The future is relational: management development for today and tomorrow

PurposeThe authors of this study aim to test a possible turn toward relational, as opposed to agentic, management development program (MDP) content.Design/methodology/approachThe authors performed a content analysis of the literature and qualitative interviews of management coaches/consultants from South Africa and the USA.FindingsIn both studies, the authors found more relational than agentic content comprising MDP content. Interviews revealed a predominance of relational strategies and that agentic and relational skills are often interwoven in development efforts.Practical implicationsThis work may guide management coaches and consultants to offer clients management development (MD) with a greater focus on relational skills.Originality/valueFuture studies should build on our findings to explore whether leadership may now require more relational as opposed to agentic skills.

Central Bank Independence: Where Do We Stand?

Central bank independence (CBI) has long been considered a key aspect of effective monetary policy, as it allows central banks to make decisions free from political interference. However, the global financial crisis of 2007–2008 and recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflict in Ukraine have threatened CBI. This article aims to examine the impact of these events on CBI in OECD member countries, both on a de jure and de facto level, using a variety of indicators. The results suggest that CBI has largely remained unchanged in most countries, but there is disturbing evidence of political interference in CBI in the Republic of Türkiye.

Praising a Dead Dictator: How US Officials' Visits to Taiwan Wade into Complex Historical Debates

The trip occurred soon after Nancy Pelosi had visited the island with a bipartisan delegation of other elected US officials in what was the first visit by a US Speaker of the House of Representatives in 25 years, since Newt Gingrich's mission in 1997 (Timsit 2022). At that point, public comments by US President Joe Biden suggested that he viewed the visit as inadvisable, given the potential for escalation by China in response (Desiderio and Ward 2022). Since the Biden administration took power, it has been more common for US politicians to announce visits to Taiwan only once they have arrived, to minimise the window for China to react. [...]Pelosi's journey was fraught with symbolism—significant stops included meetings with semiconductor executives and a visit to a former prison from the authoritarian era to meet with Tiananmen Square student leader and Uyghur dissident Wu'er Kaixi;the last of the Hong Kong Causeway Bay booksellers to remain free, Lam Wing-kee;and Taiwanese human rights nongovernmental organisation worker Lee Ming-che, who was arrested in China and detained for five years on charges of subversion of state power (Apple Daily 2022).

Robust crisis communication in turbulent times: Conceptualization and empirical evidence from the United States

Drawing on recent research on robust governance, we conceptualize robust crisis communication as a dynamic process centered on evolving public communication demands. We propose a three‐dimensional measurement for empirically examining the robustness of government crisis communication in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We collected 43,642 Twitter messages posted by 50 state governors in the United States from January 1 to June 30, 2020. We applied machine learning algorithms to code the voluminous Twitter data based on messaging topics, sentiments, and interactions. This study found an overall low level of robustness in the governors' crisis communication. Governors most frequently posted reputation management tweets, followed by tweets about the government's handling of the pandemic. This research presents empirical evidence for the heavy influence of politics on governors' crisis communication strategies and highlights the need to understand and build robust crisis communication.摘要本文借鉴稳健性治理的最新相关研究，提出稳健性危机沟通的概念，将其界定为聚焦于满足危机中持续变化的公众沟通需求的动态沟通过程与模式。基于此概念，本文以新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情中的危机沟通为例，构建三维测量方法，用以检验政府危机沟通在内容主题、情感表达和对话互动三方面的稳健程度。本文收集美国50个州长在2020年1月1日至2020年6月30日期间发布的43,642条推特信息，并应用机器学习对所有信息的主题、情感和互动特征进行编码分析。本文发现美国州长危机沟通的稳健性程度总体偏低。美国州长最经常发布与声誉管理相关的推文，其次是政府的疫情防控措施。文章进一步阐释与例证政治因素对州长危机沟通策略的深刻影响，并强调政府部门理解与践行稳健性风险沟通的必要性与重要性。

Open for Economic Activities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Factors Related to State Reopening Policies in a Federal Policy Vacuum

What factors influence state governors to issue an executive order to reopen economic activities more or less quickly when removing the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions? Without comprehensive federal guidelines, state governors were faced with an administrative dilemma in devising mitigation policies that promoted safe public health measures while encouraging more business activity. Following the federal directive to reopen in April 2020, governors in all 50 states signed executive orders, but some waited longer than others. We argue that variation in the timing of the enactment of initial executive orders is influenced by political factors, financial resources factors, interstate factors, and problem severity of the public health incidence. Using an event history analysis, our Cox proportional hazard regression model suggests that states with unified Republican governments, more state funding obtained from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and participation in regional collaboration resumed activities earlier compared to states with more neighbors that issued reopening executive orders and states with more per capita income. Results indicate that, in crisis situations, unified political partisanship, the receipt of federal funding, and coordination with other states facilitate rapid policy adoption.

