Knowledge sharing in professional accountancy firms : the effects of task complexity and management control system

Numerous empirical studies on knowledge management have focused on effectiveness of enablers such as organizational structure (Bennett and Gabriel, 1999; Gold et al., 2001), technology (Gold et al., 2001; O’Dell and Grayson, 1998), culture (DeLong and Fahey, 2000; Gupta and Govindarajan, 2000), managerial system (Nonaka, 1994; Sveiby, 1997) and strategy (Bierly and Chakrabarti, 1996; Holsapple and Joshi, 2001) on knowledge sharing. These enablers are organizational infrastructure or mechanism for facilitating the sharing of knowledge in a firm. In knowledge-intensive firms, task complexity and management control systems (MCS) can potentially affect the mode and effectiveness of knowledge sharing. However, these two factors have not been distinctly and explicitly investigated and discussed in literature relevant to the domain of knowledge sharing and management. This study proposes to examine how task complexity and the design of MCS could be the key determinants of the mode and effectiveness of knowledge sharing in professional accounting firms or practices.

Physical activity, dietary change and weight control : a public health perspective

This study examined weight-control behaviour among Victorian adults, focusing specifically on physical activity and dietary fat-related behaviour and beliefs. It also explored barriers to changing diet and physical activity, and used common theories of behaviour change to identify factors that influence weight-control behaviour, weight change and perceived weight-control success.

The relationship between primary and secondary control and eating behaviour

Two studies were conducted investigating Australian women's management of their life goals. Although engagement with goals was generally positive for psychological well-being, the propensity to disengage from appearance-related goals was beneficial for body image and protective against disordered eating, suggesting strategies for promoting goal disengagement in women with eating disordered behaviour. The portfolio presents four case studies reviewing empirical research demonstrating the efficacy of adjuvant psychological therapy in relieving psychological distress in cancer patients.

Reproduction and social control : women in Australia 1900-1999

Examines the conditions of Australian women in their reproductive lives, in a social and scientific context throughout the twentieth century. Aims to identify those areas which have influenced change (if it has occurred), the types of change and the impact those changes have had on the lives of women, given the premise that the social life of women, in all its forms, is predicated by their reproductive function.

Building equitable literate futures : home and school computer-mediated literacy practices and disadvantage

This paper examines the complex connections between literacy practices, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and disadvantage. It reports the findings of a year-long study which investigated the ways in which four families use ICTs to engage with formal and informal literacy learning in home and school settings. The research set out to explore what it is about computer-mediated literacy practices at home and at school in disadvantaged communities that make a difference in school success. The findings demonstrate that the 'socialisation' of the technology - its appropriation into existing family norms, values and lifestyles - varied from family to family. Having access to ICTs at home was not sufficient for the young people and their families to overcome the so-called 'digital divide'. Clearly, we are seeing shifts in the meaning of 'disadvantage' in a globalised world mediated by the use of new technologies. New definitions of disadvantage that take account not only of access to the new technologies but also include calibrated understandings of what constitutes the access are required. The article concludes that old inequalities have not disappeared, but are playing out in new ways in the context of the networked society.

Building equitable literate futures : home and school computer-mediated literacy practices and disadvantage

This article examines the complex connections between literacy practices, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and disadvantage. It reports the findings of a year-long study which investigated the ways in which four families use ICTs to engage with formal and informal literacy learning in home and school settings. The research set out to explore what it is about computer-mediated literacy practices at home and at school in disadvantaged communities that makes a difference in school success. The findings demonstrate that the 'socialisation' of the technology--its appropriation into existing family norms, values and lifestyles--varied from family to family. Having access to ICTs at home was not sufficient for the young people and their families to overcome the so-called 'digital divide'. The article concludes that old inequalities have not disappeared, but are playing out in new ways in the context of the networked society.

Community, commitment, and the ten 'commandments' : singing in the coro furlan

Successful ageing involves maintaining well-being and actively engaging with life through the making and sustaining of relationships within community. Membership of community music groups by older people can enhance quality of life, give a sense of fulfillment, offer the possibility for personal growth and create a platform through which they share and celebrate cultural identity and diversity. This study explores community and cultural engagement by members of the Coro Furlan, an Italian male community choir in Melbourne, Australia. This case study is part of a current wider research project, Well-being and ageing: community, diversity and the arts in Victoria (Australia), begun in 2008, which explores how the arts foster well-being in ageing communities. In this case study, members of the Coro Furlan volunteered to participate in a focus group interview in 2009. The transcript was analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis which seeks to explore the lived world of participants. Analysis of the data identified three broad themes: a sense of community, the maintenance of cultural identity and sustaining a sense of well-being through shared music making. The findings demonstrate the strength of the bonds formed by choir membership with high levels of commitment reflected in their ten ‘Commandments’ that were first documented in Italian in the 1970s. The choir members consider themselves to be the custodians of Friulian choral music in Australia, as well as performers of music from Italy and other countries. Singing in this choir has offered the predominantly older members an opportunity to value, learn, and share music in formal and informal settings. This paper identifies how music engagement can facilitate successful ageing through commitment to community, singing and following the ten ‘Commandments’ of the Coro Furlan.

