Business Commons^™

Insights Into Mature Consumers Of Financial Services, Trenton Milner, Daniela Rosenstreich

Sydney Business School - Papers

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate psychographic, demographic and situational characteristics of Baby Boomer generation consumers, specifically in relation to their consumption of financial services.

Design/methodology/approach: A survey was pre-tested and 776 responses (77.6 per cent response rate) were subjected to correlation and ANOVA analysis. The survey covered a wide range of variables for decision making for financial services, including situational, demographic, and psychographic.

Findings: Consumers who scored higher on scales for competitiveness and need for material resources tended to have higher incomes. Mature consumers were likely to face major life events involving their children and parents, …

Managerial Coaching: Challenges, Opportunities And Training, Grace Mccarthy, Julia Milner

Sydney Business School - Papers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the growing practice of managerial coaching. Much of the coaching literature is set in the context of an external coach coming into an organisation. However managers are increasingly being expected to coach their employees, a change in role which can create tensions. Design/methodology/approach - This paper examines the literature on coaching managers. The paper also discusses practical implications for coach training. Findings - This paper identifies key differences in the issues faced by coaching managers and by internal/external coaches and recognises the importance of adequate training of managers …

A Review Of Consumer Decision-Making Models And Development Of A New Model For Financial Services, Trenton Milner, Daniela Rosenstreich

Sydney Business School - Papers

It is recognised that existing theories of Consumer Decision Making (CDM) are not well suited for financial services and there have been calls for development of a new conceptual model. This article reviews prominent models of CDM and identifies strengths and limitations. A new conceptual model that is applicable to financial services is developed. An important element of the model is the recognition that the components interact rather than a consumer following a linear progression through a series of stages. The new model better reflects the iterative decision-making process relevant to financial services and enhances marketers' understanding of the process …

Sharing The Research Journey - Fostering A Love Of Research In Coursework Masters Students, Grace Mccarthy

Sydney Business School - Papers

Based on addressing the motivational needs identified in Self Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), the paper outlines an engaging approach to developing research skills in a coursework masters program. Self Determination theory is a needs based theory of motivation, focusing on basic human needs to relate to others in a group, to strive for competence, and to enjoy autonomy. According to Deci and Ryan (2002), social environments which fulfil these needs will result in motivated, engaged and successful individuals. Our students enjoy autonomy in their choice of topic and develop competence in research skills. Although each student conducts an …

Autonomy And Innovativeness: Understanding Their Relationships With The Performance Of Indonesian Smes, Amie Kusumawardhani, Grace Mccarthy, Nelson Perera

Sydney Business School - Papers

AbstractThis paper reports on two Entrepreneurial Orientation dimensions: autonomy and innovativeness since there has been no significant research in this area in Indonesia, particularly related to the context of SMEs. The purpose of this paper is to report on an empirical investigation of the role of autonomy and innovativeness in the firm performance of Indonesian SMEs, using a mixed methods approach. Findings from the quantitative data analysis confirmed that autonomy and innovativeness were adopted by Indonesian SMEs. However, these EO dimensions were found to have no significant relationships with firm performance. The qualitative data analysis clarified these findings, indicating that …

Assessing The Strengths Of Mental Health Consumers: A Systematic Review, Victoria J. Bird, Clair Le Boutillier, Mary Leamy, John Larsen, Lindsay G. Oades, Julie Williams, Mike Slade

Sydney Business School - Papers

Strengths assessments focus on the individual's talents, abilities, resources, and strengths. No systematic review of strengths assessments for use within mental health populations has been published. The aims of this study were to describe and evaluate strengths assessments for use within mental health services. A systematic review identified 12 strengths assessments (5 quantitative, 7 qualitative). The Strengths Assessment Worksheet (SAW) was the most widely utilized and evaluated qualitative assessment. Psychometric properties of the assessments were assessed against set quality criteria. Data on psychometric properties were available for 4 measures. The Client Assessment of Strengths, Interests and Goals (CASIG) had the …

Rivers And Puddles: Metaphors For Explaining The Need For Continuous Change And Development In Modern Organisations, Ann M. Rogerson

Sydney Business School - Papers

Metaphors are popular with academics and researchers to explain organisational phenomena including change, but these metaphors may not be as useful when explaining the need for continuous change to employees. This paper proposes the use of rivers and puddles as metaphors for leaders, managers and organisations to use to explain the shift required in accepting day to day change as the norm rather than a process. These relatable metaphors provide an approach to differentiating between process and adaptive change and how to explain this in terms that having meaning to individual employees and organisations.

