Business Commons^™

Social Marketing And The Implementation Of The National Disability Insurance Scheme, Jodie Kleinschafer, Felicity Small, Mona Nikidehaghani

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a nation-wide government policy designed to support people living with a disability (PWD) and constitutes a significant reform in the provision of disability funding in Australia. This reform is a rapidly implemented response to the poor living conditions for PWD, as identified in the Australian Productivity Commission's report in 2011. It is founded on the social aim of empowering PWD with choice and control so they can "live an ordinary life". As such the implementation of this policy could have benefited from the application of social marketing strategy from the beginning, as the …

Unlocking The Potential Of Branding In Social Marketing Services: Utilising Brand Personality And Brand Personality Appeal, Ross Gordon, Nadia Zainuddin, Christopher A. Magee

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose - This paper aims to demonstrate the utility of branding theory for social marketing services. Specifically, this is to our knowledge the first to investigate brand personality (BP) and brand personality appeal (BPA) in a single study as predictors for consumer attitudes and intentions to engage with a service. Design/methodology/approach - The associations between BP and BPA and their subsequent associations with attitudes and intentions are tested in two service types, i.e. a commercial marketing service (banking) and a social marketing service (health screening). This involved a cross-sectional dual online survey administered to a sample of 395 women 50-69 …

Optimal Control: Theory And Application To Science, Engineering, And Social Sciences, Davide La Torre, Herb Kunze, Manuel Ruiz-Galan, Tufail Malik, Simone Marsiglio

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

[extract] An optimal control problem entails the identification of a feasible scheme, policy, program, strategy, or campaign, in order to achieve the optimal possible outcome of a system. More formally, an optimal control problem means endogenously controlling a parameter in a mathematical model to produce an optimal output, using some optimization technique. The problem comprises an objective (or cost) functional, which is a function of the state and control variables, and a set of constraints. The problem seeks to optimize the objective function subject to the constraints construed by the model describing the evolution of the underlying system. The two …

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis With Goal Programming In Engineering, Management And Social Sciences: A State-Of-The Art Review, Cinzia Colapinto, Raja Jayaraman, Simone Marsiglio

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Goal programming (GP) is an important class of multi-criteria decision models widely used to analyze and solve applied problems involving conflicting objectives. Originally introduced in the 1950s by Charnes et al. (Manag Sci 2:138-151, 1955) the popularity and applications of GP has increased immensely due to the mathematical simplicity and modeling elegance. Over the recent decades algorithmic developments and computational improvements have greatly contributed to the diverse applications and several variants of GP models. In this paper we present a state of the art literature review on GP applications in three selected (prominent and popular) areas, namely engineering, management and …

Modelling The Impact Of Perceived Connectivity On The Intention To Use Social Media: Discovering Mediating Effects And Unobserved Heterogeneity, Samuel Fosso Wamba, Shahriar Akter, Eric W. T Ngai, Imed Boughzala

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Early research examined the direct effect of perceived connectivity (PC) on intention to adopt information systems. In this study, we extend that research stream by examining the mediating effects of perceived enjoyment (PE) and perceived playfulness (PP) on the relationship between PC and the intention to use social media within the workplace. To test our proposed model, we collected data from 2,556 social media users from Australia, Canada, India, the UK, and the US. We applied the REBUS-PLS algorithm, a response-based method for detecting unit segments in PLS path modelling and assessing the unobserved heterogeneity in the data sample. Based …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Young Drivers' Perceptions Of Driver Distraction Social Marketing Interventions, Nathan Turnbull, Jennifer Algie

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This study gives insight into why current driver distraction social marketing interventions are not motivating the high-risk target audience of young drivers to cease using their mobile phones when driving. Three focus groups (n=30) were conducted with drivers aged 18-25 years old to explore current attitudes and behaviours in regard to mobile phone use when driving. Additionally four emergent themes were identified from the target audience’s reactions to six social marketing interventions specifically targeting mobile phone cessation. These themes are analysed through the lens of the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) comprising perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, response efficacy and self-efficacy.

