Business Commons^™

Three-Dimensional Dosimetry Imaging Of I-125 Plaque For Eye Cancer Treatment, Michael Weaver, Janette P. Green, Marco Petasecca, Michael L. Lerch, Dean L. Cutajar, D. Franklin, J Jakubek, Martin G. Carolan, M Conway, S Pospisil, Tomas Kron, Peter E. Metcalfe, M Zaider, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld

Michael L.F. Lerch

Treatment of ocular cancers using eye plaque brachytherapy is now an established medical procedure. However, current QA for these eye plaques is quite rudimentary, limiting the opportunities for precise pre-tumour plaque customisation. This paper proposes and experimentally validates a new technique for imaging of eye plaque dose distributions using a high-resolution pixelated silicon detector. Results are presented demonstrating the 2D and 3D isodose surfaces produced using experimental data collected using this method.

Using Institutional Theory To Develop A Conceptual Framework For Benchmarking, Edmund W. Watts, Amanda Mead

Ted Watts

The objective of this research was to develop a conceptual framework based on institutional theory to explain the key drivers or mechanisms behind the adoption and use of the business practice of benchmarking. The paper commences with the conceptualisation of benchmarking identifying the four dimensions of benchmarking, internal, direct competition, industry, and best-in-class. This was followed by the development of a construct for investigation using institutional theory through its major components, organisational isomorphism, organisational dependency, and organisational legitimacy. Overlaying the benchmarking and institutional theory literature on the four dimensions of benchmarking and the institutional theory construct a conceptual crossover was …

The Development Of An Industry Specific Performance Measurement Model For Service Organisations Within The Small Business Sector, Vicki Baard, Edmund W. Watts

Ted Watts

The role of small business, as part of the value adding chain in any economy, should never be understated. In Australia small business represents 96% of all private sector business, accounts for 47% of all private sector employment and the majority fail within three to five years of establishment. Despite this contribution the small business sector, and in particular the service sector component, appear to be underrepresented in the development of specific performance measurement models, which, within the academic and professional literature appear to focus on their larger firm counterparts. Given the unique position of small business service organisations the …

A Model For Corporate Governance, Decision-Making, And Accountability In Today's Universities, Jack Flanagan, John Little, Edmund W. Watts

Ted Watts

The government’s goal over the past decade of increased self-reliance has required universities to adopt the corporate mantle of governance consistent with that used in the private sector. The corporatisation of the university sector brought with it a unique set of problems to which senior university management had not previously been exposed. The solution to some of these problems includes developing governance systems to guide strategic decision-making based on well-developed ethical principles. This paper suggests such an approach to governance based on contemporary management and ethical foundations. In this model governance is depicted as an achievement of thinking across four …

A Methodology For Integrating Artificial Intelligence Into A Quality Management Teaching Environment, Xuesong Chi, Trevor A. Spedding

Trevor Spedding

Management flight simulators provide a “microworld” in which users control an organization in a realistic environment without the need to disturb the real system. This paper presents a web-based intelligent virtual learning environment to enhance the education of engineering management students in quality management and statistical process control techniques. The paper introduces the structure and methodology for building this online learning environment. The simulated environment is based on an innovative approach which incorporates a Fuzzy Adaptive Resonance Theory Neural Network to enable students to obtain the best response by automatically identifying out of control conditions.

Three-Dimensional Dosimetry Imaging Of I-125 Plaque For Eye Cancer Treatment, Michael Weaver, Janette P. Green, Marco Petasecca, Michael L. Lerch, Dean L. Cutajar, D. Franklin, J Jakubek, Martin G. Carolan, M Conway, S Pospisil, Tomas Kron, Peter E. Metcalfe, M Zaider, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld

Anatoly Rozenfeld

Treatment of ocular cancers using eye plaque brachytherapy is now an established medical procedure. However, current QA for these eye plaques is quite rudimentary, limiting the opportunities for precise pre-tumour plaque customisation. This paper proposes and experimentally validates a new technique for imaging of eye plaque dose distributions using a high-resolution pixelated silicon detector. Results are presented demonstrating the 2D and 3D isodose surfaces produced using experimental data collected using this method.

