the contributions of neuroscience and the techniques of Public Relations so that their actions are more effective when the messages are directed towards reward systems of the brain. The new discipline of Neurocommunication as a meeting point between neurosciences and communication, tries to know the brain processes to carry out better strategies, in this case, of Public Relations, that allow decision-making in the adoption behaviour in various situations. In-depth knowledge of the processes of the human brain as a decision system in which individuals interpret their realities, depends on the way each subject decodes it, since there is a connection between how we act and the brain system. All this makes us foresee that its application in the field of Public Relations will be essential to mitigate the reality, in this case studied, in the affected groups.

In the modern terms of work the special importance is got by the dataware of enterprise as pre-condition of him effective functioning. Effective means is application of communications, as systems of support of informative cooperation of enterprise with his internal and external business-environment. Communications of subject of economic activity play an important role realization of strategic aims of enterprise. The report of the correctly set forth communicative reports of subject to his target groups forms favourable basis for activity in the system of economic relations, helps to secure support of public for defence of interests and reputation of subject of economic activity. On the modern stage of development of economy the question of determination of quality and efficiency of communications of enterprise gets up very important. Determination of correct strategic course is the most responsible business for an enterprise, as forms priorities of his activity on relatively long-term prospect. It is extremely important to walk up the That management of company self-weighted to the process of choice and realization of communication strategy, taking into account many internal and external factors and accenting attention on some from them. Today it is very difficult to attract attention business entities to the brands, that is why it will be them to search the methods of organization of reports to the consumers about itself and the products. On the basis of it the question of choice of communication strategy becomes very important on the different stages of development of brand. Not having regard to the far of scientific publications from this range of problems, to the choice of communication strategy on the different stages of development of brand as a constituent of dataflow of enterprise it remains not fully studied. It stipulated the theme of the article. The basic types of communication strategies, the use of that allows to improve of communication activity of enterprise, are presented in the article. Design of communication strategy times are described and the complex of operating offers on every design time for every type of communication strategy. The basic stages of forming and development of brand are considered. For each the use of corresponding of communication strategy offers of the considered stages of development of brand.

Resumen El suicidio es un fenómeno complejo que ha atraído la atención a lo largo de los tiempos de la humanidad. Desde la antigüedad, su historia se ha abordado de manera general. Las civilizaciones mesopotámicas, egipcias, griegas y romanas ya lo consideraban el producto de un estado mental melancólico. Prácticamente todas las religiones coinciden en su rechazo como un medio para terminar con la vida. La base común para este rechazo es que es Dios quien da la vida y Él es el único capaz de quitarla. La mayoría de los escritores coinciden al considerarlo como el resultado de un acto fruto de una situación angustiosa.La realización de este estudio queda justificada ya que, es un tema que llama la atención a nivel mundial, debido al incremento en el registro de los casos, llegando a convertirse en un problema de Salud Pública. Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), en el año 2020 morirán 1,53 millones de personas por suicidio, una muerte cada veinte segundos, y el número de tentativas será entre diez y veinte veces superior. Debido a su gravedad requiere nuestra atención, aunque desgraciadamente, la gran cantidad de programas psicoeducativos que existen para su prevención y control no resulta tarea fácil.Con este trabajo, pretendemos comprender su alcance actual en la población joven y dar a conocer hasta qué punto la Inteligencia Artificial (IA) y la Neurocomunicación con contenidos apropiados en las redes sociales, podrían aplicarse a la gestión de las Relaciones Públicas, para ayudar a aliviar, en gran medida, los intentos previstos en la población concernida. Palabras clave: algoritmo, comunicación digital, inteligencia artificial, neurocomunicación, redes sociales, relaciones públicas. Abstract Suicide is a complex phenomenon that has attracted attention throughout the times of humanity. Since ancient times, its history has been approached in a general way. Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations already considered it the product of a melancholic state of mind. Virtually all religions agree in their rejection as a means of ending life. The common basis for this rejection is that it is God who gives life and He is the only one capable of taking it away. Most writers agree when considering it as the result of an act resulting from a distressing situation.Carrying out this study is justified since it is a topic that draws attention worldwide, due to the increase in the registration of cases, becoming a Public Health problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2020, 1.53 million people will die from suicide, one death every twenty seconds, and the number of attempts will be between ten and twenty times higher. Due to its seriousness, it requires our attention, although unfortunately, the large number of psychoeducational programs that exist for its prevention and control is not an easy task.With this work, we intend to understand its current reach in the young population and make known to what extent Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Neurocommunication with appropriate content on social networks could be applied to the management of Public Relations, to help alleviate, to a large extent, the envisaged attempts on the population concerned.Artificial Intelligence can be used to take advantage of real-time data to help us make more optimized and informed decisions. The advances made today in the field of advanced analytical techniques and statistical algorithms, to identify and obtain a better evaluation of what may happen in the future, processing data to identify patterns of behavior, managing with the media of communication, the issues derived from strategic consulting, academic research, can bring in various ways, great benefits in their application to Public Relations. This will increase the capacities that add value and can be considered as a prevention tool.New ways of acting that increase the efficiency between the sender and the receiver are necessary, through the contributions of neuroscience and the techniques of Public Relations so that their actions are more effective when the messages are directed towards reward systems of the brain. The new discipline of Neurocommunication as a meeting point between neurosciences and communication, tries to know the brain processes to carry out better strategies, in this case, of Public Relations, that allow decision-making in the adoption behavior in various situations. In-depth knowledge of the processes of the human brain as a decision system in which individuals interpret their realities, depends on the way each subject decodes it, since there is a connection between how we act and the brain system. All this makes us foresee that its application in the field of Public Relations will be essential to mitigate the reality, in this case studied, in the affected groups. Keywords: algorithm, artificial intelligence, digital communication, neuro communication, social networks, public relations.

Part of the history of the National Theatre in Belgrade in the decade before the First World War relates to processes of discontinuity in the professionalization and modernization of the musical section in this institution and its repertoire. It had to do with abrupt changes reflected in three short-lived phases: improvements in musical ensemble and opera performances (1906-1909), the annulment of these efforts and results with a return to the old repertoire, and then again a new beginning once more with a fresh attempt to establish the Opera (1913-14). These dynamics were affected by the social and political context. It was dependent on frequent changes of the Theatre?s management staff whose main representatives had mutually conflicting views on important questions concerning the functioning of their institution. Relations between them were strongly marked by contested political motives. Theatre managers were appointed by ministers of education who could also be relieved of their posts, and members of the management staff were always active in political parties. These facts acted as a decisive factor in their communication which was similar to the behaviour and customs of public political life where an opponent is seen as an enemy, not as a partner in solving common problems. Critical and polemical discourses on important aspects of organization and programme strategy of the Theatre were burdened by political rivalry which also found its place in discussions on the cultivation of music. Questions relating to music were considered in a declarative way, so that music was instrumentalized as a means of political empowerment. The facts about music in the National Theatre raise many issues related to aspects of modernization, national identification, transfers of ?high? and popular musical cultures as well as to other problems of social, historical and cultural contexts that were intertwined in the operation of the Theatre. The context of political problems in the National Theatre opens some important topics discussed in the text: the discontinuous process of the development of the musical ensemble and its repertoire in conditions of changing management staff; prominent musical professionals and ideologists of cultural life and their relations to the musical and dramatic repertoire as well as to their audiences; potential Belgrade audience reception and their reactions to the musical and dramatic repertoire of the National Theatre. An integral analysis of these may show inconsistency between ideological and artistic intentions of individuals and the needs of the audience during the course of modernization.

<strong>Introduction</strong> An organogram is organizational chart which is a graphic portrayal of a unit&rsquo;s formal structure that provides clear picture of the area of responsibility and reporting relationships within the unit. Medical laboratory services is a unit of the health practice of which the organogram can be used to define the roles and responsibilities of positions within the unit; visualize the structure of the workforce; and establish a structure of authority, communication channels, and specific operational functions and tasks with the services. Organogram shows a hierarchical, or ranked, relationship in organizational structure which affects both the overall behavior of firms and the situations of individuals and subunits within firms. The effect of exogenous changes in the environment (market prices, costs, or regulations) on organizations can be partitioned into the immediate direct effect of the change and the full effect after organizational structure has had time to adjust (Stephen <em>et al</em>, 2000). An effective structure facilitates management and clarifies relationships, roles and responsibilities, levels of authority, and supervisory or reporting lines. By reviewing an organization&rsquo;s structure, a manager will be able to determine which human, financial, and technical resources are available, how they should be allocated, and which resources are lacking. A manager can use organogram to define tasks, determine information flow within the organization, and ensure accountability for achieving organizational goals and objectives. On the other hand, a consolidating organization may propose several new units or an expansion plan in response to its past dynamic growth and its future strategic plans. It is expected of Program managers to make sure that the structure is appropriate for the organization&rsquo;s size, resources and program mix. An organogram may be hierarchical, team or network in structure but should be able to show functions of departments and units, job positions and formal relationships and linkages such as authority, formal power, delegation, span of control, responsibility, accountability, communication and coordination. Massimo &amp; Lei (nd) findings provide a first evidence of the trade-off between vertical hierarchy and degree of specialization within organizations. While the effect of vertical structure seems to prevail, still the degree of specialization plays a very important role in the provision of &ldquo;unique&rdquo; managerial solutions. &nbsp; <strong>Medical Laboratory Services in Nigeria</strong> Medical Laboratory science is a diagnostic aspect of healthcare which means the practice involving analysis of human or animal tissues, body fluids, excretions, production of biological, designs and fabrication of equipment for the purpose of medical laboratory diagnosis, treatment and research and includes; medical microbiology, clinical chemistry, chemical pathology, heamatology, blood transfusion science, virology, histopathology, histochemistry, immunology, cytogenetics, exfoliativecytology, parasitology, forensic science, molecular biology, laboratory management, or any other related subject as may be approved by the council. (Obeta <em>et al.</em>, 2019; MLSCN, 2003) The medical laboratory service in Nigeria has grown from the era of Medical Laboratory Assistant, Medical Laboratory Technician (Lab Man) to Medical laboratory Technologist and now Medical Laboratory Scientists. The training for Medical Labotorians grew from UK training to now over 30 training Universities in Nigeria with some colleges of health training the lower cadre professionals. The regulation grew from Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology (IMLT) of Nigeria to Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) through Act, 2003. The MLSCN (2003) recognizes three professional cadres in the Act who are Medical Laboratory Assistant, Medical Laboratory Technician and now Medical Laboratory Scientist. However, there are other categories of staff that can be found in the medical Laboratory such as Pathologist, Secretaries or Laboratory Information Management officers or Information Communication Technology Offices and Phlebotomists as the case may be for various institutions. Though these other categories of staff may exist in the medical laboratory, in line with the provision of the MLSCN Act 11 of 2003 Section 18, Sub-section 2, &ldquo;no person not being a fully registered medical laboratory scientist under this Act shall be entitled to hold any appointment in the Public Service of the Federation or state or any public or private establishment, body or institution, if the holding of such appointment involves the performance by him in Nigeria or any act pertaining to the profession of medical laboratory sciences for gain&rdquo;. This implies that a defined roles is very important among the categories of staff that may be found in the medical laboratory and this paper proposes an organogram which shall define the roles of staff categories found in medical laboratories in Nigerian public health institutions and beyond. &nbsp; <strong>Organogram for Medical Laboratory Services in Nigeria</strong> Organogram of medical laboratory services in Nigeria is sketchy without a detailed hierarchical, team or network structural display. New Telegraph of 21^st December, 2017 reported there is no coordination of medical laboratory services in Nigeria. It is also important to note that the Nigerian Medical Laboratory Policy (2009) is yet to be implemented thereby making the organogram of medical laboratory services nearly impossible before now. The organogram however is as old as the Scheme of service in Nigeria but no readily available template. The Nigerian Scheme of Service for medical laboratory scientists has been repeatedly modified to meet up with other health professional counterparts and the organogram proposed by Obeta and colleagues (2018) as shown below has taken care of such corrections in line with available circulars using corresponding Grade level salary structure. Stephen and colleagues (2000) suggest that organizational structure is indeed a crucial element in the diffusion of technological innovations. This is to say that the medical laboratory services should have a definite structure which would propel the discoveries and improved management system expected of medical laboratories. Updating the organizational chart is an important part of business operations Medical Laboratory Services inclusive. Reviewing the organizational chart on a regular basis is best practice as some activities or occurrences that may trigger an organizational chart update may include but not limited to position description changes that affect the organization, addition or elimination of positions and organizational restructuring. In Nigeria, the occurrences has taken place and urgent need to propose and improved organogram is germane. Avioworo (2012) proposed an organogram for Federal Ministry of Health and tertiary institutions in Nigeria, however there were some gaps which must have made some authorities to describe the organogram as organogram for medical laboratory scientists rather than organogram for medical laboratory services. An example is the appointment of Director Medical Laboratory Scientists in some Tertiary Hospitals. Erhabor &amp; Adias (2014) developed organogram for medical laboratory scientists while relating the organogram of the UK Biomedical Laboratory Scientists described a harmony organogram template for Nigerian Medical Laboratory Scientists and Pathologists. The organogram under discus in this paper provides a single team form of organogram expected of any institution providing medical laboratory service and not just medical laboratory scientists practice as cited above. The size of the organogram depends on the size of the institution, however, the Director Medical Laboratory Services should be one at any point in time to direct all activities of medical laboratory services in any given institution. The Deputy Director Medical Laboratory Services (DDMLS) should not be less than two and not more than eight depending on the size of the institution like Teaching Hospitals. An example of DDMLS are in Medical Laboratory Management, Chemical Pathology, Heamatology / Blood Transfusion Science, Medical Microbiology, Histopathology / Cytology, Infectious Diseases, Medical Laboratory Research, etc. The Assistant Director Medical Laboratory Services (ADMLS) should not be less than two under each mentioned DDMLS and not more than sixteen. Using Medical Laboratory Management as an example to describe the required ADMLS are in Medical Laboratory Organization / Administration, Medical Laboratory Ethics, Medical Laboratory Safety, Medical Laboratory Equipment, Quality Management System / Sigma Quality, etc. The ADMLS should have some Pathologists relating with them at this level especially in the areas of Chemical Pathology, Heamatology / Blood Transfusion Science, Medical Microbiology, Histopathology / Cytology, and Infectious Diseases based on the information generated by CMLS. At this level there is no one taking instruction from the other (ADMLS/Pathologist) however, inter-professional teamwork and collaborative practice is expected. The Chief Medical Laboratory Scientist (CMLS) should not be less than two each under mentioned ADMLS and not more than thirty two. Using Medical Laboratory Organization / administration as example to describe required CMLS are Human Resources Management, Medical Laboratory Space / Inventory, Team Building / Interpersonal Relations, Conflict Resolution and Management, Administrative techniques / Communication, etc. The Principal Medical Laboratory Scientist (PMLS) should not be less than two and not more than seventy four under the enumerated CMLS in the organogram. Take Human Resources for instance are Planning / Forecasting, Recruitment / Division of labour, Training / Continuous Professional Development, Job motivation / Labour relations, Leadership / Discipline, etc. The SMLS, MLS, Intern MLS, Chief MLT and others workers should be under the supervision PMLS. The Senior Medical Laboratory Scientist (SMLS) should not be less than two and not more than one hundred and forty on listed PMLS. The SMLS should man various benches attached with MLS with supervised assistance of available MLTs and MLAs. Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) should not be less than four and not more than one hundred and seventy under a given SMLS. Intern MLS are MLS on their last stage of training. They are having provisional license which is covered by licensed MLS where they work. They are expected to be not less than ten and not more than two hundred under an assigned PMLS. The Chief medical laboratory technician down to the MLA in that cadre works under the supervision of a licensed MLS available. However, the number of MLA at a time no matter the cadre should be two or one MLS to one MLT (MLSCN, 2018) The MLA cadre is created for assistance in the Medical Laboratory Services and for professional assistance of MLS and MLT cadres. Their number should be one MLA to seven MLS plus MLT. The Pathologist should report directly to ADMLS. The number of Pathologist should be equal to number of ADMLS in the Directorate. Other members of the Profession of the Pathologist down to House / Medical Officers reports directly to the Pathologist. The Health Information Officers (ICTO) / Laboratory Information Management System Officers (LIMSO) should report to Medical Laboratory Scientists. This paves way for attachment of one ICTO/LIMSO to every cadre of the Medical Laboratory Service. They could serve as secretaries in the department. The Phlebotomists should report to Intern MLS or MLS and inversely supervised by MLS. The number of Phlebotomists could be as that of MLAs especially where there is no MLA. &nbsp; &nbsp; The above Organogram takes cognizance of MLS Scheme of Service of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as reviewed in 2015, MLSCN (2018) minimum Staffing Requirements of department and WHO (2010) Workload Indicator of Staffing Need (WISN). &nbsp; <strong>Conclusion</strong> Though organogram of various health institutions exists with or without medical laboratory services, this organogram puts all health institutions in a clear picture of nature of the organogram every health institution running medical laboratory services should look like in near future. In a health system in Nigeria which has suffered backwardness in performance indices (WHO, 2016) this organogram encourages inter-professional teamwork and collaborative practice to help in moving from 187 out of 191 countries of the world after 18 years to a better position with seriousness in the performance of medical laboratory services in various Public Hospitals and other public health organizations across Nigeria. Medical Laboratory Management should be recognized in various medical laboratories to aid in general laboratory management and quality improvement.

Nonlinearity, multi-contextuality, new normality, constant variability of the modern world are reflected in politics, economics, education and other spheres of human life. Professional and personal self-determination and orientation of a person is difficult in a situation of diversity of various social environments and spaces, functional and semantic uncertainty of educational contexts. In this regard, the importance in the field of education is acquired by the teacher’s transprofessionalism, his ability to continuously develop, independently build interaction with the multifunctional environment, showing his agency as one of the indicators of leadership potential development. The purpose of the study is to operationalize the content of the concept of the teacher’s agency and its manifestation as an indicator of the development of leadership potential, taking into account the ongoing changes in the modern world. Methodology. The understanding of the essence of the terms “agency” and “leadership potential” of the teacher was carried out using the method of semantic analysis of their interpretations available in domestic and foreign sources. The use of activity-based and acmeological approaches is due to the need to determine the key mechanism for implementing the teacher’s agency in the comparison of significant categories (agency, leadership and management). General scientific research methods were used: theoretical analysis and synthesis, systematization and generalization of scientific literature on the research topic. Results. Connectivism (social polyvalence) is proposed as the main mechanism for the manifestation of the teacher’s agency as a teacher’s ability to find and maintain conditions, forms, ways and means of communication with representatives of different professions, social groups and statuses, beliefs, ages for organizing joint actions, events, productive activities. This made it possible to establish the key role of agency in the development of a teacher’s leadership potential – the creation of an atmosphere of cooperation within and outside the educational organization. Conclusion. The conclusion is made that the teacher, as a carrier and subject of public relations, needs to develop his agency and leadership potential, respectively, for orientation and adaptation in a changing world in the interests of sustainable development of regions and the country as a whole.

Ethics is a part of every area of economic activity. Businesses can influence the local community in different ways.From the point of view of ethics, businesses should secure the interests of local communityas well as those of shareholders, owners and employees.Ethics of management is very important too. We can define it as a set of duties that anemployer owes to his employees or as a set of employees’ rights. In the other words, theemployee has the right to benefit from the work he does. Thereferore, ethics of managementdeals with:a) the setting up of ethical principles, which govern the behavior of every member of a com-munity,b) the introduction and implementation of moral standards into the management strategy,c) the setting up of punishment for those who violate the ethical principles.Polish businessmen are becoming more and more interested in the issue of Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR). They care for both economic growth and the goodness of the society andthe natural environment. More and more companies like to be involved in projects that havebeneficial impact on the local community. By taking into account the best interest of the public,the firm improves its image and wins more trust.CSR is a tool in the hands of good management. It can be used when talking to the coownersabout improving the business strategy. The aim of these talks is to better estimate the weaknesses and strengths of the business in question. There are also always many possible threats andopportunities that the management must take into account. The right way to run a business is tomake long-term plans. These plans must take into account the interests of the local community.It can be achieved through talks. Talks let you know what your employees, executives, custo-mers, suppliers, representatives of the local community, media, local authorities and state autho-rities expect from your business. The implementation of a system of CSR management is aimedat improving the interpersonal relations, discipline, mutual trust, employee loyalty to the busi-ness and cultivating good relations with the society.Ethics of management should be seen in the broad context of internal marketing. Internalmarketing (IM) is an ongoing process that occurs strictly within a company or organizationwhereby the functional process aligns, motivates and empowers employees at all managementlevels to consistently deliver a satisfying customer experience. Internal marketing is concernedwith the following four areas of a business: internal communication within the business, thegeneral atmosphere, the organizational skills of employees and the identity. The aim is to achie-ve such a combination of these four elements that the employees will feel secure with everychange in the business and with every long-term plan. Internal marketing is here to help overco-me the opposition and resistance of employees towards change. It’s here to increase understanding and involve employees in the process of introducing change.Ethics of management is inseparably connected with the protection of the natural environ-ment. Many businesses create their image around environment protection. But environmentprotection also means the introduction the environmentally friendly technologies and mana-ging processes. If the needs of customers change, the business should try to quickly satisfy thenew needs. When a customer buys a product from a company that acts responsibly he is supporting a process that will have a good effect for future generations. If he chooses to buysomething that he thinks is good then he can feel his voluntary choice is ethical. So the businessmust try to make products both competitive on the market and environmentally friendly. An organization in the constantly changing society must make a product that will make thesociety more physically healthy and moral. From the point of view of ethics, free competition incommerce is good. But it needs to be adapted to suit the needs of the new civilized way ofmaking business. It also needs to be adapted, to be environmentally-friendly and safe for thecustomer.

Relevance of the research topic. In the age of information and communication technologies, taking into account the priorities of digitalization is a prerequisite for economic growth and improving the quality of life. Digital technologies are gradually penetrating all spheres of life, the activities of public and local authorities, stimulating the development of digital society and building a service state. The desire to European standards in institutions of social service, financial stability of the social protection system, increasing its transparency and optimizing of administrative expenditures necessitate a digital transformation of the social sphere, which involves the introduction of innovative technologies, retroconversion and a single information environment of social support and management of financial resources in specific sphere. Formulation of the problem. The intensification of digital transformation affects and system transformation, mobilization and use of financial resources for meeting ever-growing needs of the social sphere, opening new opportunities in strengthening its financial capacity and solving social problems. Along with the expansion of sources of financial support for the social sphere through the rational combination and use of public, private, individual, socially voluntary (charity, grants, donations) support for the population, there is a growing focus on digital technology in all its components. These processes require development and implementation significant numbers of measures and programs for implementing of latest information channels, which give threats of the using progressive mechanisms in organization and regulation of financial relations. Analysis of recent research and publications. Problems of digital transformation in social sphere and its financial support are considered in the works of domestic and foreign scientists and practitioners: G. Anderson, S. Volosovych, S. Kachula, G. Kulina, L. Lysyak, A. Mazaraki, N. Nalukova, I. Chugunova and others. Highlighting unexplored parts of a common problem. The article considers digital technologies in financial support of social sphere. Progressive mechanisms which attracting financial resources to ensure implementation of social initiatives have been identified. The application of innovative financial technologies forfund accumulation is substantiated: fundraising, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding. Swot-analysis of digital technologies of financial support of the social sphere is carried out. Goal setting, research goals. The research objectives are: to consider feasibility using digital technologies for financial support of the social sphere; to define perspective methods of attraction of means in social sphere in the conditions of digital transformation in social development; identifying advantages, opportunities, disadvantages and threats of for using digital technologies in financial support of the social sphere.The purpose of research is identifying and justifying progressive mechanisms in accumulating and using financial resources for the accelerating development of the social sphere. Research method or methodology. The article uses a research method set: system approaches, statistical analysis, structuring, swot-analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and others. Basic material presentation (results of work). The article considers digital technologies in financial support of the social sphere. Progressive mechanisms for attracting financial resources to ensure implementation of social initiatives have been identified. The using of innovative financial technologies forfund accumulation is substantiated: fundraising, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding. Swot-analysis of the application in digital technologies for financial support of the social sphere was conducted. Area of application of results. The results of the research can be used in the process of activating digital transformation in financial relations, formatting and using financial resources to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the social sphere. Conclusions according to article. Digital technologies in financial support of social sphere create a set of advantages and opportunities for all participants. The using of innovation means interaction between different participants in social relations contributes to the development of an inclusive approach for generating of economic growth, which involves formatting of opportunities for maximum consideration of the interests and needs of the most vulnerable. Access to the process of managing financial resources in the social sphere on the basis increasing the level of transparency, empowerment and human rights is importance. At the same time, the spread of technological innovations poses certain threats and shortcomings, primarily related to layoffs, cybercrime and breaches of confidentiality. Implication of achievements in digital technologies determines institutional transformations in finance of population social protection, as a result which modern social institutions should be formed and help restore positive dynamics of economic and social growth.

In 2013, the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences began a study of black communities in the USA. By now, the research was conducted in six states (Alabama, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania); in a number of towns as well as in the cities of Boston, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. The study shows that diasporas as network communities have already formed among recent migrants from many African countries in the U.S. These are diasporas of immigrants from individual countries, not a single “African diaspora”. On one hand, diasporas as an important phenomenon of globalization should become objects of global governance by means of regulation at the transnational level of both migration streams and foreign-born communities norms of existence. On the other hand, diasporas can be agents of social and political global governance, of essentially transnational impact on particular societies and states sending and accepting migrants, as evidenced by the African diasporas in the USA. Most American Africans believe that diasporas must and can take an active part in the home countries’ public life. However, the majority of them concentrates on targeted assistance to certain people – their loved ones back home. The forms of this assistance are diverse, but the main of them is sending remittances. At the same time, the money received from migrants by specific people makes an impact on the whole society and state. For many African states these remittances form a significant part of national income. The migrants’ remittances allow the states to lower the level of social tension. Simultaneously, they have to be especially thorough while building relationships with the migrant accepting countries and with diasporas themselves. Africans constitute an absolute minority among recent migrants in the USA. Nevertheless, directly or indirectly, they exert a certain influence on the establishment of the social life principles and state politics (home and foreign), not only of native countries but also of the accepting one, the U.S. This props up the argument that elaboration of norms and setting the rules of global governance is a business of not only political actors, but of the globalizing civil society, its institutions and organizations either. The most recent example are public debates in the American establishment, including President Obama, on the problem of immigration policy and relationships with migrant sending states, provoked by the 2014 U.S.–Africa Leaders Summit. Remarkably, the African diasporas represented by their leaders actively joined the discussion and openly declared that the state pays insufficiently little attention to the migrants’ needs and insisted on taking their position into account while planning immigration reform. However, Africans are becoming less and less “invisible” in the American society not only in connection with loud, but infrequent specific events. Many educated Africans who have managed to achieve a decent social status and financial position for themselves, have a desire not just to promote the adaptation of migrants from Africa, but to make their collective voice heard in American society and the state at the local and national levels. Their efforts take different forms, but most often they result in establishing and running of various diaspora organizations. These associations become new cells of the American civil society, and in this capacity affect the society itself and the government institutions best they can. Thus, the evidence on Africans in the USA shows that diasporas are both objects (to date, mainly potential) and real subjects of global governance. They influence public life, home and foreign policy of the migrant sending African countries and of migrant accepting United States, make a modest but undeniable contribution to the global phenomena and processes management principles and mechanisms. Acknowledgements. The research was supported by the grants of the Russian Foundation for Humanities: no. 14-01-00070 “African Americans and Recent African Migrants in the USA: Cultural Mythology and Reality of Intercommunity Relations”, no. 13-01-18036 “The Relations between African-Americans and Recent African Migrants: Socio-Cultural Aspects of Intercommunity Perception”, and by the grant of the Russian Academy of Sciences as a part of its Fundamental Research Program for 2014. The author is sincerely grateful to Veronika V. Usacheva and Alexandr E. Zhukov who participated in collecting and processing of the evidence, to Martha Aleo, Ken Baskin, Allison Blakely, Igho Natufe, Bella and Kirk Sorbo, Harold Weaver whose assistance in organization and conduction of the research was inestimable, as well as to all the informants who were so kind as to spend their time for frank communication.

