Undergraduate performance in accounting and business-based information technology

The pervasiveness of information systems (IS) in organizations mandates the need for high levels of IS skills. In recognition, professional bodies impose IS course requirements for accreditation. For both students and employers, performance in IS courses has become important. The tertiary entrance overall performance score accounted for 19.7 per cent of the variance in students' passing grades. Thereafter, proficiency in office automation software and programming accounted for 1.5 and 0.8 per cent of the variance, respectively. Students living in a stable, family home-based environment performed better and it is likely that this environment underpinned other factors affecting performance.

Evaluating stranger and acquaintance rape: The role of benevolent sexism in perpetrator blame and recommended sentence length

Our previous research has shown that individuals who show a greater endorsement of benevolently sexist beliefs are more likely to blame acquaintance rape victims in comparison to stranger rape victims (Abrams et al., 2003). Two studies investigating the role of benevolent sexism (BS) in accounting for participants' responses to acquaintance vs. stranger rape perpetrators were conducted. Participants were presented with vignettes describing either an acquaintance rape or a stranger rape. As predicted, participants who showed a greater endorsement of benevolently sexist beliefs attributed less blame (Study 1) and recommended shorter sentences (Study 2) for the acquaintance rape perpetrator than participants with a lesser endorsement of benevolently sexist beliefs. Benevolent sexism was unrelated to reactions to the perpetrator in the stranger rape condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating stranger and acquaintance rape: The role of benevolent sexism in perpetrator blame and recommended sentence length

In most jurisdictions, the law does not recognize the distinction between stranger and acquaintance rape. However, these two types of rape seem to elicit different responses from both lay observers and legal practitioners. Two studies investigating the role of benevolent sexism (BS) in accounting for participants' responses to acquaintance vs. stranger rape perpetrators are reported. Participants were presented with vignettes describing either an acquaintance rape or a stranger rape. As predicted, relative to low-BS individuals, participants who scored high in BS attributed less blame ( Study 1) and recommended shorter sentences ( Study 2) for the acquaintance rape perpetrator. Benevolent sexism was unrelated to reactions to the perpetrator in the stranger rape condition.

A full cost environmental accounting experiment

A lack of appropriate measurement techniques has constrained full cost environmental accounting (FCEA) experimentation. Yet, there has been little research on the applicability of valuation techniques recently developed by environmental economists within FLEA frameworks. This paper examines a reporting experiment using these valuation techniques that was undertaken by an Australian Government Department managing publicly owned forests. The FCEA experiment was ultimately not successful. However, the implementation experiences of the Department including the reactions of its managers and stakeholders provide an opportunity to critically reflect on the experimental outcomes to extend the current empirical knowledge of corporate social responsibility reporting. Such critical reflection has not been common in past FCEA experimentation. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accounting for uncertainty in marine reserve design

Ecosystems and the species and communities within them are highly complex systems that defy predictions with any degree of certainty. Managing and conserving these systems in the face of uncertainty remains a daunting challenge, particularly with respect to developing networks of marine reserves. Here we review several modelling frameworks that explicitly acknowledge and incorporate uncertainty, and then use these methods to evaluate reserve spacing rules given increasing levels of uncertainty about larval dispersal distances. Our approach finds similar spacing rules as have been proposed elsewhere - roughly 20-200 km - but highlights several advantages provided by uncertainty modelling over more traditional approaches to developing these estimates. In particular, we argue that uncertainty modelling can allow for (1) an evaluation of the risk associated with any decision based on the assumed uncertainty; (2) a method for quantifying the costs and benefits of reducing uncertainty; and (3) a useful tool for communicating to stakeholders the challenges in managing highly uncertain systems. We also argue that incorporating rather than avoiding uncertainty will increase the chances of successfully achieving conservation and management goals.

The role of avoidance coping in the disclosure of trauma

Little research has been undertaken to examine the empirical basis of commonly applied methods of posttrauma intervention. We propose that Pennebaker's work on structured disclosure of trauma provides a suitable analogue to explore questions of interest. The present study asks whether avoidance coping is likely to interfere with abbreviated disclosure of traumatic experiences. Subjects were 118 college students randomly allocated to either a one-session or four-session written trauma-disclosure condition. At 2 months postdisclosure, subjects with high avoidance coping within the one-session condition exhibited significantly more trauma-specific and physical symptoms than all other subjects. Avoidance coping significantly predicted trauma-specific symptoms at 2 months. These findings suggest that single session traumatic disclosure may not be useful for individuals with an avoidance style of coping.

Accounting for management costs in sensitivity analyses of matrix population models

Traditional sensitivity and elasticity analyses of matrix population models have been used to p inform management decisions, but they ignore the economic costs of manipulating vital rates. For exam le, the growth rate of a population is often most sensitive to changes in adult survival rate, but this does not mean that increasing that rate is the best option for managing the population because it may be much more expensive than other options. To explore how managers should optimize their manipulation of vital rates, we incorporated the cost of changing those rates into matrix population models. We derived analytic expressions for locations in parameter space where managers should shift between management of fecundity and survival, for the balance between fecundity and survival management at those boundaries, and for the allocation of management resources to sustain that optimal balance. For simple matrices, the optimal budget allocation can often be expressed as simple functions of vital rates and the relative costs of changing them. We applied our method to management of the Helmeted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix; an endangered Australian bird) and the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) as examples. Our method showed that cost-efficient management of the Helmeted Honeyeater should focus on increasing fecundity via nest protection, whereas optimal koala management should focus on manipulating both fecundity and survival simultaneously, These findings are contrary to the cost-negligent recommendations of elasticity analysis, which would suggest focusing on managing survival in both cases. A further investigation of Helmeted Honeyeater management options, based on an individual-based model incorporating density dependence, spatial structure, and environmental stochasticity, confirmed that fecundity management was the most cost-effective strategy. Our results demonstrate that decisions that ignore economic factors will reduce management efficiency.

A reduced load approximation accounting for link interactions in a loss network

This paper is concerned with evaluating the performance of loss networks. Accurate determination of loss network performance can assist in the design and dimensioning of telecommunications networks. However, exact determination can be difficult and generally cannot be done in reasonable time. For these reasons there is much interest in developing fast and accurate approximations. We develop a reduced load approximation which improves on the famous Erlang fixed point approximation (EFPA) in a variety of circumstances. We illustrate our results with reference to a range of networks for which the EFPA may be expected to perform badly.