Shikumidukuri vs. one best (no) way! Project and Programme Management for Enterprise Innovation (P2M) : towards a new paradigm?

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Japanese answer to the 90’s depression by (i). presenting a case study of the framework developed to address the new business challenges and value creation in complex, ambiguous and uncertain environment, i.e., Development of Project and Programme Management for Enterprise Innovation (P2M) and Project Management Association Japan (PMAJ) in Japan; and (ii). Exposing what in our view are the underlying theoretical bases supporting this framework and from this drawing some theoretical lessons learnt which could be helpful to the development of sound PM standards and PM competence model. This theoretical approach is assumed to be useful to transpose the Japanese experience to other analogical contexts and situations.

Book Review: "Mark Considine, Jenny Lewis and Damon Alexander Networks, Innovation and Public Policy : Politicians, Bureaucrats and the Pathways to Change inside Government Houndsmills, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009"

Having wrung the most from workforce and workplace productivity initiaitves, innovation has come to the fore as a key goal and directive for public sector organisations to become more efficient. This clarion call for innovation can be heard all around the world, with public services everywhere taking up the message to develop better, smarter, novel, more innovative processes, programs and policies. In the current push for innovation, networks are considered to be a superior vehicle through which collective knowledge can be shared and leveraged; replacing or at least supplementing the role function previously provided by inventive leaders...

Australian children's experiences of parents' online mediation

This paper draws on the work of the ‘EU Kids Online’ network funded by the EC (DG Information Society) Safer Internet plus Programme (project code SIP-KEP-321803); see www.eukidsonline.net, and addresses Australian children’s online activities in terms of risk, harm and opportunity. In particular, it draws upon data that indicates that Australian children are more likely to encounter online risks — especially around seeing sexual images, bullying, misuse of personal data and exposure to potentially harmful user-generated content — than is the case with their EU counterparts. Rather than only comparing Australian children with their European equivalents, this paper places the risks experienced by Australian children in the context of the mediation and online protection practices adopted by their parents, and asks about the possible ways in which we might understand data that seems to indicate that Australian children’s experiences of online risk and harm differ significantly from the experiences of their Europe-based peers. In particular, and as an example, this paper sets out to investigate the apparent conundrum through which Australian children appear twice as likely as most European children to have seen sexual images in the past 12 months, but parents are more likely to filter their access to the internet than is the case with most children in the wider EU Kids Online study. Even so, one in four Australian children (25%) believes that what their parents do helps ‘a lot’ to improve their internet experience, and Australian children and their parents are a little less likely to agree about the mediation practices taking place in the family home than is the case in the EU. The AU Kids Online study was carried out as a result of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation’s funding of a small scale randomised sample (N = 400) of Australian families with at least one child, aged 9–16, who goes online. The report on Risks and safety for Australian children on the internet follows the same format and uses much of the contextual statement around these issues as the ‘county level’ reports produced by the 25 EU nations involved in EU Kids Online, first drafted by Livingstone et al. (2010). The entirely new material is the data itself, along with the analysis of that data.

Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian built environment : Phase 2 Case Study Report Part 3 - Green Buildings

This report discusses findings of a case study into "Green Buildings" undertaken as a part of the retrospective analysis component of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian Built Environment. The Western Australian Government (WAG) has taken a leadership role for a number of decades in developing more environmentally responsive buildings. In the past decade, considerable initiatives have been introduced to contribute to: (i) greening the stock of government buildings; and (ii) providing leadership in the development of other non-residential buildings developed commercially. This role has been informed by global, national and internal initiatives and research in this area. This case study investigates: (i) the nature of this leadership; and (ii) the role of R&D policy development; and (iii) the dissemination and impact of outcomes in the broader industry. This case study should be read in conjunction with Part 1 of this suite of reports.

