Future-proofing : the academic library’s role in e-research support

Purpose – The paper describes a project created to enhance e-research support activities within an Australian university, based on environmental scanning of e-research activities and funding both nationally and internationally. Participation by the university library is also described.----- Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a case study that describes the stages of a project undertaken to develop an academic library’s capacity to offer e-research support to its institution’s research community.----- Findings – While the outcomes of the project have been successfully achieved, the work needs to be continued and eventually mainstreamed as core business in order to keep pace with developments in e-research. The continual skilling up of the university’s researchers and research support staff in e-research activities is imperative in reaching the goal of becoming a highly competitive research institution.----- Research limitations/implications – Although a single case study, the work has been contextualised within the national research agenda.----- Practical implications – The paper provides a project model that can adapted within an academic library without external or specialist skills. It is also scalable and can be applied at a divisional or broader level.----- Originality/value – The paper highlights the drivers for research investment in Australia and provides a model of how building e-research support activities can leverage this investment and contribute towards successful research activity.

IT-enhanced communication protocols for building project management

Purpose – Building project management requires real time flow of information between all the project team members or the supply chain members. In the present scenario, when project participants are geographically separated, adoption of Information Communication Technology (ICT) enables such effective communication. But strategic adoption of ICT requires that all the supply chain members follow the accepted methods of communication or the communication protocols. The majority of the construction organizations are small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This research, therefore, proposes to focus on developing IT-enhanced communication protocols for building project management by SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – The research adopts a sequential mixed methods approach, where data collection and analysis are conducted in both the quantitative and qualitative phases of research. Findings – The protocols are proposed as a “Strategic Model for Enhancing ICT Diffusion in Building Projects”. The framework for the model is discussed at three levels of study, i.e industry, organization, and people. Practical implications – While the research was conducted in an Indian context, the research outcome is envisaged to be widely applicable in other countries with due considerations. Originality/value – The developed framework has implications for national level bodies and academic institutions, organizations, people or project managers and is applicable at the international level after due considerations.

Developing creativity and innovation in management education : an artful event for transformative learning

This paper argues that management education needs to consider a trend in learning design which advances more creative learning through an alliance with art-based pedagogical processes. A shift is required from skills training to facilitating transformational learning through experiences that expand human potential, facilitated by artistic processes. In this paper the authors discuss the necessity for creativity and innovation in the workplace and the need to develop better leaders and managers. The inclusion of arts-based processes enhances artful behaviour, aesthetics and creativity within management and organisational behaviour, generating important implications for business innovation. This creative learning focus stems from an analysis of an arts-based intervention for management development. Entitled Management Jazz the program was conducted over three years at a large Australian University. The paper reviews some of the salient literature in the field. It considers four stages of the learning process: capacity, artful event, increased capability, and application/action to produce product. One illustrative example of an arts-based learning process is provided from the Management Jazz program. Research findings indicate that artful learning opportunities enhance capacity for awareness of creativity in one’s self and in others. This capacity correlates positively with a perception that engaging in artful learning enhances the capability of managers in changing collaborative relationships and habitat constraint. The authors conclude that it is through engagement and creative alliance with the arts that management education can explore and discover artful approaches to building creativity and innovation. The illustration presented in this paper will be delivered as a brief workshop at the Fourth Art of Management Conference. The process of bricolage and articles at hand will be used to explore creative constraints and prototypes while generating group collaboration. The mini-workshop will conclude with discussion of the arts-based process and capability enhancement outcomes.

