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Full-Text Articles in Business
Affordance Theory And E-Books: Evaluating The E-Reading Experience Using Netnography, John D'Ambra, Concepcion S. Wilson, Shahriar Akter
Affordance Theory And E-Books: Evaluating The E-Reading Experience Using Netnography, John D'Ambra, Concepcion S. Wilson, Shahriar Akter
Sydney Business School - Papers
E-books have changed the business of book publishing and the reading experience of the general public. Dedicated e-readers and other smart devices are integral to e-books offering affordances to overcome the physical limitations of print book and to provide the functionality of information technology. Using netnography, comments by online readers to articles in The New York Times and Scientific American were analysed and coded by themes identified in the literature of e-books versus print books. An Affordance Theory approach was used to provide insights into the readers' perceptions of real and actual affordances and the value delivered by these affordances. …
Managerial Coaching: A Practical Way To Apply Leadership Theory?, Julia Milner, Grace Mccarthy
Managerial Coaching: A Practical Way To Apply Leadership Theory?, Julia Milner, Grace Mccarthy
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Transformational leadership is one of the most researched leadership theories, but sometimes misunderstood by managers who believe that to be a transformational leader requires them to be charismatic and in some way extraordinary. Similarly, some sportspeople and sports coaches may be truly transformational in their achievements and yet not receive the same recognition as their more flamboyant colleagues. In this chapter, several similarities are identified between managerial coaching and transformational leadership. Some differences were also identified. Where there are similarities, it is argued that adopting coaching practices can help managers to put transformational leadership into practice and gain the associated …
Optimal Control: Theory And Application To Science, Engineering, And Social Sciences, Davide La Torre, Herb Kunze, Manuel Ruiz-Galan, Tufail Malik, Simone Marsiglio
Optimal Control: Theory And Application To Science, Engineering, And Social Sciences, Davide La Torre, Herb Kunze, Manuel Ruiz-Galan, Tufail Malik, Simone Marsiglio
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
[extract] An optimal control problem entails the identification of a feasible scheme, policy, program, strategy, or campaign, in order to achieve the optimal possible outcome of a system. More formally, an optimal control problem means endogenously controlling a parameter in a mathematical model to produce an optimal output, using some optimization technique. The problem comprises an objective (or cost) functional, which is a function of the state and control variables, and a set of constraints. The problem seeks to optimize the objective function subject to the constraints construed by the model describing the evolution of the underlying system. The two …
Relation Between Trust Theory And Agency Theory, Shyam S. Bhati
Relation Between Trust Theory And Agency Theory, Shyam S. Bhati
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
The global fmancial crisis (GFC) of 2008 has I:aised many issues in regard to the operations of business, particularly financial institutions. The most important issue is the loss of trust in the way financial institutions work. Some authors have called the economic crisis a crisis of trust (Eichengreen, 2009). Emst and Young (2011) have conducted a global survey of banking industry in the aftermath of GFC. They found that the banking industry in mature markets such as USA, UK, Germany, France and Italy has experienced a shift in customer confidence and trust whereas banking industry in emerging markets such as …
Activity Theory: Who Is Doing What, Why And How, Helen Hasan, Alanah Kazlauskas
Activity Theory: Who Is Doing What, Why And How, Helen Hasan, Alanah Kazlauskas
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
In simple terms, Activity Theory is all about 'who is doing what, why and how'. However, things are rarely that simple. Sometimes referred to as the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), Activity Theory is grounded in the work of the Russian psychologist Vygotsky and his students, in particular, Leontiev, in the 1920s. Activity Theory provides a lens with which to tease out and to better understand human activity.