Ocular surface changes with short-term contact lens wear

Contact lenses are a common method for the correction of refractive errors of the eye. While there have been significant advancements in contact lens designs and materials over the past few decades, the lenses still represent a foreign object in the ocular environment and may lead to physiological as well as mechanical effects on the eye. When contact lenses are placed in the eye, the ocular anatomical structures behind and in front of the lenses are directly affected. This thesis presents a series of experiments that investigate the mechanical and physiological effects of the short-term use of contact lenses on anterior and posterior corneal topography, corneal thickness, the eyelids, tarsal conjunctiva and tear film surface quality. The experimental paradigm used in these studies was a repeated measures, cross-over study design where subjects wore various types of contact lenses on different days and the lenses were varied in one or more key parameters (e.g. material or design). Both, old and newer lens materials were investigated, soft and rigid lenses were used, high and low oxygen permeability materials were tested, toric and spherical lens designs were examined, high and low powers and small and large diameter lenses were used in the studies. To establish the natural variability in the ocular measurements used in the studies, each experiment also contained at least one “baseline” day where an identical measurement protocol was followed, with no contact lenses worn. In this way, changes associated with contact lens wear were considered in relation to those changes that occurred naturally during the 8 hour period of the experiment. In the first study, the regional distribution and magnitude of change in corneal thickness and topography was investigated in the anterior and posterior cornea after short-term use of soft contact lenses in 12 young adults using the Pentacam. Four different types of contact lenses (Silicone hydrogel/ Spherical/–3D, Silicone Hydrogel/Spherical/–7D, Silicone Hydrogel/Toric/–3D and HEMA/Toric/–3D) of different materials, designs and powers were worn for 8 hours each, on 4 different days. The natural diurnal changes in corneal thickness and curvature were measured on two separate days before any contact lens wear. Significant diurnal changes in corneal thickness and curvature within the duration of the study were observed and these were taken into consideration for calculating the contact lens induced corneal changes. Corneal thickness changed significantly with lens wear and the greatest corneal swelling was seen with the hydrogel (HEMA) toric lens with a noticeable regional swelling of the cornea beneath the stabilization zones, the thickest regions of the lenses. The anterior corneal surface generally showed a slight flattening with lens wear. All contact lenses resulted in central posterior corneal steepening, which correlated with the relative degree of corneal swelling. The corneal swelling induced by the silicone hydrogel contact lenses was typically less than the natural diurnal thinning of the cornea over this same period (i.e. net thinning). This highlights why it is important to consider the natural diurnal variations in corneal thickness observed from morning to afternoon to accurately interpret contact lens induced corneal swelling. In the second experiment, the relative influence of lenses of different rigidity (polymethyl methacrylate – PMMA, rigid gas permeable – RGP and silicone hydrogel – SiHy) and diameters (9.5, 10.5 and 14.0) on corneal thickness, topography, refractive power and wavefront error were investigated. Four different types of contact lenses (PMMA/9.5, RGP/9.5, RGP/10.5, SiHy/14.0), were worn by 14 young healthy adults for a period of 8 hours on 4 different days. There was a clear association between fluorescein fitting pattern characteristics (i.e. regions of minimum clearance in the fluorescein pattern) and the resulting corneal shape changes. PMMA lenses resulted in significant corneal swelling (more in the centre than periphery) along with anterior corneal steepening and posterior flattening. RGP lenses, on the other hand, caused less corneal swelling (more in the periphery than centre) along with opposite effects on corneal curvature, anterior corneal flattening and posterior steepening. RGP lenses also resulted in a clinically and statistically significant decrease in corneal refractive power (ranging from 0.99 to 0.01 D), large enough to affect vision and require adjustment in the lens power. Wavefront analysis also showed a significant increase in higher order aberrations after PMMA lens wear, which may partly explain previous reports of "spectacle blur" following PMMA lens wear. We further explored corneal curvature, thickness and refractive changes with back surface toric and spherical RGP lenses in a group of 6 subjects with toric corneas. The lenses were worn for 8 hours and measurements were taken before and after lens wear, as in previous experiments. Both lens types caused anterior corneal flattening and a decrease in corneal refractive power but the changes were greater with the spherical lens. The spherical lens also caused a significant decrease in WTR astigmatism (WRT astigmatism defined as major axis within 30 degrees of horizontal). Both the lenses caused slight posterior corneal steepening and corneal swelling, with a greater effect in the periphery compared to the central cornea. Eyelid position, lid-wiper and tarsal conjunctival staining were also measured in Experiment 2 after short-term use of the rigid and SiHy contact lenses. Digital photos of the external eyes were captured for lid position analysis. The lid-wiper region of the marginal conjunctiva was stained using fluorescein and lissamine green dyes and digital photos were graded by an independent masked observer. A grading scale was developed in order to describe the tarsal conjunctival staining. A significant decrease in the palpebral aperture height (blepharoptosis) was found after wearing of PMMA/9.5 and RGP/10.5 lenses. All three rigid contact lenses caused a significant increase in lid-wiper and tarsal staining after 8 hours of lens wear. There was also a significant diurnal increase in tarsal staining, even without contact lens wear. These findings highlight the need for better contact lens edge design to minimise the interactions between the lid and contact lens edge during blinking and more lubricious contact lens surfaces to reduce ocular surface micro-trauma due to friction and for. Tear film surface quality (TFSQ) was measured using a high-speed videokeratoscopy technique in Experiment 2. TFSQ was worse with all the lenses compared to baseline (PMMA/9.5, RGP/9.5, RGP/10.5, and SiHy/14) in the afternoon (after 8 hours) during normal and suppressed blinking conditions. The reduction in TFSQ was similar with all the contact lenses used, irrespective of their material and diameter. An unusual pattern of change in TFSQ in suppressed blinking conditions was also found. The TFSQ with contact lens was found to decrease until a certain time after which it improved to a value even better than the bare eye. This is likely to be due to the tear film drying completely over the surface of the contact lenses. The findings of this study also show that there is still a scope for improvement in contact lens materials in terms of better wettability and hydrophilicity in order to improve TFSQ and patient comfort. These experiments showed that a variety of changes can occur in the anterior eye as a result of the short-term use of a range of commonly used contact lens types. The greatest corneal changes occurred with lenses manufactured from older HEMA and PMMA lens materials, whereas modern SiHy and rigid gas permeable materials caused more subtle changes in corneal shape and thickness. All lenses caused signs of micro-trauma to the eyelid wiper and palpebral conjunctiva, although rigid lenses appeared to cause more significant changes. Tear film surface quality was also significantly reduced with all types of contact lenses. These short-term changes in the anterior eye are potential markers for further long term changes and the relative differences between lens types that we have identified provide an indication of areas of contact lens design and manufacture that warrant further development.

