Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Investigation Into The Academic Effectiveness Of Class Attendance In An Intermediate Microeconomic Theory Class, Joan R. Rodgers, John L. Rodgers

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Increasing rates of absenteeism from university classrooms raises concern about the consequent effect on student learning. This paper adds to a small but growing body of knowledge from Australia and other countries, about the extent of absenteeism and its effect on academic performance. Panel data on class attendance and academic performance in an intermediate microeconomics class at an Australian University are used to estimate several fixed-effects and random-effects models that explicitly account for unobserved heterogeneity among students. We find strong support for the proposition that class attendance has a significant effect on academic performance.

Are Part-Time Workers Poor?, Joan R. Rodgers

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The proportion of Australian workers who are employed on a part-time basis has almost trebled in the last thirty years to reach its current level of 28 percent. Part-time work is one type of ‘non-standard’ employment that is viewed with concern for it is alleged that parttime jobs provide a low standard of living for those employed in them. This paper focuses upon an extreme version of that concern: the incidence of poverty among part-time workers. Unit-record data are used to compare the poverty rates of part-time workers with those of full-time workers, the unemployed and people not in the …

Ausfta: Linking War, Free Trade And The Environment, Jane Andrew

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Trade agreements should always be treated with caution, especially when they are negotiated behind closed doors. If there is anything positive to be gained in dollar terms from a FTA, this should not be the result of environmental degradation, erosion of environmental standards, and limitations to a sovereign nations ability to build towards a sustainable future. This paper considers the possible impact of the new AUSFTA on the Australian environment.

Who’S Riding The Wave? An Investigation Into Demographic And Psychographic Characteristics Of Surf Tourists, Sara Dolnicar, M. Fluker

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Surfing has grown from its beginnings as a western civilisation sport in the early 1900’s to a stage where it is now an industry worth an estimated $8 billion dollars and involves surfers travelling to both domestic and international destinations as surf tourists. However, there is a dearth of empirical academic research that has been conducted into this segment of the sports tourism market. This study makes a contribution towards understanding surf tourism behaviour by analysing the demographic and psychographic characteristics of 430 surf tourists. The most lucrative segments of the five identified, from the tour operators perspective, are the …

Which Hotel Attributes Matter? A Review Of Previous And A Framework For Future Research, Sara Dolnicar, T. Otter

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A lot of effort has been made in the last decades to reveal, which hotel attributes guest care about. Due to the high costs that are typically involved with investments in the hotel industry, it makes a lot of sense to study, which product components the travellers appreciate. This study reveals that hotel attribute research turns out to be a wide and extremely heterogeneous field of research. The authors review empirical studies investigating the importance of hotel attributes, provide attribute rankings and suggest a framework for past and future research projects in the field, based on the dimensions “focus of …

What Do Australian Practitioners’ Expect From Marketing Graduates?, Sara Dolnicar, D. Stern

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

There have been many empirical investigations into industry requirements regarding the education of marketing graduates. These studies have been conducted in many countries, in many different industries and from many perspectives. While the emphasis of the present study still lies on understanding what the industry wants from marketing graduates, an additional aspect is explored: the existence and nature of sub-groups of recruiters who prioritize different aspects of the candidate’s qualifications. An empirical study is conducted in the larger Sydney and Illawarra region. Groups of recruiters with different views on what graduates should deliver were constructed and described.

Simplifying Three-Way Questionnaires - Do The Advantages Of Binary Answer Categories Compensate For The Loss Of Information?, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Rating scales have become a very common questionnaire answer format in marketing surveys. Apart from problems related to data analysis using ordinal data of this kind, questionnaires producing three-way data are extremely tedious for respondents to answer. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences between binary and ordinally scaled three-way data questionnaires with regard to the duration, the perceived complexity by respondents and the results with regard to the attitude profiles derived. Results indicate that the findings from ordinally scaled questionnaires do not differ sufficiently in terms of profile interpretation to justify the use of such scales …

Political Economy Of Accounting In Intellectual Capital Reporting, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Several factors shaping intellectual capital reporting (ICR) in the context of the political economy of accounting (PEA) theory were discussed in relation to traditional accounting reporting system, intellectual capital and intellectual reporting definitions, techniques employed to report intellectual capital (IC), and theoretical classification of IC. Reporting intellectual capital enables firms to report them in a fashion that best suits the relationship between the firm and their political, economic, and social arrangement. The unregulated reporting can increase manipulation of ICR in a borderless reporting environment to reduce the tension between the firm and its political, social, and economic arrangement.

