Corporate codes of ethics in Australia, Canada and USA : measurement and structural properties of a cross-cultural model

The objective is to test the consistency of measurement and structural properties in a model of corporate codes of ethics (CCE) on an aggregated level and across multiple samples derived from three countries, namely Australia, Canada and the USA. The properties of four constructs of CCE are described and tested, these being: surveillance/training, internal communication, external communication, and guidance. The conclusion is that the measurement and structural models on an aggregated level have a satisfactory fit, validity and reliability. Furthermore, they are consistent when tested on each of the three samples (i.e. cross-validated). The cross-cultural model makes a contribution in addition to previous mostly descriptive studies and theory in the field using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Implementation, communication and benefits of corporate codes of ethics : an international and longitudinal approach for Australia, Canada and Sweden

This paper examines the implementation, communication and benefits of corporate codes of ethics by the top companies operating in Australia, Canada and Sweden. It provides an international comparison across three continents. It is also based on a longitudinal approach where three national surveys were performed in 2001–2002 and replications of the same surveys were performed in 2005–2006. The empirical findings of this research show in all three countries that large organisations indicate a substantial interest in corporate codes of ethics. There are, however, differences in the ways that the companies in each country implement and communicate their corporate codes of ethics and the benefits that they see being derived from them. The longitudinal comparison between 2001–2002 and 2005–2006 indicates changes in the implementation, communication and benefits of corporate codes of ethics in the three countries.

Marketing planning in Australia : practice and performance

The study identifies the situations in which marketing planning is especially useful. This enables the key elements of an effective marketing planning system to be traced out, and gives indications regarding how the changeable factors can be altered in order to improve the effectiveness of marketing planning. Gives a detailed summary of marketing planning practices in Australia and provides managers some valuable evidences in the value of formal marketing planning.

Scaling up community-based obesity prevention in Australia : background and evaluation design of the health promoting communities : being active eating well initiative

Background : There is only limited evidence available on how best to prevent childhood obesity and community-based interventions hold promise, as several successful interventions have now been published. The Victorian Government has recently funded six disadvantaged communities across Victoria, Australia for three years to promote healthy eating and physical activity for children, families, and adults in a community-based participatory manner. Five of these intervention communities are situated in Primary Care Partnerships and are the subject of this paper. The interventions will comprise a mixture of capacity-building, environmental, and whole-of-community approaches with targeted and population-level interventions. The specific intervention activities will be determined locally within each community through stakeholder and community consultation. Implementation of the interventions will occur through funded positions in primary care and local government. This paper describes the design of the evaluation of the five primary care partnership-based initiatives in the 'Go for your life' Health Promoting Communities: Being Active Eating Well (HPC:BAEW) initiative.

Methods/Design : A mixed method and multi-level evaluation of the HPC:BAEW initiative will capture process, impact and outcome data and involve both local and state-wide evaluators. There will be a combined analysis across the five community intervention projects with outcomes compared to a comparison group using a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental design. The evaluation will capture process, weight status, socio-demographic, obesity-related behavioral and environmental data in intervention and comparison areas. This will be achieved using document analysis, paper-based questionnaires, interviews and direct measures of weight, height and waist circumference from participants (children, adolescents and adults).

Discussion : This study will add significant evidence on how to prevent obesity at a population level in disadvantaged and ethnically diverse communities. The outcomes will have direct influence on policy and practice and guide the development and implementation of future obesity prevention efforts in Australia and internationally.

Temporary protection and the refugee convention in Australia,Denmark, and Germany

This paper reports on a comparative study of temporary protection (TP) mechanisms in Australia and selected European jurisdictions. Specifically, it analyzes policy developments and trends in the use of TP mechanisms in Denmark, Germany, and Australia through a systematic examination of the evolution of “substitute protection” mechanisms; their implications for “effective protection” and their impacts on key stakeholders. The policy analyses are augmented by interviews and survey questionnaires with key NGO service providers in the three target jurisdictions. The paper argues that the traditional link between Refugee Convention protection and national territorial jurisdiction and responsibility is being undermined by extraterritorial processing and offshoring arrangements.