The Constitution of Kenya specifically recognizes the freedom of association to form and belong to trade unions. However, despite the adoption of the Labour Relations Act, union practice is still hampered by excessive restrictions. The EPZ companies are labor intensive requiring a large amount of labor to produce its goods or service and thus, the welfare of the employees play a key role in their functions. This study sought to determine the effect of trade union practices on employees’ welfare at export processing zones industries in Athi River, Kenya. The specific objectives sought to determine the effect of collective bargaining agreements, industrial action, dispute resolution and trade union representation on employees’ welfare at export processing zones industries in Athi River, Kenya. The study employed a descriptive research design. Primary data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire. The target population of the study was employees in EPZ companies in Athi River, Kenya with large employees enrolled in active trade unions. The unit of observation was the employees in the trade unions. The findings indicated that collective bargaining agreements had a positive and significant coefficient with employees’ welfare at the EPZ industries. Industrial action had a positive but non-significant effect with employees’ welfare at Export Processing Zones industries. Dispute resolution had a positive and significant coefficient with employees’ welfare at the EPZ industries. Trade union representation had a positive and significant coefficient with employees’ welfare at the EPZ industries. The study recommended that trade union should avoid the path of confrontation but continue dialogue through the collective bargaining process and demands should be realistic in nature with what is obtainable in the related industry. An existence of a formal two way communication between management and trade unions will ensure that right message is properly understood and on time too. Keywords: Collective Bargaining Agreements, Industrial Action, Dispute Resolution, Trade Union Representation, Employees Welfare &amp; Export Processing Zones

Социалните мрежи: средство за споделяне на съдържание, взаимодействие с членове на семейството, приятели, колеги, развиване на бизнес, популяризиране на каузи и теми, място за създаване и споделяне. Сред множеството онлайн потребители съществуват такива, чието съдържание оказва влияние върху нагласите на аудиторията им чрез видеосъдържание, блогове, постове и въобще използване на всякакви публикации в онлайн платформите – инфлуенсъри. Дейността им изисква иновативни практики и стратегии, които да гарантират постоянен успех във вечно променящата се онлайн среда. Шансът за постигане на професионалните им стремежи е толкова по-голям, колкото по-усъвършенствана е способността им да ангажират аудиторията: нелек път, свързан с целеустременост, емоции и трудности. В настоящата статия изследвам именно това докато споделям два случая от теренната ми работа, в които, в период от една година (септември 2022 – август 2023 г.), следя, интервюирам/взаимодействам с и наблюдавам съдържанието на двама младежи, свързани с представата за инфлуенсър – Чефо и Зиад. Първият е дългогодишен професионален създател на съдържание, гледано милиони пъти в платформата Ютуб, поддържа активен профил в Инстаграм, участва в телевизионни предавания, изразява активно гражданска и политическа позиция и в процеса на работата си използва практики и стратегии, чрез които успява да ангажира аудиторията си с неща, интересни и важни за самия него; вторият е аматьор с амбиция да монетизира онлайн интересите си и да превърне хобито си в професия, създавайки видеосъдържание в Ютуб. Библиография: Abdullah, T., Deraman, S. N. S., Zainuddin, S. A., Azmi, N. F., Abdullah, S. S., Anuar, N., I. M., Mohamad, S. R., Zulkiffli, W. F. W., Hashim, N. A. A. N., Abdullah, A. R., Rasdi, L. 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<strong>Abstract</strong> The purpose of this essay is to discuss social therapy as a means of resolving social issues in the context of humanity&#39;s shift to open social space and the personal need to feel safe in that space. Following a review of the pertinent literature, the author concludes that social therapy assists refugees in adapting to their new condition by giving assistance in all socially important areas. Additionally, when social therapy is connected to a larger societal objective, participants may aid refugees in developing their own potential. By discussing these concepts, this essay would contribute to the discourse on the critical nature of social therapy. <strong><em>Keywords:&nbsp;</em></strong>Social Therapy, Social Intervention, Refugee, Social Space <strong>Cite this item</strong> Maltsev, Y. (2021). The relevance of social therapy in social work with individuals from refugee backgrounds. Scholars Journal of Research in Social Science (SJRSS), 01(01), 01-04. doi:10.5281/zenodo.5237818 &nbsp; <strong>1. INTRODUCTION</strong> Social therapy refers to a variety of techniques used to influence people&#39;s social conduct in the aim of resolving specific issues or averting certain adverse circumstances and potential repercussions of contentious choices (Holzman &amp; Mendez, 2003; Newman, 2010). &quot;How important is social therapy for refugees and how should it be adapted to the present social context?&quot; were not addressed in earlier scholarships, despite the fact that this is a crucial issue in light of the global situation. To address these concerns, the author has divided the essay into four sections: a brief conceptualization of social therapy is discussed first, followed by refugee issues in social therapy, the relationship between social therapy and other social interventions, and finally, the essay concludes with concluding remarks <strong>2. SOCIAL THERAPY</strong> The essay focuses on social therapy that is primarily existential and preventative in nature, with a particular emphasis on a variety of ethnic groups suffering dissatisfaction, unfulfilled needs, and even a proclivity for extreme behavior. It imparts meaning to people&#39;s lives via their perceptions, thoughts, and behavioral patterns, thus restraining negative attitudes and unpleasant feelings (LaCerva, 2005). Social therapy is a concept that applies to therapy that is performed by and for society; it entails placing a person in social relationships that facilitate readaptation and resocialization, normalize dysfunctional connections, and promote the formation of quality relationships when a person&#39;s deepest spiritual needs in spiritual closeness with others, as well as his belonging to society in a circle of significance to him, are met (Holzman &amp; Mendez, 2003; Newman, 2010). Social therapy is described as an intervention that attempts to change the qualitative characteristics of an individual&#39;s or group&#39;s existence when they are in a state of partial self-realization and social identity loss. The reorientation process is possible through socio-psychological counseling and social therapy, which, in contrast to psychological counseling and psychotherapy, are concerned with modifying patterns of social activity and interaction with society in the context of human dignity, human rights, freedom, equality, and solidarity. <strong>3. REFUGEE ISSUES IN SOCIAL THERAPY</strong> While everyone is susceptible to varying degrees of environmental influence, the ability of individuals and social groups to adapt to or resist adverse external changes varies considerably. In terms of a variety of interconnected issues, refugees constitute one of the most difficult migration groups (Boccagni &amp; Righard, 2020). These socially, culturally, and economically maladjusted people fall into an unintentional state of marginalization, in which many natural-anthropological ties are broken and rights to ethnic identity, domicile, and traditional way of life are lost. The family forced to move to a distant country has many challenges in rearranging their lives. Each member of the family experiences a similar process, but in his or her own unique way. As a result, the adaptation process is entirely unique for each family member. Children often adapt considerably more rapidly than adults to a new multiethnic environment, due to their capacity to learn communication skills as a consequence of their more mobile minds. Children get familiar with a new culture primarily via language learning, social contact, and attendance at school and kindergarten in new communication contexts. The task of establishing a culture of moral interethnic relations, liberty, and security can be accomplished only through the accumulation of knowledge about the culture, traditions, and customs of not only one&#39;s own people, but also of other ethnic groups, and knowledge of the language is necessary for understanding the culture of another language-speaking people. Language evolves into a vehicle not only for communication and thought expression, but also for the accumulation of cultural values, and the school plays a critical role in the socialization of the student, serving as a liaison between society and the child as they master cultural and historical experiences (Khalil, Helou, Flanagan, Pinkwart, &amp; Ogata, 2019). The teacher has the ability to have a major impact on students&#39; formation of a tolerant, multicultural personality capable of thriving in an interethnic and interfaith system (Khalil, Helou, Flanagan, Pinkwart, &amp; Ogata, 2019). However, teachers sometimes assign national characteristics to their students of other nationalities, thus demonstrating their &quot;understanding&quot; of a foreign culture, social roles, and everyday life in general (Jaskułowski &amp; Surmiak, 2015). In other words, teachers recognize the existence of another culture, religion, but are certain that it is less significant and &quot;cultural&quot; than the one in which they were reared. They just reflect and reproduce racial biases already prevalent in society, which is inevitable as long as society sees the world through ethnic glasses. Is this to say that schools, as multiethnic educational environments, are intrinsically racist? Under such conditions, refugees face not only personal hostility, but also cultural loss. Thus, social insecurity, characterized by a lack of social protection and parental care, results in social failure and self-restraint (self-alienation) in the student with refugee background; teaching insecurity, characterized by the teacher&#39;s neglect of the student&#39;s difficulties, unwillingness or inability to create for him a situation of success. This identity crisis often results in alienation from one&#39;s ethnic roots and may inadvertently result in a negative affiliation with people of different ethnic backgrounds. This is because adaptation to a new culture occurs only after &quot;cultural shock&quot; has been overcome. When engaging with other children, a student who is culturally separated at school feels like a &quot;foreigner&quot;. Students may lose interest in upholding their people&#39;s traditions and may no longer feel obligated to maintain the ideals that characterize their unique selves under certain circumstances. Cultural deprivation &quot;absorbs&quot; a range of external influences, impeding the child&#39;s complete development as a representative of his people. A favorable cultural environment and a varied ethnosocial milieu have a significant impact on not just academic performance and child behavior, but also on the whole development of the personality. Simultaneously, self-destruction may be seen as the most pernicious deprivation setback a person can encounter, since it has been connected to an increase in crime, drug addiction, and suicide (Holzman &amp; Mendez, 2003). <strong>4. SOCIAL THERAPY AS AN APPROACH OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION</strong> Social intervention refers to a set of professional methods that may aid individuals in developing and altering their qualitative characteristics. It makes recommendations for strategies, one of which is social therapy (Newman, 2010). Individual and group work are the two types of social therapy methods. Individual interaction, followed by group work, results in the development of a unique technology of social therapy with an individual (Newman, 2010). The group acts as a link between social institutions, structures, and individuals. Group sociotherapeutic interaction creates all of the necessary conditions for positive change to occur in individuals&#39; and organizations&#39; social problems, and involves social advertising and training. Social advertising is a kind of macro-social therapy in that it engages large groups of people in positive social action in order to increase the participation of members of society and solve urgent, generally significant problems (Helde, 2015). Social advertising incorporates an incentive to engage in the desired action, and therefore serves as an effective tool for society&#39;s self-organization and coordination in order to address pressing problems... At the intermediate level, social therapy is delivered via self-help groups and territorial organizations of individuals who share similar concerns. The sociotherapeutic skills of a group are defined by its ability to provide social support and participate in problem solving. Social therapy is given to an individual via his or her network of social connections, which includes family and local surroundings (Newman, 2010). When social advertising conveys a message in favor of a positive event, it has an impact on the public. Social advertising&#39;s objective is to change the public&#39;s view of any problem and, over time, to create new societal standards. Social advertising is about an idea, a collection of images, or messages with a social purpose (Helde, 2015). Through social advertising, it is possible to achieve social therapy results by informing about successfully functioning structures and organizations that showcase equal opportunities to achieve goals in new circumstances; demonstrating alternative ways of behaving and resolving problems for individuals and groups, as well as their advantages over conventional methods; and showing behaving differently. The first training group, called T-group (training group), were formed by students of American psychologist Kurt Lewin in order to study interpersonal interactions and improve communication skills (Crosby, 2021). The main achievement of T-groups was their effectiveness in changing people&#39;s personal attitudes and actions in a group environment rather than an individual one. Its members learned to overcome their authenticity and see themselves through the eyes of others. The successful involvement of Kurt Lewin&rsquo;s students in T-groups resulted in the creation of the United States of America&#39;s National Training Laboratory in 1947. Social and life skills training started to be planned and implemented in the 1960s, mostly on the basis of American scientist Carl Rogers&#39; humanistic psychology concept (Schacter, Gilbert, &amp; Wegner, 2009). In the 1970s, German philosophers and psychologists pioneered the concept of socio-psychological training (Schacter, Gilbert, &amp; Wegner, 2009). The new method is based on role-playing games with dramatic elements, over the course of which conditions for the development of effective communication skills and an increase in interpersonal competence of training participants in communication are created. The training technique was originally proposed in the field of intercultural relations by American professor Harry Charalambos Triandis, who believes that by simulating events that occur differently in various cultures, participants may acquire an awareness of intercultural variations in interpersonal relationships (Triandis, 1972). The scientist explains that training entails developing a knowledge of a foreign culture via emotionally charged activities, repetition, and evaluation. As a result, such acquired knowledge may be applied to new situations (Funke, 1989). These literatures discussed various approaches to intercultural communication training, including self-awareness training, in which participants learn about their own cultural foundations; cognitive training, in which participants learn about other cultures; and attribution training, in which participants learn to provide causal explanations for their partners&#39; situations and actions. The purpose of the training is to establish a realistic sense of personal and interpersonal accountability. One of the examples of the guiding principle in this sense is: &quot;I am responsible for just what I am able to manage&quot;. This notion may be stated more exactly as follows: &quot;I am completely responsible for the feelings and emotions I experience, for my thoughts, beliefs, and judgements, and for my actions&quot;. Concerning responsibility for the other, it is stated as follows: &quot;I am fully responsible for the actions I have undertaken to promote my own and my partner&#39;s development, to guarantee constructive conversation and agreement; I am not responsible for my partner&#39;s feelings, emotions, ideas, or behaviors&quot;. Consciousness of one&#39;s degree of responsibility for another during the communicative process drives the cognitive, analytical process, the ultimate goal of which is to correct one&#39;s behavior in order to achieve the communication&#39;s objectives. In this scenario, one must distinguish between guilt and accountability. This capability entails not just unconditional acceptance and respect for another person, but also an appreciation for the other&#39;s expressions. Individuals do not disdain or reject these pronouncements; rather, they see them favorably and as new ideals. As a result, the person interacts effectively and efficiently with the partner. While students may gain the capacity to do the task at the conclusion of the training session, true learning happens when students apply what they have learned in the training environment to the real world and show a sustained change in their behavior. <strong>5. CONCLUSION</strong> The use of social therapy in addressing the complex socio-psychological problems of a refugee person raises it to a universal approach within the intervention complexity. The study of social therapy&#39;s concepts allows us to characterize it as a complex long-term impact on an individual or a group of people in order to ensure social adaptation and integration into the local community. On the one hand, social therapy is designed to address the problems of people who find themselves in tough living situations, and on the other, to act as a tool for state social policy. This is particularly true of the common European idea that all individuals are equal on an individual level and that all related issues, feelings, and emotions are shared by representatives of all ethnic groups. Family, friendship, opportunity equality, and mutual assistance are all examples of non-ethnic imagery that might be used to represent this approach. It has become apparent that when refugees are isolated &ndash; whether via negative media coverage, political hostility, a precarious legal status, a lack of educational and employment opportunities, and/or hostility from the local population &ndash; their chances of integration are reduced. Individuals who feel threatened or alienated by the host group may try to emphasize their differences by isolating themselves within their groups, making them more susceptible to radicalism. In contrast to other types of migrants, refugees&#39; forced migration and subsequent challenges are often distinctive. This should be taken into account to provide the&nbsp; possible integration. As a social group, refugees are both vulnerable and resourceful. However, it is essential that the social policies and practices of integration adopted as part of the larger policy of integrating refugees into society&#39;s social and economic life recognize these special needs of refugees, particularly those of specific groups of refugees, such as children. No arbitrarily constructed obstacles should prevent people from achieving a position in society that is consistent with their abilities and aligned with their own beliefs. Opportunities should be determined only on the basis of an individual&#39;s abilities, not on the basis of his or her origin, nation, skin color, religion, or gender, or any other irrelevant factor. In this view, social therapy&#39;s resources have not been completely appreciated and used, preventing it from developing into a reliable tool for changing an individual&#39;s ability to live in harmony with himself and with society in the future. <strong>REFERENCES</strong> Boccagni, P., &amp; Righard, E. (2020). Social work with refugee and displaced populations in Europe: (dis)continuities, dilemmas, developments. European Journal of Social Work, 23(3), 375-383. Crosby, G. (2021). Planned Change: Why Kurt Lewin&#39;s Social Science is Still Best Practice for Business Results, Change Management, and Human Progress. Productivity Press. Funke, P. (1989). Understanding the USA : a cross-cultural perspective. T&uuml;bingen: Gunter Narr. Helde, A. G. (2015). Social advertising. Lambert Academic Publishing. Holzman, L., &amp; Mendez, R. (2003). Psychological Investigations: A Clinician&#39;s Guide to Social Therapy. New York: Routledge. Jaskułowski, K., &amp; Surmiak, A. (2015). Teaching history, teaching nationalism: A qualitative study of history teachers in a Polish post-industrial town. Critical Studies in Education, 58(1), 36-51. Khalil, V. A., Helou, S., Flanagan, B., Pinkwart, N., &amp; Ogata, H. (2019). Language Learning Tool for Refugees: Identifying the Language Learning Needs of Syrian Refugees Through Participatory Design. Languages, 4(71), 1-17. LaCerva, K. (2005). The Radical Therapist. Retrieved from drchrishoff.com: https://drchrishoff.com/radical-therapist-023-social-therapy-w-christine-lacerva-m-ed/ Newman, F. (2010). Undecidable emotions (What is social therapy? And how is it revolutionary?). Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 16(3), 215-232. Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., &amp; Wegner, D. (2009). Psychology. USA: Worth Publishers. Triandis, H. C. (1972). Analysis of Subjective Culture: An Approach to Cross-cultural Social Psychology. USA: Anybook Ltd. <strong>Publishers Note</strong> This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) with the journal retaining first publication rights. Publisher stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliation.

Abstract: Bali has to maintain its image and reputation as the world leading class tourist destination. Tourism in fact is a vulnerable industry easily ruined by related issues and crises. Therefore, Public Relations (PR) with its communication strategy is highly required to maintain good relationships with related parties. This study is aimed at identifying Bali’s Public Relations positioning and setting up its PR strategies. Data and information are gained by means of questionnaire distributed to The Bali Tourism Board (BTB) with its stakeholders as an organization playing important role in Bali tourism. The data is then analyzed by SWOT (Strength Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) analysis. It is then found that Bali’s PR positioning is on quadrant V means Stabilization/Growth. The appropriate strategies then are socializing the importance of Issue and Crisis Management, be more creative in tourism related special events, developing relationships with medias, improving tourism publication’s quality, maintaining relationships with related tourism organization and Bali community internally.

With public relations management the Belgian Air Force endeavours to put the organization in a good light with its target groups. A study of the literature shows that communication research can function as a strategic means to optimize all aspects of public relations. Results of a survey into the possible influence of the tv serial “Windkracht 10" on the image and recruitment of the Air Force point out that results can generate substantial information to improve management of external relations. An analysis of the business magazine “Wings" demonstrates that scientific research can also provide strategical useful information about internal communication.

The relevance of this article is the need to study the students' understanding of public relations as a means of management. The experience of countries with a developed social sphere shows that the use of public relations in the management of social work institutions can improve the social status of social services, form a positive public opinion and, as a result, ensure the social effectiveness of services provided. The purpose of the research is to analyze students' perceptions of the essence of public relations as a means of managing social services in the external environment. Research methods: as a research method, we used a questionnaire survey, which allows us to qualitatively investigate public relations in the organization through the eyes of students. Results of the research: the article considers the students' views on the means of managing social services in the external environment, and reveals the role of public relations in the management of social services in the external environment in the representation of students. The novelty and originality of the research consists in the analysis of public relations as a means of management in the external environment in relation to the activities of social protection institutions in the representation of students. It is revealed that, in the view of students, public relations accumulate management tools and include: the use of various forms of communication aimed at identifying common views or interests of different groups; they contribute to the formation of partnership and friendly relations between the social service, clients and the General public; ensure the achievement of mutual understanding based on truth and full public awareness and, ultimately, form a positive public opinion and a favorable image for the social service. The essential aspects, specific features, structural and functional features and opportunities of public relations as a means of managing social services in the external environment are highlighted in the students' view. It is determined that in the students' views, the management of the social service does not have a well-thought-out concept of organizing public relations, which leads to ineffective management of the social service in the external environment and is used in social work spontaneously. Practical significance: the data obtained in this work can be used in social psychology, Economics, advertising psychology, management psychology, as well as for further theoretical development of this issue.

&lt;p&gt;One of the most prevalent corporate trends of the last several years has been the rush for companies to identify their core purpose and core values as a means to differentiate and create a sustainable winning culture. Yet even with more emphasis on stated ethical philosophies, internal crises and scandals have continued to plague corporations. This pilot project uses in-depth interviews with senior public relations executives from large companies. The project examines how companies integrate corporate ethical philosophy into their crisis planning and response procedures and concludes that, while a well-entrenched core values program can serve as a powerful tool and a framework for crisis planning and decision-making, it should not be viewed as a panacea. Further, the research finds that poorly executed values programs are destabilizing to an organization and actually make crisis response more problematic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;©Journal of Professional Communication, all rights reserved.&lt;/p&gt;

Purpose The purpose of this study is to deconstruct the term “tribalism” for its application to foster context and industry-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication system in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach This research used both the qualitative and quantitative research methods of data collection; it is an in-depth survey with multiple data collection settings. Findings (1) There is a pattern of CSR communication across the three industries sampled. (2) CSR across three industrial sectors is much about “donation” and “gift”. (3) CSR functions are now in a stand-alone corporate communication department. (4) CSR communication lacks the participatory mechanism to really involve the host communities' concerns. (5) Across the four organizations, CSR communication is often as financial or annual reports. (6) There is a general feeling and understanding that CSR and corporate communication in corporate organizations in n Nigeria require a more participatory mechanism. (7) CSR policy in Nigeria is till much of legal enforcement and efforts to have a national CSR commission has gone beyond legislation process. Research limitations/implications This research was only able to collect data from four selected organizations representing just three industrial sectors (freight-forward, banking/finance and insurance) in Nigeria. There was no external funding to capture more organizations. Practical implications The first implication of the findings of this study is that, for the practice of CSR and communication by corporate organizations in Nigeria, the system is much a top-down and non-participatory. This means host communities and other stakeholders do not have considerable participation in the organization's CSR and communication process. The companies in this study select or budget for CSR interventions they consider valuable to communities in most cases. This pattern of CSR operation cuts across the four selected organizations in this study. Thus, it could be argued that this pattern is an industrial/national phenomenon because all the respondents indicated that their organizations operate CSR based on what other related companies do in Nigeria. Second, the fact that CSR and communication by corporate organizations in Nigeria are regulatory influenced means many organizations may try to evade CSR activities by not budgeting for it. Social implications Meanwhile, in this study, deconstructing the evolutionary perspective which sees tribe as a primitive form of organization and relation characterized by the absence of a centralized collaborative system, it is argued that tribalism can catalyze systemic participation and oneness. In line with this perspective, tribal corporate organizations in Nigeria would model an alliance for CSR and communication system on proximity of operational context, that is, Nigeria. Being part of a tribe, corporate organizations as against the public ones will represent an identity reference for social corporate communication in Nigeria. Originality/value Despite the theoretical problematic issues raised by the notion of tribe, it is deconstructed in this study to define modes of social organization, and it reflects native perceptions of a changing collective identity. Thus, it is also argued in this study, that there will be an increase in works on tribalism in organization communication and CSR in Nigeria as emerging business and global market will continue to shape the operation environment.

Abstract: Modernization of Public Administration (PA), to provide a high-quality service, requires improvements in managerial personnel assessment processes. For this purpose, we developed and validated a management competency model that would enable Spanish PA to enhance organizational achievements and prevent corrupt practices. Relations between managers’ competencies and their performance would be perceived as a fairer assessment of human resources processes and ultimately lead to the promotion of ethical behavior within the organization. We followed a mixed-method approach. Study 1 began with a content analysis of articles referring to managerial competencies, followed by Focus Groups and a Delphi panel procedure with subject matter experts, which resulted in a model of eight competencies. Based on this model, in Study 2, we developed a reliable and invariant-across-gender questionnaire (Public Manager Competencies Questionnaire – PUMACQ), which was validated with composite performance criteria (task, contextual, and unethical pro-organizational behavior), by means of a cross-sectional design survey on public managers from around Spain ( N = 439), using structural equation analyses. Our main results show significant relationships between job performance and the competencies of leadership, communication, engagement with PA, innovation orientation, and ethics. Finally, we discuss the practical applications of the results in the public context.

Communication is one of the most critical management practices in an organization. It is argued that managers spend over 70 percent of their time communicating. This is because without effective communication, understanding is lost or compromised in the ‘noise’ and mess that is everyday work life. Communication is effective if done well downwards, upwards and sideways from seniors, subordinates and peers respectively and effective feedback given. The means or channels of communication should also be very clear and short to avoid long bureaucracies and excessive routes that compromise the quality of what is being communicated. The health sector in Kenya is highly regulated by both the Government and relevant professional bodies to ensure quality is maintained in training of medical caregivers and in dispensing services. Three major categories of healthcare service providers exist in Kenya – public, private and mission/faith-based organizations with variants in between. Meru County, one of the forty-seven counties in Kenya, is situated almost at the center of the country and has all these major categories of hospitals. Within the mission hospitals in Meru County, besides the government and professional bodies, close regulation is also practiced by faith-based organizations that sponsor the hospitals. The purpose of this study was to establish the nature and effect of communication in providing quality service delivery in the mission hospitals in Meru County, Kenya. The study was formulated as a survey to cover all the eight mission hospitals namely Nkubu, Chaaria, Kiirua, Maua, Mutuati, Tigania, Igoji and Gitoro. Piloting was done at Wamba mission hospital in Isiolo county to ensure validity of study tools. Descriptive study design was used. Major stakeholders in the hospitals were targeted as respondents including CEOs, Human resource and public relations officers and other staff as internal stakeholders while patients, suppliers and neighbours formed external stakeholders. A total of 128 were interviewed as a representative sample. A drop and pick method was used where questionnaires for each hospital were delivered and distributed to the potential respondents. Some respondents like patients and neighbours were assisted by researchers to fill in the questionnaires to avoid bothering them unnecessarily. Data was analyzed quantitatively using SPSS Version 23 and results described using descriptive statistics and presented in tables. The study found that communication had a significant positive affect on quality-of-service delivery (R=0.498, F=6.922, P=0.00) in mission hospitals.Effective communication and customer care was lauded as a critical consideration in dealing with clients and was emphasized among all levels of staff of mission hospitals to ensure sustainability of quality service delivery. The study recommended further analysis of private and public hospitals on the same parameters for comparison.

Problem setting. One of the cross-cutting lines of the current stage of public administration reform is the creation of a professional, efficient, effective, transparent and flexible system of executive authorities, which will be a prerequisite for the development of good governance in Ukraine. To do this, it is important to make the institutional capacity building (ICB) of such organizations. Institutional capacity is the ability of executive authorities to effectively achieve its goals, to maintain sustainable operation in the long run, to make high-quality public administration decisions with the broad involvement of beneficiaries and stakeholders.Recent research and publications analysis. Some aspects of the institutional capacity of public institutions have been the subject of domestic research by L. Kulish, O. Naumov, S. Brekhov, L. Naumova, O. Chemerys, M. Voinovskyi, N. Kolisnychenko, O. Ros, H. Shchedrova, K. Petrenko.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. Despite a significant number of publications, the issue of the institutional capacity of the executive authorities still remains poorly explored in the science of public administration. Institutional capacity building instruments, one of which is an institutional audit, in particular, need to be further studied. The usage of institutional audit not only strengthens the institutional capacity of the executive authorities, but also forms the basis for the implementation of good governance approaches in the system of public administration. That is why the selected area of research is extremely important in modern conditions of public administration reform in Ukraine.Paper main body. The concept of audit at the present stage is no longer limited to financial control. The general audit methodology, which includes external assessment or self-assessment in accordance with established standards, establishing a certain current state of affairs, identifying opportunities for development and making recommendations, allows it to be adapted to all procedures, processes, operations and systems of any organization. But the purpose of the audit remains the same – to make sure that the functioning of the institution is carried out within a certain budget, goals, requirements or rules.The need to separate institutional audit from audit in public sector is due to current trends of the institutional capacity building of public institutions.To assist the executive authorities in the institutional capacity building, we use the institutional audit mechanism, by which we mean the instrument of public monitoring and control of institutional capacity of public institutions as the ability of these organizations to effectively achieve its mission and maintain long-term sustainability and quality of public services as a result of public administration functions performed by public institutions. And although the institutional audit is essentially part of the public administration function of monitoring and control, it is focused not on identifying violations and further application of sanctions to responsible persons, but on finding potential for institutional development of executive authorities, effective and efficient performance of its functions.The institutional capacity building of executive authorities involves increasing its capacity for sustainable, consistent and reliable implementation of goals and objectives. In practice, it means improving the organization’s management system, including decision-making, financial management, human resource management processes, establishing effective internal and external communication, and so on.An important component of institutional audit is the actual assessment of institutional capacity, which aims to outline the organizational and behavioral aspects of the system that contribute to its efficiency. Through evaluation, the executive authorities receive a diagnosis of the internal environment, processes and goals, as well as a better understanding of the role of all stakeholders. The results of the assessment are the answer to the question “What are the shortcomings in the planning, implementation and effectiveness of a particular executive authorities?”. And every shortcoming identified today is a potential opportunity for development tomorrow.The efficiency of the institutional capacity assessment process and institutional audit in general depends on many factors, which can be divided into internal and external. Internal factors, as a rule, relate to the transparency of the executive authority, in particular the interest and willingness of its management to communicate with auditors, the presence of the request of the institution itself to undergo an institutional audit. Instead, external factors in the efficiency of institutional audit are more concerned with involving stakeholders in this process. Moreover, researchers and experts consider the involvement of stakeholders not only as subjects of the audit process, but also as drivers for the implementation of measures to increase the institutional capacity of the executive authority.In this context, we consider it appropriate to involve the public in the face of non-government organizations (NGOs) as independent institutional auditors. In particular, these may be organizations or coalitions of organizations operating in a field similar to a public institution. For example, NGOs working with people with disabilities could conduct institutional audits for social policy departments of local government administrations.The process of the institutional capacity building of executive authorities doesn’t give immediate results, because it is accompanied by changes within the organization, which always, despite the positive or negative, cause resistance from personnel. Add to this the over-bureaucratized structures and processes of public administration decision-making, the prevalence of political expediency over economy, efficiency and effectiveness, and the lack of a strategy, but also a clearly defined mission, in most executive authorities, we will be given an incredibly difficult task for an institutional audit. However, without overcoming these obstacles and ensuring sustainable institutional development of public institutions, it is impossible to form an effective system of public administration or build a democratic, social and legal state.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. The institutional capacity building of the executive authorities is an important step towards implementing the concept of good governance in Ukraine and bringing public institutions to a qualitatively new level of functioning. Harmonization of such key components of a public institution as mission and vision, management system, corporate culture, organizational structure, communication within the organization and with the external environment, staff training and motivation system, work practices and procedures, will allow executive authorities to implement its tasks and achieve the objectives. And the continuous connection with the beneficiaries and stakeholders present in the institutional audit will increase the transparency and parity of the government’s interaction with the public, which is the key to the democratization of public relations in the state.However, in the domestic realities, institutional audit does not have sufficient methodological and regulatory support, and what is available is scattered between different laws, regulations and even types of audit. Systematization of legal bases of institutional audit and strengthening of methodological basis of its carrying out is a key direction of further scientific studies.

