The institutional foundation of materialism in western societies

Studies of materialism have increased in recent years, and most of these studies examine various aspects of materialism including its individual or social consequences. However, understanding, and possibly shaping, a society’s materialistic tendencies requires a more complete study of the relationship between a society’s institutional patterns and the acceptance of materialism by its members. Consequently, the current study examines five of the institutional antecedents of materialism to understand better how and why it develops as a mode of consumption within a society. More specifically, a model relating materialism and a set of institutionalized patterns of social behavior referred to as the dominant social paradigm was developed and tested in a study of seven industrial, market-based countries. The results suggest that the economic, technological, political, anthropocentric, and competition institutions making up the dominant social paradigm are all positively related to materialism. The implications of the relationship are then discussed.

Introducing a learning repository using a blended professional development approach

This paper outlines the professional development program used to introduce a learning repository at Deakin University. Providing appropriate, timely and effective professional development programs to support academic and other staff is one of the objectives of the Deakin University Teaching and Learning Functional Plan 2008. Our blended program combines web-based and face-to-face training with a wide variety of resources to support staff. Issues noted in the literature relating to the introduction and use of learning repositories informed the planning and development of our program. Challenges and issues we experienced at Deakin are also outlined.

Reconsidering institutional cosmopolitanism : global poverty and the importance of the state in international political theory

Cosmopolitan scholarship has been at the forefront of efforts to consider political structures capable of realising justice in a more robust manner than prevailing global governance arrangements. In particular, the arguments of Thomas Pogge have contributed significantly to scholarly thinking about global poverty and his scheme of 'institutional cosmopolitanism' aspires to institutionalise human rights in the structures of global governance. This essay critiques the capacity of Pogge's cosmopolitan approach to productively guide political action in relation to global poverty by questioning whether global institutions generated by human rights are sufficient to address global poverty. The argument in this essay is that a viable guide to political action which alleviates global poverty must also take account of the potential utility of the state. This essays draws upon republican ideas to contend that cosmopolitanism needs to encompass a robust account of local institutions such as the state.

Pedagogy and institutional values : the social capital that underpins socially constructive pedagogy and the common good

The analysis of Syed Hussein Alatas, provides us with a basic framework from which to engage the way creativity and change can be articulated in education without slipping into a neo-colonial mindset. The core binary that Alatas presents us is between the ‘captive’ mind and the ‘creative’ mind. Contemporary Malaysian educational literature recognises that the demands of the knowledge economy and globalization necessitate engaging with socially constructivist pedagogy as a way of addressing the limitations and narrowness of what are referred to as traditional authoritarian ‘top down’ teaching methods. However this retheorization of pedagogical practice needs to be approached in a fashion that recognises and respects local values and culture. The social values and capital that inform pedagogy both in its formal level as officially sanctioned techniques but also in its informal level as the implicit practices that characterise human interaction on campus require a much closer look at the relationship between pedagogy, social structure and social values. The clear yet very deep insight of Syed Hussein Alatas, on the importance of the creative mind as an alternative to captivity provides us with a Malaysian theorization that is both local but also global and relevant to how we understand reform and education in the higher education sector.

The benefit : a well-written entrepreneurial business plan is to an entrepreneur what a midwife is to an expecting mother

The evaluation of new ventures often involves two key aspects of entrepreneurial business plans: how best to write them and how best to rate (evaluate) them. Ultimately the performance of the venture should be the definitive criterion of quality. Surprisingly, the writing, rating and performance effects of entrepreneurial business plans (EBPs) comprise three related but under researched areas. This article empirically tested principles for writing and rating entrepreneurial business plans to draw inferences on how to improve the private equity investment evaluation process. A simplified perspective of General Systems Theory guided our empirical investigation of the input and outcome of the VC investment decision. Our empirical investigation reveals that entrepreneurial business plans that comport with the writing principles from the literature improve a new venture's likelihood of success.

Order aggressiveness of institutional and individual investors

This paper investigates the determinants of the order aggressiveness of institutional and individual investors on the Australian Stock Exchange. Utilizing a proprietary data set that identifies institutional and individual order submissions, we document that the institutional and individual investors become more aggressive when the same-side (opposite-side) market depth increases (decreases). When the spread widens, both individual and institutional investors tend to become less aggressive. Institutional investors are more aggressive in the opening hour of the trading day, while individual investors are less aggressive initially and increase their order aggressiveness during the rest of the trading day.

On institutional ownership and firm performance : a disaggregated view

We study the relationship between institutional ownership and firm performance in Finland. A systems approach is employed to investigate the potential two-way causality between firm performance and ownership structure. Three-stage least squares estimation technique is used to solve for the systems. The evidence suggests an endogeneity problem between firm performance and institutional ownership. However, the magnitude of the problem differs with respect to the concentration of ownership measure used. Our results show that a more equal distribution of the voting power among the largest institutional stakeholder may exert positive effects on firm performance. We also find a significant difference relating to firm performances and equity ownerships between the two classes of institutional investor. Consistent with the ownership structure in Finland, we find that a simple ownership concentration index does not influence firm performance.