Actor Network Theory, Karin Garrety
Actor Network Theory, Karin Garrety
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Actor-Network Theory (ANT) emerged from science and technology studies, though it was inspired by grounded theory and semiotics. In the 1970s, Bruno Latour (a French anthropologist and social scientist) and Steve Woolgar (a British sociologist) undertook ethnographic field work at the Salk Institute in California. This research was inspired by grounded theory and Latour and Woolgar approached their study of work in the endocrinology laboratory as if they were anthropologists observing a hitherto unknown and strange set of practices. In other words, they did not fit their observations into any preconceived notions of scientific method, or how science 'should' be …
Institutional Theory And Human Resource Management, Ali Najeeb
Institutional Theory And Human Resource Management, Ali Najeeb
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
The study of institutions traverses the academic fields of economics, sociology, political science and organisational theory. The common denominator for institutionalism in various disciplines appears to be that of, 'institutions matter' (Kaufman 2011). An underlying assumption in the study of institutions is that organisations are deeply embedded in the wider institutional context (Powell 1988; DiMaggio & Powell 1991). Thus, "organisational practices are either a direct reflection of, or response to, rules and structures built into their larger environment" (Paauwe & Boselie 2003, p. 59).This institutional environment is the source of legitimisation, rewards or incentives for, as well as constraints or …
Action Regulation Theory, Michael Jones
Action Regulation Theory, Michael Jones
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Action Regulation Theory (ART) is a cognitive theory that draws heavily on work by German and Scandinavian researchers. It brings together Levin's Field Theories and the fundamentals of Activity Theory proposed by Leontiev and Vygotsky. However, where Activity Theory looks at activities, which are comprised of sets of goal oriented actions, ART focuses on specific actions: actions coupled with an inherent feedback cycle. This allows for the concept of an action as a pseudo-iterative process. ART can be seen as a part of Activity Theory, which is concerned with the structure of goals and sub-goals that are guided within a …
Complexity Theory, Helen Hasan
Complexity Theory, Helen Hasan
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Several years ago a prominent Australian politician, responsible for a new program to 'Network the Nation' used this diagram to try to explain what he envisaged. Popularly referred to as 'The Noodle Nation', the diagram was ridiculed for its apparent complexity. It seems that there are better ways to deal with complex issues!
Attribution Theory: Untangling The Relationship Between Management And Workers, Irit Alony
Attribution Theory: Untangling The Relationship Between Management And Workers, Irit Alony
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Attribution theory deals with how and why people form an opinion about the reasons for an event or observation (Winkler 2010). This theory is based on the idea that perception is the foundation of human understanding, sensemaking, and behaviour. This theory claims that people develop explanations for the behaviours of others, similarly to how scientists try to understand the world. The theory asserts that people's opinions are formed based on how they perceive the behaviour and the reality surrounding it. This explanation, the attribution, is based on how the observing person perceives a cause for the actor's behaviour.
The Use Of Grounded Theory In Research: Knowledge Sharing In The Australian Film Industry, Michael Jones, Irit Alony
The Use Of Grounded Theory In Research: Knowledge Sharing In The Australian Film Industry, Michael Jones, Irit Alony
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Selecting the most appropriate research method is one of the most difficult problems facing a researcher. Grounded Theory is presented here as a method of choice as it is. This paper tracks a Grounded Theory research project undertaken to study the phenomena of collaboration and knowledge sharing in the Australian Film Industry. The detailed, rigorous, and systematic approach of the theory Grounded Theory also permits flexibility and freedom rendering Grounded Theory suitable for the investigation of complex multifaceted phenomena. Grounded Theory is also well equipped to explore socially related issues. This cha pter describes the techniques, utility, and ease of …
Applying Principles Of Complexity Theory In Practice, Helen Hasan
Applying Principles Of Complexity Theory In Practice, Helen Hasan
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Maybe you are one of those people who like to keep things simple and see complexity as something to be avoided wherever possible. However, it is getting harder to deny that the environment in which we all live and work is becoming increasingly uncertain and unpredictable. The way I see things is that, as we undertake meaningful activities, we use information and knowledge to make sense of the situations we find ourselves in and the problems we face. We then make decisions on what to do and find decision-making gets harder as things get more complicated.