Accounting For Intellectual Assets And Liabilities, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper is an addition to the current debate on how to measure and recognise intellectual assets and liabilities. A conceptual approach has been proposed so that intellectual assets and liabilities can be recognised in the financial statements using market value as a reference point acknowledging that intellectual assets and liability items cannot be measured accurately to recognise them individually. It was constructed using the common ground between financial reporting and intellectual assets and liability management. It has used an intellectual assets definition, an intellectual assets indicator at an organizational level, the Australian conceptual framework in accounting and recently published …

Intellectual Accounting Scorecard - Measuring And Reporting Intellectual Capital, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Several indicators are constructed to measure intellectual capital at inter-organisational and inter-organisational level. The majority of models constructed so far have not established the link between individual intellectual items and organisational intellectual capital performance. The few models that establish such a link demand significant management time to monitor them, or have established indices outside the traditional accounting system. The Intellectual Accounting Scorecard integrates intellectual capital measuring and reporting into mainstream traditional accounting reporting. Firstly it identifies each intellectual capital item as an intellectual revenue and intellectual expenses having an impact on the statement of income, or as an intellectual assets …

Perceptions Of Responsibility For Clinical Risk Management – Evidence From Orthopaedics Practitioners, Practice Managers And Patients In An Australian Capital City, S. Andrew, M. Barrett

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The paper describes a study of three groups: patients, orthopaedic surgeons and the surgeons’ practice managers, concerning three types of legal risk associated with duty of care: failure to follow up, failure to warn and failure to diagnose. The study found there is cause for concern about doctors’ follow-up and documentation of patient care. Doctors may be unaware of the Australian courts’ propensity to emphasise practitioner responsibility rather than patient autonomy. A further important result is the considerable disparity between doctors’ views and the views of their practice managers. The paper draws implications for improved risk awareness and further research.

Corporate Governance And The Family Business: Managing The Paradoxes, M. Barrett, K. Moore

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

When we did the primary research for our book Learning Family Business: Paradoxes and Pathways*, we talked to many owners of family businesses at different stages of the business life cycle. In the course of talking to them, we noticed that family business owners would say that their business was "just like any other business". But then they would always follow this with the word "except…" and then go on to describe something which suggests that family businesses are very unlike other businesses. This is not altogether surprising. After all, a family and a business are both systems that do …

Financial Sustainability And Accountability: A Model For Nonprofit Organisations, Anne Abraham

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Financial sustainability and accountability are ever-present issues for nonprofit organisations (NPOs) as they seek to balance their mission with financial responsibility. Both issues arise as a result external demands and internal needs.

The mission of an NPO is usually expressed as the role it plays in the segment of society within which it serves. Once its mission is defined, an NPO often finds that it is unable to withdraw. This may be due to external exit barriers placed on the organisation by local community groups, ethnic or religious groups, or by other organisations which are convinced that the maintenance of …

How Many Jobs Were Lost With The Collapse Of Ansett?, Abbas Valadkhani

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The objective of this paper is to determine the adverse impact of the collapse of Ansett on employment using the latest Australian input-output table. The indirect contribution of the collapse of Ansett to the creation of unemployment in various industries is quantified by adopting the "shut-down of industry" approach. Ansett operated within the air and space transport industry which possesses strong backward and forward linkages. It is found that due to sectoral multiplier and flow-on effects each job lost in such an important sector leads to a loss of approximately 3 extra jobs in the economy as a whole. The …

The Role Of Interpersonal Communication In The Development Of Client Trust And Closeness In A Sme Professional Services Context, Les Kirchmajer, Paul Patterson

