Building research capacity in General Practice : Incorporating research as a component of GP vocational training

Aims & rationale/Objectives : Australian research shows that most GP registrar supervisors lack confidence to support registrar research projects and themselves have little or no research experience. Assisting registrars to develop critical thinking skills and an understanding of research methods sufficient to enable active use of these tools in general practice is one of the curriculum statements in the RACGP Training Program Curriculum. A University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) and a General Practice Education and Training (GPET) organisation formed a partnership to: Engage basic term registrars in group research and concurrent research skills training program; Improve research skills, confidence, and knowledge; and Contribute research findings relevant to general practice.

Methods : Registrars' initial research knowledge and confidence was measured by a questionnaire. In addition to a final focus group, feedback via evaluation forms was sought from the 11 registrars and two GPET supervisors at the conclusion of each research training session.

Principal findings : Approaches

Implications : Research skills development training and involvement in research can be successfully integrated into a GP vocational training program.

Building social capital in groups : facilitating skill development for natural resource management

Analysis of the experiences of four farmer groups set up to learn how to jointly manage local natural resource issues shows that the groups are going though two simultaneous processes. One builds technical competency in natural resource management and the other is the underpinning social process that allows the groups to make decisions and work collectively, which builds social capital. Natural resource management practitioners and farmers are practical people. They are likely to be more comfortable with a process that develops monitoring tools and benchmarks for natural resource management than a process of group development and social capital formation. Yet the two are intrinsically linked. This paper reflects on and analyses the experience of establishing and working with farmer groups as they go through a process of identifying environmental issues, setting and monitoring environmental benchmarks and identifying and implementing sustainable farming practices to meet the benchmarks.

Two questions emerged from the analysis. First, how do the four groups compare to other measures of effective natural resource management groups? Second, what are the characteristics of the groups that make them more or less effective and what has occurred in the groups (either before or during this project) to make them more or less effective? Social capital emerges as a key determinant of group effectiveness. Social capital is most effective when it comprises a balance of bonding and bridging networks, and includes shared values in relation to the purpose of the group.

Policy makers and extension workers need to understand the link between the two simultaneous processes occurring as people come together in groups to define and implement best practice at a local level, and how to use knowledge of social processes when designing the more concrete process of developing and implementing best practice monitoring and benchmarking with groups. An understanding of how people build social capital as they work in groups will assist with designing and facilitating group projects in a range of contexts, not only natural resource management.

Habitus shock : a model for architect-client relationships on house projects based on sociological and psychological perspectives

The widening gap between architects and clients and the associated problems in the management of their relationship have long been recognised by practitioners and researchers alike. An emerging trend in recent studies is to develop descriptive models to describe behavioural characteristics of relationships based on observations of ' real world' practice, indicating the significance of understanding the complexities of the social environment in which the architect-client relationship is within. This research built upon the work of past descriptive models by exploring the architect-client relationship on house projects with a focus on the client's voice. It is an interdisciplinary study drawing theory from sociology to further understand this built environment industry problem. Sixty-nine percent of architects in Australia spend some of their work time on house projects and therefore improvements in this area can have significant impact on a considerably large portion of the profession. Habitus theory borrowed from sociology explains that the nature of architecture as a specialised activity places architects within an architectural habitus, distinguishing them from clients who are .not trained in the field. An underlying premise of thi s study is that a mismatch between the architect and client's habituses occurs as they enter into a relationship on the house project. This phenomenon is termed habitus shock, referring to the client 's experience of disorientation as they are confronted with an unfamiliar architectural habitus on the project. Culture shock theory is examined for its contribution to explain the process to which the client adjusts to the unfamiliar environment during habitus shock. The habitus shock model proposed in this paper suggests that the client may achieve learning during habitus shock and it is this client learning that can lead to successful relationships.

Model for fostering trust and building relationships in China's construction industry

Trust is an underlying psychological condition that can cause cooperation or risk-taking. Trust is considered as a predominant feature and a central mechanism in business transactions, especially among Chinese. Trust-based relationships create advantages in conducting business such as lowering cost, shortening duration, and improving performance. Indispensable conditions for trust to arise are relationships and risks. Different risks surface as a result of different levels of relationships. Sustained trust is therefore fostered by various means to counterbalance those risks. In order to assess the links between distinct trust-related features, a model is constructed and tested through a questionnaire survey in China. The findings generally support the model in terms of explaining the dominant relationships, inherent risks, and trust-fostering tools. It is recommended that firms adopt the refined model and utilize successful practices verified in this paper to foster trust and relationships and in turn secure project success.

Risk and trust in cross-sector R & D projects

The Cooperative Research Centres are hybrid organizations at the leading edge of change in Australia's research culture and are key elements in the new knowledge infrastructure contributing to technological innovation. The paper presents findings from a qualitative study of CRC managers' perceptions and management of downside risk in commercially-focused R&D projects. CRC managers deal with both performance risks (arising from uncertainties about achieving goals) and relational risks (arising from collaborative relationships). They do so through formalisation, the selection of people with desirable characteristics, and the building of relationships. Underlying these risk mitigation strategies is the formation of trust (a willingness to rely on a partner in whom one has confidence), and this occurs at both interorganizational and project levels.

