Business Commons^™

Financial Crisis And Dynamic The Dependency Between Six International Currencies Volatility With Sectors Volatility: Evidence From Six Australian Sectors, Ramzi Tarazi, Mohammad Zahidul Hasan

Business Conference Papers

This paper investigates the influence of volatility of foreign exchange rate of the U.S., the U.K., Netherlands, Japan, China and Singapore to the volatility of the six Australian sectors within the investigated period controlling for the time periods global financial crisis 2007-2008.The volatility in this study was estimated using GARCH(1,1) models. Daily data is collected for a period of 2002 to 2014. The dataset is divided into three sub periods: before GFC (July 2002 to July 2007), during GFC (July 2007 to July 2009) and after GFC (July 2009 to July 2014). The estimated results find strong relationship between exchange …

The Role Of Business Education In Building Business Leadership For 21st Century Responsiveness And Environmental Stewardship: Should Business Education Be Re-Developed?, HéLèNe De Burgh, Amitav Saha

Business Conference Papers

21st century business graduates need to be well equipped with skillsets that enable them to apply their commercial knowledge in organisations where profit maximisation is not the sole purpose. However, business students continue to be taught classic commercial business principles that predominately value profit and performance, resulting in a significant skill shortage for businesses embracing ethical responsibility, social justice and environment issues. The aim of this project is to blueprint a cutting-edge commerce degree that fills this skill shortage by developing an Integrated Business Education Model with extensive literature review and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. Using the …

Oil Price Shocks And Volatility In Australian Stock Returns, Mohammad Zahidul Hasan, Ronald A. Ratti

Business Conference Papers

This paper examines the effect of oil shocks on return and volatility in the sectors of Australian stock market and finds significant effects for most sectors. For the overall market index, an increase in oil price return significantly reduces return, and an increase in oil price return volatility significantly reduces volatility. An advantage of looking at sector returns rather than a general index of stock returns is that sectors may well differ markedly in how they respond to oil price shocks. The energy and material sectors (as expected) and the financial sector (surprisingly) are out of step (in different ways) …

Consuming The Aesthetic Of The Everyday: A Visual Analysis Of Errol Morris’ “High Life”, HéLèNe De Burgh-Woodman, C Payne

Business Conference Papers

Co-constructed meaning between marketer and consumer is a key dimension of convergent (Jenkins 2006) media. Using “Miller’s High Life” ads (1999-2005) we discuss how content convergence prompts different co-constructed meanings among consumer segments, how “mundane art” is produced and how the marketer/consumer relationship is transformed into a filmmaker/viewer-consumer one. From an interdisciplinary perspective, we discuss the implications of this transformed relationship for marketing.

Building A New Brand Community Through Online Media: The Transition From Print To Online Platforms At Le 10 Sport, Doris Madingou, HéLèNe De Burgh -Woodman

Business Conference Papers

As online media increasingly assumes dominance in the marketplace, we use the case study of French company Le 10 Sport to explore the complexities associated with transition from print to online media and the impact on brand community. Le 10 Sport is a sport media company that has successfully gone online. As traditional print media outlets are increasingly pressured by the need to abandon existing readerships and go online, the essential question explored in this paper is can a sports media producer build and maintain its brand community while transitioning to the online platform?

The findings suggest the transition from …

Teaching Economics Within John Henry Cardinal Newman’S Ideal University: A Nineteenth Century Vision For The Twenty-First Century Scholar, Gregory C G Moore

Business Conference Papers

"Now, please, let me bring out what I want to say, while I am full of it. I say then, that the personal influence of the teacher is able in some sort to dispense with an academical system, but that the system cannot in any sort dispense with personal influence. With influence there is life, without it there is none; if influence is deprived of its due position, it will not by those means be got rid of, it will only break out irregularly, dangerously. An academical system without the personal influence of teachers upon pupils, is an arctic winter; …

Effects Of Global Trade Liberalisation On Forestry Products And Forest Sustainability Using The Gtap Model, Luz C. Stenberg, Mahinda Siriwardana

Business Conference Papers

The paper analyses the effects of trade liberalization amongst the leading exporters and importers of forest products, in particular, as well as global merchandise, in general. The study utilises the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model and its database, version 7. Given that forest products only comprise a small proportion of world merchandise trade, it is expected that trade liberalisation would cause small changes in terms of trade, real GDP, production, consumption and prices of forest products in most countries. In the short-run, national welfare in China and Japan would increase substantially by more than $US400 million while the opposite …

Silverstone Industries Ltd: Whistle-Blowing – A Case Study Of Actual Events In A Leading Australian Charity, Stephen Treloar

Business Conference Papers

Silverstone Industries Ltd commenced almost 50 years ago as a registered charitable organisation. Over the years it evolved into a ‘best practice’ ‘social enterprise’ that provided vocational training and employment to over 600 persons with a disability. The company demonstrated how with good training and support disabled persons could do a lot more than low‐skill level tasks traditionally associated with ‘sheltered workshops’.