A framework for strategic infrastructure asset management

The concept of asset management is not a new but an evolving idea that has been attracting attention of many organisations operating and/or owning some kind of infrastructure assets. The term asset management have been used widely with fundamental differences in interpretation and usage. Regardless of the context of the usage of the term, asset management implies the process of optimising return by scrutinising performance and making key strategic decisions throughout all phases of an assets lifecycle (Sarfi and Tao, 2004). Hence, asset management is a philosophy and discipline through which organisations are enabled to more effectively deploy their resources to provide higher levels of customer service and reliability while balancing financial objectives. In Australia, asset management made its way into the public works in 1993 when the Australian Accounting Standard Board issued the Australian Accounting Standard 27 – AAS27. Standard AAS27 required government agencies to capitalise and depreciate assets rather than expense them against earnings. This development has indirectly forced organisations managing infrastructure assets to consider the useful life and cost effectiveness of asset investments. The Australian State Treasuries and the Australian National Audit Office was the first organisation to formalise the concepts and principles of asset management in Australia in which they defined asset management as “ a systematic, structured process covering the whole life of an asset”(Australian National Audit Office, 1996). This initiative led other Government bodies and industry sectors to develop, refine and apply the concept of asset management in the management of their respective infrastructure assets. Hence, it can be argued that the concept of asset management has emerged as a separate and recognised field of management during the late 1990s. In comparison to other disciplines such as construction, facilities, maintenance, project management, economics, finance, to name a few, asset management is a relatively new discipline and is clearly a contemporary topic. The primary contributors to the literature in asset management are largely government organisations and industry practitioners. These contributions take the form of guidelines and reports on the best practice of asset management. More recently, some of these best practices have been made to become a standard such as the PAS 55 (IAM, 2004, IAM, 2008b) in UK. As such, current literature in this field tends to lack well-grounded theories. To-date, while receiving relatively more interest and attention from empirical researchers, the advancement of this field, particularly in terms of the volume of academic and theoretical development is at best moderate. A plausible reason for the lack of advancement is that many researchers and practitioners are still unaware of, or unimpressed by, the contribution that asset management can make to the performance of infrastructure asset. This paper seeks to explore the practices of organisations that manage infrastructure assets to develop a framework of strategic infrastructure asset management processes. It will begin by examining the development of asset management. This is followed by the discussion on the method to be adopted for this paper. Next, is the discussion of the result form case studies. It first describes the goals of infrastructure asset management and how they can support the broader business goals. Following this, a set of core processes that can support the achievement of business goals are provided. These core processes are synthesised based on the practices of asset managers in the case study organisations.

Case management educational intervention with public health nurses : cluster randomized controlled trial

Aim: This paper is a report of a study conducted to determine the effectiveness of a community case management collaborative education intervention in terms of satisfaction, learning and performance among public health nurses. Background: Previous evaluation studies of case management continuing professional education often failed to demonstrate effectiveness across a range of outcomes and had methodological weaknesses such as small convenience samples and lack of control groups. Method: A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted between September 2005 and February 2006. Ten health centre clusters (5 control, 5 intervention) recruited 163 public health nurses in Taiwan to the trial. After pre-tests for baseline measurements, public health nurses in intervention centres received an educational intervention of four half-day workshops. Post-tests for both groups were conducted after the intervention. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was performed to evaluate the effect of the intervention on target outcomes. Results: A total of 161 participants completed the pre- and post-intervention measurements. This was almost a 99% response rate. Results revealed that 97% of those in the experimental group were satisfied with the programme. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in knowledge (p = 0.001), confidence in case management skills (p = 0.001), preparedness for case manager role activities (p = 0.001), self-reported frequency in using skills (p = 0.001), and role activities (p = 0.004). Conclusion: Collaboration between academic and clinical nurses is an effective strategy to prepare nurses for rapidly-changing roles.

Re-generating the praxis of academic staff development

Effective academic workforce staff development remains a challenge in higher education. This thesis-by-publication examined the importance of alternative paradigms for academic staff development, focusing specifically on arts-based learning as a non-traditional approach to transformative learning for management and self-development within the business of higher education. The research question asked was whether or not the facilitation of staff development through the practice of arts-based transformational learning supported academic aims in higher education, based on data obtained with the participants of the academic staff development program at one Australian university over a three year period. Over that three year period, eighty academics participated in one large metropolitan Australian university’s arts-based academic development program. The research approach required analysis of the transcribed one-on-one hermeneutic-based conversations with fifteen self-selected academics, five from each year, and with a focus group of twenty other self-selected academics from all three years. The study’s findings provided evidence that supported the need for academic staff development that prepared academics to be engaged and creative and therefore more likely to be responsive to emerging issues and to be innovative in the presence of constraints, including organisational constraints. The qualitative participative conversation transcription data found that arts-based lifelong learning processes provided participant perception of enhanced capabilities for self-creation and clarity of transformational action in academic career management. The study presented a new and innovative Artful Learning Wave Trajectory learning model to engender academic professional artistry. The findings provided developers with support for using a non-traditional strategy of transformational learning.