Lockdown Without Loss? A Natural Experiment of Net Payoffs from COVID-19 Lockdowns: JPP&M

Lacking a federal policy to control the spread of COVID-19, state governors ordered lockdowns and mask mandates, at different times, generating a massive natural experiment. The authors exploit this natural experiment to address four issues: (1) Were lockdowns effective in reducing infections? (2) What were the costs to consumers? (3) Did lockdowns increase (signaling effect) or reduce (substitution effect) consumers' mask adoption? (4) Did governors' decisions depend on medical science or nonmedical drivers? Analyses via difference-in-differences and generalized synthetic control methods indicate that lockdowns causally reduced infections. Although lockdowns reduced infections by 480 per million consumers per day (equivalent to a reduction of 56%), they reduced customer satisfaction by 2.2%, consumer spending by 7.5%, and gross domestic product by 5.4% and significantly increased unemployment by 2% per average state by the end of the observation period. A counterfactual analysis shows that a nationwide lockdown on March 15, 2020, would have reduced total cases by 60%, whereas the absence of any state lockdowns would have resulted in five times more cases by April 30. The average cost of reducing the number of cases by one new infection was about $28,000 in lower gross domestic product.

Following the Science? Examining the Issuance of Stay-At-Home Orders Related to COVID-19 by U.S. Governors

Informed by the public health policymaking literature, this study's objective is to identify scientific, political, social, economic, and external factors related to U.S. governors' decisions to issue stay-at-home orders (SAHOs) in response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health experts advocate for social distancing to slow the spread of infectious diseases, but government mandates to social distance can impose substantial social and economic costs. This study uses event history analysis to investigate the issuance of COVID-19-related gubernatorial SAHOs during a 41-day period in the 50 U.S. states. The findings indicate that scientific, political, and economic factors were associated with the issuance of SAHOs, but that external considerations played the largest role, particularly those related to the timing of other governors' decisions. This study offers evidence about how some U.S. political leaders balance public health concerns against other considerations and, more broadly, how state governments address crisis-level issues.

The Policy Blame Game: How Polarization Distorts Democratic Accountability across the Local, State, and Federal Level

Democratic accountability relies on voters to punish their representatives for policies they dislike. Yet, a separation-of-powers system can make it hard to know who is to blame, and partisan biases further distort voters' evaluations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, precautionary policies were put into place sometimes by governors, sometimes by mayors, and sometimes by no one at all, allowing us to identify when voters hold out-party versus in-party politicians responsible for policies. With a survey spanning 48 states, we test our theory that attitudes toward policies and parties intersect to determine when selective attribution takes place. We find that as individuals increasingly oppose a policy, they are more likely to blame whichever level of government is led by the out-party. This is most pronounced among partisans with strong in-party biases. We provide important insight into the mechanisms that drive selective attribution and the conditions under which democratic accountability is at risk.

Risk governance during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A quantitative content analysis of governors' narratives on twitter

The current study addresses the communication aspect of risk governance during the COVID‐19 pandemic by examining whether governors' tweets differ by political party, gender and crisis phase. Drawing on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Crisis Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) model and framing literature, we examined the salience of five CERC's communication objectives, namely acknowledge crisis with empathy, promote protective actions, describe preparedness/response efforts, address rumours and misunderstanding and segment audience. Using a deductive and inductive approach, we analysed 7000 Twitter messages sent by the 50 US state governors during the period of 13 March 2020 to 17 August 2020. Our findings suggest that governors' tweets aligned with CERC's communication objectives to a varying degree. We found main and interaction effects of political party, gender and crisis phase on governors' communication objectives. New emergent communication objectives included attention to mental health, call for social influencers and promoting hope. Implications are discussed.