Assessing Underlying Realities Of Accounting's Duality Check By The Accounting Equation : A Search For An Augmented Framework, Sudhir C. Lodh, Michael J. Gaffikin

Michael Gaffikin

This paper explores a general validity of the prevalent Accounting Equation in determining the real wealth and accountability discharge through contemporary financial reporting. In so doing, an augmented accounting framework is developed in order to indicate the gaps that may arise in the accounting equation; which is inherent in the system if compared among different layers – sign to alleged to referent (Buarillard 1983, 1994; MacIntosh 2000, Ijiri 1986, and Mattessich 2003). We argue that this augmented framework will help in enhancing our understanding, at least at the level of pedagogy and for corporate governance and discharging social responsibility, about …

Financial Sustainability And The Imperative For Reform In Investment Organisation In Australia's Local Government , Martin Gold

Martin L Gold

The losses reported from the so-called sub-prime category, and the collateral damage suffered by some councils, has brought renewed scrutiny of their financial viability and the investment practices which are employed across the local government sector. The diversity of prudential investment standards which currently apply in Australia also suggests that the investment policies expected to deliver optimal economic outcomes for ratepayers require reform. In conjunction with the moves to address the financial sustainability of the sector, this paper argues that reforms are needed to standardise investment powers, empower councils to develop appropriate investment objectives, and to centralise funds management.- 2

Admissible Heuristic Functions For Flow-Shop Problems, Joshua Fan, Graham Winley

Joshua P Fan

No abstract provided.

A Heuristic Search Algorithm For Flow-Shop Scheduling, Joshua Fan, Graham Winley

Joshua P Fan

This article describes the development of a new intelligent heuristic search algorithm (IHSA*) which guarantees an optimal solution for flow-shop problems with an arbitrary number of jobs and machinesprovided the job sequence is constrained to be the same on each machine. The development is described in terms of 3 modifications made to the initial version of IHSA*. The first modification concerns thechoice of an admissible heuristic function. The second concerns the calculation of heuristic estimates as the search for an optimal solution progresses, and the third determines multiple optimal solutions whenthey exist. The first 2 modifications improve performance characteristics of …

Students' Preference For Teaching Strategies That Strengthen The Learning Of Economics In Middle Eastern Universities, Mokhtar M. Metwally, Nelson Perera

Nelson Perera

A survey, covering a random sample of 139 students, was conducted at the University of Wollongong in Dubai during the months of September-November 2004, to gather opinions of students about their attitudes towards strategies that promote the teaching and learning of economics The technique of factor analysis was used to model the preference of students for various strategies. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to find out whether there are any significant differences in the attitudes of students at different stages :"students learning introductory economic subjects", "students learning intermediate economic subjects" and "students learning advanced and applied economic subjects" Factor scores …

Towards A Measure Of Function For Home And Community Care Services In Australia: Part 1 - Development Of A Standard National Approach, Nicholas Marosszeky, Kathy Eagar, Roslyn Poulos, Alan Owen

Alan G Owen

No abstract provided.

Towards A Measure Of Function For Home And Community Care Services In Australia: Part 2 - Evaluation Of The Screening Tool And Assessment Instruments, Robert Gordon, Kathy Eagar, Janette Green, Alan Owen, Karen Qunisey

Alan G Owen

No abstract provided.

Why 'Primary Care' Patients Go To Emergency Departments: Demographic Profile And Reasons For Presentation, Peter M. Siminski, Andrew J. Bezzina, Kathy Eagar

Kathy Eagar

This paper investigates why (potential) primary care patients attend an ED rather than a GP. An understanding of why patients make decisions such as this is critical if the health system is to be better positioned to meet the increasing demand for improved services and outcomes. We found that the rate of potential primary care presentations varies greatly by age and by sex and that the pattern of primary care presentations is different to that of other ED presentations. In relation to reasons, we found that, regardless of age or sex, the top three reasons were self-assessed urgency; being able …

Filter Coordinations For Exploring Multi-Dimensional Data, Mark Sifer

Dr Mark Sifer

No abstract provided.