For the financial year ending 2008, the company reported a record turnover of $31M, a trading surplus of over $1M and a net asset value of $12M. It was a thriving successful business. In March 2009 and at …

Oil And Coal Price Shocks And Coal Industry Returns: International Evidence, Ronald A. Ratti, Mohammad Zahidul Hasan

Business Conference Papers

This paper examines the effect of energy price shocks on coal sector stock returns and supplements studies evaluating the effect of oil prices on the stock price of oil and gas companies. A 1% increase in coal price return raises coal sector returns by between 0.22% and 0.30%. This result is robust across developed, emerging and differing groups of Asia-Pacific and Pacific countries, and is analogous with findings that a 1% increase in oil price raises the return of oil and gas companies by between 0.14% and 0.38% depending on country and time period studied. Oil price return also significantly …

Governance, Mission And Not-For-Profit Organisations: Old Thinking Can Be New Thinking, David Gilchrist

Business Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

The Future Viability Of Charitable Organisations: Social Enterprise And Other Business Models, David Gilchrist

Business Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Mathematics Aptitude, Attitude, Secondary Schools And Student Success In Quantitative Methods For Business Subject In An Australian Catholic University Experience, Luz C. Stenberg, Maria Estela Varua, Jackie Yong

Business Conference Papers

There is a consensus in the literature that mathematical ability contributes to student success in tertiary education. More importantly, mathematical skills are necessary when successfully completing mathematics- and/or science-based degrees. Social sciences such as psychology and economics require statistical skills which also require knowledge of mathematics. Even business students such as marketing and accounting students need the necessary mathematical skills to successfully complete their degrees at university. This paper suggests that student success in a core business subject is dependent on their mathematical aptitude, attitude and type of secondary schooling whether government or non-government schools. There is urgency for universities …

The Regulatory Horizon, David Gilchrist

Business Conference Papers

This presentation covered the following with the key concepts of Not-for-profit, Corporate Governance, Accounting Standards:

- Key Reports

- Regulation in the next 5 years

- Key Accounting Developments

- Some Resources for Consideration

Antipodean Owenite Or Colonial Socialist: Charles Harper’S Economic Thought, David J. Gilchrist

Business Conference Papers

Agricultural co-operation has long been recognised as an important institution in the development of Western Australia’s agricultural sector. Charles Harper (1842 – 1912) has long been considered the founding father of agricultural co-operation in Western Australia. Harper was instrumental in founding the Western Australian Co-operative Producers’ Union in 1902 which, among other things, eventually became Wesfarmers Ltd. Harper was also a long standing member of Parliament, a newspaperman, an explorer, a founder of schools, a philanthropist, and an agricultural experimentalist. He was also able to pass his legacy on to his son Walter who led the co-operative movement after Harper …

Multiple Methods: How To Help Students Succeed In Quantitative Methods For Business Unit, Luz C. Stenberg, Maria Estela Varua, Jackie Yong

Business Conference Papers

Helping students succeed in a quantitative analysis courses is often difficult especially when students have little or no prior mathematical training. Without denying the significance of traditional lectures and tutorials in undergraduate education, an increasing number of academics are recognising the value of practical sessions, informal small-group learning and online learning facilities. By recognising that each person processes information differently, by reducing student’s anxiety towards the unit and by making teaching accessible to students of multiple learning styles, the lecturer can give all students a better chance of successfully completing the unit. This paper looks at the links between the …

Agents, Stewards And Leaders: The Place Of Mission In Not-For-Profit Corporate Governance, David Gilchrist

Business Conference Papers

Commercial models have been applied to most aspects of Not-for-profit management and operation. There are very good reasons why this might be advantageous to the Not-for-profit sector generally and to funders and boards of management particularly. Such reasons include the fact that the commercial sector has developed far more mature governance models than the Not-for-profit sector, that advisors to the sector are far more adept at providing solutions based around these commercial models and that boards of management are more likely to be able to quantify their achievements using such measures. However, the use of such models can cause a …

‘Person-Centred’- An Ethic Of Christian Charitable Service, Lucy Morris

Business Conference Papers

How many of us really see another human being when we make contact with them, particularly when we might know them already? How often do we look at them closely, look at their eyes, concentrate, take stock of their ‘being’ at that actual moment? Not many of us and not very often I suspect. Instead, we see someone we’ve pigeonholed in our mind’s eye, and say to ourselves, I know this person – she’s a friend, or this person is talkative, or again, this one is boring or challenging – and so on, and we forget to look at them …

Services Branding Strategies: Using Corporate Branding To Market Educational Institutions, Joo-Gim Heaney, Michael Heaney

Business Conference Papers

Corporate Branding has been suggested as an appropriate branding strategy for branding services as opposed to service product branding (Dall’Olmo Riley and de Chernatony, 2000). As corporate branding takes into account the perspectives of various stakeholders associated with the organization, this concept then becomes a crucial strategy when branding and marketing educational institutions. This paper provides an important theoretical contribution to services marketing literature by providing conceptual applications of corporate branding to educational institutions.

