Business Commons^™

Exploring The Influence Of Emotional Labour, Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Regulation, And Emotional Valence On Employee Job Satisfaction And Burnout, Kirsty Lee Wilson

Theses : Honours

This thesis investigated the measures of emotional labour surface acting and deep acting, emotional intelligence, emotional regulation and positive and negative affect as influences on employee wellbeing outcomes of job satisfaction and burnout. A questionnaire was administered to over 2,000 client-facing employees in the USA and Canada. Results from the data analysis found that employees subjected to high levels of emotional labour in client facing roles experienced higher levels of negative affect or outlook. Those scoring higher on the emotional labour surface acting subscale scored significantly higher for negative effect. Additionally, higher scores in deep acting emotional labour were also …

Professional Self-Care Practices, Emotional Work And Burnout In Australian Psychology Academics, Claudia Yael Hoenig

Theses : Honours

This study examined whether professional self-care practices (PSCP) had a moderating effect on the relationship between emotional work (EW) performed and burnout symptoms experienced among Australian academics teaching psychology. Seventy-seven Australian psychology academics ranging from 27 to 64 years, with an average of 13.34 years of academic experience, and representing the full range of academic levels from Associate Lecturer to Professor, and predominantly females, participated in the study. Participants completed an online survey comprising three questionnaires: the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Intensive Emotion Work Inventory (IEW) and Professional Self-Care Scale (PSCS), addressing levels of PSCP, EW performed and frequency and …

Saving Behaviour In The Australian Dream: Its Relationship With Aspiration And Motivation, Financial Literacy, And Materialism, Ming D’Iapico-Bien

Theses : Honours

In Australia, most people aspire to achieve the “Australian dream” of owning their homes. Australian house prices have risen dramatically in comparison to people’s incomes, but despite this, many Australians still strive to enter the property market. The aim of this correlational study was to investigate the relationships between saving behaviour (with the ultimate goal of spending accumulated savings on a house deposit) and various psychological variables over and above sex, age, education, employment status, and income. The investigated predictor variables were motivation, extrinsic aspiration, financial literacy, and materialism. Previous research grounded in self-determination theory (SDT) has shown that intrinsic …

An Exploratory Investigation Into The Impact Of Downsizing On Occupational Stress And Organisational Commitment, Bridget Girak

Theses : Honours

Downsizing has become an increasingly widespread organisational strategy to reduce costs in order to improve performance and remain globally competitive. However, the negative effects associated with survivor syndrome, a term used to describe a set of attitudes, feelings and perceptions that occur in employees who remain within an organisation following involuntary dismissal, continue to plague many organisations post-downsizing. Despite this prevalence of downsizing, little attention has been paid to explore the interrelationships between downsizing, occupational stress and organisational commitment of those who remain. Thus, the purpose of this research is to understand the effects of downsizing on survivors’ occupational stress …

The Corporate Security Stratum Of Work: Identifying Levels Of Work In The Domain, Codee Roy Ludbey

Theses : Honours

Corporate security is a practicing domain and developing academic discipline that provides for the protection of people, information and assets, as well as the self-protection of organisations. Fayol (1949) articulated such an activity within organisations to be a core business function of significant importance; embedding security operations within all aspects of organisational work. This embedded nature of security within organisations has led to difficulty in the literature delineating roles and responsibilities of security practitioners; consequently leading to a nebulous understanding of security as a whole. Therefore, an investigation of the corporate security stratum of work has been undertaken to address …

Harmonious, Obsessive Or Altruistic? Why Employees Remain In The Not For Profit Sector, Ronelle Toop

Theses : Honours

The Not-For-Profit (NFP) sector is commonly described as having issues recruiting and retaining talented employees. This phenomenon places additional pressure on employees in the sector and has a negative impact on NFP organisational performance. NFP organisations are often prone to voluntary turnover pressure due to poor remuneration, poor working conditions, and onerous duties (Colleran, Gilchrist, & Morris, 2010). The majority of research in the NFP sector has focussed on the retention of volunteers. However, this study will explore the issue of retaining employees within the sector, in order to improve longevity of tenure and subsequent organisational performance.

There is a …

Recruitment Discrimination Against Middle Eastern People In Western Australia : The Case Of Accountants, Tiny Pinkerton

Theses : Honours

The population of all Western countries are ageing and humanitarian efforts saw increasing numbers of people from Middle Eastern origin settle in Australia. Whilst older people are encouraged to remain in paid employment longer, it is not clear whether Middle Eastern people and the older population are as readily hired as are Anglo Australians and the younger population. Pairs of fictitious, unsolicited job applications were used to test for age and racial discrimination of Middle Eastern people in the Western Australian labour market. The study employed a 2 x 2 between subjects design with race (Anglo Australian and Middle Eastern) …

An Exploratory Investigation Into Knowledge Management In Western Australian Knowledge-Intensive Small Businesses, Shukrullah Fassehi

Theses : Honours

From a knowledge management (KM) perspective, organisational effectiveness depends on the organisation’s capacity to effectively perform a range of processes that include identifying, acquiring, sharing, and storing valuable knowledge. The literature suggests that the growth of interest in the field of KM is largely centred on large organisations. Small businesses have not received much attention in the literature. This is surprising, given that small businesses (however defined) represent the majority of businesses in most countries and, as is the case in Australia, make a major contribution towards business activity, economic development and employment generation.

