Organising inclusion work : key factors for success

This paper presents the findings of research conducted by Scope in 2007-2009. It proposes a way of categorising the dominant modes or orientations to inclusion work in the disability sector in Australia and identifies the barriers and enablers to it. The research engaged with seventeen ‘inclusion workers’ or managers in Victoria and Perth, Western Australia and sought examples of successful practice along with the ingredients of success, and outcomes of the work. Coincidently, the majority of examples provided related to inclusion work with people with intellectual disability, and a minority of these relating to people with severe intellectual disability. This data was analysed to identify key organisational factors required for successful inclusion work. Most importantly, respondents were also asked to identify the outcomes of inclusion work for individuals with a disability and their families, as well as for services, and for the communities with whom they engaged. The paper offers a way of conceptualising the breadth of inclusion work, including work focused on presence and participation, as well as the larger scale activities of social engineering or social change. The paper presents key ingredients for successful organisational approaches to such work.

The establishment of large private nature reserves by conservation NGOs : key factors for successful implementation

Private nature reserves created by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are increasing, and their growing number and extent means that they can potentially contribute to biodiversity goals at a global scale. However, the success of these reserves depends on the legal, economic and institutional conditions framing their creation and management. We explored these conditions, and the opportunities and challenges facing conservation organizations in managing private nature reserves, across several countries, with an emphasis on Australia. Results from 17 semi-structured interviews with representatives of private conservation organizations indicated that while private reserves may enhance the conservation estate, challenges remain. Legal frameworks, especially tenure and economic laws, vary across and within countries, presenting conservation organizations with significant opportunities or constraints to owning and/or managing private nature reserves. Many acquired land without strategic acquisition procedures and secured funding for property acquisition but not management, affecting the long-term maintenance of properties. Other typical problems were tied to the institutional capacity of the organizations. Greater planning within organizations, especially financial planning, is required and NGOs must understand opportunities and constraints present in legislative frameworks at the outset. Organizations must establish their expertise gaps and address them. To this end, partnerships between organizations and/or with government can prove critical.

Designing online role plays with a focus on story development to support engagement and critical learning for higher education students

Online role plays, as they are designed for use in higher education in Australia and internationally, are active and authentic learning activities (Wills, Leigh & Ip, 2011). In online role plays, students take a character role in developing a story that serves as a metaphor for real-life experience in order to develop a potentially wide range of subject-related and generic learning outcomes. The characteristics of these stories are rarely considered as factors in the design―and success―of these activities. The unspoken cultural assumptions, norms and rules in the stories that impact on the meanings students make from their experiences are also rarely scrutinised in the online role play literature. This paper presents findings from a case study of an asynchronous text-based online role play involving politics and journalism students from three Australian universities. The findings highlight the centrality of students’ collaborative story-building activity to their engagement and learning, including their development of critical perspectives. The study underlines the importance of certain aspects of the role play's design to support students' story-building activity.

Factors affecting breeding success in Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus macropus) across Victoria 1991 - 2012

Peregrine Falcon’s lifetime reproductive outputs are influenced more by the quality of the nest site than by the environmental landscape in which they live. The installation of a nest boxes significantly improves breeding outcomes. Uniquely, Victorian Peregrines use novel (non-cliff) nest sites and disperse considerably shorter distances to adopt these sites.

Physiological and behavioural factors influencing foraging success in otariid seals

 This thesis directly validated methods of estimating energetic gain and energetic expenditure in diving seals and sea lions. Results showed that head-mounted accelerometers and dive behaviour can predict foraging behaviour and energetic gain. In contrast, 3-dimensional body movement was unable to reliably predict energetic expenditure of diving pinnipeds.

The ten commandments for global electronic commerce success in small business

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute significantly to national economies and employment levels and represent a viable source for inventions and innovations. The emergence of electronic commerce in the early 90's could provide different opportunities to the small business sector to overcome its inadequacies. However, in view of the electronic commerce/business (EC) literature in organizations in general and in SMEs specifically, EC research is scarce. Available research portrays a gloomy picture about EC uptake and use by SMEs. Therefore, this chapter attempts, by reviewing recent EC research, to depict an agenda for EC success in SMEs made up of ten influencing factors. Thus, an attempt is made to develop deeper understanding about the factors influencing EC success in SMEs. By following the suggested guidelines in this chapter, SMEs would be in a better position to assess the Viability o/the new EC perspective 10 their organizations. The same factors are highly important to researchers, SMEs, professionals (including educational institutions) and policymakers in driving SMEs and EC forward.

A critical sociological perspective on harm minimisation

This text concentrates on the political factors and forces which determine government illicit drug policies. Provides relevant case study and source material which is used to analyse the influence of ideas and ideologies around the causation of illicit drug use, and potential solutions and impact of different local interest lobbies.

Microfinance best practice : ten parameters of success for development NGOs

Experience has shown that development NGOs typically do not succeed in transforming themselves into financially sustainable providers of financial intermediation services. The reasons for this failure are complex (see Dichter 1999). Nonetheless, the role that NGOs play as microfinance providers is important and the contribution they could make to poverty reduction would be greatly enhanced if they adhered to some simple but essential parameters of success.

Obesity and diabetes gene discovery approaches

New treatments are currently required for the common metabolic diseases obesity and type 2 diabetes. The identification of physiological and  biochemical factors that underlie the metabolic disturbances observed in obesity and type 2 diabetes is a key step in developing better therapeutic outcomes. The discovery of new genes and pathways involved in the  pathogenesis of these diseases is critical to this process, however  identification of genes that contribute to the risk of developing these diseases represents a significant challenge as obesity and type 2 diabetes are complex diseases with many genetic and environmental causes. A number of diverse approaches have been used to discover and validate potential new targets for obesity and diabetes. To date, DNA-based approaches using candidate gene and genome-wide linkage analysis have had limited success in identifying genomic regions or genes involved in the development of these diseases. Recent advances in the ability to evaluate linkage analysis data from large family pedigrees using variance components based linkage analysis show great promise in robustly identifying genomic regions associated with the development of obesity and diabetes. RNA-based technologies such as cDNA microarrays have identified many genes differentially expressed in tissues of healthy and diseased subjects. Using a combined approach, we are endeavouring to focus attention on differentially expressed genes located in chromosomal regions previously linked with obesity and / or diabetes. Using this strategy, we have identified Beacon as a potential new target for obesity and diabetes.

Behavioral versus demographic predictors of early adoption : a critical analysis and comparative test

Predicting which consumers will be amongst the first to adopt an innovative product is a difficult task but is valuable in allowing effective and efficient use of marketing resources. This paper examines the accuracy of predictions made about likely first adopters based on the most widely accepted theory and compares them to predictions made by examining the relevant past behavior of consumers. A survey of over 1000 consumers examined adoption of an innovative technology: compact fluorescent lightglobes. The results show that variables which were derived from a utility and awareness perspective were a more accurate and managerially useful predictor than the demographic variables derived from the widely accepted theory based on the work of Rogers. It is suggested that these alternative variables could be utilized more readily by marketing managers in many circumstances.