Management

Building on the strengths of its popular previous editions, Management 4th Australasian edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to both reflect contemporarymanagement thinking and to highlight the issues facing managers of the21st century. A solid foundation of theory provides the background to a wealth ofillustrative examples, highlighting organisations operating inAustralia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region. A balance of small-to medium- size enterprises and larger multinational corporations arefeatured. A critical thinking perspective is integrated throughout thebook, asking and encouraging student to analyse research and theory inthe light of contemporary management practice. Each copy of the printed textbook comes with a free copy of the Wiley Desktop Edition:a full electronic version of the text that allows students to easilysearch for key concepts, create their own colour-coded highlights andmake electronic notes in the text for revision. Key themes of the text include: The importance of ethical and socially responsible management Recognition of the continuing need to cater for the increasing diversity of the workforce The importance of managing people, technology, knowledge and quality in achieving organisational goals An appreciation of the challenges and opportunities presented bythe ever changing environment in which contemporary managers operate.

Management: Core concepts and applications

Building on the strengths of its popular previous edition Management: Core Concepts and Applications, 2nd Australasian edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect the three keyaspects of contemporary undergraduate introductory management education: Management theory Concept application Skills development. The text's 16 chapters are presented in a lively and concise mannerideal for the typical 12 or 13 teaching weeks of a semester. Itsflexible framework allows instructors to teach students through the useof interactive tools such as case studies, exercises and projects.These action-oriented learning activities complement the text's solidfoundation of knowledge-based theory material. There is a balanced coverage of both small to medium sizedenterprises and larger multinational organisations operating inAustralia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region. A critical thinkingperspective is integrated throughout the book, asking and encouragingstudents to analyse the theory in light of real-world examples. Each copy of the printed textbook comes with a free copy of the Wiley Desktop Edition:a full electronic version of the text that allows students to easilysearch for key concepts, create their own colour-coded highlights andmake electronic notes in the text for revision. Key themes of the text include: The importance of ethical and socially responsible management Recognition of the continuing need to cater for the increasing diversity of the workforce The importance of managing people, technology, knowledge and quality in achieving organisational goals An appreciation of the challenges and opportunities presented bythe ever changing environment in which contemporary managers operate.

Procurement selection in the public sector : a tale of two states.

The decision as to which procurement system to adopt is a complex and challenging task for clients of construction projects. Despite a plethora of tools and techniques available for selecting a procurement method, clients are still uncertain about what method to adopt for a given construction project to achieve success. This paper examines ‘how and why’ procurement methods are selected by public sector clients in Queensland (QLD) and Western Australia (WA). Findings from workshops with senior managers in procurement selection revealed that traditional lump sum methods (TLS) are preferred even though alternative forms could be better suited for a given project. Participants of the workshops agreed that alternative procurement forms should be considered for projects but an embedded culture of uncertainty avoidance meant the selection of TLS methods. It was perceived that only a limited number of contractors operating in the marketplace have the resources and experience to deliver projects using the non-traditional methods.

Building information modelling for FM using IFC

Facility managers have to acquire, integrate, edit and update diverse facility information ranging from building elements & fabric data, operational costs, contract types, room allocation, logistics, maintenance, etc. With the advent of standardized Building Information Models (BIM) such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) new opportunities are available for Facility Managers to manage their FM data. The usage of IFC supports data interoperability between different software systems including the use of operational data for facility management systems. Besides the re-use of building data, the Building Information Model can be used as an information framework for storing and retrieving FM related data. Currently several BIM driven FM systems are available including IFC compliant ones. These systems have the potential to not only manage primary data more effectively but also to offer practical systems for detailed monitoring, and analysis of facility performance that can underpin innovative and more cost effective management of complex facilities.

Managerial effectiveness for a new millennium in the global higher education sector

With the global tertiary education environment undergoing some of the most rapid changes it has experienced since the 1980s, a technology-driven new millennium is requiring an unprecedented capacity for change on a number of fronts, one of these being the way managers manage. This article discusses some of the new realities facing tertiary education organizations, one of which is a realization that "knowledge capital" is the lifeline of an organization. It ultimately vests in the people whom successful organizations will lead, motivate, develop, and value in a manner sensitive to global trends of convergent social, cultural, and organizational change. This article suggests that the effective leadership of people will return as the touchstone for success, the technological age notwithstanding, and notes recent theory on increased reliance upon organizational integrity in the form of value-based policy and practice. This article draws on management and futurist theory to suggest some of the "flexibility imperatives" in managing the potentially different-looking work force of the future.

A45 ICT curriculum design to bridge the gap between industry and academia

Building Information Model (BIM) software, collaboration platforms and 5D Construction Management software is now commercially available and presents the opportunity for construction project teams to design more cost effectively, plan construction earlier, manage costs throughout the life cycle of a building project and provide a central asset management register for facilities managers. This paper outlines the merits of taking a holistic view of ICT in curriculum design. The educational barriers to implementation of these models and planning tools are highlighted. Careful choice of computer software can make a significant difference to how quickly students can master skills; how easy it is to study and how much they enjoy learning and be prepared for employment. An argument for BIM and 5D planning tools to be introduced into the curriculum to assist industry increase productivity and efficiencies are outlined by the authors.