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study develops and tests a model of effective interpersonal communication as an antecedent to client trust and closeness amongst small to medium enterprise (SJ\1E) professional services providerspersonal fmancial planners. A new multidimensional scale for interpersonal communications is developed and tested, resulting in the identification of three dimensions : Communications clarity (5 items),Social communications (4 items), and Information provision (7 items). Client trust is investigated also as a multidimensional construct with credibility trust and benevolence trust being the two dimensions used. Closeness is investigated as a unidimensional construct. The results suggest that there is a positive relationship between communications clarity …

Utilitarian And Hedonic Value Across Fulfillment-Product Categories Of Internet Shopping, Julie E. Francis, Lesley White

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Extant Internet shopping literature identifies potential sources, and inhibitors, of utilitarian and hedonic value for consumers. However, Internet shopping is oftentimes treated as a relatively homogenous activity or the insights are accompanied by inexact qualifications such as 'in some situations' or 'for some types of products'. The present study enhances these insights in two ways. Firstly, the authors developed a Fulfillment-Product classification scheme that segments Internet shopping situations on the basis of shared marketing-relevant characteristics. Secondly, the study provides a more detailed analysis than has to date been performed by examining the sources and inhibitors of utilitarian and hedonic value …

A Missing Variable: Evaluating The Institutional Impact From Participating In Government Supported Cross Sector R & D Programs, Samuel Garrett-Jones, Tim Turpin

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A key feature of government interventions in support of national innovation in recent decades has been investment in cross sector R&D programs. One of the mechanisms for such action has been the institutionalisation of collaboration through the creation of cooperative research centres. In Australia the cooperative research centres (CRCs) program has become one of the nation’s biggest single budget S&T investment strategy. This has led to increasing efforts to evaluate the program in terms of its overall objectives, the objectives of individual centres and individual centre research programs. However, the institutional objectives of the partners involved in CRCs tend to …

The Politics Of Human Resource Management In Implementing Process Innovation, Michael Zanko, Richard Badham, Maren Schubert

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper analyses a longitudinal case study of organizational and human resource management (HRM) dimensions in the implementation of an approach to product development (concurrent engineering (CE)) in a multinational firm engaged in defence electronics. Most aspects of managing product development in CE are linked to people management. Yet in this case, other than project team structure, prescriptive HRM dimensions of CE received little attention in the implementation process. This failure to address the 'formal' prescribed HRM issues is explained by a multilayer analysis of the play of power and political lobbying among 'stakeholders' over time: the HRM function, key …

Commentary: Reflections On The Critical Accounting Movement: The Reflections Of A Cultural Conservative, Mary A. Kaidonis

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The editors described this as provocative and I was eager to be informed and challenged. O'Regan's claim to be sympathetic to Critical Accounting and his promise to "articulate in sober terms" gave way to O'Regan's frustration, distain and ultimately to reveal his confusion. If previous authoritive writers have failed to inform or enlighten, what contribution could I make? Do I respond the emotive phrases used. Do I sensor me responses? Or should I be amused and have some fun too? I have decided to do all three by offering two commentaries; one which takes O'Regans's paper seriously and I also …

The Use Of The Internet In The Personal Sales Function For Building Materials B2b Firms: Adding Value With Technology, Robert G. Grant

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper seeks to explore the potential of the internet for adding value to members of a highly standardised and largely commodity priced industry. The focus is on the largely interpersonal area of personal sales to give an understanding of the need to look at processes underlying functions to get an appropriate evaluation of the potential benefits derived from the use of such technology. Beyond this, the paper deals with the analysis required to evaluate the potential impact of the adoption of technology based systems by such organisations to illustrate the complexity involved in such adoption. There are conclusions which …

Telling Tales: Authoring Narratives Of Organizational Change, Patrick M. Dawson, David Buchanan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The aim of this paper is to explore the challenges of authoring case study narratives of organizational change in a processual perspective. Most theoretical and managerial accounts of change are narrative-based. They tend to begin with a problem period, then describe interventions, and end with an assessment of outcomes and 'lessons'. However, in the construction of coherent and credible narratives, the voices of competing accounts of change may be silenced. Evidence suggests that accounts of change compete on at least four dimensions, concerning assessments, interpretations, facts, and audiences. The framework developed by Deetz (1996) is used to illustrate how narratives …

Engendering Healthy Organisational Communication - Evidence From Australian Female Managers And Business People, Mary Barrett

