Organisational culture and quality management system implementation in Indonesian construction companies

The study of the organisational culture in the construction industry is still in the stage of debate (Oney-Yazıcı et al., 2007). Despite the complexities involved in measuring the culture of the construction industry (Tijhuis and Fellows, 2012), this culture is regarded as being worthy of research, especially in relation to the organisational culture needed to support quality management systems (Koh and Low, 2008; Watson and Howarth, 2011) and to improve organisational effectiveness, and therefore, organisational performance (Coffey, 2010; Cheung et al., 2011). A number of recent studies have examined the construction companies’ organisational culture within the context of the use of Cameron and Quinn’s Competing Value Framework (CVF), as well as the use of their Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) as the conceptual paradigm for the analyses (Thomas et al., 2002; Nummelin, 2006; Oney- Yazıcı et al., 2007; Koh and Low, 2008). However, there has been little research based on the use of Cameron and Quinn’s CVF-OCAI tool for identifying types of construction companies’ organisational culture and their influences on the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001. Research output and information is also very limited relating to the strength of the companies’ organisational culture driving an effective QMS-ISO 9001 implementation, affecting the companies’ effectiveness. To rectify these research gaps, the research has been aimed to study organisational culture types (based on CVF) and their influences on the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001:2008 principles and elements, which eventually lead to improved companies’ quality performance. In order to fully examine the status of the QMS being implemented, the research has studied the relationships of the barriers of QMS implementation with the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001:2008 principles and elements and with the business performance of the companies, as well as the examination of the relationships of the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001:2008 principles and elements with the companies’ business performance. The research output has been the development of fundamental and original studies on the study topics, to provide the knowledge for improvements in Indonesian construction companies’ quality performance and quality outcomes.

Drug discovery approaches utilizing three-dimensional cell culture

Historically, two-dimensional (2D) cell culture has been the preferred method of producing disease models in vitro. Recently, there has been a move away from 2D culture in favor of generating three-dimensional (3D) multicellular structures, which are thought to be more representative of the in vivo environment. This transition has brought with it an influx of technologies capable of producing these structures in various ways. However, it is becoming evident that many of these technologies do not perform well in automated in vitro drug discovery units. We believe that this is a result of their incompatibility with high-throughput screening (HTS). In this study, we review a number of technologies, which are currently available for producing in vitro 3D disease models. We assess their amenability with high-content screening and HTS and highlight our own work in attempting to address many of the practical problems that are hampering the successful deployment of 3D cell systems in mainstream research.

Can moral potency and psychological risk close the gap between ethical beliefs and unacceptable consumer behavior?

Depending on how they perceive risk, consumers may not always act according to their ethical beliefs, exposing a gap between beliefs and behavior. We investigate the effect of moral potency on perceived psychological risk of committing an unacceptable behavior. The results suggest that perceived risk is triggered by moral ownership.

Questionable antibiotic practices: Obtaining reliable estimates of consumer behaviours

Background: Significant recent attention has focussed on the role of antibiotic prescribing and usage with the aim of combating antibiotic resistance, a growing worldwide health concern. A significant gap in this literature concerns the consumption patterns and beliefs of consumers about antibiotics and their effects. We seek to remedy this gap by exploring a range of questionable antibiotic practices and obtaining reliable estimates of their prevalence as well as their normative status. Methods: We conducted an online survey of over 100 consumers. We used a new incentive compatible technique, the Bayesian Truth Serum (BTS), to elicit more truthful responding than standard self-report measures. We asked participants to indicate whether they engaged in a number of practices including whether they had: taken antibiotics when they are out of date and stored antibiotics at home for later use. We then sought estimates of the percentage of other patients (like them) who had engaged in each behaviour, as well as asking them among those patients who had, the percentage that would admit to having done so. We also asked about social acceptability and responsibility of the practices. Results: These results will show for each type of questionable practice how prevalent it is and whether consumers view it as both socially acceptable and socially responsible. We will gain the relative prevalence of each of these practices. Conclusion: These findings are of paramount importance in gaining a better understanding of consumers’ antibiotic consumption patterns. These will be vital for better targeting educational campaigns to lower inappropriate antibiotic consumption.

Social processes of health and physical education teachers’ identity formation: Reproducing and changing culture

This paper examines Initial Teacher Education students’ experiences of participation in health and physical education (HPE) subject department offices and the impact on their understandings and identity formation. Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field, and practice along with Wenger’s communities of practice form the theoretical frame used in the paper. Data were collected using surveys and interviews with student‐teachers following their teaching practicum and analysed using coding and constant comparison. Emergent themes revealed students’ participation in masculine‐dominated sports, gendered body constructions, and repertoires of masculine domination. Findings are discussed in relation to their impact on student‐teachers’ learning, identity formation, and marginalizing practices in the department offices. Implications for teacher education and HPE are explored.

