'Kaikaku’ project management : investigating the Japanese answer to the 90s depression

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Japanese answer to the 90s depression, both as a case study of what framework has been developed to address new business challenges and value creation in complex, ambiguous and uncertain environment; and in order to expose what are, in our view, the underlying theoretical bases supporting this framework. This theoretical approach, and the resulting lessons learned, is assumed to be helpful to transpose the Japanese experience to other analogical contexts and situations.

The relation between organizational and professional commitment in case of project workers : implications for the project management

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between organizational and professional commitment of project workers. We first present (i) role–conflict theory, and exchange theory to establish the multiple dimensions of commitment—affective, continuance, and normative; and (ii). social–identity theory to support our argument for different foci of commitment—organization and profession. Building on these theoretical lenses, we present the literature review that compares organizational and professional commitment of project workers with respect to the 3 dimensions of commitment. Adopting a positivist approach and a sample of 141 project workers, we use Pearson’s correlation to identify the relationship between affective organizational and affective professional, continuance organizational and continuance professional, and normative organizational and normative professional commitment. We report significant correlation between affective organizational commitment and affective professional commitment of project workers. The correlations between continuance organizational commitment, and continuance professional commitment; and normative organizational commitment, and normative professional commitment are moderate. We then discuss the implications of these findings for the project management profession.

Learning to lead : a social justice perspective on understanding elementary teacher leadership in Papua New Guinea

Leadership in elementary education is currently recognized as a political imperative in Papua New Guinea (PNG), as the nation develops strategies towards equitable access to schooling. One recent initiative aimed at building educational leadership was an intensive Australian Leadership Award Fellowship (ALAF) program funded by AusAID, involving a group of 10 teacher trainers from PNG. As part their involvement participants completed self-authored journal entries at the beginning and end of the leadership program. Participants were also involved in focus groups after completion of the initiative. Referring to the experiences of these teacher trainers, this paper draws on Nancy Fraser’s (2005, 2008) social justice framework to examine participants’ views of what constituted effective leadership in elementary education in PNG and how these views may have changed throughout the ALAF program. Key findings of this study included participants’ emphasis on relationships and valuing people in elementary education leadership contexts, participants’ concern about economic/financial barriers to effective leadership in the PNG context and participants’ perception of research as a way to support leadership roles.

ACE research vignette 003 : different strokes for different folks - classification of entrepreneurial musicians and their use of online social networks

This series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team of international entrepreneurship researchers. In this vignette Dr Maria Kaya and Associate Professor Paul Steffens consider both the classification of musicians and their use of online social networks.

Challenges in the context-aware management of business processes : a multiple case study

Current conceptualizations of organizational processes consider them as internally optimized yet static systems. Still, turbulences in the contextual environment of a firm often lead to adaptation requirements that these processes are unable to fulfil. Based on a multiple case study of the core processes of two large organizations, we offer an extended conceptualisation of business processes as complex adaptive systems. This conceptualization can enable firms to optimise business processes by analysing operations in different contexts and by examining the complex interaction between external, contextual elements and internal agent schemata. From this analysis, we discuss how information technology can play a vital goal in achieving this goal by providing discovery, analysis, and automation support. We detail implications for research and practice.

Management strategies to harness cultural diversity on Australian constructions sites : a social identity perspective

Construction sites around the world employ large numbers of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. The effective management of this cultural diversity has important implications for the productivity, safety, health and welfare of construction workers and for the performance and reputation of firms which employ them. The findings of a three year, multi-staged study of cultural diversity management practices on construction sites are critiqued using social identity theory. This reveals that so called "best-practice" diversity management strategies may have an opposite effect to that intended. It is concluded that the management of diversity on construction projects would benefit from being informed by social identity research.

Leveraging social network data for analytical CRM strategies : the introduction of social BI

The skyrocketing trend for social media on the Internet greatly alters analytical Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Against this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to advance the conceptual design of Business Intelligence (BI) systems with data identified from social networks. We develop an integrated social network data model, based on an in-depth analysis of Facebook. The data model can inform the design of data warehouses in order to offer new opportunities for CRM analyses, leading to a more consistent and richer picture of customers? characteristics, needs, wants, and demands. Four major contributions are offered. First, Social CRM and Social BI are introduced as emerging fields of research. Second, we develop a conceptual data model to identify and systematize the data available on online social networks. Third, based on the identified data, we design a multidimensional data model as an early contribution to the conceptual design of Social BI systems and demonstrate its application by developing management reports in a retail scenario. Fourth, intellectual challenges for advancing Social CRM and Social BI are discussed.

Teachers' knowledge for social education : perspectives from the middle years of schooling

Social education in Australia is a divisive educational issue. The last decade has been marked by the controversial integrated social studies curriculum, Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) where history, geography and environmental studies were integrated with civics and citizenship. The introduction of a compulsory K-10 Australian Curriculum from 2011, however, marks the return to history and geography and the abandonment of SOSE. Curriculum reform aside, what do teachers think is essential knowledge for middle years social education? The paper reports on a phenomenographical exploration of thirty-one middle school teachers’ conceptions of essential knowledge for SOSE. Framed by Shulman’s (1986, 1987) theoretical framework of the knowledge base for teaching, the research identified seven qualitatively different ways of understanding essential knowledge for social education. The study indicates a professional practice-based theorisation of social education that justifies attention to discipline-based knowledge and teacher identity in the middle years.