Innovation networks in the construction arena : the strategic management of mixed enterprises

The building and construction sector is one of the five largest contributors to the Australian economy and is a key performance component in the economy of many other jurisdictions. However, the ongoing viability of this sector is increasingly reliant on its ability to foster and transfer innovated products and practices. Interorganisational networks, which bring together key industry stakeholders and facilitate the flows of information, resources and trust necessary to secure innovation, have emerged as a key growth strategy within this and other arenas. The blending of organisations, resources and purposes creates new, hybrid institutional forms that draw on a mix of contract, structure and interpersonal relationship as integration processes. This paper argues that hybrid networked arrangements, because they incorporate relational elements, require management strategies and techniques that not always synonymous with conventional management approaches, including those used within the building and construction sector. It traces the emergence of the Construction Innovation Project in Australia as a hybrid institutional arrangement moulding public, private and academic stakeholders of the building and construction industry into a coherent collective force aimed at fostering innovation and its application within all levels of the industry. Specifically, the paper examines the Construction Innovation Project to ascertain the impact of relational governance and its management to harness and leverage the skills, resources and capacities of members to secure innovative outcomes. Finally, the paper offers some prospects to guide the ongoing work of this body and any other charged with a similar integrative responsibility.

Stages of knowledge management systems in policing financial crime

A stage model for knowledge management systems in policing financial crime is developed in this paper. Stages of growth models enable identification of organizational maturity and direction. Information technology to support knowledge work of police officers is improving. For example, new information systems supporting police investigations are evolving. Police investigation is an information-rich and knowledge-intensive practice. Its success depends on turning information into evidence. This paper presents an organizing framework for knowledge management systems in policing financial crime. Future case studies will empirically have to illustrate and validate the stage hypothesis developed in this paper.

Applying social technology to Business Process Lifecycle Management

In recent years social technologies such as wikis, blogs or microblogging have seen an exponential growth in the uptake of their user base making this type of technology one of the most significant networking and knowledge sharing platforms for potentially hundreds of millions of users. However, the adoption of these technologies has been so far mostly for private purposes. First attempts have been made to embed features of social technologies in the corporate IT landscape, and Business Process Management is no exception. This paper aims to consolidate the opportunities for integrating social technologies into the different stages of the business process lifecycle. Thus, it contributes to a conceptualization of this fast growing domain, and can help to categorize academic and corporate development activities.

The student as customer model and its impact on the academic leadership role in higher education

This paper posits that the 'student as customer' model has a negative impact upon the academic leadership which in turn is responsible for the erosion of objectivity in the assessment process in the higher education sector. The paper draws on the existing literature to explore the relationship between the student as customer model, academic leadership, and student assessment. The existing research emanating from the literature provides the basis from which the short comings of the student as customer model are exposed. From a practical perspective the arguments made in this paper provide the groundwork for possible future research into the adverse affects of the student as customer model on academic leadership and job satisfaction in the academic work force. The concern for quality may benefit from empirical investigation of the relationship between the student as customer model and quality learning and assessment outcomes in the higher education sector. The paper raises awareness of the faults with the present reliance on the student as customer model and the negative impact on both students and academic staff. The issues explored have the potential to influence the future directions of the higher education sector with regard to the social implications of their quest for quality educational outcomes. The paper addresses a gap in the literature in regard to use of the student as customer model and the subsequent adverse affect on academic leadership and assessment in higher education.

Corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management in transitional countries – evidence from Chinese listed firms

