Business Commons^™

Decentralization And Firm Investment: Evidence From China, Xiaofei Pan, Yiping Wu, Huihang Wu

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Taking advantage of decentralization reform that enlarges the authority of county government in China, we construct a quasi-experiment. Using a large sample of Chinese firms, we show that after the implementation of decentralization reform, firms located in decentralized counties experienced a significant increase in investment expenditure compared with other firms. We also find that after the decentralization reform, state owned enterprises (SOEs) experienced greater increase in investment expenditure on average compared with non-SOEs, and that, within non-SOEs, collective firms have an even larger increase in investments, followed by foreign firms and private firms. Further analysis shows that the influence of …

Lending To Private Firms: Evidence From China On The Role Of Firm Openness And Bribery, Wenjuan Ruan, Erwei Xiang, Shiguang Ma

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This article investigates the effects of firm openness and bribery on bank lending decisions. Using World Bank data covering 1,781 private firms, we do not find supportive evidence on the role of bribery in helping private firms to obtain bank credit. However, we find evidence that firm openness has a positive effect on helping private firms to obtain banking finance. This finding holds true only for large firms, manufacturing firms, and firms located in regions with good banking development. We also find that private firms with greater government assistance are more likely to obtain bank loans, and more credit overall.

Grappling With Grapes: Developing Strategy For The Poncini Vineyards, Mary Barrett, Luca Gottardi, Ken Moores

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Brothers Lorenzo and Angelo Poncini are part of a family business in the Trentino region of northern Italy. It began as a trucking firm but diversified over the years. One such diversification is grape growing, which began in 1988. The Poncini family sends its grape harvest, currently Pinot Grigio, to a local cooperative, Gruppo Italiano Cantine, which makes and markets the wine. However, the vines the family originally planted - a major proportion of the planting surface - are getting past their prime and the quantity, if not the quality, of the family's grapes will soon begin to decline. Lorenzo …

Rights, Respect And Responsibilities Online - Reflections And Efficacy, Michelle J. Eady, Michael L. Jones, Irit Alony, Yoke Berry

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Demands for moral development are increasing in business and professional training. Mixed results of diversity training programs in the higher education sector suggest that innovative approaches are required for preparing students to become morally upright leaders and teachers. This research looks at the implementation of an online interactive tutorial that focuses on students working and learning together with others from a variety of diverse backgrounds. The study comprises a three-year investigation on the attitudes and understandings of students prior to a group work assessment task, and after completing the online tutorial. First year primary education students (n=594) completed pre- and …

Lean Six Sigma And The Australian Business Excellence Framework: An Exploratory Case Within Local Government, Oriana Price, Matthew P. Pepper, Matthew Stewart

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine a contextualized local government case study of the application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in conjunction with the Australian Business Excellence Framework (ABEF) to highlight the importance of a good strategic fit between LSS and organizational objectives before implementation.

Design/methodology/approach A local government council is used in a case study-based approach. Organizational artefacts and documents were used for data collection in conjunction with interviews from senior executives within the organization.

Findings Results indicate that when used in conjunction with the ABEF, LSS provides focus on organizational learning practices embedded within the …

Contemporary Trends In Professional Doctorates, Michael L. Jones

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Undertaking a PhD is commonly viewed as an apprenticeship, where the student learns the trade of becoming an academic. However, the doctoral degree did not start off with that intention, and it may not continue this way into the future. The initial design of the PhD was a professional degree which gave students the licence to teach. Research was not a focus of the degree until the 1800s. Recently, the purpose of the doctorate has been under examination. This re-examination has come about for a number of reasons: (1) Employment options within academe are no longer as abundant or secure …

Supervision's 'Three Amigos': Exploring The Evolving Functions Of Supervision And Its Application In The Field Of Coaching, Mike Armour

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The literature on supervision includes an enduring theme related to the 'functions' of supervision. However, each helping profession has defined the functions of supervision somewhat uniquely. Within the field of social work functions are defined as being "administrative, educational and supportive" (Kadushin, 1976, pp. 20-21), indicating specific roles that are undertaken by the agent-supervisor. The notion of functions also appears to have been widely embraced within counseling literature, although the terms have been adapted as a framework of tasks being "formative, restorative and normative" (Proctor, 2000, p. 12), to describe processes which are for the benefit of the therapist. More …

Women's Gambling Behaviour, Product Preferences, And Perceptions Of Product Harm: Differences By Age And Gambling Risk Status, Simone Mccarthy, Samantha L. Thomas, Melanie J. Randle, Amy Bestman, Hannah Pitt, Sean Cowlishaw, Mike Daube

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Background: Women's participation in, and harm from gambling, is steadily increasing. There has been very limited research to investigate how gambling behaviour, product preferences, and perceptions of gambling harm may vary across subgroups of women.

