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Industry Associations And Non-Competitive Behaviour In Australian Wool Marketing: Evidence From The Melbourne Woolbrokers' Association, 1890-1939, David Merrett, Simon Ville
Industry Associations And Non-Competitive Behaviour In Australian Wool Marketing: Evidence From The Melbourne Woolbrokers' Association, 1890-1939, David Merrett, Simon Ville
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
From the 1890s the sale of Australian wool was organised through a series of regionally based associations of wool selling brokers and wool buyers. They engaged in cartel-type behaviour by price fixing and exclusive dealing. We ask the question whether the wool selling brokers exploited their monopoly power to the full in setting fees and charges paid by the growers and buyers. Association records provide data on the pricing structure and rationale for changes. We surmise that the existence of the cartel lifted prices above competitive levels. However, the pricing behaviour was moderated to a strong form of limit pricing.
Human Capital Externalities, Departmental Co-Authorship And Research Productivity, Frank Neri, Joan Rodgers
Human Capital Externalities, Departmental Co-Authorship And Research Productivity, Frank Neri, Joan Rodgers
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Lucas (1988) hypothesised that human capital externalities explain persistent productivity growth and become manifest via interactions between workplace colleagues. Consistent with the first part of this hypothesis, Fox and Milbourne (2006) concluded that an increase in the average level of human capital in Australian economics departments raised the research productivity of departmental members. This paper tests the robustness of this finding by using a direct, rather than a proxy, measure of human capital and confirms the existence of human capital externalities within Australian economics departments. But we go further by investigating the second part of Lucas’ hypothesis. Whilst there are …
The Effect Of Female And Male Health On Economic Growth: Cross-Country Evidence Within A Production Function Framework, Gazi Hassan, Arusha Cooray
The Effect Of Female And Male Health On Economic Growth: Cross-Country Evidence Within A Production Function Framework, Gazi Hassan, Arusha Cooray
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
It is widely believed by development economists that the role of human capital is one of the most fundamental determinants of economic growth. Sustained growth depends on the level of human capital whose stocks increase due to better education, higher levels of health, new learning and training procedure. The intuition that good health raises the level of human capital and has a positive effect on productivity and economic growth has been modelled by enodogenous growth theorists. But empirically ascertaining the causal relationship between health and growth is more difficult due to the possible existence of endogeneity between these two variables. …
New Theoretical Perspectives On Family Business Entrepreneurial Behavior, Mary Barrett, Ken Moores
New Theoretical Perspectives On Family Business Entrepreneurial Behavior, Mary Barrett, Ken Moores
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Family business leaders are often characterized as entrepreneurs (Aldrich and Cliff 2003 ; Shepherd and Haynie 2009 ). In attempting to understand the entrepreneurial thinking of family firm leaders, scholars have typically borrowed from the extant literature on entrepreneurship, which traditionally emphasizes characteristics of individual entrepreneurs such as their personalities, propensity for risk-taking, personal values, and so on. 1 However as Aldrich and Martinez ( 2003 ) point out, there are changes afoot in how entrepreneurship is being studied, including (a) a shift in theoretical emphasis from the characteristics of entrepreneurs as individuals to the consequences of their actions, (b) …
Towards The Development Of An Evaluation Questionnaire For Academic Conferences, Clifford Lewis, Gregory M. Kerr
Towards The Development Of An Evaluation Questionnaire For Academic Conferences, Clifford Lewis, Gregory M. Kerr
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Each year, academic conferences are held at destinations throughout the world. These conferences provide benefits to the host destination's economy as well as to the conference participants. Involving travel and accommodation, academic conferences can be classified as business tourism. Academics often have a range of conferences from which to choose. The conference experience therefore may be important in the decision to reattend or recommend a conference to other potential attendees. While many conference organizers distribute a "conference evaluation sheet" at the end of a conference, there is no evidence of a standardized questionnaire that evaluates the entire conference experience. The …
Reflective Assessment In Work-Integrated Learning: To Structure Or Not To Structure, That Was Our Question, Bonnie Amelia Dean, Chris Sykes, Shirley Agostinho, Mike Clements
Reflective Assessment In Work-Integrated Learning: To Structure Or Not To Structure, That Was Our Question, Bonnie Amelia Dean, Chris Sykes, Shirley Agostinho, Mike Clements
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This paper reports the findings of a research study on whether or not to structure reflective assessment tasks. It examines students' perceived benefits or limitations from structuring reflective assessments in a Commerce WIL program at the University of Wollongong. Sixty-four students over two semesters responded to a questionnaire on their perceptions of structured reflective assessments in the Internship Program. The findings of the self-reported experiences were heterogeneous and indicative of the dominant themes relevancy and flexibility. We suggest these themes stem from a misalignment of assessment and reflective practice. Correcting this misalignment could be achieved by providing a balance of …