The Social Innovation Network (Sinet) University Of Wollongong Final Report 2015, Helen M. Hasan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

[extract] A decade ago, discussions were held between Prof Margaret Sheil, the then Pro Vice- Chancellor (Research), and researchers in the social science on the most effective structures by which the University's Research Office could recognize and support research excellence in areas other than science and engineering. Most of the Research Strengths funded at the time adopted the traditional institute structure, which suited science and engineering where costly laboratories and equipment were needed. We pointed out that research in Social Sciences, Humanities, Business and Education tended to occur in small groups all over campus between which there were multiple connections. …

Stakeholders' Power, Corporate Characteristics, And Social And Environmental Disclosure: Evidence From China, Yingjun Lu, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper investigates the influences of stakeholders' power and corporate characteristics on social and environmental disclosure practices of socially responsible Chinese listed firms identified by a social responsibility ranking list. A stakeholder-driven, three-dimensional social and environmental disclosure index including disclosure quantity, disclosure type quality and disclosure item quality, is constructed to assess sample firms' social and environmental disclosures in their two public reports: annual reports and corporate social responsibility reports. Findings indicate that corporate social and environmental disclosures have significant and positive associations with firm size, profitability, and industry classification. The roles of various powerful stakeholders in influencing corporate social …

Tourism Marketing Communications On A Chinese Social Media Platform, Jing Ge

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Social media have become important communicative platforms for tourism marketers but it is not clear if and how the communicative language of marketerto- consumer is different from consumer-to-consumer. Given the enormous growth of both tourism and social media in China, this paper focuses on patterns in language use by the Chinese tourism marketers on Weibo. Using systemic semiotic approach, it selects and investigates two corpora of communication on Weibo - tourism to consumer and consumer to consumer. This study expects to provide the firm understanding and categorize the patterns in the language used by Chinese social media marketers so that …

Social Risk In Female Entrepreneurship, Roshni Narendran

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The aim of this chapter is to introduce an alternate means of conceptualising risk, as well as, intercede the concept to the situation of Indian female entrepreneurs. In most contexts, risk tends to be associated with finance (Buttner & Rosen 1988; Jianonkoplos & Bernasek 1998; Verheul & Thurik 2001); however, other intricacies hindering the growth of female entrepreneurship need to be considered. This aspect is trivial when studies are conducted in a culturally rich country like India. When analysing the situation of women in India, researchers refer to the Manusmriti to highlight the social stigma against women in India. Manusmiriti …

Connecting Isolated Senior Citizens: Illustrating The Complexity Of Social Information Systems Development, Carole Alcock, Lois Burgess, Helen Hasan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

In Australia, complex issues relating to an ageing population are confronting governments, communities and individuals (APC 2011). This is a common concern in most developed countries and one where IS can play a significant role. Some studies have suggested that social well-being could be enhanced by participation in online activities (ADHA 2011). Reports in aged care research literature indicate that loneliness and isolation are among the main problems encountered by people living well into their 80s and 90s (Coughlan 2011). Those still in their home receive basic medical and support services, sometimes via the Internet, but their lack of mobility …

Building Academic Capability To Facilitate And Support The Transition Of First Year Social Inclusion Business Students, Michael Zanko, Jan Turbill, Bonnie Cord

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The first year in higher education has been of growing interest particularly in light of the Australian Federal Government's mandate to target students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper reports on one faculty's Social Inclusion Project designed to help teachers support first year student transition into tertiary studies. This paper outlines an action learning project directed at building knowledge and skills around transition pedagogy for subject coordinators of core first year business subjects. The project was deliberately designed to develop academics' ability to confidently monitor students' progress through the use of both formative and summative assessment practices and to modify …

What Happens When Digital Information Systems Are Brought Into Health And Social Care? Comparing Approaches To Social Policy In England And Australia, Susan Baines, Penelope Hill, Karin Garrety

