Disability employment practices in the Australian retail sector

The persistent low employment rate of people with disability has emerged as a concern for the Australian Government and society in general. The research addressed the gap between the supply and demand sides of disability employment by exploring organisational mechanisms underlying the proactive employment of people with disability. Data was collected from a large Australian retail organisation that currently employs people with disability. The findings revealed how the organisation legitimises disability employment practices, within its internal and external operating environments. The research informs the areas of government policy and organisational practices concerning future employment opportunities for people with disability.

Who is the South African retail giant behind the David Jones bid?

Yesterday morning came the news South African retailer Woolworths had offered $4 a share to acquire David Jones, a proposal that has the approval of the department store’s board. This offer, worth an estimated A$2.15 billion, represents a 25% premium over the current share price value. An earlier offer, from rival Myer, was rejected earlier this year. But who is Woolworths? Not to be confused with Australia’s largest supermarket, Woolworths SA is one of South Africa’s largest retailers.

Constructive deviance as a driver for performance in retail

A growing body of research is concerned with deviance in the workplace. While much research has explored negative forms of deviance, we examine constructive deviance: behaviour that deviates from salient norms and benefits the reference group. We empirically explore manifestations, determinants and performance outcomes of constructive deviance in standardised work processes. We do this through a mixed-methods study in bakery trading departments of an Australian retailer. We illustrate that constructive deviance occurs in these settings and show that some manifestations of constructive deviance improve organisational performance and pave the way for applying constructive deviance as a strategic tool in retail.

The diet-related health of the Australian population and potential opportunities for the food retail sector

This report describes the diet-related health of the Australian population and identifies potential opportunities for the food retail sector.

Creating healthy food environments in NSW: A knowledge and evidence synthesis to inform advocacy and action. Seven separate documents across the domains: Food retail

Reviews and synthesizes nutrition policy actions to improve food retail for NSW Health

Enhancing the shopping experience with ambient displays: A field study in a retail store

This paper discusses the prototypical implementation of an ambient display and the results of an empirical study in a retail store. It presents the context of shopping as an application area for Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technologies. The prototype consists of an ambient store map that enhances the awareness of customer activity. The results of our study indicate potentials and challenges for an improvement of the shopping experience with AmI technologies. Based on our findings we discuss challenges and future developments for applying AmI technologies to shopping environments.

Assignments of non-retail commercial leases: Some contentious issues

Assignment clauses in non-retail commercial leases are as infinitely varied as the circumstances in which disputes arise. Each clause must be individually interpreted as part of the lease in which it is embedded. Whilst the assignment of a lease is one of the most commonplace transactions between lessor and lessee, the case law reveals few unifying principles. This article seeks to cautiously identify a set of principles which should be in the mind of any lawyer when a dispute relating to an assignment arises. It concludes with a short checklist of matters which must be considered by such a person to encourage the application of principles in the first instance towards a resolution of the dispute.

The Mid-Century Showroom: Knoll, Herman Miller and the Retail Exhibition of Modern American Design

Although occasionally illustrated and referenced in contemporary histories of modern furniture and design, there is surprisingly little critical discussion or consideration of the role of the showroom in the promotion and dissemination of modern design during the mid-twentieth century. In these years, when the American lifestyle was popularly articulated and forcefully propagandized, the furniture showroom served as a principle site of professional and public indoctrination. Appropriating display techniques from modern exhibition design to showcase the American lifestyle as an abstracted, spatially integrated art form, the showroom provided an unencumbered landscape ideally suited to camera’s lens and the public’s imagination. Leading modern American furniture manufacturers, such as Herman Miller and Knoll Associates collaborated with major cultural institutions as well as department stores and retailers to maximize exposure and consumer demand for their products. Through such integrated marketing and merchandising strategies, showrooms also contributed to the broader social project to educate American consumers about modern design and the advantages of modern living. Related to the many model home programs and “good design” exhibitions of the 1950s, the furniture showroom occupies a unique place within the history and discourse of the postwar era. The peculiarities of the furniture showroom and its position as a point of intersection between the trade and the consumer, the commercial and the cultural, and the aesthetic and the ideological form the focus of this study.

Gail Sorronda - New York, Paris, London, Sydney

QUT Fine Arts Fashion Design graduate Gail Reid is making a name for herself nationally and internationally. As one of the first QUT graduates to establish and sustain her own label, it begs the question how, why and what's next for her career aspirations.

