Ethical structures and processes of corporations operating in Australia, Canada and Sweden : A longitudinal and cross-cultural study

Based on the ‘Partnership Model of Corporate Ethics’ (Wood, 2002), this study examines the ethical structures and processes that are put in place by organizations to enhance the ethical business behavior of staff. The study examines the use of these structures and processes amongst the top companies in the three countries of Australia, Canada, and Sweden over two time periods (2001–2002 and 2005–2006). Subsequently, a combined comparative and longitudinal approach is applied in the study, which we contend is a unique approach in the area of business ethics. The findings of the study indicate that corporations operating in Sweden have utilized ethical structures and processes differently than their Canadian and/or Australian counterparts, and that in each culture the way that companies fashion their approach to business ethics appears congruent with their national cultural values. There does, however, appear to be a convergence of views within the organizations of each culture, as the Swedish companies appear to have been more influenced in 2005–2006 by an Anglo-Saxon business paradigm than they have been in the past.

Internal auditor perceptions on audit committee interactions : a qualitative study in Malaysian public corporations

Audit committees (AC) and the internal audit function (IAF) are two key corporate governance mechanisms. The primary objective of this study is to provide insights into internal auditors' perceptions of their interactions with AC members in Malaysia. The paper thus contributes to the extant literature by providing additional evidence from a South-east Asian country which is recognised as being characterised with a high power distance culture and a developing capital market. The findings are based on in-depth interviews of the heads of the internal audit function (HIAFs) from 11 publicly listed companies. The results indicate infrequent informal communications and limited private meetings between the HIAFs and ACs, and a need for clear reporting lines. Further, ACs are seen to be held in high esteem for their authority and are expected to take on greater leadership in the inquiry of management's decision-making. These findings highlight the importance of the leadership role of ACs in supporting the IAF.

Corporations law : text and essential cases

Corporations Law: Text and Essential Cases is designed specifically to meet the needs of students undertaking one-semester, case-based courses in Corporations Law. The 13 chapters each contain extracts from the leading cases supported by commentary, further readings, and review questions.

The sustainable farm families project: changing farmer attitudes to health

Farm health and safety has focussed on strategies such as injury prevention, audits and fulfilling legislative responsibilities. We know farmer injuries mask deeper health issues such as higher rates of cancer, suicides, cardiovascular disease and stress. The relationship between occupational health and safety and farming family health has not been investigated by other researchers either nationally or internationally. The Sustainable Farm Families (SFF) project attempts to make this connection in order to address the unacceptable rates of premature death, higher morbidity and injury on Australian farms.

The SFF focuses on the human resource in the triple bottom line and is working with farmers, families, industry, and university to collaboratively address and improve the health and well being of farming families. Based on a model of extension that engages farming families as active learners where they commit to healthy living and safe working practices the SFF is proving to be an effective model for engaging communities in learning and change. Health education and information is delivered to farming families using a workshop format with participants reporting positive impacts on their farming business. The SFF project sits across generations and sexes and has a high level of support with the overwhelming majority of participants saying they would recommend the program to others.

This paper discusses the progress of the research outlining the design of the project, the delivery and extension processes used to engage 321 farming families to date. The paper presents key learning’s on intersectoral collaboration, engaging farmers and families in health and the future for this project extending into agricultural industries across the nation.

Three key learnings: (1) The increased health risks faced by farmers and their families need social and political attention. (2) Joint ownership and collaborative partnerships where all partners have a key role within the development and delivery of the project to their relevant representative groups enables resources to be shared and encourages greater in-kind support to augment funding received. (3) Farming families are keen to understand more about their health and farmers who participate in health education programs based around industry collaboration with high levels of individual participation will engage with health professionals and obtain an improved health status if programs are presented to them in personally engaging and relevant ways

Intervening to improve health indicators among Australian farm families

The Sustainable Farm Families project (http://www.sustainablefarmfamilies.org.au/) was a 3-year demonstration and education project designed to influence farmer behavior with respect to family health and well-being among cropping and grazing farmers in Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia, Australia. The project was conducted by the Western District Health Service, Hamilton, Australia, in partnership with farmers; Farm Management 500 (peer discussion group); the Victorian Farmers Federation; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; and Land Connect. During the 3 years of the project, 128 farmers—men (70) and women (58)—were enrolled. The project utilized a combination of small group workshops, individualized health action plans, and health education opportunities to encourage farm safety and health behavior changes and to elicit sustained improvements in the following health indicators: body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, and blood pressure. Mean changes in these health indicators were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and McNemar's test compared the proportion of individuals with elevated indicators. Among participants with elevated values at baseline, the following average reductions were observed: BMI 0.44 kg/m2 (p = .0034), total cholesterol 48.7 mg/dl (p < .0001), blood glucose 10.1 mg/dl (p = .0016), systolic blood pressure 12.5 mm Hg (p < .0001), and diastolic blood pressure 5.0 mm Hg (p = .0007). The proportion of participants with elevated total cholesterol at baseline decreased after 24 months (p < .001). Such findings suggest that proactive intervention by farmer associations, rural health services, and government agencies may be an effective vehicle for promoting voluntary farm safety and health behavior change while empowering farm families to achieve measurable reductions in important health risk factors.

