Ecologically sustainable development and architecture: the impact of rating tools

The concept of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) has become an important issue – albeit often scarcely applied – in the design of commercial buildings. To encourage the adoption of sustainable strategies in the practice of design and to address the environmental problems caused by these developments, governments and organisations of various countries have proposed the adoption of scorecard rating tools to inform designers of the impact of their decisions and to present a way of establishing project goals and objectives early in the design process. In Australia, the recent introduction of the Green Star Rating Tool (Office Design) is believed to provide the architects with a ‘whole-of-building’ assessment of the environmental impact of their design by creating a checklist against which to benchmark performance. This paper follows the design of a commercial building, evaluating the impact of Green Star in the overall process. The results of the study suggest the need to include the use of scorecard rating tools in a more integrated model, where ESD is considered at every stage of design and construction rather than being a separate component applied only to promote the ‘greenness’ of a building. Rating tools can be an asset to the design team, provided sustainable requirements are reinforced throughout the entire process.

Governing employees in the "Bank": a discourse analysis of strategic change

This paper reports the findings from a study of ‘Transform’, a Bank’s strategic change program. The study was carried out by developing and applying a discursive model of strategic change to Transform. Findings are presented about how Transform was constructed from ‘grand discourses’ of business and science that were drawn on by senior management, and how a ‘local discourse’ of the self was formed at the intersection of these grand discourses. This paper is concerned with how senior management has attempted to govern employee identity and practices through the construction of Transform. In this respect Transform can be understood as a discourse which was designed to regulate identity and influence employee practices by constructing and disseminating a particular reality for the Bank and its employees.

Does financial education influence retirement savings? An examination of Australian employees

In order to ensure a financially secure retirement, Australians will need to plan and save for their retirement many decades before they retire.

The age pension, paid for out of Commonwealth government taxes is currently the backbone of the retirement system, but will not replace as much pre-retirement income in the future as it does today. Given the shift from the defined benefit style to the accumulation style, superannuation funds involve considerably more uncertainty, and as such, one might have thought that individuals would be saving more on their own. But personal saving outside of superannuation plans is virtually non-existent. Combine the retirement income crunch with the dramatic increase in life expectancy, and the need for careful retirement planning and sacrificing current consumption for later consumption becomes imperative for ensuring the financial security of older Australians. The hard question is whether individuals will be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices today to ensure a more secure financial future in retirement? This paper explores the willingness of individuals to make these sacrifices, and whether financial education can influence individuals in this difficult decision.

The meaning of work : employees as stakeholders in organizational experience

Researchers and commentators have highlighted changes to individuals' understanding of the meaning of work over time, and particularly the increasing centrality of work in many people's lives today. This highlights the stakeholder role of employees not only in ensuring the organization's long-term viability, but for the organizational culture and overall workplace experience. The concepts of workplace spirituality and authentic leadership have both received attention as tools to aid in employees' connectedness wit the organization and in providing an environment where employees can bring their 'whole self' into the workplace. This paper discusses how these concepts assist in providing understanding of individuals' meaning of work, and highlights questions for future research consideration.

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.

Academic assessment of arts management journals: a multidimensional rating survey

The authors report the results of a journal rating survey assessing 14 publications dedicated to arts management and related topics. Establishing a rating scheme for journals is an important step in the professionalization of an academic field. The authors argue that the development of a rating system in arts management is in the best interests of the discipline. Academics used weighted multidimensional perceptual ratings to evaluate each journal’s prestige, contribution to theory, contribution to practice and contribution to teaching. Cluster analysis using these four criteria identified three classes of journals: A, B+ and B. The setting of standards serves to identify quality goals for academics and journal editors alike, thus enhancing the standing of arts management as a subdiscipline of management.

Quality of occupational health provision: two rating scales and their determinants

Background To develop quality scales for occupational health services (OHSs) and describe and explain variation in quality across the UK university sector.

Methods Analysis of data from a national survey, to which 93 of 117 (79%) UK universities responded, and from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Two quality scales were generated, one from the 1985 International Labour Organization recommendations on OHSs and one from clinicians’ perceptions (good, adequate, poor) about their OHS. The determinants examined were number of university staff, type of OHS (in-house, contracted, none/other), number of full-time equivalent occupational health doctors and nurses and OHS leadership (doctor, nurse, other).

Results There was wide variation in quality and a correlation (r = 0.65) between scales. In-house service, increasing service size and leadership by a doctor or nurse were determinants of higher quality; size of the university was not statistically significant after taking account of these factors.

Conclusions Some university OHSs may not be structured or operated to promote the highest quality of service. Inspection of individual quality scale items may be informative. These scales may be applicable in other employment sectors.