Developing strong social enterprises : a documentary approach

Social enterprises are diverse in their mission, business structures and industry orientations. Like all businesses, social enterprises face a range of strategic and operational challenges and utilize a range of strategies to access resources in support of their venture. This exploratory study examined the strategic management issues faced by Australian social enterprises and the ways in which they respond to these. The research was based on a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews with 11 representatives of eight social enterprises based in Victoria and Queensland. The sample included mature social enterprises and those within two years of start-up. In addition to the research report, the outputs of the project include a series of six short documentaries, which are available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/SocialEnterpriseQUT#p/u. The research reported on here suggests that social enterprises are sophisticated in utilizing processes of network bricolage (Baker et al. 2003) to mobilize resources in support of their goals. Access to network resources can be both enabling and constraining as social enterprises mature. In terms of the use of formal business planning strategies, all participating social enterprises had utilized these either at the outset or the point of maturation of their business operations. These planning activities were used to support internal operations, to provide a mechanism for managing collective entrepreneurship, and to communicate to external stakeholders about the legitimacy and performance of the social enterprises. Further research is required to assess the impacts of such planning activities, and the ways in which they are used over time. Business structures and governance arrangements varied amongst participating enterprises according to: mission and values; capital needs; and the experiences and culture of founding organizations and individuals. In different ways, participants indicated that business structures and governance arrangements are important ways of conferring legitimacy on social enterprise, by signifying responsible business practice and strong social purpose to both external and internal stakeholders. Almost all participants in the study described ongoing tensions in balancing social purpose and business objectives. It is not clear, however, whether these tensions were problematic (in the sense of eroding mission or business opportunities) or productive (in the sense of strengthening mission and business practices through iterative processes of reflection and action). Longitudinal research on the ways in which social enterprises negotiate mission fulfillment and business sustainability would enhance our knowledge in this area. Finally, despite growing emphasis on measuring social impact amongst institutions, including governments and philanthropy, that influence the operating environment of social enterprise, relatively little priority was placed on this activity. The participants in our study noted the complexities of effectively measuring social impact, as well as the operational difficulties of undertaking such measurement within the day to day realities of running small to medium businesses. It is clear that impact measurement remains a vexed issue for a number of our respondents. This study suggests that both the value and practicality of social impact measurement require further debate and critically informed evidence, if impact measurement is to benefit social enterprises and the communities they serve.

Free convection in a triangular enclosure with fluid-saturated porous medium and internal heat generation

Unsteady natural convection inside a triangular cavity has been studied in this study. The cavity is filled with a saturated porous medium with non-isothermal left inclined wall while the bottom surface is isothermally heated and the right inclined surface is isothermally cold. An internal heat generation is also considered which is dependent of the fluid temperature. The governing equations are solved numerically by finite element method. The Prandtl number of the fluid is considered as 0.7 (air) while the aspect ratio and the Rayleigh number are considered as 0.5 and 105 respectively. The effect of the porosity of the medium and heat generation on the fluid flow and heat transfer have been presented as a form of streamlines and isotherms. The rate of heat transfer through three surfaces of the enclosure is also presented.

Resource acquisition and utilisation strategies of intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs

This paper sets out to investigate differences between intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs with regards to their resource utilisation behaviours through social capital and bricolage. In particular we were interested in those entrepreneurs who start their business while still being employed, as it allows us to compare how intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs make use of social capital within their employer. Our findings challenge some existing wisdoms in that it seems intrapreneurs make more use of social capital external to their employer than entrepreneurs, while the use of social capital internal to the company is similar to the use by entrepreneurs. Yet, internal organizational social capital seems to have a positive effect on performance for intrapreneurial efforts only, while external social capital is not related to performance. This suggests both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs may benefit from reconsidering the focus they place on respectively external and internal organizational social capital. Bricolage behaviours were extremely prevalent amongst both intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs as well as being the strongest predictor of performance. This strong effect on performance for intrapreneurial ventures may suggest that bricolage behaviours need to be rethought when it comes to intrapreneurs.

