Factors Affecting Policy Implementation of Green Island - Research Proposal Example

Running Head: policy implementation and monitoring Factors Affecting Policy Implementation: Green Island Project Name Institution Date Introduction Statement and significant problems Green Island has been identified as a site with the capacity of becoming one of the best tourist attractions cites if it is well developed and maintained to at least provide basic commodities and a clean environment. According to the greenislandproject website, more than 400 hotels offering hospitality services at the international level and with a capacity of 16, 000 rooms have been developed. However, this Island is slowly changing to a desolate place especially with the lack of basic commodities and deteriorating environmental conditions. For instance, the populations living in Green Island including visitors require about 18,000m3 to 22,000m3. However, the purification processor can only process 5,754m3. This means that the water available is not even enough to satisfy a third of the population. In addition, refuse facilities are inadequate to collect all the garbage produced. Statistics indicate that garbage produced stands at 130 tons per day while the capacity of refuse facilities is only 12 tons a day. Another problem experienced in the area is increased traffic accidents. Policies aimed at solving these inadequacies have been developed. However, there is a wide disparity between what is written in the policy paper and what is happening on the ground. Degradation of the natural beauty and environmental problems is a great threat to the people living in the Island as well as its economy. Green project was started n June 2007 as a solution to the adverse effects of human actions with the aim of restoring a green and clean environment. The main purpose is to strike a balance between environmental protection and tourism promotion. Over the years, tourism has been found to be of economic value to countries and individuals living in areas where tourists’ attraction cites are located. Koh Samui’s Island is one of such areas. Global warming and environmental degradation pose a great threat to tourism cites. As the environment and its surrounding become hostile, animals and birds living in it move out in search for an alternative. Tourists are also not ready to go to areas that are polluted. Koh Samui’s Island is heading there if quick and deliberate actions are not taken to restore her beauty. Green project is aimed at solving these issues by coming up with ways in which man can remain environmental friendly. Despite various actions to restore the beauty of Koh Samui Island, the condition is no better. Environmental pollution and lack of basic commodities threatens her ability to remain attractive to tourist. The question now is “from both macro and micro perspectives, which factors affect the success of policy implementation and monitoring in Green Island Project: KOH Samui’s Thailand?” A lot of research has been conducted on policy implementation and monitoring at the national and global level. However, very little of this has been done in tourism sites such as Koh Samui Island in Thailand. Lack of such information makes it difficult to understand the existing hindrances to policy implementation and monitoring. Neglect of the importance of adequate monitoring procedures during and after policy implementation in this area is clear both in theory and practice. The research will be done through investigation of Koh Samui Green island project as a case study through focus groups and interviews. The proposal is divided to three parts including this introduction. To begin with, the research question is developed followed by literature review. The methodology to be used in the investigation is discussed in details. Research Questions The following questions will be answered in investigation: 1. What are the relevant authorities and non-governmental institutions doing to improve implementation and monitoring of existing policies? 2. What is the action plan to prevent insufficient water resources and also prevent deterioration of existing water sources? 3. What is the solution to bring back the ecological balance in the area of the damages in the seas and beaches? 4. Is there an effective monitoring system for determining the success in policy implementation? 5. Do policy implementation team’s relevant skills? Objectives To establish the factors that affect policy implementation and monitoring. To evaluate the implementation of policies that address the accumulation of garbage, chemical contaminants and other pollutants; To evaluate the implementation of policies addressing insufficient water resources and deterioration of existing water sources, ecological damage of seas and beaches, congestion, air and noise pollution, vehicle overloading and culture deterioration. To identify possible solutions to factors affecting policy implementation and monitoring. Definitions Policy implementation according to Van Meter and Von Horn (1974) includes all action by an individual or a group of people aimed at achieving set goals and objectives. As stated in kohsamuiholiday.com, 2010 “Spearheaded by the KohSamui Tourism Promotion Association, the Thai Hotels Association Southeastern Chapter and Samui Spa Association, with the full support of provincial authorities, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the “Green Island Project – KohSamui” was officially launched on June 18, 2007. This three-phase conservation initiative aims to protect and preserve the environment in order to ensure long-term sustainability.” As stated in samuivillasandhomes.com, 2010 “Waste management is the collection, transporting, processing, recycling or disposal of waste