An institutional understanding of triple bottom line evaluations and the use of social and environmental metrics

Measuring social and environmental metrics of property is necessary for meaningful triple bottom line (TBL) assessments. This paper demonstrates how relevant indicators derived from environmental rating systems provide for reasonably straightforward collations of performance scores that support adjustments based on a sliding scale. It also highlights the absence of a corresponding consensus of important social metrics representing the third leg of the TBL tripod. Assessing TBL may be unavoidably imprecise, but if valuers and managers continue to ignore TBL concerns, their assessments may soon be less relevant given the emerging institutional milieu informing and reflecting business practices and society expectations.

Selection method for sustainable building

For a sustainable building industry, not only should the environmental and economic indicators be evaluated but also the societal indicators for building. Current indicators can be in conflict with each other, thus decision making is difficult to clearly quantify and assess sustainability. For the sustainable building, the objectives of decreasing both adverse environmental impact and cost are in conflict. In addition, even though both objectives may be satisfied, building management systems may present other problems such as convenience of occupants, flexibility of building, or technical maintenance, which are difficult to quantify as exact assessment data. These conflicting problems confronting building managers or planners render building management more difficult. This paper presents a methodology to evaluate a sustainable building considering socio-economic and environmental characteristics of buildings, and is intended to assist the decision making for building planners or practitioners. The suggested methodology employs three main concepts: linguistic variables, fuzzy numbers, and an analytic hierarchy process. The linguistic variables are used to represent the degree of appropriateness of qualitative indicators, which are vague or uncertain. These linguistic variables are then translated into fuzzy numbers to reflect their uncertainties and aggregated into the final fuzzy decision value using a hierarchical structure. Through a case study, the suggested methodology is applied to the evaluation of a building. The result demonstrates that the suggested approach can be a useful tool for evaluating a building for sustainability.

How do retailers from emerging markets internationalize? : The case of Chilean retailers

This paper explores how retail firms from emerging markets internationalize and compete with multinational retailers from developed markets. Drawing on interviews with company managers, industry data and corporate reports, this paper provides insights into the successful internationalization process of two Chilean retailers in the Latin American region.

A new look at leadership in collaborative networks : process catalysts

Collaborative networks have come to form a large part of the public sector’s strategy to address ongoing and often complex social problems. The relational power of networks, with its emphasis on trust, reciprocity and mutuality provides the mechanism to integrate previously dispersed and even competitive entities into a collective venture(Agranoff 2003; Agranoff and McGuire 2003; Mandell 1994; Mandell and Harrington 1999). It is argued that the refocusing of a single body of effort to a collective contributes to reducing duplication and overlap of services, maximizes increasingly scarce resources and contributes to solving intractable or 'wicked’problems (Clarke and Stewart 1997). Given the current proliferation of collaborative networks and the fact that they are likely to continue for some time, concerns with the management and leadership of such arrangements for optimal outcomes are increasingly relevant. This is especially important for public sector managers who are used to working in a top-down, hierarchical manner. While the management of networks (Agranoff and McGuire 2001, 2003), including collaborative or complex networks (Kickert et al. 1997; Koppenjan and Klijn 2004), has been the subject of considerable attention, there has been much less explicit discussion on leadership approaches in this context. It is argued in this chapter that the traditional use of the terms ‘leader’ or ‘leadership’ does not apply to collaborative networks. There are no ‘followers’ in collaborative networks or supervisor-subordinate relations. Instead there are equal, horizontal relationships that are focused on delivering systems change. In this way the emergent organizational forms such as collaborative networks challenge older models of leadership. However despite the questionable relevance of old leadership styles to the contemporary work environment, no clear alternative has come along to take its place.

Uncertainty avoidance: public sector clients and procurement selection

Purpose: Choosing the appropriate procurement system for construction projects is a complex and challenging task for clients particularly when professional advice has not been sought. To assist with the decision making process, a range of procurement selection tools and techniques have been developed by both academic and industry bodies. Public sector clients in Western Australia (WA) remain uncertain about the pairing of procurement method to bespoke construction project and how this decision will ultimately impact upon project success. This paper examines ‘how and why’ a public sector agency selected particular procurement methods. · Methodology/Approach: An analysis of two focus group workshops (with 18 senior project and policy managers involved with procurement selection) is reported upon · Findings: The traditional lump sum (TLS) method is still the preferred procurement path even though alternative forms such as design and construct, public-private-partnerships could optimize the project outcome. Paradoxically, workshop participants agreed that alternative procurement forms should be considered, but an embedded culture of uncertainty avoidance invariably meant that TLS methods were selected. Senior managers felt that only a limited number of contractors have the resources and experience to deliver projects using the nontraditional methods considered. · Research limitations/implications: The research identifies a need to develop a framework that public sector clients can use to select an appropriate procurement method. A procurement framework should be able to guide the decision-maker rather than provide a prescriptive solution. Learning from previous experiences with regard to procurement selection will further provide public sector clients with knowledge about how to best deliver their projects.