Methods: This study surveyed a convenience sample of 509 women from Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. Women were asked a range of questions about their socio-demographic characteristics and gambling behaviour. Focusing on four gambling products in Australia-casino gambling, electronic gambling machines (EGMs), horse betting, and sports betting-women were asked about their frequency of participation, their product preferences, and perceptions of product harms. The sample …

Big Data And Predictive Analytics In Humanitarian Supply Chains: Enabling Visibility And Coordination In The Presence Of Swift Trust, Rameshwar Dubey, Zongwei Luo, Angappa Gunasekaran, Md Shahriar Akter, Benjamin Hazen, Matthew A. Douglas

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose - The primary objective of this research is to understand how big data and predictive analytics (BDPA), as an organizational capability, can improve both visibility and coordination in humanitarian supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach - We conceptualize a research model grounded in contingent resource-based view (CRBV), where we propose that BDPA capabilities affect visibility and coordination under the moderating effect of swift trust. Using Ordinary Least Squares Regression, we test the hypotheses using survey data collected from informants at 205 International Non-Government Organizations (NGOs).

Findings - Results indicate that BDPA has a significant influence on visibility and coordination. Further, results suggest …

Effect Of Non-Ifrs Earnings Reporting Guidelines On Underlying Earnings Reporting Quality: The Case Of Australian Listed Firms, Yiru Yang, Indra Abeysekera

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This study investigates Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) 200 firms in the post-Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) period (2011-2014) to examine how listed firms follow the non-International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) earnings reporting guidelines issued by ASIC to communicate underlying earnings reporting quality. We find that firms that do not comply with the ASIC guidelines have lower underlying earnings reporting quality than do firms that comply with these guidelines. Firms that do not follow the ASIC guidelines are found to exclude income-increasing underlying earnings adjustments to make underlying earnings appear more profitable than IFRS earnings when they miss earnings targets …

Overcrowded Housing Looms As A Challenge For Our Cities, Shanaka Herath, Rebecca Bentley

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Overcrowding is an inevitable and often overlooked result of the affordable housing shortage in our cities. When a dwelling requires four or more extra bedrooms to reasonably accommodate occupants, the standard commonly used in Australia defines that as severe overcrowding. In 2011, 41,390 Australians lived in severely overcrowded dwellings, an increase of one-third from 2006. This increase occurred mostly in cities where house prices had risen sharply.

Changing Board Behaviour: The Role Of The 'Two Strikes' Rule In Improving The Efficacy Of Australian Say-On-Pay, James Borthwick, Aelee Jun, Shiguang Ma

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This article analyses whether the transition from the 2004 CLERP 9 advisory Say-on-Pay regime to the 'Two Strikes' rule in 2012 influenced CEO pay in Australian firms. Analysing a panel of 2,074 firm-years (2005-2015), we find that (i) CEO pay is a positive predictor of shareholder dissent; (ii) firm performance has a reducing effect on shareholder dissent; (iii) excessive shareholder dissent moderated CEO pay under the 'Two Strikes' rule relative to the CLERP 9 regime, and (iv) the market responded favourably to the introduction of the 'Two Strikes' rule and negatively to 'strike' instances after its introduction.

Have Asian Airlines Caught Up With European Airlines? A By-Production Efficiency Analysis, Amir Arjomandi, K Herve Dakpo, Juergen Heinz Seufert

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper extends previous approaches to meta-efficiency measures by incorporating meta-frontiers using good-output, bad-output and by-production efficiencies to compare European and Asian airlines. We also examine whether the heterogeneity in environmental regulatory standards between these regions has emboldened Asian airlines to be less eco-friendly and/or more market-share seeking. We find that the environmental performance of European airlines improved continuously between 2007 and 2013, unlike their competitors in Asia. We argue that this improvement in the environmental performance of the European airlines could be an outcome of the European Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), which set incentives for European airlines to renew …

Companies Keep Slashing Jobs, But New Technologies Won't Replace Good Management, Mary Barrett

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

As technology improves, it's tempting for company executives to slash jobs that are "standard" and "routine", making them easy to automate. But research shows focusing on improving management practices will do more to improve companies' bottom lines.

The Role Of Public Health Advocacy In Preventing And Reducing Gambling Related Harm: Challenges, Facilitators, And Opportunities For Change, Jennifer David, Samantha L. Thomas, Melanie J. Randle, Mike Daube, Susan Balandin

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Background: Public health advocacy is important in preventing harm and promoting health in communities. There has been little research into public health advocacy strategies which address gambling related harms. This study aimed to identify the role of advocacy in gambling reform, challenges to gambling advocacy implementation, and strategies that could facilitate change.

Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of 50 stakeholders with backgrounds in gambling policy, research, health promotion, and advocacy. Participants were asked about how advocacy could be used to address gambling harm, and the range of barriers and facilitators for effective advocacy responses. A constant …

Wikirate Student Engagement Report: International Case Studies, Stephanie Perkiss, Bonnie Amelia Dean, Belinda Kathlyn Gibbons, Theresa Heithaus, Alec Wersun, Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez, Stephanos Anastasiadis, Pilar Acosta, Roman H. Mesicek, Hannah Jun, Richard Mills

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This report is the product of a year-long international collaboration across eight countries. The research was initiated to explore the multiple ways the WikiRate Student Engagement Project was being implemented in higher education institutions in diverse classrooms around the world. By eliciting the perspectives of students and teachers, our aim was to learn more about its impact, challenges and potential.

On The Implications Of Tourism Specialization And Structural Change In Tourism Destinations, Simone Marsiglio

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We explore the relationship between tourism specialization and structural change in an endogenous growth model, analyzing its implications for both economic growth and tourist flows. We consider a two-sector economic growth model where the development of tourism activities generates a production externality and a structural change, which modifies the resources-use intensity, ultimately affecting tourist flows. We characterize the balanced growth path equilibrium and analyze under which conditions structural change may generate fast economic growth, providing a theoretical support for the empirical evidence on tourism countries. We also show that structural change may alternatively lead to stages of rejuvenation, stagnation, or …

Imagining A Better Future: The Outcomes Of The Wellness Wednesday Self-Care Program For Healthcare Staff, Alison Franklin, Marie Tobin, Shamika Almeida, Jackie Donsante, Padmini Pai, Alera Riley-Henderson, Valerie J. Wilson

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

There is recognition that working in the aged care setting can be physically and psychologically demanding, stressful and can lead to staff burnout. These types of demands can result in reduced job satisfaction, disengaged staff and can be detrimental to care delivery. In order to address these issues in a 52 bed sub - acute geriatric hospital within Australia, a self-care program was initiated to support staff wellbeing. The staff (nursing, allied health, managers, security staff) themselves were engaged in co-designing the self-care program alongside the project team. The Wellness Wednesday program runs for 45-60mins every Wednesday for eight weeks …

When Too Many Anti-Consumption Opportunities Lead To Anti-Consumption Of Anti-Consumption, Michael S. Lee, Ulku Yuksel, Nguyen T. Thai

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

A petition is a document signed by numerous people, announcing a demand that requires a corporation or public entity to take an action to remedy a transgression via essential course of practices. Signing a petition to support a positive cause or a boycott call, as an upshot of a negative cause worth boycotting, may be less taxing for consumers than partaking in boycotts organized by boycott organizers. Thanks to the internet and social media, hundreds of thousands of online petitions are created worldwide each year with millions of signatures supporting various causes (Antonetti & Manika, 2017; Wright, 2016). This raises …

Designing A Knowledge Management System For Social Services Not-For-Profit Organisations, Peter R. Massingham, Rada Massingham, Alan A. Pomering

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This article discusses knowledge management system design for SSNFPOs. The transfer of best practice knowledge management to SSNFPOs is not easy. SSNFPOs have different strategies and ways of doing business compared to 'for-profit' organisations. Sector reforms in disability services, aged care, and child services in Australia threaten to disrupt social value as new for-profit rivals enter and pursue economic value. In response, the case study organisation (CSO) has been working with the research team to consider how knowledge management might help it become a stronger organisation and ensure its survival and growth in the reformed sector. The research was informed …

Constructing Careers And Negotiating Barriers: Success Factors Of Skilled Immigrants In Western Countries, Santina Bertone, Marian Crowley-Henry, Shamika Almeida

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the International Metropolis Conference, 29 October - 2 November 2018, Sydney, Australia

Can Haptic Inputs Mitigate Choice Overload?, Nguyen T. Thai, Ulku Yuksel

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper investigates the effects of haptic inputs on consumers' preference for large assortments after selecting an option from different assortment sizes. Our experiments reveal that physically touching and imagining touching (i.e., haptic imagery), compared to the control (i.e., no-touch) condition, eliminate adverse effects caused by large assortments. A moderate, but not high, level of touch frequency is required to reduce perceived difficulty and increase preference for large assortments when being exposed to large (vs. small) assortments. These findings expand our current understanding of the literature on haptic and choice overload.

