Impact of electronic data interchange in the Australian automotive industry

Information technology continues to play an increasingly significant role in the development of firms competing in the vast array of markets from those classified as global markets, such as the automotive industry, to the smaller nationally-based markets such as retailing. An objective of electronic commerce is to assist organisations to remain competitive and gain entry to markets which were previously unattainable. This study focuses on the organisational impact of one form of electronic commerce (electronic data interchange) on the component sector of the Australian automotive industry and examines the extent to which trading partner relationships have been affected. The research investigates the extent to which the integration of electronic data interchange (EDI) with an organisation’s internal application system may facilitate specific net benefits. The automotive industry became the first Australian industry to cooperatively adopt EDI. Research to date has not adequately examined the organisational impact of the nature and extent of net benefits gained from EDI adoption. To achieve the objective of assessing EDI net benefits, a conceptual model was developed. The model proposed that the level of EDI net benefits expected is influenced by the size of the organisation and the concentration of trade achieved within the industry via intervening links through (a) the level of senior management commitment and (b) the extent of system integration. Nine empirically testable research propositions are derived from the model, each testing the relationship between model constructs. Data was collected from 114 component suppliers to Ford Australia in 1992 and 1994 using a repeated cross-sectional longitudinal design. Structural equation modelling using partial least squares was adopted in the analysis of the data. A pure longitudinal model together with 12 case studies of selected component manufacturers supplemented the research design. The results of the research showed that the proposed conceptual model is a good description of the data. In particular, net benefits obtained from EDI adoption are directly determined by the size of the organisation, and the extent to which firms integrate EDI into their internal application systems. The level of net benefits is only indirectly influenced by the level of senior management commitment to the EDI project through (a) management commitment’s direct effect on integration, and (b) the direct effect the volume of trade a supplier achieves with the automotive industry on senior management commitment and system integration. The major benefits organisations experienced from EDI were enhanced productivity, clerical staff savings, improved data accuracy, enhanced customer service and reduced administration costs. The research showed that few suppliers gained inventory savings from EDI, a frequently claimed benefit from EDI adoption. Evidence of small improvements in product quality emerged from the results. In summary, this research attempts to make two primary contributions to knowledge, first in providing a method by which net benefits from electronic commerce can be measured within an industry adopting electronic trading, and second, by providing organisations with the knowledge of the specific net benefits organisations could expect from EDI adoption, together with the four major factors affecting these benefits. The research concludes with possible directions for future research, in particular an assessment of the impact of incorporating financial EDI into electronic trading.

Social entrepreneurship and partnerships with regional and remote schools

This paper explores how notions of social entrepreneurship have inspired the author to engage in innovative partnerships with two small rural schools in Central Queensland, Australia. It explores practical ways in which to help rural schools contribute to the transformation of their schools, considering that we are now in an information-based society operating in a postmodern world where change happens quickly and continually. The paper explores the mapping of the journeys undertaken both by the schools and by the author as a university lecturer, and analyses how the concept of social entrepreneurship is used to empower schools with these changes. Two partnerships with local schools are examined in terms of helping the participants become social entrepreneurs by deploying innovative problem solving strategies that can provide ways forward to help to begin to revolutionise the regional and rural education 'industry' and in the process engage regional and rural communities.

Fiji’s garment industry : an economic analysis

The May 2000 civilian coup has had a detrimental effect on investor confidence in Fiji. Political instability and uncertainty surrounds the economy and the garment industry – one of the successful products of the Export Oriented Industrialization strategy – is the most affected. Investment in this sector has stalled and a total of 7 garment factories have closed operations with the likelihood of others following the same direction if the political impasse and uncertainty continues. In light of the continuing demise of the industry, this paper enlightens the contribution of the industry to Fiji’s economy in terms of exports and employment creation. The paper also presents an analysis of the profitability and operating efficiency status of the industry and contends that the industry is a viable one. It also presents policy makers with some recommendations that can be considered in light of reinvigorating investment in the garment industry.

A pilot randomized controlled crossover study comparing regional heparinization to regional citrate anticoagulation for continuous venovenous hemofiltration

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a regional heparinization and a regional citrate method of anticoagulation in CVVH.
DESIGN: Randomized controlled cross-over study.
SUBJECTS: Ten critically ill patients with acute renal failure.
SETTING: ICU of tertiary hospital.
INTERVENTION: CVVH was performed with pre-filter fluid replacement at 2000 ml/h and a blood flow rate of 150 ml/min. Regional heparinization was by the administration of heparin pre-filter at 1500 IU/h and protamine post-filter at 15 mg/h. Regional citrate anticoagulation was by means of a citrate-based replacement fluid (14 mmol/L) administered pre-dilution.
RESULTS: We studied nine males and one female. The mean age and APACHE II score were 70.5 and 17 respectively. Median circuit life was 13 hours (IQR 9.28) for the regional heparinization method compared to 17 hours (IQR 12,19.5) for the regional citrate method (p=0.77). There were no episodes of bleeding in either group.
CONCLUSION: Regional heparinization and regional citrate anticoagulation achieve similar circuit life in critically ill patients receiving CVVH.

