Closing the cultural distance gap: managing value-based knowledge in MNC by using MEP

Today more than ever, generating and managing knowledge is an essential source of competitive advantage for every organization, and particularly for Multinational corporations (MNC). However, despite the undisputed agreement about the importance of creating and managing knowledge, there are still a large number of corporations that act unethically or illegally. Clearly, there is a lack of attention in gaining more knowledge about the management of ethical knowledge in organizations. This paper refers to value-based knowledge, as the process of recognise and manage those values that stand at the heart of decision-making and action in organizations. In order to support MNCs in implementing value-based knowledge process, the managerial ethical profile (MEP) has been presented as a valuable tool to facilitate knowledge management process at both the intra-organizational network level and at the inter-organizational network level.

Variation in risk seeking behaviour following large losses : a natural experiment

This study explores people's risk taking behaviour after having suffered large real-world losses following a natural disaster. Using the margins of the 2011 Australian floods (Brisbane) as a natural experimental setting, we find that homeowners who were victims of the floods and face large losses in property values are 50% more likely to opt for a risky gamble -- a scratch card giving a small chance of a large gain ($500,000) -- than for a sure amount of comparable value ($10). This finding is consistent with prospect theory predictions regarding the adoption of a risk-seeking attitude after a loss.

Factors that influence young people's mental health help‐seeking behaviour : a study based on the Health Belief Model

Aim To identify key predictors and moderators of mental health ‘help-seeking behavior’ in adolescents. Background Mental illness is highly prevalent in adolescents and young adults; however, individuals in this demographic group are among the least likely to seek help for such illnesses. Very little quantitative research has examined predictors of help-seeking behaviour in this demographic group. Design A cross-sectional design was used. Methods A group of 180 volunteers between the ages of 17–25 completed a survey designed to measure hypothesized predictors and moderators of help-seeking behaviour. Predictors included a range of health beliefs, personality traits and attitudes. Data were collected in August 2010 and were analysed using two standard and three hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Findings The standard multiple regression analyses revealed that extraversion, perceived benefits of seeking help, perceived barriers to seeking help and social support were direct predictors of help-seeking behaviour. Tests of moderated relationships (using hierarchical multiple regression analyses) indicated that perceived benefits were more important than barriers in predicting help-seeking behaviour. In addition, perceived susceptibility did not predict help-seeking behaviour unless individuals were health conscious to begin with or they believed that they would benefit from help. Conclusion A range of personality traits, attitudes and health beliefs can predict help-seeking behaviour for mental health problems in adolescents. The variable ‘Perceived Benefits’ is of particular importance as it is: (1) a strong and robust predictor of help-seeking behaviour, and; (2) a factor that can theoretically be modified based on health promotion programmes.

Resistances, facilitators and influences on professionals' knowledge sharing behaviour : a case study

The centrality of knowledge sharing to organisations' sustainability has been established. This case study illustrates the influences on individual knowledge sharing decision-making and behaviour among professionals and paraprofessionals - specifically civil engineers and design drafters - in a large public sector organisation that provides transportation infrastructure. The case examines the ways in which overlapping sets of values and behavioural drivers affect knowledge sharing orientation and practices in a collective of experts and novices working in an environment that is largely project-based. The alignment among sector, profession and organisation values provides a supportive environment for knowledge sharing, however individual behaviour is found to be most strongly influenced by the presence and quality of relational capital.

Addressing barriers to help-seeking behaviour through M-mental health services : a social marketing perspective

Although seeking help for mental ill-health is beneficial, the majority of persons afflicted do not access available help services. Young adults (16-24 years old) in particular have the highest prevalence of mental health problems and the lowest rate of help-seeking behaviour. Key barriers to help-seeking for young adults, including cost, privacy concerns, inconvenience, access to health professionals and interpersonal interaction, appear to derive from the face-to-face method of service delivery traditionally used to distribute mental health services. Social marketing employs the principle of value exchange, whereby consumers will choose a behaviour in exchange for receiving valued benefits and/or a reduction in key barriers, to achieve behavioural goals for social good. The appropriation of mobile digital technology to deliver self-help mental health services may reduce the current barriers to help seeking, however, extant literature offers no empirical support for this proposition. Our research addresses this gap by examining the perceptions of young adults regarding M-mental health services. Depth interviews were undertaken with 15 young adults (18-24 years old), who had self-reported mild-moderate stress, anxiety or depression. The data were thematically analysed with the assistance of Nvivo. The findings reveal M-mental health services reduce the barriers to accessing face-to-face help services to a large extent. However, they also present their own barriers to help-seeking that must be considered by social marketers, including negligible cost expectations and service efficacy concerns. Overall, this study highlights the potential of M-mental health services to encourage early intervention and help-seeking behaviour as part of a social marketing strategy to address mental illness in young adults.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, education and health literacy

