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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Social Shaping Of Technology: Lessons For Eco-Innovators, Robert B. Brown, David W. Mercer Dec 2012

The Social Shaping Of Technology: Lessons For Eco-Innovators, Robert B. Brown, David W. Mercer

Dr Robert Brown

A range of innovative technologies and applications offer exciting opportunities to address environmental issues. This is particularly relevant to computers and Information Technology (IT) more generally where new computational techniques and approaches to supporting business decision making have the potential to not only redress the carbon cost of that particular industry, but offer carbon savings to the broader community. In the following discussion paper we provide a overview of ways that insights from the interdisciplinary field of STS (Science and Technology Studies or Science Technology and Society) might assist eco-innovators in the IT sector. We identify four interlocking themes emerging …


Organization-Based Social Marketing: An Alternative Approach For Organizations Adopting Sustainable Business Practices, Mary Franks Papakosmas, Gary Noble, John Glynn Oct 2012

Organization-Based Social Marketing: An Alternative Approach For Organizations Adopting Sustainable Business Practices, Mary Franks Papakosmas, Gary Noble, John Glynn

John J Glynn

This article conceptualizes a new area for social marketing practitioners by focusing on individual behavior change that might occur within organizations. Organization-Based Social Marketing (OBSM) draws from organization change theory and internal marketing theory, while maintaining social marketing’s focus on beneficial behavior modification. The article argues that as such, OBSM represents a viable approach for organizations seeking to address the increasing demand for change strategies that promote proenvironmental behavior among their employees


Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr): An Examination Of Consumer Awareness, Evaluation And Purchase Action, Alan A. Pomering Sep 2012

Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr): An Examination Of Consumer Awareness, Evaluation And Purchase Action, Alan A. Pomering

Alan Pomering

Despite marketplace polls reporting heightened consumer interest in and support for companies acting in socially-responsible ways, there remains to date little evidence of such consumer support translating into general purchase behaviour. There is a gap in our knowledge regarding which particular socially-responsible behaviours are likely to prove most influential with consumers and be rewarded with supportive purchase behaviour, and how awareness of firms’ commitments to these behaviours is to be brought to consumers’ attention. It appears from the marketplace success of some socially-responsible, or ‘ethical’ brands, such as The Body Shop and recently launched clothing brands such as American Apparel …


Maintaining Social Marketing's Relevance: A Dualistic Approach, Gary I. Noble Sep 2012

Maintaining Social Marketing's Relevance: A Dualistic Approach, Gary I. Noble

Gary Noble

There have been calls amongst academics and practitioners to move social marketing 'upstream'. This paper attempts to clarify what upstream social marketing is, its appropriate relationship with ‘downstream’ social marketing and how both approaches can be combined into a suitable theoretical framework. The paper argues that neither up or downstream social marketing is superior and suggests that a dual, synergistic approach is needed. This argument is supported through reference to current social marketing interventions in the areas of road safety and childhood obesity. The paper concludes by suggesting that Polonsky, Carlson and Fry’s (2003) ‘harm chain’ concept may be a …


Sydney's Creative Economy: Social And Spatial Challenges, Christopher R. Gibson Sep 2012

Sydney's Creative Economy: Social And Spatial Challenges, Christopher R. Gibson

Chris Gibson

The recent popularity of Richard Florida's work on the rise of the 'creative class' invites attention not only on the size and impact of the creative economy in Australia, but on its geography as well." At the core of Florida's approach is the premise that places compete with each other for a new kind of economic development, fuelled not by the availability of raw materials, cheap labour, or state investment in infrastructure, but by the decisions of producers in creative industries such as film, music, design and advertising to live and work in particular localities. Such creative producers constitute a …


Book Review: The Nation's Diet: The Social Science Of Food Choice, Linda C. Tapsell Jul 2012

Book Review: The Nation's Diet: The Social Science Of Food Choice, Linda C. Tapsell

L. C. Tapsell

No abstract provided.


Weaving The Academic And Social: Working In Higher Education On Rural And Remote Australian Campuses, Jeannette Stirling, Celeste Rossetto Jun 2012

Weaving The Academic And Social: Working In Higher Education On Rural And Remote Australian Campuses, Jeannette Stirling, Celeste Rossetto

Jeannette Stirling

Our paper examines the complexities of providing academic learning support for students studying at small rural and regional Australian university campuses. As educators who live and work in regional campus communities, we have come to understand that the academic advice provided on campus has the potential to resonate through the social, and vice versa. We argue that, despite these complexities, this weaving of the social and academic can result in a teaching process more akin to a co-production of knowledge rather than the traditional didactic models of teaching employed at larger campuses where, in this type of populous environment, the …


The Social Contract - A New Path To Economic Recovery, Robert Castle Jun 2012

The Social Contract - A New Path To Economic Recovery, Robert Castle

Robert G. Castle

No abstract provided.


