Business Commons^™

A Framework For Social Media Use In Project Management, Muralitheran V. Kanagarajoo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

There has been rapid adoption of social media (SM) in business functions such as marketing and advertising. This being primarily due to its capability to communicate information. There has been less widespread adoption of SM for other business functions and the potential of SM is not comprehensively understood. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the potential of SM for project management and to understand some of the difficulties that arise from SM use. The research specifically investigated how SM is being used for project activities and the maturity of the management processes that govern SM use. Implications for …

Managing Learning In The Workplace: A Study Of The Perceptions And Practice Of Local Government Managers, Jenna Rogers

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In 1995 the Australian Government commissioned the report Enterprising Nation ‘: renewing Australia’s managers to meet the challenges of the Asia-Pacific century (Karpin, 1995), which emphasised the change that was necessary in Australian business to remain competitive in the global and growing economy. The development of flexible organisational cultures, where managers increasingly displayed leadership and developed their staff to generate innovative cultures, was a central premise of the Karpin Report Task Force’s vision. Twenty years later, this study explored the extent to which managers have moved from being ‘cops to coaches’ and integrated the facilitation of employee learning within …

Creativity, Design And Management In Australian Fashion Enterprises, Bruno Santarelli

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In this study a number of Australian fashion enterprises are investigated in an effort to understand how product development is managed and creativity facilitated. Of particular interest was the interaction between the various actors in the creative process and the manner in which they influenced creative output. The study was underpinned by a wideranging review of the literature that reflects the multidisciplinary nature of creativity and innovation in business.

The study is timely because Australian fashion enterprises are operating in an increasingly challenging market with a perfect storm of competitive drivers at play. Technology enables instant dissemination of fashion trends …

The Impact Of Participative Communication On Organisational Cultural Change: Two Local Government Cases Of Change, Katie Turton

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Managing change is of critical importance in organisations. Communication during the change process has been the subject of considerable and highly contested academic and managerial debate. In this study, The Impact of Participative Communication on Organisational Cultural Change: Two Local Government Cases of Change, communication during the change process was closely examined to see how, if at all, participative processes impact upon the adoption of change. As a result of this research a ‘Ladder of Employee Participation in Change Management’ was developed, to better understand the nature of participative communication and provide clarity for change practitioners who develop change communication …

The Perceived Personal Characteristics Of Entrepreneurial Leaders, Ling He

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The concept of entrepreneurial leadership has attracted growing interest from leadership scholars but research is still in an early stage and empirical studies are rare. This thesis explores this new concept in an empirical study of the personal characteristics of entrepreneurial leaders (ELs). The study is underpinned by the “common characteristics” model in which ELs have characteristics of both entrepreneurs and leaders. Semi-structured interviews and a short questionnaire were used to explore business owners’ and corporate managers’ perceptions of the personal characteristics of ELs. Responses were summarised with thematic analysis and descriptive statistics.

The findings show participants perceived EL as …

Constructing Corporate Capability In Changing Contexts: The Innovation Journey Of Strategic Management Development At Bankwest, Moira Watson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis is about an unfolding management development process over time. Interconnections influencing corporate capability are explained and insight provided into the social construction of strategic organisational change. Studies of strategically-focused change don’t generally address the part management development plays in innovation and corporate capability construction. This research thus fills a persistent knowledge gap in the understanding of the way management development is provided within organisations and the value of the process.

This empirical study is in the process research tradition. A longitudinal, in-depth case study of BankWest, an Australian financial services company undergoing significant change between 1997 and 2009, …

The Governance Schema Of Regional And Rural Public Hospital Nurses: How Relevant Are The Dimensions Of Stewardship Governance And Trust In Management?, Kim Clark

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study broadly pertained to the issue of public health sector governance. The field of healthcare governance had been characterised as having challenges of greater intricacy and sensitivity than those found in any other sector (Philippon & Braithwaite, 2008). While increasingly regarded as important to health system performance, governance had, however, been evaluated as poorly understood in conceptual and practical terms and subject to competing ideas regarding its role and challenges (Brinkerhoff & Bossert, 2013). Specifically, the thesis elucidated frontline regional and rural hospital nurses’ cognitive schema of strategic aspects of governance practice of managers in the Western Australian Country …

Power Relationships And Authentic Organisational Learning : Daring To Break The Silence On Meaningful Dialogue In Policing Organisations, Lindsay B. Garratt