Development of DAL and DAPL languages for building distributed applications

A common characteristic among parallel/distributed programming languages is that the one language is used to specify not only the overall organisation of the distributed application, but also the functionality of the application. That is, the connectivity and functionality of processes are specified within a single program. Connectivity and functionality are independent aspects of a distributed application. This thesis shows that these two aspects can be specified separately, therefore allowing application designers to freely concentrate on either aspect in a modular fashion. Two new programming languages have been developed for specifying each aspect. These languages are for loosely coupled distributed applications based on message passing, and have been designed to simplify distributed programming by completely removing all low level interprocess communication. A suite of languages and tools has been designed and developed. It includes the two new languages, parsers, a compilation system to generate intermediate C code that is compiled to binary object modules, a run-time system to create, manage and terminate several distributed applications, and a shell to communicate with the run-tune system. DAL (Distributed Application Language) and DAPL (Distributed Application Process Language) are the new programming languages for the specification and development of process oriented, asynchronous message passing, distributed applications. These two languages have been designed and developed as part of this doctorate in order to specify such distributed applications that execute on a cluster of computers. Both languages are used to specify orthogonal components of an application, on the one hand the organisation of processes that constitute an application, and on the other the interface and functionality of each process. Consequently, these components can be created in a modular fashion, individually and concurrently. The DAL language is used to specify not only the connectivity of all processes within an application, but also a cluster of computers for which the application executes. Furthermore, sub-clusters can be specified for individual processes of an application to constrain a process to a particular group of computers. The second language, DAPL, is used to specify the interface, functionality and data structures of application processes. In addition to these languages, a DAL parser, a DAPL parser, and a compilation system have been designed and developed (in this project). This compilation system takes DAL and DAPL programs to generate object modules based on machine code, one module for each application process. These object modules are used by the Distributed Application System (DAS) to instantiate and manage distributed applications. The DAS system is another new component of this project. The purpose of the DAS system is to create, manage, and terminate many distributed applications of similar and different configurations. The creation procedure incorporates the automatic allocation of processes to remote machines. Application management includes several operations such as deletion, addition, replacement, and movement of processes, and also detection and reaction to faults such as a processor crash. A DAS operator communicates with the DAS system via a textual shell called DASH (Distributed Application SHell). This suite of languages and tools allowed distributed applications of varying connectivity and functionality to be specified quickly and simply at a high level of abstraction. DAL and DAPL programs of several processes may require a few dozen lines to specify as compared to several hundred lines of equivalent C code that is generated by the compilation system. Furthermore, the DAL and DAPL compilation system is successful at generating binary object modules, and the DAS system succeeds in instantiating and managing several distributed applications on a cluster.

The meaning of capacity building in Indonesia

Capacity building has been prominent in development projects of various kinds for the last decade. Capacity is, in this context, an amorphous term broadly defined as the ability of people, organizations, and communities to handle all the aspects of existence that relate to them (Vincent-Lancrin, 2006). Capacity building generally refers to efforts to develop this ability among particular groups, resulting in enhanced potential to manage their own needs (Potter and Brough, 2004). Capacity building and the associated process of capacity development have been considered central in improving governance, civil society institutions, and local administrations in developing countries (Brinkerhoff, 2000). The World Bank, with its emphasis on strengthening governance, has made capacity building a focus of its programs and leads the development of relevant models and evaluative measures (Wilhelm and Kushnarova, 2004; Straussman, 2007).

Despite its importance in development circles and a quantity of scholarly consideration, the effects of capacity building initiatives are difficult to document and evaluate, and the concept has generated criticism as well as support. Though many aspects of capacity building have been elucidated, one issue that remains less thoroughly studied is the concept’s meaning to target populations. This paper considers the meaning and nature of capacity building in Indonesia, including local perceptions of the concept. This, it is hoped, will offer insight into the whole question of capacity in that nation and that this discussion will inform future development efforts.

Procedural justice and Australian environment : the case of the Wonthaggi water desalination plant

Drier conditions in Australia have compelled governments to implement various projects to address current or impending water shortages. Such projects have not always been popular with the local community who are directly affected by this infrastructure, with 'procedural justice' emerging as a critical issue. This paper analyses issues of public perceptions of 'procedural justice' in implementing environmental projects in regional areas, in the context of the recently approved desalination plant in the regional Victorian town of Wonthaggi. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data from a survey of 316 Wonthaggi residents, we show that one of the major predictors of residents' resistance toward accepting the building of the desalination plant was explained by perceptions of procedural injustice. We further argue that inadequate attention to the particular political history of the region has compounded the sense that the plant implementation has been unfair. Attention to such political histories is vital to avoiding conflict with local stakeholders and to the successful and ethical implementation of development projects in regional areas.