Characterisation and source identification of selected pollutants in house dust

House dust is a heterogeneous matrix, which contains a number of biological materials and particulate matter gathered from several sources. It is the accumulation of a number of semi-volatile and non-volatile contaminants. The contaminants are trapped and preserved. Therefore, house dust can be viewed as an archive of both the indoor and outdoor air pollution. There is evidence to show that on average, people tend to stay indoors most of the time and this increases exposure to house dust. The aims of this investigation were to: " assess the levels of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), elements and pesticides in the indoor environment of the Brisbane area; " identify and characterise the possible sources of elemental constituents (inorganic elements), PAHs and pesticides by means of Positive Matrix Factorisation (PMF); and " establish the correlations between the levels of indoor air pollutants (PAHs, elements and pesticides) with the external and internal characteristics or attributes of the buildings and indoor activities by means of multivariate data analysis techniques. The dust samples were collected during the period of 2005-2007 from homes located in different suburbs of Brisbane, Ipswich and Toowoomba, in South East Queensland, Australia. A vacuum cleaner fitted with a paper bag was used as a sampler for collecting the house dust. A survey questionnaire was filled by the house residents which contained information about the indoor and outdoor characteristics of their residences. House dust samples were analysed for three different pollutants: Pesticides, Elements and PAHs. The analyses were carried-out for samples of particle size less than 250 µm. The chemical analyses for both pesticides and PAHs were performed using a Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), while elemental analysis was carried-out by using Inductively-Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The data was subjected to multivariate data analysis techniques such as multi-criteria decision-making procedures, Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE), coupled with Geometrical Analysis for Interactive Aid (GAIA) in order to rank the samples and to examine data display. This study showed that compared to the results from previous works, which were carried-out in Australia and overseas, the concentrations of pollutants in house dusts in Brisbane and the surrounding areas were relatively very high. The results of this work also showed significant correlations between some of the physical parameters (types of building material, floor level, distance from industrial areas and major road, and smoking) and the concentrations of pollutants. Types of building materials and the age of houses were found to be two of the primary factors that affect the concentrations of pesticides and elements in house dust. The concentrations of these two types of pollutant appear to be higher in old houses (timber houses) than in the brick ones. In contrast, the concentrations of PAHs were noticed to be higher in brick houses than in the timber ones. Other factors such as floor level, and distance from the main street and industrial area, also affected the concentrations of pollutants in the house dust samples. To apportion the sources and to understand mechanisms of pollutants, Positive Matrix Factorisation (PMF) receptor model was applied. The results showed that there were significant correlations between the degree of concentration of contaminants in house dust and the physical characteristics of houses, such as the age and the type of the house, the distance from the main road and industrial areas, and smoking. Sources of pollutants were identified. For PAHs, the sources were cooking activities, vehicle emissions, smoking, oil fumes, natural gas combustion and traces of diesel exhaust emissions; for pesticides the sources were application of pesticides for controlling termites in buildings and fences, treating indoor furniture and in gardens for controlling pests attacking horticultural and ornamental plants; for elements the sources were soil, cooking, smoking, paints, pesticides, combustion of motor fuels, residual fuel oil, motor vehicle emissions, wearing down of brake linings and industrial activities.

Free convection in a triangular enclosure with fluid-saturated porous medium and internal heat generation

Unsteady natural convection inside a triangular cavity has been studied in this study. The cavity is filled with a saturated porous medium with non-isothermal left inclined wall while the bottom surface is isothermally heated and the right inclined surface is isothermally cooled. An internal heat generation is also considered which is dependent on the fluid temperature. The governing equations are solved numerically by finite volume method. The Prandtl number, Pr of the fluid is considered as 0.7 (air) while the aspect ratio and the Rayleigh number, Ra are considered as 0.5 and 105 respectively. The effect of heat generation on the fluid flow and heat transfer have been presented as a form of streamlines and isotherms. The rate of heat transfer through three surfaces of the enclosure is also presented.

The underlying rationale for planning: do nascent and young firms do what they say they do?

Previous studies investigating the relationships between business planning and performance have led to inconclusive results (Brinckmann et al., 2010; Delmar & Shane, 2003; Frese, 2009; Gruber, 2007; Honig & Karlsson, 2004). Institutional theory argues that firms develop business plans as an answer to external and internal pressures to gain legitimization (Delmar & Shane, 2004) and funding from different stakeholders (Karlsson & Honig, 2009). Action theory suggests that planning will pave the new venture creation journey by providing milestones and a program to implement (Frese, 2009). However, studies with an institutional perspective imply that nascent firms are either conforming to or looking for the benefits of these external or internal pressures (Karlsson & Honig, 2009) while action theory assumes that the plans will be implemented (Frese, 2009). This paper attempts to (i) investigate if the intended uses of the business plans provided by nascent and young firms match their actual uses during their venture creation process and (ii) to examine how the types of uses of business plans impact the firms’ outcomes over three years.

The children and sunscreen study : a crossover trial investigating children's sunscreen application thickness and the influence of age and dispenser type.

