Business Commons^™

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 …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Small Business Owner-Managers' Participation And Learning In An Online Discussion Forum : Not Quite Paradise Found, Tara Laureen Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Small business owner-managers (SBOMs) are a difficult group to engage in formal face-to-face training and learning activities. Research to encourage SBOMs' participation has focused on two main themes: first, trying to ascertain why they do not attend training and, second, determining their learning preferences. They are reluctant to attend formal training because they prioritise business operations (no time to attend training), perceive training as a poor return on investment, have negative perceptions of training and education, and believe the training provision often does not meet their needs. In terms of their learning preferences, it is clear that SBOMs prefer informal, …

Security Awareness By Online Banking Users In Western Australian Of Phishing Attacks, Nattakant Utakrit

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Phishing involves sending e-mails pretending to be from the legitimate financial institutions to recipients and asking for personal information such as username and password. It also redirects network traffic to malicious sites, deny network traffic to web services, and modify protection mechanisms in the targeted computer systems. Consequences of successful attacks can include identity and financial losses, and unauthorised information disclosure.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of Western Australian bank users in using online banking. The study considered the relationship between the background of the Western Australian bank users and their experience in using online …

Manager Learning In The Micro Business Context : The Role Of External Business Advice, Training Providers And Close Others, Jennifer Devine

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Small business has often been referred to as the “engine driving the economy”. This description highlights the significance of small business to the economy of most countries. But what about the smallest of these organisations; those businesses with fewer than five employees? These businesses, termed micro businesses, form a large part of our economy and are sometimes the starting point for larger business and sometimes provide a long term, alternate business structure. This type of business has special needs and characteristics and is often neglected in the management literature. The nature and diversity of these businesses prompted an interest in …

The Psychological Wellbeing Of Women Operating Mining Machinery In A Fly-In Fly-Out Capacity, Anne Bailey-Kruger

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The present study aimed to address the gap in the current mining research by investigating women’s experiences of working in the mining industry in a “bluecollar” work role and the impact of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) mining on their wellbeing. An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA) was used as a framework to explore the experiences of 19 female machine operators through in-depth interviewing at one mineral mine site in Queensland, Australia. IPA analysis revealed three themes as identified by the participants. The first theme described how workplace barriers to job progression were salient issues for the women, particularly in respect to discrimination …

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. …

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 …

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 …

Individual Retirement Savings Behaviour : Evidence From Malaysia, Nurasyikin Jamaludin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis investigates factors that influence individuals‟ investment choice decisions within the context of retirement savings in Malaysia. The focus is on individuals‟ likelihood of investing part of their retirement savings in approved unit trusts (also known as mutual funds). In addition, individuals‟ choice of fund and mutual fund selection criteria are also explored. This thesis utilised questionnaire-based surveys to solicit responses from members of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), as well as from unit trust consultants. Data collected from 440 EPF members and 561 unit trust consultants were analysed using statistical procedures of SPSS version 18.0 (also known as …

Harnessing Social Capital : An Exploratory Investigation Of Stakeholder Disposition In Boundary Spanning Networks, Brett Martin-Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis confronts existing bilateral models of stakeholder management. It is based upon the premise that existing models place insufficient value upon the mediating power of individuals and small groups imbued with social capital within an organisational stakeholder environment. Initially, this study explores and maps the complex theoretical relations between organisations, stakeholders and social capital to construct an argument for addressing stakeholder management from a more plural and holistic perspective. The thesis suggests that rapid advances in social media and social interconnection now enables the sentiment of individual stakeholders to aggregate and rapidly form issue-specific interest groups that harness social …