The Sawankhalok ceramic industry

A techno-historical study of a commercial initiative by 13th century Thai village potters to produce domestic stoneware ceramics. However their enterprise's success attracted the exploitative interest of regional trade entrepreneurs whose specialisation of the industry created a fatal lack of efficiency and flexibility.

Design management methodology to strengthen firm and industry competitiveness in the construction design services export sector

The aim of this research was to investigate strategies deployed by successful construction design-related firms towards achieving high levels of firm competitiveness in international markets. A reflexive capability model, developed through a critical analysis of related internationalisation literature, is composed of three key areas; internationalisation process, market knowledge and design management. Firm reflexive capability is explored through the management of social, cultural and intellectual capital. The concept of reflexivity is borrowed from sociology. Reflexivity is reinterpreted as the ‘firm’s’ ability to be aware, responsive and adaptable to self, market and project needs assessment. A cross case analysis explored the barriers and success factors through three constructs; internationalisation process, design management and market knowledge of three firms. This paper demonstrates that international firm competitiveness is dependent upon the strategic inter-relational management of social, cultural and intellectual capital for maximum advantage of the utilisation and leverage of one form of capital to gain another. This leads to the development of increasing reflexive capability to support internationalisation. An outcome of this research is the identification of the central relation between a level of reflexive capability within the firm and the firm’s level of success in international markets. This research is part of an ongoing program of research on international collaborative practice. A Reflexive Capability Matrix was developed from the findings of one research project and then validated through a second research project (only the capability matrix is presented in this paper though). The reflexive capability approach is appropriate to all firms but what is speculated upon is that the reflexive capability is particularly intrinsic to small to medium sized construction design firms who work globally. A reflexive capability is a characteristic of successful and innovative firms internationalising and working within global models of practice.

The anthropomorphization of Ada Cross

The Anthropomorphization of Ada Cross is an original play and musical composition that is funded by Regional Arts Victoria and its first performance is at West Gippsland Arts Centre as part of the "Backstage Theatre Chamber Season" and the "Be Inspired Gippsland Arts Festival 2011".

Facing up to the risks in commercially focused university-industry R&D partnerships

The number of university–industry R&D partnerships (UIPs) has increased significantly over the past decade, in most OECD countries and in Australia, yet the study of risk in such commercially focused collaborative ventures is still a developing area. This review paper seeks to contribute to debate on this increasingly important phenomenon by addressing three key areas of risks for universities in entering such collaborations. The commercialization of research findings presents particular risks to universities, most notably the possibility of financial loss, which has a greater impact than for companies in cross‐sector collaborations. Another major type of risk faced by universities is relational risk, and this can significantly alter the trust dynamics that underpin research and innovation. There are also institutional risks to universities and their research staff engaged in commercializable R&D and, ultimately, to their reputation as a neutral source of expertise. It is argued there is a need for universities in Australia to develop comprehensive policies to manage the risks of commercialization and R&D collaboration with industry partners.

Clusters driven implementation of a brain inspired model for multi-view pattern identifications

The human brain processes information in both unimodal and multimodal fashion where information is progressively captured, accumulated, abstracted and seamlessly fused. Subsequently, the fusion of multimodal inputs allows a holistic understanding of a problem. The proliferation of technology has produced various sources of electronic data and continues to do so exponentially. Finding patterns from such multi-source and multimodal data could be compared to the multimodal and multidimensional information processing in the human brain. Therefore, such brain functionality could be taken as an inspiration to develop a methodology for exploring multimodal and multi-source electronic data and further identifying multi-view patterns. In this paper, we first propose a brain inspired conceptual model that allows exploration and identification of patterns at different levels of granularity, different types of hierarchies and different types of modalities. Secondly, we present a cluster driven approach for the implementation of the proposed brain inspired model. Particularly, the Growing Self Organising Maps (GSOM) based cross-clustering approach is discussed. Furthermore, the acquisition of multi-view patterns with clusters driven implementation is demonstrated with experimental results.