Health literacy is a vital tool to build health knowledge and enable empowerment in health decision making at a community and individual level. There are different views of what constitutes health literacy with the most inclusive addressing broadly the skills and competencies required “to seek out, comprehend, evaluate, and use health information and concepts to make informed choices, reduce health risks, and increase quality of life” (Zarcadoolas 2005). Poor health literacy has been shown to impact health seeking behaviour, access and awareness to preventive health.

Universal online interventions might engage psychologically distressed university students who are unlikely to seek formal help

University students are a high risk population for mental health problems, yet few seek professional help when experiencing problems. This study explored the potential role of an online intervention for promoting wellbeing in university students, by investigating students' help-seeking behaviour, intention to use online interventions and student content preference for such interventions; 254 university students responded to an online survey designed for this study. As predicted, students were less likely to seek help as levels of psychological distress increased. Conversely, intention to use an online intervention increased at higher levels of distress, with 39.1%, 49.4% and 57.7% of low, moderate and severely distressed students respectively indicating they would use an online program supporting student well-being. Results suggest that online interventions may be a useful way to provide help to students in need who otherwise may not seek formal help.

Uncertainty and innovation in fashion design

Generally speaking, psychologists have suggested three traditional views of how people cope with uncertainty. They are the certainty maximiser, the intuitive statistician-economist and the knowledge seeker (Smithson, 2008). In times of uncertainty, such as the recent global financial crisis, these coping methods often result in innovation in industry. Richards (2003) identifies innovation as different from creativity in that innovation aims to transform and implement rather than simply explore and invent. An examination of the work of iconic fashion designers, through case study and situational analysis, reveals that coping with uncertainty manifests itself in ways that have resulted in innovations in design, marketing methods, production and consumption. In relation to contemporary fashion, where many garments look the same in style, colour, cut and fit (Finn, 2008), the concept of innovation is an important one. This paper explores the role of uncertainty as a driver of innovation in fashion design. A key aspect of seeking knowledge, as a mechanism to cope with this uncertainty, is a return to basics. This is a problem for contemporary fashion designers who are no longer necessarily makers and therefore do not engage with the basic materials and methods of garment construction. In many cases design in fashion has become digital, communicated to an unseen, unknown production team via scanned image and specification alone. The disconnection between the design and the making of garments, as a result of decades of off-shore manufacturing, has limited the opportunity for this return to basics. The authors argue that the role of the fashion designer has become about the final product and as a result there is a lack of innovation in the process of making: in the form, fit and function of fashion garments. They propose that ‘knowledge seeking’ as a result of uncertainty in the fashion industry, in particular through re-examination of the methods of making, could hold the key to a new era of innovation in fashion design.

The provision of online counselling for young people

A substantial group of young people experience mental health problems which impact on their educational development and subsequent wellbeing. Of those who do suffer from mental health issues, a minority of these seek appropriate professional assistance. This paucity of help seeking behaviours among young people is a challenge for counsellors. Whereas adults who suffer mental health issues have increasingly turned to the internet for assistance, it is interesting that when young people whose social lives are increasingly dependent on the communication technologies, are not catered for as much as adults by online counselling. One small online counselling pilot program conducted at a Queensland secondary school for three years from 2005-2007 (Glasheen & Campbell, 2009) offered anonymous live-time counselling from the school counsellor (via a secure chat room) to students through the school’s website. Findings indicated that boys were more likely to use the service than girls. All participants transitioned to face-to-face counselling, and all reported it was beneficial. This pilot study attested to the potential of an online counselling. However, school counsellors as a professional group have been hesitant to utilise online counselling as part of their service delivery to young people in schools. This chapter concludes by identifying reasons for this reluctance and the possible initiatives to increase online support for young people in schools.