This study employed a qualitative exploratory …

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. …

Exploring The Intention Of The South West Of Western Australian Residents To Purchase Solar Panels Using The Theory Of Planned Behaviour Approach, Greg Murray

Theses : Honours

Global warming is a concern for many people around the world (Lorenzoni, Pidgeon, 2006; Searle & Gow, 2010). The negative effect of climate change is increasingly apparent (Belluscio, 2010; Dunlop, 2010; Hirabayashi, Kanae, Emori, Oki & Kimoto, 2008; Oelemans, 1994). In response to growing public concern, governments are implementing legislation and carbon initiatives to decrease the impact of climate change (Crane, 2010; D’Souza, 2005). Although these government actions are important to implement environmental preservation among industries, this study focuses on the intentions of purchasing behaviour of the individual homeowner of the South West region of Western Australia. More specifically, the …

The Marketing Relevance Of Australian Cosmetic Brand Ambassadors, Jessica Boswarva

Theses : Honours

Brand ambassadors are often employed to perform important marketing roles such as influencing product adoption and creating brand awareness (Livesley, 2009; O’Leary, 2010; Voight, 2007; Wragg, 2004). Brand ambassadors provide personalised customer service, including educational, experiential and relational roles and as a result propagate trust, minimize perceived risk and create familiarity and involvement (Belch & Belch, 2007; Chiou & Droge, 2006; Elliot & Percy, 2007). Whilst studies highlight benefits to businesses in general, there is limited research to the role of brand ambassadors within the Australian cosmetic industry. Cosmetic brand ambassadors are a traditional feature of the cosmetic industry and …

Property Bubble : Test For Suitability And Reliability Indicators : A Comparative Assessment Of Western Australia And Provence-Alpes-Cote D'Azur, Romain A. Aureglia

Theses : Honours

Purpose: The main purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the speculative bubble literature and to provide a practical test upon Lind’s (2008) definition and set of indicators to identify a property bubble.

Methodology: The methodology for this thesis consists of a case study and a comparative analysis. The paper will connect Lind’s theoretical framework to a practical test to provide a concrete answer for the validity of his work.

Findings: Media and general perceptions have had a great influence over the housing market actors for both Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur and Western Australia regions. House prices increases are often attributed …

An Exploratory Study Into Stakeholder Perceptions Of A Proposed Geotrail In The Perth Hills, Lauren M. Norrish

Theses : Honours

Geotourism is a form of natural area tourism that can include natural and human-made sites of geological significance. This new form of tourism provides destinations with an opportunity to provide a unique product to visitors. The purpose of the study was to explore the perceptions of tourism stakeholders on a proposed geotrail in the Perth Hills. Due to the limitation of appropriate frameworks and models surrounding geotourism development, Steps 1 to 5 of Gunn's (2002) Site Design Steps was used for the identification and development of individual geosites within a proposed geotourism trail in the Perth Hills. Fourteen tourism stakeholders …

An Exploratory Study To Develop A Geotourism Typology Model Based On The Experience And The Importance Of Geotourism In The Decision To Visit A Destination, Hasoly P. Hurtado

Theses : Honours

This study develops a typology model for geotourism to address the existing gap in the literature regarding who is participating in geotourism. As geotourism is a new concept, the literature is not only lacking in this area, but there is also a conflict of definitions available from scholars and organisations. This study defines geotourism in accordance to the definition of Newsome and Dowling (2010). It also aims to reduce the gap in literature by providing a starting point to the development of future geotourism typology models through the adaptation of McKercher's Cultural Tourism Typology Model (2002). Participants eligible for this …

Voluntary Environmental Disclosure By Australian Listed Mineral Mining Companies: An Application Of Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines, Yanan Xia

Theses : Honours

There is a growing interest in studying voluntary environmental reporting around the world, especially in the mining industry, as there has been an increasingly focused debate about mining and its environmental responsibility, driven by strong public sentiment. The objectives of this study were, firstly, to evaluate the changes in environmental reporting over the period 2007-2010, in terms of type and volume of information disclosed in the Australian mineral mining industry, using the 2006 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines and secondly, to identify the key political characteristics of companies that volunteer to disclose environmental information in their annual reports. Based on …