Integrating farm production and natural resource management in Tasmania, Australia

This paper reports on the social learning from a project aimed to increase the knowledge and capacity of a group of farmers in Tasmania, Australia, to reduce the impacts of intensive agriculture on soil health and waterways, and to optimise the efficient use of on-farm inputs. The plan-do-check-review cycle adopted in this project required the farmers to assess current management practices, identify where to make changes, implement changes and monitor for improvements. The success of the project was due to careful attention to social processes as well as technical input. The combination of group activities with individual mentoring and one-to-one advice was key to the success of this project in enabling farmers to undertake on-farm action.

There is value in social learning that included developing relationships, using one-to-one contact and group workshops together with expert input when working with farmers to tackle some difficult and complex interrelated natural resource management and production issues. Sufficient time must be allowed for the process of facilitating good practice in natural resource management, particularly when addressing systemic environmental impacts. Practical operational recommendations are presented on communication, feedback, focus of activities and meeting content, as these will be useful to other project officers and facilitators working with farmer groups.

An exploration of the staffing choices, recruitment, skills shortages and retention issues of Australian based multinational corporations in China

The purpose of this paper is to explore the staffing choices, recruitment, skills shortages and retention issues that Australian based multinational corporations (MNCs) in China face. A qualitative research methodology was utilised, where 20 case study organisations were investigated. The firms investigated were all Australian owned and headquartered, and utilised Foreign Direct Investment and Joint Venture modes. It was found that Australian MNCs used an ethnocentric staffing model; they had issues with recruiting willing expatriate staff, and difficulties in finding skilled, qualified local nationals. They experienced significant skills shortages problems, and also reported retention issues. A number of strategies to improve these issues were articulated throughout the paper.

The original bailout of US corporations : the public relations bailout

More than a trillion of taxpayer dollars are currently being used to bail out the US banking, mortgage and car industries. This invokes an interesting connection to public relations the last time drastic US government involvement with corporations was contemplated. This pre-First World War crisis of the free enterprise system involved a deficit not of money but of favourable public opinion. The requirement was for vast amounts of public opinion and public policy work by a reported at least 1200 – what were at that time called – press agents. This was the period when public relations emerged as a fundamental plank of US and ultimately of global culture. The thesis of this article is that many aspects of the world we live in cannot be properly understood without a better analysis of the first bailout of US corporations—the public relations bailout.

Cashmere production and fleece attributes associated with farm of origin, age and sex of goat in Australia

Differences in cashmere production and fleece attributes associated with farm of origin, age and sex were quantified for commercial Australian cashmere goat enterprises. From 11 farms in four states, 1147 does and 97 wethers were monitored, representing 1- to 13-year-old goats. Individual clean cashmere production ranged from 21 to 389 g, with a mean ± standard deviation value of 134 ± 62 g. The mean cashmere production of 2-year-old does from different farms varied from 69 to 225 g and averaged 141 g. Mean ± s.d. greasy fleece weight was 394 ± 123 g, clean washing yield was 90.8 ± 4.1%, clean cashmere yield 33.4 ± 9.4%, cashmere fibre diameter 16.4 ± 1.6 µm, fibre curvature 48 ± 8.7 degrees/mm and staple length 8.7 ± 2.1 cm. There were large, commercially significant differences between farms for clean cashmere weight, mean fibre diameter and other attributes of cashmere. These were much larger than the effects of age and sex. Farm and age accounted for 42 to 67% of the variation in clean cashmere production, mean fibre diameter, fibre curvature, staple length and clean washing yield. Farm of origin affected clean cashmere yield, accounting for 24% of the variation. Sex of the goats had only a minor effect on the staple length of cashmere. The responses to age of clean cashmere weight, mean fibre diameter and the inverse of fibre curvature are very similar. Generally, cashmere production and mean fibre diameter increased with age. For the majority of farms, cashmere fibre curvature declined in a curvilinear manner with increases in age of goat. There were large differences in cashmere staple length from different farms, with means ranging from 7 to 12 cm. Between 1 and 2 years of age, the staple length of cashmere demonstrated a constant proportional increase. At ages older than 2 years, staple length either declined or increased by less than 1 cm with age, depending on the farm of origin. This study demonstrates that there are large gains in productivity that can be achieved from Australian cashmere goats. A better understanding of on-farm factors that influence cashmere production would enable all producers to optimise their production systems.