The Aging Workforce: How Can Australian Universities Address Future Workforce Challenges?, Susan Loomes, Grace Mccarthy

Sydney Business School - Papers

Australia is facing major demographic challenges fueled by low workforce participation rates and the exit of the baby boomers from the workforce. Universities are likely to face the same workforce challenges. However, they may be in a better position than mainstream businesses due to the skills required, the flexibility of hours, and the nature and casualization of the workforce. This opens the door to attract retiring business professionals and aiding them to transition into academic teaching roles. For this non-traditional recruitment pathway to succeed, universities will need to ensure they have appropriate education and training pathways, mentoring along with peer …

Corporate Governance In Sri Lanka: The Status Quo, Walter Gunathilake, Anura De Zoysa, Palli Mulla K. A. Chandrakumara

Sydney Business School - Papers

This paper examines the existing corporate governance environment, practices, and institutional framework in Sri Lanka and evaluates their effectiveness to identify current issues and challenges. Sri Lanka is an emerging and rapidly growing market economy in South Asia with a liberalised economic and trade policies associated with FDI, international trade, and export-led development policies. Sri Lanka's corporate governance (CG) systems and practices have been largely influenced by both colonial economic policies and post-independence govt policies. Its CG practices consists of promoting dispersed ownerships, increasing size of a board and decreasing directorship per director, greater involvement of internationally recognized few audit …

Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Using The Sri Lankan Tea Industry As A Pilot Study, Pradeepa Jayaratne, Lee Styger, Nelson Perera

Sydney Business School - Papers

Genuine sustainable supply chain management is now critical to achieve competitive advantage. Risk, uncertainty, strategy, innovation, relationship, infrastructure, regulation and technology are typically historically important areas that have a strong impact on sustainable SCM. These factors have been studied within manufacturing sector in developed countries; there is a lack of research on agri-supply chain in developing countries with respect to the concept of sustainable SCM. Therefore, this research tries to map the tea supply chain and identify the influencing factors and their performance on sustainable SCM in the tea supply chain in Sri Lanka. Importantly, early research suggests that mapping …

A Literature Analysis On Business Performance For Smes - Subjective Or Objective Measures?, Siti Nur 'Atikah Zulkiffli, Nelson Perera

Sydney Business School - Papers

The study examines the basic research methodologies and approaches for assessing business performance. It provides a critical literature analysis on how perception-based evaluation can be used to evaluate performance, specifically for SMEs. The analysis of the literature covers articles from major journals related to the topic. The methodology followed during the conduct of this paper involves starting with the broad case of articles in general business performance measurement, then focusing on the indicators used to study SMEs. Next, the review screens the list, focusing on the differences between subjective and objective measures. The validity issue related to subjective measures is …

Modelling Corporate Competitive Capabilities For Smes In The Malaysian Manufacturing Sector: An Exploratory Study, Siti Nur 'Atikah Zulkiffli, Nelson Perera

Sydney Business School - Papers

This study empirically tests the relationship between the four factors of corporate competitive capabilities (CCC) (cost leadership, differentiation, innovative marketing and customer service) and business performance. The study specifically emphasises small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. The study’s quantitative approach is based on the responses of 135 Malaysian manufacturing SMEs responded to a postal questionnaire. Empirical results from structural equation modelling (SEM) demonstrate an insignificant relationship between CCC and business performance.

