Digital Commons Network^™

Hope For The Future: Identifying The Individual Difference Characteristics Of People Who Are Interested In And Intend To Foster-Care, Joseph V. Ciarrochi, Melanie J. Randle, Leonie M. Miller, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

High-quality foster placements can help a foster-child to thrive and can counter some of the risk factors normally associated with being a foster-child. Unfortunately, demand for foster-carers has been outstripping supply. The present study sought to identify the characteristics of people who have high potential to become a foster-carer. A large, representative sample from the general population (544 male; 544 female; Mage = 40.8; SD = 13) completed an anonymous survey that included comprehensive measurement of demographics, personal resources (e.g. social support), personal characteristics (e.g. hope) and foster-care interest, intentions and information seeking. Analyses revealed that people who sought information …

Biclustering: Overcoming Data Dimensionality Problems In Market Segmentation, Sara Dolnicar, Sebastian Kaiser, Katie Lazarevski, Friedrich Leisch

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Data-driven market segmentation is a popular and widely used segmentation method in tourism. It aims to identify market segments among tourists who are similar to each other, thus allowing a targeted marketing mix to be developed. Typically data used to segment tourists are characterized by small numbers of respondents and large numbers of survey questions. Small samples and numerous questions cause serious methodological problems that have typically been addressed by using factorcluster analysis to reduce the dimensionality of data. Recently, factor-cluster analysis has been shown as an unacceptable solution to the problem of high data dimensionality in segmentation. In this …

Layoffs And Urban Poverty In The State-Owned Enterprise Communities In Shaanxi Province, China, Zhiming Cheng

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper applies a mixed methods approach that combines qualitative and quantitative methods to examine urban poverty in China’s state-owned enterprise communities where laid-off workers concentrate. A sequential explanatory model using interviews, Participatory Poverty Assessments and community household survey on textile and military industries in Shaanxi Province of northwestern China shows that low-income households suffered multidimensional disadvantages. Qualitative techniques have helped to reveal the hidden aspects of poverty while statistical tools have captured holistic information on the communities. These approaches together (Q-squared) consider both the outsiders’ and insiders’ views on the laid-off poor and benefit the making of effective anti-poverty …

The Use Of Team-Based Learning As An Approach To Increased Engagement And Learning For Marketing Students: A Case Study, Paul Chad

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Marketing educators are often faced with poor preclass preparation by students, declining student interest in attending classes as the semester progresses, and student complaints regarding previous bad experiences with team assessment activities. Teambased learning (TBL) is an innovative teaching strategy using semiformalized guidelines aimed to enhance student engagement and improve teamwork and, hence, overcome the typical problems faced by educators. This case study examines the firsttime use of TBL in a postgraduate marketing subject at an Australian university. The results indicate that the TBL innovation has a positive influence on student engagement and offers opportunities to assist learning. The study …

A Dissemination Methodology For Learning And Teaching Developments Through Engaging And Embedding, Lesley Treleaven, Chris Sykes, Jarrod Ormiston

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Dissemination of learning and teaching innovation in higher education requires approaches to change that are socially contextualised, dynamic and self-reflexive. This article, therefore, presents a methodology for dissemination employing an embedding heuristic and engaging in participatory action research. The embedding approach emphasises three organisational domains of action: first, the capacity of communities of practice and distributed leaders to generate organisational commitment and seed activities; second, formal and informal organisational policies and procedures that provide reciprocal processes for initiating and systematically sustaining curricular change; and, third, accessible resources, tools and databases that support implementation of innovation. The methodology is applicable for …

Sempls: Structural Equation Modeling Using Partial Least Squares, Armin Monecke, Friedrich Leisch

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Structural equation models (SEM) are very popular in many disciplines. The partial least squares (PLS) approach to SEM offers an alternative to covariance-based SEM, which is especially suited for situations when data is not normally distributed. PLS path modelling is referred to as soft-modeling-technique with minimum demands regarding mea- surement scales, sample sizes and residual distributions. The semPLS package provides the capability to estimate PLS path models within the R programming environment. Different setups for the estimation of factor scores can be used. Furthermore it contains modular methods for computation of bootstrap confidence intervals, model parameters and several quality indices. …

