Business Commons^™

Does The Fire Station Have A Glass Ceiling? Perceptions Of Female Firefighters, John Griffith, James Schultz, Ronald Wakeham, Marian Schultz

John Griffith

Triangulating System Requirements For Users With Severe Motor Disabilities, Adriane Randolph

Adriane B. Randolph

By giving a voice to users in the design process of information systems, they often feel more empowered and engaged. The inclusion of users with disabilities in the design process, however, can be markedly more difficult. User profiling allows a user's preferences and interests to be captured and represented. However, for a user with severe motor disabilities, information related to his or her user profile must be obtained through a variety of means. Because feedback from a person with a severe motor disability may be limited and, at times, unreliable, system requirements must be triangulated using multiple sources to help …

Developing Soft Skills To Manage User Expectations In It Projects: Knowledge Reuse Among It Project Managers, Stacie Petter, Adriane Randolph

Adriane B. Randolph

This research explores information technology (IT) project managers' reuse of knowledge associated with soft skills when managing user expectations. Through interviews with IT project managers, several themes emerged: novelty of problems, conditions within the organization, types of available knowledge, and methods for reusing knowledge. Within this study, we discovered the need for additional research on how social norms and organizational conditions encourage or inhibit knowledge reuse. Furthermore, we identified a difference in the usefulness of knowledge captured in formal repositories according to levels of project management experience. The findings confirm, extend, and illuminate the current research associated with knowledge reuse …

The Relation Between Variance And Information Rents In Auctions, Brett Katzman, Julian Reif, Jesse Schwartz

Jesse A. Schwartz

This paper examines the conventional wisdom, expressed in McAfee and McMillan's (1987) widely cited survey paper on auctions, that links increased variance of bidder values to increased information rent. We find that although the conventional wisdom does indeed hold in their (1986) model of a linear contract auction, this relationship is an artifact of that particular model and cannot be generalized. Using Samuelson's (1987) model, which is similar but allows for unobservable costs, we show that increased variance does not always imply increased information rent. Finally, we give the appropriate measure of dispersion (different from variance) that provides the link …

Infosec Policy - The Basis For Effective Security Programs, Herbert Mattord, Michael Whitman

Herbert J. Mattord

The success of any information security program lies in policy development. The lack of success in any particular program can often be attributed to this unmet need to build the foundation for success. In 1989, the National Institute of Standards and Technology addressed this point in Special Publication SP 500-169: Executive Guide to the Protection of Information Resources (1989): The success of an information resources protection program depends on the policy generated, and on the attitude of management toward securing information on automated systems. You, the policy maker, set the tone and the emphasis on how important a role information …

It Project Managers' Perceptions And Use Of Virtual Team Technologies, Catherine Beise, Fred Niederman, Herbert Mattord

Herbert J. Mattord

This paper presents the results of a case study pertaining to the use of information and communication media to support a range of project management tasks. A variety of electronic communication tools have evolved to support collaborative work and virtual teams. Few of these tools have focused specifically on the needs of project managers. In an effort to learn how practicing IT project managers employ these tools, data were collected at a North American Fortune 500 industrial company via interviews with IT project managers regarding their use and perceptions of electronic media within the context of their work on project …

Taxing Our Future: The Burden Of The Australian Superannuation Taxation System, Corinne Cortese, John Glynn

John J Glynn

This study provides an examination of the Australian superannuation system and demonstrates the onerous taxation burden applied to Australian superannuation contributions and earnings. Using Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA as a basis for comparison, the superannuation schemes and supporting taxation systems of each of the five countries of the study are reviewed. A scenario is developed and applied that demonstrates the inequity of the Australian system relative to comparable nations. Given concerns about the ageing population, this research supports calls for further reforms to the taxation of superannuation in Australia, which highlight the need to make superannuation …

Cultural Values And Demographic Correlates Of Citizenship Performance, Anil Chandrakumara, John Glynn, H Gunathilake, S Senevirathne