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Keeping 'good' communication in organisations is one of the most frequently prescribed recipes for organisational well being. Training programs for employees in assertiveness, improved communication, career development, and managing oneself and others, have often called attention to the specifics of verbal interactions between managers, employees and others in the organisation. Such training programs generally suppose that direct, open approaches to communication are best. Yet it has often been asserted in sociolinguistic research that men and women communicate differently, including at work. Despite this, precepts for 'good' communication that are recommended for both genders in communication training are usually consistent with …

Night Flight, For Violin And Piano, Andrew N. Schultz

Faculty of Creative Arts - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Pocket Gamelan: Developing The Instrumentarium For An Extended Harmonic Universe, Gregory Schiemer, Bill Alves, Stephen James Taylor, Mark Havryliv

Faculty of Creative Arts - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes a 3-year project that seeks to explore tuning systems and to develop instruments appropriate for the audition and performance of music composed in just intonation tunings. The project is a response to the transformation in computer music that has been enabled through the introduction of wireless technologies and is also motivated by a desire to enable performance by large numbers of non-expert performers playing music based on just intonation using hand-held or wearable instruments. Possible scenarios together with musical algorithms are presented and illustrated with examples from creative works written to clarify the parameters of musical instrument …

Learning Design At The University Of Wollongong, S. R. Lambert

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

This paper describes the work done by the author to develop and document a Learning Design process at CEDIR, a centrally funded and located educational development support unit at the University of Wollongong. CEDIR works with educational technology as an intrinsic part of educational design. The Learning Design unit was set up in January 2002 with the aim of ensuring sound pedagogical design of CEDIR educational products and to maximise staff development opportunities during their development The new service processes and tools developed to facilitate these aims have been further refined and evaluated in 2003. This paper reports on the …

Collaborative Design Projects: Evaluating Students' Online Discussions, S. R. Lambert

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

This paper reports on the author’s work to evaluate student online discussion, a learning tool used in a face-to-face graphic design subject centred around a collaborative design project. A modified teaching and learning model with new online resources was trialled with approx 45 undergraduate design students in session 1 of 2003. The 4 students in each project team were allocated a specific role based on contemporary design studio practice. An online discussion space was set up for each project team. A number of evaluation techniques were used including a content analysis of online discussion postings on which this paper focuses. …

Integrating Tertiary Literacy Into The Curriculum: Effects On

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

No abstract provided.

Integrating Tertiary Literacy Into The Curriculum: Effects On Performance And Retention, Gregory R. Hampton, Janice Skillen, Alice W. Russell, Sharon A. Robinson, Louise Rodgerson, Neil Trivitt

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Tertiary literacy instruction and assessment were introduced into two first year biology subjects as part of a collaboration between Biological Sciences and Learning Development staff at the University of Wollongong. In both subjects, the project focussed on scientific report assessment items based on aspects of the practical curriculum. The project involved production and use of a web site giving instruction in report writing and general guidance on scientific writing, marking schemes using explicit criteria including literacy based criteria, a peer marking tutorial, and marking and feedback using the schemes. The results from assessments in the second subject, which included the …

Trialling Collaborative Tools And Processes For Teaching Graphic Design At The University Of Wollongong, Sarah Lambert, Marius Foley

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

This paper reports on the work of the authors in devloping online and face-to-face collaborative processes and tools for teaching graphic design and new media studensts. A modified teaching and learning model was trialed with approx 45 undergraduate students in the subject "DESN301 commercial practice" in session one of 2003. Significant components of the teaching and learning model trialed are: I . Revised assessment centred on teams of four collaborating to produce a client project 2. New resources to support individual learning 3. New resources and online tools to support collaborativelteam learning 4. Website as a doorway to tools and …

Probing Dna Selectivity Of Ruthenium Metallointercalators Using Esi Mass Spectrometry, Jennifer L. Beck, Rajesh Gupta, Thitima Urathamakul, Nyree L. Williamson, Margaret Sheil, Janice Aldrich-Wright, Stephen F. Ralph

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

ESI mass spectra show that up to five ruthenium molecules can bind non-covalently to double stranded 16mer DNA, and provide information on the relative affinity and DNA sequence selectivity of different ruthenium complexes.