An interpretive approach was applied to understand the social meanings of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) being implemented in two local government agencies in the United States. We assumed that information technologies, like other knowledge systems, are subject to social construction and that resulting social interpretations may shape their implementation and use. Guided by a framework li...

nancy are long-standing priorities for Washington State’s Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). Working together to ensure that all pregnancies are intended (consciously and clearly desired at the time of conception), the two agencies provide family planning counseling and a broad choice of contraceptive methods through a range of health and social serv...

The present paper presents a study that seeks the antecedents of inter-agency information sharing systems adoption and the effects of using such systems on the information sharing practice among anti/counter-terrorism and disaster management agencies. Based on traditional IT acceptance theory, social exchange theory, and distributional justice perspective, the study presents a set of potential ...

INTRODUCTION In order to better understand how tobacco control efforts are coordinated across agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), we assessed tobacco control-related communication between tobacco control leaders across DHHS. METHODS Cross-sectional surveys were collected from individuals representing 11 DHHS agencies, and social network analyses were used to assess...

Conventional approaches to cost benefit analysis, derived from social welfare maximization, suggest that it should ideally be adjusted to account for distributional effects. These approaches do not consider how tasks should be assigned within a large institution that includes specialized units such as the numerous agencies in the federal government. This paper considers how optimal distributive...

In the 1980s, the hegemony of the large US advertising networks has been challenged by a new breed of London-based agencies who pioneered what is known in the trade as `second wave'. On the one hand, second wave implied the emancipation of Soho from an `outpost of Madison Avenue' to the `advertising village' on the basis of momentous product and process innovations. On the other hand, a few Lon...

Over the last 10 years, conflict has grown over a 170-mile pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) migration between Grand Teton National Park and the Upper Green River Basin in western Wyoming. Resolving conflict in the common interest is proving difficult. This movement is the longest mammal migration in the lower 48 states, spanning the jurisdiction of three federal agencies, three Wyomin...

WHEN MEDICARE went into effect on July 1, 1966, President Johnson paid high tribute to the many individuals in the private and governmental sectors that participated in its planning by noting that the program has called for more extensive preparations than any similar peacetime effort in the history of the Nation. Passed by Congress only 11 months earlier, the health insurance program for the a...

Background Many countries around the world lack data on the epidemiology of agency response to child maltreatment. They therefore lack information on how many children in need get help and protection or if children stand equal chances across regions to get services. However, it has proven difficult to commit child protection agencies to participation in incidence studies. Methods The Optimus ...