Heterogeneous Effects Of High School Peers On Educational Outcomes, Silvia Mendolia, Alfredo R. Paloyo, Ian Walker

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We investigate peer ability effects on high-stakes test scores at ages 16 and 18, and on the probability of university attendance. To account for endogeneity in peer ability, we use the average ability of the primary school peers of one's secondary school peers, excluding those from the same primary school of the individual, as an instrumental variable for average secondary school peer ability. Our results show that average peer quality has a small effect on an individual's test scores, and a larger proportion of low-quality peers has a significantly detrimental effect on achievements of an average student. Furthermore, peer ability …

Price Discovery In Short-Term Interest Rate Markets: Futures Versus Swaps, Alessandro Frino, Michael Garcia Santana

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This study examines price discovery at the short end of the yield curve by examining the lead–lag relationship in the prices of Australian interest rate swap and bank accepted bill futures contracts. Consistent with previous research, we find strong bidirectional flows of information between swap and futures markets during daytime trading. However, the swap market leads price discovery during overnight trading while futures markets lead swap markets on macroeconomic announcement days-both new findings. We demonstrate and conclude that price discovery in derivatives at the short end of the yield curve is driven by transaction costs.

Do We Really Need Funeral Insurance?, Sandra L. Van Der Laan, Lee C. Moerman

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

TV advertisements for funeral insurance often warn of the huge financial impost created for families when you die. They argue the only way to protect your loved ones is to take out insurance. However, what these ads don't tell you is that funeral insurance is a financial product and not really any different from life insurance, except the cover is usually for a much lower amount.

Caught Between Two Worlds: Clusters, Microfinance Officers And Accountability Mechanisms In A Sri Lankan Mfi, Nadeera Ranabahu, Lee C. Moerman

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper studies the accountability mechanisms and dynamics that exist within a microfinance context when microfinance officers (MFOs) interact with borrowers at the community level (MFO-community interface). In the Sri Lankan microfinance institution (MFI) used in this study, community units or clusters comprising of several peer or solidarity groups engage with MFOs in the field. Using Ritchie and Richardson's (2000) accountability typologies (codified, contingent, assumed and collateral), this article explores how multiple and complex accountability relationships manifest at the MFO community interface.The data collected from interviews, discussions, observations, document reviews and the primary researcher's reflective notes demonstrate that both codified …

Disclosure And Reporting Against The Sustainable Development Goals: Connecting New Stakeholders To Sustainability Data, Theresa Heithaus, Richard Mills, Stephanie Perkiss

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This case study focuses on the disclosures of thirty seven companies and a unique research approach to making their corporate sustainability performance more open, comparable and engaging. A group of 40 students at the University of Wollongong worked in a structured way to aggregate comparable data on corporate sustainability on a selection of metrics related to the SDGs. This report offers an in depth look at one example of the kind of projects that WikiRate and the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) have been running since 2016, involving more than 2,000 students. For this case study, WikiRate staff reviewed …

Rotating The Medical Supplies For Emergency Response: A Simulation Based Approach, Quan Zhou, Tava Lennon Olsen

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Serious expiration problems exist in national medical reserves prepared for emergency response. One alternative to reduce expiration is to rotate the reserve to hospitals so products can be used for day to day operations. Yet, rotation incurs extra handling costs and needs to be combined with hospitals' ordering decisions. This decision process is complex and involves various sources of uncertainty. In this paper, we use discrete-event simulation to model the rotation of the reserve in combination with the hospitals’ inventory management, and combine it with optimization to search for the optimal rotation policy. With simulation experiments, we evaluate the performance …

Hard To Reach: Examining The National Disability Insurance Scheme Experience - A Case Study In Wollongong, Freda C. Hui, Corinne L. Cortese, Mona Nikidehaghani, Sandra H. Chapple, Kellie M. Mccombie

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We report on interviews conducted to examine the effectiveness of the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Our aims were to assess the effectiveness of the NDIS in communicating with people with disabilities who are socio‐economically disadvantaged, to consider the types of assistance required, and to provide recommendations to improve the NDIS. Our interviewees are characterised as ‘hard to reach’, a cohort that is missing out on benefits they might receive under the NDIS because of the socioeconomic disadvantage that compounds their disability hardship. Some of our key findings were that many of our interviewees were unaware of the NDIS, …

Moderator Impact Of Preferred Hrm Culture On The Relationship Between Work Values On Contextual And Task Performance, Palli Mulla K A Chandrakumara

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This study examines the moderator effect of individual preferences for HRM practices on the relationship between work values and contextual and task performance (CTP).The relevant literature suggests that the notion of individual preferences in regard to their effect on CTP, moderator effect in particular, has received scant systematic attention.The data were obtained in a sample of 356 manufacturing sector employees in Sri Lanka. A three-step moderated hierarchical regression procedure was adopted to examine the moderating effect of individual preferences. The results of the study supported the hypotheses. Originally, work values and ethics had a direct effect on CTP. However, this …