A New Way Of Identifying Biomarkers In Biomedical Basic-Research Studies, Alexander Yassouridis, Tonia Ludwig, Axel Steiger, Friedrich Leisch

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A simple, nonparametric and distribution free method was developed for quick identification of the most meaningful biomarkers among a number of candidates in complex biological phenomena, especially in relatively small samples. This method is independent of rigid model forms or other link functions. It may be applied both to metric and non-metric data as well as to independent or matched parallel samples. With this method identification of the most relevant biomarkers is not based on inferential methods; therefore, its application does not require corrections of the level of significance, even in cases of thousands of variables. Hence, the introduced method …

Informing Destination Recommender Systems Design And Evaluation Through Quantitative Research, Ulrike Gretzel, Yeong-Hyeon Hwang, Daniel Fesenmaier

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Purpose - Destination recommender systems need to become truly human-centric in their design and functionality. This requires a profound understanding of human interactions with technology as well as human behavior related to information search and decision-making in the context of travel and tourism. This paper seeks to review relevant theories that can support the development and evaluation of destination recommender systems and to discuss how quantitative research can inform such theory building and testing. Design/methodology/approach - Based on a review of information search and decision-making literatures, a framework for the development of destination recommender systems is proposed and the implications …

Tell Me Who You Think You Are And I Tell You How You Travel : Exploring The Viability Of Market Segmentation By Means Of Travelers' Stated Personality: Insights From A Mature Market (Switzerland), Christian Laesser, Anita Zehrer

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

People travel to different destinations for different reasons. In this study, we investigate the viability of market segmentation by personal traits (based on and exemplified by Jungian's MBTI variables) of travelers from Switzerland, by performing a data-driven a posteriori segmentation by means of k-means clustering. To identify the segmentation power of personal traits, this analysis is complemented with a multiple discriminant analysis as well as a number of contingency tests to identify differences between the segments. We identified four clearly definable segments, which differ in terms of the psychographic traits of the segment members but also in terms of some …

Attracting Volunteers In Highly Multicultural Societies: A Marketing Challenge, Melanie J. Randle, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Volunteer managers face a typical marketing problem: how to identify the right consumers (in this case, volunteers), attract them, and keep them loyal. In multicultural societies this challenge is amplified because of the different groups originating from countries that can vary significantly in terms of the extent of volunteering and reasons for being involved. The consequence of this heterogeneity is limited success of generic marketing campaigns. Using the theory of planned behavior, we investigate differences between Australian residents from different cultural backgrounds in their volunteering behavior. Groups differed in attitude, social norm, and perceived behavioral control, suggesting the need for …

New Performance Measurement And Management Control Systems, Ted Watts, Carol J. Mcnair-Connolly

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Purpose - Focusing on how performance management systems support control, this article seeks to provide two "next-generation" performance scorecards - the Performance Wheel, suitable for most organizations and the Small Business Performance Pyramid, which acknowledges the unique requirements of small business. This development considers the historical development, increasing variety and often the poorly integrated status of performance measurement systems - one of business management's most important tools.

Design/methodology/approach - The paper considers the issues of various performance measurement models - the Performance Pyramid, the Results and Determinants mode, the Balanced Scorecard - through the integration of perspectives, metrics and terminology. …

Measuring And Recognizing The Value Of Purchased Goodwill: A Note On Market Value Measurement Method, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Through a review of literature and with conceptual underpinnings, this paper demonstrates that relying on the market value measurement method to ascertain value of purchased goodwill does not contribute to more accurate value of the financial worth of the firm.It argues that the use of market value for the measurement of purchased goodwill for recognition in financial statements is a mere artifact and a response to the contemporary paradigm rather than a measure of the accurate financial worth of purchased goodwill. It demonstrates the need to seek a measurement method that does not impose a transaction as a necessary precondition …