Central to this research lays the concept of private sector-led urban development projects (Heurkens, 2010). Such projects involve project developers taking a leading role and local authorities adopting a facilitating role, in managing the development of an urban area, based on a clear public-private role division. Such a development strategy is quite common in Anglo-Saxon urban development practices, but is less known in Continental European practices. Nonetheless, since the beginning of the millennium such a development strategy also occurred in the Netherlands in the form of ‘concessions’. However, remarkably little empirical knowledge is available about how public and private actors collaborate on and manage private sector-led urban development projects. Moreover, it remains unclear what the effects of such projects are. This dissertation provides an understanding of the various characteristics of private sector-led urban development projects by conducting empirical case study research in the institutional contexts of the Netherlands and the UK. The research provides an answer to the following research question: What can we learn from private sector-led urban development projects in the Netherlands and UK in terms of the collaborative and managerial roles of public and private actors, and the effects of their (inter)actions? Indications for a market-oriented Dutch urban development practice Urban development practice in the Netherlands has been subject to changes pointing towards more private sector involvement in the built environment in the past decades. Although the current economic recession might indicate otherwise, there are several motives that indicate a continuation of private sector involvement and a private leadership role in Dutch urban development projects in the future. First, a shift towards more market-oriented development practice is the result of an evolutionary process of increased ‘neoliberalization’ and the adoption of Anglo-Saxon principles in Dutch society. Despite its Rhineland roots with a focus on welfare provision, in the Netherlands several neoliberal principles (privatization, decentralization, deregulation) have been adopted by government and incorporated in the management of organizations (Bakker et al., 2005). Hence, market institutionalization on the one hand, and rising civic emancipation on the other, in current Western societies prevents a return towards hierarchical governance. Second, the result of such changes is the emergence of a market-oriented type of planning practice based on the concept of ‘development planning’. Public-Private Partnerships and the ‘forward integration’ of market parties (De Zeeuw, 2007) enforce the role of market actors. In historical perspective, Boelens et al. (2006) argue that Dutch spatial planning always has been characterized by public-private collaborations in which governments facilitated private and civic entrepreneurship. Therefore, post-war public-led spatial planning with necessary government intervention was a ‘temporary hiccup’, an exception to the rule. Third, the European Commission expresses concerns about the hybrid role of public actors in Dutch institutionalized PPP joint ventures. EU legislation opts for formal public-private role divisions in realizing urban projects based on Anglo-Saxon law that comply with the legislative tendering principles of competition, transparency, equality, and public legitimacy. Fourth, experiences with joint ventures in the Netherlands are less positive as often is advocated. Such institutionalized public-private entities have seldom generated the assumed added value, caused by misconceptions about the objectives of both partners grounded in incompatible value systems. This results in contra-productive levels of distrust, time-consuming partnership formations, lack of transparency, and compromising decision-making processes (Teisman &amp; Klijn, 2002), providing a need for other forms of collaboration. Finally, current financial retrenchments in the public sector and debates about the possible abundance of Dutch active land development policies point towards a lean and mean government that moves away from risk-bearing participation and investment in urban projects and leaves this to the market. Importantly, Van der Krabben (2011b) argues that the Dutch active public land development policies can be considered as an international exception, and advocates for facilitating land development policies. In this light, it becomes highly relevant to study private sector-led urban development as a future Dutch urban development strategy. Integrative urban management approach This research is rooted in the research school of Urban Area Development within the Department of Real Estate and Housing at the Faculty of Architecture (Delft University of Technology). It is a relatively young academic domain which views urban development most profoundly as a complex management assignment (Bruil et al., 2004; Franzen et al., 2011). This academic school uses an integrative perspective with a strong practice-orientation and carries out solution-oriented design research. Here, the integration involves bridging various actor interests, spatial functions, spatial scales, academic domains, knowledge and skills, development goals, and links process with content aspects. Such a perspective does justice to complex societal processes. Therefore it provides a fruitful ground for studying urban development aimed at developing conceptual knowledge and product for science and practice. Such integrative perspective and practice-orientation forms the basis of this research and has been applied in the following manner. In order to create an understanding of the roles of public and private actors in private sector-led urban development, this research takes a management perspective based on an integrative management approach. This involves viewing management more broadly as ‘any type of direct influencing’ urban development projects, and therefore aims at bridging often separated management theories (Osborne, 2000a). Hence, an integrative management approach assists in both understanding urban development practices and projects and constructing useful conceptual tools for practitioners and academics. Integrative approaches attempt to combine a number of different elements into a more holistic management approach (Black &amp; Porter, 2000). Importantly, it does not view the management of projects in isolation but in its entire complexity and dynamics. Therefore, our management approach combines two integrative management theories; the open systems theory (De Leeuw, 2002) and contingency theory. The former provides opportunities to study the management of a project in a structured manner. The latter emphasizes that there is no universally effective way of managing and recognizes the importance of contextual circumstances. Hence, an integrative management approach favors incorporating theories from multiple academic domains such as political science, economics, law, business administration, and organizational and management concepts. Hence, it moves away from the classical academic division between planning theory and property theory, and organization and management theories. It positions itself in between such academic domains, and aims at bridging theoretical viewpoints by following the concept of planning ánd markets (Alexander, 2001) rather than concepts such as ‘planning versus markets’, public versus private sector, and organization versus management. Also, such an integrative view values the complexity and dynamics of empirical urban development practices. More specifically, this research studies urban development projects as object, as urban areas are the focus point of spatial intervention and public-private interaction (Daamen, 2010), and thus collaboration and management. Here, public planning processes and private development processes merge with each other. Thus, our research continues to build upon the importance of studying and reflecting on empirical practices and projects (e.g. Healey, 2006). In addition to these authors, this research does so by using meaningful integrative concepts that reflect empirical realities of urban projects. Thereby, this research serves to bridge management sciences with management practices (Van Aken, 2004; Mintzberg, 2010) through iterative processes of reflecting on science and practice. Moreover, the integrative management approach applied in this research assists in filling an academic gap, namely the lack of management knowledge about public-private interaction in urban development projects. Despite the vast amount of literature on the governance of planning practices (e.g. DiGaetano &amp; Strom, 2003), and Public-Private Partnerships (e.g. Osborne, 2000b), remarkable little knowledge exists about what shifting public-private relationships mean for day-to-day management by public and private actors in development projects. Hence, here we follow the main argument made by public administration scholar Klijn (2008) who claims that it is such direct actor influence that brings about the most significant change to the built environment. An integrative urban management model (see Figure 2.3) based on the open systems approach has been constructed which forms a conceptual representation of empirical private sectorled urban development projects. This model serves as an analytical tool to comprehend the complexity of managing such projects. In this research, several theoretical insights about publicprivate relations and roles are used to understand different contextual and organizational factors that affect the management of private sector-led urban development projects. Hence, a project context exists within different often country-specific institutional environments (e.g. the Netherlands and UK). In this research, contextual aspects that to a degree determine the way public and private actors inter-organize urban projects, consist of economics &amp; politics, governance cultures, and planning systems and policies. Hence, institutional values are deeply rooted in social welfare models (Nadin &amp; Stead, 2008). For instance, the differences between Anglo-Saxon and Rhineland model principles also determine public-private relationships. However, the process of neoliberalization (Hackworth, 2007) and subsequent adaptation of neoliberal political ideologies (Harvey, 2005) has created quite similar governance arrangements in Western countries. Nevertheless, institutional rules incorporated in planning systems, laws and policies often remain country-specific. But, market-oriented planning, involving ‘planners as market actors’ (Adams &amp; Tiesdell, 2010) intervening and operating within market systems, have become the most commonly shared feature of contemporary Western urban development practices (Carmona et al., 2009). In this research, the project organization focuses on institutional aspects and interorganizational arrangements that structure Public-Private Partnerships (Bult-Spiering &amp; Dewulf, 2002). It involves studying organizational tasks and responsibilities, financial risks and revenues, and legal rules and requirements. Inter-organizational arrangements condition the way public and private actors manage projects. Hence, such arrangements can be placed on a public-private spectrum (Börzel &amp; Risse, 2002) which indicates different power relations in terms of public and private autonomy and dominance (Savitch, 1997) in making planning decisions. These public-private power relations are reflected in different Public-Private Partnership arrangements (Bennet et al., 2000) in urban development projects. As a result, in some contexts these partnerships arrangements are formalized into organizational vehicles or legal contracts, in others there is an emphasis on informal partnerships and interaction. The lack of management knowledge on private sector-led urban development projects, and our view of management as any type of direct influencing, results in constructing a conceptual public-private urban management model (see Figure SUM.1). This model is based on both theoretical concepts and empirical reflection. In this research, the management of project processes by public and private actors contains applying both management activities and instruments. Project management (Wijnen et al., 2004) includes development stage-oriented initiating, designing, planning, and operating activities. Process management (Teisman, 2003) includes interaction-oriented negotiating, decision-making, and communicating activities. Management tools consist of legal-oriented shaping, regulating, stimulating, and capacity building planning tools (Adams et al., 2004). And management resources consist of crucial necessities (Burie, 1978) for realizing urban projects like land, capital and knowledge. In essence, all these management measures can be applied by public and private actors to influence (private sector-led) urban development projects. These management measures can be used by actors to reach project effects. In this research, project effects are perceived as judgment criteria for indicating the success of the management of private sector-led urban development projects. They consist of cooperation effectiveness, process efficiency, and spatial quality. Effectiveness involves the degree to which objectives are achieved and problems are resolved. Ef ficiency is the degree to which the process is considered as efficiently realizing projects within time and budget. Finally, spatial quality is the degree to which the project contributes to responding to user, experience and future values of involved actors (Hooijmeijer et al., 2001). Such process and product effects are a crucial addition to understand the results of private sector-led urban development projects. Comparative case study research using a lesson-drawing method This research systematically analyzes and compares private sector-led urban development cases in both the Netherlands and the UK in a specific methodological way. In essence, this study is an empirical comparative case study research using a lesson-drawing method. Hence, case studies allow for an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real life context (Yin, 2003). Such a qualitative approach is very suited for the purposes of this research as it enables revealing empirical collaborative and managerial mechanisms within private sector-led urban development projects. The reason to include studying the UK lies is the fact that it can be considered as a market-oriented development practice, from which valuable lessons can be drawn for the Netherlands. Thereby, this research places itself in a longer tradition of Dutch interests in UK planning and development (e.g. Hobma et al., 2008). Hence, this research aims at drawing lessons in the form of ‘inspiration’ from practices and projects, as opposed to the more far-reaching transplantation of spatial policies (e.g. Janssen-Jansen et al., 2008). However, in order to draw meaningful empirical lessons there is a need to indicate whether they are context-dependent or -independent. This requires systematically comparing the institutional planning practices of both countries by indicating differences and similarities between the Netherlands and the UK. Based on these methodological principles ten Dutch and two UK of private sector-led urban development cases are selected and studied. The Dutch cases focus on scope over depth aimed at sketching the phenomenon of ‘area concessions’ in both inner-city and urban fringe projects. The UK cases focus on depth over scope aimed at understanding the applicability of a private sector-led approach in complex large-scale inner-city projects. As techniques the case study research uses document reviews, semi-structured interviews, project visits, and data mapping. Comparing Dutch and UK planning and urban development practices The institutional context of urban development in the Netherlands and the UK shows some structural differences, despite the fact that such contexts are often subject to change. For instance, the Dutch planning system uses Napoleonic codified law based on a constitution with abstract law principles as rule, and a limited role of judicial power. The UK planning system is based on British common law lacking a constitution, and uses law-making-as-we-go as judges act as law-makers. In terms of spatial planning, the Netherlands is characterized by binding land use plans within a limited-imperative system based on legal certainty. Dutch spatial planning can be labelled as ‘permitted planning’ based on ‘comprehensive integrative model’ (Dühr et al., 2010) which involves hierarchically coordinated and related public sector spatial plans. UK spatial planning has no binding land use plan, places importance on material considerations based on discretionary authority and flexibility. Historically, UK’s spatial planning can be labelled as ‘development-oriented planning’ based on a ‘land use management model’ with a focus on public sector coordinated planning policies. Moreover, Dutch and UK urban development also differ in terms of public and private roles in organizing and managing development (Heurkens, 2009). In the Netherlands, local governments are active bodies using spatial plans, active land development policies and public investment to develop cities. The private sector often operates reactively and is historically focused on the physical realization of projects. In general, public-private decision-making processes are based on reaching consensus, development project coordination typically involves ‘collaboration models’, and management is focused on process as product outcomes. In the UK, local government uses relatively less regulations and investment to develop cities, thereby facilitating market parties. The development industry is a mature sector, actively initiating and investing in projects. Decision-making is characterized by negotiations, and the organization of projects is often based on a clear formal public-private role division. Despite such a generic Dutch-UK comparison being of crucial importance to this research, it does no justice to increasing similarities between European planning practices. Moreover, such institutional contexts evolve as a result of changing planning priorities in each country. For instance, some basic characteristics of the UK planning system attracted the attention of Dutch planners, including comprehensive principles for project coordination, private sector involvement and negotiations, options for the settlement of ‘planning gain’, packaging interests, development-oriented planning, and discretion for planning decisions (Spaans, 2005). Hence, such more market-oriented planning principles have become valuable and sometimes necessary mechanisms to effectively cope with an increasingly less public-led and more private sector-led Dutch urban development practice. Empirical findings from Dutch private sector-led urban development cases Urban development practice in the Netherlands since the year 2000 witnessed an increased use of the concession model. Hence, this is the Dutch definition for private sector-led urban development. It can best be characterized as a contract form between public and private parties which involves the transfer of risks, revenues, responsibilities for the plan, land and real estate development to private developers based on pre-defined set of public requirements (Gijzen, 2009). In theory (Van Rooy, 2007; Van de Klundert, 2008; Heurkens et al., 2008) this collaboration model holds promising advantages of being a more effective, efficient and transparent strategy to achieve a high quality built environment. Nonetheless, possible disadvantages like the lack of public ‘steering’, dependency of market actors and circumstances, inflexible contracts, a project management orientation, and a stern public-private relationship also are mentioned. Moreover, conditions for the application of concessions in theory involve a manageable project scale and duration, minimal political and societal complexity, and maximum freedom for private actors. Motives for choosing concessions are the lack of public labor capacity and financial development means, risk transfer to private actors, increasing private initiatives and private land ownership. Hence, in theory public and private roles in the concession model are considered as strictly separated. However, there is a lack of structural empirical understanding and evidence for such theoretical assumptions. Therefore, empirical cases in Amsterdam, The Hague, Enschede, Maassluis, Middelburg, Naaldwijk, Rotterdam, Tilburg, Utrecht, and Velsen (see Table 5.1) are carried out. This includes studying private sector-led projects in both inner-city and urban fringe locations. The main conclusions based on cross-case study findings of these ten Dutch projects are highlighted here. Notice that public-private interaction and collaboration remains of vital importance in Dutch private sector-led urban development projects. Despite the formal contractual separation of public and private tasks and responsibilities, in practice close informal cooperation can be witnessed, especially in the early development stages. Moreover, public actors do not remain as risk free as theory suggests, because unfavorable market circumstances can cause development delays affecting the living environment of inhabitants. Furthermore, it seems that constructing and using flexible public requirements with some non-negotiable rules is an effective condition for realizing public objectives during the process. In terms of management, most projects are hardly considered as solely private sector-led, as they involve a substantial amount of public management influence. For instance, project management activities include a dominant role of municipalities in initiating and operating the development. Process management activities are carried out by both actors, as they involve close public-private interactions. Management tools are mostly used by public actors to shape and regulate development with a limited conscious usage of stimulating and capacity building tools. Using the management resources land, capital and knowledge are mainly a private affair. In terms of effects, the concession model by actors is considered as an effective instrument, but not necessarily results in efficient processes. The general perception of public, private and civic actors about the project’s spatial quality level is positive. In addition, actors were asked about their cooperation experiences. Often mentioned problems include a ‘we against them relationship’, lack of public role consistency, thin line between plan judgment and control, public manager’s commitment and competency, communication with local communities, and lack of public management opportunities. Based on the empirical case studies, most conditions for applying concessions are confirmed. However, the successful inner-city development projects in Amsterdam and Enschede indicate that a private sector-led approach can also be applied to more complex urban development projects within cities. Empirical findings from UK’s private sector-led urban development cases Urban development practice in the UK often is labelled as urban regeneration. Historically, it is strongly shaped by neoliberal political ideology of the Conservative Thatcher government in the 1980s. But it also is influenced by New Labour ideologies favoring the Third Way (Giddens, 1998) aimed at aligning economic, social and environmental policies. However, as a result of these institutional characteristics, the UK is strongly shaped by the understanding that most development is undertaken by private interests or by public bodies acting very much like private interests (Nadin et al., 2008). In general, local authorities depend on initiatives and investments of property developers and investors, because public financial resources and planning powers to actively develop land are limited. As a result, development control of private developments is a concept deeply embedded in development practice. Several legal instruments such as Section 106 agreements are used to establish planning gain by asking developer contributions for public functions. Moreover, urban development in the UK has a strong informal partnership culture, and simultaneously builds upon a strict formal legal public-private role division. These UK urban development practice characteristics provide valid reasons to study private sector-led urban development projects in more detail. The empirical cases of private sector-led urban development projects in the UK are Bristol Harbourside and Liverpool One. They represent mid-2000s strategic inner-city developments with a mixed-use functional program, and therefore possible high complexity. As such, they are relevant urban projects for drawing lessons for the Netherlands. The main conclusions based on cross-case study findings of the UK projects are discussed here. The case contexts show that politics and the often changeable nature of planning policies can have a major influence on the organization and management of development projects. Hence, strong and effective political leadership is considered as a crucial success factor. Changing policies result in re-establishing development conditions resulting in new publicprivate negotiations. In terms of organization, the cases indeed show that local authorities do not take on development risks. Moreover, revenue sharing with private actors is absent or limited to what the actors agree upon in development packages. Furthermore, local authorities encourage all kinds of partnerships with other public, private or civic stakeholders in order to generate development support and raise funds. In terms of management, local authorities use different management measures to influence projects. The cases indicate that public actors are able to influence private sector-led developments and thereby achieve public planning objectives. Importantly, public actors use all kinds of managing tools to shape and stimulate development; they do not limit themselves to regulation but also build capacity for development. However, the largest share of managing the project takes place on behalf of project developers. Private actors manage projects from initial design towards even public space operation (Liverpool). Thereby, they work with long-term investment business models increasing private commitment. In terms of effects, the cases show that although the projects are carried out effectively and achieve high quality levels, the process efficiency lacks behind due to lengthy negotiations. In conclusion, the actors’ experiences with the private sector-led urban development projects indicate some problems including; the financial dependency on private actors, lack of financial incentives for public actors, lack of awareness of civic demands, lack of controlling public opposition, long negotiation processes, and absence of skilled public managers. Moreover, the actors indicate some crucial conditions for a private sectorled approach including; flexible general public guidelines, informal partnerships and joint working, public and private leadership roles and skills, professional attitude and long term commitment of private actors, involvement of local communities, separating public planning and development roles, handling political pressures, and favorable market circumstances. Empirical lessons, improvements and inspiration Some general conclusions from the Dutch and UK case comparison can be drawn (see Table 8.1). The influence of the project’s context in the UK seems to be higher than in the Netherlands, especially political powers and changeable policies influence projects. The organizational role division in UK projects seems to be stricter than in the Dutch projects, where public requirements sometimes are also formulated in more detail. The actor’s management in the Dutch cases is slightly less private sector-led than in the UK, where local authorities and developers are more aware of how to use management measures at their disposal. The project effects show quite some resemblance; effectiveness and spatial quality can be achieved, while efficiency remains difficult to achieve due to the negotiation culture. Here, important empirical lessons learned from cases in both countries are discussed aimed at formulating possible solutions for perceived Dutch problems. The problematic Dutch ‘we against them relationship’ between actors in the UK is handled by a close collaboration. Developers organize regular informative and interactive design meetings with local authorities, sharing ideas in a ‘joint-up working’ atmosphere. The lack of public role consistency in the UK is resolved by local authorities that develop a clear schedule of spatial requirements which provides certainty. Moreover, room for negotiations allows for the flexibility to react on changed circumstances. The thin line between judgment and control of plans is not commonly recognized in the UK cases. Local authorities tend to respect that developers need room to carry out development activities on their own professional insights, and merely control if developers deliver ‘product specifications’ in time and to agreed conditions. The commitment and competencies of public project managers are also mentioned as crucial factors in the UK. It involves managers connecting the project to the political and civic environment, and leaders committing themselves to project support through communication with local communities. The lack of public management seems to be a Dutch perceived difficulty as UK local authorities do not apply active land development policies and ‘hard’ management resources. Therefore, they influence development with both more consciously applied legal tools and ‘soft’ management skills such as negotiating. Recommended improvements mentioned by Dutch practitioners here are mirrored to possible support from the UK cases. The Dutch recommendation to cooperate in pre-development stages to create public project support and commitment finds support in the UK. Hence, despite a formal division of public and private responsibilities, in practice a lot of informal public-private interaction and collaboration takes place and seems necessary. Striving for public role consistency also is an appreciated value by developers in the UK. Working on the principle of ‘agreement is agreement’ creates certainty for developers, and less resistance and willingness to cooperate once highly relevant public issues are put on the table. Establishing clear process agreements with moments of control or discussion in the UK are handled with evaluation moments aimed at judging output, and planned meetings aimed at creating a dialogue about new insights. Connecting planning and development processes in the UK is handled by a municipal team consisting of political leaders and project managers that align development processes with administrative planning processes. A clear communication plan to involve local communities and businesses in the UK is handled by developers which involve relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process prior to planning applications for support and process efficiency. Finding public opportunities to influence development other than land and capital in the UK is handled through the use of several public planning tools and publicprivate negotiations. The UK cases also provided various inspirational lessons for the Netherlands. First, the construction and application of a public ‘management toolbox’ consisting of various planning tools that shape, stimulate, regulate and activate the market could assist local authorities to view management more integratively and use existing instruments more consciously. Second, choosing a private development partner with professional expertise, track record and local knowledge, instead of an economically lucrative private tender offer for private sector-led urban development projects, has the advantage of creating a cooperative relationship. The reason for this is that flexible development concepts rather than fixed development plans are indicators of a cooperative attitude of a developer. Third, enabling partnership agreements between public, private and civic actors aimed at creating wide support and long-term commitment by expressing development intentions assists pulling together development resources from both investors and central government. Fourth, privately-owned public space based on a land lease agreement containing public space conditions creates several financial advantages. For local authorities it eliminates public maintenance costs, and for private actors the operation of the area and maintaining high quality standards can be beneficial for real estate sales and returns. Fifth, the value increase-oriented investment model of a long-term private development investor rather than a short-term project-oriented developer with a trade-off model between time, costs and quality has advantages. Large amounts of upfront investment can more easily be financed as high quality environments and properties increase the area’s competitive position and investment returns. Sixth, local authorities can establish partnerships that actively apply for public funding alternatives such as lottery funds. Such funds secure the development of public functions and create interest for commercial actors to invest, which can result possibilities to negotiate development packages which can results in a planning gain for public actors. Seventh, public and private leadership styles on different organizational levels for inner-city development projects result in more efficient processes. Appointing strategictactical operating political leaders and private firm directors and tactical-operational public and private project leaders streamlines internal and external communication and shared project commitment and support. Finally, the UK shows that a private sector-led approach can successfully be applied to complex inner-city developments. Despite the complex social and political character, fragmented land ownership situation, and high remediation costs UK developers can deliver such projects succesfully. Conditions seem a professionally skilled and financially empowered developer, and active local authorities that facilitate market initiatives. The likelihood of transfer of the inspirational UK lessons depends on some Dutch institutional characteristics (economics &amp; politics, governance culture, planning system and policies). However, most lessons are context-independent and thus can be applied in the Dutch urban development practice. But, Table 8.2 also shows some institutional context-dependent features that limit the transfer of UK findings to the Netherlands. This includes the general short-term scope of Dutch developers and the general wish from municipalities to hold ‘control’ over development projects. Reflections on safeguarding public interests &amp; alternative financing instruments The epilogue contains conceptual reflections about alternative ways for safeguarding public interests and private financing instruments in line with the current social-economic climate. These reflections are not based on research findings but on an additional literature review that provides food for thought for public and private actors in urban development. Hence, safeguarding public interests is an important concern for public actors, especially in market-oriented planning and private sector-led urban development projects. In our pluralistic society it has become impossible for one actor to determine the public interest in all occasions. In line with societal development it would not only be socially-coherent for governments to engage private and civic actors in safeguarding public interests, but even a social necessity. Consciously applying different public interest safeguarding strategies based on both hierarchical, market and network mechanisms (De Bruijn &amp; Dicke, 2006) provide this opportunity. By using a combination of legitimized hierarchical mechanisms, competitionoriented market mechanisms, and inter-action oriented network mechanisms, public values become institutionalized in private and civic sectors. Then, the role of public planning institutions in safeguarding increasing economic values, social cohesion and public health is to use both legitimate planning tools and accountable planning activities. It enables other actors to become both more responsible for and involved in their own built environment. In market-oriented planning and private sector-led urban projects, safeguarding public interest instruments include non-negotiable general planning standards which secure basic needs of civilians, and negotiable development conditions which create involvement of other actors. Non-negotiable safeguarding instruments include; public tender requirements, land use plans, planning permissions and financial claims. Negotiable safeguarding instruments include; contractual conditions, competitive dialogues, spatial quality plans, developer contributions, development incentives, performance indicators, and ownership (see Figure 10.2). The reliance of private investment in private sector-led urban development projects asks for exploring alternative financing instruments for urban projects with less reliance on credit capital. This is a crucial subject being the result of the effect the current economic situation has on the land and property market. Hence, it is widely acknowledged that in many development practices around the globe property investment for urban development has changed radically as a result of the international credit crisis and economic downturn (Parkinson et al., 2009). ‘New financial models’ have the attention of several Dutch practitioners (e.g. Van Rooy, 2011) and academics (e.g. Van der Krabben, 2011b). In the current Dutch urban development practice, one notices an increased interest in demand-driven development strategies promoting; bottom-up development initiatives, value-oriented investment strategies, and de-risked phasing of development, which potentially increase the feasibility of urban projects. A literature review indicates promising alternative financing instruments for Dutch urban development practice and private sector-led urban development projects, including; Tax Increment Financing, Temporary Development/Investment Grants, Lottery Funds, DBFM/ Concession Light, Crowd Funding, Urban Development Trusts, Business Improvement Districts, and Urban Reparcelling. These instruments have different features such as investment source, development incentives, organizational requirements and object conditions, which need to be taken into account by public and private actors once applied (see Table 10.3).

