Intra-organisational marketing culture and market orientation: a case study of the implementation of the marketing concept in a public library

The measurement of both marketing culture and behaviour provides the opportunity to gain more insight into the overall market focus of organisations. This article seeks to determine the market orientation and marketing culture of all staff within organisations, to ascertain to what extent other members of an organisation support or create barriers to the successful implementation of the marketing concept. This paper will provide a brief overview of the existing literature in the field of market orientation and marketing culture. After detailing the research design and methodology, a summary developed from 11 focus group sessions - consisting of all staff in one public library service in Victoria, Australia - is presented. The findings indicate that while all areas within this organisation are committed to marketing, there are various interpretations of marketing and how it should be implemented. In addition, the research finds a number of factors that could be instrumental in the successful implementation of the marketing concept in public libraries.

Community organisations and the dance of good and bad risk

This paper is concerned with an element of contemporary society that forms. the backdrop for some of the contradictory expectations and practices that currently bedevil community organisations in Australia. This element is the idea of risk, or more pertinently, the construction of the idea of risk society. The argument presented is that there are two different interpretations of risk, risk as threat and risk as opportunity. Each interpretation is examined to reveal the ways in which it affects community organisations in Australia. The paper concludes with the view that both ways in which risk is constructed are being used as part of the rationale for new forms of control.

Effect of orlistat on cardiovascular disease risk in obese adults

Aim: The aim of this study is to compare the effect of orlistat vs. placebo on the predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in obese people with one or more cardiovascular risk factors treated for 12 months, in conjunction with a fat-reduced, but otherwise ad libitum, diet.

Methods: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel study was performed in conjunction with a fat-reduced diet and physical activity advice for 1 year. Participants (n = 339) from eight centres in Australia and New Zealand were randomized to either orlistat (120 mg) three times daily (n = 104 women, 66 men; mean ± s.d. age = 52.0 ± 7.5 years, body mass index (BMI) = 37.6 ± 5.1 kg/m2) or placebo three times daily (n = 89 women, 80 men; age = 52.5 ± 7.4 years, BMI = 38.0 ± 4.9 kg/m2). The primary efficacy criterion was the 10-year risk of developing CVD calculated from the Framingham equation. Secondary efficacy criteria were body weight, waist circumference, blood pressure and serum concentrations of triglycerides, cholesterol (total, LDL and HDL), glucose, insulin and glycated haemoglobin and quality of life.

Results: There was no difference in the change in 10-year CVD risk between orlistat and placebo groups over 1 year. The orlistat group, however, had significant favourable changes in many of the individual CVD risk factors (total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, glucose, glycated haemoglobin, insulin, body weight and waist circumference) and one of the domains of quality of life measured by means of the SF-36 questionnaire (vitality), compared to the placebo group. Significant reductions in medication use for hypertension and diabetes were observed in the orlistat group, compared to those in placebo, but there were no significant differences in medication use for blood lipids.

Conclusions: Orlistat may have reduced CVD risk, as judged by the favourable changes in individual risk factors and reductions in medication use, but the method used in order to measure absolute CVD risk in this study (Framingham CVD equation) was not sensitive enough to detect the changes in this relatively low-risk group (approximately 10% of risk of a CVD event over 10 years).

Is the risk of illness through consuming vegetables irrigated with reclaimed wastewater different for different population groups?

The use of reclaimed wastewater for irrigation of horticultural crops is commonplace in many parts of the world and is likely to increase. Concerns about risks to human health arising from such practice, especially with respect to infection with microbial pathogens, are common. Several factors need to be considered when attempting to quantify the risk posed to a population, such as the concentration of pathogens in the source water, water treatment efficiency, the volume of water coming into contact with the crop, and the die-off rate of pathogens in the environment. Another factor, which has received relatively less attention, is the amount of food consumed. Plainly, higher consumption rates place one at greater risk of becoming infected. The amount of vegetables consumed is known to vary among ethic groups. We use Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Modelling (QMRA) to see if certain ethnic groups are exposed to higher risks by virtue of their consumption behaviour. The results suggest that despite the disparities in consumption rates by different ethnic groups they generally all faced comparable levels of risks. We conclude by suggesting that QMRA should be used to assess the relative levels of risk faced by groups based on divisions other than ethnicity, such as those with compromised immune systems.

Finding a 'safe' place on the risk continuum: a case study of pregnancy and birthing in Lao PDR (Lao People's Democratic Republic)

This paper addresses two questions. Firstly: are the risk regimes faced, and perceived, by pregnant women in rural Lao PDR substantially different from those experienced by pregnant women in western societies? Secondly, if the Lao experiences and perceptions are different, can improvements in maternal health in Lao PDR be achieved without Laotians inheriting the risk regimes of late modernity experienced by many women in western societies? Secondary analysis is undertaken of data collected in 2005 for the evaluation of a pilot maternity waiting home in Bolikhan, Lao PDR. The results suggest significantly different risk perceptions and experiences between Lao and western communities, based on contrasting views of embodiment, identity construction and cosmologies. In the Lao rural communities studied, there is little evidence yet of 'risk society' despite the introduction of western technologies and practices to improve maternal mortality and morbidity. It is argued that 'risk society' can be avoided.

