Intellectual capital reporting : an examination of local government in Victoria

The objective of this research is to examine how Victorian local government annual reports disclose information on intellectual capital. The idea of intellectual capital has become part of the working organisational vocabulary, and is widely held in management literature to be the pre-eminent economic resource and a key driver of efficiency, effectiveness and continual improvement in the private and public sectors. Under the recent Best Value Victoria policy, local governments are under increasing pressure to acquire and apply intellectual capital to improve responsiveness to community needs and meet cost and quality criteria. Annual reports exist as vehicles for communication, accountability and decision making. This study examines how the internal, external and human categories of intellectual capital are represented in the annual reports for the 2000 year for 77 of the 78 Victorian local
governments.

Using a matrix approach derived from Petty and Guthrie's (2000) framework, content analysis is employed to examine the incidence and intensity with which specific elements of intellectual capital are reported. This research indicates that generally the content of annual reports have not provided clear and coherent representations of how local government in Victoria are developing, applying and measuring intellectual capital. The nature and extent of intellectual capital reporting varies considerably between councils, and the disclosure of the human elements of intellectual capital is particularly underdeveloped. The findings suggest that more research in this area is needed to determine the extent to which intellectual capital should be disclosed and whether the current paucity of disclosure stems from disinterest or technical problems. There is also the need for further research into the need to identify and describe elements of intellectual capital, and into effective
reporting strategies and techniques. This may lead to the development of a 'best practice' reporting model for intellectual capital. Furthermore, the preliminary investigations indicate a perceived need to raise the consciousness of public sector
managers as to the existence of intellectual capital within their organisations, and ultimately lead to more informed and effective management of this asset.

National and international financial reporting standard convergence and the relevance for non-participants in capital markets : a preparer perspective

This study presents some implications of recent policy moves to enhance the harmonization of financial reporting and disclosure by adopting international financial reporting standards. In particular the impact on small organizations that do not participate in capital markets is considered. The results of a survey of practitioners indicate a perception that the non-capital market sector is likely to be significantly affected by additional reporting burden that convergence with international financial reporting standards imposes. On the whole the results show there was concern that the traditional users of the financial reports of organizations who do not participate in capital markets, would have limited if any, use for financial reports that conformed to international financial reporting standards, The results of this study have implications for nations such as Malaysia and New Zealand, which are currently engaging in the differential reporting debate.

Diverse approaches : a study of Australian journalism educators' use of web-based curriculum modules for reporting cultural difference

The Reporting Diversity website provides four curriculum modules to assist journalism educators to teach students about the issues and practice of reporting on cultural difference. The researchers co-ordinated the second round of trials of these resources in 2009, which involved the participation of academics and students from five Australian universities. A further 30 academics were surveyed to gauge their level of awareness of the materials. This paper reports on the educators’ evaluation of the resources and reveals the innovative ways in which the modules are being used and adapted in different classroom settings. The researchers argue that sharing different teaching approaches to the materials through the Reporting Diversity website would assist other academics to adapt the resources for their own use.

Investigative interviewing of children : barriers to adopting 'best-practice' guidelines

This research examined the global difficulties of investigative interviewers in adhering to best-practice guidelines (i.e. open-ended questions) when interviewing children about abuse. It demonstrated that the importance of, and rationale for, using open-ended questions is not well understood by investigative interviewers, nor are they adequately reinforced with police organisations.

Rethinking curriculum, assessment and reporting in a technology-rich school environment

This research presents a portrait of a school experiencing the dilemmas and tensions of adapting to new technology. Teachers, parents and students' reactions to, and involvement in, the defining of the 'learning community' of the school is analysed and documented as multimodal reporting of student learning and progress is introduced.

Social/environmental reporting by Shell

This thesis uses textual analysis to examine how language use by global multinationals in social/environmental reports contributes to maintaining economically-based understandings of corporate responsibility. The findings suggest that such reporting does not just discharge accountability for social/environmental impacts; it also has implications for how these responsibilities are understood and accepted.

An examination of the consistency of investigative interviewers' performance

Three original studies were conducted to examine the consistency of investigative-interviewer performance across similar and distinct interview tasks. Overall, the degree of consistency depended on numerous factors, including the nature of the event and interview paradigm, the precision of the assessment measure and whether group versus individual stability was measured. The portfolio highlights and discusses some of the complexities that can arise when conducting a parenting capacity assessment with a patient who has, or is suspected of having, an intellectual disability. Four case studies are presented.