Central to this research lays the concept of private sector-led urban development projects (Heurkens, 2010). Such projects involve project developers taking a leading role and local authorities adopting a facilitating role, in managing the development of an urban area, based on a clear public-private role division. Such a development strategy is quite common in Anglo-Saxon urban development practices, but is less known in Continental European practices. Nonetheless, since the beginning of the millennium such a development strategy also occurred in the Netherlands in the form of ‘concessions’. However, remarkably little empirical knowledge is available about how public and private actors collaborate on and manage private sector-led urban development projects. Moreover, it remains unclear what the effects of such projects are. This dissertation provides an understanding of the various characteristics of private sector-led urban development projects by conducting empirical case study research in the institutional contexts of the Netherlands and the UK. The research provides an answer to the following research question: What can we learn from private sector-led urban development projects in the Netherlands and UK in terms of the collaborative and managerial roles of public and private actors, and the effects of their (inter)actions? Indications for a market-oriented Dutch urban development practice Urban development practice in the Netherlands has been subject to changes pointing towards more private sector involvement in the built environment in the past decades. Although the current economic recession might indicate otherwise, there are several motives that indicate a continuation of private sector involvement and a private leadership role in Dutch urban development projects in the future. First, a shift towards more market-oriented development practice is the result of an evolutionary process of increased ‘neoliberalization’ and the adoption of Anglo-Saxon principles in Dutch society. Despite its Rhineland roots with a focus on welfare provision, in the Netherlands several neoliberal principles (privatization, decentralization, deregulation) have been adopted by government and incorporated in the management of organizations (Bakker et al., 2005). Hence, market institutionalization on the one hand, and rising civic emancipation on the other, in current Western societies prevents a return towards hierarchical governance. Second, the result of such changes is the emergence of a market-oriented type of planning practice based on the concept of ‘development planning’. Public-Private Partnerships and the ‘forward integration’ of market parties (De Zeeuw, 2007) enforce the role of market actors. In historical perspective, Boelens et al. (2006) argue that Dutch spatial planning always has been characterized by public-private collaborations in which governments facilitated private and civic entrepreneurship. Therefore, post-war public-led spatial planning with necessary government intervention was a ‘temporary hiccup’, an exception to the rule. Third, the European Commission expresses concerns about the hybrid role of public actors in Dutch institutionalized PPP joint ventures. EU legislation opts for formal public-private role divisions in realizing urban projects based on Anglo-Saxon law that comply with the legislative tendering principles of competition, transparency, equality, and public legitimacy. Fourth, experiences with joint ventures in the Netherlands are less positive as often is advocated. Such institutionalized public-private entities have seldom generated the assumed added value, caused by misconceptions about the objectives of both partners grounded in incompatible value systems. This results in contra-productive levels of distrust, time-consuming partnership formations, lack of transparency, and compromising decision-making processes (Teisman &amp; Klijn, 2002), providing a need for other forms of collaboration. Finally, current financial retrenchments in the public sector and debates about the possible abundance of Dutch active land development policies point towards a lean and mean government that moves away from risk-bearing participation and investment in urban projects and leaves this to the market. Importantly, Van der Krabben (2011b) argues that the Dutch active public land development policies can be considered as an international exception, and advocates for facilitating land development policies. In this light, it becomes highly relevant to study private sector-led urban development as a future Dutch urban development strategy. Integrative urban management approach This research is rooted in the research school of Urban Area Development within the Department of Real Estate and Housing at the Faculty of Architecture (Delft University of Technology). It is a relatively young academic domain which views urban development most profoundly as a complex management assignment (Bruil et al., 2004; Franzen et al., 2011). This academic school uses an integrative perspective with a strong practice-orientation and carries out solution-oriented design research. Here, the integration involves bridging various actor interests, spatial functions, spatial scales, academic domains, knowledge and skills, development goals, and links process with content aspects. Such a perspective does justice to complex societal processes. Therefore it provides a fruitful ground for studying urban development aimed at developing conceptual knowledge and product for science and practice. Such integrative perspective and practice-orientation forms the basis of this research and has been applied in the following manner. In order to create an understanding of the roles of public and private actors in private sector-led urban development, this research takes a management perspective based on an integrative management approach. This involves viewing management more broadly as ‘any type of direct influencing’ urban development projects, and therefore aims at bridging often separated management theories (Osborne, 2000a). Hence, an integrative management approach assists in both understanding urban development practices and projects and constructing useful conceptual tools for practitioners and academics. Integrative approaches attempt to combine a number of different elements into a more holistic management approach (Black &amp; Porter, 2000). Importantly, it does not view the management of projects in isolation but in its entire complexity and dynamics. Therefore, our management approach combines two integrative management theories; the open systems theory (De Leeuw, 2002) and contingency theory. The former provides opportunities to study the management of a project in a structured manner. The latter emphasizes that there is no universally effective way of managing and recognizes the importance of contextual circumstances. Hence, an integrative management approach favors incorporating theories from multiple academic domains such as political science, economics, law, business administration, and organizational and management concepts. Hence, it moves away from the classical academic division between planning theory and property theory, and organization and management theories. It positions itself in between such academic domains, and aims at bridging theoretical viewpoints by following the concept of planning ánd markets (Alexander, 2001) rather than concepts such as ‘planning versus markets’, public versus private sector, and organization versus management. Also, such an integrative view values the complexity and dynamics of empirical urban development practices. More specifically, this research studies urban development projects as object, as urban areas are the focus point of spatial intervention and public-private interaction (Daamen, 2010), and thus collaboration and management. Here, public planning processes and private development processes merge with each other. Thus, our research continues to build upon the importance of studying and reflecting on empirical practices and projects (e.g. Healey, 2006). In addition to these authors, this research does so by using meaningful integrative concepts that reflect empirical realities of urban projects. Thereby, this research serves to bridge management sciences with management practices (Van Aken, 2004; Mintzberg, 2010) through iterative processes of reflecting on science and practice. Moreover, the integrative management approach applied in this research assists in filling an academic gap, namely the lack of management knowledge about public-private interaction in urban development projects. Despite the vast amount of literature on the governance of planning practices (e.g. DiGaetano &amp; Strom, 2003), and Public-Private Partnerships (e.g. Osborne, 2000b), remarkable little knowledge exists about what shifting public-private relationships mean for day-to-day management by public and private actors in development projects. Hence, here we follow the main argument made by public administration scholar Klijn (2008) who claims that it is such direct actor influence that brings about the most significant change to the built environment. An integrative urban management model (see Figure 2.3) based on the open systems approach has been constructed which forms a conceptual representation of empirical private sectorled urban development projects. This model serves as an analytical tool to comprehend the complexity of managing such projects. In this research, several theoretical insights about publicprivate relations and roles are used to understand different contextual and organizational factors that affect the management of private sector-led urban development projects. Hence, a project context exists within different often country-specific institutional environments (e.g. the Netherlands and UK). In this research, contextual aspects that to a degree determine the way public and private actors inter-organize urban projects, consist of economics &amp; politics, governance cultures, and planning systems and policies. Hence, institutional values are deeply rooted in social welfare models (Nadin &amp; Stead, 2008). For instance, the differences between Anglo-Saxon and Rhineland model principles also determine public-private relationships. However, the process of neoliberalization (Hackworth, 2007) and subsequent adaptation of neoliberal political ideologies (Harvey, 2005) has created quite similar governance arrangements in Western countries. Nevertheless, institutional rules incorporated in planning systems, laws and policies often remain country-specific. But, market-oriented planning, involving ‘planners as market actors’ (Adams &amp; Tiesdell, 2010) intervening and operating within market systems, have become the most commonly shared feature of contemporary Western urban development practices (Carmona et al., 2009). In this research, the project organization focuses on institutional aspects and interorganizational arrangements that structure Public-Private Partnerships (Bult-Spiering &amp; Dewulf, 2002). It involves studying organizational tasks and responsibilities, financial risks and revenues, and legal rules and requirements. Inter-organizational arrangements condition the way public and private actors manage projects. Hence, such arrangements can be placed on a public-private spectrum (Börzel &amp; Risse, 2002) which indicates different power relations in terms of public and private autonomy and dominance (Savitch, 1997) in making planning decisions. These public-private power relations are reflected in different Public-Private Partnership arrangements (Bennet et al., 2000) in urban development projects. As a result, in some contexts these partnerships arrangements are formalized into organizational vehicles or legal contracts, in others there is an emphasis on informal partnerships and interaction. The lack of management knowledge on private sector-led urban development projects, and our view of management as any type of direct influencing, results in constructing a conceptual public-private urban management model (see Figure SUM.1). This model is based on both theoretical concepts and empirical reflection. In this research, the management of project processes by public and private actors contains applying both management activities and instruments. Project management (Wijnen et al., 2004) includes development stage-oriented initiating, designing, planning, and operating activities. Process management (Teisman, 2003) includes interaction-oriented negotiating, decision-making, and communicating activities. Management tools consist of legal-oriented shaping, regulating, stimulating, and capacity building planning tools (Adams et al., 2004). And management resources consist of crucial necessities (Burie, 1978) for realizing urban projects like land, capital and knowledge. In essence, all these management measures can be applied by public and private actors to influence (private sector-led) urban development projects. These management measures can be used by actors to reach project effects. In this research, project effects are perceived as judgment criteria for indicating the success of the management of private sector-led urban development projects. They consist of cooperation effectiveness, process efficiency, and spatial quality. Effectiveness involves the degree to which objectives are achieved and problems are resolved. Ef ficiency is the degree to which the process is considered as efficiently realizing projects within time and budget. Finally, spatial quality is the degree to which the project contributes to responding to user, experience and future values of involved actors (Hooijmeijer et al., 2001). Such process and product effects are a crucial addition to understand the results of private sector-led urban development projects. Comparative case study research using a lesson-drawing method This research systematically analyzes and compares private sector-led urban development cases in both the Netherlands and the UK in a specific methodological way. In essence, this study is an empirical comparative case study research using a lesson-drawing method. Hence, case studies allow for an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real life context (Yin, 2003). Such a qualitative approach is very suited for the purposes of this research as it enables revealing empirical collaborative and managerial mechanisms within private sector-led urban development projects. The reason to include studying the UK lies is the fact that it can be considered as a market-oriented development practice, from which valuable lessons can be drawn for the Netherlands. Thereby, this research places itself in a longer tradition of Dutch interests in UK planning and development (e.g. Hobma et al., 2008). Hence, this research aims at drawing lessons in the form of ‘inspiration’ from practices and projects, as opposed to the more far-reaching transplantation of spatial policies (e.g. Janssen-Jansen et al., 2008). However, in order to draw meaningful empirical lessons there is a need to indicate whether they are context-dependent or -independent. This requires systematically comparing the institutional planning practices of both countries by indicating differences and similarities between the Netherlands and the UK. Based on these methodological principles ten Dutch and two UK of private sector-led urban development cases are selected and studied. The Dutch cases focus on scope over depth aimed at sketching the phenomenon of ‘area concessions’ in both inner-city and urban fringe projects. The UK cases focus on depth over scope aimed at understanding the applicability of a private sector-led approach in complex large-scale inner-city projects. As techniques the case study research uses document reviews, semi-structured interviews, project visits, and data mapping. Comparing Dutch and UK planning and urban development practices The institutional context of urban development in the Netherlands and the UK shows some structural differences, despite the fact that such contexts are often subject to change. For instance, the Dutch planning system uses Napoleonic codified law based on a constitution with abstract law principles as rule, and a limited role of judicial power. The UK planning system is based on British common law lacking a constitution, and uses law-making-as-we-go as judges act as law-makers. In terms of spatial planning, the Netherlands is characterized by binding land use plans within a limited-imperative system based on legal certainty. Dutch spatial planning can be labelled as ‘permitted planning’ based on ‘comprehensive integrative model’ (Dühr et al., 2010) which involves hierarchically coordinated and related public sector spatial plans. UK spatial planning has no binding land use plan, places importance on material considerations based on discretionary authority and flexibility. Historically, UK’s spatial planning can be labelled as ‘development-oriented planning’ based on a ‘land use management model’ with a focus on public sector coordinated planning policies. Moreover, Dutch and UK urban development also differ in terms of public and private roles in organizing and managing development (Heurkens, 2009). In the Netherlands, local governments are active bodies using spatial plans, active land development policies and public investment to develop cities. The private sector often operates reactively and is historically focused on the physical realization of projects. In general, public-private decision-making processes are based on reaching consensus, development project coordination typically involves ‘collaboration models’, and management is focused on process as product outcomes. In the UK, local government uses relatively less regulations and investment to develop cities, thereby facilitating market parties. The development industry is a mature sector, actively initiating and investing in projects. Decision-making is characterized by negotiations, and the organization of projects is often based on a clear formal public-private role division. Despite such a generic Dutch-UK comparison being of crucial importance to this research, it does no justice to increasing similarities between European planning practices. Moreover, such institutional contexts evolve as a result of changing planning priorities in each country. For instance, some basic characteristics of the UK planning system attracted the attention of Dutch planners, including comprehensive principles for project coordination, private sector involvement and negotiations, options for the settlement of ‘planning gain’, packaging interests, development-oriented planning, and discretion for planning decisions (Spaans, 2005). Hence, such more market-oriented planning principles have become valuable and sometimes necessary mechanisms to effectively cope with an increasingly less public-led and more private sector-led Dutch urban development practice. Empirical findings from Dutch private sector-led urban development cases Urban development practice in the Netherlands since the year 2000 witnessed an increased use of the concession model. Hence, this is the Dutch definition for private sector-led urban development. It can best be characterized as a contract form between public and private parties which involves the transfer of risks, revenues, responsibilities for the plan, land and real estate development to private developers based on pre-defined set of public requirements (Gijzen, 2009). In theory (Van Rooy, 2007; Van de Klundert, 2008; Heurkens et al., 2008) this collaboration model holds promising advantages of being a more effective, efficient and transparent strategy to achieve a high quality built environment. Nonetheless, possible disadvantages like the lack of public ‘steering’, dependency of market actors and circumstances, inflexible contracts, a project management orientation, and a stern public-private relationship also are mentioned. Moreover, conditions for the application of concessions in theory involve a manageable project scale and duration, minimal political and societal complexity, and maximum freedom for private actors. Motives for choosing concessions are the lack of public labor capacity and financial development means, risk transfer to private actors, increasing private initiatives and private land ownership. Hence, in theory public and private roles in the concession model are considered as strictly separated. However, there is a lack of structural empirical understanding and evidence for such theoretical assumptions. Therefore, empirical cases in Amsterdam, The Hague, Enschede, Maassluis, Middelburg, Naaldwijk, Rotterdam, Tilburg, Utrecht, and Velsen (see Table 5.1) are carried out. This includes studying private sector-led projects in both inner-city and urban fringe locations. The main conclusions based on cross-case study findings of these ten Dutch projects are highlighted here. Notice that public-private interaction and collaboration remains of vital importance in Dutch private sector-led urban development projects. Despite the formal contractual separation of public and private tasks and responsibilities, in practice close informal cooperation can be witnessed, especially in the early development stages. Moreover, public actors do not remain as risk free as theory suggests, because unfavorable market circumstances can cause development delays affecting the living environment of inhabitants. Furthermore, it seems that constructing and using flexible public requirements with some non-negotiable rules is an effective condition for realizing public objectives during the process. In terms of management, most projects are hardly considered as solely private sector-led, as they involve a substantial amount of public management influence. For instance, project management activities include a dominant role of municipalities in initiating and operating the development. Process management activities are carried out by both actors, as they involve close public-private interactions. Management tools are mostly used by public actors to shape and regulate development with a limited conscious usage of stimulating and capacity building tools. Using the management resources land, capital and knowledge are mainly a private affair. In terms of effects, the concession model by actors is considered as an effective instrument, but not necessarily results in efficient processes. The general perception of public, private and civic actors about the project’s spatial quality level is positive. In addition, actors were asked about their cooperation experiences. Often mentioned problems include a ‘we against them relationship’, lack of public role consistency, thin line between plan judgment and control, public manager’s commitment and competency, communication with local communities, and lack of public management opportunities. Based on the empirical case studies, most conditions for applying concessions are confirmed. However, the successful inner-city development projects in Amsterdam and Enschede indicate that a private sector-led approach can also be applied to more complex urban development projects within cities. Empirical findings from UK’s private sector-led urban development cases Urban development practice in the UK often is labelled as urban regeneration. Historically, it is strongly shaped by neoliberal political ideology of the Conservative Thatcher government in the 1980s. But it also is influenced by New Labour ideologies favoring the Third Way (Giddens, 1998) aimed at aligning economic, social and environmental policies. However, as a result of these institutional characteristics, the UK is strongly shaped by the understanding that most development is undertaken by private interests or by public bodies acting very much like private interests (Nadin et al., 2008). In general, local authorities depend on initiatives and investments of property developers and investors, because public financial resources and planning powers to actively develop land are limited. As a result, development control of private developments is a concept deeply embedded in development practice. Several legal instruments such as Section 106 agreements are used to establish planning gain by asking developer contributions for public functions. Moreover, urban development in the UK has a strong informal partnership culture, and simultaneously builds upon a strict formal legal public-private role division. These UK urban development practice characteristics provide valid reasons to study private sector-led urban development projects in more detail. The empirical cases of private sector-led urban development projects in the UK are Bristol Harbourside and Liverpool One. They represent mid-2000s strategic inner-city developments with a mixed-use functional program, and therefore possible high complexity. As such, they are relevant urban projects for drawing lessons for the Netherlands. The main conclusions based on cross-case study findings of the UK projects are discussed here. The case contexts show that politics and the often changeable nature of planning policies can have a major influence on the organization and management of development projects. Hence, strong and effective political leadership is considered as a crucial success factor. Changing policies result in re-establishing development conditions resulting in new publicprivate negotiations. In terms of organization, the cases indeed show that local authorities do not take on development risks. Moreover, revenue sharing with private actors is absent or limited to what the actors agree upon in development packages. Furthermore, local authorities encourage all kinds of partnerships with other public, private or civic stakeholders in order to generate development support and raise funds. In terms of management, local authorities use different management measures to influence projects. The cases indicate that public actors are able to influence private sector-led developments and thereby achieve public planning objectives. Importantly, public actors use all kinds of managing tools to shape and stimulate development; they do not limit themselves to regulation but also build capacity for development. However, the largest share of managing the project takes place on behalf of project developers. Private actors manage projects from initial design towards even public space operation (Liverpool). Thereby, they work with long-term investment business models increasing private commitment. In terms of effects, the cases show that although the projects are carried out effectively and achieve high quality levels, the process efficiency lacks behind due to lengthy negotiations. In conclusion, the actors’ experiences with the private sector-led urban development projects indicate some problems including; the financial dependency on private actors, lack of financial incentives for public actors, lack of awareness of civic demands, lack of controlling public opposition, long negotiation processes, and absence of skilled public managers. Moreover, the actors indicate some crucial conditions for a private sectorled approach including; flexible general public guidelines, informal partnerships and joint working, public and private leadership roles and skills, professional attitude and long term commitment of private actors, involvement of local communities, separating public planning and development roles, handling political pressures, and favorable market circumstances. Empirical lessons, improvements and inspiration Some general conclusions from the Dutch and UK case comparison can be drawn (see Table 8.1). The influence of the project’s context in the UK seems to be higher than in the Netherlands, especially political powers and changeable policies influence projects. The organizational role division in UK projects seems to be stricter than in the Dutch projects, where public requirements sometimes are also formulated in more detail. The actor’s management in the Dutch cases is slightly less private sector-led than in the UK, where local authorities and developers are more aware of how to use management measures at their disposal. The project effects show quite some resemblance; effectiveness and spatial quality can be achieved, while efficiency remains difficult to achieve due to the negotiation culture. Here, important empirical lessons learned from cases in both countries are discussed aimed at formulating possible solutions for perceived Dutch problems. The problematic Dutch ‘we against them relationship’ between actors in the UK is handled by a close collaboration. Developers organize regular informative and interactive design meetings with local authorities, sharing ideas in a ‘joint-up working’ atmosphere. The lack of public role consistency in the UK is resolved by local authorities that develop a clear schedule of spatial requirements which provides certainty. Moreover, room for negotiations allows for the flexibility to react on changed circumstances. The thin line between judgment and control of plans is not commonly recognized in the UK cases. Local authorities tend to respect that developers need room to carry out development activities on their own professional insights, and merely control if developers deliver ‘product specifications’ in time and to agreed conditions. The commitment and competencies of public project managers are also mentioned as crucial factors in the UK. It involves managers connecting the project to the political and civic environment, and leaders committing themselves to project support through communication with local communities. The lack of public management seems to be a Dutch perceived difficulty as UK local authorities do not apply active land development policies and ‘hard’ management resources. Therefore, they influence development with both more consciously applied legal tools and ‘soft’ management skills such as negotiating. Recommended improvements mentioned by Dutch practitioners here are mirrored to possible support from the UK cases. The Dutch recommendation to cooperate in pre-development stages to create public project support and commitment finds support in the UK. Hence, despite a formal division of public and private responsibilities, in practice a lot of informal public-private interaction and collaboration takes place and seems necessary. Striving for public role consistency also is an appreciated value by developers in the UK. Working on the principle of ‘agreement is agreement’ creates certainty for developers, and less resistance and willingness to cooperate once highly relevant public issues are put on the table. Establishing clear process agreements with moments of control or discussion in the UK are handled with evaluation moments aimed at judging output, and planned meetings aimed at creating a dialogue about new insights. Connecting planning and development processes in the UK is handled by a municipal team consisting of political leaders and project managers that align development processes with administrative planning processes. A clear communication plan to involve local communities and businesses in the UK is handled by developers which involve relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process prior to planning applications for support and process efficiency. Finding public opportunities to influence development other than land and capital in the UK is handled through the use of several public planning tools and publicprivate negotiations. The UK cases also provided various inspirational lessons for the Netherlands. First, the construction and application of a public ‘management toolbox’ consisting of various planning tools that shape, stimulate, regulate and activate the market could assist local authorities to view management more integratively and use existing instruments more consciously. Second, choosing a private development partner with professional expertise, track record and local knowledge, instead of an economically lucrative private tender offer for private sector-led urban development projects, has the advantage of creating a cooperative relationship. The reason for this is that flexible development concepts rather than fixed development plans are indicators of a cooperative attitude of a developer. Third, enabling partnership agreements between public, private and civic actors aimed at creating wide support and long-term commitment by expressing development intentions assists pulling together development resources from both investors and central government. Fourth, privately-owned public space based on a land lease agreement containing public space conditions creates several financial advantages. For local authorities it eliminates public maintenance costs, and for private actors the operation of the area and maintaining high quality standards can be beneficial for real estate sales and returns. Fifth, the value increase-oriented investment model of a long-term private development investor rather than a short-term project-oriented developer with a trade-off model between time, costs and quality has advantages. Large amounts of upfront investment can more easily be financed as high quality environments and properties increase the area’s competitive position and investment returns. Sixth, local authorities can establish partnerships that actively apply for public funding alternatives such as lottery funds. Such funds secure the development of public functions and create interest for commercial actors to invest, which can result possibilities to negotiate development packages which can results in a planning gain for public actors. Seventh, public and private leadership styles on different organizational levels for inner-city development projects result in more efficient processes. Appointing strategictactical operating political leaders and private firm directors and tactical-operational public and private project leaders streamlines internal and external communication and shared project commitment and support. Finally, the UK shows that a private sector-led approach can successfully be applied to complex inner-city developments. Despite the complex social and political character, fragmented land ownership situation, and high remediation costs UK developers can deliver such projects succesfully. Conditions seem a professionally skilled and financially empowered developer, and active local authorities that facilitate market initiatives. The likelihood of transfer of the inspirational UK lessons depends on some Dutch institutional characteristics (economics &amp; politics, governance culture, planning system and policies). However, most lessons are context-independent and thus can be applied in the Dutch urban development practice. But, Table 8.2 also shows some institutional context-dependent features that limit the transfer of UK findings to the Netherlands. This includes the general short-term scope of Dutch developers and the general wish from municipalities to hold ‘control’ over development projects. Reflections on safeguarding public interests &amp; alternative financing instruments The epilogue contains conceptual reflections about alternative ways for safeguarding public interests and private financing instruments in line with the current social-economic climate. These reflections are not based on research findings but on an additional literature review that provides food for thought for public and private actors in urban development. Hence, safeguarding public interests is an important concern for public actors, especially in market-oriented planning and private sector-led urban development projects. In our pluralistic society it has become impossible for one actor to determine the public interest in all occasions. In line with societal development it would not only be socially-coherent for governments to engage private and civic actors in safeguarding public interests, but even a social necessity. Consciously applying different public interest safeguarding strategies based on both hierarchical, market and network mechanisms (De Bruijn &amp; Dicke, 2006) provide this opportunity. By using a combination of legitimized hierarchical mechanisms, competitionoriented market mechanisms, and inter-action oriented network mechanisms, public values become institutionalized in private and civic sectors. Then, the role of public planning institutions in safeguarding increasing economic values, social cohesion and public health is to use both legitimate planning tools and accountable planning activities. It enables other actors to become both more responsible for and involved in their own built environment. In market-oriented planning and private sector-led urban projects, safeguarding public interest instruments include non-negotiable general planning standards which secure basic needs of civilians, and negotiable development conditions which create involvement of other actors. Non-negotiable safeguarding instruments include; public tender requirements, land use plans, planning permissions and financial claims. Negotiable safeguarding instruments include; contractual conditions, competitive dialogues, spatial quality plans, developer contributions, development incentives, performance indicators, and ownership (see Figure 10.2). The reliance of private investment in private sector-led urban development projects asks for exploring alternative financing instruments for urban projects with less reliance on credit capital. This is a crucial subject being the result of the effect the current economic situation has on the land and property market. Hence, it is widely acknowledged that in many development practices around the globe property investment for urban development has changed radically as a result of the international credit crisis and economic downturn (Parkinson et al., 2009). ‘New financial models’ have the attention of several Dutch practitioners (e.g. Van Rooy, 2011) and academics (e.g. Van der Krabben, 2011b). In the current Dutch urban development practice, one notices an increased interest in demand-driven development strategies promoting; bottom-up development initiatives, value-oriented investment strategies, and de-risked phasing of development, which potentially increase the feasibility of urban projects. A literature review indicates promising alternative financing instruments for Dutch urban development practice and private sector-led urban development projects, including; Tax Increment Financing, Temporary Development/Investment Grants, Lottery Funds, DBFM/ Concession Light, Crowd Funding, Urban Development Trusts, Business Improvement Districts, and Urban Reparcelling. These instruments have different features such as investment source, development incentives, organizational requirements and object conditions, which need to be taken into account by public and private actors once applied (see Table 10.3).

Central to this research lays the concept of private sector-led urban development projects (Heurkens, 2010). Such projects involve project developers taking a leading role and local authorities adopting a facilitating role, in managing the development of an urban area, based on a clear public-private role division. Such a development strategy is quite common in Anglo-Saxon urban development practices, but is less known in Continental European practices. Nonetheless, since the beginning of the millennium such a development strategy also occurred in the Netherlands in the form of ‘concessions’. However, remarkably little empirical knowledge is available about how public and private actors collaborate on and manage private sector-led urban development projects. Moreover, it remains unclear what the effects of such projects are. This dissertation provides an understanding of the various characteristics of private sector-led urban development projects by conducting empirical case study research in the institutional contexts of the Netherlands and the UK. The research provides an answer to the following research question: What can we learn from private sector-led urban development projects in the Netherlands and UK in terms of the collaborative and managerial roles of public and private actors, and the effects of their (inter)actions? Indications for a market-oriented Dutch urban development practice Urban development practice in the Netherlands has been subject to changes pointing towards more private sector involvement in the built environment in the past decades. Although the current economic recession might indicate otherwise, there are several motives that indicate a continuation of private sector involvement and a private leadership role in Dutch urban development projects in the future. First, a shift towards more market-oriented development practice is the result of an evolutionary process of increased ‘neoliberalization’ and the adoption of Anglo-Saxon principles in Dutch society. Despite its Rhineland roots with a focus on welfare provision, in the Netherlands several neoliberal principles (privatization, decentralization, deregulation) have been adopted by government and incorporated in the management of organizations (Bakker et al., 2005). Hence, market institutionalization on the one hand, and rising civic emancipation on the other, in current Western societies prevents a return towards hierarchical governance. Second, the result of such changes is the emergence of a market-oriented type of planning practice based on the concept of ‘development planning’. Public-Private Partnerships and the ‘forward integration’ of market parties (De Zeeuw, 2007) enforce the role of market actors. In historical perspective, Boelens et al. (2006) argue that Dutch spatial planning always has been characterized by public-private collaborations in which governments facilitated private and civic entrepreneurship. Therefore, post-war public-led spatial planning with necessary government intervention was a ‘temporary hiccup’, an exception to the rule. Third, the European Commission expresses concerns about the hybrid role of public actors in Dutch institutionalized PPP joint ventures. EU legislation opts for formal public-private role divisions in realizing urban projects based on Anglo-Saxon law that comply with the legislative tendering principles of competition, transparency, equality, and public legitimacy. Fourth, experiences with joint ventures in the Netherlands are less positive as often is advocated. Such institutionalized public-private entities have seldom generated the assumed added value, caused by misconceptions about the objectives of both partners grounded in incompatible value systems. This results in contra-productive levels of distrust, time-consuming partnership formations, lack of transparency, and compromising decision-making processes (Teisman &amp; Klijn, 2002), providing a need for other forms of collaboration. Finally, current financial retrenchments in the public sector and debates about the possible abundance of Dutch active land development policies point towards a lean and mean government that moves away from risk-bearing participation and investment in urban projects and leaves this to the market. Importantly, Van der Krabben (2011b) argues that the Dutch active public land development policies can be considered as an international exception, and advocates for facilitating land development policies. In this light, it becomes highly relevant to study private sector-led urban development as a future Dutch urban development strategy. Integrative urban management approach This research is rooted in the research school of Urban Area Development within the Department of Real Estate and Housing at the Faculty of Architecture (Delft University of Technology). It is a relatively young academic domain which views urban development most profoundly as a complex management assignment (Bruil et al., 2004; Franzen et al., 2011). This academic school uses an integrative perspective with a strong practice-orientation and carries out solution-oriented design research. Here, the integration involves bridging various actor interests, spatial functions, spatial scales, academic domains, knowledge and skills, development goals, and links process with content aspects. Such a perspective does justice to complex societal processes. Therefore it provides a fruitful ground for studying urban development aimed at developing conceptual knowledge and product for science and practice. Such integrative perspective and practice-orientation forms the basis of this research and has been applied in the following manner. In order to create an understanding of the roles of public and private actors in private sector-led urban development, this research takes a management perspective based on an integrative management approach. This involves viewing management more broadly as ‘any type of direct influencing’ urban development projects, and therefore aims at bridging often separated management theories (Osborne, 2000a). Hence, an integrative management approach assists in both understanding urban development practices and projects and constructing useful conceptual tools for practitioners and academics. Integrative approaches attempt to combine a number of different elements into a more holistic management approach (Black &amp; Porter, 2000). Importantly, it does not view the management of projects in isolation but in its entire complexity and dynamics. Therefore, our management approach combines two integrative management theories; the open systems theory (De Leeuw, 2002) and contingency theory. The former provides opportunities to study the management of a project in a structured manner. The latter emphasizes that there is no universally effective way of managing and recognizes the importance of contextual circumstances. Hence, an integrative management approach favors incorporating theories from multiple academic domains such as political science, economics, law, business administration, and organizational and management concepts. Hence, it moves away from the classical academic division between planning theory and property theory, and organization and management theories. It positions itself in between such academic domains, and aims at bridging theoretical viewpoints by following the concept of planning ánd markets (Alexander, 2001) rather than concepts such as ‘planning versus markets’, public versus private sector, and organization versus management. Also, such an integrative view values the complexity and dynamics of empirical urban development practices. More specifically, this research studies urban development projects as object, as urban areas are the focus point of spatial intervention and public-private interaction (Daamen, 2010), and thus collaboration and management. Here, public planning processes and private development processes merge with each other. Thus, our research continues to build upon the importance of studying and reflecting on empirical practices and projects (e.g. Healey, 2006). In addition to these authors, this research does so by using meaningful integrative concepts that reflect empirical realities of urban projects. Thereby, this research serves to bridge management sciences with management practices (Van Aken, 2004; Mintzberg, 2010) through iterative processes of reflecting on science and practice. Moreover, the integrative management approach applied in this research assists in filling an academic gap, namely the lack of management knowledge about public-private interaction in urban development projects. Despite the vast amount of literature on the governance of planning practices (e.g. DiGaetano &amp; Strom, 2003), and Public-Private Partnerships (e.g. Osborne, 2000b), remarkable little knowledge exists about what shifting public-private relationships mean for day-to-day management by public and private actors in development projects. Hence, here we follow the main argument made by public administration scholar Klijn (2008) who claims that it is such direct actor influence that brings about the most significant change to the built environment. An integrative urban management model (see Figure 2.3) based on the open systems approach has been constructed which forms a conceptual representation of empirical private sectorled urban development projects. This model serves as an analytical tool to comprehend the complexity of managing such projects. In this research, several theoretical insights about publicprivate relations and roles are used to understand different contextual and organizational factors that affect the management of private sector-led urban development projects. Hence, a project context exists within different often country-specific institutional environments (e.g. the Netherlands and UK). In this research, contextual aspects that to a degree determine the way public and private actors inter-organize urban projects, consist of economics &amp; politics, governance cultures, and planning systems and policies. Hence, institutional values are deeply rooted in social welfare models (Nadin &amp; Stead, 2008). For instance, the differences between Anglo-Saxon and Rhineland model principles also determine public-private relationships. However, the process of neoliberalization (Hackworth, 2007) and subsequent adaptation of neoliberal political ideologies (Harvey, 2005) has created quite similar governance arrangements in Western countries. Nevertheless, institutional rules incorporated in planning systems, laws and policies often remain country-specific. But, market-oriented planning, involving ‘planners as market actors’ (Adams &amp; Tiesdell, 2010) intervening and operating within market systems, have become the most commonly shared feature of contemporary Western urban development practices (Carmona et al., 2009). In this research, the project organization focuses on institutional aspects and interorganizational arrangements that structure Public-Private Partnerships (Bult-Spiering &amp; Dewulf, 2002). It involves studying organizational tasks and responsibilities, financial risks and revenues, and legal rules and requirements. Inter-organizational arrangements condition the way public and private actors manage projects. Hence, such arrangements can be placed on a public-private spectrum (Börzel &amp; Risse, 2002) which indicates different power relations in terms of public and private autonomy and dominance (Savitch, 1997) in making planning decisions. These public-private power relations are reflected in different Public-Private Partnership arrangements (Bennet et al., 2000) in urban development projects. As a result, in some contexts these partnerships arrangements are formalized into organizational vehicles or legal contracts, in others there is an emphasis on informal partnerships and interaction. The lack of management knowledge on private sector-led urban development projects, and our view of management as any type of direct influencing, results in constructing a conceptual public-private urban management model (see Figure SUM.1). This model is based on both theoretical concepts and empirical reflection. In this research, the management of project processes by public and private actors contains applying both management activities and instruments. Project management (Wijnen et al., 2004) includes development stage-oriented initiating, designing, planning, and operating activities. Process management (Teisman, 2003) includes interaction-oriented negotiating, decision-making, and communicating activities. Management tools consist of legal-oriented shaping, regulating, stimulating, and capacity building planning tools (Adams et al., 2004). And management resources consist of crucial necessities (Burie, 1978) for realizing urban projects like land, capital and knowledge. In essence, all these management measures can be applied by public and private actors to influence (private sector-led) urban development projects. These management measures can be used by actors to reach project effects. In this research, project effects are perceived as judgment criteria for indicating the success of the management of private sector-led urban development projects. They consist of cooperation effectiveness, process efficiency, and spatial quality. Effectiveness involves the degree to which objectives are achieved and problems are resolved. Ef ficiency is the degree to which the process is considered as efficiently realizing projects within time and budget. Finally, spatial quality is the degree to which the project contributes to responding to user, experience and future values of involved actors (Hooijmeijer et al., 2001). Such process and product effects are a crucial addition to understand the results of private sector-led urban development projects. Comparative case study research using a lesson-drawing method This research systematically analyzes and compares private sector-led urban development cases in both the Netherlands and the UK in a specific methodological way. In essence, this study is an empirical comparative case study research using a lesson-drawing method. Hence, case studies allow for an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real life context (Yin, 2003). Such a qualitative approach is very suited for the purposes of this research as it enables revealing empirical collaborative and managerial mechanisms within private sector-led urban development projects. The reason to include studying the UK lies is the fact that it can be considered as a market-oriented development practice, from which valuable lessons can be drawn for the Netherlands. Thereby, this research places itself in a longer tradition of Dutch interests in UK planning and development (e.g. Hobma et al., 2008). Hence, this research aims at drawing lessons in the form of ‘inspiration’ from practices and projects, as opposed to the more far-reaching transplantation of spatial policies (e.g. Janssen-Jansen et al., 2008). However, in order to draw meaningful empirical lessons there is a need to indicate whether they are context-dependent or -independent. This requires systematically comparing the institutional planning practices of both countries by indicating differences and similarities between the Netherlands and the UK. Based on these methodological principles ten Dutch and two UK of private sector-led urban development cases are selected and studied. The Dutch cases focus on scope over depth aimed at sketching the phenomenon of ‘area concessions’ in both inner-city and urban fringe projects. The UK cases focus on depth over scope aimed at understanding the applicability of a private sector-led approach in complex large-scale inner-city projects. As techniques the case study research uses document reviews, semi-structured interviews, project visits, and data mapping. Comparing Dutch and UK planning and urban development practices The institutional context of urban development in the Netherlands and the UK shows some structural differences, despite the fact that such contexts are often subject to change. For instance, the Dutch planning system uses Napoleonic codified law based on a constitution with abstract law principles as rule, and a limited role of judicial power. The UK planning system is based on British common law lacking a constitution, and uses law-making-as-we-go as judges act as law-makers. In terms of spatial planning, the Netherlands is characterized by binding land use plans within a limited-imperative system based on legal certainty. Dutch spatial planning can be labelled as ‘permitted planning’ based on ‘comprehensive integrative model’ (Dühr et al., 2010) which involves hierarchically coordinated and related public sector spatial plans. UK spatial planning has no binding land use plan, places importance on material considerations based on discretionary authority and flexibility. Historically, UK’s spatial planning can be labelled as ‘development-oriented planning’ based on a ‘land use management model’ with a focus on public sector coordinated planning policies. Moreover, Dutch and UK urban development also differ in terms of public and private roles in organizing and managing development (Heurkens, 2009). In the Netherlands, local governments are active bodies using spatial plans, active land development policies and public investment to develop cities. The private sector often operates reactively and is historically focused on the physical realization of projects. In general, public-private decision-making processes are based on reaching consensus, development project coordination typically involves ‘collaboration models’, and management is focused on process as product outcomes. In the UK, local government uses relatively less regulations and investment to develop cities, thereby facilitating market parties. The development industry is a mature sector, actively initiating and investing in projects. Decision-making is characterized by negotiations, and the organization of projects is often based on a clear formal public-private role division. Despite such a generic Dutch-UK comparison being of crucial importance to this research, it does no justice to increasing similarities between European planning practices. Moreover, such institutional contexts evolve as a result of changing planning priorities in each country. For instance, some basic characteristics of the UK planning system attracted the attention of Dutch planners, including comprehensive principles for project coordination, private sector involvement and negotiations, options for the settlement of ‘planning gain’, packaging interests, development-oriented planning, and discretion for planning decisions (Spaans, 2005). Hence, such more market-oriented planning principles have become valuable and sometimes necessary mechanisms to effectively cope with an increasingly less public-led and more private sector-led Dutch urban development practice. Empirical findings from Dutch private sector-led urban development cases Urban development practice in the Netherlands since the year 2000 witnessed an increased use of the concession model. Hence, this is the Dutch definition for private sector-led urban development. It can best be characterized as a contract form between public and private parties which involves the transfer of risks, revenues, responsibilities for the plan, land and real estate development to private developers based on pre-defined set of public requirements (Gijzen, 2009). In theory (Van Rooy, 2007; Van de Klundert, 2008; Heurkens et al., 2008) this collaboration model holds promising advantages of being a more effective, efficient and transparent strategy to achieve a high quality built environment. Nonetheless, possible disadvantages like the lack of public ‘steering’, dependency of market actors and circumstances, inflexible contracts, a project management orientation, and a stern public-private relationship also are mentioned. Moreover, conditions for the application of concessions in theory involve a manageable project scale and duration, minimal political and societal complexity, and maximum freedom for private actors. Motives for choosing concessions are the lack of public labor capacity and financial development means, risk transfer to private actors, increasing private initiatives and private land ownership. Hence, in theory public and private roles in the concession model are considered as strictly separated. However, there is a lack of structural empirical understanding and evidence for such theoretical assumptions. Therefore, empirical cases in Amsterdam, The Hague, Enschede, Maassluis, Middelburg, Naaldwijk, Rotterdam, Tilburg, Utrecht, and Velsen (see Table 5.1) are carried out. This includes studying private sector-led projects in both inner-city and urban fringe locations. The main conclusions based on cross-case study findings of these ten Dutch projects are highlighted here. Notice that public-private interaction and collaboration remains of vital importance in Dutch private sector-led urban development projects. Despite the formal contractual separation of public and private tasks and responsibilities, in practice close informal cooperation can be witnessed, especially in the early development stages. Moreover, public actors do not remain as risk free as theory suggests, because unfavorable market circumstances can cause development delays affecting the living environment of inhabitants. Furthermore, it seems that constructing and using flexible public requirements with some non-negotiable rules is an effective condition for realizing public objectives during the process. In terms of management, most projects are hardly considered as solely private sector-led, as they involve a substantial amount of public management influence. For instance, project management activities include a dominant role of municipalities in initiating and operating the development. Process management activities are carried out by both actors, as they involve close public-private interactions. Management tools are mostly used by public actors to shape and regulate development with a limited conscious usage of stimulating and capacity building tools. Using the management resources land, capital and knowledge are mainly a private affair. In terms of effects, the concession model by actors is considered as an effective instrument, but not necessarily results in efficient processes. The general perception of public, private and civic actors about the project’s spatial quality level is positive. In addition, actors were asked about their cooperation experiences. Often mentioned problems include a ‘we against them relationship’, lack of public role consistency, thin line between plan judgment and control, public manager’s commitment and competency, communication with local communities, and lack of public management opportunities. Based on the empirical case studies, most conditions for applying concessions are confirmed. However, the successful inner-city development projects in Amsterdam and Enschede indicate that a private sector-led approach can also be applied to more complex urban development projects within cities. Empirical findings from UK’s private sector-led urban development cases Urban development practice in the UK often is labelled as urban regeneration. Historically, it is strongly shaped by neoliberal political ideology of the Conservative Thatcher government in the 1980s. But it also is influenced by New Labour ideologies favoring the Third Way (Giddens, 1998) aimed at aligning economic, social and environmental policies. However, as a result of these institutional characteristics, the UK is strongly shaped by the understanding that most development is undertaken by private interests or by public bodies acting very much like private interests (Nadin et al., 2008). In general, local authorities depend on initiatives and investments of property developers and investors, because public financial resources and planning powers to actively develop land are limited. As a result, development control of private developments is a concept deeply embedded in development practice. Several legal instruments such as Section 106 agreements are used to establish planning gain by asking developer contributions for public functions. Moreover, urban development in the UK has a strong informal partnership culture, and simultaneously builds upon a strict formal legal public-private role division. These UK urban development practice characteristics provide valid reasons to study private sector-led urban development projects in more detail. The empirical cases of private sector-led urban development projects in the UK are Bristol Harbourside and Liverpool One. They represent mid-2000s strategic inner-city developments with a mixed-use functional program, and therefore possible high complexity. As such, they are relevant urban projects for drawing lessons for the Netherlands. The main conclusions based on cross-case study findings of the UK projects are discussed here. The case contexts show that politics and the often changeable nature of planning policies can have a major influence on the organization and management of development projects. Hence, strong and effective political leadership is considered as a crucial success factor. Changing policies result in re-establishing development conditions resulting in new publicprivate negotiations. In terms of organization, the cases indeed show that local authorities do not take on development risks. Moreover, revenue sharing with private actors is absent or limited to what the actors agree upon in development packages. Furthermore, local authorities encourage all kinds of partnerships with other public, private or civic stakeholders in order to generate development support and raise funds. In terms of management, local authorities use different management measures to influence projects. The cases indicate that public actors are able to influence private sector-led developments and thereby achieve public planning objectives. Importantly, public actors use all kinds of managing tools to shape and stimulate development; they do not limit themselves to regulation but also build capacity for development. However, the largest share of managing the project takes place on behalf of project developers. Private actors manage projects from initial design towards even public space operation (Liverpool). Thereby, they work with long-term investment business models increasing private commitment. In terms of effects, the cases show that although the projects are carried out effectively and achieve high quality levels, the process efficiency lacks behind due to lengthy negotiations. In conclusion, the actors’ experiences with the private sector-led urban development projects indicate some problems including; the financial dependency on private actors, lack of financial incentives for public actors, lack of awareness of civic demands, lack of controlling public opposition, long negotiation processes, and absence of skilled public managers. Moreover, the actors indicate some crucial conditions for a private sectorled approach including; flexible general public guidelines, informal partnerships and joint working, public and private leadership roles and skills, professional attitude and long term commitment of private actors, involvement of local communities, separating public planning and development roles, handling political pressures, and favorable market circumstances. Empirical lessons, improvements and inspiration Some general conclusions from the Dutch and UK case comparison can be drawn (see Table 8.1). The influence of the project’s context in the UK seems to be higher than in the Netherlands, especially political powers and changeable policies influence projects. The organizational role division in UK projects seems to be stricter than in the Dutch projects, where public requirements sometimes are also formulated in more detail. The actor’s management in the Dutch cases is slightly less private sector-led than in the UK, where local authorities and developers are more aware of how to use management measures at their disposal. The project effects show quite some resemblance; effectiveness and spatial quality can be achieved, while efficiency remains difficult to achieve due to the negotiation culture. Here, important empirical lessons learned from cases in both countries are discussed aimed at formulating possible solutions for perceived Dutch problems. The problematic Dutch ‘we against them relationship’ between actors in the UK is handled by a close collaboration. Developers organize regular informative and interactive design meetings with local authorities, sharing ideas in a ‘joint-up working’ atmosphere. The lack of public role consistency in the UK is resolved by local authorities that develop a clear schedule of spatial requirements which provides certainty. Moreover, room for negotiations allows for the flexibility to react on changed circumstances. The thin line between judgment and control of plans is not commonly recognized in the UK cases. Local authorities tend to respect that developers need room to carry out development activities on their own professional insights, and merely control if developers deliver ‘product specifications’ in time and to agreed conditions. The commitment and competencies of public project managers are also mentioned as crucial factors in the UK. It involves managers connecting the project to the political and civic environment, and leaders committing themselves to project support through communication with local communities. The lack of public management seems to be a Dutch perceived difficulty as UK local authorities do not apply active land development policies and ‘hard’ management resources. Therefore, they influence development with both more consciously applied legal tools and ‘soft’ management skills such as negotiating. Recommended improvements mentioned by Dutch practitioners here are mirrored to possible support from the UK cases. The Dutch recommendation to cooperate in pre-development stages to create public project support and commitment finds support in the UK. Hence, despite a formal division of public and private responsibilities, in practice a lot of informal public-private interaction and collaboration takes place and seems necessary. Striving for public role consistency also is an appreciated value by developers in the UK. Working on the principle of ‘agreement is agreement’ creates certainty for developers, and less resistance and willingness to cooperate once highly relevant public issues are put on the table. Establishing clear process agreements with moments of control or discussion in the UK are handled with evaluation moments aimed at judging output, and planned meetings aimed at creating a dialogue about new insights. Connecting planning and development processes in the UK is handled by a municipal team consisting of political leaders and project managers that align development processes with administrative planning processes. A clear communication plan to involve local communities and businesses in the UK is handled by developers which involve relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process prior to planning applications for support and process efficiency. Finding public opportunities to influence development other than land and capital in the UK is handled through the use of several public planning tools and publicprivate negotiations. The UK cases also provided various inspirational lessons for the Netherlands. First, the construction and application of a public ‘management toolbox’ consisting of various planning tools that shape, stimulate, regulate and activate the market could assist local authorities to view management more integratively and use existing instruments more consciously. Second, choosing a private development partner with professional expertise, track record and local knowledge, instead of an economically lucrative private tender offer for private sector-led urban development projects, has the advantage of creating a cooperative relationship. The reason for this is that flexible development concepts rather than fixed development plans are indicators of a cooperative attitude of a developer. Third, enabling partnership agreements between public, private and civic actors aimed at creating wide support and long-term commitment by expressing development intentions assists pulling together development resources from both investors and central government. Fourth, privately-owned public space based on a land lease agreement containing public space conditions creates several financial advantages. For local authorities it eliminates public maintenance costs, and for private actors the operation of the area and maintaining high quality standards can be beneficial for real estate sales and returns. Fifth, the value increase-oriented investment model of a long-term private development investor rather than a short-term project-oriented developer with a trade-off model between time, costs and quality has advantages. Large amounts of upfront investment can more easily be financed as high quality environments and properties increase the area’s competitive position and investment returns. Sixth, local authorities can establish partnerships that actively apply for public funding alternatives such as lottery funds. Such funds secure the development of public functions and create interest for commercial actors to invest, which can result possibilities to negotiate development packages which can results in a planning gain for public actors. Seventh, public and private leadership styles on different organizational levels for inner-city development projects result in more efficient processes. Appointing strategictactical operating political leaders and private firm directors and tactical-operational public and private project leaders streamlines internal and external communication and shared project commitment and support. Finally, the UK shows that a private sector-led approach can successfully be applied to complex inner-city developments. Despite the complex social and political character, fragmented land ownership situation, and high remediation costs UK developers can deliver such projects succesfully. Conditions seem a professionally skilled and financially empowered developer, and active local authorities that facilitate market initiatives. The likelihood of transfer of the inspirational UK lessons depends on some Dutch institutional characteristics (economics &amp; politics, governance culture, planning system and policies). However, most lessons are context-independent and thus can be applied in the Dutch urban development practice. But, Table 8.2 also shows some institutional context-dependent features that limit the transfer of UK findings to the Netherlands. This includes the general short-term scope of Dutch developers and the general wish from municipalities to hold ‘control’ over development projects. Reflections on safeguarding public interests &amp; alternative financing instruments The epilogue contains conceptual reflections about alternative ways for safeguarding public interests and private financing instruments in line with the current social-economic climate. These reflections are not based on research findings but on an additional literature review that provides food for thought for public and private actors in urban development. Hence, safeguarding public interests is an important concern for public actors, especially in market-oriented planning and private sector-led urban development projects. In our pluralistic society it has become impossible for one actor to determine the public interest in all occasions. In line with societal development it would not only be socially-coherent for governments to engage private and civic actors in safeguarding public interests, but even a social necessity. Consciously applying different public interest safeguarding strategies based on both hierarchical, market and network mechanisms (De Bruijn &amp; Dicke, 2006) provide this opportunity. By using a combination of legitimized hierarchical mechanisms, competitionoriented market mechanisms, and inter-action oriented network mechanisms, public values become institutionalized in private and civic sectors. Then, the role of public planning institutions in safeguarding increasing economic values, social cohesion and public health is to use both legitimate planning tools and accountable planning activities. It enables other actors to become both more responsible for and involved in their own built environment. In market-oriented planning and private sector-led urban projects, safeguarding public interest instruments include non-negotiable general planning standards which secure basic needs of civilians, and negotiable development conditions which create involvement of other actors. Non-negotiable safeguarding instruments include; public tender requirements, land use plans, planning permissions and financial claims. Negotiable safeguarding instruments include; contractual conditions, competitive dialogues, spatial quality plans, developer contributions, development incentives, performance indicators, and ownership (see Figure 10.2). The reliance of private investment in private sector-led urban development projects asks for exploring alternative financing instruments for urban projects with less reliance on credit capital. This is a crucial subject being the result of the effect the current economic situation has on the land and property market. Hence, it is widely acknowledged that in many development practices around the globe property investment for urban development has changed radically as a result of the international credit crisis and economic downturn (Parkinson et al., 2009). ‘New financial models’ have the attention of several Dutch practitioners (e.g. Van Rooy, 2011) and academics (e.g. Van der Krabben, 2011b). In the current Dutch urban development practice, one notices an increased interest in demand-driven development strategies promoting; bottom-up development initiatives, value-oriented investment strategies, and de-risked phasing of development, which potentially increase the feasibility of urban projects. A literature review indicates promising alternative financing instruments for Dutch urban development practice and private sector-led urban development projects, including; Tax Increment Financing, Temporary Development/Investment Grants, Lottery Funds, DBFM/ Concession Light, Crowd Funding, Urban Development Trusts, Business Improvement Districts, and Urban Reparcelling. These instruments have different features such as investment source, development incentives, organizational requirements and object conditions, which need to be taken into account by public and private actors once applied (see Table 10.3).