Exchange relationships in building services maintenance activity : a test of transaction cost economics and the resource dependency view

The firm is faced with a decision concerning the nature of intra-organizational exchange relationships with internal human resources and the nature or inter-organizational exchange relationships with market firms. In both situations, the firm can develop an exchange that ranges from a discrete exchange to a relational exchange. Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and the Resource Dependency View (RDV) represent alternative efficiency-based explanations fo the nature of the exchange relationship. The aim of the paper is to test these two theories in respect of air conditioning maintenance in retail centres. Multiple sources of information are genereated from case studies of Australian retail centres to test these theories in respoect of internalized operations management (concerning strategic aspects of air conditioning maintenance) and externalized planned routine air conditioning maintenance. The analysis of the data centres on pattern matching. It is concluded that the data supports TCE - on the basis of a development in TCE's contractual schema. Further research is suggested towards taking a pluralistic stance and developing a combined efficiency and power hypothesis - upon which Williamson has speculated. For practice, the conclusions also offer a timely cautionary note concerning the adoption of one approach in all exchange relationships.

Marketplace forces and the history of retailing : The cycle of control

This paper traces the history of store (retailer-controlled) and national (manufacture controlled)brands; identifies the key historical characteristics of the past 200 years of marketing history;describes the four main time periods of U.S. retail marketing (1800 - 2000); and comments on the most likely developments within the current phases of brand marketing. Will the future focus on technology and new forms of communications? The Internet exemplifies an unconventional retailing environment, with etailer numbers growing rapidly. The central proposition of this paper is that a "cycle of control" - a pattern of marketing developments within the history of retailing and national marketing communications - Can indicate the success of marketing strategies in the future.

The influence of social communication networks on intentions to purchase on the web

Despite the increased offering of online communication channels to support web-based retail systems, there is limited marketing research that investigates how these channels act singly, or in combination with online channels, to influence an individual' s intention to purchase online. If the marketer's strategy is to encourage online transactions, this requires a focus on consumer acceptance of the web-based transaction technology, rather than the purchase of the products per se. The exploratory study reported in this paper examines normative influences from referent groups in an individual's on and offline social communication networks that might affect their intention to use online transaction facilities. The findings suggest that for non-adopters, there is no normative influence from referents in either network. For adopters, one online and one offline referent norm positively influenced this group's intentions to use online transaction facilities. The implications of these findings are discussed together with future research directions.

E-business adoption in construction : international review on impediments

The adoption of e-business by the Australian construction industry lags other service and product industries. It is assumed that slow adoption rate does not reflect the maturity of the technology but is due to adoption impediments peculiar to the nature of construction. This chapter examines impediments to the uptake of e-business nationally and internationally. A systematic and extensive literature search of impediments (also referred to as obstacles, impediments or hindrances) to adoption has been undertaken and the findings discussed in this chapter. This review included more that 200 documents and these have been published in a searchable database as part of a larger research initiative funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation. The influence of levels of e-business maturity seen in other sectors such as retail, tourism and manufacturing was also captured and a number of major impediments were identified some including: privacy, trust, uncertainty of financial returns, lack of reliable measurement, fraud, lack of support and system maintenance. A total of 23 impediments were assessed in terms of impact to organisational type and size across reviewed documents. With this information it was possible to develop a reference framework for measuring maturity levels and readiness to uptake e-business in construction. Results have also shown that impediments to e-business adoption work differently according to organisational type and culture. Areas of training and people development need to be addressed. This would include a more sensitive approach to the nature of construction organisations, especially to those small and medium enterprises. Raising levels of awareness and creating trust for on-line collaboration are other aspects that need attention, which current studies confirm as lacking. An empirical study within construction, to validate these findings, forms the subsequent phase of this research.

A model for the uptake of E-business by building small and medium enterprises

The adoption of e-business by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in construction lags from other service and product businesses within the building sector. This paper develops a model to facilitate the uptake of electronic business, especially in relation to SMEs within the Australian construction sector. Ebusiness is defined here as “the undertaking of business-related transactions, communications and information exchanges utilising electronic medium and environment”, the elicited model highlights significant changes needed including skills development, social, economic and cultural issues. The model highlights barriers for SMEs to migrate towards e-transactions, e-bidding, e-tendering and ecollaboration and provides learning and skills development components. The model is derived from case study fieldwork and is to inform diffusion and awareness models for best practice. Empirical techniques included ‘focus group’ interviews and one to one ‘interviews’. Data was transcribed and analysed using cluster analyses. Preliminary results reveal that current models for e-business adoption are not effective within the construction context as they have emerged from other service and product industries - such as retail or tourism. These generic models have largely ignored the nature of the construction industry, and some modifications appears to be required. This paper proposes an alternative adoption model which is more sensitive to the nature of the industry – particularly for e-business uptake in building SME’s.