Ad hoc innovation by users of social networks : the case of Twitter

Generic, flexible social media spaces such as Facebook and Twitter constitute an increasingly important element in our overall media repertoires. They provide a technological basis for instant and world-wide, ad hoc, many-to-many communication, and their effect on global communication patterns has already been highlighted. The short-messaging platform Twitter, for example, caters for uses ranging from interpersonal and quasi-private phatic exchanges to ‘ambient journalism’: ad hoc new reporting and dissemination as major events break. Many such uses have themselves emerged through user-driven processes: even standard Twitter conventions such as the @reply (to publicly address a fellow user) or the #hashtag(to collect related messages in an easily accessible space) are user inventions, in fact, and were incorporated into Twitter’s own infrastructure only subsequently. This demonstrates the substantial potential of social, user-led innovation in social media spaces.

Powering innovation through tax concessions : the changing research and development tax incentives

The changing R&D Tax Concession has been touted as the biggest reform to business innovation policy in over a decade. But, is it a changing tax for changing times? This paper addresses this question and further asks ‘what’s tax got to do with it?’. To answer this question, the paper argues that rather than substantive tax reform, the proposed measures simply alter the criteria and means by which companies become eligible for a Federal Government subsidy for qualifying R&D activity. It further argues that when considered as part of the broader innovation agenda, the R&D Tax Concession should be evaluated as a government spending program in the same way as any direct spending on innovation. When this is done, the tax regime is arguably only the administrative policy instrument by which the subsidy is delivered. However, it is proposed that this may not be best practice to distribute those funds fairly, efficiently, and without distortion, while at the same time maintaining adequate government control and accountability. Finally, in answering the question of ‘what’s tax got to do with it?’ the paper concludes that the answer is ‘very little’.

Two ways : between tradition and innovation

Can art be simultaneously modern and traditional? This short piece examines the perplexities involved in seeking to address both cultural parameters at once in indigenous art of Australia.