Central to this research lays the concept of private sector-led urban development projects (Heurkens, 2010). Such projects involve project developers taking a leading role and local authorities adopting a facilitating role, in managing the development of an urban area, based on a clear public-private role division. Such a development strategy is quite common in Anglo-Saxon urban development practices, but is less known in Continental European practices. Nonetheless, since the beginning of the millennium such a development strategy also occurred in the Netherlands in the form of ‘concessions’. However, remarkably little empirical knowledge is available about how public and private actors collaborate on and manage private sector-led urban development projects. Moreover, it remains unclear what the effects of such projects are. This dissertation provides an understanding of the various characteristics of private sector-led urban development projects by conducting empirical case study research in the institutional contexts of the Netherlands and the UK. The research provides an answer to the following research question: What can we learn from private sector-led urban development projects in the Netherlands and UK in terms of the collaborative and managerial roles of public and private actors, and the effects of their (inter)actions? Indications for a market-oriented Dutch urban development practice Urban development practice in the Netherlands has been subject to changes pointing towards more private sector involvement in the built environment in the past decades. Although the current economic recession might indicate otherwise, there are several motives that indicate a continuation of private sector involvement and a private leadership role in Dutch urban development projects in the future. First, a shift towards more market-oriented development practice is the result of an evolutionary process of increased ‘neoliberalization’ and the adoption of Anglo-Saxon principles in Dutch society. Despite its Rhineland roots with a focus on welfare provision, in the Netherlands several neoliberal principles (privatization, decentralization, deregulation) have been adopted by government and incorporated in the management of organizations (Bakker et al., 2005). Hence, market institutionalization on the one hand, and rising civic emancipation on the other, in current Western societies prevents a return towards hierarchical governance. Second, the result of such changes is the emergence of a market-oriented type of planning practice based on the concept of ‘development planning’. Public-Private Partnerships and the ‘forward integration’ of market parties (De Zeeuw, 2007) enforce the role of market actors. In historical perspective, Boelens et al. (2006) argue that Dutch spatial planning always has been characterized by public-private collaborations in which governments facilitated private and civic entrepreneurship. Therefore, post-war public-led spatial planning with necessary government intervention was a ‘temporary hiccup’, an exception to the rule. Third, the European Commission expresses concerns about the hybrid role of public actors in Dutch institutionalized PPP joint ventures. EU legislation opts for formal public-private role divisions in realizing urban projects based on Anglo-Saxon law that comply with the legislative tendering principles of competition, transparency, equality, and public legitimacy. Fourth, experiences with joint ventures in the Netherlands are less positive as often is advocated. Such institutionalized public-private entities have seldom generated the assumed added value, caused by misconceptions about the objectives of both partners grounded in incompatible value systems. This results in contra-productive levels of distrust, time-consuming partnership formations, lack of transparency, and compromising decision-making processes (Teisman &amp; Klijn, 2002), providing a need for other forms of collaboration. Finally, current financial retrenchments in the public sector and debates about the possible abundance of Dutch active land development policies point towards a lean and mean government that moves away from risk-bearing participation and investment in urban projects and leaves this to the market. Importantly, Van der Krabben (2011b) argues that the Dutch active public land development policies can be considered as an international exception, and advocates for facilitating land development policies. In this light, it becomes highly relevant to study private sector-led urban development as a future Dutch urban development strategy. Integrative urban management approach This research is rooted in the research school of Urban Area Development within the Department of Real Estate and Housing at the Faculty of Architecture (Delft University of Technology). It is a relatively young academic domain which views urban development most profoundly as a complex management assignment (Bruil et al., 2004; Franzen et al., 2011). This academic school uses an integrative perspective with a strong practice-orientation and carries out solution-oriented design research. Here, the integration involves bridging various actor interests, spatial functions, spatial scales, academic domains, knowledge and skills, development goals, and links process with content aspects. Such a perspective does justice to complex societal processes. Therefore it provides a fruitful ground for studying urban development aimed at developing conceptual knowledge and product for science and practice. Such integrative perspective and practice-orientation forms the basis of this research and has been applied in the following manner. In order to create an understanding of the roles of public and private actors in private sector-led urban development, this research takes a management perspective based on an integrative management approach. This involves viewing management more broadly as ‘any type of direct influencing’ urban development projects, and therefore aims at bridging often separated management theories (Osborne, 2000a). Hence, an integrative management approach assists in both understanding urban development practices and projects and constructing useful conceptual tools for practitioners and academics. Integrative approaches attempt to combine a number of different elements into a more holistic management approach (Black &amp; Porter, 2000). Importantly, it does not view the management of projects in isolation but in its entire complexity and dynamics. Therefore, our management approach combines two integrative management theories; the open systems theory (De Leeuw, 2002) and contingency theory. The former provides opportunities to study the management of a project in a structured manner. The latter emphasizes that there is no universally effective way of managing and recognizes the importance of contextual circumstances. Hence, an integrative management approach favors incorporating theories from multiple academic domains such as political science, economics, law, business administration, and organizational and management concepts. Hence, it moves away from the classical academic division between planning theory and property theory, and organization and management theories. It positions itself in between such academic domains, and aims at bridging theoretical viewpoints by following the concept of planning ánd markets (Alexander, 2001) rather than concepts such as ‘planning versus markets’, public versus private sector, and organization versus management. Also, such an integrative view values the complexity and dynamics of empirical urban development practices. More specifically, this research studies urban development projects as object, as urban areas are the focus point of spatial intervention and public-private interaction (Daamen, 2010), and thus collaboration and management. Here, public planning processes and private development processes merge with each other. Thus, our research continues to build upon the importance of studying and reflecting on empirical practices and projects (e.g. Healey, 2006). In addition to these authors, this research does so by using meaningful integrative concepts that reflect empirical realities of urban projects. Thereby, this research serves to bridge management sciences with management practices (Van Aken, 2004; Mintzberg, 2010) through iterative processes of reflecting on science and practice. Moreover, the integrative management approach applied in this research assists in filling an academic gap, namely the lack of management knowledge about public-private interaction in urban development projects. Despite the vast amount of literature on the governance of planning practices (e.g. DiGaetano &amp; Strom, 2003), and Public-Private Partnerships (e.g. Osborne, 2000b), remarkable little knowledge exists about what shifting public-private relationships mean for day-to-day management by public and private actors in development projects. Hence, here we follow the main argument made by public administration scholar Klijn (2008) who claims that it is such direct actor influence that brings about the most significant change to the built environment. An integrative urban management model (see Figure 2.3) based on the open systems approach has been constructed which forms a conceptual representation of empirical private sectorled urban development projects. This model serves as an analytical tool to comprehend the complexity of managing such projects. In this research, several theoretical insights about publicprivate relations and roles are used to understand different contextual and organizational factors that affect the management of private sector-led urban development projects. Hence, a project context exists within different often country-specific institutional environments (e.g. the Netherlands and UK). In this research, contextual aspects that to a degree determine the way public and private actors inter-organize urban projects, consist of economics &amp; politics, governance cultures, and planning systems and policies. Hence, institutional values are deeply rooted in social welfare models (Nadin &amp; Stead, 2008). For instance, the differences between Anglo-Saxon and Rhineland model principles also determine public-private relationships. However, the process of neoliberalization (Hackworth, 2007) and subsequent adaptation of neoliberal political ideologies (Harvey, 2005) has created quite similar governance arrangements in Western countries. Nevertheless, institutional rules incorporated in planning systems, laws and policies often remain country-specific. But, market-oriented planning, involving ‘planners as market actors’ (Adams &amp; Tiesdell, 2010) intervening and operating within market systems, have become the most commonly shared feature of contemporary Western urban development practices (Carmona et al., 2009). In this research, the project organization focuses on institutional aspects and interorganizational arrangements that structure Public-Private Partnerships (Bult-Spiering &amp; Dewulf, 2002). It involves studying organizational tasks and responsibilities, financial risks and revenues, and legal rules and requirements. Inter-organizational arrangements condition the way public and private actors manage projects. Hence, such arrangements can be placed on a public-private spectrum (Börzel &amp; Risse, 2002) which indicates different power relations in terms of public and private autonomy and dominance (Savitch, 1997) in making planning decisions. These public-private power relations are reflected in different Public-Private Partnership arrangements (Bennet et al., 2000) in urban development projects. As a result, in some contexts these partnerships arrangements are formalized into organizational vehicles or legal contracts, in others there is an emphasis on informal partnerships and interaction. The lack of management knowledge on private sector-led urban development projects, and our view of management as any type of direct influencing, results in constructing a conceptual public-private urban management model (see Figure SUM.1). This model is based on both theoretical concepts and empirical reflection. In this research, the management of project processes by public and private actors contains applying both management activities and instruments. Project management (Wijnen et al., 2004) includes development stage-oriented initiating, designing, planning, and operating activities. Process management (Teisman, 2003) includes interaction-oriented negotiating, decision-making, and communicating activities. Management tools consist of legal-oriented shaping, regulating, stimulating, and capacity building planning tools (Adams et al., 2004). And management resources consist of crucial necessities (Burie, 1978) for realizing urban projects like land, capital and knowledge. In essence, all these management measures can be applied by public and private actors to influence (private sector-led) urban development projects. These management measures can be used by actors to reach project effects. In this research, project effects are perceived as judgment criteria for indicating the success of the management of private sector-led urban development projects. They consist of cooperation effectiveness, process efficiency, and spatial quality. Effectiveness involves the degree to which objectives are achieved and problems are resolved. Ef ficiency is the degree to which the process is considered as efficiently realizing projects within time and budget. Finally, spatial quality is the degree to which the project contributes to responding to user, experience and future values of involved actors (Hooijmeijer et al., 2001). Such process and product effects are a crucial addition to understand the results of private sector-led urban development projects. Comparative case study research using a lesson-drawing method This research systematically analyzes and compares private sector-led urban development cases in both the Netherlands and the UK in a specific methodological way. In essence, this study is an empirical comparative case study research using a lesson-drawing method. Hence, case studies allow for an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real life context (Yin, 2003). Such a qualitative approach is very suited for the purposes of this research as it enables revealing empirical collaborative and managerial mechanisms within private sector-led urban development projects. The reason to include studying the UK lies is the fact that it can be considered as a market-oriented development practice, from which valuable lessons can be drawn for the Netherlands. Thereby, this research places itself in a longer tradition of Dutch interests in UK planning and development (e.g. Hobma et al., 2008). Hence, this research aims at drawing lessons in the form of ‘inspiration’ from practices and projects, as opposed to the more far-reaching transplantation of spatial policies (e.g. Janssen-Jansen et al., 2008). However, in order to draw meaningful empirical lessons there is a need to indicate whether they are context-dependent or -independent. This requires systematically comparing the institutional planning practices of both countries by indicating differences and similarities between the Netherlands and the UK. Based on these methodological principles ten Dutch and two UK of private sector-led urban development cases are selected and studied. The Dutch cases focus on scope over depth aimed at sketching the phenomenon of ‘area concessions’ in both inner-city and urban fringe projects. The UK cases focus on depth over scope aimed at understanding the applicability of a private sector-led approach in complex large-scale inner-city projects. As techniques the case study research uses document reviews, semi-structured interviews, project visits, and data mapping. Comparing Dutch and UK planning and urban development practices The institutional context of urban development in the Netherlands and the UK shows some structural differences, despite the fact that such contexts are often subject to change. For instance, the Dutch planning system uses Napoleonic codified law based on a constitution with abstract law principles as rule, and a limited role of judicial power. The UK planning system is based on British common law lacking a constitution, and uses law-making-as-we-go as judges act as law-makers. In terms of spatial planning, the Netherlands is characterized by binding land use plans within a limited-imperative system based on legal certainty. Dutch spatial planning can be labelled as ‘permitted planning’ based on ‘comprehensive integrative model’ (Dühr et al., 2010) which involves hierarchically coordinated and related public sector spatial plans. UK spatial planning has no binding land use plan, places importance on material considerations based on discretionary authority and flexibility. Historically, UK’s spatial planning can be labelled as ‘development-oriented planning’ based on a ‘land use management model’ with a focus on public sector coordinated planning policies. Moreover, Dutch and UK urban development also differ in terms of public and private roles in organizing and managing development (Heurkens, 2009). In the Netherlands, local governments are active bodies using spatial plans, active land development policies and public investment to develop cities. The private sector often operates reactively and is historically focused on the physical realization of projects. In general, public-private decision-making processes are based on reaching consensus, development project coordination typically involves ‘collaboration models’, and management is focused on process as product outcomes. In the UK, local government uses relatively less regulations and investment to develop cities, thereby facilitating market parties. The development industry is a mature sector, actively initiating and investing in projects. Decision-making is characterized by negotiations, and the organization of projects is often based on a clear formal public-private role division. Despite such a generic Dutch-UK comparison being of crucial importance to this research, it does no justice to increasing similarities between European planning practices. Moreover, such institutional contexts evolve as a result of changing planning priorities in each country. For instance, some basic characteristics of the UK planning system attracted the attention of Dutch planners, including comprehensive principles for project coordination, private sector involvement and negotiations, options for the settlement of ‘planning gain’, packaging interests, development-oriented planning, and discretion for planning decisions (Spaans, 2005). Hence, such more market-oriented planning principles have become valuable and sometimes necessary mechanisms to effectively cope with an increasingly less public-led and more private sector-led Dutch urban development practice. Empirical findings from Dutch private sector-led urban development cases Urban development practice in the Netherlands since the year 2000 witnessed an increased use of the concession model. Hence, this is the Dutch definition for private sector-led urban development. It can best be characterized as a contract form between public and private parties which involves the transfer of risks, revenues, responsibilities for the plan, land and real estate development to private developers based on pre-defined set of public requirements (Gijzen, 2009). In theory (Van Rooy, 2007; Van de Klundert, 2008; Heurkens et al., 2008) this collaboration model holds promising advantages of being a more effective, efficient and transparent strategy to achieve a high quality built environment. Nonetheless, possible disadvantages like the lack of public ‘steering’, dependency of market actors and circumstances, inflexible contracts, a project management orientation, and a stern public-private relationship also are mentioned. Moreover, conditions for the application of concessions in theory involve a manageable project scale and duration, minimal political and societal complexity, and maximum freedom for private actors. Motives for choosing concessions are the lack of public labor capacity and financial development means, risk transfer to private actors, increasing private initiatives and private land ownership. Hence, in theory public and private roles in the concession model are considered as strictly separated. However, there is a lack of structural empirical understanding and evidence for such theoretical assumptions. Therefore, empirical cases in Amsterdam, The Hague, Enschede, Maassluis, Middelburg, Naaldwijk, Rotterdam, Tilburg, Utrecht, and Velsen (see Table 5.1) are carried out. This includes studying private sector-led projects in both inner-city and urban fringe locations. The main conclusions based on cross-case study findings of these ten Dutch projects are highlighted here. Notice that public-private interaction and collaboration remains of vital importance in Dutch private sector-led urban development projects. Despite the formal contractual separation of public and private tasks and responsibilities, in practice close informal cooperation can be witnessed, especially in the early development stages. Moreover, public actors do not remain as risk free as theory suggests, because unfavorable market circumstances can cause development delays affecting the living environment of inhabitants. Furthermore, it seems that constructing and using flexible public requirements with some non-negotiable rules is an effective condition for realizing public objectives during the process. In terms of management, most projects are hardly considered as solely private sector-led, as they involve a substantial amount of public management influence. For instance, project management activities include a dominant role of municipalities in initiating and operating the development. Process management activities are carried out by both actors, as they involve close public-private interactions. Management tools are mostly used by public actors to shape and regulate development with a limited conscious usage of stimulating and capacity building tools. Using the management resources land, capital and knowledge are mainly a private affair. In terms of effects, the concession model by actors is considered as an effective instrument, but not necessarily results in efficient processes. The general perception of public, private and civic actors about the project’s spatial quality level is positive. In addition, actors were asked about their cooperation experiences. Often mentioned problems include a ‘we against them relationship’, lack of public role consistency, thin line between plan judgment and control, public manager’s commitment and competency, communication with local communities, and lack of public management opportunities. Based on the empirical case studies, most conditions for applying concessions are confirmed. However, the successful inner-city development projects in Amsterdam and Enschede indicate that a private sector-led approach can also be applied to more complex urban development projects within cities. Empirical findings from UK’s private sector-led urban development cases Urban development practice in the UK often is labelled as urban regeneration. Historically, it is strongly shaped by neoliberal political ideology of the Conservative Thatcher government in the 1980s. But it also is influenced by New Labour ideologies favoring the Third Way (Giddens, 1998) aimed at aligning economic, social and environmental policies. However, as a result of these institutional characteristics, the UK is strongly shaped by the understanding that most development is undertaken by private interests or by public bodies acting very much like private interests (Nadin et al., 2008). In general, local authorities depend on initiatives and investments of property developers and investors, because public financial resources and planning powers to actively develop land are limited. As a result, development control of private developments is a concept deeply embedded in development practice. Several legal instruments such as Section 106 agreements are used to establish planning gain by asking developer contributions for public functions. Moreover, urban development in the UK has a strong informal partnership culture, and simultaneously builds upon a strict formal legal public-private role division. These UK urban development practice characteristics provide valid reasons to study private sector-led urban development projects in more detail. The empirical cases of private sector-led urban development projects in the UK are Bristol Harbourside and Liverpool One. They represent mid-2000s strategic inner-city developments with a mixed-use functional program, and therefore possible high complexity. As such, they are relevant urban projects for drawing lessons for the Netherlands. The main conclusions based on cross-case study findings of the UK projects are discussed here. The case contexts show that politics and the often changeable nature of planning policies can have a major influence on the organization and management of development projects. Hence, strong and effective political leadership is considered as a crucial success factor. Changing policies result in re-establishing development conditions resulting in new publicprivate negotiations. In terms of organization, the cases indeed show that local authorities do not take on development risks. Moreover, revenue sharing with private actors is absent or limited to what the actors agree upon in development packages. Furthermore, local authorities encourage all kinds of partnerships with other public, private or civic stakeholders in order to generate development support and raise funds. In terms of management, local authorities use different management measures to influence projects. The cases indicate that public actors are able to influence private sector-led developments and thereby achieve public planning objectives. Importantly, public actors use all kinds of managing tools to shape and stimulate development; they do not limit themselves to regulation but also build capacity for development. However, the largest share of managing the project takes place on behalf of project developers. Private actors manage projects from initial design towards even public space operation (Liverpool). Thereby, they work with long-term investment business models increasing private commitment. In terms of effects, the cases show that although the projects are carried out effectively and achieve high quality levels, the process efficiency lacks behind due to lengthy negotiations. In conclusion, the actors’ experiences with the private sector-led urban development projects indicate some problems including; the financial dependency on private actors, lack of financial incentives for public actors, lack of awareness of civic demands, lack of controlling public opposition, long negotiation processes, and absence of skilled public managers. Moreover, the actors indicate some crucial conditions for a private sectorled approach including; flexible general public guidelines, informal partnerships and joint working, public and private leadership roles and skills, professional attitude and long term commitment of private actors, involvement of local communities, separating public planning and development roles, handling political pressures, and favorable market circumstances. Empirical lessons, improvements and inspiration Some general conclusions from the Dutch and UK case comparison can be drawn (see Table 8.1). The influence of the project’s context in the UK seems to be higher than in the Netherlands, especially political powers and changeable policies influence projects. The organizational role division in UK projects seems to be stricter than in the Dutch projects, where public requirements sometimes are also formulated in more detail. The actor’s management in the Dutch cases is slightly less private sector-led than in the UK, where local authorities and developers are more aware of how to use management measures at their disposal. The project effects show quite some resemblance; effectiveness and spatial quality can be achieved, while efficiency remains difficult to achieve due to the negotiation culture. Here, important empirical lessons learned from cases in both countries are discussed aimed at formulating possible solutions for perceived Dutch problems. The problematic Dutch ‘we against them relationship’ between actors in the UK is handled by a close collaboration. Developers organize regular informative and interactive design meetings with local authorities, sharing ideas in a ‘joint-up working’ atmosphere. The lack of public role consistency in the UK is resolved by local authorities that develop a clear schedule of spatial requirements which provides certainty. Moreover, room for negotiations allows for the flexibility to react on changed circumstances. The thin line between judgment and control of plans is not commonly recognized in the UK cases. Local authorities tend to respect that developers need room to carry out development activities on their own professional insights, and merely control if developers deliver ‘product specifications’ in time and to agreed conditions. The commitment and competencies of public project managers are also mentioned as crucial factors in the UK. It involves managers connecting the project to the political and civic environment, and leaders committing themselves to project support through communication with local communities. The lack of public management seems to be a Dutch perceived difficulty as UK local authorities do not apply active land development policies and ‘hard’ management resources. Therefore, they influence development with both more consciously applied legal tools and ‘soft’ management skills such as negotiating. Recommended improvements mentioned by Dutch practitioners here are mirrored to possible support from the UK cases. The Dutch recommendation to cooperate in pre-development stages to create public project support and commitment finds support in the UK. Hence, despite a formal division of public and private responsibilities, in practice a lot of informal public-private interaction and collaboration takes place and seems necessary. Striving for public role consistency also is an appreciated value by developers in the UK. Working on the principle of ‘agreement is agreement’ creates certainty for developers, and less resistance and willingness to cooperate once highly relevant public issues are put on the table. Establishing clear process agreements with moments of control or discussion in the UK are handled with evaluation moments aimed at judging output, and planned meetings aimed at creating a dialogue about new insights. Connecting planning and development processes in the UK is handled by a municipal team consisting of political leaders and project managers that align development processes with administrative planning processes. A clear communication plan to involve local communities and businesses in the UK is handled by developers which involve relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process prior to planning applications for support and process efficiency. Finding public opportunities to influence development other than land and capital in the UK is handled through the use of several public planning tools and publicprivate negotiations. The UK cases also provided various inspirational lessons for the Netherlands. First, the construction and application of a public ‘management toolbox’ consisting of various planning tools that shape, stimulate, regulate and activate the market could assist local authorities to view management more integratively and use existing instruments more consciously. Second, choosing a private development partner with professional expertise, track record and local knowledge, instead of an economically lucrative private tender offer for private sector-led urban development projects, has the advantage of creating a cooperative relationship. The reason for this is that flexible development concepts rather than fixed development plans are indicators of a cooperative attitude of a developer. Third, enabling partnership agreements between public, private and civic actors aimed at creating wide support and long-term commitment by expressing development intentions assists pulling together development resources from both investors and central government. Fourth, privately-owned public space based on a land lease agreement containing public space conditions creates several financial advantages. For local authorities it eliminates public maintenance costs, and for private actors the operation of the area and maintaining high quality standards can be beneficial for real estate sales and returns. Fifth, the value increase-oriented investment model of a long-term private development investor rather than a short-term project-oriented developer with a trade-off model between time, costs and quality has advantages. Large amounts of upfront investment can more easily be financed as high quality environments and properties increase the area’s competitive position and investment returns. Sixth, local authorities can establish partnerships that actively apply for public funding alternatives such as lottery funds. Such funds secure the development of public functions and create interest for commercial actors to invest, which can result possibilities to negotiate development packages which can results in a planning gain for public actors. Seventh, public and private leadership styles on different organizational levels for inner-city development projects result in more efficient processes. Appointing strategictactical operating political leaders and private firm directors and tactical-operational public and private project leaders streamlines internal and external communication and shared project commitment and support. Finally, the UK shows that a private sector-led approach can successfully be applied to complex inner-city developments. Despite the complex social and political character, fragmented land ownership situation, and high remediation costs UK developers can deliver such projects succesfully. Conditions seem a professionally skilled and financially empowered developer, and active local authorities that facilitate market initiatives. The likelihood of transfer of the inspirational UK lessons depends on some Dutch institutional characteristics (economics &amp; politics, governance culture, planning system and policies). However, most lessons are context-independent and thus can be applied in the Dutch urban development practice. But, Table 8.2 also shows some institutional context-dependent features that limit the transfer of UK findings to the Netherlands. This includes the general short-term scope of Dutch developers and the general wish from municipalities to hold ‘control’ over development projects. Reflections on safeguarding public interests &amp; alternative financing instruments The epilogue contains conceptual reflections about alternative ways for safeguarding public interests and private financing instruments in line with the current social-economic climate. These reflections are not based on research findings but on an additional literature review that provides food for thought for public and private actors in urban development. Hence, safeguarding public interests is an important concern for public actors, especially in market-oriented planning and private sector-led urban development projects. In our pluralistic society it has become impossible for one actor to determine the public interest in all occasions. In line with societal development it would not only be socially-coherent for governments to engage private and civic actors in safeguarding public interests, but even a social necessity. Consciously applying different public interest safeguarding strategies based on both hierarchical, market and network mechanisms (De Bruijn &amp; Dicke, 2006) provide this opportunity. By using a combination of legitimized hierarchical mechanisms, competitionoriented market mechanisms, and inter-action oriented network mechanisms, public values become institutionalized in private and civic sectors. Then, the role of public planning institutions in safeguarding increasing economic values, social cohesion and public health is to use both legitimate planning tools and accountable planning activities. It enables other actors to become both more responsible for and involved in their own built environment. In market-oriented planning and private sector-led urban projects, safeguarding public interest instruments include non-negotiable general planning standards which secure basic needs of civilians, and negotiable development conditions which create involvement of other actors. Non-negotiable safeguarding instruments include; public tender requirements, land use plans, planning permissions and financial claims. Negotiable safeguarding instruments include; contractual conditions, competitive dialogues, spatial quality plans, developer contributions, development incentives, performance indicators, and ownership (see Figure 10.2). The reliance of private investment in private sector-led urban development projects asks for exploring alternative financing instruments for urban projects with less reliance on credit capital. This is a crucial subject being the result of the effect the current economic situation has on the land and property market. Hence, it is widely acknowledged that in many development practices around the globe property investment for urban development has changed radically as a result of the international credit crisis and economic downturn (Parkinson et al., 2009). ‘New financial models’ have the attention of several Dutch practitioners (e.g. Van Rooy, 2011) and academics (e.g. Van der Krabben, 2011b). In the current Dutch urban development practice, one notices an increased interest in demand-driven development strategies promoting; bottom-up development initiatives, value-oriented investment strategies, and de-risked phasing of development, which potentially increase the feasibility of urban projects. A literature review indicates promising alternative financing instruments for Dutch urban development practice and private sector-led urban development projects, including; Tax Increment Financing, Temporary Development/Investment Grants, Lottery Funds, DBFM/ Concession Light, Crowd Funding, Urban Development Trusts, Business Improvement Districts, and Urban Reparcelling. These instruments have different features such as investment source, development incentives, organizational requirements and object conditions, which need to be taken into account by public and private actors once applied (see Table 10.3).