Social And Economic Change In Australia In World War Ii, Robert Castle Jun 2012

Social And Economic Change In Australia In World War Ii, Robert Castle

Robert G. Castle

No abstract provided.


Trade Unions And An Australian Labour Government: A Social Contract For The 80s?, Robert Castle Jun 2012

Trade Unions And An Australian Labour Government: A Social Contract For The 80s?, Robert Castle

Robert G. Castle

No abstract provided.


But I Already Wash My Hands! The Importance Of Consumer Orientation In Developing A Social Marketing Strategy For A Potential Pandemic, Sandra Jones, Louise Waters, Donald Iverson Jun 2012

But I Already Wash My Hands! The Importance Of Consumer Orientation In Developing A Social Marketing Strategy For A Potential Pandemic, Sandra Jones, Louise Waters, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

The influenza A (H5N1) virus is currently the focus of the worlds attention and, while avian flu viruses are not known to infect humans, there have been recent cases where the H5N1 has spread from human to human (Butler 2006; Ungchusak et al. 2005; Wulandari and Lyn 2006). Concern about a possible pandemic is based on a number of factors including the potential of the virus to be transmitted from migratory birds to domestic poultry; the absence of demonstrated effective treatment options or an available vaccine; and lack of collaboration in the planning of responses between neighbouring countries. This research …


Implementing Comprehensive Health Education: Educational Innovations And Social Change, Lloyd Kolbe, Donald Iverson Jun 2012

Implementing Comprehensive Health Education: Educational Innovations And Social Change, Lloyd Kolbe, Donald Iverson

Don C. Iverson

The effectiveness of health education is ultimately determined by whether it is implemented, and how it is implemented. Although a given health education innovation may be designed and experimentally assessed to promote well-being with some measure of effectiveness and efficiency, the actual impact of the innovation will depend upon the manner in which it is disseminated, initiated, and maintained. The implementation of health education programs in schools or elsewhere is a function of the types of innovations available, certain characteristics of those innovations that influence their use, and the manner in which the innovations are brought into practice. This paper …


Water Places: Cultural, Social And More-Than-Human Geographies Of Nature, Leah Gibbs Jun 2012

Water Places: Cultural, Social And More-Than-Human Geographies Of Nature, Leah Gibbs

Leah Maree Gibbs

Cultural, social and more-than-human approaches to nature research are largely held apart in the discipline of human geography. In this paper I argue that these three approaches can be brought together to good effect. The paper presents a situated account of 'water places' in inland Australia-namely the artesian bores, boredrains and boredrain wetlands of the Birdsville Track-in order to demonstrate that together, these three approaches can reveal the complex interactions that form particular places, and comprise a more-than-human world. This account explores the layers of interaction that have formed these water places, including their insertion into the landscape through drilling, …


Queer-Friendly Neighbourhoods: Interrogating Social Cohesion Across Sexual Difference In Two Australia Neighbourhoods, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray, Gordon R. Waitt Jun 2012

Queer-Friendly Neighbourhoods: Interrogating Social Cohesion Across Sexual Difference In Two Australia Neighbourhoods, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray, Gordon R. Waitt

Gordon Waitt

No abstract provided.


Will The Social Housing Profession Be Politically And Socially Influential Or Irrelevant? Lessons From Other Professions, Mary A. Kaidonis Apr 2012

Will The Social Housing Profession Be Politically And Socially Influential Or Irrelevant? Lessons From Other Professions, Mary A. Kaidonis

Mary Kaidonis

The emerging social housing profession in Australasia is poised to be an empowered base for influence or to it can be irrelevant. The information of the Australasian Housing Instutute (AHI) represents a new phase in social housing, offering a unique opportunity to re-define the notion of professionalism.


Innovative Workplace Change: Social Well-Being And Health, Patrick M. Dawson, Michael Zanko Apr 2012

Innovative Workplace Change: Social Well-Being And Health, Patrick M. Dawson, Michael Zanko

Michael Zanko

Since the industrial revolution a chief concern of business organizations has been how best to organise work to maximise productivity and minimise costs. Securing and maintaining competitive advantage through new methods of work organization and systems of operation have largely centred around commercial and financial concerns rather than on the well-being of employees. Issues of occupational health and safety (OHS) have arisen in a range of working environments and legislative change has sought to ensure that safe and secure working conditions are a mandatory requirement of modern business. However, implementation of these mandates generally rests with management and whilst procedural …


Interorganizational Dynamics In Collaboration In University-Industry Research Projects: Context, Politics And Social Construction, Michael Zanko, Richard Badham, Karin H. Garrety Apr 2012