Provotypes for participatory innovation

Central to multi-stakeholder processes of participatory innovation is to generate knowledge about ‘users’ and to identify business opportunities accordingly. In these processes of collaborative analysis and synthesis, conflicting perceptions within and about a field of interest are likely to surface. Instead of the natural tendency to avoid these tensions, we demonstrate how tensions can be utilized by embodying them in provocative types (provotypes). Provotypes expose and embody tensions that surround a field of interest to support collaborative analysis and collaborative design explorations across stakeholders. In this paper we map how provotyping contributes to four related areas of contemporary Interaction Design practice. Through a case study that brings together stakeholders from the field of indoor climate, we provide characteristics of design provocations and design guidelines for provotypes for participatory innovation.

ACE research vignette 002 : competing through service innovation - the case of project-oriented firms

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 Sandeep Salunke shares insights from his research on project-oriented firms.

ACE research vignette 011 : how much innovation is enough?

This series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team and other international researchers. In this vignette, Dr Martie-Louise Verreynne from the University of Queensland Business School summarises the findings from a paper written in conjunction with Sarel Gronum, that examines how much innovation is enough and does it really matter. They found that innovation does matter, however careful consideration of the innovation - performance relationship is important.

Green buildings for greying people : a case study of a retirement village in Australia

Purpose With an increasingly ageing population and widespread acceptance of the need for sustainable development in Australia, the demand for green retirement villages is increasing. This paper aims to identify the critical issues to be considered by developers and practitioners when embarking on their first green residential retirement project in Australia. Design/methodology/approach In view of the lack of adequate historical data for quantitative analysis, a case study approach is employed to examine the successful delivery of green retirement villages. Face-to-face interviews and document analysis were conducted for data collection. Findings The findings of the study indicate that one of the major obstacles to the provision of affordable green retirement villages is the higher initial costs involved. However, positive aspects were identified, the most significant of which relate to: the innovative design of site and floor plans; adoption of thermally efficient building materials; orientation of windows; installation of water harvesting and recycling systems, water conservation fittings and appliances; and waste management during the construction stage. With the adoption of these measures, it is believed that sustainable retirement development can be achieved without significant additional capital costs. Practical implications The research findings serve as a guide for developers in decision making throughout the project life-cycle when introducing green features into the provision of affordable retirement accommodation. Originality/value This paper provides insights into the means by which affordable green residential retirement projects for aged people can be successfully completed.

The composition of sugarcane juices dervied from burnt cane and whole green cane crop

There has been substantial interest within the Australian sugar industry in product diversification as a means to reduce its exposure to fluctuating raw sugar prices and in order to increase its commercial viability. In particular, the industry is looking at fibrous residues from sugarcane harvesting (trash) and from sugarcane milling (bagasse) for cogeneration and the production of biocommodities, as these are complementary to the core process of sugar production. A means of producing surplus residue (biomass) is to process whole sugarcane crop. In this paper, the composition of different juices derived from different harvesting methods, viz. burnt cane with all trash extracted (BE), green cane with half of the trash extracted (GE), and green cane (whole sugarcane crop) with trash unextracted (GU), were investigated and the results and comparison presented. The determination of electrical conductivity, inorganic composition, and organic acids indicate that both GU and GE cane juice contain a higher proportion of soluble inorganic ions and ionisable organic acids, compared to BE cane juice. It is important to note that there are considerably higher levels of Na ions and citric acid, but relatively low P levels in the GU samples. A higher level of reducing sugars was analysed in the GU samples than the BE samples due to the higher proportion of impurities found naturally in sugarcane tops and leaves. The purity of the first expressed juice (FEJ) of GU cane was on average higher than that of FEJ of BE cane. Results also show that GU juices appear to contain higher levels of proteins and polysaccharides, with no significant difference in starch levels.

Renegades on the frontier of innovation: The shanzhai grassroots communities of Shenzhen in China's creative economy

Two Australian researchers specializing in China's creative industries examine recent developments in southern China commonly associated with the shanzhai phenomenon (e.g., production and sale of cheap local facsimiles of globally branded goods). While shanzhai is often condemned as the embodiment of China's "knock-off" industries, the authors argue that it might be more appropriately viewed as an instance of China's emerging creative economy and an example of rapid prototyping. The paper traces the evolution of shanzhai mobile phones and the materialization of the shanzhai ethos in popular culture. In arguing that shanzhai provides inputs into creative industries, the paper describes the fuzzy boundary between formal and informal culture and notes the interaction between three spheres of activity: official culture, the market, and grassroots culture.