A Comparative Case Study Of The Internationalization Strategies Of Malaysian, Singaporean And Taiwanese Firms, Ah Ba Sim

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Comparative empirical research on the internationalization strategies of Asian multinational enterprises (MNEs) from countries at different levels of development is lacking. This paper examines and analyzes the internationalization characteristics and strategies of MNEs from three Asian countries at two different levels of development. Primary data from matched sample firms from Malaysia (a fast developing economy) and Singapore and Taiwan (representing newly industrialized economies) in the textile and electronics industries are used for this study. The findings indicate some differences among the Malaysian, Singaporean and Taiwanese MNEs. These differences and their implications are examined. The empirical findings, particularly the contextual aspects …

The Preponderant Causes Of The Usa Banking Crisis 2007-08, Eduardo Pol

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Scientific research on the banking crisis 2007-08 has answered many important questions according to generally accepted methodological standards. However, there remains at least one outstanding question that has not been answered with methodological accuracy: What caused the severe USA banking crisis 2007-08? To address this question the paper uses a counterfactual definition of 'cause,' distinguishes between separable and non-separable causes, and employs a well-posed methodology for the causation analysis of singular events. In addition, first causes and preponderant causes are distinguished. The main result of this paper is that the preponderant causes of the banking crisis 2007-08 were securitization and …

An Activity-Theory Analysis Of Corporate Wikis, Helen M. Hasan, Charmaine C. Pfaff

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Purpose: Wiki technologies, which are popular in social settings, are beginning to contribute to more flexible and participatory approaches to the exploitation of knowledge in corporate settings. Through the lens of activity theory, this paper aims to investigate contentious challenges to organizational activities that may be associated with the introduction of corporate wikis, in particular the potential democratization of knowledge work. Design/methodology/approach: From a study of several cases of corporate wiki adoption, this paper presents and interprets two representative cases sampled to provide more generalized results. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observation. The analysis followed a systematic …

Why Do Some Business Relationships Persist Despite Dissatisfaction? A Social Exchange Review, Venkata K. Yanamandram, Lesley White

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper reviews the relevant theories and marketing literature to develop a theoretical foundation for understanding the process and outcome of struggling business-to-business (B2B) customer relationships. Specifically, the paper provides a social exchange perspective of the factors that influence the likelihood of dissatisfied customers remaining in a present relationship by serving as deterrents to discontinuing the relationship. In doing so, the paper identifies the common features of, noteworthy differences among, and gaps in these theories. The paper also connects determinant factors to an outcome variable in order to explain what drives a customer in managing an unsatisfying business relationship, and …

Public Sector Commercial Orientation And The Social Contract: A Study Of Performance Management In A Non-Competitive Environment, Ali Rkein, Brian H. Andrew

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to study the workings of commercial orientation, with a focus on performance management, in an environment that is characterised by limited competition between the public and the private sectors and a high level of government social responsibility. Design/methodology/approach - An interpretive case study approach is adopted for this study. It draws on primary data from interviews with key personnel in public sector organisations, and on secondary data from government publications such as annual reports and budget papers. Findings - This study shows that the market-based performance management system has failed to achieve …

A New C-Oar-Se-Based Content-Valid And Predictively Valid Measure That Distinguishes Brand Love From Brand Liking, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This article provides a new, C-OAR-SE-based, contrastive measure that distinguishes “brand love” from “brand liking.” The new measure is tested in an empirical study conducted among German university students about brands of products that they buy in four diverse product categories. From a consumer perspective, the incidence of consumers who have a loved brand in the category was found to be only 17% for laundry detergent, 18% for coffee, and 26% for computers, peaking at 45% in the fashion clothing category — findings that suggest that over half of young consumers do not acquire the state of brand love. Turning …

Propensity To Shop: Identifying Who Shops Til They Drop, Uraiporn Kattiyapornpong, Kenneth E. Miller