The Language in the Workplace project, based in the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, has for most of its history concentrated on oral interaction in professional and manufacturing organisations. Recently, however, the project team widened its scope to include an introductory investigation of e-mail as a mode of workplace interaction. The ultimate intention is to extend the project's purview to encompass all written modes, thereby allowing a fuller focus on the complex interrelationships between communication media in the workplace. The Problems of Communication In an illuminating recent study, John Durham Peters explores problems that have dogged the notion of 'communication' (the term in this sense originating only in the late nineteenth century) from the time of Plato. The overarching historical problem he discusses is the recurrent desire for complete communication, the illusionary dream of transferring completely and without modification any idea, thought, or intention from one mind to another. There are two further and related problems that are particularly germane to my purposes here. A belief, at one extreme, that communication 'technologies' will interfere with the 'natural' processes of oral face-to-face interaction; together with its obverse, that communications plural (new technologies) will solve the problems of communication singular (self-other relations). A notion that dissemination (communication from one to many)1 is an inferior and distorting mode, inherently deterministic, compared with the openness of (preferably one-on-one) dialogue. Perhaps first formulated in Plato's Phaedrus, this lament has reverberated ever since, radio providing the instance par excellence.2 Yet another problem are the oppositions creating and sustaining these perceived problems, and their resultant social polarisations. Peters argues eloquently that technologies will never solve the differences in intention and reception amongst socially and therefore differentially positioned interlocutors. (Indeed, he counts it as a benefit that human beings cannot exempt themselves from the recognition and negotiation of individual and collective difference.) And he demonstrates that dialogue and dissemination are equally subject to imperfections and benefits. However, the perceptions remain, and that brings its own problems, given that people continue to act on the basis of unrealistic assumptions about communication. Looked at in this context, electronic mail (which Peters does not include in his historical studies) is a particularly fruitful site of investigation. I will focus on discussing the two problems enumerated above with reference to some of the academic and business literature on e-mail in the workplace; a survey conducted in part of a relatively large organisation in Wellington; and a public e-mail forum of primarily scientists and business people concerning New Zealand's future development. Communicative Distortion The first communication technology to be extensively critiqued for its corruption of social intercourse was writing (by Socrates in Phaedrus). Significantly, e-mail has often been characterised, not unreasonably, as a hybrid of speech and writing, and as returning written communication in the workplace toward the 'immediacy' and 'simplicity' of speech. In fact, as many practitioners do not sufficiently appreciate, informality and intimacy in e-mail communication have to be worked at. Efforts are made by some to use friendly salutations; a chatty, colloquial style; typographical representations of body language; and to refrain from tidying up errors and poor expression (which backfires on them when addressing sticklers for correctness, or when, as often happens, the message is full of obscurities and lacunae). When these attempts are not made, receivers impute to the messages the coldness and impersonality of the most functional letters and notes -- and this is only enhanced by the fact that so much e-mail in the workplace is used for directives (instructions and requests) or announcements (more specifically, proclamations; see below). In contrast to the initial reception of some earlier communication technologies, e-mail was widely welcomed at first. It was predicted to usher in a new egalitarian and democratic order of communication by flattening out or even by-passing hierarchical relations (Sproull and Kiesler; any issue of Wired magazine [see Frau-Meigs]). The realisation that other commercial factors were also contributing to this flattening out no doubt helped to dispel the utopian view (Casey; Gee)3. Subsequent literature has given more emphasis to the sinister aspects of e-mail -- its deployment by managers in the surveillance, monitoring, and performance measurement of employees, its capacity to support convenient and efficient reporting regimes, its durability, and its traceability (Brigham and Corbett; Corbett). This historical trajectory in attitudes towards, and uses of, e-mail, together with the potential variation in the readers' interpretations of the writer's feelings, means that people are quite as likely to conceive of e-mail as cold and impersonal as they are to impute to it more positive feelings. This is borne out in the organisational survey carried out as a part of this research. Of the respondents working in what I will call a professional capacity, 50 percent (the same proportion for both male and female) agreed that e-mail creates a friendlier environment, while only a small percentage of the remainder were neutral. Most disagreed. Interestingly, only a third of clerical staff agreed. One can readily speculate that the differences between these two occupational classes were a significant factor with regard to the uses e-mail is put to (more information sharing as equals on the part of professionals). Those who felt that e-mail contributed to a less friendly environment typically referred to the 'loss of personal contact', and to its ability to allow people to distance themselves from others or 'hide behind' the technology. In a somewhat paradoxical twist of this perceived characteristic, it appears that e-mail can reinforce the prevailing power relations in an organisation by giving employees a way of avoiding the (physical) brunt of these relations, and therefore of tolerating them. Employees have the sense that they can approach a superior through e-mail in a way that is both comfortable for the employee (not have to physically encounter their superior or, as one informant put it, "not have to cope with the boss's body language"), and convenient for the superior.4 At the same time, interestingly, respondents to our surveys have generally been adamant that e-mail is not the medium for conflict resolution or discussion of significant or sensitive matters pertaining to a manager's relationship with an individual employee. In the large Wellington service organisation surveyed for this study, 70% of the sample said they never or almost never used e-mail for these purposes. It was notable, however, that for professional employees, where a gender distinction used in the survey, 80% of women were of this view, compared with 60% of men. Indeed, nearly 10% of men reported using e-mail frequently for conflict resolution purposes. In sum, there is the potential in e-mail for a fundamental distortion; one that is seemingly the opposite of the anti-technologists' charge of corruption of communication by writing (but arguably with the same result), and one that very subtly contradictory, appearing to support, the utopianism of the digerati. The conventions of e-mail can allow employees to have a sense of participation and equality while denying them any real power or influence over important matters or directions of the organisation. E-mail, in other words, may allow co-workers to communicate across underlying tensions and conflicts by effectively suppressing conflict. This may have advantages for enabling an organisation's work to continue in the face of inevitable personality differences. It may also damage the chances of sustaining effective workplace relationships, especially if individuals generalise their use of e-mail, rather than selecting strategically from all the communicational resources available to them. Dialogue and Dissemination Notwithstanding the point made earlier in relation to radio about the flexibility of technology as a societal accomplishment (see note 2), e-mail, I suggest, is unique in the extent of its inherent ability to alternate freely between both poles of the dialogue -- dissemination dichotomy. It is equally adept at allowing one to broadcast to many as it is at enabling two or more people to conduct a conversation. What complicates this ambidexterity of e-mail is that, as Peters points out, in contradistinction to the contemporary tendency to valorise the reciprocity and interaction of dialogue, "dialogue can be tyrannical and dissemination can be just" (34). Consequently, one cannot make easy assumptions about the manner in which e-mail is being used. It is tempting, for example, to conclude from the preponderance of e-mail being used for announcements and simple requests that the supposed benefits of dialogue are not being achieved. This conclusion is demonstrably wrong on two related counts: If e-mail is encouraging widespread dissemination of information which could have been held back (and arguably would have been held back in large organisations lacking e-mail's facilitative qualities), then the workforce will be better informed, and hence more able -- and more inclined! -- to engage in dialogue. The uses to which e-mail is put must not be viewed in isolation from the associated use of other media. If communication per se (including dialogue) is increasing, it may be that e-mail (as dissemination) is making that possible. Indeed, our research showed a considerable unanimity of perception that communication overall has significantly increased since the introduction of e-mail. This is not to necessarily claim that the quality of communication has increased (there is a degree of e-mail communication that is regarded as unwanted). But the fact that a majority of respondents reported increases in use or stability of use across almost all media, including face-to-face interaction, suggests that a more communicative climate may be emerging. We need then to be more precise about the genre of announcements when discussing their organisational implications. Responses in focus group discussions indicate that the use of e-mail for homilies or 'feel good' messages from the CEO (rather than making the effort to talk face-to-face to employees) is not appreciated. Proclamations, too, are better delivered off-line. Similarly, instructions are better formulated as requests (i.e. with a dialogic tone). As I noted earlier, clerical staff, who are more likely to be on the receiving end of instructions, were less inclined to agree that e-mail creates a friendlier environment. Similarly, instructions are better formulated as requests (i.e. with a dialogic tone). As I noted earlier, clerical staff, who are more likely to be on the receiving end of instructions, were less inclined to agree that e-mail creates a friendlier environment. Even more than face-to-face, group interaction by e-mail allows certain voices to be ignored. Where, as often, there are multiple responses to a particular message, subsequent contributors can use selective responses to strongly influence the direction of the discussion. An analysis of a lengthy portion of the corpus reveals that certain key participants -- often effectively in alliance with like-minded members who endorse their interventions -- will regularly turn the dialogue back to a preferred thread by swift and judicious responses. The conversation can move very quickly away from a new perspective not favoured by regular respondents. It is also possible for a participant sufficiently well regarded by a number of other members to leave the discussion for a time (as much as two or three weeks) and on their return resurrect their favoured perspective by retrieving and responding to a relatively old message. It is clear from this forum that individual reputation and status can carry as much weight on line as it can in face-to-face discussion. Conclusion Peters points out that since the late nineteenth century, of which the invention of the words 'telepathy' and 'solipsism' are emblematic, 'communication' "has simultaneously called up the dream of instantaneous access and the nightmare of the labyrinth of solitude" (5). The ambivalence shown towards e-mail by many of its users is clearly the result of the history of responses to communications technology, and of the particular flexibility of e-mail, which makes it an example of this technology par excellence. For the sake of the development of their communicational capabilities, it would be a pity if people continued to jump to the conclusions encouraged by dichotomous conceptions of e-mail (intimate/impersonal, democratic/autocratic, etc.), rather than consciously working to develop a reflexive, open, and case-specific relationship with the technology. Footnotes This does not necessarily exclude oral face-to-face: Peters discusses Jesus's presentation of parables to the crowd as an instance of dissemination. The point is not as transparent as it can now seem. As Peters writes: "It is a mistake to equate technologies with their societal applications. For example, 'broadcasting' (one-way dispersion of programming to an audience that cannot itself broadcast) is not inherent in the technology of radio; it was a complex social accomplishment ... . The lack of dialogue owes less to broadcasting technologies than to interests that profit from constituting audiences as observers rather than participants" (34). That is, post-Fordist developments leading to downsizing of middle management, working in teams, valorisation of flexibility ('flexploitation'). There is no doubt an irony here that escapes the individual employee: namely, every other employee is e-mailing the boss 'because it is convenient for the boss', and meanwhile the boss is gritting his or her teeth as an avalanche of e-mail descends. References Brigham, Martin, and J. Martin Corbett. "E-mail, Power and the Constitution of Organisational Reality." New Technology, Work and Employment 12.1 (1997): 25-36. Casey, Catherine. Work, Self and Society: After Industrialism. London and New York: Routledge, 1995. Corbett, Martin. "Wired and Emotional." People Management 3.13 (1997): 26-32. Gee, James Paul. "The New Literacy Studies: From 'Socially Situated' to the Work of the Social." Situated Literacies: Reading and Writing in Context. Eds. David Barton et al. London and New York: Routledge, 2000. 180-96. Frau-Meigs, Divina. "A Cultural Project Based on Multiple Temporary Consensus: Identity and Community in Wired." New Media and Society 2.2 (2000): 227-44. Peters, John Durham. Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication. Chicago and London: U of Chicago P, 1999. Sproull, Lee and Sara Kiesler. Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization. Cambridge, MA: MIT P, 1992. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Derek Wallace. "E-Mail and the Problems of Communication." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3.4 (2000). [your date of access] &lt;http://www.api-network.com/mc/0008/email.php&gt;. Chicago style: Derek Wallace, "E-Mail and the Problems of Communication," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3, no. 4 (2000), &lt;http://www.api-network.com/mc/0008/email.php&gt; ([your date of access]). APA style: Derek Wallace. (2000) E-mail and the problems of communication. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3(4). &lt;http://www.api-network.com/mc/0008/email.php&gt; ([your date of access]).

Introduction In an era of upheaval and uncertainty for higher education institutions around the world, scholars, like those in many in other professions, are increasingly using social media to build communities around mutual support and professional development. These communities appear to offer opportunities for participants to exert more positive influence over the types of interactions they engage in with colleagues, in many cases being valued as more altruistic, transformational, or supportive than established academic structures (Gibson, and Gibbs; Mewburn, and Thomson; Maitzen). What has been described as ‘digital scholarship’ applies social media to “different facets of scholarly activity in a helpful and productive way” (Carrigan 5), with online scholarly communities being likened to evolutions of face-to-face practices including peer mentoring (Ferguson, and Wheat) or a “virtual staffroom” (Mewburn, and Thomson). To a large extent, these accounts of scholarly practice adapted for digital media have resonance. From writing groups (O’Dwyer, McDonough, Jefferson, Goff, and Redman-MacLaren) to conference attendance (Spilker, Silva, and Morgado) and funding (Osimo, Priego, and Vuorikari), the transformational possibilities of social media have been applied to almost every facet of existing academic practices. These practices have increasingly attracted scrutiny from higher education institutions, with social media profiles of staff both a potential asset and risk to institutions’ brands. Around the world, institutions use social media for marketing, student recruitment, student support and alumni communication (Palmer). As such, social media policies have emerged in recent years in attempts to ensure staff engage in ways that align with the interests of their employers (Solberg; Carrigan). However, engagement via social media is also still largely considered “supplementary to ‘real’ scholarly work” (Mussell 347).Paralleling this trend, guides to effectively managing an online profile as a component of professional reputation have also become increasingly common (e.g. Carrigan). While public relations and management literatures have approached reputation management in terms of how an organisation is regarded by its multiple stakeholders (Fombrun) this is increasingly being applied to individuals on social media. According to Gandini a “reputation economy” (22) has come to function for knowledge workers who seek to cultivate a reputation as a good community member through sociality in order to secure more (or better) work.The popularity of professional social media communities and scrutiny of participants raises questions about the work involved in building and participating in them. This article explores these questions through analysis of tweets from the first year of #ECRchat, a Twitter group for early career researchers (ECRs). The group was established in 2012 to provide an opportunity for ECRs (typically within five years of PhD completion) to discuss career-related issues. Since it was founded, the group has been administered through partnerships between early career scholars using a Twitter account (@ECRchat) and a blog. Tweets, the posts of 140 characters or fewer, which appear on a user’s profile and in followers’ feeds (Twitter) are organised into a ‘chat’ by participants through the use of the hashtag ‘#ECRchat’. Participants vote on chat topics and take on the role of hosting on a volunteer basis. The explicit career focus of this group provides an ideal case study to explore how work is represented in an online professionally-focused community, in order to reflect on what this might mean for the norms of knowledge work.Digital Labour The impact of Internet Communication Technologies (ICT), including social media, on the lives of workers has long been a source of both concern and hope. Mobile devices, wireless Internet and associated communications software enable increasing numbers of people to take work home. This flexibility has been welcomed as the means by which workers might more successfully access jobs and manage competing commitments (Raja, Imaizumi, Kelly, Narimatsu, and Paradi-Guilford). However, hours worked from home are often unpaid and carry with them a strong likelihood of interfering with rest, recreation and family time (Pocock and Skinner). Melissa Gregg describes this as “presence bleed” (2): the dilutions of focus from everyday activities as workers increasingly use electronic devices to ‘check in’ during non-work time. Moving beyond the limitations of this work-life balance approach, which tends to over-state divisions between employment and other everyday life practices, a growing literature seeks to address work in online environments by analysing the types of labour being practiced, rather than seeing such practices as adjunct to physical workplaces. Responding to claims that digital communication heralds a new age of greater freedom, creativity and democratic participation, this work draws attention to the reliance of such networks on unpaid labour (e.g. Hearn; Hesmondhalgh) with ratings, reviews and relationship maintenance serving business’ economic ends alongside the individual interests which motivate participants. The immaterial, affective, and often precarious labour that has been observed is “simultaneously voluntarily given and unwaged, enjoyed and exploited” (Terranova). This work builds particularly on feminist analysis of work (see McRobbie for a discussion of this), with behind the scenes moderator, convenor, and community builder roles largely female and largely unrecognised, be they activist (Gleeson), creative (Duffy) or consumer (Arcy) groups. For some, this suggests the emergence of a new ‘women’s work’ of affective immaterial labour which goes into building transformational communities (Jarrett). Yet, digital labour has not yet been foregrounded within research into higher education, where it is largely practiced in the messy intersections of employment, unpaid professional development, and leisure. Joyce Goggin argues that convergence of these spheres is a feature of digital labour. Consequently, this article seeks to add a consideration of digital labour, specifically the cultural politics of work that emerge in these spaces, to the literature on digital practices as a translation of existing academic responsibilities online. In the context of widespread concerns over academic workload and job market (Bentley, Coates, Dobson, Goedegebuure, and Meek) and the growing international engagement and impact agenda (Priem, Piwowar, and Hemminger), it raises questions about the implications of these practices. Researching Twitter Communities This article analyses tweets from the publicly available Twitter timeline, containing the hashtag #ECRchat, during scheduled chats, from 1 July 2012 to 31 July 2013 (the first year of operation). Initially, all tweets in this time period were analysed in anonymised form to determine the most commonly mentioned topics during chats. This content analysis removed the most common English language words, such as: the; it; I; and RT (which stands for retweet), which would otherwise appear as top results in almost any content analysis regardless of the community of interest. This was followed by qualitative analysis of tweets, to explore in more depth how important issues were articulated and rationalised within the group. This draws on Catherine Driscoll’s and Melissa Gregg’s idea of “sympathetic online cultural studies” which seeks to explore online communities first and foremost as communities rather than as exemplars of online communications (15-20). Here, a narrative approach was undertaken to analyse how participants curated, made sense of, and explained their own career stories (drawing on Pamphilon). Although I do not claim that participants are representative of all ECRs, or that the ideas given the most attention during chats are representative of the experiences of all participants, representations of work articulated here are suggestive of the kinds of public utterances that were considered reasonable within this open online space. Participants are identified according to the twitter handle and user name they had chosen to use for the chats being analysed. This is because the practical infeasibility of guaranteeing online anonymity (readers need only to Google the text of any tweet to associate it with a particular user, in most cases) and the importance of actively involving participants as agents in the research process, in part by identifying them as authors of their own stories, rather than informants (e.g. Butz; Evans; Svalastog and Eriksson).Representations of Work in #ECRchat The co-creation of the #ECRchat community through participant hosts and community votes on chat topics gave rise to a discussion group that was heavily focused on ‘the work’ of academia, including its importance in the lives of participants, relative appeal over other options, and negative effects on leisure time. I was clear that participants regarded participation as serving their professional interests, despite participation not being paid or formally recognised by employers. With the exception of two discussions focused on making decisions about the future of the group, #ECRchat discussions during the year of analysis focused on topics designed to help participants succeed at work such as “career progression and planning”, “different routes to postdoc funding”, and “collaboration”. At a micro-level, ‘work’ (and related terms) was the most frequently used term in #ECRchat, with its total number of uses (1372) almost double that of research (700), the next most used term. Comments during the chats reiterated this emphasis: “It’s all about the work. Be decent to people and jump through the hoops you need to, but always keep your eyes on the work” (Magennis).The depth of participants’ commitment comes through strongly in discussions comparing academic work with other options: “pretty much everyone I know with ‘real jobs’ hates their work. I feel truly lucky to say that I love mine #ECRchat” (McGettigan). This was seen in particular in the discussion about ‘careers outside academia’. Hashtags such as #altac (referring to alternative-academic careers such as university research support or learning and teaching administration roles) and #postac (referring to PhD holders working outside of universities in research or non-research roles) used both alongside the #ECRchat hashtag and separately, provide an ongoing site of these kinds of representations. While participants in #ECRchat sought to shift this perception and were critically aware that it could lead to undesirable outcomes: “PhDs and ECRs in Humanities don’t seem to consider working outside of academia – that limits their engagement with training #ECRchat” (Faculty of Humanities at the University of Manchester), such discussions frequently describe alternative academic careers as a ‘backup plan’, should academic employment not be found. Additionally, many participants suggested that their working hours were excessive, extending the professional into personal spaces and times in ways that they did not see as positive. This was often described as the only way to achieve success: “I hate to say it, but one of the best ways to improve track record is to work 70+ hours a week, every week. Forever. #ecrchat” (Dunn). One of the key examples of this dynamic was the scheduling of the chat itself. When founded in 2012, #ECRchat ran in the Australian evening and UK morning, eliding the personal/work distinction for both its coordinators and participants. While considerable discussion was concerned with scheduling the chat during times when a large number of international participants could attend, this discussion centred on waking rather than working hours. The use of scheduled tweets and shared work between convenors in different time zones (Australia and the United Kingdom) maintained an around the clock online presence, extending well beyond the ordinary working hours of any individual participant.Personal Disclosure The norms that were articulated in #ECRchat are perhaps not surprising for a group of participants seeking to establish themselves in a profession where a long-hours culture and work-life interference are common (Bentley, Coates, Dobson, Goedegebuure, and Meek). However, what is notable is that participation frequently involved the extension of the personal into the professional and in support of professional aims. In the chat’s first year, an element of personal disclosure and support for others became key to acting as a good community member. Beyond the well-established norms of white collar workers demonstrating professionalism by deploying “courtesy, helpfulness, and kindness” (Mills xvii), this community building relied on personal disclosure which to some extent collapsed personal and professional boundaries.By disclosing individual struggles, anxieties, and past experiences participants contributed to a culture of support. This largely functioned through discussions of work stress rather than leisure: “I definitely don’t have [work-life balance]. I think it’s because I don’t have a routine so work and home constantly blend into one another” (Feely). Arising from these discussions, ideas to help participants better navigate and build academic careers was one of the main ways this community support and concern was practiced: “I think I’m often more productive and less anxious if I'm working on a couple of things in parallel, too #ecrchat” (Brian).Activities such as preparing meals, caring for family, and leisure activities, became part of the discussion. “@snarkyphd Sorry, late, had to deal with toddler. Also new; currently doing casual teaching/industry work &amp; applying for postdocs #ecrchat” (Ronald). Exclusively professional profiles were considered less engaging than the combination of personal and professional that most participants adopted: “@jeanmadams I’ve answered a few queries on ResearchGate, but agree lack of non-work opinions / personality makes them dull #ecrchat” (Tennant). However, this is not to suggest that these networks become indistinguishable from more informal, personal, or leisurely uses of social media: “@networkedres My ‘professional’ online identity is slightly more guarded than my ‘facebook’ id which is for friends and family #ECRchat” (Wheat). Instead, disclosure of certain kinds of work struggles came to function as a positive contribution to a more reflexive professionalism. In the context of work-focused discussion, #ECRchat opens important spaces for scholars to question norms they considered damaging or at least make these tacit norms explicit and receive support to manage them. Affective Labour The professional goals and focus of #ECRchat, combined with the personal support and disclosure that forms the basis for the supportive elements in this group is arguably one of its strongest and most important elements. Mark Carrigan suggests that the practices of revealing something of the struggles we experience could form the basis for a new collegiality, where common experiences which had previously not been discussed publicly are for the first time recognised as systemic, not individual challenges. However, there is work required to provide context and support for these emotional experiences which is largely invisible here, as has typically been the case in other communities. Such ‘affective labour’ “involves the production and manipulation of affect and requires (virtual or actual) human contact, labour in the bodily mode … the labour is immaterial, even if it is corporeal and affective, in the sense that its products are intangible, a feeling of ease, well-being, satisfaction, excitement or passion” (Hardt, and Negri 292). In #ECRchat, this ranges from managing the schedule and organising discussions – which involves following up offers to help, assisting people to understand the task, and then ensuring things go ahead as planned –to support offered by members of the group within discussions. This occurs in the overlaps between personal and professional representations, taking a variety of forms from everyday reassurance, affirmation, and patience: “Sorry to hear - hang in there. Hope you have a good support network. #ECRchat” (Galea) to empathy often articulated alongside the disclosure discussed earlier: “The feeling of guilt over not working sounds VERY familiar! #ecrchat” (Vredeveldt).The point here is not to suggest that this work is not sufficiently valued by participants, or that it does not parallel the kinds of work undertaken in more formal job roles, including in academia, where management, conference convening or participation in professional societies, and teaching, as just a few examples, involve degrees of affective labour. However, as a consequence of the (semi)public nature of these groups, the interactions observed here appear to represent a new inflection of professional reputation work, where, in building online professional communities, individuals peg their professional reputations to these forms of affective labour. Importantly, given the explicitly professional nature of the group, these efforts are not counted as part of the formal workload of those involved, be they employed (temporarily or more securely) inside or outside universities, or not in the paid workforce. Conclusion A growing body of literature demonstrates that online academic communities can provide opportunities for collegiality, professional development, and support: particularly among emerging scholars. These accounts demonstrate the value of digital scholarly practices across a range of academic work. However, this article’s discussion of the work undertaken to build and maintain #ECRchat in its first year suggests that these practices at the messy intersections of employment, unpaid professional development, and leisure constitute a new inflection of professional reputation and service work. This work involves publicly building a reputation as a good community member through a combination of personal disclosure and affective labour.In the context of growing emphasis on the economic, social, and other impacts of academic research and concerns over work intensification, this raises questions about possible scope for, and impact of, formal recognition of digital academic labour. While institutions’ work planning and promotion processes may provide opportunities to recognise work developing professional societies or conferences as a leadership or service to a discipline, this new digital service work remains outside the purview of such recognition and reward systems. Further research into the relationships between academic reputation and digital labour will be needed to explore the implications of this for institutions and academics alike. 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&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Introduction Figure 1 The counter-Terrorism advertising campaign of London’s Metropolitan Police commodifies some everyday items such as mobile phones, computers, passports and credit cards as having the potential to sustain terrorist activities. The process of ascribing cultural values and symbolic meanings to some everyday technical gadgets objectifies and situates Terrorism into the everyday life. The police, in urging people to look out for ‘the unusual’ in their normal day-to-day lives, juxtapose the everyday with the unusual, where day-to-day consumption, routines and flows of human activity can seemingly house insidious and atavistic elements. This again is reiterated in the Met police press release: Terrorists live within our communities making their plans whilst doing everything they can to blend in, and trying not to raise suspicions about their activities. (MPA Website) The commodification of Terrorism through uncommon and everyday objects situates Terrorism as a phenomenon which occupies a liminal space within the everyday. It resides, breathes and co-exists within the taken-for-granted routines and objects of ‘the everyday’ where it has the potential to explode and disrupt without warning. Since 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings Terrorism has been narrated through the disruption of mobility, whether in mid-air or in the deep recesses of the Underground. The resonant thread of disruption to human mobility evokes a powerful meta-narrative where acts of Terrorism can halt human agency amidst the backdrop of the metropolis, which is often a metaphor for speed and accelerated activities. If globalisation and the interconnected nature of the world are understood through discourses of risk, Terrorism bears the same footprint in urban spaces of modernity, narrating the vulnerability of the human condition in an inter-linked world where ideological struggles and resistance are manifested through inexplicable violence and destruction of lives, where the everyday is suspended to embrace the unexpected. As a consequence ambient fear “saturates the social spaces of everyday life” (Hubbard 2). The commodification of Terrorism through everyday items of consumption inevitably creates an intertextuality with real and media events, which constantly corrode the security of the metropolis. Paddy Scannell alludes to a doubling of place in our mediated world where “public events now occur simultaneously in two different places; the place of the event itself and that in which it is watched and heard. The media then vacillates between the two sites and creates experiences of simultaneity, liveness and immediacy” (qtd. in Moores 22). The doubling of place through media constructs a pervasive environment of risk and fear. Mark Danner (qtd. in Bauman 106) points out that the most powerful weapon of the 9/11 terrorists was that innocuous and “most American of technological creations: the television set” which provided a global platform to constantly replay and remember the dreadful scenes of the day, enabling the terrorist to appear invincible and to narrate fear as ubiquitous and omnipresent. Philip Abrams argues that ‘big events’ (such as 9/11 and 7/7) do make a difference in the social world for such events function as a transformative device between the past and future, forcing society to alter or transform its perspectives. David Altheide points out that since September 11 and the ensuing war on terror, a new discourse of Terrorism has emerged as a way of expressing how the world has changed and defining a state of constant alert through a media logic and format that shapes the nature of discourse itself. Consequently, the intensity and centralisation of surveillance in Western countries increased dramatically, placing the emphasis on expanding the forms of the already existing range of surveillance processes and practices that circumscribe and help shape our social existence (Lyon, Terrorism 2). Normalisation of Surveillance The role of technologies, particularly information and communication technologies (ICTs), and other infrastructures to unevenly distribute access to the goods and services necessary for modern life, while facilitating data collection on and control of the public, are significant characteristics of modernity (Reiman; Graham and Marvin; Monahan). The embedding of technological surveillance into spaces and infrastructures not only augment social control but also redefine data as a form of capital which can be shared between public and private sectors (Gandy, Data Mining; O’Harrow; Monahan). The scale, complexity and limitations of omnipresent and omnipotent surveillance, nevertheless, offer room for both subversion as well as new forms of domination and oppression (Marx). In surveillance studies, Foucault’s analysis is often heavily employed to explain lines of continuity and change between earlier forms of surveillance and data assemblage and contemporary forms in the shape of closed-circuit television (CCTV) and other surveillance modes (Dee). It establishes the need to discern patterns of power and normalisation and the subliminal or obvious cultural codes and categories that emerge through these arrangements (Fopp; Lyon, Electronic; Norris and Armstrong). In their study of CCTV surveillance, Norris and Armstrong (cf. in Dee) point out that when added to the daily minutiae of surveillance, CCTV cameras in public spaces, along with other camera surveillance in work places, capture human beings on a database constantly. The normalisation of surveillance, particularly with reference to CCTV, the popularisation of surveillance through television formats such as ‘Big Brother’ (Dee), and the expansion of online platforms to publish private images, has created a contradictory, complex and contested nature of spatial and power relationships in society. The UK, for example, has the most developed system of both urban and public space cameras in the world and this growth of camera surveillance and, as Lyon (Surveillance) points out, this has been achieved with very little, if any, public debate as to their benefits or otherwise. There may now be as many as 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain (cf. Lyon, Surveillance). That is one for every fourteen people and a person can be captured on over 300 cameras every day. An estimated £500m of public money has been invested in CCTV infrastructure over the last decade but, according to a Home Office study, CCTV schemes that have been assessed had little overall effect on crime levels (Wood and Ball). In spatial terms, these statistics reiterate Foucault’s emphasis on the power economy of the unseen gaze. Michel Foucault in analysing the links between power, information and surveillance inspired by Bentham’s idea of the Panopticon, indicated that it is possible to sanction or reward an individual through the act of surveillance without their knowledge (155). It is this unseen and unknown gaze of surveillance that is fundamental to the exercise of power. The design and arrangement of buildings can be engineered so that the “surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action” (Foucault 201). Lyon (Terrorism), in tracing the trajectory of surveillance studies, points out that much of surveillance literature has focused on understanding it as a centralised bureaucratic relationship between the powerful and the governed. Invisible forms of surveillance have also been viewed as a class weapon in some societies. With the advancements in and proliferation of surveillance technologies as well as convergence with other technologies, Lyon argues that it is no longer feasible to view surveillance as a linear or centralised process. In our contemporary globalised world, there is a need to reconcile the dialectical strands that mediate surveillance as a process. In acknowledging this, Giles Deleuze and Felix Guattari have constructed surveillance as a rhizome that defies linearity to appropriate a more convoluted and malleable form where the coding of bodies and data can be enmeshed to produce intricate power relationships and hierarchies within societies. Latour draws on the notion of assemblage by propounding that data is amalgamated from scattered centres of calculation where these can range from state and commercial institutions to scientific laboratories which scrutinise data to conceive governance and control strategies. Both the Latourian and Deleuzian ideas of surveillance highlight the disparate arrays of people, technologies and organisations that become connected to make “surveillance assemblages” in contrast to the static, unidirectional Panopticon metaphor (Ball, “Organization” 93). In a similar vein, Gandy (Panoptic) infers that it is misleading to assume that surveillance in practice is as complete and totalising as the Panoptic ideal type would have us believe. Co-optation of Millions The Metropolitan Police’s counter-Terrorism strategy seeks to co-opt millions where the corporeal body can complement the landscape of technological surveillance that already co-exists within modernity. In its press release, the role of civilian bodies in ensuring security of the city is stressed; Keeping Londoners safe from Terrorism is not a job solely for governments, security services or police. If we are to make London the safest major city in the world, we must mobilise against Terrorism not only the resources of the state, but also the active support of the millions of people who live and work in the capita. (MPA Website). Surveillance is increasingly simulated through the millions of corporeal entities where seeing in advance is the goal even before technology records and codes these images (William). Bodies understand and code risk and images through the cultural narratives which circulate in society. Compared to CCTV technology images, which require cultural and political interpretations and interventions, bodies as surveillance organisms implicitly code other bodies and activities. The travel bag in the Metropolitan Police poster reinforces the images of the 7/7 bombers and the renewed attempts to bomb the London Underground on the 21st of July. It reiterates the CCTV footage revealing images of the bombers wearing rucksacks. The image of the rucksack both embodies the everyday as well as the potential for evil in everyday objects. It also inevitably reproduces the cultural biases and prejudices where the rucksack is subliminally associated with a specific type of body. The rucksack in these terms is a laden image which symbolically captures the context and culture of risk discourses in society. The co-optation of the population as a surveillance entity also recasts new forms of social responsibility within the democratic polity, where privacy is increasingly mediated by the greater need to monitor, trace and record the activities of one another. Nikolas Rose, in discussing the increasing ‘responsibilisation’ of individuals in modern societies, describes the process in which the individual accepts responsibility for personal actions across a wide range of fields of social and economic activity as in the choice of diet, savings and pension arrangements, health care decisions and choices, home security measures and personal investment choices (qtd. in Dee). While surveillance in individualistic terms is often viewed as a threat to privacy, Rose argues that the state of ‘advanced liberalism’ within modernity and post-modernity requires considerable degrees of self-governance, regulation and surveillance whereby the individual is constructed both as a ‘new citizen’ and a key site of self management. By co-opting and recasting the role of the citizen in the age of Terrorism, the citizen to a degree accepts responsibility for both surveillance and security. In our sociological imagination the body is constructed both as lived as well as a social object. Erving Goffman uses the word ‘umwelt’ to stress that human embodiment is central to the constitution of the social world. Goffman defines ‘umwelt’ as “the region around an individual from which signs of alarm can come” and employs it to capture how people as social actors perceive and manage their settings when interacting in public places (252). Goffman’s ‘umwelt’ can be traced to Immanuel Kant’s idea that it is the a priori categories of space and time that make it possible for a subject to perceive a world (Umiker-Sebeok; qtd. in Ball, “Organization”). Anthony Giddens adapted the term Umwelt to refer to “a phenomenal world with which the individual is routinely ‘in touch’ in respect of potential dangers and alarms which then formed a core of (accomplished) normalcy with which individuals and groups surround themselves” (244). Benjamin Smith, in considering the body as an integral component of the link between our consciousness and our material world, observes that the body is continuously inscribed by culture. These inscriptions, he argues, encompass a wide range of cultural practices and will imply knowledge of a variety of social constructs. The inscribing of the body will produce cultural meanings as well as create forms of subjectivity while locating and situating the body within a cultural matrix (Smith). Drawing on Derrida’s work, Pugliese employs the term ‘Somatechnics’ to conceptualise the body as a culturally intelligible construct and to address the techniques in and through which the body is formed and transformed (qtd. in Osuri). These techniques can encompass signification systems such as race and gender and equally technologies which mediate our sense of reality. These technologies of thinking, seeing, hearing, signifying, visualising and positioning produce the very conditions for the cultural intelligibility of the body (Osuri). The body is then continuously inscribed and interpreted through mediated signifying systems. Similarly, Hayles, while not intending to impose a Cartesian dichotomy between the physical body and its cognitive presence, contends that the use and interactions with technology incorporate the body as a material entity but it also equally inscribes it by marking, recording and tracing its actions in various terrains. According to Gayatri Spivak (qtd. in Ball, “Organization”) new habits and experiences are embedded into the corporeal entity which then mediates its reactions and responses to the social world. This means one’s body is not completely one’s own and the presence of ideological forces or influences then inscribe the body with meanings, codes and cultural values. In our modern condition, the body and data are intimately and intricately bound. Outside the home, it is difficult for the body to avoid entering into relationships that produce electronic personal data (Stalder). According to Felix Stalder our physical bodies are shadowed by a ‘data body’ which follows the physical body of the consuming citizen and sometimes precedes it by constructing the individual through data (12). Before we arrive somewhere, we have already been measured and classified. Thus, upon arrival, the citizen will be treated according to the criteria ‘connected with the profile that represents us’ (Gandy, Panoptic; William). Following September 11, Lyon (Terrorism) reveals that surveillance data from a myriad of sources, such as supermarkets, motels, traffic control points, credit card transactions records and so on, was used to trace the activities of terrorists in the days and hours before their attacks, confirming that the body leaves data traces and trails. Surveillance works by abstracting bodies from places and splitting them into flows to be reassembled as virtual data-doubles, and in the process can replicate hierarchies and centralise power (Lyon, Terrorism). Mike Dee points out that the nature of surveillance taking place in modern societies is complex and far-reaching and in many ways insidious as surveillance needs to be situated within the broadest context of everyday human acts whether it is shopping with loyalty cards or paying utility bills. Physical vulnerability of the body becomes more complex in the time-space distanciated surveillance systems to which the body has become increasingly exposed. As such, each transaction – whether it be a phone call, credit card transaction, or Internet search – leaves a ‘data trail’ linkable to an individual person or place. Haggerty and Ericson, drawing from Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the assemblage, describe the convergence and spread of data-gathering systems between different social domains and multiple levels (qtd. in Hier). They argue that the target of the generic ‘surveillance assemblage’ is the human body, which is broken into a series of data flows on which surveillance process is based. The thrust of the focus is the data individuals can yield and the categories to which they can contribute. These are then reapplied to the body. In this sense, surveillance is rhizomatic for it is diverse and connected to an underlying, invisible infrastructure which concerns interconnected technologies in multiple contexts (Ball, “Elements”). The co-opted body in the schema of counter-Terrorism enters a power arrangement where it constitutes both the unseen gaze as well as the data that will be implicated and captured in this arrangement. It is capable of producing surveillance data for those in power while creating new data through its transactions and movements in its everyday life. The body is unequivocally constructed through this data and is also entrapped by it in terms of representation and categorisation. The corporeal body is therefore part of the machinery of surveillance while being vulnerable to its discriminatory powers of categorisation and victimisation. As Hannah Arendt (qtd. in Bauman 91) had warned, “we terrestrial creatures bidding for cosmic significance will shortly be unable to comprehend and articulate the things we are capable of doing” Arendt’s caution conveys the complexity, vulnerability as well as the complicity of the human condition in the surveillance society. Equally it exemplifies how the corporeal body can be co-opted as a surveillance entity sustaining a new ‘banality’ (Arendt) in the machinery of surveillance. Social Consequences of Surveillance Lyon (Terrorism) observed that the events of 9/11 and 7/7 in the UK have inevitably become a prism through which aspects of social structure and processes may be viewed. This prism helps to illuminate the already existing vast range of surveillance practices and processes that touch everyday life in so-called information societies. As Lyon (Terrorism) points out surveillance is always ambiguous and can encompass genuine benefits and plausible rationales as well as palpable disadvantages. There are elements of representation to consider in terms of how surveillance technologies can re-present data that are collected at source or gathered from another technological medium, and these representations bring different meanings and enable different interpretations of life and surveillance (Ball, “Elements”). As such surveillance needs to be viewed in a number of ways: practice, knowledge and protection from threat. As data can be manipulated and interpreted according to cultural values and norms it reflects the inevitability of power relations to forge its identity in a surveillance society. In this sense, Ball (“Elements”) concludes surveillance practices capture and create different versions of life as lived by surveilled subjects. She refers to actors within the surveilled domain as ‘intermediaries’, where meaning is inscribed, where technologies re-present information, where power/resistance operates, and where networks are bound together to sometimes distort as well as reiterate patterns of hegemony (“Elements” 93). While surveillance is often connected with technology, it does not however determine nor decide how we code or employ our data. New technologies rarely enter passive environments of total inequality for they become enmeshed in complex pre-existing power and value systems (Marx). With surveillance there is an emphasis on the classificatory powers in our contemporary world “as persons and groups are often risk-profiled in the commercial sphere which rates their social contributions and sorts them into systems” (Lyon, Terrorism 2). Lyon (Terrorism) contends that the surveillance society is one that is organised and structured using surveillance-based techniques recorded by technologies, on behalf of the organisations and governments that structure our society. This information is then sorted, sifted and categorised and used as a basis for decisions which affect our life chances (Wood and Ball). The emergence of pervasive, automated and discriminatory mechanisms for risk profiling and social categorising constitute a significant mechanism for reproducing and reinforcing social, economic and cultural divisions in information societies. Such automated categorisation, Lyon (Terrorism) warns, has consequences for everyone especially in face of the new anti-terror measures enacted after September 11. In tandem with this, Bauman points out that a few suicidal murderers on the loose will be quite enough to recycle thousands of innocents into the “usual suspects”. In no time, a few iniquitous individual choices will be reprocessed into the attributes of a “category”; a category easily recognisable by, for instance, a suspiciously dark skin or a suspiciously bulky rucksack* *the kind of object which CCTV cameras are designed to note and passers-by are told to be vigilant about. And passers-by are keen to oblige. Since the terrorist atrocities on the London Underground, the volume of incidents classified as “racist attacks” rose sharply around the country. (122; emphasis added) Bauman, drawing on Lyon, asserts that the understandable desire for security combined with the pressure to adopt different kind of systems “will create a culture of control that will colonise more areas of life with or without the consent of the citizen” (123). This means that the inhabitants of the urban space whether a citizen, worker or consumer who has no terrorist ambitions whatsoever will discover that their opportunities are more circumscribed by the subject positions or categories which are imposed on them. Bauman cautions that for some these categories may be extremely prejudicial, restricting them from consumer choices because of credit ratings, or more insidiously, relegating them to second-class status because of their colour or ethnic background (124). Joseph Pugliese, in linking visual regimes of racial profiling and the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in the aftermath of 7/7 bombings in London, suggests that the discursive relations of power and visuality are inextricably bound. Pugliese argues that racial profiling creates a regime of visuality which fundamentally inscribes our physiology of perceptions with stereotypical images. He applies this analogy to Menzes running down the platform in which the retina transforms him into the “hallucinogenic figure of an Asian Terrorist” (Pugliese 8). With globalisation and the proliferation of ICTs, borders and boundaries are no longer sacrosanct and as such risks are managed by enacting ‘smart borders’ through new technologies, with huge databases behind the scenes processing information about individuals and their journeys through the profiling of body parts with, for example, iris scans (Wood and Ball 31). Such body profiling technologies are used to create watch lists of dangerous passengers or identity groups who might be of greater ‘risk’. The body in a surveillance society can be dissected into parts and profiled and coded through technology. These disparate codings of body parts can be assembled (or selectively omitted) to construct and represent whole bodies in our information society to ascertain risk. The selection and circulation of knowledge will also determine who gets slotted into the various categories that a surveillance society creates. Conclusion When the corporeal body is subsumed into a web of surveillance it often raises questions about the deterministic nature of technology. The question is a long-standing one in our modern consciousness. We are apprehensive about according technology too much power and yet it is implicated in the contemporary power relationships where it is suspended amidst human motive, agency and anxiety. The emergence of surveillance societies, the co-optation of bodies in surveillance schemas, as well as the construction of the body through data in everyday transactions, conveys both the vulnerabilities of the human condition as well as its complicity in maintaining the power arrangements in society. Bauman, in citing Jacques Ellul and Hannah Arendt, points out that we suffer a ‘moral lag’ in so far as technology and society are concerned, for often we ruminate on the consequences of our actions and motives only as afterthoughts without realising at this point of existence that the “actions we take are most commonly prompted by the resources (including technology) at our disposal” (91). References Abrams, Philip. Historical Sociology. Shepton Mallet, UK: Open Books, 1982. Altheide, David. “Consuming Terrorism.” Symbolic Interaction 27.3 (2004): 289-308. Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. London: Faber &amp; Faber, 1963. Bauman, Zygmunt. 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Ball, eds. “A Report on the Surveillance Society.” Surveillance Studies Network, UK, Sep. 2006. 14 April 2007 http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/ practical_application/surveillance_society_full_report_2006.pdf&gt;. &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Citation reference for this article&#x0D; &#x0D; MLA Style&#x0D; Ibrahim, Yasmin. "Commodifying Terrorism: Body, Surveillance and the Everyday." M/C Journal 10.3 (2007). echo date('d M. Y'); ?&gt; &lt;http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0706/05-ibrahim.php&gt;. APA Style&#x0D; Ibrahim, Y. (Jun. 2007) "Commodifying Terrorism: Body, Surveillance and the Everyday," M/C Journal, 10(3). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?&gt; from &lt;http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0706/05-ibrahim.php&gt;. &#x0D;

