Too good to leave, too bad to stay: anti-retaliation precautionary measures for whistle blowers

Whistle blowing is an act of exposing the wrongdoings in an organization, either committed by its members of the lower level or the top management. Many have agreed that whistle blowing is an effective means of deterring and detecting organizational mishaps. Whistle blowers have been referred to as canaries in the coal mine. The idea of telling the truth however, may result in exposure to uncontrolled risk by the whistle blower. The extent to which the whistle blower is protected and safe after information is leaked to the public or the relevant authority remains unknown. In the Malaysian context, whistle blowing is not new. Being honest is a custom among Malaysians. Honesty is deeply rooted in Malaysian culture and is supported by the high value Malaysian place on spiritual belief which also put a premium on moral virtue. But being loyal to the management is another thing. A critical issue that whistle blowers face is the tension between the virtues of honesty and the virtues of loyalty. The ethical dilemmas faced by the whistle blowers place them in situations where there are significant and difficult ethical conflicts. Recently, the Parliament of Malaysia has passed the Whistle Blowing Protection Act which was seen as an holistic approach to cover all Malaysians who were willing to blow the whistle. Some do not feel confident that such program under the Act can be accomplished in Malaysia as the Malaysian culture believing keeping things to ourselves. Thus the paper intends to explore the anti-retaliation precautionary factors mediate by the culture that will most likely explain motivational issues subordinates face in publicizing the wrongs that are harmful to the organization in Malaysia.

Promoting the health and well being of older carers : a proactive strategy

Research has indicated that carers are concerned about their ageing status, their deteriorating health and their ability to continue to care for their dependants. Given that the health care system will become increasingly reliant on carers the health care needs of carers should be a concern for all health care professionals. This paper describes the first stage of a project designed to enhance older carers health promotion knowledge and skills and improve their health promoting behaviours. This stage investigated the mental and physical health status of older carers. It also sought information on older carers' levels of participation in health related and social activities and identification of barriers to participation in these types of activities. The results highlighted that carers responding to the survey experienced compromised physical and mental health. Many carers reported being unable to participate in social and health-type activities as they were unable to leave the care recipient. Of note, is that carers identified their own mental fragility and felt they needed further emotional support.

Employer matters in 2003

The year 2003 was characterised by employer proactivism, and a preparedness to pursue new legal manoeuvres to prevent or terminate protected industrial action. A number of employers also resorted to lengthy lockouts (with few positive results) as bargaining tactics in enterprise negotiations. It was the year employers in the manufacturing and metals sector saw off the unions’ ‘Campaign 2003’, giving little ground on the key issues of reduced hours and contributions to trust funds for worker entitlements. The year was a joyous one for employers in the building and construction industry, as their dreams of a shackled and weakened union movement came a step closer to being realised, with the introduction of draconian industry-specific legislation by the Howard Government, arising from the recommendations of the Cole Royal Commission. On a positive note, the year also witnessed all the members of the ‘industrial relations club’ embrace and declare a common concern for work and family balance issues.

The medical provision of hydration and nutrition: Two very different outcomes in Victoria and Florida

Decisions to withhold or withdraw medical hydration and nutrition are amongst the most difficult that confront patients and their families, medical
and other health professionals all over the world. This article discusses two cases relating to lawful withdrawal and withholding of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube (PEG) from incompetent patients with no hope of recovery. Victoria and Florida have statutory frameworks that provide for advance directives, however in both Gardner; Re BWV and Schindler v Schiavo; Re Scliiavo the respective patients did not leave documented instructions. The article analyses the two cases and their outcomes from legal, medical and ethical perspectives.

Employer matters in 2004

n 2004, employers were active in arguing their cases in a number of important hearings of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. However, despite a united position among employer ranks and the federal government, employers were generally disappointed with the Commission’s safety net review decision. Both the Australian industry Group and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry found some common ground with the Australian Council of Trade Unions, in a consent position on extending carers leave, but overall employers presented a detailed argument opposing any extension of employee rights in the Commission’s work and family test case. Employers in some sectors were able to reach collective agreements with unions with little industrial disruption, whereas others, such as banking, found the going tougher. Overall, employers, like unions, faced a great deal of uncertainty over what were or were not ‘matters pertaining’, as a number of decisions after the Electrolux case clarified or clouded the issue. Understandably, the year ended on a positive note for most employers, with the Howard Government re-elected with a majority in the Senate, enabling it to pass a further round of radical labour market reforms in 2005.

Bringing shared values out of the shadows

As part of its wider promotion of a world that is peaceful and tolerant, the United Nations declared 2005 the International Year of Sport and Physical Education. At the fore of the UN's proclamation was recognition of the important role sport and PE play in nurturing the health and harmony of society. Sport and PE, the UN declared, provide important nodes for social connection around which shared values and understandings can be formed. In the wake of the UN's endorsement of the role that sport and PE can play in fostering social and emotional development, it is more important that ever that we reflect on and refine our practices towards this end. This paper draws on two research narratives to illustrate how easily this potential can be undermined. Indeed, behind some of the wonderful opportunities for connection that exist through a participation in PE and sport exists a dark shadow of alienation and oppression. The challenge raised through this paper centres on the need for PE teachers and coaches to work deliberately and strategically towards the cultivation of inclusive, tolerant and responsible forms of participation, and not leave their development to chance.