The Degree of Practicing Electronic Management by Kindergarten Principals in Karak Governorate in Light of Corona Pandemic

This study aimed to reveal the degree of electronic management practice for kindergarten principals in Karak governorate in light of Corona pandemic. The descriptive - survey methodology was used. The study sample consisted of (84) kindergarten teachers. They were selected by using stratified random method. The questionnaire was used as a tool to collect data of the study. Its validity and reliability were assured. The findings of the study indicated that the degree of practicing electronic management by kindergarten principals in Karak governorate in light of Corona pandemic was medium. There were no statistically significant differences in the degree of practicing electronic management by kindergarten principals attributed to kindergarten type, academic qualification and experience variables. In light of the findings, several recommendations were made, including: Organizing training courses for kindergarten principals dealing with the electronic management of the kindergarten and how to use it to achieve organizational goals. © 2022 IEEE.

Independence, trust, and loyalty. The county governor's coordination of public and voluntary resources in crises in Norway

Collaboration and communication are crucial factors in handling crises, whether the crisis is a serious landslide requiring emergency response for several days or a pandemic lasting for months. This article describes and analyses the governmental relationship with the local communities in critical situations with the COVID‐19 pandemic as a case. In the Norwegian administrative organisation, the county governors have a defined role in their emergency responsibilities, including being chairpersons of the County Emergency Council (CEC). The Norwegian emergency system is organised with samvirke (translated to English as coordinated cooperation) as a core constituency. In this system, voluntary organisations have a formalised role in taking an active part in crisis handling. The inclusion of voluntary organisations in the CEC, as seen by the county governors, is used as a case study. The challenges of collaboration can be analysed using the terms independence, trust, and loyalty. Data are collected from governing documents and interviews with the county governors. The main factor in successful coordination is the governors' ability to support the municipalities and the local communities. They must balance between wants of independence and state control. The art of this balancing act is the topic of this article.

From branch to board

Members' needs drive the RCM's actions at every level, from local branches to the governing board, individual matters to strategic direction. There are a few RCM committees chaired by board members - for example, looking at audit and risk or the information services for members - and all of those also feed back into the board for oversight. Keelie Barrett MSW MEMBER OF THE RCM BOARD I was the first MSW member of the RCM board, elected in 2019 when MSWs became eligible. Because of this, I feel it's important for me to be a role model to show other MSWs what's possible and encourage them to put themselves forward too. Having been on a board of governors at a school I had an insight into that - but I wasn't aware of all the sub-committees board members get involved in, such as the Investment Committee that I currently chair, all of which feeds back into the whole board meetings every other month.

IN RE COVID-RELATED RESTRICTIONS ON RELIGIOUS SERVICES Consol. C.A. No. 2021-1036-JTL

For starters, he claims that this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiffs' claims. The Governor argues that it is not reasonably conceivable that the plaintiffs face a threat of imminent irreparable harm given that he lifted the Challenged Restrictions more than two years ago, has no intention of re- imposing them, and has entered into a settlement agreement that resolved a federal lawsuit brought by another religious leader in which he agreed to limitations on his ability to impose restrictions on houses of worship. The Delaware cases that impose that requirement have ported it over from the tests that a plaintiff must meet when seeking interim forms of injunctive relief, such as a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction. [...]when a plaintiff seeks to ground equitable jurisdiction on the potential need for a permanent injunction, the pled facts must support a reasonable apprehension that the defendant will act in a manner that will necessitate the injunction's issuance.

Operational Effect of COVID-19 on Surgical Care at a Tertiary Pediatric Hospital: The Official Voice of Perioperative Nursing

The detrimental effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have profoundly disrupted surgical care at health care facilities worldwide. At our tertiary pediatric hospital, we made substantial adjustments to surgical suite utilization and staff member scheduling to account for reductions in surgical volume, increased demand for staff members in other sectors of the hospital, and the highly infectious properties of the virus. Perioperative leaders took advantage of the pandemic's disruption to clinical activities to design and implement a new procedure-scheduling process to rectify the inefficiencies that had accumulated as the previous system evolved. The implementation of said directives was largely facilitated by establishing communication with all involved parties for their input and feedback throughout the process. Although COVID-19 has had varying effects on procedural operations across pediatric health care facilities, we believe our institutional response to the disruptive forces of COVID-19 is of benefit to pediatric hospitals worldwide.