The functional significance of multiple nest-building in the Australian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus australis

The vast majority of bird species build a nest in which to breed. Some species build more than one nest, but the function of most multiple nest-building remains unclear. Here we describe the unusual nest-building behaviour of the Australian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus australis, and test experimentally the hypotheses that multiple nest-building is related to individual condition or territory quality, and plays a role in mate assessment. Australian Reed Warblers built two types of nest structures: 'type I' nests, which were used for eggs and nestlings, and 'type II' nests, which were structurally distinct from type I nests, did not support eggs, nestlings or adults and were not essential for successful breeding. The number of type II nests built in each territory varied. Type II nests were only built before breeding had commenced in a territory and females were not observed participating in their construction, supporting a role in female mate choice. Birds provided with supplementary food built significantly more type II nests than control birds. However, supplementary-fed birds did not have greater pairing success, and the addition of further type II nests to territories did not increase the pairing rate or type II nest construction in those territories. There was no relationship between the presence of type II nests and either reproductive success or likelihood of nest predation. We discuss the implications of these results in light of previous suggestions regarding the function of multiple nest-building in birds.

Miners, diggers, ferals and show-men : school–community projects that affirm and unsettle identities and place?

Many contemporary sociologists suggest that a feature of modern life is that the practices and identities associated with 'place' are eroded. The local no longer matters in everyday life as it once did. Some national governments are persuaded of the possibility of an urban dystopia of Orwellian dimensions, and have found a response in theories and rhetorics of social capital, citizenship and communitarianism. They have instituted strategies to address an imaginary of harmonious local communities. In this paper I examine one such government intervention and show how four schools in Tasmania, Australia, took up the invitation to strengthen ties with their local communities. The projects reveal that the local still exists and matters, but they also hint at other possibilities. I argue that by working with a 'place-based' curriculum to assist young people in building local networks and engaging productively with their local neighbourhoods, schools might provide important resources for identity-building and learning.

Future of building surveying in Australia

Building surveying is fragmenting into specialist areas that will in time displace the profession and contribute to its demise. For the profession to survive it must change and embrace these new areas as part of the building surveying family. The research identified 18 ingredients of successful professional bodies that the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors can use to position the organisation to accommodate these new areas and assist it to prosper and grow into an effective professional body.

Developing reflexive capability for successful joint ventures between Australian and Malaysian property and construction professionals

Increasingly Malaysian property and construction firms are seeking to work internationally. Firms enter international markets through various strategies and typically property and construction professionals rely on developing various forms of cooperative and collaborative arrangements. The common modes of entry include international alliances, project joint ventures, partnerships, company joint ventures and large consortiums; which arise as a response to clients seeking expressions of interests from the international community or the firms seeking to internationalise approaching clients and/or potential host country partners. Increasingly project teams on international mega projects are composed of multiple key partners from different countries coming together to achieve a higher level of strategic flexibility. Establishing and maintaining local connections and business networks are therefore critical to ensure the success of exporting firms. This paper reports the findings of a project which explores factors affecting the performance of Malaysian property and construction professionals working internationally through effective joint ventures. The project seeks to develop a performance measurement framework to examine the extent to which Malaysian firms are developing sustainable business models internationally which adapt and respond to changing conditions. A generic framework was initially developed prior to this study through a grounded theory approach merging theory from internationalisation, design management and market knowledge literature followed by a case study empirical investigation and then further literature review based upon the themes which emerged from the case study analysis. A reflexive capability model for firms in managing both economic and non-economic capital; including social, cultural and intellectual capital was developed. This project seeks to build upon the reflexive model by adapting it to the unique contexts related to the specific geographic localities of exporting Malaysian firms. Specifically, the project explores the extent to which the performance measurement framework can be used to map capabilities Malaysian construction firms have and Which they need to develop in relation to developing and maintaining international collaborative partnerships. The preliminary results of one case study Malaysian architectural firm are discussed.

Risk allocation in public-private partnership projects

Both the increasing private participation in public projects and the critical importance of appropriate risk allocation to the success of public-private partnership (PPP) projects justify specific research on the risk allocation practice in PPP projects, particularly whether the practice is value-for-money driven. In this paper, the risk allocation in construction projects is examined firstly. The risks associated with PPP projects and the concept of optimal risk allocation are then reviewed. More importantly, the risk allocation practice in PPP projects is examined, particularly in the Australian context. Important issues, such as the current practice, the governments' accountability, and achieving efficient allocation, are discussed. The discussion presented in this paper is expected to justify and elicit further research on how to achieve efficient risk allocation in PPP projects

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.

Community capacity building for obesity prevention

The study aimed to understand how capacity-building was operationalised within obesity prevention projects. It clarified definitions of capacity building and identified patterns in the process of building capacity. A potential framework to guide communities to formalise and contextualise capacity building, and prioritise action for leveraging existing capacities was proposed.