Being a celebrity sure ain’t what it used to be. Or, perhaps more accurately, the process of maintaining a stable star persona isn’t what it used to be. With the rise of new media technologies—including digital photography and video production, gossip blogging, social networking sites, and streaming video—there has been a rapid proliferation of voices which serve to articulate stars’ personae. This panoply of sanctioned and unsanctioned discourses has brought the coherence and stability of the star’s image into crisis, with an evermore-heightened loop forming recursively between celebrity gossip and scandals, on the one hand, and, on the other, new media-enabled speculation and commentary about these scandals and gossip-pieces. Of course, while no subject has a single meaning, Hollywood has historically expended great energy and resources to perpetuate the myth that the star’s image is univocal. In the present moment, however, studios’s traditional methods for discursive control have faltered, such that celebrities have found it necessary to take matters into their own hands, using new media technologies, particularly Twitter, in an attempt to stabilise that most vital currency of their trade, their professional/public persona. In order to fully appreciate the significance of this new mode of publicity management, and its larger implications for contemporary subjectivity writ large, we must first come to understand the history of Hollywood’s approach to celebrity publicity and image management.A Brief History of Hollywood PublicityThe origins of this effort are nearly as old as Hollywood itself, for, as Richard DeCordova explains, the celebrity scandals of the 1920s threatened to disrupt the economic vitality of the incipient industry such that strict, centralised image control appeared as a necessary imperative to maintain a consistently reliable product. The Fatty Arbuckle murder trial was scandalous not only for its subject matter (a murder suffused with illicit and shadowy sexual innuendo) but also because the event revealed that stars, despite their mediated larger-than-life images, were not only as human as the rest of us, but that, in fact, they were capable of profoundly inhuman acts. The scandal, then, was not so much Arbuckle’s crime, but the negative pall it cast over the Hollywood mythos of glamour and grace. The studios quickly organised an industry-wide regulatory agency (the MPPDA) to counter potentially damaging rhetoric and ward off government intervention. Censorship codes and morality clauses were combined with well-funded publicity departments in an effort that successfully shifted the locus of the star’s extra-filmic discursive construction from private acts—which could betray their screen image—to information which served to extend and enhance the star’s pre-existing persona. In this way, the sanctioned celebrity knowledge sphere became co-extensive with that of commercial culture itself; the star became meaningful only by knowing how she spent her leisure time and the type of make-up she used. The star’s identity was not found via unsanctioned intrusion, but through studio-sanctioned disclosure, made available in the form of gossip columns, newsreels, and fan magazines. This period of relative stability for the star's star image was ultimately quite brief, however, as the collapse of the studio system in the late 1940s and the introduction of television brought about a radical, but gradual, reordering of the star's signifying potential. The studios no longer had the resources or incentive to tightly police star images—the classic age of stardom was over. During this period of change, an influx of alternative voices and publications filled the discursive void left by the demise of the studios’s regimented publicity efforts, with many of these new outlets reengaging older methods of intrusion to generate a regular rhythm of vendible information about the stars.The first to exploit and capitalize on star image instability was Robert Harrison, whose Confidential Magazine became the leading gossip publication of the 1950s. Unlike its fan magazine rivals, which persisted in portraying the stars as morally upright and wholesome, Confidential pledged on the cover of each issue to “tell the facts and name the names,” revealing what had been theretofore “confidential.” In essence, through intrusion, Confidential reasserted scandal as the true core of the star, simultaneously instituting incursion and surveillance as the most direct avenue to the “kernel” of the celebrity subject, obtaining stories through associations with call girls, out-of-work starlettes, and private eyes. As extra-textual discourses proliferated and fragmented, the contexts in which the public encountered the star changed as well. Theatre attendance dropped dramatically, and as the studios sold their film libraries to television, the stars, formerly available only on the big screen and in glamour shots, were now intercut with commercials, broadcast on grainy sets in the domestic space. The integrity—or at least the illusion of integrity—of the star image was forever compromised. As the parameters of renown continued to expand, film stars, formally distinguished from all other performers, migrated to television. The landscape of stardom was re-contoured into the “celebrity sphere,” a space that includes television hosts, musicians, royals, and charismatic politicians. The revamped celebrity “game” was complex, but still playabout: with a powerful agent, a talented publicist, and a check on drinking, drug use, and extra-marital affairs, a star and his or her management team could negotiate a coherent image. Confidential was gone, The National Inquirer was muzzled by libel laws, and People and E.T.—both sheltered within larger media companies—towed the publicists’s line. There were few widely circulated outlets through which unauthorised voices could gain traction. Old-School Stars and New Media Technologies: The Case of Tom CruiseYet with the relentless arrival of various news media technologies beginning in the 1980s and continuing through the present, maintaining tight celebrity image control began to require the services of a phalanx of publicists and handlers. Here, the example of Tom Cruise is instructive: for nearly twenty years, Cruise’s publicity was managed by Pat Kingsley, who exercised exacting control over the star’s image. With the help of seemingly diverse yet essentially similar starring roles, Cruise solidified his image as the cocky, charismatic boy-next-door.The unified Cruise image was made possible by shutting down competing discourses through the relentless, comprehensive efforts of his management company; Kingsley's staff fine-tuned Cruise’s acts of disclosure while simultaneously eliminating the potential for unplanned intrusions, neutralising any potential scandal at its source. Kingsley and her aides performed for Cruise all the functions of a studio publicity department from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Most importantly, Cruise was kept silent on the topic of his controversial religion, Scientology, lest it incite domestic and international backlash. In interviews and off-the-cuff soundbites, Cruise was ostensibly disclosing his true self, and that self remained the dominant reading of what, and who, Cruise “was.” Yet in 2004, Cruise fired Kingsley, replaced her with his own sister (and fellow Scientologist), who had no prior experience in public relations. In essence, he exchanged a handler who understood how to shape star disclosure for one who did not. The events that followed have been widely rehearsed: Cruise avidly pursued Katie Holmes; Cruise jumped for joy on Oprah’s couch; Cruise denounced psychology during a heated debate with Matt Lauer on The Today Show. His attempt at disclosing this new, un-publicist-mediated self became scandalous in and of itself. Cruise’s dismissal of Kingsley, his unpopular (but not necessarily unwelcome) disclosures, and his own massively unchecked ego all played crucial roles in the fall of the Cruise image. While these stumbles might have caused some minor career turmoil in the past, the hyper-echoic, spastically recombinatory logic of the technoculture brought the speed and stakes of these missteps to a new level; one of the hallmarks of the postmodern condition has been not merely an increasing textual self-reflexivity, but a qualitative new leap forward in inter-textual reflexivity, as well (Lyotard; Baudrillard). Indeed, the swift dismantling of Cruise’s long-established image is directly linked to the immediacy and speed of the Internet, digital photography, and the gossip blog, as the reflexivity of new media rendered the safe division between disclosure and intrusion untenable. His couchjumping was turned into a dance remix and circulated on YouTube; Mission Impossible 3 boycotts were organised through a number of different Web forums; gossip bloggers speculated that Cruise had impregnated Holmes using the frozen sperm of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. In the past, Cruise simply filed defamation suits against print publications that would deign to sully his image. Yet the sheer number of sites and voices reproducing this new set of rumors made such a strategy untenable. Ultimately, intrusions into Cruise’s personal life, including the leak of videos intended solely for Scientology recruitment use, had far more traction than any sanctioned Cruise soundbite. Cruise’s image emerged as a hollowed husk of its former self; the sheer amount of material circulating rendered all attempts at P.R., including a Vanity Fair cover story and “reveal” of daughter Suri, ridiculous. His image was fragmented and re-collected into an altered, almost uncanny new iteration. Following the lackluster performance of Mission Impossible 3 and public condemnation by Paramount head Sumner Redstone, Cruise seemed almost pitiable. The New Logic of Celebrity Image ManagementCruise’s travails are expressive of a deeper development which has occurred over the course of the last decade, as the massively proliferating new forms of celebrity discourse (e.g., paparazzi photos, mug shots, cell phone video have further decentered any shiny, polished version of a star. With older forms of media increasingly reorganising themselves according to the aesthetics and logic of new media forms (e.g., CNN featuring regular segments in which it focuses its network cameras upon a computer screen displaying the CNN website), we are only more prone to appreciate “low media” forms of star discourse—reports from fans on discussion boards, photos taken on cell phones—as valid components of the celebrity image. People and E.T. still attract millions, but they are rapidly ceding control of the celebrity industry to their ugly, offensive stepbrothers: TMZ, Us Weekly, and dozens of gossip blogs. Importantly, a publicist may be able to induce a blogger to cover their client, but they cannot convince him to drop a story: if TMZ doesn’t post it, then Perez Hilton certainly will. With TMZ unabashedly offering pay-outs to informants—including those in law enforcement and health care, despite recently passed legislation—a star is never safe. If he or she misbehaves, someone, professional or amateur, will provide coverage. Scandal becomes normalised, and, in so doing, can no longer really function as scandal as such; in an age of around-the-clock news cycles and celebrity-fixated journalism, the only truly scandalising event would be the complete absence of any scandalous reports. Or, as aesthetic theorist Jacques Ranciere puts it; “The complaint is then no longer that images conceal secrets which are no longer such to anyone, but, on the contrary, that they no longer hide anything” (22).These seemingly paradoxical involutions of post-modern celebrity epistemologies are at the core of the current crisis of celebrity, and, subsequently, of celebrities’s attempts to “take back their own paparazzi.” As one might expect, contemporary celebrities have attempted to counter these new logics and strategies of intrusion through a heightened commitment to disclosure, principally through the social networking capabilities of Twitter. Yet, as we will see, not only have the epistemological reorderings of postmodernist technoculture affected the logic of scandal/intrusion, but so too have they radically altered the workings of intrusion’s dialectical counterpart, disclosure.In the 1930s, when written letters were still the primary medium for intimate communication, stars would send lengthy “hand-written” letters to members of their fan club. Of course, such letters were generally not written by the stars themselves, but handwriting—and a star’s signature—signified authenticity. This ritualised process conferred an “aura” of authenticity upon the object of exchange precisely because of its static, recurring nature—exchange of fan mail was conventionally understood to be the primary medium for personal encounters with a celebrity. Within the overall political economy of the studio system, the medium of the hand-written letter functioned to unleash the productive power of authenticity, offering an illusion of communion which, in fact, served to underscore the gulf between the celebrity’s extraordinary nature and the ordinary lives of those who wrote to them. Yet the criterion and conventions through which celebrity personae were maintained were subject to change over time, as new communications technologies, new modes of Hollywood's industrial organization, and the changing realities of commercial media structures all combined to create a constantly moving ground upon which the celebrity tried to affix. The celebrity’s changing conditions are not unique to them alone; rather, they are a highly visible bellwether of changes which are more fundamentally occurring at all levels of culture and subjectivity. Indeed, more than seventy years ago, Walter Benjamin observed that when hand-made expressions of individuality were superseded by mechanical methods of production, aesthetic criteria (among other things) also underwent change, rendering notions of authenticity increasingly indeterminate.Such is the case that in today’s world, hand-written letters seem more contrived or disingenuous than Danny DeVito’s inaugural post to his Twitter account: “I just joined Twitter! I don't really get this site or how it works. My nuts are on fire.” The performative gesture in DeVito’s tweet is eminently clear, just as the semantic value is patently false: clearly DeVito understands “this site,” as he has successfully used it to extend his irreverent funny-little-man persona to the new medium. While the truth claims of his Tweet may be false, its functional purpose—both effacing and reifying the extraordinary/ordinary distinction of celebrity and maintaining DeVito’s celebrity personality as one with which people might identify—is nevertheless seemingly intact, and thus mirrors the instrumental value of celebrity disclosure as performed in older media forms. Twitter and Contemporary TechnocultureFor these reasons and more, considered within the larger context of contemporary popular culture, celebrity tweeting has been equated with the assertion of the authentic celebrity voice; celebrity tweets are regularly cited in newspaper articles and blogs as “official” statements from the celebrity him/herself. With so many mediated voices attempting to “speak” the meaning of the star, the Twitter account emerges as the privileged channel to the star him/herself. Yet the seemingly easy discursive associations of Twitter and authenticity are in fact ideological acts par excellence, as fixations on the indexical truth-value of Twitter are not merely missing the point, but actively distracting from the real issues surrounding the unsteady discursive construction of contemporary celebrity and the “celebretification” of contemporary subjectivity writ large. In other words, while it is taken as axiomatic that the “message” of celebrity Twittering is, as Henry Jenkins suggests, “Here I Am,” this outward epistemological certainty veils the deeply unstable nature of celebrity—and by extension, subjectivity itself—in our networked society.If we understand the relationship between publicity and technoculture to work as Zizek-inspired cultural theorist Jodi Dean suggests, then technologies “believe for us, accessing information even if we cannot” (40), such that technology itself is enlisted to serve the function of ideology, the process by which a culture naturalises itself and attempts to render the notion of totality coherent. For Dean, the psycho-ideological reality of contemporary culture is predicated upon the notion of an ever-elusive “secret,” which promises to reveal us all as part of a unitary public. The reality—that there is no such cohesive collective body—is obscured in the secret’s mystifying function which renders as “a contingent gap what is really the fact of the fundamental split, antagonism, and rupture of politics” (40). Under the ascendancy of the technoculture—Dean's term for the technologically mediated landscape of contemporary communicative capitalism—subjectivity becomes interpellated along an axis blind to the secret of this fundamental rupture. The two interwoven poles of this axis are not unlike structuralist film critics' dialectically intertwined accounts of the scopophilia and scopophobia of viewing relations, simply enlarged from the limited realm of the gaze to encompass the entire range of subjectivity. As such, the conspiratorial mindset is that mode of desire, of lack, which attempts to attain the “secret,” while the celebrity subject is that element of excess without which desire is unthinkable. As one might expect, the paparazzi and gossip sites’s strategies of intrusion have historically operated primarily through the conspiratorial mindset, with endless conjecture about what is “really happening” behind the scenes. Under the intrusive/conspiratorial paradigm, the authentic celebrity subject is always just out of reach—a chance sighting only serves to reinscribe the need for the next encounter where, it is believed, all will become known. Under such conditions, the conspiratorial mindset of the paparazzi is put into overdrive: because the star can never be “fully” known, there can never be enough information about a star, therefore, more information is always needed. Against this relentless intrusion, the celebrity—whose discursive stability, given the constant imperative for newness in commercial culture, is always in danger—risks a semiotic liquidation that will totally displace his celebrity status as such. Disclosure, e.g. Tweeting, emerges as a possible corrective to the endlessly associative logic of the paparazzi’s conspiratorial indset. In other words, through Twitter, the celebrity seeks to arrest meaning—fixing it in place around their own seemingly coherent narrativisation. The publicist’s new task, then, is to convincingly counter such unsanctioned, intrusive, surveillance-based discourse. Stars continue to give interviews, of course, and many regularly pose as “authors” of their own homepages and blogs. Yet as posited above, Twitter has emerged as the most salient means of generating “authentic” celebrity disclosure, simultaneously countering the efforts of the papparazzi, fan mags, and gossip blogs to complicate or rewrite the meaning of the star. The star uses the account—verified, by Twitter, as the “real” star—both as a means to disclose their true interior state of being and to counter erastz narratives circulating about them. Twitter’s appeal for both celebrities and their followers comes from the ostensible spontaneity of the tweets, as the seemingly unrehearsed quality of the communiqués lends the form an immediacy and casualness unmatched by blogs or official websites; the semantic informality typically employed in the medium obscures their larger professional significance for celebrity tweeters. While Twitter’s air of extemporary intimacy is also offered by other social networking platforms, such as MySpace or Facebook, the latter’s opportunities for public feedback (via wall-posts and the like) works counter to the tight image control offered by Twitter’s broadcast-esque model. Additionally, because of the uncertain nature of the tweet release cycle—has Ashton Kutcher sent a new tweet yet?—the voyeuristic nature of the tweet disclosure (with its real-time nature offering a level of synchronic intimacy that letters never could have matched), and the semantically displaced nature of the medium, it is a form of disclosure perfectly attuned to the conspiratorial mindset of the technoculture. As mentioned above, however, the conspiratorial mindset is an unstable subjectivity, insofar as it only exists through a constant oscillation with its twin, the celebrity subjectivity. While we can understand that, for the celebrities, Twitter functions by allowing them a mode for disclosive/celebrity subjectivisation, we have not yet seen how the celebrity itself is rendered conspiratorial through Twitter. Similarly, only the conspiratorial mode of the follower’s subjectivity has thus far been enumerated; the moment of the follower's celebrtification has so far gone unmentioned. Since we have seen that the celebrity function of Twitter is not really about discourse per se, we should instead understand that the ideological value of Twitter comes from the act of tweeting itself, of finding pleasure in being engaged in a techno-social system in which one's participation is recognised. Recognition and participation should be qualified, though, as it is not the fully active type of participation one might expect in say, the electoral politics of a representative democracy. Instead, it is a participation in a sort of epistemological viewing relations, or, as Jodi Dean describes it, “that we understand ourselves as known is what makes us think there is that there is a public that knows us” (122). The fans’ recognition by the celebrity—the way in which they understood themselves as known by the star was once the receipt of a hand-signed letter (and a latent expectation that the celebrity had read the fan’s initial letter); such an exchange conferred to the fan a momentary sense of participation in the celebrity's extraordinary aura. Under Twitter, however, such an exchange does not occur, as that feeling of one-to-one interaction is absent; simply by looking elsewhere on the screen, one can confirm that a celebrity's tweet was received by two million other individuals. The closest a fan can come to that older modality of recognition is by sending a message to the celebrity that the celebrity then “re-tweets” to his broader following. Beyond the obvious levels of technological estrangement involved in such recognition is the fact that the identity of the re-tweeted fan will not be known by the celebrity’s other two million followers. That sense of sharing in the celebrity’s extraordinary aura is altered by an awareness that the very act of recognition largely entails performing one’s relative anonymity in front of the other wholly anonymous followers. As the associative, conspiratorial mindset of the star endlessly searches for fodder through which to maintain its image, fans allow what was previously a personal moment of recognition to be transformed into a public one. That is, the conditions through which one realises one’s personal subjectivity are, in fact, themselves becoming remade according to the logic of celebrity, in which priority is given to the simple fact of visibility over that of the actual object made visible. Against such an opaque cultural transformation, the recent rise of reactionary libertarianism and anti-collectivist sentiment is hardly surprising. ReferencesBaudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: Michigan UP, 1994.Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1968. Dean, Jodi. Publicity’s Secret: How Technoculture Capitalizes on Democracy. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2003. DeCordova, Richard. Picture Personalities: The Emergence of the Star System in America. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990. Jenkins, Henry. “The Message of Twitter: ‘Here It Is’ and ‘Here I Am.’” Confessions of an Aca-Fan. 23 Aug. 2009. 15 Sep. 2009 &lt; http://henryjenkins.org/2009/08/the_message_of_twitter.html &gt;.Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Minneapolis: Minnesota UP, 1984.Ranciere, Jacques. The Future of the Image. New York: Verso, 2007.