Xeena For Schema: Creating Xml Documents With A Coordinated Grammar Tree, Mark Sifer, Frithjof Dau, Helen Hasan, Kathryn Crawford, Yardena Peres, Yoelle Maarek

Dr Mark Sifer

The vast heterogeneous network that is the World Wide Web requires common languages to facilitate the exchange and display of data and information in many forms. The Word Wide Web Consortium (W3C) developed the extensible markup language (XML) for this purpose. XML documents are produced automatically by applications or manually by users. When users do not produce documents regularly or when document languages are large and complex, manual editing can be a challenge. In these situations, better manual editing facilities that guide users and ease the burden of learning and recalling XML languages are needed. We present an XML editor …

The Development Of A User Self-Help Knowledge Management System For Help Desk: Deployment Of Knowledge Management Approach And Software Agent Technology, Kar Yin Leung, Sim K. Lau

Dr Sim Kim Lau

Most help desks have admitted their call volume has increased in the past decade while “help unavailable when needed” is the major reason for service delivery failure and user dissatisfaction. The habit of calling help desk for simple problems has prompted the investigation of transferring part of first-level troubleshooting duty from help desk to user. This research proposes the development of user self-help knowledge management system that allows user to solve simple and routine technical enquiries. The proposed approach incorporates software agent to allow autonomous handling of enquiries so that the most appropriate solution and user communication can be facilitated.

A Strategic Information System Perspective For The Adoption Of E-Commerce In Smes, Sim Lau

Dr Sim Kim Lau

No abstract provided.

The Grouping And Prioritizing Of Driving Forces For Ict Adoption By Medical Practitioners: Do These Differ Between Rural And Urban Gps In Australia?, Robert Macgregor, Charles Harvie, Peter Hyland

Associate Professor Peter Hyland

Increasing use of ICT technologies in medical practices has led to a number of studies examining their use in rural as well as urban settings. The purpose of this study is to examine how GPs in rural and urban practice group and prioritise the driving forces for ICT adoption. Correlation and factor analysis was performed on the data sets (198 GPs, 122 Rural - 76 urban) obtained by means of a survey questionnaire. Not only do the results show that the drivers can be 'simplified' from 16 to 2 or 3, but they also show that there are differences both …

The Grouping And Prioritising Of Driving Forces For Ict Adoption By Medical Practitioners: Do These Differ Between Rural And Urban Gps In Australia, Peter Hyland, Charles Harvie, Robert Macgregor

Associate Professor Peter Hyland

No abstract provided.

Three-Dimensional Dosimetry Imaging Of I-125 Plaque For Eye Cancer Treatment, Michael Weaver, Janette Green, Marco Petasecca, Michael Lerch, Dean Cutajar, D. Franklin, J Jakubek, Martin Carolan, M Conway, S Pospisil, Tomas Kron, Peter Metcalfe, M Zaider, Anatoly Rosenfeld

Dean Cutajar

Treatment of ocular cancers using eye plaque brachytherapy is now an established medical procedure. However, current QA for these eye plaques is quite rudimentary, limiting the opportunities for precise pre-tumour plaque customisation. This paper proposes and experimentally validates a new technique for imaging of eye plaque dose distributions using a high-resolution pixelated silicon detector. Results are presented demonstrating the 2D and 3D isodose surfaces produced using experimental data collected using this method.

Understanding The Propensity Of Chinese University Students For Leisure Travel Within Australia, Yun Zhang, Lois Burgess, Gregory M. Kerr

Lois Burgess

The provision of education to international students in Australia is increasingly important tothe higher education sector as well as other industry sectors including tourism. Althoughprevious studies have identified the contributions of international students to tourism, thereare limited studies investigating leisure travel behaviour based on student nationality andsegments within nationalities. As the first stage of a broader study, this research by way ofopen-ended interviews, investigates the propensity of Chinese university students to travelwithin Australia. By way of qualitative data analysis the findings reveal a number ofparadoxes which need to be addressed in further research to better understand the attitudesand behaviours of …

Csr Reporting: A Process For Supply Chain Legitimation, Graham D. Bowrey, Michael D. Clements, Bonnie Amelia Dean

Graham Bowrey

Purpose – This conceptual paper aims to explore the legitimating process of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting in relation to supply chain management. The paper introduces a framework for the holistic evaluation of entire supply chain CSR reporting including the use of social audits.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a review of CSR reporting literature and the role of CSR reporting as a legitimation tool of organisations that operate in distinct supply chains. The theoretical lens of three perspectives of legitimation; structural-functionalist; social constructionist; and hegemonic, are used to assess the drivers behind organisations in a supply chain …

Opportunities For Interactivity In Public Health Websites: A Content Analysis Approach, Sumayya Banna, Helen M. Hasan, Joseph A. Meloche