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Tourist shopping expenditure is a vital ingredient which contributes significantly to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation. Past research has stressed the importance of specific demographic variables related to shopping behaviour; however, it has not included interactions between or configurations among demographic variables, shopping related psychographics, and shopping destinations. This study seeks to address that gap. The data was collected from a large representative sample of 26,686 Australian domestic short-stay visitors. Binary logistic regression found that demographic variables and their specific interactions were significantly related to tourist shopping behaviours as well as psychographics, trip motivation and their shopping …

Accounting As An Instrument Of Neoliberalisation? Exploring The Adoption Of Fair Value Accounting In China, Ying Zhang, Jane Andrew, Kathleen Rudkin

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Purpose This paper explores the implementation of fair value accounting (FVA) in China as part of a global process of neoliberalisation and financialisation of political and economic systems. It establishes that FVA forms part of the technical architecture of neoliberalism. Design/methodology/approach In considering the processes of neoliberalisation in China, this paper uses a qualitative approach to explore some of the impacts the adoption of FVA has had on Chinese capital markets. Findings It is shown that the practice of FVA is imbued with assumptions about the state and the market that have little bearing on the realities of Chinese capital …

One Legacy Of Mazanec: Binary Questions Are A Simple, Stable And Valid Measure Of Evaluative Beliefs, Sara Dolnicar, Friedrich Leisch

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Purpose – Academic researchers love multi-category answer formats, especially five- and seven-point formats. More than a decade ago Josef Mazanec concluded that these formats may not the best choice, and that simple binary-answer options are preferable in some empirical survey contexts. The purpose of the present study is to investigate empirically Mazanec’s hypothesis in the context of the measurement of evaluative beliefs relating to fast-food restaurants.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted an online experiment that asked respondents to assess evaluative beliefs relating to fast-food brands using either a forced binary (n = 100) or a seven-point answer format (n = …

Comparative Critique Of The Performance Evaluation Methods In The Australian Energy Industry, Feng Li, George M. Mickhail

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of business evaluation methods in the Australian energy industry during the periods from 1989 to 2007. The six commonly used business evaluation methods (CAPM, WACC, EVA, P/E ratio, DCF and MetaCapitalism) were selected and compared with the share price in the whole market, listed market and delisted market, to explore which valuation methods were better for evaluating business performance in the Australian energy sector over the long-term. An empirical analysis using linear regression, we find evidence that CAPM is a much better method for listed companies to measure the rate …

Money Buys Financial Security And Psychological Need Satisfaction: Testing Need Theory In Affluence, Ryan T. Howell, Mark Kurai, Wing Yin Leona Tam

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The most prominent theory to explain the curvilinear relationship between income and subjective well-being (SWB) is need theory, which proposes that increased income and wealth can lead to increased well-being in poverty because money is used to satisfy basic physiological needs. The present study tests the tenets of need theory by proposing that money can buy happiness beyond poverty if the money satisfies higher-order needs. Findings indicate that in older adults (n = 1,284), as economic standing rises, so do individual perceptions of financial security (a safety need), which in turn increases overall life satisfaction. Further, a path model tested …

Human Capital Externalities, Departmental Co-Authorship And Research Productivity, Frank Neri, Joan Rodgers

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Lucas (1988) hypothesised that human capital externalities explain persistent productivity growth and become manifest via interactions between workplace colleagues. Consistent with the first part of this hypothesis, Fox and Milbourne (2006) concluded that an increase in the average level of human capital in Australian economics departments raised the research productivity of departmental members. This paper tests the robustness of this finding by using a direct, rather than a proxy, measure of human capital and confirms the existence of human capital externalities within Australian economics departments. But we go further by investigating the second part of Lucas’ hypothesis. Whilst there are …

New Theoretical Perspectives On Family Business Entrepreneurial Behavior, Mary Barrett, Ken Moores