OBJECTIVES: To measure the thickness at which primary schoolchildren apply sunscreen on school day mornings and to compare it with the thickness (2.00 mg/cm(2)) at which sunscreen is tested during product development, as well as to investigate how application thickness was influenced by age of the child (school grades 1-7) and by dispenser type (500-mL pump, 125-mL squeeze bottle, or 50-mL roll-on). DESIGN: A crossover quasiexperimental study design comparing 3 sunscreen dispenser types. SETTING: Children aged 5 to 12 years from public primary schools (grades 1-7) in Queensland, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Children (n=87) and their parents randomly recruited from the enrollment lists of 7 primary schools. Each child provided up to 3 observations (n=258). INTERVENTION: Children applied sunscreen during 3 consecutive school weeks (Monday through Friday) for the first application of the day using a different dispenser each week. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Thickness of sunscreen application (in milligrams per square centimeter). The dispensers were weighed before and after use to calculate the weight of sunscreen applied. This was divided by the coverage area of application (in square centimeters), which was calculated by multiplying the children's body surface area by the percentage of the body covered with sunscreen. RESULTS: Children applied their sunscreen at a median thickness of 0.48 mg/cm(2). Children applied significantly more sunscreen when using the pump (0.75 mg/cm(2)) and the squeeze bottle (0.57 mg/cm(2)) compared with the roll-on (0.22 mg/cm(2)) (P<.001 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of age, primary schoolchildren apply sunscreen at substantially less than 1.00 mg/cm(2), similar to what has been observed among adults. Some sunscreen dispensers seem to facilitate thicker application than others.

The ‘Russian doll’ approach : developing nested case-studies to support international comparative research in education

International comparison is complicated by the use of different terms, classification methods, policy frameworks and system structures, not to mention different languages and terminology. Multi-case studies can assist in the understanding of the influence wielded by cultural, social, economic, historical and political forces upon educational decisions, policy construction and changes over time. But case studies alone are not enough. In this paper, we argue for an ecological or scaled approach that travels through macro, meso and micro levels to build nested case-studies to allow for more comprehensive analysis of the external and internal factors that shape policy-making and education systems. Such an approach allows for deeper understanding of the relationship between globalizing trends and policy developments.

Successful outcomes in vocational education and training courses : how pedagogy and expectations influence achievement

This paper reports on a four year Australian Research Council funded Linkage Project titled Skilling Indigenous Queensland, conducted in regional areas of Queensland, Australia from 2009 to 2013. The project sought to investigate vocational education, training (VET) and teaching, Indigenous learners’ needs, employer cultural and expectations and community culture and expectations to identify best practice in numeracy teaching for Indigenous VET learners. Specifically it focused on ways to enhance the teaching and learning of courses and the associated mathematics in such courses to benefit learners and increase their future opportunities of employment. To date thirty-nine teachers/trainers/teacher aides and two hundred and thirty-one students consented to participate in the project. Nine VET courses were nominated to be the focus on the study. This paper focuses on questionnaire and interview responses from four trainers, two teacher aides and six students. In recent years a considerable amount of funding has been allocated to increasing Indigenous Peoples’ participation in education and employment. This increased funding is predicated on the assumption that it will make a difference and contribute to closing the education gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians (Council of Australia Governments, 2009). The central tenet is that access to education for Indigenous People will create substantial social and economic benefits for regional and remote Indigenous People. The project’s aim is to address some of the issues associated with the gap. To achieve the aims, the project adopted a mixed methods design aimed at benefitting research participants and included: participatory collaborative action research (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988) and, community research (Smith, 1999). Participatory collaborative action research refers to a is a “collective, self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own social and educational practices” (Kemmis et al., 1988, p. 5). Community research is described as an approach that “conveys a much more intimate, human and self-defined space” (p. 127). Community research relies on and validates the community’s own definitions. As the project is informed by the social at a community level, it is described as “community action research or emancipatory research” (Smith, 1999, p. 127). It seeks to demonstrate benefit to the community, making positive differences in the lives of Indigenous People and communities. The data collection techniques included survey questionnaires, video recording of teaching and learning processes, teacher reflective video analysis of teaching, observations, semi-structured interviews and student numeracy testing. As a result of these processes, the findings indicate that VET course teachers work hard to adopt contextualising strategies to their teaching, however this process is not always straight forward because of the perceptions of how mathematics has been taught and learned historically. Further teachers, trainers and students have high expectations of one another with the view to successful outcomes from the courses.