An application of Keller’s brand equity model in a B2B context

Purpose – The importance of branding in industrial contexts has increased, yet a comprehensive model of business-to-business (B2B) branding does not exist, nor has there been a thoroughempirical study of the applicability of a full brand equitymodel in a B2B context. This paper aims to discuss the suitability and limitations of Keller’s customer-based brand equity model and tests its applicability in a B2B market. Design/methodology/approach – The study involved the use of semi-structured interviews with senior buyers of technology for electronic tracking of waste management. Findings – Findings suggest that amongst organisational buyers there is a much greater emphasis on the selling organisation, including its corporate brand, credibility and staff, than on individual brands and their associated dimensions. Research limitations/implications – The study investigates real brands with real potential buyers, so there is a risk that the results may represent industry-specific factors that are not representative of all B2B markets. Future research that validates the importance of the Keller elements in other industrial marketing contexts would be beneficial. Practical implications – The findings are relevant for marketing practitioners, researchers and managers as a starting-point for their B2B brand equity research. Originality/value – Detailed insights and key lessons from the field with regard to how B2B brand equity should be conceptualised and measured are offered. A revised brand equity model for B2B application is also presented.

Examining the antecedents and consequences of ritualized fan behavior [Abstract]

One of the features of the sporting industry is the ritualized way in which it is consumed across the world. Fans of every sport have rituals and superstitions to help them enjoy the spectacle, socialize with other like-minded fans, and reduce some of the anxiety of watching their team play. These rituals include dress, barracking styles and pre and post match behaviors. What is not known are the factors that lead fans to engage in ritual behaviors and what relationship rituals have with desirable outcomes such as increased attendance, attitudinal loyalty or satisfaction. Given that some ritual behaviors are clearly undesirable, (e.g., hooliganism), understanding these relationships is important to managers who may be questioning whether rituals should be encouraged. Although ritualized behavior amongst fans is clearly visible, the symbolic and emotional nature of ritual poses challenges to researchers. Most previous ritual research is exploratory and qualitative in nature. This study, however, uses a behavior-based scale to measure fan ritual and relates it to desirable outcomes such as commitment and attendance. Over 2,000 season ticket holders of a football (soccer) team in Australia’s professional A-League competition were surveyed to investigate the antecedents and consequences of fan ritual behavior. Cluster analysis was used to explore the characteristics of respondents, and it revealed that those fans that engage in ritual behavior also differed on many other demographic and attitudinal dimensions. The associations between ritual and psychological commitment, and ritual and attendance are positive and significant. When used in conjunction with other constructs, fan ritual also improves the explanation of attendance behavior. The findings support previous research that found a significant and positive relationship between team identification, involvement and attendance, and extend previous research by finding a significant and positive relationship between rituals and attendance. For sports marketing practitioners, the results indicate the importance of developing and managing consumption rituals tied to game day attendance, with a view to generating uncommon loyalty.

What’s in a handshake? Exploring business-to-business relational exchange

Despite its importance in the development of competitive advantage, attempts to unify diverse classifications of business-to-business relational exchange have been largely unsuccessful. We used 18 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with managers from a wide range of industries to explain the business-to-business relational exchange construct. Analysis of the data revealed that business-to-business relational exchange comprises five key dimensions. These are communication, compatibility, commitment, trust and power symmetry. The research highlights the importance of personal interaction in business relationships and provided additional insights into the importance of affective commitment. In addition we reveal a number of negative consequences of affective commitment, which have been previously unexplored. A new conceptual model of business-to-business relational exchange is presented, which synthesises these findings and directs future research.

University-industry partnership for pedagogy : some principles for practice

Industries demand a closer alignment of university learning curriculum to real work tasks to better meet the needs of organizations and learners. Both, industries and learners prefer the learning challenges to be based on the exigencies of work to precisely reflect real work circumstances that overtly add to business outcomes. However, such alignment is often complicated and challenging for academics and workplace managers alike. It demands partnerships between universities and industries, similar to arrangements forged for the vocational education and training sector. Such partnerships should allow active participation by learners, academics, workplaces and university administrators to move beyond a teaching orientation to a demonstrably effective learning arrangement through work integrated learning. This paper draws on a case study that negotiated a partnership between a non-government organization and an Australian university to design and facilitate a boutique curriculum that met the needs of learners and their workplace. Data were collected from interviews with participants, a focus group of the interviewees, and feedback from university staff involved in the course delivery. The paper presents a set of principles for universities and industries for partnership to enhance the alignment of academic curriculum to meet organizational and individual learning needs through work integrated learning.