Sport Tourism: An Exploration Of The Motivations And Tourism Experiences Of Australian Football League Interstate Sport Tourists Travelling To Western Australia, Grace Rinaldi

Theses : Honours

Sport tourism is a growing sector within both the tourism and sport industries. The majority of research into sport tourism has focussed on definitions, the benefits and impacts associated with hosting a sport event and exploring who these sport tourists are. The motivations behind these sport tourists have been considered, however the associated tourism experience tourists have while at a destination has not been widely explored. There is also a lack of research into the motivations and tourists activities of fans who travel interstate to support a team in a professional national sport league like the Australian Football League (AFL). …

The Predictive Ability Of Corporate Financial Disclosures : Australian Evidence, Yun Ren

Theses : Honours

This thesis examines the predictive ability of corporate financial disclosures. Factor Analysis and Discriminant Analysis are used to differentiate between good companies and poor companies in Australian manufacturing industry. Good and poor companies are identified based on their 2009 financial data and the prediction models are constructed based on their 2008 data. 64 companies are selected finally, with 29 good companies and 35 poor companies. Financial ratios, company size, corporate governance and conservatism are employed in this study to examine whether they can predict corporate perforn1ance. Because only 3 7 companies disclosed research and development (R&D) expenses, which are used …

Why Ask The Guests? : An Examination Of Mechanisms And Efficacy Of Guest Feedback Used In Hotels In Perth, Selly Sugio

Theses : Honours

This study has explored the importance of feedback mechanisms in the hospitality industry. A mixed methodology was adopted so that the main or major issues could be identified and the respondents' feelings and emotions examined and discovered. In-depth interviews were conducted to discover and explore hotel managers' feeling, emotions, thoughts and understanding of feedback mechanism in the hotel. A questionnaire was developed to investigate the hotel front office or room division staff perspective on feedback mechanisms in the hotel. The rich data is very important because it gives the study more significance and detail. This research found that using feedback …

An Exploration Of The Perceptions Of Flexible Work Arrangements (Fwas) And Factors Affecting Their Uptake At A Tertiary Education Institution In Australia, Fleur Sharafizad

Theses : Honours

Flexible work arrangements (FW As) have become an area of considerable interest. The reason for this increased interest is that flexibility has been found to offer organisations a competitive advantage and helps in attracting and retaining high quality employees (Carlson, Grzywacz & Kacmar, 2010, p. 330). FWAs do not only offer employees the opportunity to create a better work-life balance (WLB) their uptake has also been linked to increased organisational commitment, morale and job satisfaction. Work-life conflict, on the other hand, has been linked to negative individual, as well as organisational consequences. Research has, however, identified gaps between the FW …

The Predictive Ability Of Corporate Narrative Disclosures: Australian Evidence, Yinan Dong

Theses : Honours

The mam objective of this study is to contribute to the academic literature by investigating the relationship between narrative disclosures and corporate performance based on Australian evidence. The research design takes as its starting from the content analysis of discretionary narrative disclosures conducted by Smith and Taffler (2000), and extends their research by combining thematic content analysis and syntactic content analysis. This study focuses on the discretionary disclosures (the Chairman's Statement) of· · Australian manufacturing companies. Based on the Earnings per Share (EPS) movement between 2008 and 2009, 64 sample companies are classified into two groups: good performer and poor …

Corporate Social Reporting In Sri Lanka Surrounding The Tsunami In 2004, Tilina Dharmaratne

Theses : Honours

There is a growing interest in studying corporate social reporting (CSR) around the world. This interest is specifically growing in developing countries. The importance of encouraging CSR is emphasised by The World Bank mainly because of the benefits associated with CSR to such developing countries. This study examines government influence, research and influence of changes in society expectations on CSR in Sri Lanka a developing country surrounding the tsunami in 2004. Research questions are proposed to examine the change in total quantity of CSR disclosures between the years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Four directional hypotheses and a null hypothesis …

The Impact Of Beijing Olympic Sponsorship Program On Annual Report Social Disclosure By Local Sponsors, Juncheng Hu

Theses : Honours

The objective of this study is to utilise both legitimacy theory and reputation risk management theory to examine the impact of the Beijing Olympic Sponsorship Program on annual report social disclosures by local sponsors. Specially, this study attempts to test whether local sponsors increase annual report social disclosure in responses to their sponsorship participation and whether the increases can be explained by other companies operating in the same industry group. This study also compares and contrasts legitimacy theory with reputation risk management theory, and discusses the applicable power of legitimacy theory and reputation risk management theory in positive events/issues. The …

Resident Community Perceptions Of The Socio Cultural Impacts Of Tourism And Host Guest Relations In A Least Developed Country : An Exploratory Study Of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sotear Ellis