Sumayya a Banna

The Internet has many advantages over other media in the provision of information services in the area of public health. However many designers are not yet taking full advantage of its potential for interactivity. This paper examines the development of interactivity in public health websites in the increasingly important area of Palliative Care. Content analysis is used here to map the interactivity in a sample of 30 existing websites along with Heeter’s six dimensions (content and availability of choice, effort users must exert, responsiveness to the users, and the ease of adding information, monitoring the information and the system use, …

Physically Attractive Presenters And Persuasion: An Experimental Investigation Of Alternative Explanations For The "Patzer Effect", Sandra Praxmarer, John R. Rossiter

John Rossiter

This experiment was designed to test alternative explanations for the powerful positive effect of the presenter’s facial attractiveness on persuasion found by Patzer (1985). The explanations tested are: (a) a “conscious Patzer effect” whereby the attractiveness of the presenter prompts conscious cognitive-response inferences about the presenter’s expertise and trustworthiness; (b) a “subconscious Patzer effect” whereby attractiveness persuades via beliefs about the presenter’s expertise and trustworthiness but without conscious cognitive responses; (c) an “affect transfer effect” whereby attractiveness increases liking of the presenter which in turn transfers to a more favorable attitude toward the brand; and (d) a “role-model identification effect” …

A Conceptual Model For Predicting Overseas Market Entry Order Decisions, Peter R. Massingham

Peter Massingham

I investigate the factors that influence firms’ order of entry into overseas markets. The existing literature identifies a range of firm and industry characteristics that influence the timing entry decision. I extend this research by developing a holistic conceptual model that explains how these factors interact to create conditions leading to first, second and late mover strategies. The paper argues that the factors combine to create strategic scenarios for each entry order. I undertake a four-step process to explain how managers may use this conceptual model to plan appropriate entry order decisions for each scenario. A key to the process …

Q-Methodology For The Active Process Of Knowledge Management, Joseph A. Meloche, Helen M. Hasan, Michelle Mok

Helen Hasan

Knowledge Managament for the provision of Health Information Services is a developing field and one that is usefully informed by applied research. The current study is conducted with Intensive Care Unit (ICU) professionals to capture and distil their views in regard to a developing a Web-Based Information Service. This service is provided by a central coordination and monitoring unit for intensive care units across NSW, Australia. The study is part of a larger research initiative that is being done to advance the provision of health information in ICU's across the state. Given the complex and dynamic context of ICUs, there …

Blending Complexity And Activity Frameworks For A Broader And Deeper Understanding Of Is, Helen M. Hasan, A Kazluaskas, Kathryn P. Crawford

Helen Hasan

A new age of significance and opportunity for Information Systems (IS) is upon us driven by current developments in the use of digital artifacts. In this paper we endeavor to make sense of contemporary IS, as well as possible future directions of IS, by bringing together the notions of complexity and activity within two theoretical frameworks, namely the Cynefin framework and contemporary uses of Activity Theory. We describe activity as a holistic unit of analysis within the Complicated and Complex Domains of the Cynefin framework. This will enable us to make sense of tool-mediated IS activities in those Domains. Our …

Overcoming Organisational Resistance To Using Wiki Technology For Knowledge Management, Charmaine C. Pfaff, Helen M. Hasan

Helen Hasan

Although Wikis emerged in the public domain more than a decade ago, a number of business organisations are now discovering the advantages of using Wiki technology to manage knowledge. However, there are many who are not convinced about the merits of this relatively new Wiki technology and are not yet prepared to risk its adoption because it exhibits many ideas that have yet to be tested and many issues that have yet to be resolved. This paper studies the merits of using a Wiki for knowledge management. While some cases of corporate adoption of Wiki technology have been reported, cases …

Ict Devices As Ubiquitous Tools For Information Seeking Activity, Joseph A. Meloche, Helen M. Hasan

Helen Hasan

This paper investigates the use of current and developing ubiquitous digital devices and the way that they impact on, and are integrated into, use by groups within the community for information seeking. Three cases are presented involving ubiquitous use of the mobile phone, USB memory devices, and a wireless groupware system. The study considers the need for ongoing research to inform, direct and study the innovative use, appropriation and development of such tools. The primary methodological framework that is applied is activity theory, as it allows dasiatoolpsila to be examined in light of purposeful activity in the context of their …