Last interglacial climates of south-eastern Australia : plant and beetle-based reconstructions from Yarra Creek, King Island, Tasmania

This paper explores the palaeoclimatic significance of a fossil plant and insect record from Yarra Creek, on King Island, between Tasmania and the Australian mainland. The record dates, based upon a thermoluminescence chronology and other evidence, to Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS 5); the exact timing is impossible to ascertain given the resolution of the thermoluminescence results and the presence of an unconformity in the dated section. The presence of a cool-temperate rainforest flora, outside its modern range, and other independent evidence, suggest the sequence may represent the last interglacial (MIS 5e) rather than a later MIS 5 substage. Using coexistence methods that compare modern climatic ranges of the taxa in the assemblage we reconstruct independent beetle and plant based annual and seasonal temperate and precipitation parameters. The results imply the assemblage was deposited under a wetter summer climate and suggest conditions of enhanced temperature seasonality. It is probable that enhanced temperature seasonality is a methodological artefact reflecting the rarity of extremely equable climates (like King Island) in modern climate space. This would indicate a limitation of most methods of palaeoclimatic reconstruction that rely on modern datasets – it is only possible to reconstruct past climates as being within the range of values in that currently exist in modern climate space.

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in Australia : absenteeism and redeployment of emergency medicine and nursing staff

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza on the Australian emergency nursing and medicine workforce, specifically absenteeism and deployment.

Methods: Data were collected using an online survey of 618 members of the three professional emergency medicine or emergency nursing colleges.

Results: Despite significant increases in emergency demand during the Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza, 56.6% of emergency nursing and medicine staff reported absenteeism of at least 1 day and only 8.5% of staff were redeployed. Staff illness with influenza-like illness was reported by 37% of respondents, and 87% of respondents who became ill were not tested for the Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza. Of the respondents who became ill, 43% (n = 79) reported missing no days of work and only 8% of respondents (n = 14) reported being absent for more than 5 days. The mean number of days away from work was 3.73 (standard deviation = 3.63). Factors anecdotally associated with staff absenteeism (caregiver responsibilities, concern about personal illness, concern about exposing family members to illness, school closures, risk of quarantine, stress and increased workload) appeared to be of little or no relevance. Redeployment was reported by 8% of respondents and the majority of redeployment was for operational reasons.

Conclusion: Future research related to absenteeism, redeployment during actual pandemic events is urgently needed. Workforce data collection should be an integral part of organizational pandemic planning.

Diabetes MILES - Australia (Management and Impact for Long-Term Empowerment and Success) : methods and sample characteristics of a national survey of the psychological aspects of living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in Australian adults

Background Successful management of diabetes requires attention to the behavioural, psychological and social aspects of this progressive condition. The Diabetes MILES (Management and Impact for Long-term Empowerment and Success) Study is an international collaborative. Diabetes MILES-Australia, the first Diabetes MILES initiative to be undertaken, was a national survey of adults living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in Australia. The aim of this study was to gather data that will provide insights into how Australians manage their diabetes, the support they receive and the impact of diabetes on their lives, as well as to use the data to validate new diabetes outcome measures.

Methods The survey was designed to include a core set of self-report measures, as well as modules specific to diabetes type or management regimens. Other measures or items were included in only half of the surveys. Cognitive debriefing interviews with 20 participants ensured the survey content was relevant and easily understood. In July 2011, the survey was posted to 15,000 adults (aged 18-70 years) with type 1 or type 2 diabetes selected randomly from the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) database. An online version of the survey was advertised nationally. A total of 3,338 eligible Australians took part; most (70.4%) completed the postal survey. Respondents of both diabetes types and genders, and of all ages, were adequately represented in both the postal and online survey sub-samples. More people with type 2 diabetes than type 1 diabetes took part in Diabetes MILES-Australia (58.8% versus 41.2%). Most respondents spoke English as their main language, were married/in a de facto relationship, had at least a high school education, were occupied in paid work, had an annual household income > $AUS40,000, and lived in metropolitan areas.

Discussion A potential limitation of the study is the under-representation of respondents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin). Diabetes MILES-Australia represents a major achievement in the study of diabetes in Australia, where for the first time, the focus is on psychosocial and behavioural aspects of this condition at a national level.