Applying Attribution Theory To Is Research As A Practical Method For Assessing Post-Adoption Behaviour, Irit Alony, Helen M. Hasan, Cecile Paris
Applying Attribution Theory To Is Research As A Practical Method For Assessing Post-Adoption Behaviour, Irit Alony, Helen M. Hasan, Cecile Paris
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Researchers and practitioners alike see great value in understanding the implementation, adoption, and use of technology, and acknowledge the need to better understand post-adoption behaviour. Among theories that explain and predict human behaviour, attribution theory is recognised for its extensive investigation of behaviour's antecedents and consequences. This paper provides an overview of the theory, suggests a practical method for using it in IS contexts, and shows evidence that this method provides meaningful results. In order to address the complexities encountered in field-work, this paper argues that system-usage can be treated as an interpersonal relationship between the user and the system. …
A Discussion Of The Suitability Of Only One Vs More Than One Theory For Depicting Corporate Governance, Abdullah Al Mamun, Qaiser Rafique Yasser, Md. Ashikur Rahman
A Discussion Of The Suitability Of Only One Vs More Than One Theory For Depicting Corporate Governance, Abdullah Al Mamun, Qaiser Rafique Yasser, Md. Ashikur Rahman
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Agency theory predicts that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the chairman positions should be held by different individuals in order to protect shareholder's interest. Though there are mixed evidences on CEO duality and firm performance, most research have found that there is negative relationship between CEO duality and firm performance. Although, in the last decades of the twentieth century, agency theory became the dominant force in the theoretical understanding of corporate governance, it does not however cover all aspects of corporate governance. This paper aims to explore whether it is better to combine various theories in order to describe …
Scientific Progress In Measurement Theory?, John R. Rossiter
Scientific Progress In Measurement Theory?, John R. Rossiter
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
This article is a response to the March, 2013, special issue of the AMS Review, which was purportedly about "scientific progress in marketing" but in fact was about measurement in marketing. Even narrower than that, the special issue was about "formative measurement" in marketing. The present article contends that the problems raised by the special issue's authors were solved earlier by Rossiter's C-OAR-SE measurement theory. Four key references on C-OAR-SE theory (Rossiter in Int J Res Mark 19(4):305-335, 2002; Bergkvist and Rossiter in J Mark Res 44(2):175-184, 2007; Rossiter's 2011a book; Rossiter in Eur J Market 45(11/12):1589-1600, 2011b) are revisited …
A Comparison Of Supply Integration And End-To-End Communication Theory And Practice - An Australian Perspective, Fadi Kotob, Lee Styger
A Comparison Of Supply Integration And End-To-End Communication Theory And Practice - An Australian Perspective, Fadi Kotob, Lee Styger
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
The concept of supply chain integration and end-to-end communication are well established in supply chain theory. Typically, because of the depth of publications, an axiom has developed that all supply networks are fully integrated and have end-to-end communication protocols. Recent research into Australian supply networks has highlighted a somewhat different scenario, where many networks are fragmented and lack the connectivity that would be expected. This paper offers a comparison of theoretical supply chain management and the actual practices found in Australian businesses. As a result of this grass root research, a scenario is offered that suggest there is a significant …
A Comparison Of Theory And Practice In Market Intelligence Gathering For Australian Micro-Businesses And Smes, Pauline Ross, Carol Mcgowan, Lee Styger
A Comparison Of Theory And Practice In Market Intelligence Gathering For Australian Micro-Businesses And Smes, Pauline Ross, Carol Mcgowan, Lee Styger
Sydney Business School - Papers
Recent government sponsored research has demonstrated that there is a gap between the theory and practice of market intelligence gathering within the Australian micro, small and medium businesses (SMEs). Typically, there is a significant amount of information in literature about "what needs to be done", however, there is little insight in terms of how market intelligence gathering should occur. This paper provides a novel insight and a comparison between the theory and practices of market intelligence gathering of micro-business and SMEs in Australia and demonstrates an anomoly in so far as typically the literature does not match what actually occurs …
A Comparison Of Supply Integration And End-To-End Communication Theory And Practice - An Australian Perspective, Fadi Kotob, Lee E J Styger
A Comparison Of Supply Integration And End-To-End Communication Theory And Practice - An Australian Perspective, Fadi Kotob, Lee E J Styger
Sydney Business School - Papers
The concept of supply chain integration and end-to-end communication are well established in supply chain theory. Typically, because of the depth of publications, an axiom has developed that all supply networks are fully integrated and have end-toend communication protocols. Recent research into Australian supply networks has highlighted a somewhat different scenario, where many networks are fragmented and lack the connectivity that would be expected. This paper offers a comparison of theoretical supply chain management and the actual practices found in Australian businesses. As a result of this grass root research, a scenario is offered that suggest there is a significant …