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This review article offers a brief comparative overview of approaches to the application of public sector information systems in England and Australia, with particular reference to health and social care. Since the 1990s, reforms to the public sector in both countries have looked to information and communication technologies (ICTs) from the private sector as the key to modern, citizen-centred services. These efforts have been conducted in the wider context of New Public Management, with the emphasis on the marketisation of government services, reducing the size of the state, and improvements in efficiency. Both countries are typically seen as being at, …

The Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure And Financial Performance: Evidence From Thailand, Wisuttorn Jitaree, Sudhir C. Lodh, Shyam S. Bhati

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This study examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and financial performance in Thailand during the period 2009-2011. Four measures of financial performance were used based on data extracted from the annual reports of 232 firms listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. A CSR disclosure index was constructed to measure the extent and dimensions of CSR disclosure. Overall, the results from the empirical analysis provide some evidence of positive relationship between financial performance and CSR disclosure. This study adds further evidence to the literature on the relationship between the CSR and financial performance in an emerging country. …

Social Media Semantics: Analysing Meanings In Multimodal Online Conversations, Michael Ibrahim Mehmet, Rodney J. Clarke, Karlheinz Kautz

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

There is a growing need to comprehensively understand how messages and online conversations construct and convey meanings especially when they are likely to be distributed across multiple social media platforms. This paper introduces a framework to address this need, the Social Semiotic Multimodal (SSMM) framework based on multimodal extensions to Systemic Functional Linguistics, a semiotic theory of language. The framework uses a set of expansion resources, to reveal how the meanings of social media messages are chained together to form online conversations. These meanings are frequently distributed across more than one social media platform. This semantic approach is exemplified using …

Consumers As Value Creators: Exploring Value Self-Creation In Social Marketing, Angie Mccosker, Nadia Zainuddin, Wing Yin Leona Tam

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Value creation is an important part of social marketing, which attempts to create value for target audiences to induce behaviour change (Kotler & Lee, 2011). Social marketing is often concerned with voluntary behaviour change, and as such, requires a level of active consumer participation within the value creation process. The voluntary nature of many social marketing activities suggests that the experiential value of these behaviours is proactive. Holbrook (1994) distinguishes between passive and active value in commercial marketing, whereby passive value is experienced by consumers reactively in response to the consumption of an object or service, and active value is …

Re-Viewing Student Teamwork: Preparation For The 'Real World' Or Bundles Of Situated Social Practices?, Christopher Sykes, Lee Moerman, Belinda Kathlyn Gibbons-Parrish, Bonnie Cord

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Research in Australian business education continues to emphasise the importance of students learning teamwork as an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum. However, entrenched conceptual and practical confusion as to what the term 'teamwork' means and how it ought to be enacted remains a vexed issue capable of distorting and diminishing teamwork, learning and related pedagogy. In this paper, we critically re-examine the view that developing teamwork in an undergraduate business degree equips students for work in the real world. By focusing on the 'real world' metaphor-in-use in a cross-disciplinary business capstone subject, we interrogate the spatio-temporal dimensions of teamwork …

Local Government Service Systems Improvement: Exposing The Social Networks, Matthew Pepper, Andrew Sense

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Using a local government (LG) case study, this paper describes and qualitatively explores the value and use of social network analysis (SNA) in creating a rich environment for service network innovation and development. The case study analysed manages regional planning development applications and involves a complex social network. The study underpins the view that in LG service environments, mechanistic models for systems improvement are on their own inadequate. SNA constitutes an essential complementary development framework underpinning continuous innovation through human and social capital development. Findings presented are profound for local government and multiple service contexts and argue for a greater …

Degrees Of Sophistication In Social Media Adoption For Tourism Operators In Australia - A Preliminary Analysis, Nina Mistilis, Ulrike Gretzel

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Given that SM is one of the "mega trends" that has significantly impacted the tourism system, this paper aims to provide an initial analysis for tourism operators in Australia in terms of the degrees of sophistication of SM adoption. A survey of 2172 tourism operators in Australia across five industry sectors revealed that two thirds had a Social Media site presence. However, in terms of sophistication measured by number of sites on which they had a presence, their updating frequency of site contents and monitoring the number and level of consumer engagement, the results indicated the level of sophistication could …