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Family business leaders are often characterized as entrepreneurs (Aldrich and Cliff 2003 ; Shepherd and Haynie 2009 ). In attempting to understand the entrepreneurial thinking of family firm leaders, scholars have typically borrowed from the extant literature on entrepreneurship, which traditionally emphasizes characteristics of individual entrepreneurs such as their personalities, propensity for risk-taking, personal values, and so on. 1 However as Aldrich and Martinez ( 2003 ) point out, there are changes afoot in how entrepreneurship is being studied, including (a) a shift in theoretical emphasis from the characteristics of entrepreneurs as individuals to the consequences of their actions, (b) …

Do Neighbourhoods Have Effects On Wages? A Study Of Migrant Workers In Urban China, Zhiming Cheng, Haining Wang

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Rural-to-urban migrant workers have contributed enormously to the Chinese economy and society in the past three decades. Many of them have concentrated in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and physically and socially suffered from poor residential environment. However it is unclear how the neighbourhoods-as the provision of shelter, social and public service, and community organizing-influence migrant workers' labour market outcomes. To fill this gap, this paper researches the way in which urban neighbourhoods have affected migrant workers' wages. Factors such as housing quality, social interaction and trust, and neighbourhood organization and participation were examined. Results show that five of eight neighbourhood characteristics had …

Quality-Of-Life And Travel Motivations: Integrating The Two Concepts In The Grevillea Model, Sara Dolnicar, Katie Lazarevski, Venkata Yanamandram

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Over the past three decades, two bodies of literature have developed relatively independently: Quality of Life research in Psychology and Travel Motivations research in Tourism. Yet, the constructs underlying these two bodies of research are strongly interrelated. This book chapter: (1) reviews the Quality of Life research area with a specific focus on the role of vacations as a Quality of Life domain; (2) reviews prior work in the area of Travel Motivations with a specific focus on motivational segments which may be associated with differences in the importance people attribute to vacations in general; and (3) proposes a conceptual …

Board Structure And Survival Of New Economy Ipo Firms, Nongnit Chancharat, Chandrasekhar Krishnamurti, Gary G. Tian

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Research Question/Issue: This study examines the relevance of currently accepted best practice recommendations regarding board structure on the survival likelihood of new economy initial public offering companies. We argue that industry context determines governance outcomes.Research Findings/Insights: We study 125 Australian new economy firms listed between 1994 and 2002. Each firm is tracked until the end of 2007 for monitoring their survival. We find that board independence is associated with an increase in the likelihood of corporate survival. We also find that the benefits of board independence increase at a decreasing rate.Theoretical/Academic Implications: The standard best practice recommendation of board independence …

Industry Associations And Non-Competitive Behaviour In Australian Wool Marketing: Evidence From The Melbourne Woolbrokers' Association, 1890-1939, David Merrett, Simon Ville

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

From the 1890s the sale of Australian wool was organised through a series of regionally based associations of wool selling brokers and wool buyers. They engaged in cartel-type behaviour by price fixing and exclusive dealing. We ask the question whether the wool selling brokers exploited their monopoly power to the full in setting fees and charges paid by the growers and buyers. Association records provide data on the pricing structure and rationale for changes. We surmise that the existence of the cartel lifted prices above competitive levels. However, the pricing behaviour was moderated to a strong form of limit pricing.

Measuring The Banking Efficiency And Productivity Changes Using The Hicks-Moorsteen Approach: The Case Of Iran, Amir Arjomandi, Charles Harvie, Abbas Valadkhani

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study is the first to use a comprehensive decomposition of the Hicks–Moorsteen TFP index developed by O’Donnell (2010a) to analyse efficiency and productivity changes in a banking context. The paper investigates the efficiency and productivity growth of the Iranian banking industry between 2003 and 2008, encompassing pre- and post-2005-reform years. The advantage of this approach over the popular constant-returns-to-scale Malmquist productivity index is that it is free from any assumptions concerning firms’ returns to scale. We assume that the production technology exhibits variable returns to scale. Our findings show that the banking industry’s technical efficiency level – which had …