An Activity-Theory Analysis Of Corporate Wikis, Helen M. Hasan, Charmaine C. Pfaff
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 …
Coaching With Self-Determination Theory In Mind: Using Theory To Advance Evidence-Based Coaching Practice, Gordon B. Spence, Lindsay G. Oades
Coaching With Self-Determination Theory In Mind: Using Theory To Advance Evidence-Based Coaching Practice, Gordon B. Spence, Lindsay G. Oades
Sydney Business School - Papers
The scholarly coaching literature has advanced considerably in the past decade. However, a review of the existing knowledge base suggests that coaching practice and research remains relatively uninformed by relevant psychological theory. In this paper it will be argued that Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985) presents as a useful theoretical framework for coaching as it can help understand coaching practice at both macro and micro levels. The utility of SDT as a theoretical framework for coaching is explored, with particular attention given to the role that coaching would appear to play in the satisfaction of three basic psychological …
An Investigation Of Theory And Its Application In Investment Management Education-Case Of Pakistan, Naveed Iqbal, Searat Ali, Kashif Ur Rehman, Mehmood Shah, Zeeshan Akbar
An Investigation Of Theory And Its Application In Investment Management Education-Case Of Pakistan, Naveed Iqbal, Searat Ali, Kashif Ur Rehman, Mehmood Shah, Zeeshan Akbar
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Deviation of theory from practice is the burning question of the present age. As, numerous efforts have been commenced in multi programs to inspect this prevailing disparity between knowledge and practice at different venues. This study also aims to investigate the theory practice variation in the context of investment management education on the territory of Pakistan-what is taught by the investment academics in the universities to what is used by the investment professionals in the market. The data was collected from the sample of 30 investment academics and 23 investment professionals by using convenience non probability sampling technique. The sample …
Enhancing Industry Association Theory: A Comparative Business History Contribution, James Reveley, Simon Ville
Enhancing Industry Association Theory: A Comparative Business History Contribution, James Reveley, Simon Ville
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Our comparative business historical examination of industry associations aims to enrich the under-theorized study of this distinctive type of meta-organization. We compare two New Zealand industry associations operating in the same supply chain but with differing degrees of associative capacity and types of external architecture. Our analysis of these associations builds on two strands of theory that rarely communicate with each other: New Institutional Economics (NIE) and Organizational–Institutional Theory (OIT). We demonstrate how NIE describes the structural potentialities for associational strength, while OIT addresses the relational context within associations. In turn, NIE’s examination of external influences reinforces OIT suggestions that …
The Unit Of Analysis In Is Theory: The Case For Activity, Helen Hasan, Sumayya Banna
The Unit Of Analysis In Is Theory: The Case For Activity, Helen Hasan, Sumayya Banna
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
In the field of IS, researchers use and adapt existing theories to make sense of their data. They also build new theory from their research findings. The way theory is used, adapted or created usually assumes a certain unit of analysis, which could be the artefact, the system, the organisation, the user, the developer, the team or something else. In this paper we propose that ‘activity’ should also be considered as a suitable unit of analysis for theory in IS since the purpose of any information systems is to facilitate activities of use. To support this proposition, we describe tenets …
Corporate Finance Practice In Kuwait: A Survey To Confront Theory With Practice, Mohammad Al Mutairi, Gary G. Tian, Andrew S. Tan
Corporate Finance Practice In Kuwait: A Survey To Confront Theory With Practice, Mohammad Al Mutairi, Gary G. Tian, Andrew S. Tan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This study reports the results of a survey among 80 CFOs in Kuwaitilisted firms on current corporate finance practices namely, capitalbudgeting, costs of capital, capital structure, and dividend policy.This paper analyses specifically the survey responses according tothe firm s attributes and CFO s characteristics such as firm size,sector, equity, CFO s education, ownership, tenure, age, and targetdebt ratio. The results of this survey-based analysis indicate thatthere is some evidence of the application of basic corporate financetools that are inline with what is taught in classrooms. For example,we find that a surprising number of firms are widely using IRR nowas a …
Methodological Reasons For The Theory/Practice Divide In Market Segmentation, Sara Dolnicar, Katie Lazarevski
Methodological Reasons For The Theory/Practice Divide In Market Segmentation, Sara Dolnicar, Katie Lazarevski
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