Train the trainer model : implications for health professionals and farm family health in Australia

Australia is a large country with 60% of land used for agricultural production. Its interior is sparsely populated, with higher morbidity and mortality recorded in rural areas, particularly farmers, farm families, and agricultural workers. Rural health professionals in addressing health education gaps of farming groups have reported using behavioralist approaches. These approaches in isolation have been criticized as disempowering for participants who are identified as passive learners or 'empty vessels.' A major challenge in rural health practice is to develop more inclusive and innovative models in building improved health outcomes. The Sustainable Farm Families Train the Trainer (SFFTTT) model is a 5-day program developed by Western District Health Service designed to enhance practice among health professionals working with farm families in Australia. This innovative model of addressing farmer health asks health professionals to understand the context of the farm family and encourages them to value the experience and existing knowledge of the farmer, the family and the farm business. The SFFTTT program has engaged with health agencies, community, government, and industry groups across Australia and over 120 rural nurses have been trained since 2005. These trainers have successfully delivered programs to 1000 farm families, with high participant completion, positive evaluation, and improved health indicators. Rural professionals report changes in how they approach health education, clinical practice, and promotion with farm families and agricultural industries. This paper highlights the success of SFFTTT as an effective tool in enhancing primary health practice in rural and remote settings. The program is benefiting not only drought ravaged farmers but assisting rural nurses, health agencies, and health boards to engage with farm families at a level not identified previously. Furthermore, nurses and health professionals are now embracing a more 'farmer-centered model of care.'

The Sustainable Farm Families Project : changing attittudes to health

Introduction: Farm health and safety has historically focussed on strategies such as injury prevention, safety audits and fulfilling legislative responsibilities. However, farmer injuries mask deeper health issues including higher rates of cancer, suicides, cardiovascular disease and stress. The relationship between occupational health and safety and farm family health has not been fully investigated. The Sustainable Farm Families (SFF) project attempts to make this connection in order to address premature death, morbidity and injury on Australian farms. The SFF project illustrates how increasing health literacy through education and physical assessment can lead to improved health and knowledge outcomes for farm families.

Methods: The SFF project focuses on the human resource in the triple bottom line and is working with farmers, families, industry and universities to collaboratively assess and promote improvement in the health and wellbeing of farm families. Based on a model of extension that engages farm families as active learners where they commit to healthy living and safe working practices, the SFF project is proving to be an effective model for engaging communities in learning and change. Health education and information is delivered to farm men and women aged 18 to 75 years using a workshop format. Pre- and post-knowledge surveys, annual physical assessments and focus group discussions form the methodological context for the research over a three-year intervention.

Results: This article discusses the progress of the research outlining the design of the SFF project, the delivery and extension processes used to engage 321 farm families from within a broadacre and dairy-farming family sample. The article presents key learnings on intersectoral collaboration, engaging farmers and families in health, and the future for this project extending into agricultural industries across the nation. Key results reveal that health issues do exist in farming families and are often underreported by family members. Health indicators were at a level where referral and intervention was required in over 60% of men and 70% of women in both broad acre and dairy industries. Farm men and women verbalised health concerns relating to access, support and control mechanisms of the health system. Participants also revealed how they put into practice their new knowledge and how this has influenced their health.

Conclusions: The key learning is that farm men and women who are at high risk of premature morbidity and mortality will participate in health education and assessment programs based on industry collaboration with high levels of individual participation. This program provides evidence that farmers will engage with health professionals if programs are presented to them in personally engaging and relevant ways. The SFF program is a definite tool for interventional health promotion that supports attitudinal change to health and farming practices.

Does the 'war for talent' exist for Australian multinational corporations in China?

This paper reports on skills shortages, recruitment and retention issues that Australian multinational corporations (MNCs) based in China face when staffing their foreign operations, with both managerial and non-managerial staff. A qualitative research methodology was used, investigating 20 organisations as case studies. It was found that Australian MNCs experienced a 'war for talent' in their Chinese operations. This meant that it was difficult for them to find and retain skilled staff. For managerial positions, Australian MNCs used an ethnocentric staffing model; however, they had issues recruiting willing expatriate managerial staff for China. It is recommended that Australian MNCs implement enhanced talen-management programs to recruit and retain the skills and talent they need for the Chinese market.

Measuring dairy farm performance

To fully consider production impacts, this thesis adopts a systems perspective and uses a biophysical model, DairyMod, to measure the interactions between system components and gauge the environmental impact of dairy farming arising from nitrogen use. Performance from the perspective of both the individual farmer and society is examined.