Problem statement: Based on the concept of Balanced Scorecard (BSC), this study was intended to assist the establishment of performance evaluation system for social education institutions in transforming phase. Approach: An evidence-based analysis was processed to examine the objectivity of the indicators and the weights of key factors of the current performance evaluation. Results: Based on th...

The aim of this paper is to provide a logical framework for the specification of autonomous Multi-Agent Systems (MAS). A MAS is autonomous in so far as it is capable of binding (‘nomos’) itself (‘auto’) independently of any external normative constraint specified by a designer. In particular, a MAS is autonomous if it is able to maintain its social institutions (i.e. rule-governed social practi...

There are different kinds of hospitals. Doctors and nurses are the most prominent and visible components of a hospital. Development of nursing profession and medical technology have been two very significant factors in making hospitals a viable proposition. The hospitals were to start with very much as social institutions. The social basis of hospitals continues to be valid today. In this way, ...

Fertility behaviour includes not only biological but also social reproduction, involving a complex network of institutions. As Fortes highlights: 'The process of social reproduction, in broad terms, includes all those institutional mechanisms and customary activities and norms which serve to maintain, replenish and transmit the social capital from generation to generation' (1958: 2). Biological...

This paper intends to make a reflection and analysis of the impact of theoretical and methodological frameworks of reference on different neo-institutional approaches in social policy. The paper questions the functionality and continuity of the institutions that are responsible for the functions of designing and implementing programs of social policy, given the profound changes on the environme...