Interorganizational Dynamics In Collaboration In University-Industry Research Projects: Context, Politics And Social Construction, Michael Zanko, Richard Badham, Karin H. Garrety

Michael Zanko

University-industry partnerships (UIPs) are widely viewed as essential in leveraging research capability and economic performance in organizations and the nation as a whole. In Australia, as in many other countries, the national government commits significant funds to such ‘strategic’ collaborations. Despite this interest, there is still a relatively poor understanding of the interorganizational dynamics of these industry and university partnerships and their projects. This paper examines such dynamics by focusing on a management-related research project we were involved in negotiating and undertaking with industry partner managers over a four-year period. Of particular relevance was the complex interplay between UIP politics, …


Interorganizational Dynamics In Collaboration In University-Industry Research Projects: Context, Politics And Social Construction, Michael Zanko, Richard Badham, Karin H. Garrety Apr 2012

Interorganizational Dynamics In Collaboration In University-Industry Research Projects: Context, Politics And Social Construction, Michael Zanko, Richard Badham, Karin H. Garrety

Karin Garrety

University-industry partnerships (UIPs) are widely viewed as essential in leveraging research capability and economic performance in organizations and the nation as a whole. In Australia, as in many other countries, the national government commits significant funds to such ‘strategic’ collaborations. Despite this interest, there is still a relatively poor understanding of the interorganizational dynamics of these industry and university partnerships and their projects. This paper examines such dynamics by focusing on a management-related research project we were involved in negotiating and undertaking with industry partner managers over a four-year period. Of particular relevance was the complex interplay between UIP politics, …


Industry Associations As Facilitators Of Social Capital: The Establishment And Early Operations Of The Melbourne Woolbrokers Association, David Merrett, Stephen Morgan, Simon Ville Apr 2012

Industry Associations As Facilitators Of Social Capital: The Establishment And Early Operations Of The Melbourne Woolbrokers Association, David Merrett, Stephen Morgan, Simon Ville

Simon Ville

Relocation of the selling of Australia's wool clip from London to cities in Australia in the late nineteenth century led to the creation of wool selling industry associations, such as the Melbourne Woolbrokers Association (MWA). Highly successful in fostering competitive collaboration that improved market efficiency, the Association rested on the social capital brought to it and further developed by the participants, individuals with extensive connections in the pastoral, banking and transport industries. The collective social capital vested in the Association enabled the earning of economic rents, firstly from the high trust created through internal cohesion reinforced by formalised sanctions, and …


Social Capital Renewal And The Academic Performance Of International Students In Australia, Frank V. Neri, Simon Ville Apr 2012

Social Capital Renewal And The Academic Performance Of International Students In Australia, Frank V. Neri, Simon Ville

Simon Ville

Many believe that social capital fosters the accumulation of human capital. Yet international university students arrive in their host country generally denuded of social capital and confronted by unfamiliar cultural and educational institutions. This study investigates how, and to what extent, international students renew their social networks, and whether such investments are positively associated with academic performance. We adopt a social capital framework and conduct a survey of international students at a typical Australian university in order to categorise and measure investments in social capital renewal, and test a multivariate model of academic performance that includes social capital variables, amongst …


Social Innovation: Buzz Word Or Enduring Term?, Eduardo Pol, Simon Ville Apr 2012

Social Innovation: Buzz Word Or Enduring Term?, Eduardo Pol, Simon Ville

Simon Ville

The term 'social innovation' has come into common parlance in recent years. Some analysts consider social innovation no more than a buzz word or passing fad that is too vague to be usefully applied to academic scholarship. Some social scientists, however, see significant value in the concept of social innovation because it identifies a critical type of innovation. In this paper, we suggest one possible definition of social innovation and show that when its empirical meaning is distilled, the term is of great importance. We distinguish social innovation from business innovation, and identify a subset of social innovations that requires …


Understanding It Adoption And Consumption Within The Social Structure Of A Consumer’S Economy, Sherman Ting, Linda Dawson, Chris Dubelaar Mar 2012

Understanding It Adoption And Consumption Within The Social Structure Of A Consumer’S Economy, Sherman Ting, Linda Dawson, Chris Dubelaar

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

Research into adoption, acceptance and consumption of Information Technology (IT) within its diffusion cycle has been extensively studied in Information Systems (IS) and marketing. However, research often focused too narrowly on technology adoption rates and drivers leading to technology adoption and acceptance. This paper discusses how understanding the social structure of a consumer’s economy, a consumer’s portfolio of capital resources, can reveal the individual’s approach and experiences towards technology adoption and consumption present and future. It provides a novel multi-disciplinary and practical approach into understanding the technology consumer by looking at how economic, cultural, social, educational, technological and political capital …