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The 21st century presents great opportunities and threats for business: national and global markets are demanding high performance, innovation, creativity, and flexibility. Public sector organisations are continually asked to do more with less, with equal if not greater efficiency and creativity demands as the private sector. Organisational learning is a concept touted as an important and necessary strategy for organisations to keep pace with the rapid changing global environment that now plays host to opportunities as well as great economic and social volatility. However the reality for many is that they become proficient at the kind of organisational learning that …

An Exploratory Investigation Into Voluntary Employee Turnover And Retention Practices In The Small Business Sector [Thesis], Olivia Gialuisi

Theses : Honours

This study addresses the question, what factors influence voluntary employee turnover in small businesses and how do owner-managers retain key employees? More specifically the study explores four research objectives: 1) the negative effects of voluntary turnover of key employees on small businesses; 2) common reasons why employees voluntarily leave small businesses; 3) characteristics of the small business that might enhance retention of employees; and 4) strategies that are employed to retain key employees. The current study employed an exploratory qualitative research design. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews with nine owner-managers and seven key employees from eleven Australian small businesses. …

Information Technology Capability Within Small-Medium Enterprises, Aurelio Ravarini

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The study presented in this thesis investigates the influence of IT capability on the relationship between IT expenditures and long term business performance. To do so, the Resource Based View (RBV) has been used as the theoretical framework, and, within such a framework, the concept of sustainable competitive advantage has been used as a point of reference. IT capability, a term often mentioned in the scientific literature dealing with the applications of RBV in the IS field, has been the subject of this study. Within the IS discipline, IT capability is perceived to have considerable influence on the effect of …

Management Accounting And Organizational Change : Impact Of Alignment Of Management Accounting System, Structure And Strategy On Performance, Tuan Tuan Mat

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The business environment in Malaysia has changed rapidly over recent decades, and
continues to change. Globalization has brought new technology and made the
business environment in Malaysia open to greater competition. Central Government
economic policy relating to ‘knowledge economy (k-economy)’ and vision 2020
have also opened the market up for competition and certainly increased
technological development. These changes have impacted greatly on the business
environment in Malaysia, especially on manufacturing industry, which has been
identified as the most active and important contributor to the Malaysian economy.
Literature has identified that changes in both external and internal organizational
factors have influenced …

The Relationship Between Attributional Style And Information Technology Project Perception, Eric Kordt

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between attributional style and Information Technology (IT) project perception at varying job responsibility levels. To achieve this thirty participants were recruited from a large government department in the three distinct job responsibility levels of support worker (i.e. individual who undertakes activities under general direction), line manager (i.e. individual who undertakes activities under limited direction and typically performs role of team leader) and executive manager (i.e. individual who undertakes activities that involve a high a level of management skill under broad direction) and interviewed using a modified Work Attributional Style Questionnaire …

Corporate Social Disclosures By Indonesian Listed Companies, Juniati Gunawan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The issue of corporate social disclosure (CSD) has been of growing concern among businesses and communities globally, including those in Indonesia. As one of the big developing countries which offers a large domestic market and workforce. lndonesia is exposed to this issue. This study examines the extent of CSD in Indonesian listed companies by applying the content analysis method to company annual reports for the years 2003 to 2006. Prior studies have focused on exploring the theoretical framework, seeking the motivation for disclosures and obtaining certain stakeholder's opinions regarding CSD. However, those studies were limited to developed countries and to …

Collaborative Business Relationships And The Use Of Ict: The Case Of The Marine, Defence And Resources Cluster, Western Australia, Helen Cripps

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The research project was developed from an Australian Research Council Grant designed to investigate collaborative commerce and its impact on regional economic development. Through a process of consultation with the industry partner, the South West Group, the research was designed to investigate the drivers and inhibitors of collaborative relationships and the factors that impact on the creation and sustaining of these relationships. The role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in facilitating and sustaining collaborative relationships and the perceived benefits and drawbacks of collaborative relationships were also investigated. The research sought to identify models of the best adoption of collaborative relationships.

Strategies For Designing And Implementing Knowledge Management Systems: An Interpretive Case Study Of Two Western Australian House-Building Firms, Geoffrey David Wilson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Knowledge management is a relatively new concept that has received substantial attention in the academic and industry literature particularly in the information systems field. Proponents of knowledge management argue that it has been driven by the desire of organisations for greater innovation, cost reduction and process improvements (Wilson. Jackson & Smith 2003). Little research, though, has been conducted from a knowledge management perspective into how Western Australian house-building enterprises develop and implement information systems. The WA house-building industry forms part of the wider building and construction community. Most construction firms are small to-medium-sized enterprises that differ from large organisations in …