A New C-Oar-Se-Based Content-Valid And Predictively Valid Measure That Distinguishes Brand Love From Brand Liking, John R. Rossiter
A New C-Oar-Se-Based Content-Valid And Predictively Valid Measure That Distinguishes Brand Love From Brand Liking, John R. Rossiter
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This article provides a new, C-OAR-SE-based, contrastive measure that distinguishes “brand love” from “brand liking.” The new measure is tested in an empirical study conducted among German university students about brands of products that they buy in four diverse product categories. From a consumer perspective, the incidence of consumers who have a loved brand in the category was found to be only 17% for laundry detergent, 18% for coffee, and 26% for computers, peaking at 45% in the fashion clothing category — findings that suggest that over half of young consumers do not acquire the state of brand love. Turning …
'So, What Did You Do?' A Performative, Practice-Based Approach To Examining Informal Learning In Wil, Bonnie Amelia Dean, Chris Sykes, Jan Turbill
'So, What Did You Do?' A Performative, Practice-Based Approach To Examining Informal Learning In Wil, Bonnie Amelia Dean, Chris Sykes, Jan Turbill
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
A growing body of research in work-integrated learning (WIL) demonstrates the importance of industry experience for student learning. Much of this research however focuses on individual, formal learning that occurs in WIL programs typically captured through assessment. What is less visible is the informal learning experienced during placement. In this paper, we argue that such omissions are suggestive of the incommensurability of the standard paradigm of learning with informal learning. The standard paradigm limits informal learning by privileging individual, cognitive processes of recall, thereby casting experience as “static and sedimented, separated from knowledge making processes” (Fenwick, 2009, p.235). This paper …
Social Networks, Social Learning And Service Systems Improvement, Andrew Sense, Matthew Pepper
Social Networks, Social Learning And Service Systems Improvement, Andrew Sense, Matthew Pepper
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This article illustrates and qualitatively explores the value of understanding the social networks present in a service operation through a case study of a local government service network that manages regional development applications. It also examines how social learning underpins service systems performance improvement and how it is instrumental in creating a richer environment for ongoing service network innovation and development. It is argued that gaining a better understanding of these social networks and the social learning potential in a system offers substantial and highly practitioner-friendly avenues to progress service systems capability development. These fi ndings clearly place an emphasis …
Occupational Health And Safety Management In Organizations: A Review, Michael Zanko, Patrick Dawson
Occupational Health And Safety Management In Organizations: A Review, Michael Zanko, Patrick Dawson
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
In examining the research literature on occupational health and safety (OHS), this paper argues that the growth in the number of specialists in OHS has resulted in an emphasis on policy and practice away from more scholastic concerns previously addressed by academics in the disciplines of psychology and sociology. A hiatus has occurred, and this is evidenced by the general absence of studies in management, even though OHS is increasingly seen as a key operational and strategic concern of business organizations. The authors call for OHS to be placed firmly on the research agenda of management scholars, and advocate the …
Accounting As An Instrument Of Neoliberalisation? Exploring The Adoption Of Fair Value Accounting In China, Ying Zhang, Jane Andrew, Kathleen Rudkin
Accounting As An Instrument Of Neoliberalisation? Exploring The Adoption Of Fair Value Accounting In China, Ying Zhang, Jane Andrew, Kathleen Rudkin
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Purpose This paper explores the implementation of fair value accounting (FVA) in China as part of a global process of neoliberalisation and financialisation of political and economic systems. It establishes that FVA forms part of the technical architecture of neoliberalism. Design/methodology/approach In considering the processes of neoliberalisation in China, this paper uses a qualitative approach to explore some of the impacts the adoption of FVA has had on Chinese capital markets. Findings It is shown that the practice of FVA is imbued with assumptions about the state and the market that have little bearing on the realities of Chinese capital …
Role Of Remuneration Committee In Narrative Human Capital Disclosure, Indra Abeysekera
Role Of Remuneration Committee In Narrative Human Capital Disclosure, Indra Abeysekera
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
This study empirically investigates whether independent directors on the remuneration committee influence narrative human capital disclosure (NAHCD) in firms where independent directors dominate the board composition. NAHCD is measured by frequency of occurrence, using latent content analysis in the annual reports of the top 30 listed firms on the Colombo Stock Exchange from 1998 to 2006. This study examines two attributes of corporate governance, controlling for other corporate governance attributes and firm-level attributes. The findings highlight the importance of considering a firm’s independent director involvement in the remuneration committee when determining NAHCD strategy.