A retrospective cohort investigation of active range of motion within one week of open reduction and internal fixation of distal radius fractures

Distal radius fractures stabilized by open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) have become increasingly common. There is currently no consensus on the optimal time to commence range of motion (ROM) exercises post-ORIF. A retrospective cohort review was conducted over a five-year period to compare wrist and forearm range of motion outcomes and number of therapy sessions between patients who commenced active ROM exercises within the first seven days and from day eight onward following ORIF of distal radius fractures. One hundred and twenty-one patient cases were identified. Clinical data, active ROM at initial and discharge therapy assessments, fracture type, surgical approaches, and number of therapy sessions attended were recorded. One hundred and seven (88.4%) cases had complete datasets. The early active ROM group (n = 37) commenced ROM a mean (SD) of 4.27 (1.8) days post-ORIF. The comparator group (n = 70) commenced ROM exercises 24.3 (13.6) days post-ORIF. No significant differences were identified between groups in ROM at initial or discharge assessments, or therapy sessions attended. The results from this study indicate that patients who commenced active ROM exercises an average of 24 days after surgery achieved comparable ROM outcomes with similar number of therapy sessions to those who commenced ROM exercises within the first week.

Lateral charge propagation effects during the galvanic replacement of electrodeposited MTCNQ (M= Cu, Ag) microstructures with gold and its influence on catalysed electron transfer reactions

The galvanic replacement of isolated electrodeposited semiconducting CuTCNQ microstructures on a glassy carbon (GC) substrate with gold is investigated. It is found that anisotropic metal nanoparticles are formed which are not solely confined to the redox active sites on the semiconducting materials but are also observed on the GC substrate which occurs via a lateral charge propagation mechanism. We also demonstrate that this galvanic replacement approach can be used for the formation of isolated AgTCNQ/Au microwire composites which occurs via an analogous mechanism. The resultant MTCNQ/Au (M = Cu, Ag) composite materials are characterized by Raman, spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and investigated for their catalytic properties for the reduction of ferricyanide ions with thiosulphate ions in aqueous solution. Significantly it is demonstrated that gold loading, nanoparticle shape and in particular the MTCNQ–Au interface are important factors that influence the reaction rate. It is shown that there is a synergistic effect at the CuTCNQ/Au composite when compared to AgTCNQ/Au at similar gold loadings.

Expression and prognostic influence of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 in non-small cell lung cancer

Background Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of endopeptidases that digest the extracellular matrix (ECM). Overexpression of different MMPs has been shown to promote tumour cell invasion in vitro. Tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are specific inhibitors of MMPs that also possess growth-promoting properties. Aims To analyse the expression profile of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to assess the impact of expression on survival. Methods This is a retrospective study of patients who underwent resection for stage I-IIIa NSCLC with a post-operative survival >60 days. Patient follow up was a minimum of 2 years. Standard ABC immunohistochemistry was performed on 4μm paraffin-embedded sections from the tumour periphery using monoclonal antibodies to MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2. Results The results of the immunohistochemistry are set out below. marker tumour expression log-rank survival stromal expression log-rank survival MMP-2 9/72 (13%) p=0.10 34/72 (47%) p=0.34 MMP-9 79/152 (52%) p=0.04* 69/152 (45%) p=0.84 TIMP-2 28/90 (31%) p=0.04* 66/90 (73%) p=0.90 Two or more 16/59 (27%) p=0.007* There were no associations between expression and clinicopathological findings for any tumour marker. There was co-expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in tumour cells (p=0.01). Conclusions MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 are expressed in NSCLC. MMP-9 and TIMP-2 tumour expression correlate with a poor outcome (both p=0.04) and are potential prognostic markers for NSCLC. Cumulative expression of two or more MMPs/TIMPs may also have increased prognostic significance. Proteases and their inhibitors are novel targets for therapeutic intervention and should be evaluated in NSCLC.

Successful outcomes in vocational education and training courses and mathematics: how pedagogy and expectations influence achievement

This paper reports on a four year Australian Research Council funded Linkage Project titled Skilling Indigenous Queensland, conducted in regional areas of Queensland, Australia from 2009 to 2013. The project sought to investigate Vocational Education and Training (VET) and teaching, Indigenous learners’ needs, employer culture and expectations and community culture and expectations to identify best practice in numeracy teaching for Indigenous VET learners. Specifically it focused on ways to enhance the teaching and learning of courses and the associated mathematics in such courses to benefit learners and increase their future opportunities of employment. To date thirty - nine teachers/trainers/teacher aides and two hundred and thirty - one students consented to participate in the project. Nine VET courses offered in schools and Technical and Further Education Institutes (TAFE) were nominated to be the focus on the study. This paper focuses on student questionnaire responses and interview responses from teachers/trainers one high school principal and five students as a result of these processes, the findings indicated that VET course teachers work hard to adopt contextualising strategies to their teaching; however this process is not always straight forward because of the perceptions of how mathematics has been taught and learned by trainers and teachers. Further teachers, trainers and students have high expectations of one another with the view to successful outcomes from the courses.