An Exploratory Study Of The Factors That Impact On The Application Of Online Learning At The Department Of Planning And Infrastructure Of Western Australia, Alex C. Scholz

Theses : Honours

There is a growing necessity in today's globalised and dynamic business environments for learning systems to be capable of generating the continuous learning needs of the workforces within them. In adapting to their changing environments learning workers are not only required to continuously gather new information but also to transform it into understanding within their local contexts. Much praise has been placed on the capability of new learning technologies such as online learning in supporting organisations learning processes. However, relative limited research has been undertaken on how these new learning technologies support workers in learning processes, how these new learning …

An Examination Of Facilitators And Inhibitors To Knowledge Sharing In A Policing Environment : Lessons From Intelligence-Led Crime Management Units Of The Western Australia Police Service, Vince Hughes

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The objective of this research project was to gain an understanding of the inhibitors and facilitators to knowledge sharing within a policing environment. Although it did not begin with the intention of applying interverntions of any kind, in the course of the thesis it became clear that a form of action research was being employed. Initially, I presented my research proposal as a hermeneutic examination of the facilitators and inhibitors to knowledge sharing in the Western Australia Police. However, somewhere along my research journey I realised that rather than me simply collecting and analysing data from and about my colleagues, …

The Relationship Between Corporate Social Performance And Financial Asset Characteristics, Ingebjørg Kristoffersen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis explores the theoretical and empirical evidence for a relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and financial characteristics. An empirical analysis is performed to examine the Australian evidence for such a relationship, from a financial asset perspective. CSP data provided by Corporate Monitor Pty. Ltd. are used in the analysis. Specifically, available measures of environmental, social and governance performance of 237 Australian companies are compared with selected financial asset characteristics, including firm size, book-to-market value, financial performance and risk, covering the period between July 1997 and August 2003. Evidence of relationships is sought using bivariate correlations, group comparisons and …

Barriers To The Acceptance And Utilisation Of Knowledge Management Systems: An Exploratory Study, Patricia Kennett

Theses : Honours

Organisations entering the 21st Century arc exposed to an environment of continuous change, a challenge that requires a movement away from more predictable structures of the past, with hierarchies and formal chains of command. The emerging fluid and network like structures present new challenges for ensuring the development and dissemination of organisational knowledge. An area of considerable current debate involves the issue of harmony and balance between and organisation's culture and its Knowledge Management (KM) systems. The focus of this study is on organisations that are recognising the implications of these changes and are responding by installing knowledge systems in …

The Service Delivery Process : An Examination Of How Consumers Evaluate Technology-Assisted Service Encounters In The Retail Banking Industry, Catherine W. Munene

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study examined consumers' perceptions post-adoption of technology and how these perceptions affect their levels of dis/satisfaction and their continued use of technology·assisted service encounters. To this end, this study investigated the criteria that consumers in Western Australia's retail banking industry are likely to use when evaluating banking transactions involving EFTPOS, ATM, telephone, and Online banking modes. II examined whether these criteria changed with the mode of electronic banking in use and whether the significance of the criteria changed with

consumers' demographic characteristics. In addition, this study explored whether consumers who use these modes of electronic banking experience the paradoxes …

An Exploratory Study Of Constructive Differentiation By Managers Of Multi-Ethnic Workforces In Indonesia And Malaysia, M. A. Fergusson-Stewart

Theses : Honours

Indonesia and Malaysia are two of Australia's closest geographical neighbours and represent major trading partners; Malaysia, as one of the economic success stories of Southeast Asia and Indonesia, as the third most populous nation in the world are politically and economically of great significance to business in Australia. Both have experienced racial rioting, the former as recently as 1998, and the later in 1969. Much of the tension that has led to these riots centres around the relationship between the ethnic Chinese communities in these countries and the other ethnic groups, particularly the Pribumi in Indonesia and the Bumiputera in …

Privacy On The Internet : Investigation Into Corporate Privacy Policy Of Australian Large Private Sector Organisations On The Internet, Keiko Sato

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The popularity of the Internet has been dramatically increased over recent years. The rapid growth of this technology and its international use has made it almost impossible to regulate the internet. As a result, the Internet has certainly provided freedoms to people and it has led to some abusing systems. Privacy is one of the major issues in the development of Electronic Commerce using the Internet. As an enormous amount of personal information is transmitted to several hosts connecting to the Internet, the information can be accessed by both authorised and unauthorised people. Although it is certain that there are …

An Evaluation Of Environmental Disclosures Produced In Australian Local Government Annual Reports, Royston J. Tan