Social-movement unionism in theory and in Sweden

Many union leaders and observers of unionism in industrially advanced countries have recently argued for stronger links between unions and social movements but their arguments leave the nature of social movements underspecified. This article reviews the literature on social movements and argues in favour of a minimalist theory of the social actor rather than choose between American and European approaches to studying social movements. Both Melucci's European approach and McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly's American approach to integrating the European and American schools of thought on social movements are inadequate to the task of specifying social-movement unionism. Hindess's minimalist theory of the social actor and articulated arenas of conflict offers a stronger approach to understanding social-movement unionism and appreciating its strategic pertinence in particular times and places. Two episodes of contention in Sweden illustrate the advantages of a minimalist theory of articulated social-movement unionism.

Learning in virtual teams: exploring the student experience

In 2005 an existing undergraduate course in project management was converted from face-to-face mode to wholly online mode. Wholly online mode means that there are no face-to-face classes at all, and all teaching and learning is facilitated through an online environment.

The revised project management course was designed with an underlying problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy and used a simulated, fictitious telecommunications company, United Enterprises (UE), as a case study learning resource. The students worked in virtual teams to complete online learning activities and to solve authentic project management tasks for UE. Employees of UE were available online to provide direction and answer further questions about the tasks.

The overall research study used an action research methodology in which feedback was elicited from two groups of stakeholders involved in the project management course - students and teaching staff. The feedback was used to plan, develop and implement the new Information Technology (IT) Professional Practice course.

This paper reports on the findings of three anonymous student surveys that were conducted after each of the main project management topics and tasks were completed. The surveys sought feedback in a number of areas. However, the feedback reported here relates specifically to student opinions about their experiences of working in virtual teams within the learning environment. Other aspects of the research, including student perceptions of UE and feedback from the teaching staff, are not reported here.

Across the three surveys, most students indicated that they valued the opportunity to discuss various aspects of the course with peers and teaching staff online, and to interact with real-life employees of UE. Although discussion forums were the prescribed method for communication other forms of communication such as email, chat and face-to-face meetings were also used. According to the students, the best things about online group work were that it provides the flexibility of time and place; it allows communication and participation to be recorded; and is an ‘efficient’ way of working. The worst things about online group work were that communication is more difficult and that team members leave participation and submission to
the last minute. While up to 15 percent of students did not like the experience of online group work at all, overall students were generally satisfied with this style of learning and enjoyed the experience of working collaboratively within a virtual team.

The research has highlighted a number of areas where improvements can be made to the student experience of working in virtual teams. These improvements will be adopted in the development and delivery of the new course as part of the action research study.

An exploration of issues of management and intention to stay : allied health professionals in south west Victoria, Australia

Management of allied health staff and services often has implications for staff stability and retention. A survey of allied health staff in South West Victoria was conducted in 2003 to explore issues relating to recruitment and retention. Findings relating to management and retention of staff in their current job are addressed in this report. A total of 138 staff returned their questionnaires. Results were related to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, level of belonging, with professional needs identified as feeling supported, orientation to the position, clear job description, and able to recommend the position to others. Qualitative data showed that recommending the position was associated with job satisfaction, autonomy, flexibility, and variety of work. The immediate management structure was significantly related to retention. Reasons given for intending to leave were related to management categories. These were management structure, lack of career structure, and lack of professional support. Reasons given by respondents for not recommending their current position were as follows: not for long-term career, risk of deskilling if staying too long, and financially unrewarding. These reasons were also related to management. Positive reasons for staying, which were related to management, included flexible work conditions, variety of clinical and management experience, good working environment, good support, and autonomy. Recommendations are given for organizational development and training for managers.

The challenge of reconciling working time demands and life transitions : a policy proposal

Labour markets, like all market institutions, exhibit structural and dynamic characteristics. Both the structural and dynamic characteristics of labour markets inevitably change and evolve over time in response to a host of exogenous and endogenous factors. In the case of the Australian labour market, structural changes are reflected in significant shifts in the industry and occupational composition of employment, the decline of full-time work and the concomitant rise in part-time and atypical forms of employment, demographic changes in the labour force, as well as changes in social and individual preferences. Dynamic shifts can be found in cyclical pattern of employment and wages growth, the growth in labour mobility, and transitions between various labour market states.
The starting point for this paper is that these structural and dynamic changes have given rise to an increase in the likelihood that individuals will experience a transition between various labour market states, and a greater diversity in the range of transitions they may experience over their working life. This acceleration in the rate of transition generates ‘transition costs’ for both employers and employees, as well the likelihood of mismatch between employer and employee working time preferences. As a consequence, existing labour market policy regimes, based on the traditional model of labour market participation over the life course may not provide adequate protection for most workers today.
Gunther Schmid (1998) and others have proposed institutional reforms which promote ‘transitional labour markets’. Transitional labour market institutions are those that allow individuals (and firms) to successfully adjust to critical events. While transitional labour market institutions may consist of traditional ‘active labour market policy’ mechanisms, Schmid and others have proposed a range of innovative policy responses which allow individuals (and firms) to adjust the intensity of their abour market participation over the life cycle. In this paper we use the general approach of advocated by the transitional labour market concept to do three things. First, we investigate the processes by which the nature of labour market transitions has changed over time. Second, we review the range of policy options available to government to smooth labour market dysfunctions associated with labour market transitions, with the objective of ensuring labour markets operate more efficiently and more equitably. Third, we focus on one possible way in which an existing labour market institution, Long Service Leave (LSL), could be reformed to make way for a more comprehensive transitional labour market institution in the form of a ‘working time bank’.