The paper also examines how different stakeholders including staff, students, admissions officers and other related faculty and parents can be integrated to enhance the branding of …

The Campaign To Arrest Ed Shann’S Influence In Western Australia, Gregory C G Moore

Business Conference Papers

Shann towered over the discipline of economics in the state of Western Australia in the first third of the twentieth century. He was the foundation professor in history and economics from 1913 to 1931 and inaugural professor of economics from 1931 to 1934 at the University of Western Australia (UWA); he set the curriculum for the subjects that constituted the economics major that was offered at UWA over this period and ensured that it had a market-driven, policy-oriented and historical flavour; he trained a generation of bright young men and women—such as John La Nauze, Nugget Coombs, Merab Harris, Paul …

A Model For Experiential Learning And Community Engagement In Marketing Research, Maria M. Ryan, Gary Marchioro

Business Conference Papers

This paper outlines a model developed in a partnership between a university business school and a state government education department. The model is based on an environment of experiential learning within a marketing research unit for university students and provides market information for primary and secondary school principals to facilitate the development of their school marketing plans. The paper also discusses the development of expertise in the researching of local educational needs, by a community’s education sector, with a view to establishing long term, mutually beneficial relationships.

Corporate Social Responsbility In Business Courses: How Can Generation Y Learn?, Joo-Gim Heaney, Damian Gleeson

Business Conference Papers

This paper deals with the teaching of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Business courses to Generation Y Business students in Australian universities. Generation Y students embody particular characteristics that may seem paradoxical, such as placing an increased emphasis on an improved materialistic lifestyle alongside green marketing or climate change issues. Generation Ys also highly value a balanced work-leisure environment but are comfortable with living on high levels of debt and expenses. The question then emerges: what is the most effective method of educating Generation Y Business students about CSR? A three-fold approach is proposed: a foundation of life-long learning about …

What’S In A Legal Framework? Associations Incorporation Legislation, Corporate Governance & Organisational Raison D'Être, David J. Gilchrist

Business Conference Papers

Agenda for presentation:

1. What is governance?

2. The Legislative Framework

3. Associations Captured

4. The Contract Culture

Corporate Social Disclosure By Westpac Banking Corporation: A Study Of Social Impact Reports (2002 – 2004), Hung Do, Carol A. Tilt, Matthew V. Tilling

Business Conference Papers

While a number of studies of Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD) focus on the annual report as the principal means of communication, this paper presents an exploratory examination of the Social Impact Reports of a large, Australian company – Westpac Banking Corporation Ltd – for the period 2002-2004. It considers whether there is a relationship between media attention and disclosures made in Westpac’s reports, in light of Legitimacy Theory. Westpac’s reports were prepared in a formulaic manner, the disclosures were generally positive with little quantitative data, and covered the areas of environment, customer, employees and community. Westpac’s disclosures appeared to be …

Post-Conventional Leadership And The ‘Reformed’ Public Sector – An Australian Case Study, Christopher Williams

Business Conference Papers

The author has recently undertaken a review of the leadership of the public sector in the State of Western Australian (WA) for the Office of the Auditor General. This paper presents the findings of that review, and assesses the workforce planning and leadership development requirements for the public sector.

The author was asked by the Office of the Auditor General to prepare a ‘lighthouse’ report which would identify the key issues for the future of the leadership in the public service workforce in the jurisdiction, and illuminate potential future directions, as well as flagging gaps in the current data and …

A Biographical Sketch Of William Edward Hearn (1826-1888): A Slightly ‘Irish’ Perspective, Gregory C G Moore

Business Conference Papers

William Edward Hearn was the first Australian economist of international note. His major publication in the discipline of economics, Plutology (1863), was praised by the leading economists of the late-nineteenth century, including W. S. Jevons, A. Marshall and F. Y. Edgeworth. In this paper I trace the way in which Hearn's early experiences in Ireland shaped his economic views. I argue that he was just as much an Irish economist as an Australian economist.

This Conference Paper has since been published as:

Gregory C G Moore, 'The Anglo-Irish context for William Edward Hearn's economic beliefs and the ultimate failure of …

Communication At The Edge: Voluntary Social And Environmental Reporting In The Annual Report Of A Legitimacy Threatened Corporation, Matthew V. Tilling

Business Conference Papers

This paper examines the voluntary social and environmental disclosures made in the annual reports of Rothmans Ltd between the years of 1955 and 1999. The first part of the paper focuses on defining legitimacy theory as it has been used in accounting research and discusses the potential of a resource based approach to testing the theory. The study then considers legitimacy theory in light of the disclosures made by Rothmans. An initial qualitative analysis certainly provides examples of expected attempts to legitimatize the corporation given the threat posed by the smoking and health debate. Initial quantitative findings contradict those expected …

Company Characteristics And Occupational Health And Safety Disclosures: A Quantitative Review Of Australian Annual Reports, Matthew V. Tilling

Business Conference Papers

This paper uses binary logistic regression to develop two models of firms’ Occupational Health and Safety disclosures, one based on disclosure / non-disclosure, the other based on above / below the median levels of disclosure. Industry and auditor are found to be important components of both models, whilst operating revenue contributes to the former and company age to the latter. These findings support to some extent previous studies into Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure, but also identify new factors that need to be further investigated. The paper contributes to our current understanding of Corporate Social Disclosure through its focus on …