Understanding Social Media Use As Alienation: A Review And Critique, James Reveley

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The opportunities social media provide for agential expressions of subjectivity and experiential learning, relative to social media's role in reproducing digital-era capitalism, are the subject of keen debate. There is now a burgeoning academic literature which suggests that social media users are, to a greater or lesser degree, alienated by the activities of mega-corporations like Google and Facebook. Within this literature two broad perspectives are clearly identifiable. The first insists that social media platforms strongly alienate their users. To the extent that critical media scholars who advance this proposition are preoccupied with ideological hegemony, their work emblematises the idealist tendency …

Leading Locally, Competing Globally: Measuring The University Of Wollongong's Contribution To Economic And Social Prosperity, Brad Braithwaite, Guy West, Charles Harvie, Nick Hartgerink

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

In its 2013-2018 Strategic Plan the University of Wollongong (UOW) states its intention of playing a leading role in attracting "vitality and economic growth to Australia and our region". This report provides the first comprehensive assessment of UOW's performance against this goal. It details the findings of a six-month study undertaken by a research team from the Centre for Small Business and Regional Research (CSBRR), which sought to reliably and objectively describe the overall influence of the University of Wollongong (UOW) on economic and social prosperity in Australia, and in particular, its home region. After a brief background on the …

Advertising Corporate Social Responsibility: Results From An Experimental Manipulation Of Key Message Variables, Alan Pomering, Lester W. Johnson, Gary Noble

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how social topic information (STI) and corporate social responsibility commitment (CSRC) substantiate the firm's CSR claims and promote message persuasion.

Design/methodology/approach: A 2x2 between-subjects experimental design was used to examine the impact of STI and CSRC on output variables using an online sample of 176 participants in Australia.

Findings: The study found that manipulation of STI had a statistically significant impact on outcome variables, but that CSRC did not.

Research limitations/implications: The study was limited to Australia and used a fictitious brand in the experiment. Practical implications: For marketing communications and …

Social Innovation Through Spiritual Leadership, Lauren Klaus, Mario Fernando

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the 2nd International Conference on Social Responsibility, Ethics, and Sustainable Business Bournemouth, UK, September 5 & 6, 2013.

Professionalism And Social Networking: Can Patients, Physicians, Nurses, And Supervisors All Be "Friends?", Joy Peluchette, Katherine Karl, Alberto Coustasse, Dennis Emmett

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of social networking (Facebook) among nurse anesthetists. We examined whether they would have concerns about their supervisor, patients, or physicians seeing their Facebook profile. We also examined their attitudes related to maintaining professional boundaries with regard to the initiation or receipt of Facebook "friend" requests from their supervisor, patients, or physicians they work with. Our respondents consisted of 103 nurses currently enrolled in a graduate-level nurse anesthetist program. All respondents had a minimum of 2 years of work experience in critical care nursing. Most respondents were found to be neutral …

Social Risk And Female Entrepreneurs In Kerala, India: A Preliminary Assessment, Roshni Narendran

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The aim of this paper is to highlight the concept of social risk in the literature of female entrepreneurship. In most studies, entrepreneurial risk is considered to be related to monetary concerns, but sociological risks are overlooked. The risks associated with social challenges will be discussed in this paper. First, a conceptual model is developed with the help of the literature review. This conceptual model is further explained with the help of a qualitative analysis that was carried out in the state of Kerala. This South Indian state is renowned for the high social status enjoyed by women; therefore, it …

Social Semiotic Contributions To The Systemic Semiotic Workpractice Framework, Rodney Clarke

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The workpractices associated with the use of an information system can be described using semiotic theories in terms of patterns of human communication. A model of workpractices has been created called the systemic semiotic workpractice framework that employs two compatible but distinct semiotic theories in order to explain the complexity of information systems use in organisational contexts. One of these theories called social semiotics can be used to describe atypical workpractice realisations, where a user renegotiates one or more canonical sequences of activities typically associated with a specific system feature. In doing so the user may alter the staging of …