The California battle for health and safety for domestic workers

This article reflects on the legislative campaign of the California Domestic Worker Coalition, including Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network, to end the exclusion of household workers (nannies, personal attendants and cleaners) from occupational health-and-safety requirements. It discusses the strategies and arguments deployed, and analyses the rationale of the governor, who vetoed the bill in 2020 in the name of the home as a private space impossible to regulate. Foregrounding the voices of domestic workers, it highlights their understanding of caring labour and determination to organise for change, seen in the winning of an amended bill in 2021.

Reflections On COVID-19: Whiplash! Volunteering at the Polls During a Pandemic

Serving as a poll worker is just one of those volunteer responsibilities I have long been prepared to assume. Since returning to the community in which I grew up, I served 10 years on the County Board of Supervisors and now serve on committees as a community member. [...]as April drew near, it had become a two-person race because one candidate seemed to be moving toward having the needed delegates. [...]interest in that election was waning. The Village Director of Public Works was concerned about setting up the polling place so that both the voters and poll workers would be safe. The Presidential election finds a significant number of residents registering onsite because for some individuals, it is the only election in which they exercise their responsibility to vote over a 4-year period.

Essential or Expedient? COVID-19 and Business Closures in the U.S. States

To what extent has political pressure or connectedness influenced governors' responses to public health recommendations regarding business closures? We investigate whether campaign contributions from particular industries track governors' designations of those industries as "essential" during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing the initial iteration of states' lockdown orders, we find preliminary evidence linking receipt of gubernatorial campaign contributions from industry to an increased likelihood of designating that business area as essential. In other words, governors are more likely to designate a business area as essential if they received campaign contributions from that business area. Our result preliminarily suggests that money in politics plays a role in shaping public health responses, and we recommend further research on this matter.

Assessment Of Audience Response To Media Campaigns On Covid-19 Pandemic In Bonny Island, Rivers State Nigeria

The focus of this research was to assess the audience response to the mass media campaigns of covid-19 in Bonny Island of Rivers State in Nigeria. It found the level of awareness of the audience on the mass media campaigns of covid-19 in Bonny Island of Rivers State in Nigeria in Nigeria. This study adopted quantitative data collection, that is, survey of the campaign audience. The following research questions were answered;Is the covid-19 media awareness in Bonny Island of Rivers State accessible to the inhabitants of the area? Has the media campaign created all the necessary awareness of covid-19 in Bonny Island of Rivers State? Has the awareness made any positive impact on the health behavior of inhabitants of Bonny Island of Rivers State? The researcher embarked on house to house visit in Bonny Island of Rivers State. Therefore, a total of 156 respondents were used. To arrive at the above sample size, Taro Yamane's statistics was adopted based on National Population Commission of Nigeria projected figure as at April, 2020, Bonny has a population of 302,000. Questionnaires were administered to each of the respondents visited and their views were obtained. However, out of the total of 156 questionnaires distributed, 141 (90%) questionnaires were correctly completed and returned, while 15 (10%) were not returned. The data collected were segmented into three dimensions of interest;awareness evaluation, effective evaluation and impact evaluation. The data collected answered the three research questions, and the findings from the three research questions answered were also discussed. Therefore, the theoretical framework adopted was Social Distribution of Knowledge model.

Mask or No Mask for COVID-19? Do the Individual Characteristics of Governors Affect the Adoption of Statewide Public Mask Mandates?

Public mask mandates are widely recognized as one of the most effective policy tools to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Across the US, states vary widely in the timeline of adopting a state-level requirement to wear face coverings. Governors play a crucial role in making policy responses to the coronavirus pandemic. Building upon the upper echelons theory, this research explores the determinants of the timing of issuing statewide public mask mandates, focusing on the individual characteristics of state governors. Based on an event history analysis, the study finds that the two characteristics (political ideology and gubernatorial power) of state governor have influenced the time to adoption of statewide public mask mandates. Furthermore, managerial discretion and job demand have a moderating effect on the linkage between the personal traits of state governors and the timeline of adopting public mask mandates.

Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver

Kumar reviews Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver by Urjit Patel.