Television viewing habits associated with obesity risk factors: a survey of Melbourne schoolchildren.

Objectives: To examine whether children’s television viewing may be a useful indicator of risk of obesity-promoting versus healthy eating behaviours, low-level physical activity (PA) and overweight or obesity among children of primary school entry and exit ages. Design: Cross-sectional study, stratified by area-level socioeconomic status. Participants and setting: 1560 children (613 aged 5–6 years [50% boys], and 947 aged 10–12 years [46% boys]) from 24 primary schools in Melbourne, Australia, randomly selected proportionate to school size between 1 November 2002 and 30 December 2003 . Main outcome measures: Parents’ reports of the time their child spends watching television, their participation in organised physical activities (PA), and their food intake; each child’s measured height and weight and their PA levels as assessed by accelerometry for one week. Results: After adjusting for the age and sex of child, the parents’ level of education, clustering by school, and all other health behaviour variables, children who watched television for > 2 h/day were significantly more likely than children who watched television for ≤ 2 h/day to: to have one or more serves/day of high energy drinks (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.31; 95% CI, 1.61–3.32), and to have one or more serves/day of savoury snacks (AOR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.04–2.17). They were also less likely to have two or more serves/day of fruit (AOR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.46–0.74), or to participate in any organised PA (AOR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.34–0.80). Conclusions: Health practitioners in the primary care setting may find that asking whether a child watches television for more than 2 hours daily can be a useful indicator of a child’s risk of poor diet and low physical activity level.

Transitional labour markets : a social investment and risk mitigation strategy for social policy

Drawing on transitional labor market (TLM) theory, this introductory chapter highlights major themes, overviews the contributions to this volume and suggests a future agenda for policy makers. The focus of applied research projects has been the impact of post-modem social transformations on systems of social protection, looking through the lens of the labor market and shifts in household and family structure. The Transitional Labor Market project uses the TLM model as a means of developing new thinking on how flexibility and innovation might be paired with social investment and new forms of social protection. TLM theory emphasizes the importance of institutions and of the links between different institutions which frequently operate as policy silos, rather than integrated systems to buffer risks and support capability and enhance employability. The great advantage of the TLM model is that it draws attention to the right places for strategic reform. It does not offer a standard set of institutions to facilitate transitions however.

Impact of an empowerment-based parent education program on the reduction of youth suicide risk factors

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of parent education groups on youth suicide risk factors. The potential for informal transmission of intervention impacts within school communities was assessed.

Methods: Parent education groups were offered to volunteers from 14 high schools that were closely matched to 14 comparison schools. The professionally led groups aimed to empower parents to assist one another to improve communication skills and relationships with adolescents. Australian 8th-grade students (aged 14 years) responded to classroom surveys repeated at baseline and after 3 months. Logistic regression was used to test for intervention impacts on adolescent substance use, deliquency, self-harm behavior, and depression. There were no differences between the intervention (n = 305) and comparison (n = 272) samples at baseline on the measures of depression, health behavior, or family relationships.

Results: Students in the intervention schools demonstrated increased maternal care (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.9), reductions in conflict with parents (AOR .5), reduced substance use (AOR .5 to .6), and less delinquency (AOR .2). Parent education group participants were more likely to be sole parents and their children reported higher rates of substance use at baseline. Intervention impacts revealed a dose-response with the largest impacts associated with directly participating parents, but significant impacts were also evident for others in the intervention schools. Where best friend dyads were identified, the best friend’s positive family relationships reduced subsequent substance use among respondents. This and other social contagion processes were posited to explain the transfer of positive impacts beyond the minority of directly participating families.

Conclusions: A whole-school parent education intervention demonstrated promising impacts on a range of risk behaviors and protective factors relevant to youth self-harm and suicide.

Understanding the management of doctoral studies in Australia as risk management

This paper discusses and analyses theoretical explanations of risk and risk management in terms of the management of doctoral studies. It deals with the ways in which Government policy, together with contemporary approaches to the bureaucratisation of risk management and the development and imposition of rationalities of risk, are shaping the practices of universities concerning the selection, supervision, support and assessment of doctoral candidates. In particular, the impact of the Research Training Scheme on doctoral studies is discussed as a particular context in which the institutionalisation of risk management occurs.

The conceptualisation of operational risk management models

Operational risk is evolving as a specialist field of risk management that must be practiced within all organisations, but currently has a particular relevance to banks. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has circulated a consultative paper which, if adopted by nation-state bank supervisors, will impose an operational risk capital charge on banks as part of a new Capital Accord. The definition of operational risk is wide-ranging and creates some unique issues related to the development of appropriate risk management models. This paper conceptualises two distinct operational risk management models; being a predictive model that will result in a known outcome upon its implementation, and a pre-emptive operational risk management model which prepares an organisation in the event that a future risk occurrence results in a disruption to critical business operations.