Health satisfaction and perceived control : investigating subjective wellbeing homeostasis

Through an investigation of relationships between subjective wellbeing, health satisfaction and perceived control, the thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the psychological adaptation processes of individuals experiencing back pain. Risk factors to subjective wellbeing are also identified, thus presenting opportunities to provide assistance before the onset of psychopathology.

Financial inclusion and financial integrity : aligned incentives?

A large percentage of the population in developing countries saves, remits money or accesses credit using informal financial services. Financial inclusion initiatives aim to expand the reach and attractiveness of formal financial services. Recently, the Financial Action Task Force embraced financial inclusion as complementary to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing as it enhances financial transparency. Analyzing preliminary data from FinScope surveys on eight African countries we argue that an increase in access to formal services does not automatically imply an immediate and corresponding reduction of usage of informal services, especially as many individuals use informal and formal services in parallel. We consider customer trade-offs regarding the use of formal and informal services especially considering transparency as a potential disincentive to use formal services. The alignment of financial inclusion and integrity will fail where customers are apprehensive about increased transparency.

Institutional analysis of strategic choice of micro, small, and medium enterprises : development of a conceptual framework

This paper presents a conceptual framework showing formal and informal institutions and their relationship with the strategic choice of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in a developing country setting. It emphasises how institutions at sub-national level (such as a region or city) influence the strategic orientations of MSMEs as many developing countries in Asia are undergoing decentralisation whereby sub-national government authorities are given more political, economic, fiscal, and administrative powers. Furthermore, it sheds more insights on the environmental (institutional) determinism-organisational (strategic) choice nexus. It offers propositions, questions as well as issues worth pursuing in empirical investigations in the future.

Festivals and music : negotiating culture, identity and place

It is noted in the introduction to this book that ' Festivals are believed to recreate and emphasize relationships that are normally submerged; of being built in structures whilst following unstructured codes, of creating a separate world with its own rules, personnel and expectations; of encompassing contradictory ideas and practices while involving formal and informal institutions: So what is this 'separate world'? What relationships, normally unseen or unnoticed, are made apparent within the space of the festival? While the origins of festivals lie in the close relationship of the quotidian and ritual aspects of traditional communities, how do contemporary festivals relate to the diversity of multicultural societies? Conversely, how are they inflected by the forces of globalization, by the festivalization of culture that in recent years has become a widespread tactic for the promotion of cities and regions? While many traditional festivals still exist, increasing urbanization, improved communications and diversified migration have meant that many contemporary festivals are of recent origin, the products of what Giddens refers to as the post-traditional state of present societies (Giddens 1994). This description highlights the self-conscious nature of dealing with culture in a world of competing and overlapping world views. While cultural identity and authenticity are still used to infer the existence of qualities intrinsic to communities, ethnicities or nations, the fragmentation and interconnectedness of contemporary societies have long made assertions of essence untenable. Meanings have become dependent on performativity and context. Cultural identity, while traditionally applied to those sharing a particular geographic, linguistic, ethnic or religious background, has become extended to other senses of belonging, to communities based on sexuality, physicality or simply shared experience and taste. The notion that festivals might create separate worlds suggests that part of the reason for their recent proliferation in recent times is that they provide the ideal medium for both performance and participation in this diffuse and shifting environment.

Making Connections in Geelong : migrants, social capital and growing regional cities

Migration has been increasingly used to compensate for demographic trends and skill shortages in developed countries. This has resulted in policies to encourage migration to regional areas in order to relieve pressures on liveability and infrastructure in big cities. Like many other regional cities in Victoria, Geelong actively encourages migrants from overseas, from Melbourne and from other parts of rural and regional Australia, by promoting workforce participation, and enhancing lifestyles to attract and retain a growing population. A number of countries including Australia, Canada, Italy and Spain have policies to encourage immigration to locations other than large urban centres to stimulate regional economic development and to ensure immigrants fill skill shortages in regional areas. However, migrants do not always stay long in the regional locations where they initially settle, and new migrants are needed to replace their skills. Given the Australian and Victorian government policy imperatives of encouraging regional migration there is a need to understand how migrants and their families make the social connections that contribute to wellbeing and their retention in regional areas such as Geelong. This paper emerges from a research project on this challenge at Deakin University, in Geelong It discusses some of the issues associated with regional migration and describes how a sound, theoretically informed understanding of social capital can assist employers, governments and community groups (formal and informal) to effectively assist migrants to make social connections and therefore remain in regional cities.

Community, commitment and the ten 'Commandments's : singing in the Coro Furlan, Melbourne, Australia

Membership of community music groups by older people can enhance quality of life, provide a sense fulfillment, and create a space through which cultural identity may be shared. This case study explores community and cultural engagement by members of the Coro Furlan, an Italian male community choir in Melbourne, Australia. Members were interviewed and data analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three broad themes were identified: sense of community, maintenance of cultural identity, and sustaining well-being through shared music making. The choir members perform music from Italy and elsewhere and consider themselves to be custodians of Friulan choral music. Singing in this choir has offered members an opportunity to value, learn, and share music in formal and informal settings. This paper identifies how music engagement can facilitate successful ageing through commitment to community, singing and following the ten ‘Commandments’ of the Coro Furlan.