Injecting early years teaching with a strong dose of multiliteracies

Tech-savvy children elaborately dance through a myriad of informal and formal school and out-of-school literacy practices, sometimes leaving the adults who teach and care for them feeling like relics of yesterday. How can we harness what students bring to learning and reconcile that with what we have traditionally taught this age group? How do we leave our comfort zones and design meaningful experiences which transform learners (both young and not so young)?

Portals of the mind

The idea of a gateway or portal to another world is common in myth and fantasy, and, obviously, far older than the use of the same notion in computing. While computing portals take researchers to other domains of data, the use of portals in myths is often far more complex. In creation myths, the passing of portals has immense consequences for humankind, as in Adam and Eve's expulsion from their carefree existence in the Garden of Eden (unleashing the world's woes upon their descendants), and in the carrying away of Persephone by Pluto into the Underworld (leaving a legacy of cold and sunless months each year). In other types of myths, and in the fantastic tales they have bequeathed, portals provide heroes with strange and wonderful adventures, and with experiences that leave heroes irrevocably changed. This article will now explore these types of portals in more detail.The idea of a gateway or portal to another world is common in myth and fantasy, and, obviously, far older than the use of the same notion in computing. While computing portals take researchers to other domains of data, the use of portals in myths is often far more complex. In creation myths, the passing of portals has immense consequences for humankind, as in Adam and Eve's expulsion from their carefree existence in the Garden of Eden (unleashing the world's woes upon their descendants), and in the carrying away of Persephone by Pluto into the Underworld (leaving a legacy of cold and sunless months each year). In other types of myths, and in the fantastic tales they have bequeathed, portals provide heroes with strange and wonderful adventures, and with experiences that leave heroes irrevocably changed. This article will now explore these types of portals in more detail.

Integrity and shame

In a recent study, Damian Cox, Marguerite La Caze and Michael P. Levine argue for a complex conception of integrity. But they leave two questions unanswered. The first is whether integrity is of greater importance to the agent's own sense of themselves or whether it is a virtue that is of social significance. The bulk of the literature on this virtue stresses its existential import. However, considerable weight should be given to its social significance. It should be linked to the essentially social reaction of shame, as opposed to the existential and personal reaction of guilt. The second question is whether the virtue of integrity has been analysed in such general terms that no specific meaning can be given to the virtue. Being a person of integrity might just collapse into being a virtuous person. This essay offers a distinctive account of integrity by asking what it is to act from the virtue in particular contexts that require public trust.

The role of marketing employees in marketing performance : an empirical investigation

The role of marketing employees in contributing to marketing performance (individual and organisational), has, in general, been under-researched. Most research in marketing has focused on the activities of marketing employees and the outputs of those activities, rather than the inputs, i.e., the abilities, skills, or knowledge of the marketing employees themselves. This study represents a unique insight into the marketing capabilities and marketing performance of employees within a multinational organisation, as reported by the employees themselves. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), strong support was found for a systems model of marketing competency marketing performance, suggesting that such relationships are complex and are not studied readily in isolation from external factors. Organisations that are able to conceptualise, operationalise, measure, monitor, and address marketing employee competency, intentions, and perceptions, as well as maintain the appropriate levels of management control, should have a greater likelihood of creating high performing employees, than those organisations that are unable to focus on these core aspects of people's performance. In addition, those same employees are likely to be more satisfied, motivated, and committed, require less assistance and time to complete tasks, and have greater productivity and be less likely to leave the orga.'1isation.

How can managers reduce employee intention to quit?

This paper reports on an investigation of the variables that may be predictive of intentions to leave a job, and tests a model that includes mediating variables. A total of 173 retail salespeople completed questionnaires measuring commitment to the organization for which they worked, job satisfaction, stress, supervisor support, locus of control, self-esteem, the perceived stressors in the job and their intention to quit. Path analysis was used to test the relationships hypothesized in the model. The majority of hypotheses were supported, with the variables included accounting for 52 per cent of the variance in intention to quit. Emotional support from supervisors and self-esteem mediated the impact of stressors on stress reactions, job satisfaction, commitment to the organization and intention to quit. It is suggested that to ameliorate intention to quit and in turn reduce turnover, managers need to actively monitor workloads, and the relationships between supervisors and subordinates in order to reduce and manage stress. Managers also need to monitor both the extrinsic and intrinsic sources of job satisfaction available to employees. These activities could assist in maintaining and increasing job satisfaction and commitment to the organization.