A theory/practice divide exists in market segmentation. The main reasons are the focus of academic studies on statistical techniques, and managers' lack of understanding of fundamental segmentation basics (Dibb 2005; Greenberg and McDonald 1989). To date, only one study has explored methodological reasons for the theory/practice divide: Dibb and Simkin 1994. We extend their work by: (1) detailing key methodological aspects likely to cause difficulties in translating segmentation findings into managerially useful information, and (2) empirically investigating specific research questions about methodology-induced reasons for the theory/practice divide derived from both theory and the propositions of previous studies. Results indicate a …
A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Approach To Users, Usability And Usefulness, Helen M. Hasan
A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Approach To Users, Usability And Usefulness, Helen M. Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This paper takes an historical overview of the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Itdescribes how the cognitive psychology emphasis on user involvement in systemsdevelopment of the 1980s reached its limit by the early 1990s. At this point the focus shifted onto support for the tasks of users using computer-based systems in real contexts, a focus that ideally suits the mobile, ubiquitous and social technologies of the new millennium. The Cultural-Historical Activity Theory provides an appropriate framework for understanding this phenomenon and is adopted in this paper to present the work, over a seven year period, of a usability laboratory grounded in …
Double Vision: The Theory Of Mutual Causality And The Strategic Balanced Scorecard, Edmund W. Watts, Carol J. Mcnair
Double Vision: The Theory Of Mutual Causality And The Strategic Balanced Scorecard, Edmund W. Watts, Carol J. Mcnair
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Management accounting researchers have criticised the practitioner-oriented management accounting techniques of the last decade for lacking integrated theories. A contrasting perspective is that these emerging techniques are not atheoretical, but rather natural applications of existing theory as defined in complementary disciplines. Using concepts theory, this paper relates the strategic balanced scorecard (SBSC) to the theoretical concepts of cybernetics. The three fundamental characteristics of cybernetics: causal relationships, communication and change are compared to the SBSC in practice. The results align the practical characteristics of the SBSC to contemporary descriptions of theory, specifically those directed towards abstraction and explanation, thus providing a …
A Contextual Approach To Design And Development Of Interfaces For Search Engines, Using Activity Theory As The Basis For Informing Design Decisions, Joseph A. Meloche, Li Cheng
A Contextual Approach To Design And Development Of Interfaces For Search Engines, Using Activity Theory As The Basis For Informing Design Decisions, Joseph A. Meloche, Li Cheng
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
The goal of this study is to support the design of more effective search engines. The research presented in this chapter investigates the design of search engines in the context of information seeking
activities. This study is also informed by Activity Theory and considers Information Seeking to be a Keystone Activity. This improvement in search engine design takes into consideration the context of users, and elicits and captures users' explicit and implied requirements. The study uses Q-methodology to elicit the subjective understanding of the participants thought the phases provided by the methodology. This entails collecting, sorting and analysis of detailed …
Nexus Of Silence: A Grounded Theory Of Organizational Behaviour Behind The Cover-Up Of Deviance, Michael Gross
Nexus Of Silence: A Grounded Theory Of Organizational Behaviour Behind The Cover-Up Of Deviance, Michael Gross
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
In 2002, the Boston Globe newspaper revealed the cover-up by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of sexual abuse of children by clergy. A grounded theory investigation to answer the question "how could authorities allow this to happen?" revealed a 'nexus of silence' as the central phenomenon that allowed the deviance to continue in Boston and throughout the wider institution of the church. Over decades, linked to avoiding scandal, a 'nexus of silence' prevented disclosure of the sexual abuse problem, understanding of the nature and scale of the deviance, and provision of controls to protect children. This paper explains the 'nexus …
The Network Centric Environment Viewed Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Irena Ali, Leoni Warne, Helen M. Hasan
The Network Centric Environment Viewed Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Irena Ali, Leoni Warne, Helen M. Hasan
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
A network centric (NC) environment has the potential to transform the ways in which people gather, share, and process information with connectivity achieved thorough technological and social networks. This is of relevance to the military environment which is
characterised by constant change and uncertainty, and exposed to the vagaries of the political and economic climate. This chapter will analyse human activities in the military network centric context
through the lens of the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. Based on current research findings it is proposed that the activity of sense-making is central to common awareness and decision making, through information sharing, in …