John J Glynn

This study examines the impact of cultural values on citizenship performance (CP) in the context of a developing country. Although differences in CP across cultures have been examined, the situation in developing countries is often not clear. Using a sample of 362 Sri Lankan employees, it is found that gender and education have significant impact on CP. While collectivism, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance are found to be positively related to CP, power distance and masculinity values are negatively correlated with CP. It is also evident that the same cultural value orientation can have both positive and negative impacts on …

Sme Innovation Within The Australian Wine Industry: A Cluster Analysis, David Aylward, John Glynn

John J Glynn

This paper assesses core innovation activity among SMEs within different levels of cluster development. The aim of the paper, using empirical data from the Australian wine industry, is to demonstrate that innovation levels and activity intensify as an industry cluster develops. By dividing wine clusters into ‘innovative’ (highly developed) and ‘organised’ (less developed) models, the paper uses selected core indicators of innovation activity to explore levels of integration within each model. This integration is examined in the context of Porter’s theory of ‘competitive advantage’, with implications for SMEs in particular, and lessons for industry clusters in general.

Regulation Of Aboriginal Labour In Queensland: Protectors, Agreements And Trust Accounts 1897/ 1965, Robert Castle, James Hagan

Robert G. Castle

No abstract provided.

The Ilo And The Australian Contribution To The International Labour Standards Debate, Chris Nyland, Robert Castle

Robert G. Castle

Summarizes the debate between those who are urging the World Trade Organization to adopt a social clause that links the right to engage in international trade with basic labour rights, and those who believe that this would harm the ability of developing countries to compete with the advanced economies because it would prevent them paying lower wages to their workers. Sets out the background to this debate, before examining how it has been carried forward in Australia, looking at the submissions made to the Duffy Report, published in 1996, and the subsequent debate. Analyses the positions taken by the Australian …

Politics In The Oxley Region 1894-1920, Robert Castle, James Hagan

Robert G. Castle

No abstract provided.

Share Farming And The Development Of The Dairy Industry In New South Wales 1890‐1940, Robert Castle, James Hagan

Robert G. Castle

This article assesses the role of share fanning in the NSW dairy industry until the second world war. It examines the origins of the industry and the effects of the 'Dairy Revolution' on the production of milk, cream and butter in the context of the NSW government's policy of 'closer settlement'. It considers the advantages and disadvantages of share farming for both landlords and share farmers and traces some of the social and economic consequences for the industry and the people involved. In doing so it offers a new explanation for the expansion of the industry and the problems that …

Child Labour In South Asia: Domestic And International Initiatives Including Ilo And Wto, D P Chaudhri, Robert Castle, Chris Nyland

Robert G. Castle

South Asia has the largest concentration of child labour and of children not participating in school education. This paper aims to examine the trends in the incidence of child labour in five countries of the region, for the period 1965-1995 and to to delineate patterns in socio-economic correlates relevant to this issue. Multilateral organizations and national governments need to focus the greater part of their efforts on the children most at risk-i.e., those in morally and physically hazardous occupations. The national governments must focus more on agriculture and home-based occupations in the informal sector which account for a large amount …

Seasonal Work And Aboriginal Employment In Two Rural Areas Of New South Wales, 1921–78, Robert Castle, James Hagan

Robert G. Castle

This paper has several areas of focus. It chronicles the history of Aboriginal employment in Australia in two contrasting areas; it identifies the characteristics of that employment and traces the nature of its change over time; it outlines the attitude of Aborigines towards their work, and the impact of that work on Aboriginal society; it also considers the attitudes of white Australians towards Aborigines and their employment. Finally, it draws some conclusions concerning the responses of the Aborigines to pressures put on them by the economy and society of the white man.

Dependence And Independence: Aboriginal Workers On The Far South Coast Of Nsw 1920-75, R Castle, J Hagan

Robert G. Castle

No abstract provided.

Jim Hagan: A Memoir, Robert Castle

Robert G. Castle

Jim Hagan died suddenly on 20 October 2009, three days short of his eightieth birthday. He was one of the last of a group of left-wing Australian historians whose world view was formed by the Depression of the 1930s. Its impact influenced his intellectual development, his focus as an historian and his wider political and social activities.

Labour Clauses, The World Trade Organisation And Child Labour In India, Robert Castle, D P Chaudhri, Chris Nyland

Robert G. Castle

No abstract provided.