Developments in National Physical Activity Policy: An international review and recommendations towards better practice

Physical activity (PA) is increasingly considered an important public health issue and as such requires the development of good public health policy. This paper provides a summary of the literature on policy development and defines what a policy on PA may usefully comprise. The results of an international review of national level PA policies, using a defined set of criteria, are reported. Considerable similarities were found in the methods and approaches to policy development on PA across countries, with most adopting an intersectoral approach, with consultation and partnership between sectors occurring at a high level of government. The need for action across the lifespan is recognised, as is the need for multiple strategies across a variety of settings. A review of Australian PA policy found that, after promising strategic developments through Active Australia in the late 1990s, PA policy and the role of the federal health sector has become less clear, with PA policy existing now only as a component part integrated into other chronic disease prevention policy initiatives. Recommendations towards better practice in policy making are made with particular reference to developing a clearly defined integrated national PA policy in the Australian context.

Dual paths to performance: the impact of global pressures on MNC subsidiary conduct and performance

Over the last decade, the international business literature has placed ever-greater emphasis on the role that learning and innovation play in determining multinational and multinational subsidiary performance. The present research seeks to understand the organizational paths leading to such desirable outcomes as greater learning, increased innovation and improved performance. Using a model tested with data collected through a survey of managers in subsidiaries of multinational firms, we find dual, independent paths to improved performance - one through networking and inter-unit learning and the other through subsidiary autonomy and innovation. A particular feature of these findings is that they can be shown to be robust after controlling for a wide range of environmental pressures and firm and industry factors. However, in the absence of environmental controls the dual path finding is rejected. These conflicting findings support the imperative to test models that include a diverse range of environmental pressures so that the true effects of organizational factors on learning, innovation and performance can be identified.

Career development: A project for the 21st century

This article reports of the papers present at the International Symposium 2006 'Shaping the future: connecting career development and workforce development'. The International Symposium 2006 provided an opportunity to move the project forward by considering career development in relation to the workforce development issues of human capital, labour supply, employability skills and older workers. In addition to these specific issues, it examined the broader issues of how career development services might contribute to workforce development and the career development information base needed to support public policy making. By way of background to this special issue on the International Symposium 2006, this paper briefly examines the context and the reasons behind career development's rise to a more prominent position on the public policy arena. Following this, the process of the International Symposium 2006 that resulted in the writing of the documents contained in the special issue are briefly outlined.

Child development services: a multidisciplinary approach to professional education via videoconference

We have piloted a monthly series of multidisciplinary case discussions via videoconference in the area of child development. The project provided a forum for clinical discussion of complex cases, peer review, professional development and networking for allied health professionals and paediatricians. Six sites in Queensland participated in the project; each site presented at least one case for discussion. The videoconferences ran for 90 min each and were attended by an average of 26 health professionals. The response rate for a questionnaire survey was 71%. The respondents rated the effectiveness of case summaries and the follow-up newsletter very positively. Despite some early difficulties with the technical aspects of videoconferencing, the evaluation demonstrated the participants' satisfaction with the project and its relevance to their everyday practice.