Innovative and entrepreneurial activity in the public sector : the changing face of public sector institutions

This paper investigates the elements which support innovative and entrepreneurial activity in New Zealand’s state owned enterprises (SOEs). An inductive case study design, involving interview data, textual analysis, and observation, was applied to three SOEs. Findings reveal that those aspects typically associated with entrepreneurship, such as innovation, risk acceptance, pro-activeness and growth, are often supported by a number of unexpected elements within the public sector. These elements include culture, branding, operational excellence, cost efficiency, and knowledge transfer. The implications are twofold. First, that innovative and entrepreneurial activity in the public sector can go beyond policy-making, with SOEs representing an important policy decision and sector of the New Zealand Government. And second, that the impact of several SOEs on international markets suggests competition on the global stage will increasingly come from both public and private sector organizations.

Social inclusion through community enterprise? Examining the available evidence

In recent years the concepts of social inclusion and exclusion have become part of the repertoire of third-way policy discourses that seek to respond to complex socioeconomic problems through processes of 'joined-up' and 'integrated' governance. As part of this approach, we are witnessing an increased focus on the role of the third sector in facilitating social inclusion. While the push towards governing through networks has gained moral legitimacy in some areas of social policy, the practical legitimacy - that is, whether these new approaches actually produce demonstrably better outcomes than more traditional policy approaches - remains largely unsubstantiated. This article contributes to the evidence base, by examining the social-inclusion impacts of eleven community enterprises operating in Victoria, and to the wider available evidence on the social, economic and civic effects of social enterprise.

Identifying child sexual abuse within school contexts : policy problems and solutions, and a landmark case

As a strategy to identify child sexual abuse, most Australian States and Territories have enacted legislation requiring teachers to report suspected cases. Some Australian State and non-State educational authorities have also created policy-based obligations to report suspected child sexual abuse. Significantly, these can be wider than non-existent or limited legislative duties, and therefore are a crucial element of the effort to identify sexual abuse. Yet, no research has explored the existence and nature of these policy-based duties. The first purpose of this paper is to report the results of a three-State study into policy-based reporting duties in State and non-State schools in Australia. In an extraordinary coincidence, while conducting the study, a case of failure to comply with reporting policy occurred with tragic consequences. This led to a rare example in Australia (and one of only a few worldwide) of a professional being prosecuted for failure to comply with a legislative duty. It also led to disciplinary proceedings against school staff. The second purpose of this paper is to describe this case and connect it with findings from our policy analysis.

Integrating information security policy management with corporate risk management for strategic alignment

Information security policy defines the governance and implementation strategy for information security in alignment with the corporate risk policy objectives and strategies. Research has established that alignment between corporate concerns may be enhanced when strategies are developed concurrently using the same development process as an integrative relationship is established. Utilizing the corporate risk management framework for security policy management establishes such an integrative relationship between information security and corporate risk management objectives and strategies. There is however limitation in the current literature on presenting a definitive approach that fully integrates security policy management with the corporate risk management framework. This paper presents an approach that adopts a conventional corporate risk management framework for security policy development and management to achieve alignment with the corporate risk policy. A case example is examined to illustrate the alignment achieved in each process step with a security policy structure being consequently derived in the process. It is shown that information security policy management outcomes become both integral drivers and major elements of the corporate-level risk management considerations. Further study should involve assessing the impact of the use of the proposed framework in enhancing alignment as perceived in this paper.

ePortfolio use by university students in Australia : Informing excellence in policy and practice. Supplementary report : October 2010

In April 2007, the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC)commissioned a study to examine the diverse approaches to ePortfolio use by students in Australian universities. The goals were to consider the scope, penetration and reasons for use of ePortfolios, and to examine the issues associated with their implementation in higher education. One of the central research activities in the project was a national audit which sought to establish a picture of current and emerging ePortfolio activities in Australian academic institutions. The data collection activities took place in late 2007 and the findings were presented and discussed in the final project report, published in October 2008. In 2010, the idea of a ‘follow up survey’ was developed. The resulting supplementary research activity was undertaken to update the data collected by the AeP project team in late 2007. The plan behind this ‘postscript to AeP’ project was to refresh the picture of ePortfolio practice in Australia by collecting new data to identify and map the use of ePortfolios in adult learning across the higher education, vocational education and training (VET) and the adult community education (ACE) sectors. The supplementary project has been referred to as the ‘AeP PS survey’.