We are pleased to re-launch the APMF's popular Article of the Month after a hiatus of around 12 months.

The APMF Article of the Month was launched as part of an initiative by our previous academic publisher sponsors to encourage research publications related to the Asia Pacific, and when that program ceased, the continuation of this section of the APMF unfortunately also ceased. However, since that time no other resource specifically related to Asian business management academic research resource has appeared to replace this and related resources, and it is incumbent on us to continue these very popular sections of the Asia Pacific Management Forum.

Due to repeated requests from our research and academic readers to continue our support for academic research relating to management and business in Asia, OPC Publishing, publishers of the Asia Pacific Management Forum, the Asian Business Strategy and Street Intelligence Ezine, Asia Market Research dot com, and Branding Asia dot com, recently embarked on a program re-launch our services in this area. Enquiries from publishers or authors are welcome.

We wish to thank the authors of this article and Elsevier Science for getting it started again.

Our review policy means we will continue to feature articles that:

• Are highly related to the practice of business, management, and marketing in the Asia Pacific
• Cover the disciplines of management, economics, marketing, human resource management, organizational development, finance & accounting, and strategy.
• Include case studies and/or empirical research in Asian settings or research reviews.
• Meet high standards of research methodology and analysis
• Most importantly draw out implications for the practice of business in Asia
• Are original and provide new insight in a relevant area, and not published freely and publicly* elsewhere on the World Wide Web.

* Articles may continue to be available behind member/password protected/subscription areas of other Web sites, or in any other media including print.

This month's article meets all our criteria and more, focusing on the introduction of a new management system (namely "ICM" to India). As is common with most of our featured articles, the case is very specific, but the implications for management practice in Asia are broadly applicable.

According to the authors, ICM is (in short), "...a mechanism which seeks to combine the management of the land and the adjoining water within a unified framework..".

They go on to provide a framework for translating the principles of ICM to the specific case of India, based on structured interviews with coastal and marine management practitioners in India carried out in late 2000.

The article is valuable for it's highlighting of the process involved in encouraging the adoption of a management system that integrates decision making among various stakeholders in an area that, in India, "...remains reliant upon a single sector,with little apparent interagency co-ordination, and limited prioritisation of the cumulative impacts of multiple uses..." Methodologically, it also provides an application of Guttman's scalogram analysis among management professionals in India.

Eds..

The application of a proposed generic institutional framework for integrated coastal management to India,(250 Kbs PDF file)
Manoj Gupta & Stephen Fletcher, School of Maritime and Coastal Studies, Southampton Institute, East Park Terrace, Southampton SO14 0RP, UK

Ocean & Coastal Management, Vol 44 2001; pp. 757-786 Elsevier Science ISSN: 0964-5691/02/

---

The complex and dynamic nature of the coastal and marine area is prompting many nations to consider the internalisation of integrated coastal management (ICM) policy as part of a deliberate strategy for sustainable development. The institutional structures required to deliver such internalisation are subject to debate. This paper presents a suggested generic institutional framework derived through consideration of the core ICM process and proven organisational models. The proposed framework consists of an 'operating core' which facilitates local issue identification, evaluation and monitoring; an 'administrative component' of Central and State government to set policy direction,manage funding,and provide guidance on implementation and operation; a 'strategic apex' within Central government to oversee the transition from ICM concept to practice; and a 'co-ordinating mechanism' to allow open communication of ideas and information. The proposed framework is then applied to India,which currently faces the challenge of developing a suitable institutional framework to deliver ICM aspirations. It is concluded that the generic institutional framework works well when applied to India,with existing organisations and agencies requiring relatively minor organisational changes to address coastal and marine issues more effectively.

Keywords: ICM, India, management, coastal management

Enquiries to the authors may be directed in the first instance to editors@apmforum.com