In pursuit of becoming a senior coach: The learning culture for Australian Football League coaches

- Background and Purpose Given the turbulent and highly contested environment in which professional coaches work, a prime concern to coach developers is how coaches learn their craft. Understanding the learning and development of senior coaches (SCs) and assistant coaches (ACs) in the Australian Football League (AFL – the peak organisation for Australian Rules Football) is important to better develop the next generation of performance coaches. Hence the focus of this research was to examine the learning of SC and AC in the AFL. Fundamental to this research was an understanding that the AFL and each club within the league be regarded as learning organisations and workplaces with their own learning cultures where learning takes place. The purpose of this paper was to examine the learning culture for AFL coaches. - Method Five SCs, 6 ACs, and 5 administrators (4 of whom were former coaches) at 11 of the 16 AFL clubs were recruited for the research project. First, demographic data were collected for each participant (e.g. age, playing and coaching experience, development and coach development activities). Second, all participants were involved in one semi-structured interview of between 45 and 90 minutes duration. An interpretative (hierarchical content) analysis of the interview data was conducted to identify key emergent themes. - Results Learning was central to AFL coaches becoming a SC. Nevertheless, coaches reported a sense of isolation and a lack of support in developing their craft within their particular learning culture. These coaches developed a unique dynamic social network (DSN) that involved episodic contact with a number of respected confidantes often from diverse fields (used here in the Bourdieuian sense) in developing their coaching craft. Although there were some opportunities in their workplace, much of their learning was unmediated by others, underscoring the importance of their agentic engagement in limited workplace affordances. - Conclusion The variety of people accessed for the purposes of learning (often beyond the immediate workplace) and the long time taken to establish networks of supporters meant that a new way of describing the social networks of AFL coaches was needed; DSN. However, despite the acknowledged utility of learning from others, all coaches reported some sense of isolation in their learning. The sense of isolation brought about by professional volatility in high-performance Australian Football offers an alternative view on Hodkinson, Biesta and James' attempt in overcoming dualisms in learning.

Mobile Dating and Hookup App Culture

This chapter surveys the landscape of mobile dating and hookup apps—understood as media technologies, as businesses, and as sites of social practice. It situates the discussion within the broader contexts of technologically mediated dating and digital sexual cultures. By outlining a number of methodological approaches and data sources that can be used in the study of dating and hookup apps, it equips the reader with tools and approaches for investigating hookup app culture in ways that go beyond “media panics” – the familiar combination of moral panics and media effects which is so prevalent in discussions of sexuality in digital media.

Running men: The precarious, paranoid body in screen culture

This paper discusses my video installation Running Men as an example of how an artist’s appropriative engagements with screen images of the perilous body can reflect the technological zeitgeist of the last hundred years but also create a space of meditative and mediated reflection in Slavoj Žižek’s “endlessness” of the present-future. In this artwork, iconic male characters from Hollywood films are recontextualised to create infinitely looping scenes of running; trapping the characters in a kind of Nietchzen eternal recurrence that suspends them between impending violence and uncertain futures. Stemming primarily from my investigation into anxiety as a shared social experience, one perhaps primed by the increasing intensity of visual culture in the 21st century, these digitally reconfigured bodies become avatars or surrogates for myself, and for the viewer. Through selective editing, these emblematic figures are caught in a space of relentless confusion and paranoia – they run with, and from anxiety. They are never caught by any unseen pursuers, but are equally unable to catch up to any unseen goal. These figures map an historical trajectory of violence and masculinity as it has been projected through various iterations of screen culture Simultaneously, as celebrities, they are also fictions of the media sphere, both real and ethereal, they are impossible to grasp but paradoxically are objects of identification and emulation. In this duality, the work also references cinema’s tangled conflation of character and celebrity identity. This discussion will address the two distinct but connected sites and activities of body/image engagement. Firstly, the artistic process and conceptual ramifications of this activity, and secondly in the artwork’s potential as an installation to provide an opportunity for the viewer (like the artist) to reflect on the constructed-ness and complicated power structures at play in the representation of a gendered body.

The research capacity and culture of Australian podiatrists

Background Best practice clinical health care is widely recognised to be founded on evidence based practice. Enhancing evidence based practice via the rapid translation of new evidence into every day clinical practice is fundamental to the success of health care and in turn health care professions. There is little known about the collective research capacity and culture of the podiatry profession across Australia. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the research capacity and culture of the podiatry profession within Australia and determine if there were any differences between podiatrists working in different health sectors and workplaces. Method All registered podiatrists were eligible to participate in a cross-sectional online survey. The Australian Podiatry Associations disseminated the survey and all podiatrists were encouraged to distribute it to colleagues. The Research Capacity and Culture (RCC) tool was used to collect all research capacity and culture item variables using a 10-point scale (1 = lowest; 10 = highest). Additional demographic, workplace and health sector data variables were also collected. Mann–Whitney-U, Kruskal–Wallis and logistic regression analyses were used to determine any difference between health sectors and workplaces. Word cloud analysis was used for qualitative responses of individual motivators and barriers to research culture. Results There were 232 fully completed surveys (6% of Australian registered podiatrists). Overall respondents reported low success or skills (Median rating < 4) on the majority of individual success or skill items. Podiatrists working in multi-practitioner workplaces reported higher individual success or skills in the majority of items compared with sole practitioners (p < 0.05). Non-clinical and public health sector podiatrists reported significantly higher post-graduate study enrolment or completion, research activity participation, provisions to undertake research and individual success or skill than those working privately. Conclusions This study suggests that podiatrists in Australia report similar low levels of research success or skill to those reported in other allied health professions. The workplace setting and health sector seem to play key roles in self reported research success and skills. This is important knowledge for podiatrists and researchers aiming to translate research evidence into clinical practice.