Coteaching social education : an oasis in changing times

With the introduction and continued steady roll-out of the Australian Curriculum, teaching Social Education in 21st Century Australia has become increasingly challenging. This article explores how two teacher-educators tackled the challenge when developing a new Social Education course at a Queensland university using the strategy of coteaching. During the case study, data were collated from cogenerative dialogues, pre-service teacher questionnaires, and reflective journals. The data were subsequently explored using concepts from cultural sociology such as capital (Bourdieu, 1977) and agency and structure (Sewell, 1992). This paper examines how coteaching afforded the teacher-educators a vehicle to develop innovative curriculum and model ways to create a productive learning environment that reflected the philosophy of Social Education. It therefore speaks to higher-education institutions and schools about ways for navigating the present educational milieu through the adoption of collaborative strategies based on ethical relations that promote shared decision-making and reflexive practices.

The social and political underpinnings of the inclusive education movement

In this chapter we look at inclusive education as part of a number of wider social movements for social justice. Inclusive education is thus understood as a transformation of education systems, rather than simply the addition of new groups of students to schools, or the development of new techniques (Slee, 2006). We illustrate the ways movements for social change can occur at many levels. Resistance to social change also occurs at many levels. Movements for social justice often include a goal of changing what happens in education. This is because education is often seen as one of the important social institutions that can reinforce the status quo. Education is also seen as an important means of changing the status quo, giving more people access to a more meaningful education. It’s not uncommon to hear various political parties criticising each other’s educational policies as ‘social engineering.’ Movements for social justice in education understand that education has always been about social engineering. The questions of interest are thus: Social engineering for what?; Who benefits; and At whose expense?

Collaboration and competition on a Wiki : the praxis of online social learning to improve academic writing and research in under-graduate students

The number of internet users in Australia has been steadily increasing, with over 10.9 million people currently subscribed to an internet provider (ABS, 2011). Over the past year, the most avid users of the Internet were 15 – 24 year olds, with approximately 95% accessing the internet on a regular basis (ABS, Social Trends, 2011). While the internet, in particularly Web 2.0, has been described as fundamental to higher education students, social and leisure internet tools are also increasingly being used by these students to generate and maintain their social and professional networks and interactions (Duffy & Bruns, 2006). Rapid technological advancements have enabled greater and faster access to information for learning and education (Hemmi et al, 2009; Glassman & Kang, 2011). As such, we sought to integrate interactive, online social media into the assessment profile of a Public Health undergraduate cohort at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The aim of this exercise was to engage undergraduate students to both develop and showcase their research on a range of complex, contemporary health issues within the online forum of Wikispaces for review and critique by their peers. We applied Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (SLT) to analyse the interactive processes from which students developed deeper and more sustained learning, and via which their overall academic writing standards were enriched. This paper outlines the assessment task, and the students’ feedback on their learning outcomes in relation to the Attentional, Retentional, Motor Reproduction, and Motivational Processes outlined by Bandura in SLT. We conceptualise the findings in a theoretical model, and discuss the implications for this approach within the broader tertiary environment.

Greener workplace: An examination of Green HR initiatives adoption through the theory of planned behaviour lens

The goal of this article is to propose the model of green human resource initiatives adoption. Based on innovation management and psychology literatures, attitude, pressure and controllability are key drivers for organizational change. Data were collected from 210 organizations in Australia. Results indicated that attitude, pressure and controllability significantly influenced the firms’ adoption of green HR initiatives. Attitude and resource availability especially had greater impacts than pressure. Limitation, implications and future researches are also outlined.

Peer-led diabetes self-management programme for community-dwelling older people in China : study protocol for a quasi-experimental design

Aim. A protocol for a new peer-led self-management programme for communitydwelling older people with diabetes in Shanghai, China. Background. The increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes poses major public health challenges. Appropriate education programmes could help people with diabetes to achieve self-management and better health outcomes. Providing education programmes to the fast growing number of people with diabetes present a real challenge to Chinese healthcare system, which is strained for personnel and funding shortages. Empirical literature and expert opinions suggest that peer education programmes are promising. Design. Quasi-experimental. Methods. This study is a non-equivalent control group design (protocol approved in January, 2008). A total of 190 people, with 95 participants in each group, will be recruited from two different, but similar, communities. The programme, based on Social Cognitive Theory, will consist of basic diabetes instruction and social support and self-efficacy enhancing group activities. Basic diabetes instruction sessions will be delivered by health professionals, whereas social support and self-efficacy enhancing group activities will be led by peer leaders. Outcome variables include: self-efficacy, social support, self-management behaviours, depressive status, quality of life and healthcare utilization, which will be measured at baseline, 4 and 12 weeks. Discussion. This theory-based programme tailored to Chinese patients has potential for improving diabetes self-management and subsequent health outcomes. In addition, the delivery mode, through involvement of peer leaders and existing community networks,is especially promising considering healthcare resource shortage in China.

Climate of fear in organisational settings : construct definition, measurement and a test of theory

This paper reports a study that explored a new construct: ‘climate of fear’. We hypothesised that climate of fear would vary across work sites within organisations, but not across organisations. This is in contrast a to measures of organisational culture, which were expected to vary both within and across organisations. To test our hypotheses, we developed a new 13-item measure of perceived fear in organisations and tested it in 20 sites across two organisations (N ≡ 209). Culture variables measured were innovative leadership culture, and communication culture. Results were that climate of fear did vary across sites in both organisations, while differences across organisations were not significant, as we anticipated. Organisational culture, however, varied between the organisations, and within one of the organisations. The climate of fear scale exhibited acceptable psychometric properties