Sago palm's versatility to grow in hostile conditions and its ability to act as a natural car... more Sago palm's versatility to grow in hostile conditions and its ability to act as a natural carbon dioxide sink, in the light of environmental damage control, as stressed by Stanton (1993) and recent studies bordering on the morphological variability and genetic diversity of sago palm in Indonesia (e.g. Ehara et al., 2000), in the Pacific Island Countries of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands (cf. Dowe 2001, 2002; Ehara et al., 2003), have all suggested a fresh multidisciplinary approach to promote sago as a multipurpose food crop and an indispensable industrial material for the 21st century. Adaptive research programmes into soil management, sago estate development and creating effective market distribution of sago-based products, of which networking between multidisciplinary academic communities and sago user groups are quite necessary. Finding synergies (i.e. apt combination and application of resources) within the sago palm industry calls for concerted efforts to promo...
The position of the authors of this article is that local community stakeholder participation is ... more The position of the authors of this article is that local community stakeholder participation is vital for successful community development reform of service delivery. In our view critics of public service delivery in Papua New Guinea (PNG) ought to appreciate that the degree of stakeholder participation in enhancing the delivery of basic services is necessary so that intended government reforms in service delivery may be further developed and justified both within and outside of government so as to attract the financial and skill capacities needed by local governments. Stakeholder participation and local-level government management in PNG under the current reform initiatives need to be evaluated to assess the contribution of citizens to the performance of Local-Level Government (LLG) in Papua New Guinea. Research on seven cases of wards in Wampar LLG in Morobe Province (PNG) using the case study method reveals that stakeholder participation in Local-level Government (LLG) is both p...
Time and time again, comments on the status of social and economic development in Papua New Guine... more Time and time again, comments on the status of social and economic development in Papua New Guinea have sounded the same concern: despite the great potential given by the existence of vast stocks of natural resources, Papua New Guinea has never managed to transform its riches into improvements in the standard of living for the majority of the population. Explanations given for these shortfalls include inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the public sector, lack of adequate infrastructure, difficulties in communication, and increasing corruption and rent-seeking. This paper contributes to the debate by discussing recent interest around the concept of social capital in development theory and policy, arguing that some of the constraints to Papua New Guinea?s development stem from the problematic transition from a traditional social structure to a more modern one.
Culture should be considered as a strategic issue in the management of strategic alliances that i... more Culture should be considered as a strategic issue in the management of strategic alliances that involve companies from the West and developing countries and from the public and private sector realm. In-depth interviews along the case study method with local and global alliance managers in Papua New Guinea reveals that culture has a direct bearing on alliance performance and therefore should not be relegated to backstage as being merely part of the remote macroenvironment. The research shows that exposure to, and training in, cross-cultural management skills enhances the alliance management process, public-private sector alliances present special challenges when there are wide culture gaps and institutional structure differences, culture has more impact on alliance implementation and performance than on strategy formulation, and cultural-fit between partners is easily realised where there are shared values. The few alliances that took culture seriously were the ones that survived whi...
Sago palm’s versatility to grow in hostile conditions and its ability to act as a natural carbon ... more Sago palm’s versatility to grow in hostile conditions and its ability to act as a natural carbon dioxide sink, in the light of environmental damage control, as stressed by Stanton (1993) and recent studies bordering on the morphological variability and genetic diversity of sago palm in Indonesia (e.g. Ehara et al., 2000), in the Pacific Island Countries of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands (cf. Dowe 2001, 2002; Ehara et al., 2003), have all suggested a fresh multidisciplinary approach to promote sago as a multipurpose food crop and an indispensable industrial material for the 21st century. Adaptive research programmes into soil management, sago estate development and creating effective market distribution of sago-based products, of which networking between multidisciplinary academic communities and sago user groups are quite necessary. Finding synergies (i.e. apt combination and application of resources) within the sago palm industry calls for concerted efforts to promote s...
Abstract Tertiary education in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is in a critical state, as the sector strug... more Abstract Tertiary education in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is in a critical state, as the sector struggles to address increased demand for student places with severely curtailed capacity. Recent thinking about improving public services in PNG has emphasized “whole of sector” or collaborative governance. Such an approach in tertiary education has the potential to improve the sector’s outcomes within its existing resource constraints. This exploratory paper examines the challenges involved in applying a deliberate collaborative governance approach to tertiary education in PNG. In particular, two theoretical models of collaborative governance are employed to gain insight into possible issues through the consideration of four main criteria: power, incentives, history, and leadership. The paper shows that the challenges to introducing collaborative governance to PNG tertiary education are substantive, and that any effective effort will require committed leadership and a carefully measured strategy that acknowledges the country’s particular circumstances.