How To Use Qualitative Research To Design A Managerially Useful E-Service Questionnaire, John R. Rossiter
How To Use Qualitative Research To Design A Managerially Useful E-Service Questionnaire, John R. Rossiter
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
E-service questionnaires must be content-aligned with the company or organization’s customer relationship management system (CRM). Four phases of qualitative research will ensure this alignment. The first phase is a qualitatively evaluative search of the practitioner literature on e-retailing, both B2B and B2C, and on CRM so as to capture evolving knowledge in both fields. The second phase is individual depth interviews (IDIs) with potential, current, and lapsed customers to map their e-interactive behavior and experiences. The third phase is dyadic depth interviews (DDIs) with the marketing manager and the website designer to fully understand the company’s current and potential e-service …
Do Neighbourhoods Have Effects On Wages? A Study Of Migrant Workers In Urban China, Zhiming Cheng, Haining Wang
Do Neighbourhoods Have Effects On Wages? A Study Of Migrant Workers In Urban China, Zhiming Cheng, Haining Wang
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Rural-to-urban migrant workers have contributed enormously to the Chinese economy and society in the past three decades. Many of them have concentrated in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and physically and socially suffered from poor residential environment. However it is unclear how the neighbourhoods-as the provision of shelter, social and public service, and community organizing-influence migrant workers' labour market outcomes. To fill this gap, this paper researches the way in which urban neighbourhoods have affected migrant workers' wages. Factors such as housing quality, social interaction and trust, and neighbourhood organization and participation were examined. Results show that five of eight neighbourhood characteristics had …
Community Acceptance Of Recycled Water - Can We Inoculate The Public Against Scare Campaigns?, Byron Kemp, Melanie J. Randle, Anna Hurlimann, Sara Dolnicar
Community Acceptance Of Recycled Water - Can We Inoculate The Public Against Scare Campaigns?, Byron Kemp, Melanie J. Randle, Anna Hurlimann, Sara Dolnicar
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Without improved water resource management, it is predicted that water shortages will affect two-thirds of humanity by 2025. One solution that has traditionally faced fierce public resistance is recycled waste water. This study investigates the extent to which public communication strategies can influence community acceptance of recycled water, using the framework of Inoculation Theory. A four-phase experimental design was conducted. Participants completed an initial questionnaire and were then randomly assigned to a control group, a manipulation check group or a treatment group. A final follow-up survey measured changes in the dependent variable: stated likelihood of using recycled water for different …
Debating Sociomateriality: Entanglements, Imbrications, Disentangling, And Agential Cuts, Karlheinz Kautz, Tina Blegind Jensen
Debating Sociomateriality: Entanglements, Imbrications, Disentangling, And Agential Cuts, Karlheinz Kautz, Tina Blegind Jensen
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Sociomateriality is on everyone's lips these days. Since Orlikowski (2006; 2007; 2009), together with Scott (Orlikowski and Scott 2008; Scott and Orlikowski 2009) first introduced this term in organisation studies and in information systems (IS) research, we count an impressive number of contributions on this topic along with calls for papers in renowned journals and conferences. Without going so far as to propose sociomateriality as the defining identity of the IS field, as suggested by Hassan and Hovorka (2011), we acknowledge that this new lens offers a way of challenging and expanding the prevailing modus operandi of the theoretical foundations …
The Contribution Of Vacations To Quality Of Life, Sara Dolnicar, Venkata Yanamandram, Katie Cliff
The Contribution Of Vacations To Quality Of Life, Sara Dolnicar, Venkata Yanamandram, Katie Cliff
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
The contribution of vacations to people’s life satisfaction and Quality of Life (QOL) has recently attracted substantial attention among tourism researchers. Yet, most QOL scales do not include vacations: 7% explicitly measure vacations whereas 42% only include items relating to vacations within the broader Leisure domain. Leisure and vacations, however, differ substantially in nature with leisure referring to regular home-based activities and vacations being infrequent leisure activities away from home. As a consequence of the common amalgamation of vacations with leisure, there is limited knowledge about the specific contribution of vacations to people’s QOL. The present study (1) presents empirical …
Hope For The Future: Identifying The Individual Difference Characteristics Of People Who Are Interested In And Intend To Foster-Care, Joseph V. Ciarrochi, Melanie J. Randle, Leonie M. Miller, Sara Dolnicar
Hope For The Future: Identifying The Individual Difference Characteristics Of People Who Are Interested In And Intend To Foster-Care, Joseph V. Ciarrochi, Melanie J. Randle, Leonie M. Miller, Sara Dolnicar