Role assessment of GIS analysis and its reliability while ranking urban sustainability using scenarios specific to regional climate, community and culture

Urban Sustainability expresses the level of conservation of a city while living a town or consuming its urban resources, but the measurement of urban sustainability depends on what are considered important indicators of conservation besides the permitted levels of consumption in accordance with adopted criteria. This criterion should have common factors that are shared for all the members tested or cities to be evaluated as in this particular case for Abu Dhabi, but also have specific factors that are related to the geographic place, community and culture, that is the measures of urban sustainability specific to a middle east climate, community and culture where GIS Vector and Raster analysis have a role or add a value in urban sustainability measurements or grading are considered herein. Scenarios were tested using various GIS data types to replicate urban history (ten years period), current status and expected future of Abu Dhabi City setting factors to climate, community needs and culture. The useful Vector or Raster GIS data sets that are related to every scenario where selected and analysed in the sense of how and how much it can benefit the urban sustainability ranking in quantity and quality tests, this besides assessing the suitable data nature, type and format, the important topology rules to be considered, the useful attributes to be added, the relationships which should be maintained between data types of a geo- database, and specify its usage in a specific scenario test, then setting weights to each and every data type representing some elements of a phenomenon related to urban suitability factor. The results of assessing the role of GIS analysis provided data collection specifications such as the measures of accuracy reliable to a certain type of GIS functional analysis used in an urban sustainability ranking scenario tests. This paper reflects the prior results of the research that is conducted to test the multidiscipline evaluation of urban sustainability using different indicator metrics, that implement vector GIS Analysis and Raster GIS analysis as basic tools to assist the evaluation and increase of its reliability besides assessing and decomposing it, after which a hypothetical implementation of the chosen evaluation model represented by various scenarios was implemented on the planned urban sustainability factors for a certain period of time to appraise the expected future grade of urban sustainability and come out with advises associated with scenarios for assuring gap filling and relative high urban future sustainability. The results this paper is reflecting are concentrating on the elements of vector and raster GIS analysis that assists the proper urban sustainability grading within the chosen model, the reliability of spatial data collected; analysis selected and resulted spatial information. Starting from selecting some important indicators to comprise the model which include regional culture, climate and community needs an example of what was used is Energy Demand & Consumption (Cooling systems). Thus, this factor is related to the climate and it‟s regional specific as the temperature varies around 30-45 degrees centigrade in city areas, GIS 3D Polygons of building data used to analyse the volume of buildings, attributes „building heights‟, estimate the number of floors from the equation, following energy demand was calculated and consumption for the unit volume, and compared it in scenario with possible sustainable energy supply or using different environmental friendly cooling systems this is followed by calculating the cooling system effects on an area unit selected to be 1 sq. km, combined with the level of greenery area, and open space, as represented by parks polygons, trees polygons, empty areas, pedestrian polygons and road surface area polygons. (initial measures showed that cooling system consumption can be reduced by around 15 -20 % with a well-planned building distributions, proper spaces and with using environmental friendly products and building material, temperature levels were also combined in the scenario extracted from satellite images as interpreted from thermal bands 3 times during the period of assessment. Other examples of the assessment of GIS analysis to urban sustainability took place included Waste Productivity, some effects of greenhouse gases measured by the intensity of road polygons and closeness to dwelling areas, industry areas as defined from land use land cover thematic maps produced from classified satellite images then vectors were created to take part in defining their role within the scenarios. City Noise and light intensity assessment was also investigated, as the region experiences rapid development and noise is magnified due to construction activities, closeness of the airports, and highways. The assessment investigated the measures taken by urban planners to reduce degradation or properly manage it. Finally as a conclusion tables were presented to reflect the scenario results in combination with GIS data types, analysis types, and the level of GIS data reliability to measure the sustainability level of a city related to cultural and regional demands.

Unions and innovation : new insights from the cross-country evidence

We apply meta-regression analysis to the extant econometric studies and find that unions depress investment in innovation at the firm and industry level in all countries considered. However, this adverse effect has been declining over time and is moderated by country differences in industrial relations and regulations: The adverse effect appears to increase with labor market flexibility.

Perceptions of engineering from female secondary college students in regional Victoria

Survey and focus group interviews with female students in regional Victoria resulted in identification of four perceived barriers that influence them to exclude engineering as a career choice. These barriers were identified as a lack of interest in the perceived image, a lack of knowledge, a traditionally maledominated industry, and limited recognisable role models. This paper reports on what Year 10 females are saying about the barriers and, consequently, how engineering can be promoted to overcome these barriers.

Readiness for interprofessional learning : a cross-faculty comparison between architecture and occupational therapy students

Health and wellbeing includes a need for built environments to accommodate and be inclusive of the broadest range of people and a corresponding need to ensure graduates are ready to engage in this field of interprofessional and inter-industry practise. All too often, interprofessional education in higher education is neglected with a tendency towards educational silos, particularly at a cross-faculty level. This paper reports on an initiative that embedded universal design practice education into the curricula of first year architecture and third year occupational therapy students and evaluated the impact on students’ readiness for interprofessional learning. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) was given to students at the beginning and end of the semester during which students participated in a variety of online and face-to-face curriculum initiatives. Results showed that at the beginning of semester, occupational therapy students were significantly more positive about interprofessional learning than their architecture counterparts. Post-results showed that this trend continued but that occupational therapy students became less positive on some items after the interprofessional learning experience. This study provides insights into the interprofessional learning experiences of a group of students who have not previously been studied within the available literature.