Sago palm's versatility to grow in hostile conditions and its ability to act as a natural car... more Sago palm's versatility to grow in hostile conditions and its ability to act as a natural carbon dioxide sink, in the light of environmental damage control, as stressed by Stanton (1993) and recent studies bordering on the morphological variability and genetic diversity of sago palm in Indonesia (e.g. Ehara et al., 2000), in the Pacific Island Countries of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands (cf. Dowe 2001, 2002; Ehara et al., 2003), have all suggested a fresh multidisciplinary approach to promote sago as a multipurpose food crop and an indispensable industrial material for the 21st century. Adaptive research programmes into soil management, sago estate development and creating effective market distribution of sago-based products, of which networking between multidisciplinary academic communities and sago user groups are quite necessary. Finding synergies (i.e. apt combination and application of resources) within the sago palm industry calls for concerted efforts to promo...
The position of the authors of this article is that local community stakeholder participation is ... more The position of the authors of this article is that local community stakeholder participation is vital for successful community development reform of service delivery. In our view critics of public service delivery in Papua New Guinea (PNG) ought to appreciate that the degree of stakeholder participation in enhancing the delivery of basic services is necessary so that intended government reforms in service delivery may be further developed and justified both within and outside of government so as to attract the financial and skill capacities needed by local governments. Stakeholder participation and local-level government management in PNG under the current reform initiatives need to be evaluated to assess the contribution of citizens to the performance of Local-Level Government (LLG) in Papua New Guinea. Research on seven cases of wards in Wampar LLG in Morobe Province (PNG) using the case study method reveals that stakeholder participation in Local-level Government (LLG) is both p...
Time and time again, comments on the status of social and economic development in Papua New Guine... more Time and time again, comments on the status of social and economic development in Papua New Guinea have sounded the same concern: despite the great potential given by the existence of vast stocks of natural resources, Papua New Guinea has never managed to transform its riches into improvements in the standard of living for the majority of the population. Explanations given for these shortfalls include inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the public sector, lack of adequate infrastructure, difficulties in communication, and increasing corruption and rent-seeking. This paper contributes to the debate by discussing recent interest around the concept of social capital in development theory and policy, arguing that some of the constraints to Papua New Guinea?s development stem from the problematic transition from a traditional social structure to a more modern one.
Culture should be considered as a strategic issue in the management of strategic alliances that i... more Culture should be considered as a strategic issue in the management of strategic alliances that involve companies from the West and developing countries and from the public and private sector realm. In-depth interviews along the case study method with local and global alliance managers in Papua New Guinea reveals that culture has a direct bearing on alliance performance and therefore should not be relegated to backstage as being merely part of the remote macroenvironment. The research shows that exposure to, and training in, cross-cultural management skills enhances the alliance management process, public-private sector alliances present special challenges when there are wide culture gaps and institutional structure differences, culture has more impact on alliance implementation and performance than on strategy formulation, and cultural-fit between partners is easily realised where there are shared values. The few alliances that took culture seriously were the ones that survived whi...
Sago palm’s versatility to grow in hostile conditions and its ability to act as a natural carbon ... more Sago palm’s versatility to grow in hostile conditions and its ability to act as a natural carbon dioxide sink, in the light of environmental damage control, as stressed by Stanton (1993) and recent studies bordering on the morphological variability and genetic diversity of sago palm in Indonesia (e.g. Ehara et al., 2000), in the Pacific Island Countries of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands (cf. Dowe 2001, 2002; Ehara et al., 2003), have all suggested a fresh multidisciplinary approach to promote sago as a multipurpose food crop and an indispensable industrial material for the 21st century. Adaptive research programmes into soil management, sago estate development and creating effective market distribution of sago-based products, of which networking between multidisciplinary academic communities and sago user groups are quite necessary. Finding synergies (i.e. apt combination and application of resources) within the sago palm industry calls for concerted efforts to promote s...
Abstract Tertiary education in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is in a critical state, as the sector strug... more Abstract Tertiary education in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is in a critical state, as the sector struggles to address increased demand for student places with severely curtailed capacity. Recent thinking about improving public services in PNG has emphasized “whole of sector” or collaborative governance. Such an approach in tertiary education has the potential to improve the sector’s outcomes within its existing resource constraints. This exploratory paper examines the challenges involved in applying a deliberate collaborative governance approach to tertiary education in PNG. In particular, two theoretical models of collaborative governance are employed to gain insight into possible issues through the consideration of four main criteria: power, incentives, history, and leadership. The paper shows that the challenges to introducing collaborative governance to PNG tertiary education are substantive, and that any effective effort will require committed leadership and a carefully measured strategy that acknowledges the country’s particular circumstances.
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Papers by David Kavanamur