<strong>Transparency</strong> Transparency means the continuous sharing of information, decision making, and implementation should be open. It is not sufficient that should simply be made available. It must also be reliable and presented in useful and understandable ways in order to facilitate accountability.[1]Information should be accessible in that every citizen can participate in the debates. Such information helps to ensure a level playing field and encourage the effective participation of all social groups and partnership between different sectors. Transparency makes the institution and organizations more responsible.[2] Transparency refers to availability of information to the general public and clarity about government rules, regulations and decisions. Transparency refers to unfettered access by the public to timely and reliable information on decision and performance in the public sector. Access to accurate and timely information about the economy and government policies can be vital for economic decision making by the private sector. Transparency in government decision making and public policy implementation reduces uncertainty and can help inhibit corruption among public officials. <strong>Different Dimensions of Transparency</strong> Transparency is to be ensured different dimensions namely,[3] 1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Openness in public dealings; 2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Right to information relating to the service delivery process; 3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Right to information relating to criteria and their applications; 4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Right to information relating to public expenditure/contract;&nbsp; 5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Enactment relating to the right to information; 6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Code relating to access to information; and 7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Openness in the cost of the project, quality standard, etc <strong>Transparency in Bangladesh: Legal Mechanism</strong> Access to information is very much important for ensuring transparency in the administration. The easy access to information can create awareness about peoples&rsquo; right and responsibilities of the government. People can take part in the development and decision-making process upon&nbsp;information and shall have the due share end else can ensure balanced development and also work for equality among the people. The access to information or freedom of expression is the precondition to the fulfillment of all other rights in the democratic society. Access to information and freedom of expression are closely connected. If information is not available, the freedom of expression will be meaningless. These have been recognized as human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. <em>Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and&nbsp;</em>freedom of opinion and expression.&nbsp;<em>observance.</em>&nbsp;<em><strong>[4]</strong></em> The right of access to public information has also been recognized by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as a fundamental human right, which became the first international tribunal to do so. In the case <strong><em>Claude Reyes,<strong>[5]</strong></em></strong> the Court held that any restrictions of access to information need to be based on satisfying an imperative public interest, and if there are several options to attain that objective, the one which poses the least restrictions to the protected right should be selected. Therefore, state authorities should be ruled by the principle of maximum disclosure, on the assumption that all information should be accessible, limited only by a restricted system of exemptions. In those cases, the state bears the burden of proving the legitimacy of the restriction. <strong>Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights</strong>&nbsp;and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides their guarantees of freedom of expression in the language that is strikingly similar and spare. It assures individuals that the fundamental right to be free from governmental interference in expressing their sentiments. Article 10 provides the safeguard in these few words, &lsquo;Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom &hellip;. to receive and impart information and ideas without inference by public authority.&rsquo; This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek&nbsp;receive and impart information and ideas through any&nbsp;media&nbsp;and regardless of frontiers.[6] &nbsp; For making the UDHR mandatory, the International Covenant on Civil and Political&nbsp;Rights (ICCPR) adopted and opened for signature, ratification&nbsp;&nbsp;and accession by UN General Assembly resolution&nbsp;&nbsp;22004&nbsp;(XXI) of 16 December 1966 and became effective on 23^rd&nbsp;&nbsp;March 1976. Article 19 of the&nbsp;ICCPR&nbsp;provides that 1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Everyone&nbsp;shall&nbsp;have the right to hold opinions without interference. 2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Everyone&nbsp;shall&nbsp;have the right to freedom of expressing; this right&nbsp;shall&nbsp;include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art. or through any other media of his choice. 3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The exercise of the rights provided in paragraph&nbsp;<em>2&nbsp;</em>of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may, therefore, be subject to certain restrictions, but these&nbsp;shall only&nbsp;be such as are provided by law and are necessary: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(b) For the protection of national security, or of&nbsp;public&nbsp;order, or of&nbsp;public&nbsp;health or&nbsp;morals.&nbsp;&nbsp; Bangladesh ratified the ICCPR in 2000 and is pleased bound to guarantee access to information to all its citizens. The Constitution of Bangladesh provides necessary controlling measures (both internal and external) for making the administration accountable and transparent. For example, Article 134 stipulates that except as otherwise provided by this Constitution every person in the service of the Republic shall hold office during the pleasure of the President. Article 55(3) says that the cabinet shall be collectively responsible to parliament. Article 11 of the Constitution of the People&#39;s Republic of Bangladesh guarantees basic human rights including access to information. For ensuring transparency of the government functions, the Constitution has guaranteed&nbsp;the freedom of thought and conscience.&quot; The Constitution&nbsp;also provides that subject to any reasonable restrictions&nbsp;imposed by law in the interests of the security of the state,&nbsp;friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or&nbsp;incitement to an offense&nbsp;<strong>-&nbsp;</strong>(a) the right of every citizen to&nbsp;freedom of speech and expression; and (b) freedom of the&nbsp;press.48&nbsp;There was however no progress until a draft law on Right to&nbsp;Information was prepared in 2002 and promulgated by the&nbsp;Caretaker Government through an ordinance in 2008.&nbsp;However, the elected government finally passed the Right to&nbsp;Information Act in 2009 with a view to ensuring a free flow of&nbsp;information and people&rsquo;s right to information.[7] The preamble&nbsp;of this Act recognizes that if the right to information of the&nbsp;people is ensured, the transparency and accountability of all&nbsp;public, autonomous and statutory organizations and of other&nbsp;private institutions constituted or run by government or&nbsp;foreign financing shall increase, corruption of the same shall&nbsp;decrease and good governance of the same shall be&nbsp;established. The salient features of this act is as follows: a.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The objective of the act is to ensure transparency and&nbsp;accountability in public, Autonomous, statutory&nbsp;organizations and private institutions .which are&nbsp;constituted run by a government or foreign funds. b.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For&nbsp;providing&nbsp;information according to this act, all authorities are bound to appoint designated officer m each unit of the department concerned within 60 days at the commencement of this act and the authority concerned shall inform the Information Commission&nbsp;about&nbsp;the name Designation, address, fax number, the e-mail address of the designated officer within 15 working days of such appointment. c.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The authority of the concerned office is bound to&nbsp;give&nbsp;information on the request (request may be made either&nbsp;written or electronic or e-mail) from any citizen. The&nbsp;designated officer shall provide information within 20&nbsp;working days from the date of receiving the request. In&nbsp;case of more than one authority, the time&nbsp;limit is 30 working days. But if the request is related to&nbsp;life and death, arrest and release from the jail of any&nbsp;person, the officer. in charge shall provide the preliminary&nbsp;information within 24 hours. Failing to provide&nbsp;information within the prescribed above time is considered&nbsp;as rejection of the request. This act makes some restrictions, where the authority concerned, shall not be bound to provide information. But prior approval of these restrictions from the Information The commission is essential. A list of 20 subjects has been considered as a matter of restrictions;&nbsp;<strong>viz.,&nbsp;</strong>matters relating to national security, integrity and sovereignty; a foreign policy that may hamper the relationship with foreign country, international organization or any regional alliance or organization; secret information received from a foreign country; information relating to intellectual property rights; any advance information relating to custom, VAT, tax, the exchange rate that may be gainful or damaging to any particular individual or organization; any information obstructing the enforcement of the law; information endangering the security of the public or impede the due judicial process of a pending case; offend the privacy of the personal life of an individual; endanger the life or physical safety of anybody; matters that may cause contempt of court; impede the process of investigation; prejudicial to the special rights of the House of the Nation; summary for the discussion or the decision of the Cabinet or Council of Advisers, etc. g.&nbsp;Establishment of independent Information Commission is one of the prime concerns of this act. The head office of the Commission shall be at Dhaka, but the Commission may establish branch offices anywhere in Bangladesh. The Commission shall be consist of the Chief Information Commissioner and 2 other Commissioners, at least one of whom shall be a woman. The Chief Information Commissioner and other Information Commissioners shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the selection committee. The selection committee is composed of 5 members having a judge of the Appellate Division nominated by the Chief Justice, who shall be its chairman, Cabinet Secretary, one Member of Parliament from the ruling party and one from the opposition, one from the profession of journalism or a prominent member of the society related to mass communication nominated by the government. As a watchdog authority of implementing of the right to information of the citizens, the Commission shall receive, inquire into and dispose of any complaint according to the provisions of this act. The Information Commission may exercise such powers as a civil court may exercise under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 in respect of issuing a summons, inspecting and examining information, receiving evidence on affidavit, etc. Besides, the Information Commission has been assigned to take necessary measures for fulfilling the spirit of the Right to Information Act. h.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A person may lodge&nbsp;a&nbsp;complaint to the Information Commission if he gets no information&nbsp;from&nbsp;the authority or if he is dissatisfied with the decision on his&nbsp;appeal.&nbsp;The act provides detail&nbsp;reasons&nbsp;for&nbsp;making a&nbsp;complaint before the Commission. The Information Commission may take various actions in this regard. The Information Commission shall have the power to reject any complaint, to direct the authority or the officer-in-charge for providing the requested information in&nbsp;a&nbsp;specific&nbsp;manner&nbsp;among&nbsp;others. Moreover, the Information The commission may impose fine if the officer-in-charge refuses to receive any request without any&nbsp;reason&nbsp;or fails to provide information within the time limit or refuses to receive&nbsp;a&nbsp;request or an&nbsp;appeal&nbsp;with&nbsp;mala&nbsp;fide intention or provides&nbsp;wrong,&nbsp;incomplete,&nbsp;confusing&nbsp;and distorted information. i.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When&nbsp;a&nbsp;complaint is disposed of by the Information Commission shall be binding&nbsp;upon&nbsp;all concerned and no person can raise any question before any court for anything which has been done under this act except preferring an&nbsp;appeal&nbsp;before an appellate authority or lodging&nbsp;a the&nbsp;complaint before the Information Commission. j.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Legal and other Obstacles in the way of Right to Information<strong>:</strong>&nbsp;In&nbsp;a&nbsp;democratic society, there should be right to know and let others know about everything of public interest. Obtaining information is necessary for building any opinion. Inline with this view, the Bangladesh Constitution has guaranteed the freedom of speech and expression&nbsp;along&nbsp;with freedom of the press. Specific law regarding the right to information has&nbsp;also&nbsp;been promulgated and came into force. But there are some inconsistencies of the existing laws and due to the presence of some legal and practical barriers, free flow of information is being hampered and right to information as well as the transparency&nbsp;is virtually not ensured. Some of these causes are discussed below. k. The ICT Amendment Act, 2013:&nbsp;The prevalence &nbsp;of the freedom of expression in the country can be understood by the presence of the following indicator of free and independent [8] The right to freedom of expression guarantees every individual to write and speak freely without undue interferences from the incumbent government. Freedom of expression is called one of the cornerstones of democracy. It also secures other fundamentals of democracy like pluralism and free, fair and transparent elections. Furthermore, a healthy government will encourage the media to provide legitimate criticism. This will raise the country&#39;s reputation abroad. Moreover, open criticism will reduce corruption and mismanagement, which caused harm to the economy. It is not worthy to mention here that all of the world&#39;s strongest economies allow open criticism for the betterment of their countries&nbsp;&nbsp;.[9] The section 57 of the ICT (Amendment) Act of 2013 provides that &ldquo;If any person deliberately publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the website or in any other electronic form any material which is false and obscene and if anyone sees, hears or reads it having regard to all relevant circumstances, its effect is such as to influence the reader to become dishonest or corrupt, or causes to deteriorate or creates a possibility to deteriorate law and order, prejudice the image of the state or person or causes to hurt or may hurt religious belief or instigate against any person or organization, then this activity will be regarded as an offense.&rdquo; To conclude, the ICT (Amendment) Act, 2013 is a direct threat to freedom of expression because it contradicts to the Constitution of Bangladesh and Right to Information Act as well as challenges for privacy and Human Rights. It is true that cyber-crimes are on the rise and we have to deal with them within a legal framework. Therefore, we must adopt new laws as required in current times. The amendment of the ICT law is more about violating citizens&#39; constitutional right to freedom of expression than protecting their liberty. We the citizens of the country don&#39;t want oppression in the name of protection. The government can take the ICT Act to protect and control the misuse of information technology. But the act should be clear and specific, so that it may not affect the right to freedom of expression of the citizens. Criminal offenses under section 57 are very loosely defined. By such definition that is contrary to the basic principle of Criminal law, has been expanded the state power upon the infliction of unnecessary and precarious punishment.&nbsp;Through the use of indefinite/vague terms of 57&nbsp;Section &ndash; for example, &ldquo;the image crisis of state and people&quot;) have been denied fundamental &ldquo;principle of certainty&rdquo; of criminal law. It has been created the opportunity to bring any of the innocent or legitimate online publications/dissemination, under the wish of state and punishment. The Amendments ordinance 2013- section 57 defined by loosely and indefinite/vague words- by making several offenses cognizable and non-bailable, has created unlimited opportunities for state harassment and oppression. The act was used for the first time in April 2013 to arrest four bloggers who had been vocal on different social issues and mostly wrote against religious extremism. They were formally indicted in September for alleged anti-Islamic comments. By then, however, the penalties they faced had increased to a maximum 14 years in prison under an amendment passed in August 2013 without regard for civil society criticism.2 Police no longer need a warrant to make arrests under the amended act, and used it to detain at least eight bloggers, Facebook users, journalists, and civil society activists for criticizing the government or the prime minister during the coverage period of this report. About 400 cases are pending in different court against the print and electronic media worker under this Act. In recent time 5 section of the ICT Act including 57 has abolished but these sections come in new form in the Digital Security Act, 2018. If we look at our neighboring country, India; we find that the Indian Supreme Court in March 2015 struck down almost a similar section like section 57 of the Act of 2013, terming it unconstitutional. The court observed section 66A of the Information Technology Act hit at the root of liberty and freedom of expression, two cardinal pillars of democracy.[10] Digital Security Act, 2018 The Digital Security Act, 2018 is the absolute restriction on the way of access to information or right to information as well as transparency. About this Act, there was a storm of severe criticism from the beginning of the law. The editorial council rejected the law. They objected to the 8,21,25,28,29,31,32,43 and 53 sections of the law. The journalist union also raised objections to the law. In above sections of Digital Security Act, there is a fear of harassment in the opinion of the public, which will hamper independent journalism. For example, Section 32 of the Act provides for the provision of the spying of spies for digital crimes. It states that &quot;If a person enters, transmits or preserves, preserves or preserves through any illegal, most secretive information-data computer, digital device, computer network or any other electronic, official, semi-government, autonomous or statutory agency through the illegal entry. , Then it would be a crime for a computer or digital spying. &#39;&nbsp;For this purpose, the person concerned will be sentenced to a maximum of 14 years imprisonment or a fine of Tk 25 lakh or both. If the same person repeats the same mistake, he or she will be sentenced to life imprisonment or one core taka, or both. In this context, Article 32 of the Digital Security Act has created a new controversy. Naturally, the question arises, the controversial 57 articles of the IT Act is coming back as a section of the Digital Security Act. Article 28 states that the maximum punishment for the 10 years in prison is to suffer religious injuries or hurt feelings. On the other hand, if some publicity campaign is&nbsp;published in section 29, it will be sentenced to three years. According to Section 30, if you have to pay e-transaction for any bank, insurance or financial institution beyond the law, you will have to face five years in prison. Besides, the provision of various penalties and penalties for hacking, destruction of the computer source code, and illegal possession, transmission, and preservation of government information. Most of the new laws are not bailable. However, there is a provision of bail for the offenses of defamation of 20, 25 and 48 of 29 defamation cases.[11] Mahfuz Anam, general secretary of the Editor&#39;s Council of Bangladesh, editor of the newspaper, thinks that the work of the media-workers will be constrained by this act.[12] According to the law, after the introduction of Article 57 in the ICT Act in 2013, for the last several years, Media and human rights activists complained about the cancellation. He said, &quot;Section 32 of the law says the 14-year sentence for breaking the government&#39;s secret through digital means. What is the secret of government? Anything that the government is not officially informing people, that&#39;s going to be secret. According to this law, it is not the right to know the people. Because the&nbsp;government does not tell it. But the journalists know 24 hours of work. It is a state secret because I can&rsquo;t do journalism here. According to him, without the warranty, the power of search, seizure, and arrest under section 43 of the law will also be under pressure by the media workers.&nbsp;According to Article 43, if a police officer arrives at my media office and finds that he needs to enter his official server for the sake of the investigation and if he seizes the server, then the sign of the crime should not exist or not, because the server was seized, my publication of the day was closed. To be kept. Section 53 of the Digital Security Act says that there will be 14 sections of the law non-bailable. In this case, human rights activist Sultana Kamal, the leader of human rights movement, will face the risk.&nbsp;He said, &quot;14 sections of the law have been made non-bailable. If anyone arrested in this section, he will not be bailed. And maybe it will be a long time to prove its crime. Until then, he has to be arrested. It is not possible to do such a thing only when the force which is not working on suspicion. &quot;Under Article 25, 28, 29 and 31 of the new laws, the issues of the person and the state of the country are hurt, religious feelings, injury of somebody, defamation of law and order and deterioration of law and order, are referred to as offenses. The punishments of those who are sentenced from three to seven years of imprisonment. But there is enough scope for misuse of these crimes, because the crimes are not clearly defined. <strong>National Broadcasting Policy, 2014</strong> The National Broadcasting Policy has enacted in 2014. Right to information of the citizens has seriously hampered by this Act. By this Act, the government wants to control criticism against it. There was a lot of objection against this Act from the media and civil society.&nbsp;The terms and conditions for which television licenses are issued are not conducive to&nbsp;independent media, and new policy conditions will get worse.&nbsp;&quot;It is said that there is nothing to say about the officer who&nbsp;can give a criminal punishment? But all government officials&nbsp;have the power to punish anyhow. If someone in despair,&nbsp;then is&nbsp;it news or not?&nbsp;&nbsp;In talk shows, politicians often talk about. If we do not preach a party, we are going to tilt in one direction. There are lots of untrue statements seen in the two campaigns. Syed Ishtiaq Reza Says,&nbsp;&quot;We give up the responsibility of judging the reader or the audience. But if the responsibility of considering this trial only goes to the government, then it is a fear of misuse&rdquo;.Untrue reports and misleading statements can not be broadcast on talk shows or news shows. At the same time, the Talk Show has given instructions for giving equal opportunities to both parties. Besides this Act, the government has taken initiative to pass a new Act which will impose more restriction on media&nbsp;.[13] <strong>Government Service Rules 1979 </strong> It has specified that disclosures of departmental information would be punished but the RTI Act exempted them of any punishment. The service rule may be amended to match the RTI Act to make the process smooth. Moreover, there are some existing laws which are making hindrances in the way of ensuring the objectives of RTI Act. These are: <strong>The Official Secrets Act, 1923. (Act No. XIX of 1923)</strong> Section 5 makes the communication of any official information by a Government Officer an offence punishable under the said section and thereby prevents citizens from having access to official information. <strong>Section 123, 124 85 162 of the Evidence Act, 1872 (Act No. 1 of 1872)</strong> <strong>Section-123</strong> No one shall be permitted to give any evidence derived from unpublished official records relating to any affairs of state, except with the permission of the officer at the head of the department concerned, who shall give or withhold such permission as he thinks fit. <strong>Section-124</strong> No public officer shall be compelled to disclose communications made to him in official confidence, when he considers that the public interests would suffer by the disclosure. <strong>Section-162</strong> <strong>...... </strong>The Court, if it sees fit, may inspect the document, unless it refers to matters of State, or takes other evidence to enable it to determine on its admissibility. <strong>Rules 28 (1) of the Rules of Business, 1996</strong> No information acquired directly or indirectly from official documents or relating to official matters shall be communicated by government servant to the press, to non-officials or even officials belonging to other Government offices, unless he has been generally or specially empowered to do so. <strong>Rule 19 of the Government Servants (Conduct) Rule1979</strong> <strong>A </strong>Government servant shall not unless generally or specially empowered by the government in this behalf, disclose directly or indirectly to government servant belonging to other ministries, Divisions or Departments, Or to non-official persons or to the press, the contents of any official document or communicate any information which has come into his possession in the course of his official duties, or has been prepared-or collected by him in the course of those duties, whether from official sources or&nbsp; otherwise. <strong>Oath (Affirmation) of Secrecy under the Bangladesh Constitution.</strong> The 3rd Schedule of the Constitution prohibits the Prime Minister and other Ministers to communicate directly or indirectly or to reveal any matter to any person. The RTI act has made a good number of restrictions by the name of state security or other petty reasons where the authority concerned is not bound to provide information. This list is too large. About 20 matters have been listed under this perpetual information not giving principle. This is not but the destitution of giving information. There is a bar to go to the court for remedy. Without making an appeal before and appellate authority or lodging a complaint before the Information Commission no aggrieved person can raise any question before any court against any action or decision or order or instruction made under the Right to Information Act. There is uncertainty to give third party involved information. There is a jugglery with figures for not giving information by the name of third party involvement. As per section 13(1) of the Act, the Information Commission can entertain complaint if a particular authority does not appoint designated officer. But the Commission does not have the power to direct the concern authority to personally appear before the Commission. The Indian Right to Information Act 2005 has given the Commission such independence and authority. So far as it is known, the different bodies of the government has nominated more than thousand government officers and staffs as&#39; designated officers whereas a very few number(201) of non government institutions have appointed designated officers out of some 30000 NGOs. As NGOs were very much concern about the enactment of RTI act, they should be more responsive in terms of appointing designated officers. The aim of RTI act is to make the vulnerable section informed of their rights and privileges under this act. Unfortunately, the citizens are not aware of this act or Commission established under this act and its functions. The RTI should be widely discussed in all forums and media. The civil society may play a lead role to make it known to all citizens of the country. Side by side, workshops should be organized for the public officials, civil society members, human rights activists, journalists and lawyers to facilitate better understanding of RTI. But its our pleasure that the Information Commission is enlightening the mass people about right to information and RTI act through SMS mobile phone message and TV scroll <strong>Some other Practical Barriers</strong> The public servants do not feel shy to show indifference and ignorance towards the law, rules, regulations and rule of law. Appropriate system has not yet been established for achieving the target of administration around the time limit. Political interference upon administration has made our democracy about to cripple. The nation expects fair, honest and impartial administration in terms of the performance of their duties and responsibility. But all successive regimes of Bangladesh have covertly or/and overtly politicized the bureaucracy in varying degrees for advancing their partisan agenda. Involvement of public officials on the jonotar moncho (public dais) in early 1996, appointment of about 450 loyal officials as DC, ADC, UNO before expiry of Awami League tenure in 2001, promotion and posting of a large number of officials were made on political consideration by the present four party alliance in 2003- 2004 are the glaring examples. One of the main reasons for non-establishment of accountability in the administration is lack of merited people in the administration. Skilled, efficient and worth civil servants are a must for good governance and development of a country. But our national administrative machinery is bereft of such kind of officials. Acknowledging such problem, Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia said that a terrible dearth of merit has eclipsed our entire national life setting off deep crisis all around and unfortunately public administration has also not been any exception to the rule.[14] This can be attributed to two broad reasons, namely: the ever declining quality of the top ranking civil servants, and the reckless and forced politicizing of the whole administrative structure. The principle of power delegation is not explained clearly. Usually annual confidential report is not so authentic. Almost it is dependent upon the personal relationship with the controlling authority, not on performance. Lack of proper attitude and training of the officers. Unsolicited and unexpected pressure of labour associations <strong>/ </strong>trade unions on administration. To disobey the rules of service, to realise undue privileges from the job and to use the government transportation abruptly are the part of our today&rsquo;s culture. It has been created for decadence of value. For a long period of time our administration has been known as persuasion model of administration and it is not run without any recommendation, request etc. <strong>Transparency in Bangladesh</strong>: <strong>Institutional Mechanism</strong> The Government&#39;s transparency is the opportunity where the citizens&#39; can access Government&#39;s administrative process, activities and information. Accessibility of information and data is the core element of transparent bureaucracy. To impose restriction on information without reasonable grounds is one types of fraud. Keep the citizens away from reality being identified as their outsiders. The main mechanism of establishing transparency in Bangladesh is as follows: <strong>Decentralization</strong> The transparent bureaucracy creates opportunities fort acceptable and understandable decision making process. This is only possible when the administrative system is decentralized up to the local area and people are given the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. The local government is result of the concept of decentralization. As a result, local people get the chance to know what is going on inside the government. The entire government administration in Bangladesh has been decentralized through the creation of 4562 unions, 492 upazillas 650 thanas and 64 districts.¹⁶The 64 district administrations is the decentralized nature of the Government of Bangladesh. Every district administration is the representative of the national government and the way of social services of citizens of each district. There are district and administrative courts of every district. It is headed by the deputy commissioner and he is responsible for the land revenue and the public justice system. In order to ensure transparency and accountability as well as remove suffering of public there are three conferences held regularly at the Deputy Commissioner&#39;s Office every month like: Conference on law and order, conference on trials and conference on police administration. These monthly conferences are an effective strategy to continue transparency. Besides, they are helpful in clarifying misunderstandings, confusions and issues related to citizen life. In the law and order conference, all the representatives of the society, such as lawyers, transport workers, teachers, doctors, representatives of women society, municipal councils, concerned all the upazila administrators and journalists were called for the conference and the current socioeconomic problems of the people were discussed openly. Participants of the conference discussed about drug abuse, market value, transport system, important test management. On the judicial conference, open negotiations were discussed to clarify mutual understanding and issues concerning justice. The settlement status of the case is assessed at the conference. The member of law enforcement agencies, government lawyers and upazila executive officers, magistrates, corruption officials, civil surgeon and karapal were invited to the law and order conference. The issues related to arrest warrant, law and order situation, diversity of crime and dimensions, hanging cases, medical reports are reviewed in this conference. So these conferences create the areas of discussion on the major issues local administration.[15] <strong>Independent newspaper</strong> In the establishment of a transparent government, press and media play an important role and the observer&#39;s responsibility. In the case of mischief, irregularity and wrongful disclosure, the newspaper has huge responsibilities. Only if the democratic environment prevails in the country, the media can work independently and effectively. Since the establishment of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh in 1991, newspapers are enjoying enough freedom. Newspapers are writing news and reports independently on administrative activity, inactivity and corruption. Magazines are active in discussions about abuses of power, government officials&#39; arrogance. This newspaper work has been done to insulate the government officials. Likewise, newspaper work for elected representatives, for this reason they are vigilant in neglecting their duties and responsibilities. Recently reports publish on newspaper against administrators, public complaints are increasing day by day. In spite of being trained in public-oriented development of government officials, regular reports were published in the newspapers about their arbitrariness, misuse of power, dishonesty, arrogance and jealousy. Other complaints include delay in settlement of cases, nepotism, regionalism, bias, interest, wrong interpretation of rules, violation, wasteful, bribe taking, deliberately neglecting the responsibilities, giving unfair advantage to others and avoiding duty. These are signs of lack of transparency in administration. <strong>Ombudsman</strong> In order to ensure accountability and transparency, the Ombudsman is mentioned in article 77 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. Ombudsman is an effective arrangement for the people to face direct complaints against the administration. When the Ombudsman system is implemented, it is possible to reduce the distance between the democratic government and the people. <strong>Government money</strong> Publicly, the budget is a strategy to control public money. The responsibility of the elected representatives in Bangladesh is to allocate government funds to the different expenditure and continue the provision of this expenditure through the members of the civil service. The budget is mainly a revenue administration and money allocation document. This indicates the source of income and the proposed expense. The responsibility of the Ministry of Finance is to create annual financial statements and to present it in Parliament under the official rules. Ministry of Finance prepares budget and grants for demand based on estimates received from the heads of government departments and other such organizations. <strong>Parliamentary question-answer</strong> Members of Parliament have the opportunity to ask the administrators about various issues related to government policies and activities. In short notice, the minister responsible for any governmental activity has to explain publicly. Supplementary questions may also arise in this regard. These questions always alert the administrators and ministers; Because it usually reflects public opinion. Publicly asked the minister, but in reality the government officials made the answers to these questions. These questions and responses session were circulated in newspapers and television. <strong>Training</strong> The government&#39;s responsibility is to train the government officials and regenerate politicians in the administration. The Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center conducts training programs of all government officials. In order to implement the government&#39;s plan to meet the needs of the civil services and to create a transparent and accountable administration, this center has created training syllabus for junior and senior government officials. Regular inter-departmental discussions and workshops / seminars are held to strengthen the viewpoint of the functioning of the government officials and the fundamental basis for the need for transparency. Government transparency can be realized from how government is active in the face of public changes and new problems arising. Transparency and democracy complement each other. Through the establishment of democratic system, the practice of transparency is possible only in politics or bureaucracy. &nbsp; &nbsp; <strong>Judiciary</strong> The scenery of the transparency in the judicial system of Bangladesh is not so bad. Here the judges are appointed by the government gazette notification as well as a competitive examination. Without camera trial anyone can present in the court room at the time of hearing. Both parties get equal opportunity for their self defense. Parties can collect the copy of order and judgment. Followings are the key points of transparency in the judicial system of Bangladesh: &bull; Existence of a website. &bull; Publishing and updating of rulings and regulations as well as decision. &bull; Publishing of statistics on cases filed, resolved and pending. &bull; Publishing of the Courts&rsquo; agenda. &bull; Budget, salaries, background, assets and income, and disciplinary matters on relevant officials. &bull; Publishing of bidding and procurement information for contracts. &bull; Access and information regime.[16] On the other hand, Independence judiciary is the essential requirement of transparency. It plays an vital role to ensure transparency and accountability in the administration. Judiciary is the only way to enforce the fundamental rights of the citizen. To ensure freedom of expression and right to information judiciary plays important role. <strong>Comptroller &amp; Auditor General</strong> The Comptroller &amp; Auditor General (CAG) is the most important organ which plays important role to ensure transparency. It justified whether the money approved by the parliament are spent for the purpose intended and in effective and efficient manner. After such auditing the CAG submits its report to the President of the Republic and the President causes it to be laid before parliament.[17] The PAC (Public Account Committee) of the Parliament scrutinizes the report and the PAC plays a vital to question the accounting officer of the concerned ministry. The officer is responsible to express necessary information before the Court. The PAC can take evidence in the public and ask question to other witness. <strong>Election Commission</strong> Freedom of expression is the fundamental right of the citizen in our country. Giving vote is the most important way to execute this right. On the other hand, in the democratic system people control the government power by giving vote. Honest, qualified and eligible peoples&rsquo; representative is the precondition of transparency. Citizens of state participate indirectly to the government by elected their representative. Here election commission is responsible to ensure free and fair election. In previous time, election commission have played vital role to elect honest, qualified and eligible peoples&rsquo; representative. But in the present time if we look some recent local and national election, it has failed to ensure free and fair election. Here mentionable that, if the political government and elected representatives are corrupted, it not possible for administrative officer be free from corruption. For this reason transparency of government can&rsquo;t be ensured properly in Bangladesh. <strong>Suggestions to improve Transparency</strong> Transparency is a wide range concept. Followings are the key points to improve transparency in Bangladesh: We can extend the way of transparency by removing all sections or provisions of different Act which imposed restriction against transparency and right to information. The state must ensure freedom and responsibility of newspaper because it plays vital role to ensure transparency by publishing correct and neutral news. The governor, officer and staff of the republic must be honest and qualified as well as they will have high professional ethics. Radio and television can ensure administrative transparency by telecasting fast news and video. Report, interview, question-answer and live program can play vital role to ensure the rights and interests of the citizen. Under article 76 of the constitution of Bangladesh, effective Public Accounts Committee (PAC) can ensure transparency in the administration by the accountability of the principal account officer about spend public money. Privilege and Standing Parliamentary Committee can play vital role to ensure transparency by investigating important administrative matter in the different parts of administration. Effective and powerful ombudsman post shall be core element of transparency under article 77(2) of the Constitution of Bangladesh. <strong>Conclusion</strong> Information is available about such government activities which are done by efficiently, properly, legally and only for the benefit of stakeholders. But when these activities are not in proper way and purpose, then concern officers are not interested to disclose information about such activities. This is the most important obstacle in the way to transparency. In the present situation in Bangladesh there have some legal restriction in the way to ensure transparency. On the other hand institutional mechanism of transparency is not so good. House of the nation, CAG, PAC, Ombudsman, Election Commission, Print &amp; Electronic media, Judiciary can&rsquo;t perform very well. Bangladesh has so far from the proper transparent government as well as good governance. &nbsp; [1] Kamal Siddiqui, op. cit, p. 4. [2] Mohammad Johurul Islam, &ldquo;Good Governance in Bd: An agenda for Development&rdquo; [3] http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/orissareview/aug2004/engishpdf/pages27 [4] Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 [5] IAHR Court, Case <em>Claude Reyes and others vs., Chile</em>, Sentence from September 19, 2006, Series C, No. 151, par. 90, 91 &amp; 92. [6] Interference of Press Freedom with Administration of Justice: An analysis/Dr. Moammad Abdul Hannan [7] Act no XX of 2009 [8] The Daily Sun 27 July 2017 Tasmhia Nuhia Ahmed) [9] The Lawyers Club Bangladesh.com<strong> <strong>Advocate Mahbobul Alam (Toha)</strong></strong> [10] http://www.daily-sun.com/arcprint/details/243519/Section-57-of-the-ICT-Act-2013/2017-07-27 [11] https://www.jugantor.com/national/12844/%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%80 [12] http://www.abcnewsbd.com/?p=20108 [13] The Daily Prothom Alo/ 16 october 2018 [14] Kazi Alauddin Ahamed, &ldquo;Merit Cerisis in Administration-An introspection&rdquo; The Daily Star/26 february 2004 [15] Transparency of govt/ Syed Nokib Muslim pdf [16] Access to Information &amp; Transparency in the Judiciary/Alvaro Herrero &amp; Gaspaer Lopez/ World Bank Institute/Governance Working paper Series &nbsp; [17] Article 132 of the Constitution Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, 1972