Developing the Deakin online teaching and learning repository

Slides for a report on the development of the Deakin online teaching and learning repository and the proposal to create a modern Deakin version of the 1991Najaden Collection of papers on collaborative learning through computer conferencing. The collection will be called Audio, Video, Disco - Look, Listen, Learn and contain 'best of breed' papers about Deakin's past and future as a distance edcuation - flexible learning university, from the Deakin online teaching and learning repository.

Reforming Australian public sector accounting : an episode of institutional thinking

In recent years in Australia, accounting reforms have been developed which have resulted in the application of commercial systems of accounting to diverse public sector organisations. The reforms, which include the requirement to recognise infrastructure and heritage resources as assets in financial reports, endorse financial notions of accountability and performance that have been traditionally applied within private sector, profit-seeking organisations. Such notions are applied to a range of public sector organisations for the first time, even though the primary missions or objectives of many of these organisations are social, rather than financial in orientation. This critical, interpretative case study, set within the context of not-for-profit public museums, seeks to enhance an understanding of public sector accounting change based on these unique social organisations. The study examines three aspects of the reforms, namely, their development, their promotion and their defence. This examination is undertaken using the ideas contained in Mary Douglas’ (1986) How Institutions Think as the key theoretical construct. The supplementary perspectives of problematisation and epistemic communities are used to assist in applying the primary theoretical construct by explaining how, and by whom, these reforms were advocated and implemented in this specific instance. The study shows how the interpretation and application of the statements comprising the conceptual framework have shaped the development, promotion and defence of detailed standards developed for specific public sector organisations. In doing so, the study addresses two key research questions: (1) How were financial notions of accountability and performance of Australian public sector organisations constructed during the period 1976-2001 and articulated in the CF, once its development began, within this reform period? (2) How were these notions and other concepts of financial reporting outlined in the CF interpreted and applied in the (i) development; (ii) promotion; and (iii) defence of detailed accounting standards for not-for-profit public museums in Australia during the period under investigation? The study demonstrates that the concepts of financial reporting outlined in the conceptual framework were used by a relatively small group of technical experts located in influential positions in accounting regulation and in other fields to justify the application of accrual accounting within diverse public sector organisations. During the period examined, only certain questions were posed and certain issues considered and many problems associated with the implementation of the reforms were not considered. Accordingly, a key finding of the study is that each aspect of the reform period was guided and constrained by institutional thinking. In addition, the study shows how the framework's content can be used to permit equally well-argued, but conflicting, accounting policies to be adopted and defended for the same items, indicating the framework to be of only limited value as a technical tool. This leads to another key finding of the study, namely, that the framework is best understood as a political tool, serving a crucial role in enabling accrual accounting reforms to be developed, promoted and defended within the public sector. Thus, the study seeks to offer an enhanced understanding of the nature and determinants of accounting change, and accordingly, it broadens an understanding of the use of the conceptual framework, as an institution, in developing, promoting and defending changes to accounting practice.

Factors affecting the career progress of academic accountants in Australia : cross-institutional and gender perspectives

Since the late 1980s, Australian highereducation has undergone significant reforms andpolicy changes based on economic rationalismand modernisation of management. This paperexamines the outcomes of the reform processesbased on the career attributes, status andperceptions of work environment of academicaccountants in Australian universities.Similarities and differences between academicaccountants are explored fromcross-institutional and gender perspectives.The data provide insight into a number ofsystemic inequalities between the older andmore established universities and the neweruniversities. In specific, across-institutional analysis based on fouruniversity types: Sandstones/Redbricks,Gumtrees, Unitechs and New (Marginson 1999)indicates that academic accountants in Newuniversities employ a much lower proportion ofstaff with PhD qualification, a weakerpublication profile, and perceive greaterbarriers for conducting research in terms of ashortage of research mentors, colleagues withresearch experience, and post-graduatestudents. Further, the commitment to flexiblelearning and delivery strategies iscomparatively stronger in Unitechs, and posesadditional demands on accounting academics'overall workload. Perceptions of gender-baseddiscrimination by female academic accountantsare generally stronger than their malecounterparts, particularly, in Newuniversities. These results raise severalissues for academic accountants at both theinstitutional and individual level in terms ofequal employment opportunities, management ofresearch programmes, development of teachingstrategies and individual time management.

Improving teaching in tertiary education : institutional and individual influences

Keynote address

Institutional effects of corporate planning : the case of Australian universities

This thesis presents a longitudinal analysis of the strategic behaviour of Australian universities between 1993 and 2000. The findings suggest that Australian universities enunciate similar goals and objectives in their strategic planning, and that the activities of universities are largely determined by the patterns of activities undertaken in previous years. The empirical evidence suggests there is only a small amount of differentiation in the activities of Australian universities, despite a Government policy platform that identified institutional diversity as a primary goal.