Theses : Honours

This exploratory study of community perceptions of tourism impacts and host guest relations in a Least Developed Country (LDC) was undertaken in the Boeung Keng Kang I region of Phnom Penh city, Cambodia. A mixed methodology approach, with quantitative questionnaires of the local community and semi structured interviews with both the community and key informants from stakeholder groups, was used to investigate the appropriateness of social exchange theory and economic dependency theory to the LDC sustainable tourism development agenda set by the World Tourism Organization (WTO). While the concept of sustainable tourism incorporates the economic, environmental and sociocultural aspects of …

An Exploration Of Thresholds Of Tolerance For Changes To Sanctuary Zones Among Repeat Tourists: A Case Of Ningaloo Marine Park, Natasha Nicholson

Theses : Honours

As environmental issues become more prevalent in today' s society, natural area managers must find ways to balance the increased popularity of natural areas for recreation with environmental protection and conservational goals. One popular method to achieve this balance is through restrictions. Sanctuary zones are one type of restriction and are generally designated areas that prohibit extractive uses of natural resources, such as fishing. This study qualitatively explores the issues that affect a repeat tourist's tolerance threshold for changes to their recreational activities caused by restrictions within the Ningaloo Marine Park. This study seeks to assist natural area managers to …

Improving Decision Making : The Case For Internal Intelligence Functions, Charlene Kaye Farr

Theses : Honours

Decision making is a crucial facet of human existence. Decision making can also be a powerful instrument in determining the fate of individuals, organisations, governments, and at society at large. Within the context of government, there is enormous responsibility to ensure that decision making as par for the course of management and governance, results in decisions which are informed, timely and appropriate. It is essential that decision making achieves objectives which are beneficial to the individuals or environment, to which they will be applied. This research study seeks to understand the use of intelligence processes to inform and improve decision …

"Destination Sabah" (Malaysia) : The Public And Private Stakeholders' Perspectives On Branding, Justine L. Nagorski

Theses : Honours

The development of a destination brand for Sabah has been dominated by numerous reports that emphasise the need to develop global awareness of Sabah, but the objectives set to achieve this goal are often idealistic in nature and offer no real solution to problems identified. The challenge, here, is to unify key messages into a consistent, clear and realistic brand and to ensure content in promotional tools accentuates the activities, experiences and key benefits of visiting "Destination Sabah". This study will begin to address these challenges by undertaking the processes that underpin destination branding through comparison to a relational network …

In-Flight Service Recovery - What's Been Tried, What Actually Works? : An Exploratory Study, Nicole Bennett

Theses : Honours

This study explored airline service failures that occurred in-flight (during the flight) and service recovery techniques attempted within the industry. A mixed methodology was adopted so that the key issues could be identified and the respondents' feelings and motivations could be examined. A questionnaire was developed to investigate in-flight service failures and, if any, the degree of success of the service recovery attempts, as judged by the respondent. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted to explore selected respondents' feelings and the motivations behind their answers. The rich data obtained is important because it gives the study more relevance and depth. This …

Sustainability And Company Annual Financial Reporting, Mirela Filipovic

Theses : Honours

This study had two mam objectives. Firstly to measure the level and type of sustainability reporting in companies using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Index. Secondly, to investigate the key characteristics of Australian listed companies that explain the extent of voluntary sustainability information within their annual reports. Based on the positive accounting theory framework and the review of literature six testable hypotheses were developed. The six directional hypothesis developed were related to two aspects of agency and political costs and included ownership diffusion, leverage, audit by big four audit firm, size, profitability and industry type. A stratified sample of 450 …

An Exploratory Study Of Executive Hubris And Its Effect On How Chief Executive Officers In Small To Medium Enterprises Make Strategic Management Decisions, A. S. Parker

Theses : Honours

This exploratory study examined the nature of the recently conceptualised notion of executive hubris; and in particular the effect it may have on how chief executive officers in small to medium sized enterprises make their strategic management decisions. It was designed to explore executive hubris and strategic decision making in a limited sample of executives. On this basis the results are limited to this study and are not generalisable. A core aim of the study however; was to test qualitatively and quantitatively in a fundamental, exploratory way; Hambrick and Hiller's (2005) propositions that executive hubris has an effect on how …

Issues Faced In The Post-Tsunami Recovery Of Small And Medium Tourism Enterprises In Galle District, Sri Lanka : An Exploratory Study, Acushla M. Felix

Theses : Honours

This study identifies the issues faced in the post-tsunami recovery of the tourism industry by Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises in the Galle District of Sri Lanka. Similar to many other countries, Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises form a significant proportion of the Sri Lanka Tourism Industry. However, the significance of this sector of the industry was apparent only subsequent to the tsunami. While Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises account for a diverse range of businesses providing products or services for tourist consumption, this study includes only three such categories, namely; hospitality enterprises; souvenir providers and nature-based enterprises. Further, this …