Theses : Honours

This thesis is an evaluation of the environmental disclosures published in Australian local governments' annual reports. The study is aimed in identifying disclosures of environmental information by Australian local governments and providing explanations for the variations in the quantity and quality of information disclosed. Various social responsibility theories were used in this study. The theories employed in this study were institutional factors, stakeholder theory, social and political theories. Institutional factors included issues such as local government characteristics and pressures exerted from various government and non·government organizations to implement and disclose environmental measures. A content analysis methodology was used in this …

To What Extent Can Knowledge Management Systems Build And Reinforce Consensus Around Initiatives For Change?: A Self-Reflective Analysis Of Professional Practice, Guy A. Duczynski

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis reports on my attempts to 're-align' the purpose, behaviour and underlying culture of a large military organisation through heuristic, self reflective enquiry - to 'find its future' - with and through its people. I use the word re-align with great care as I recognised that change would have been too ambitious and would (probably have) result(ed) in failure. Whilst I cannot claim total success, I have made new and valuable discoveries in knowledge elicitation and methods of integrating the views of a large number of people to 'build and reinforce consensus around initiatives for change'. In the process …

Intellectual Capital: Managerial Perceptions Of Organisational Knowledge Resources, Mark Valentine St Leon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study addresses the question 'To what extent does organisational type and managerial role define managers' perception of Intellectual Capital?' Our understanding of the phenomenon of Intellectual Capital is an emerging one. The most recent attempts to describe and define Intellectual Capital identify a dynamic 'action' perspective as well as a static 'perception' perspective. Intellectual Capital broadly describes the resources of knowledge available to an organisation, whether embodied in human or non-human forms, and which are capable of being transformed into and codified as productive organisational assets. The emergence, development and application of concepts of Intellectual Capital herald the arrival …

Doctrinal And Applied Tqm In Relation To Dominant Models Of Organisation: A Comparative Study, Brad J. Moore

Theses : Honours

Total Quality Management (TQM) is examined in five organisations in light of the assumption that its implementation is an ongoing negotiated order rather than an objective reality as often accepted by the literature. Guided by a theoretical framework identified by Spencer (1994) and a qualitative methodology suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994), the perceptions of a cross section of organisational members in five organisations are used to establish the nature of applied TQM in terms of mechanistic and organismic 'mental models' of organisation and the degree to which applied TQM varies from the basic doctrine. It is argued that both …

An Analysis Of Quality Practices And Business Outcomes In Western Australian Hospitals, Janis Mussett

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study aimed at identifying aspects of health care organisational management and activities that produced the highest level of quality care. A Literature review was conducted to determine the most successful quality activities currently used in a wide variety of industries. Using the findings of this review a questionnaire and interview questions were designed to identify factors associated with successful quality activities I health care organisations. Four Western Australian hospitals that were believed to have effective quality activities were randomly selected as a hospital from each of the following categories. A private hospital accredited by the Australian Council on Health …

Software Quality Function Deployment : A Method For Building Better Software, Dean Carruthers

Theses : Honours

In recent years it is becoming increasingly more apparent that quality even more than productivity is emerging as the key issue in the development of software. The quality systems currently employed by most software companies however arc simply not up to the task, traditional quality systems focus upon conformance to company standards, automation to eliminate human error and in some cases quality improvement teams. These traditional quality assurance methods lead to quality as defined from the organizations point of view, all work performed is done to their standards, however a what it is that makes a quality product is defined …

To Develop And Implement A Quality Assurance System Based On Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (Haccp) To A Cook-Freeze Operation: Research Project, Denisa Baca

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to identify and develop a suitable quality assurance system based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), which was implemented to the ‘cook-freeze' operation, currently employed at Healthcarc Foods. In addition, the quality assurance system was implemented as a systematic approach to food quality, and as a means of ensuring food safety. The samples, which consisted of all the chicken dishes, were used in the development of the HACCP plans comprising of flowcharts and HACCP control charts. These dishes are regarded as 'high risk', in terms of microbiological growth, and therefore, were chosen to …

Good Software Development Processes Lead To Harmonious Project Teams Which In Turn Lead To Effective Project Performance, Rweyunga Kazaura

Theses : Honours

The modem world relies on computers in almost every facet of life. With the explosion of Information Technology, software development has become an important process. However, from the beginning, this process has suffered and continues to suffer from a number of problems. If these problems are not rectified, they can jeopardise projects and lead to project failure. Project failure results in a project being delivered: • without satisfying the functional and non-functional requirements requested by the user or customer • beyond the agreed schedule and/or • over budget. Research indicates that practising good software development processes (SDPs) can override these …