The Influence Of Levels Of Supply Chain Integration On The Relationship Between Corporate Competitive Capabilities And Business Performance: Evidence From Malaysian Smes, Siti Nur 'Atikah Zulkiffli, Nelson Perera

Sydney Business School - Papers

This study aims to empirically investigate the influence of levels of supply chain integration (SCI) as a moderating variable on the relationship between corporate competitive capabilities (CCC) and business performance. Data was collected from a postal questionnaire from 135 Malaysian manufacturing SMEs. The data was tested using confirmatory factor analysis, cluster analysis and multi-group SEM analysis. The findings confirm that the levels of SCI in a given firm moderate the relationship between CCC and business performance for that firm. The study also contributes to the body of knowledge by expanding the understanding of levels of SCI as a moderator.

Influential Organisational Capabilities For Smes’ Export Performance: An Exploratory Study, Majidah Hassan, Grace Mccarthy

Sydney Business School - Papers

Organisational capabilities that influence the export performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been identified and discussed in previous studies which mostly have used SMEs in developed countries as their research sample. Thus, the empirical evidence from developing countries is still lacking. This exploratory study employs a resource-based view (RBV) perspective to understand how a set of organisational capabilities can influence the export performance of SMEs in Malaysia (a developing country). Based on in-depth interviews with CEOs or top level managers from twenty-three SMEs in Malaysia, the study found that capabilities to develop business networking, innovation capabilities, and capabilities …

Employee Wellbeing In Australian Organisations - A Snapshot Of Current Practices, Grace Mccarthy, Shamika Almeida, Julia Ahrens

Sydney Business School - Papers

Research has shown that employee wellbeing is associated with a range of positive outcomes such as reduced stress and improved productivity. The aim was to assess the nature and prevalence of wellbeing programs in Australian organisations. An email invitation was sent to 3471 HR professionals in Australia of whom 313 responded to the online survey (9%). Findings indicate that this small subset of Australian HR professionals consider that the benefits of well-being programs outweigh the costs and have a variety of initiatives in place which contribute to employee wellbeing. However, the low response rate may suggest that many organisations do …

Impact Of Work Values And Ethics On Citizenship And Task Performance In Local And Foreign Invested Firms: A Test In A Developing Country Context, Anil Chandrakumara, Paul R. Sparrow, Nelson Perera

Sydney Business School - Papers

This study examines the impact of work values and individual characteristics on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and task performance (TP). A theoretical foundation was developed in order to use work values and ethics as antecedents of OCB. Using five work related values orientations and 416 responses from Sri Lankan manufacturing sector employees, it is found that gender, employment category, and level of education influence citizenship performance. Importantly, the impact of work values on OCB is found to be more significant than that of demographic factors, with three dimensions (work norms, work ethics, and intrinsic values) found to be significant in …

The Customer Service Hall Of Shame, Mercedez Hinchcliff, Grace Mccarthy

Sydney Business School - Papers

This paper examines the reasons why some companies, in particular financial services companies, are listed on the MSN “Customer Service Hall of Shame” list year after year. This paper reviews the qualities service providers must possess in line with the SERVQUAL framework, in order to maintain customer loyalty. As the survey also publishes a ‘Hall of Fame’ list which identifies the top ten companies in excellent customer service, this paper will also investigate what these companies are doing that the others are not. In addition to analysing the survey results, the paper reviews related blogs to understand factors contributing to …

Counter Terrorism And Access To Justice: Public Policy Divided?, Mark Rix

Sydney Business School - Papers

This paper will consider the manner in which Australia’s counter-terrorism strategy has been operationalised, highlighting the implications of its strategy for access to justice. Access to justice, encompassing the ability of individuals, including persons suspected of terrorism offences and non-suspects, effectively to exercise their human and legal rights, can be an important curb on state power. But, in another equally important sense, providing individuals with access to justice also protects national security by helping to ensure that the law enforcement and security agencies focus their efforts on genuine terror suspects rather than wasting their resources on investigating and prosecuting genuine …