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
High-quality foster placements can help a foster-child to thrive and can counter some of the risk factors normally associated with being a foster-child. Unfortunately, demand for foster-carers has been outstripping supply. The present study sought to identify the characteristics of people who have high potential to become a foster-carer. A large, representative sample from the general population (544 male; 544 female; Mage = 40.8; SD = 13) completed an anonymous survey that included comprehensive measurement of demographics, personal resources (e.g. social support), personal characteristics (e.g. hope) and foster-care interest, intentions and information seeking. Analyses revealed that people who sought information …
Quality-Of-Life And Travel Motivations: Integrating The Two Concepts In The Grevillea Model, Sara Dolnicar, Katie Lazarevski, Venkata Yanamandram
Quality-Of-Life And Travel Motivations: Integrating The Two Concepts In The Grevillea Model, Sara Dolnicar, Katie Lazarevski, Venkata Yanamandram
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Over the past three decades, two bodies of literature have developed relatively independently: Quality of Life research in Psychology and Travel Motivations research in Tourism. Yet, the constructs underlying these two bodies of research are strongly interrelated. This book chapter: (1) reviews the Quality of Life research area with a specific focus on the role of vacations as a Quality of Life domain; (2) reviews prior work in the area of Travel Motivations with a specific focus on motivational segments which may be associated with differences in the importance people attribute to vacations in general; and (3) proposes a conceptual …
Managing Collaboration Across Boundaries In Health Information Technology Projects, Karin H. Garrety, Andrew Dalley, Ian Mcloughlin, Rob Wilson, Ping Yu
Managing Collaboration Across Boundaries In Health Information Technology Projects, Karin H. Garrety, Andrew Dalley, Ian Mcloughlin, Rob Wilson, Ping Yu
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
One reason that it is so difficult to build electronic systems for collecting and sharing health information is that their design and implementation requires clear goals and a great deal of collaboration among people from diverse social and occupational worlds. This paper uses empirical examples from two Australian health informatics projects to illustrate the importance of boundary objects and boundary spanning activities in facilitating the high degree of collaboration required for the design and implementation of workable systems.
Increasing Demands On Information Systems And Infrastructures For Complex Decision-Making, Helen Hasan, Stephen Smith
Increasing Demands On Information Systems And Infrastructures For Complex Decision-Making, Helen Hasan, Stephen Smith
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
To extend the development of cumulative theory on the enduring themes of Information Systems (IS), we take an historical perspective of a core topic within the field, namely Decision Support Systems (DSS). Motivated by the complexity of strategic decision-making within the Climate Change Working Group of the State Government of New South Wales, we conducted a content analysis of IT strategy documentation from 1989 to the present. In our analysis of the resulting concept maps we observe the increasing dynamism and complexity of DSS over this period and suggest that we are now entering a critical era for IS in …
An Analysis Of Mature Aged Female Participation In New South Wales Regional Labour Markets, Natalie Akmacic, Martin O'Brien
An Analysis Of Mature Aged Female Participation In New South Wales Regional Labour Markets, Natalie Akmacic, Martin O'Brien
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
The analysis of regional markets has surfaced as an important emerging area of economic research in recent years. In particular, economists have attempted to explain the factors behind divergent trends in different regions' growth, migration, structural change and employment. With this in mind, the focus of this paper is to explore the trends in regional labour force participation for mature females over the period 1992 to present. The labour force participation of this group is particularly relevant in the context of Australia's ageing population. To analyse mature age participation we utilise ANOVA to determine the differences between various Australian regions …
Divergent Approaches To Investment: A Tale Of Three Local Councils, Greg Jones, Ciorstan Smark, Anne Abraham
Divergent Approaches To Investment: A Tale Of Three Local Councils, Greg Jones, Ciorstan Smark, Anne Abraham
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 led to a substantial write-down in the value of investments such as Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) with one class of investors being NSW local councils. This paper analyses interviews with three local councils, each of which took a substantially different approach to CDO investment. It adopts the lens of Bourdieu's Theory of Practice to describe and explain behaviour regarding decisions to invest (or not) in CDOs, and how these decisions impacted on them. Interesting themes arise regarding differing views on the appropriate role of local councils, and on the degree and form of "capital" …