Implementing academagogy : the first case study

As proposed in McAuliffe, Winter, Chadwick and Hargreaves (2008), academagogy could be used as an “umbrella” term allowing the teacher to select from a range of teaching approaches – pedagogy (teacher as source of all information to student without power or knowledge), andragogy (teacher as source of information for adult student), or heutagogy (student with knowledge seeking information from teacher to fill the gaps in their own knowledge). During Semester 1, 2009, one of the authors of this paper decided to treat his third-year students in a more heutagogical manner by allowing them to experience ownership of their own learning. This article is a case study of that experience which reveals that, although initially more time-consuming, academagogy can result in better student outcomes.

A six-year descriptive analysis of hospitalisations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions among people born in refugee-source countries

Background: Hospitalisation for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSHs) has become a recognised tool to measure access to primary care. Timely and effective outpatient care is highly relevant to refugee populations given the past exposure to torture and trauma, and poor access to adequate health care in their countries of origin and during flight. Little is known about ACSHs among resettled refugee populations. With the aim of examining the hypothesis that people from refugee backgrounds have higher ACSHs than people born in the country of hospitalisation, this study analysed a six-year state-wide hospital discharge dataset to estimate ACSH rates for residents born in refugee-source countries and compared them with the Australia-born population. Methods: Hospital discharge data between 1 July 1998 and 30 June 2004 from the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset were used to assess ACSH rates among residents born in eight refugee-source countries, and compare them with the Australia-born average. Rate ratios and 95% confidence levels were used to illustrate these comparisons. Four categories of ambulatory care sensitive conditions were measured: total, acute, chronic and vaccine-preventable. Country of birth was used as a proxy indicator of refugee status. Results: When compared with the Australia-born population, hospitalisations for total and acute ambulatory care sensitive conditions were lower among refugee-born persons over the six-year period. Chronic and vaccine-preventable ACSHs were largely similar between the two population groups. Conclusion: Contrary to our hypothesis, preventable hospitalisation rates among people born in refugee-source countries were no higher than Australia-born population averages. More research is needed to elucidate whether low rates of preventable hospitalisation indicate better health status, appropriate health habits, timely and effective care-seeking behaviour and outpatient care, or overall low levels of health care-seeking due to other more pressing needs during the initial period of resettlement. It is important to unpack dimensions of health status and health care access in refugee populations through ad-hoc surveys as the refugee population is not a homogenous group despite sharing a common experience of forced displacement and violence-related trauma.

Ambulance use is associated with higher self-rated illness seriousness : user attitudes and perceptions

Objectives The objective was to study the role and effect of patients' perceptions on reasons for using ambulance services in Queensland, Australia. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted of patients (n = 911) presenting via ambulance or self-transport at eight public hospital emergency departments (EDs). The survey included perceived illness severity, attitudes toward ambulance, and reasons for using ambulance. A theoretical framework was developed to inform this study. Results Ambulance users had significantly higher self-rated perceived seriousness, urgency, and pain than self-transports. They were also more likely to agree that ambulance services are for everyone to use, regardless of the severity of their conditions. In compared to self-transports, likelihood of using an ambulance increased by 26% for every unit increase in perceived seriousness; and patients who had not used an ambulance in the 6 months prior to the survey were 66% less likely to arrive by ambulance. Patients who had presented via ambulance stated they considered the urgency (87%) or severity (84%) of their conditions as reasons for calling the ambulance. Other reasons included requiring special care (76%), getting higher priority at the ED (34%), not having a car (34%), and financial concerns (17%). Conclusions Understanding patients' perceptions is essential in explaining their actions and developing safe and effective health promotion programs. Individuals use ambulances for various reasons and justifications according to their beliefs, attitudes, and sociodemographic conditions. Policies to reduce and manage demand for such services need to address both general opinions and specific attitudes toward emergency health services to be effective.

Making the implicit explicit : successful student skills for commencing cohorts

Making institutional expectations explicit using clear and common language engages commencing students and promotes help-seeking behaviour. When first year students enter university they cross the threshold into an unfamiliar environment (Devlin, Kift, Nelson, Smith & McKay, 2012). Universities endeavour to provide appropriate learning support services and resources; however research suggests that there is limited up take of these services, particularly in high risk students (Nelson-Field & Goodman, 2005). The Successful Student Skills Checklist is a tool which will be trialled during the 2013 Orientation period at the QUT Caboolture campus. The new tool is a response to the university’s commitment to provide “an environment where [students] are supported to take responsibility for their own learning, and to embrace an active role in succeeding to their full potential” (QUT, 2012, 6.2.1). This paper will outline the design of the support tool implemented during Orientation, as well as discuss the anticipated outcomes of the trial.