The objective of this thesis is to investigate whether the corporate governance practices adopted by Chinese listed firms are associated with the quality of earnings information. Based on a review of agency and institutional theory, this study develops hypotheses that predict the monitoring effectiveness of the board and the audit committee. Using a combination of univariate and multivariate analyses, the association between corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management are tested from 2004 to 2008. Through analysing the empirical results, a number of findings are summarised as below. First, board independence is weakened by the introduction of government officials as independent directors on the boards. Government officials acting as independent directors, claim that they meet the definition of independent director set by the regulation. However, they have some connection with the State, which is the controlling shareholder in listed SOEs affiliated companies. Consequently, the effect of the independent director’s expertise in constraining earnings management is mitigated as demonstrated by an insignificant association between board expertise and earnings management. An alternative explanation for the inefficiency of board independence may point to the pre-selection of independent directors by the powerful CEO. It is argued that a CEO can manipulate the board composition and choose the "desirable" independent directors to monitor themselves. Second, a number of internal mechanisms, such as board size, board activities, and the separation of the roles of the CEO and chair are found to be significantly associated with discretionary accruals. This result suggests that there are advantages in having a large and active board in the Chinese setting. This can offset the disadvantages associated with large boards, such as increased bureaucracy, and hence, increase the constraining effects of a large and resourceful board. Third, factor analysis identifies two factors: CEO power and board power. CEO power is the factor which consists of CEO duality and turnover, and board power is composed of board size and board activity. The results of CEO power show that if a Chinese listed company has CEO duality and turnover at the same time, it is more likely to have a high level of earnings management. The significant and negative relationship between board power and accruals indicate that large boards with frequent meetings can be associated with low level of earnings management. Overall, the factor analysis suggests that certain governance mechanisms complement each other to become more efficient monitors of opportunistic earnings management. A combination of board characteristics can increase the negative association with earnings management. Fourth, the insignificant results between audit committees and earnings management in Chinese listed firms suggests that the Chinese regulator should strengthen the audit committee functions. This thesis calls for listed firms to disclose more information on audit committee composition and activities, which can facilitate future research on the Chinese audit committee’s monitoring role. Fifth, the interactive results between State ownership and board characteristics show that dominant State ownership has a moderating effect on board monitoring power as the State totally controls 42% of the issued shares. The high percentage of State ownership makes it difficult for the non-controlling institutional shareholders to challenge the State’s dominant status. As a result, the association between non-controlling institutional ownership and earnings management is insignificant in most situations. Lastly, firms audited by the international Big4 have lower abnormal accruals than firms audited by domestic Chinese audit firms. In addition, the inverse U-shape relationship between audit tenure and earnings quality demonstrates the changing effects of audit quality after a certain period of appointment. Furthermore, this thesis finds that listing in Hong Kong Stock Exchanges can be an alternative governance mechanism to discipline Chinese firms to follow strict Hong Kong listing requirements. Management of Hong Kong listed companies are exposed to the scrutiny of international investors and Hong Kong regulators. This in turn reduces their chances of conducting self-interested earnings manipulation. This study is designed to fill the gap in governance literature in China that is related to earnings management. Previous research on corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management in China is not conclusive. The current research builds on previous literature and provides some meaningful implications for practitioners, regulators, academic, and international investors who have investment interests in a transitional country. The findings of this study contribute to corporate governance and earnings management literature in the context of the transitional economy of China. The use of alternative measures for earnings management yields similar results compared with the accruals models and produces additional findings.

The relationship between academic library usage and educational performance in Kuwait

University libraries play an important role in contributing to student and faculty members’ academic achievement. This study examines perceptions of university library usage to consider factors that influence achievement of students, academics and administrators. A thorough review of relevant literature examined approaches to determining user satisfaction of students and faculty, and factors that influence library usage. It highlighted the value of usage on educational performance. It enabled development of a theoretical framework leading to the Factors of Academic Library Usage (FALU) model, which was developed to investigate the effect of usage factors. FALU was tested in Kuwait university libraries. The study used validated questionnaires from 792 students, 143 academics and 121 administrators to measure five library factors. Interviews were conducted across the three University libraries. The findings are useful in measuring the correlation between the current academic library usage and educational performance.

Strategic Management Practices in the Construction Industry : a Dynamic Capabilities View

This book is an empirical study of strategic management practices in the construction industry. It examines the dynamic capabilities paradigm within the context of the Indonesian construction industry. The characteristics of asset-capability combinations were found to be significant determinants of the competitive advantage of the Indonesian construction enterprises, and that such advantage sequentially contributes to organizational performance. In doing so, this study fills an important gap in the empirical literature and reinforces the dynamic capabilities framework’s recognition as a rigorous theory of strategic management. As the dynamic capabilities framework can work in the context of Indonesia, it suggests that the framework has potential applicability in other emerging and developing countries

Users adoption of web 2.0 for knowledge management : position paper

Web 2.0 is a new generation of online applications on the web that permit people to collaborate and share information online. The use of such applications by employees in organisations enhances knowledge management (KM) in organisations. Employee involvement is a critical success factor as the concept is based on openness, engagement and collaboration between people where organizational knowledge is derived from employees experience, skills and best practices. Consequently, the employee's perception is recognized as being an important factor in web 2.0 adoption for KM and worthy of investigation. There are few studies that define and explore employee's enterprise 2.0 acceptance for KM. This paper provides a systematic review of the literature prior to demonstrating the findings as part of a preliminary conceptual model that represents the first stage of an ongoing research project that will end up with an empirical study. Reviewing available studies in technology acceptance, knowledge management and enterprise 2.0 literatures aids obtaining all potential user acceptance factors of enterprise 2.0. The preliminary conceptual model is a refinement of the theory of planed behaviour (TPB) as the user acceptance factors has been mapped into the TPB main components including behaviour attitude, subjective norms and behaviour control which are the determinant of individual's intention to a particular behaviour.

From product innovation to organizational innovation – and what that has to do with Business Process Management

One of the key trends that we currently witness not only in academic circles but also in industry - all throughout Australia at least – is that “Innovation” is becoming an important driver for business projects, for change agendas – and in turn, for Business Process Management initiatives.