Unordered Business Processes, Sustainability And Green Is, Helen Hasan
Unordered Business Processes, Sustainability And Green Is, Helen Hasan
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Green Information Systems (Green IS) provides a socio-technical perspective on the diverse complex phenomena of organisational sustainability. The Cynefin sense-making framework is eminently suitable for making sense of dynamic, complex phenomena and for guiding sensible decisions on how to meet the challenges they present. The Cynefin framework is described here and illustrated in terms of both ordered and unordered business processes. It is the unordered that are the least understood; but they are the most critical when it comes to sustainability. While order may be appropriate in the short term, sustainability issues also demand a more challenging long-term perspective. Just …
Strategic It Alignment: An Evaluation And Process-Level Reconceptualization Of The Construct, Magno Queiroz, Tim Coltman, Rajeev Sharma, Paul Tallon, Peter Reynolds
Strategic It Alignment: An Evaluation And Process-Level Reconceptualization Of The Construct, Magno Queiroz, Tim Coltman, Rajeev Sharma, Paul Tallon, Peter Reynolds
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Strategic IT alignment is an important construct that has been the subject of considerable scholarly attention. However, a close examination of how the construct has been defined and operationalized in the literature reveals a number of limitations and inconsistencies. In particular, the construct has been defined too broadly and used loosely to account for diverse phenomena. This situation is problematic because it undermines the relevance of IT alignment research for IS scholars and practitioners. This paper reviews enduring challenges to strategic alignment research and proposes a process level conceptualization for the construct. In particular, the proposed re conceptualization meets two …
Autonomy And Innovativeness: Understanding Their Relationships With The Performance Of Indonesian Smes, Amie Kusumawardhani, Grace Mccarthy, Nelson Perera
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
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 …
Controversial Corporate Communications In A Controversial Industry: The Neutralisation Of Regulatory Change In The Australian Electronic Gaming Industry, Alan Pomering
Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) claims are often included in the response to withdrawal of legitimacy in order to manage the impression of the organisation as meeting societal expectations, particularly in controversial industries. Alternatively, an organisation may argue its legitimacy. This paper considers the latter response, arguing that registered clubs, a controversial sector of the Australian gambling industry, use techniques of neutralisation in an attempt to justify their continued targeting of a vulnerable gambling consumer segment, problem gamblers, and forestall Government efforts to impose increased regulation over electronic gaming machines (EGMs), the key source of registered club revenues. Little extant research …
Collaborative Network Success And The Variable Nature Of Trust, Ronald Beckett, Michael Jones
Collaborative Network Success And The Variable Nature Of Trust, Ronald Beckett, Michael Jones
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
We observe that the nature of trust when viewed in a collaborative context can have varied implications and outcomes. For example, actors who may trust one another in one situation may not display the same level of trust in other situations. These trust variations arise as a result of differences in organisational competencies, the nature of the contract and the level of goodwill the collaboration expects. It is broadly agreed that trust is important in relation to collaborative ventures. In this article, we use the ARCON reference model as a framework to consider endogenous and exogenous aspects of trust important …
A Dissemination Methodology For Learning And Teaching Developments Through Engaging And Embedding, Lesley Treleaven, Chris Sykes, Jarrod Ormiston
A Dissemination Methodology For Learning And Teaching Developments Through Engaging And Embedding, Lesley Treleaven, Chris Sykes, Jarrod Ormiston
Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)
Dissemination of learning and teaching innovation in higher education requires approaches to change that are socially contextualised, dynamic and self-reflexive. This article, therefore, presents a methodology for dissemination employing an embedding heuristic and engaging in participatory action research. The embedding approach emphasises three organisational domains of action: first, the capacity of communities of practice and distributed leaders to generate organisational commitment and seed activities; second, formal and informal organisational policies and procedures that provide reciprocal processes for initiating and systematically sustaining curricular change; and, third, accessible resources, tools and databases that support implementation of innovation. The methodology is applicable for …