Biomaterial templates for the culture and transplantation of retinal pigment epithelial cells: A critical review

The idea of retinal cell transplantation as a potential treatment for age-related retinal degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the Western world, has been around for a number of decades. To date, however, it has not been entirely successful; one of the main reasons for this is the lack of an ideal substratum for the retinal cells, specifically for the growth of retinal pigment epithelial cells prior to transplantation. This chapter reviews the reasoning behind this potential treatment, the development of animal transplantation models for human trials, the prerequisites of an ideal substratum, the past and current research on substratum materials, and the potential for future developments in this area.

Additively manufactured device for dynamic culture of large arrays of 3D tissue engineered constructs

The ability to test large arrays of cell and biomaterial combinations in 3D environments is still rather limited in the context of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This limitation can be generally addressed by employing highly automated and reproducible methodologies. This study reports on the development of a highly versatile and upscalable method based on additive manufacturing for the fabrication of arrays of scaffolds, which are enclosed into individualized perfusion chambers. Devices containing eight scaffolds and their corresponding bioreactor chambers are simultaneously fabricated utilizing a dual extrusion additive manufacturing system. To demonstrate the versatility of the concept, the scaffolds, while enclosed into the device, are subsequently surface-coated with a biomimetic calcium phosphate layer by perfusion with simulated body fluid solution. 96 scaffolds are simultaneously seeded and cultured with human osteoblasts under highly controlled bidirectional perfusion dynamic conditions over 4 weeks. Both coated and noncoated resulting scaffolds show homogeneous cell distribution and high cell viability throughout the 4 weeks culture period and CaP-coated scaffolds result in a significantly increased cell number. The methodology developed in this work exemplifies the applicability of additive manufacturing as a tool for further automation of studies in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Cultures of sharing in 3D printing: What can we learn from the licence choices of Thingiverse users?

This article contributes to the discussion by analysing how users of the leading online 3D printing design repository Thingiverse manage their intellectual property (IP). 3D printing represents a fruitful case study for exploring the relationship between IP norms and practitioner culture. Although additive manufacturing technology has existed for decades, 3D printing is on the cusp of a breakout into the technological mainstream – hardware prices are falling; designs are circulating widely; consumer-friendly platforms are multiplying; and technological literacy is rising. Analysing metadata from more than 68,000 Thingiverse design files collected from the site, we examine the licensing choices made by users and explore the way this shapes the sharing practices of the site’s users. We also consider how these choices and practices connect with wider attitudes towards sharing and intellectual property in 3D printing communities. A particular focus of the article is how Thingiverse structures its regulatory framework to avoid IP liability, and the extent to which this may have a bearing on users’ conduct. The paper has three sections. First, we will offer a description of Thingiverse and how it operates in the 3D printing ecosystem, noting the legal issues that have arisen regarding Thingiverse’s Terms of Use and its allocation of intellectual property rights. Different types of Thingiverse licences will be detailed and explained. Second, the empirical metadata we have collected from Thingiverse will be presented, including the methods used to obtain this information. Third, we will present findings from this data on licence choice and the public availability of user designs. Fourth, we will look at the implications of these findings and our conclusions regarding the particular kind of sharing ethic that is present in Thingiverse; we also consider the “closed” aspects of this community and what this means for current debates about “open” innovation.

Google, online search and consumer confusion in Australia

The legality of the operation of Google’s search engine, and its liability as an Internet intermediary, has been tested in various jurisdictions on various grounds. In Australia, there was an ultimately unsuccessful case against Google under the Australian Consumer Law relating to how it presents results from its search engine. Despite this failed claim, several complex issues were not adequately addressed in the case including whether Google sufficiently distinguishes between the different parts of its search results page, so as not to mislead or deceive consumers. This article seeks to address this question of consumer confusion by drawing on empirical survey evidence of Australian consumers’ understanding of Google’s search results layout. This evidence, the first of its kind in Australia, indicates some level of consumer confusion. The implications for future legal proceedings in against Google in Australia and in other jurisdictions are discussed.

Inspiration sources for Australian fast fashion design: Tapping into consumer desire

Purpose The research purpose was to identify both the inspiration sources used by fast fashion designers and ways the designers sort information from the sources during the product development process. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative study, drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted with the members of the in-house design teams of three Australian fast fashion companies. Findings Australian fast fashion designers rely on a combination of trend data, sales data, product analysis and travel for design development ideas. The designers then use the consensus and embodiment methods to interpret and synthesise information from those inspiration sources. Research limitations/implications The empirical data used in the analysis were limited by interviewing fashion designers within only three Australian companies. Originality/value This research augments knowledge of fast fashion product development, in particular designers’ methods and approaches to product design within a volatile and competitive market.