materials”. Waste materials refer to materials produced by human activity and managing the waste refers to the process of reducing the materials effect on the environment. Our goal is to have zero net waste from our headquarters building in five years.” As stated in samuivillasandhomes.com, 2010 “there is use of Effective Microorganisms (EM) in the maintenance of SVH-PVH offices and villas.” EM is the name of a specific group of naturally occurring beneficial microorganisms with an amazing ability to revive, restore and preserve” As stated in the tatnews.org, 2010 “The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Thai tourism industry are jointly pursuing ‘green initiatives’ in an effort to maintain the delicate balance between tourism promotion and environmental protection to ensure long-term sustainability.” Justification: Benefits of the study Poor policy implementation and monitoring is a major hindrance to realization of set organizational goals and objectives. For Koh Samui, failing to achieve her goal of transforming her environment to a tourist friendly environment would not only mean loss of tourists but also loss of a source of economic value of tourism and a source of livelihood for those living in the area. This is a very important research especially at a time when communities have become environmental conscious and efforts have been directed towards reducing global warming. It will be beneficial to the community members as it will identify what the community should do to enjoy a clean and health environment. This research will make it easy for the government will to identify the means to ensure sanity is restored in maintaining a clean environment. Lastly, it will be useful to future researchers in identifying existing gaps and areas of key interest. Limitations of the research The research may fail to achieve comprehensiveness as much travelling is required and available resources are not enough to ensure that this is achieved. In addition, there has been less research done on this area making it hard to validate collected as well as the little available secondary data. Seasonality of tourist visits also poses a great threat as general conclusions drawn after the research is conducted at this time may not be applicable for all seasons. Literature review Policy Implementation and tourism policy Policy implementation according to Van Meter and Von Horn (1974) includes all action by an individual or a group of people aimed at achieving set goals and objectives. Specific action aimed at ensuring that policy objectives are achieved should be designed and acted upon. According to the Thai tourism, the going ‘green’ program spurred the creation of seven green initiatives. The initiatives had been crafted as guidelines in the development phase and actual establishment of a database which would gather all pertinent information of tourism operators in the island with regard to the services they offer vis-à-vis conserving the environment. Policies aimed at environmental preservation have been set by the state. Tourism policies are aimed at promoting tourism activities (Yuan et al, 2006. Networking theory Networking becomes a very easy way of influencing people to act in a given manner. Policy implementation to some extent depends on available social networks. It is through these networks that norms are shared and information passed. Involving all stakeholders is necessary to understand their view concerning the factors affecting policy implementation and monitoring. In this case, stakeholders include tourism operators who interact with the environment on daily basis and need training on how to balance their operations and environmental preservation (Yuan et al, 2006). The state monitors and gives directs on necessary steps to be undertaken in ensuring sustainability in tourism operations. Local community form a very important part of the stakeholders as their acceptance and support of policy implementation greatly determines its success. Another important group is the media. It is involved in spreading news on the importance of environmental preservation as well as advertising sites which are environmental friendly thus attracting tourists. The media is a very influential tool in networking. To investigate factors affecting the success of policy implementation and monitoring, media cannot be ignored. The effectiveness of media groups on spreading information on environmental preservation must therefore be investigated to determine if there is any leakage or fault in the way this is done. Social capital theory Existing social relations determine how different stakeholders cooperate to attain a common goal for the good of all (Wasko and Faraj, 2005). According to social capital theory, success of policy implementation is sometimes dependant on perceived capital benefits. As a result, from the community angle, this research will look at factors affecting success of policy implementation and monitoring in relation to perceived economic benefit or loss at individual and community level. Wasko and Faraj (2005) explain that social capital increases productivity in the same manner as human and physical capital. Policy implementation should therefore focus on behavioral change to ensure that community members adopt behaviors aimed at environmental preservation (Newell et al, 2004). According to Preece (2002), the willingness of citizens to participate in such initiatives determines the level of success achieved. Social capital therefore encompasses networks and norms directing people to act in a given manner for mutual benefits which may be economic or non-economic (Wasko and Faraj, 2005). Methods of monitoring change impacts Monitoring is an integral part of the change process without which success would only remain a dream. An adaptive management cycle where monitoring is done has been found to be very effective in monitoring policy implementation and identifying important changes necessary to achieve success(Angelsen, 2008). As a result, the effectiveness of the monitoring system will be evaluated. (Angelsen 2008) Research design Descriptive research design will be applied in collecting the data for this study. This is owed to the fact that the sample population is quite large and the need to study the natural behavior of samples. The research is aimed at investigating the relationship that exists between different variables and descriptive research is very useful when investigating social factors. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected to ensure comprehensiveness in the study. Children will not be involved in the research due to the high possibility of children giving subjective rather than objective information (Lewis 1992, p.43). Qualitative data collected will then be coded so as to enhance production of scientific results after analysis. Validation Qualitative studies are often characterized by validation issues because of the nature of the design. Use of secondary sources to collect data in particular has reliability issues as it is usually difficult for the researcher to identify errors that might have occurred especially during collection of information and data (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill 2007). To address this issue, the researcher intends to use multiple perspectives in validation. This will involve a comparison of findings by different researchers on the same subject. In this case, past researches on policy implementation and monitoring will be used. The only challenge will be getting information on policy implementation for this particular Island. This strategy has been recommended in qualitative studies where triangulation cannot be carried out so as to increase the validity and reliability of the findings (Tisdall et al 2009, p.134). Sampling The sample will be determined through random sampling of tourist sites and purposive sampling employees working there, policy implementers and tourists. These will be determined by first determining the sites in the Island. Purposive sampling was applied as the research focused on policy implementation and monitoring. Information will also be collected from governmental reports and published reports for purpose of validation. Children will not be interviewed as they will be considered incapable of giving sound information. The study will to a greater extent rely on first hand data (Tisdall et al 2009, p.87). Description of the study population The study population will include employees in tourist sites, policy implementers and tourist in tourism attraction sites in Koh Island. The inclusion of individuals will not be based on race, nationality or social status. This means that the study population will include people from different races and nationalities as these may be a contributing factor to failure in policy implementation and monitoring. Data collection Instruments Questionnaires and interview schedules will be applied to collect data. Questionnaires will be mailed to participant who will not be available during group discussions (The Stella Project 2004, p.90). Data Analysis After all necessary information is gathered, it will be analyzed through the application of SPSS. This enhanced accuracy in reporting (Bohrnstedt and David, 1982). Qualitative data will be coded and then analyzed using this software. The data will be professionally analyzed to improve accuracy and precision (Bohrnstedt and David 1982). Conceptual frame work The developed conceptual framework identifies immediate determinants of successful policy implementation and monitoring as cooperative actions by community members, efficiency of monitoring systems and support from government. These are however influenced by availability of effective communication systems and cooperation of Government and non-governmental agencies. The root causes of failure or success are the existing technical, social and political environment. For instance, presence of wars and strife ultimately results to failure in policy implementation and monitoring. The conceptual framework below will be utilized in the research. References Angelsen, A (Ed) 2008, Moving ahead with REDD: issues, options and implications. Indonesia: CIFOR, Bogor. Lewis, A, 1992, Group child interviews as a research tool, British Educational Research Journal, 18(4), pp.413-421. Newell, S., Tansley, C., and Huang, J. (2004) "Social Capital and Knowledge Integration in an ERP Project Team: The Importance of Bridging AND Bonding," British Journal of Management (15), p S43. Preece, J. (2002) “Supporting community and building social capital," Association for Computing Machinery. Communications of the ACM (45:4), p 37. Saunders, M, Lewis, P, & Thornhill, A, 2007, Research Methods for Business Studies, 4th Ed, Pearson Education, Boston, MA. The Stella Project, 2004, Domestic violence, drugs and alcohol: Good Practice Guidelines London: The Stella Project. Tisdall, K, Davis, J, and Gallagher, M, 2009, Researching with children and young people: research design, methods and analysis, London: Sage. Van Meter, D.S. and Van Horn, C.E. (1974). “The policy implementation process : A conceptual framework.” Administration and Society. February. Wasko, M.M., and Faraj, S. (2005) "Why should I share? Examining social capital and knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice," MIS Quarterly (29:1), p 35. Yuan, Y.C., Gay, G., and Hembrooke, H. (2006) "Focused Activities and the Development of Social Capital in a Distributed Learning Community," Information Society (22:1), p 25. Read More