Co-being and intra-action in horsehuman relationships: a multi-species ethnography of be(com)ing human and be(com)ing horse A multi-species perspective identifies and offers ethnographic insight into a variety of everyday, practical experiences and the roles they may play in shaping human-horse relationships. Analysis of narrative data from 60 open-ended interviews with a wide variety of riders in Norway and the Midwestern USA identifies three central themes of co-being. These are expressed, felt and voiced as embodied moments of mutuality, engagements of two agentive individuals and as a kind of anthropo-zoo-genetic practice, where species domesticate each other through being together. Co-being as intra-acting describes how horse and human meet and change as a result of their meeting.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the complexities involved in implementing continuous improvement (CI) initiatives in public sector organisations. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on a case study of a private sector organisation based in New Zealand and its efforts in implementing CI activities in its public sector clients. In total, 12 semi-structured interviews were followed by group model building exercises based on system dynamics that led to the development of a systems model. Findings CI initiatives using public-private partnerships were successful in steadily improving the operational excellence and end-user satisfaction in this case. But client satisfaction was only increasing at a much slower rate. The underlying structure responsible for this behaviour was captured using a causal loop model and explained using seven interacting feedback loops. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of this research is that it is confined to one private sector organisation and its public sector clients. Thus, the generalisability cannot be utilised for future reference. Practical implications This paper illustrates the development of strategic initiatives based on a participative model building approach. It provides a practical method for initiating long-term structural changes while managing CI activities in public sector organisations. Originality/value This paper contributes a New Zealand case of public-private partnerships for implementing CI initiatives. It illustrates a systems approach to analyse the complexities involved in implementing CI initiatives in public sector organisations.

The nature of the cross-culturally occurring folk or popular complaint of nerves as a form of psychosomatic illness and idiom of distress has been speculated on by a wide variety of scholars. Much of the research seeks to identify common symptomatologies with universal, diagnostic equivalents and/or seeks to expand on the more distinctive metaphorical qualities of nerves as an idiom of distress. Comparison and contrast of anthropological studies of two fishing villages (one in Newfoundland and one in Northern Norway) shows how, despite similarities in symptomatologies and metaphorical qualities of nerves in each community, the local sociocultural context can shape and reflect social action in ways that affect the experience of nerves and the consequences for those who suffer from them in a significantly different fashion. Contrary to the universalist perspective, we conclude that a person's experience of nerves cannot be abstracted from the local sociocultural context.

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