Consumer choice, information product quality, and market implications

The paper concerns with the peculiarities of consumer choice in information product markets. This is a multidisciplinary study based on both information system research and microeconomic theory. An extension is introduced to the conventional general theory of consumer choice for explicitly taking into account the impact of information product quality on consumer behaviour. Multiple quality characteristics, considered against the price of product, are an essential reason for consumer choice of high tech product in general and information product in particular. We assume that consumers are able to aggregate their preferences of multiple product characteristics into a product preference order. On the supply side, the product quality characteristics incur costs. In the case of information product, those costs are the costs of the first copy, and marginal costs are near zero. All of the above constitute the distinctive characteristics of the competitive mechanism in the digital economy and in information product markets. A model, based on the game theory is used to consider two special cases. The first one deals with monopolistic competition for a share of the market with a limited number of customers. Conditions are derived for IT firm survival. The second one considers conditions at which a monopoly is able to successfully introduce a new version if its information product.

Fire fighters' assessments of fireground risk

Fire fighters are often required to work in dynamic and hazardous environments involving a high level of uncertainty. The present study investigated 110 volunteer fire fighters’ assessments of levels of risk associated with a photographic depiction of a typical grassland fire situation. The fire fighters used a standard fire agency risk-rating matrix procedure requiring them to specify the severity of the hazards depicted and the probability of a mishap in order to rate overall level of risk (1 = Low; 4 = Extreme). The risk ratings made by the fire fighters varied greatly. The overall rate of agreement with the risk level rating of the situation made by a panel of expert fire officers (=1, Low) was only 27%. It seems that use of a standard risk-rating matrix procedure by fire fighters at incidents, as recommended currently by many fire agencies, is likely to result in unreliable risk assessments, at least in the absence of effective training in the risk assessment procedure. The 110 volunteers were also asked to identify the total number of potential hazards apparent in five photographs depicting different kinds of emergency incidents. Identifying more hazards was found to be associated with (a) previous personal experience of a ‘near-miss’; and (b) higher levels of education. The findings imply that when faced with identical fire ground situations, individual fire fighters are likely to differ in their situational awareness of hazards and consequent risk assessments.

The conceptualisation of operational risk management models

Operational risk is evolving as a specialist field of risk management that must be practiced within all organisations, but currently has a particular relevance to banks. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has circulated a consultative paper which, if adopted by nation-state bank supervisors, will impose an operational risk capital charge on banks as part of a new Capital Accord. The definition of operational risk is wide-ranging and creates some unique issues related to the development of appropriate risk management models. This paper conceptualises two distinct operational risk management models; being a predictive model that will result in a known outcome upon its implementation, and a pre-emptive operational risk management model which prepares an organisation in the event that a future risk occurrence results in a disruption to critical business operations.

Pathway planning and 'becoming somebody' : Exploring the tensions between wellbeing and credentialism with students at (educational) risk

This paper maps the policy shifts around the education and training of youth that frame how schools respond to issues of youth' at risk'. These shifts have occurred with the move from the self managing schools marked by market discourses of competition, autonomy and image management that supplanted earlier discourses of welfare and community, through to recent policies in Victoria arising from the Kirby Review of Post compulsory Education and Public Education, the Next Generation undertaken by the Labor government. These reports, and the policies emerging out of them, are producing new discourses about youth and schooling focusing on wellbeing, learning networks and more systemic support for schools at the same time as there is increased accountability and expectations of schools. Drawing on the school exclusion literature from the U.K, and using Bourdieu's notion of habitus, we examine the findings from a recent study undertaken on the Geelong Pathways Planning project, funded through a Victorian government strategy, to discuss how schools respond to such initiatives. The project explored the ways in which students in the Geelong region understood and worked with the job planning pathways program, and how service providers (schools, community education facilities, job networks etc) coordinated to meet the needs of individual youth. There was a disjuncture in the participating schools between the discourses of care and welfare for students at risk, and the actual practices and policies that ignored or excluded such students. This paper concludes with a discussion of what might be required systemically, in schools and in their relations to other education providers, to build the capacity to respond more effectively to all students.

Non-smooth optimization methods for computation of the conditional value-at-risk and portfolio optimization

We examine numerical performance of various methods of calculation of the Conditional Value-at-risk (CVaR), and portfolio optimization with respect to this risk measure. We concentrate on the method proposed by Rockafellar and Uryasev in (Rockafellar, R.T. and Uryasev, S., 2000, Optimization of conditional value-at-risk. Journal of Risk, 2, 21-41), which converts this problem to that of convex optimization. We compare the use of linear programming techniques against a non-smooth optimization method of the discrete gradient, and establish the supremacy of the latter. We show that non-smooth optimization can be used efficiently for large portfolio optimization, and also examine parallel execution of this method on computer clusters.