Faster than the speed of white (noise): potential pressure points in research partnerships and processes

White noise occurs in the thinking, decision making and communication of dominant Settler cultures. It inhibits clear reception of messages, somewhat like the indistinct, fuzzy static of an un-tuned radio. As much a systemic issue as an individual one, it results from assumed privilege and lack of knowledge of worldviews other than the dominant. Until white noise is acknowledged, development of partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups is likely to be limited by having to continually start at a point of inequality where nonIndigenous gaps in knowledge and understanding remain unrecognised. This paper/workshop considers challenges encountered while researching experiences of Aboriginal education in Western Australian prisons. Each pressure point occurred where the dominant world view prevailed without question. Discussion will focus on the specific pressure points of ethics approval, project development, informed consent and application of outcomes and findings. The paper asks the questions ‘Who decides what stories are created at these pressure points? What informs those stories?’ As individuals, we might not be able to crash through the white noise barrier but we can chip away and be transparent about its existence with the goal of eventually moving faster than the speed of white (noise).

Agent-Based Hybrid Intelligent Systems: An Agent-Based Framework for Complex Problem Solving

Pt. I. Fundamentals of hybrid intelligent systems and agents -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Basics of hybrid intelligent systems -- 3. Basics of agents and multi-agent systems -- Pt. II. Methodology and framework -- 4. Agent-oriented methodologies -- 5. Agent-based framework for hybrid intelligent systems --6. Matchmaking in middle agents -- Pt. III. Application systems -- 7. Agent-based hybrid intelligent system for financial investment
planning -- 8. Agent-based hybrid intelligent system for data mining -- Pt. IV. Concluding remarks -- 9. The less the more -- App. Sample source codes of the agent-based financial planning system

Multiple visions or multiple aversions? Consumer representation, consultation and participation in maternity issues

This paper reviews the Commonwealth government's policy of 'purposeful reporting to consumers'. I argue that the notion of consumer participation is underdeveloped. Consumers' needs will not be fully met by confining consumer representation at the administrative level; that is, in assuming that consumer advocates may speak for other consumers of health care services. The partnership objective at the heart of 'purposeful reporting' may be addressed fully only when practitioners and providers recognise the reciprocal expertise of the consumer in defining their own health priorities. This would require a new model of knowledge, of ethics and of the clinical encounter. The problem is not one of information deficit but of contrasting views of knowledge.

Cultural differences, information and code systems

This paper explores an alternative way of framing information systems research on the role and impact of national culture. It argues that the widely accepted structural framework of Hofstede reduces interpretation to a simplistic categorical description which in many cases ignores differentiation within cultures. The alternative model suggests, that national culture can be better understood by seeking out the dominant codes that frame the discourse pervasive in a culture and understanding how that discourse affects the obvious social codes of ritual, custom and behavior and the textual codes which express the nature of that culture. This framework is applied to two different case studies—one in New Zealand and one in Thailand—to demonstrate its applicability.

Accountants, ethical issues and the corporate governance context

A major survey of members of CPA Australia on the issue of ethics was recently conducted. A questionnaire was sent to 7,000 members at random, with those surveyed being asked whether they had come across any one of 14 ethical issues in the previous year. They were also asked to list the issues in order of importance as regards maintaining ethical standards, even if they had not been confronted by them.

Designing systems for e-commerce

Ethics is an important element in all aspects of computing, but proves to be a real problem in the development and delivery of E-Commerce systems. There are many aspects of ethics that can affect E-Commerce systems, but often research is focused on the ethics after the E-Commerce system has been implemented, focusing on issues such as trust, privacy and disclosure.

This paper will discuss how ethical matters can affect the design of E-Commerce systems and how a framework designed for E-Commerce can be used to create and deliver effective, ethical E-Commerce systems.

Flushing away professionalism : is it unsustainable?

Recently, a family was denied the right to subdivide their four-hectare property on the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria into nine residential allotments ranging in size from 4000 m2 to 6600 m2. Unsuccessful applications and approaches in the past, prior to our commissioning in late 2003, had been rejected on the basis of assessments of poor land capability, onerous wet weather storage requirements and a curious 60 m buffer from a nearby intermittent watercourse. Restriction on the type of interim wastewater systems deemed suitable for five allotments was also a major issue. The site did not have mains power and had no sewer connections. The water authority and Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (V CAT) order, prior to commissioning of the authors, asserted that "reticulated sewer is the preferred infrastructure for the area under investigation". However, the requirements imposed followed the letter of the guidelines rather than the principles. Various professional reports had already been produced on behalf of both the client and the regulator. A review of these indicated that the project had not been assessed in accordance with standard practices, had unusually restrictive assumptions, and did not accord with government policies on ecologically sustainable development.
The paper highlights the importance of sustaining professional and ethical practices to avoid costly litigation. Some professionals may have been in breach of the Institution of Engineers' Code of Ethics; others may have been in need of professional development. The question also arises whether the regulator had sought to use these adverse reports in order to satisfy unrelated planning issues.
While the writers managed to succeed in convincing the VCAT that these restrictions were unnecessary, the client ultimately had to comply with the regulator's wishes because of financial pressures. This unnecessary regimentation raises the issue of how best to safeguard lay people of moderate means against the practices of professional people who know or should know better.

'Dig in' to social capital : community gardens as mechanisms for growing urban social connectedness

This article reports on research undertaken with members of a Melbourne urban community garden to explore the extent to which such a natural amenity provides opportunities for enhancing social capital. It is apparent even from this small qualitative study that membership of 'Dig In' community garden offers many benefits to its members. These benefits include increased social cohesion (the sharing of values enabling identification of common aims and the sharing of codes of behaviour governing relationships), social support (having people to turn to in times of crisis) and social connections (the development of social bonds and networks). However, the study indicates that, at least in the early stages of development, such benefits do not necessarily extend beyond the garden setting. This raises a question about the time required to develop high levels of social capital, and points to the need for further research into 'time' and 'space' aspects of community gardens.

Competing on the higher ground : social expectations and sport

Research in sport ethics has traditionally focused on the ethical dimensions of the sport event and athletes, however the examination of the principles of ethics to the management and organisation of sport is a relatively recent phenomenon. The tension between the roles and responsibilities of sport as a business, and sport as an ethical and moral aspect of society has forced sport organisations to face an increased number of complex ethical dilemmas. As sport systems throughout the world become further professionalised and bureaucratised, the community understanding of what is ‘good’ is challenged. It is a commonly held expectation that there should be a high level of moral behaviour from those participating directly in the sport event (athletes, coaches, referees), however this expectation has extended to the sporting clubs and organisations which govern the sport itself.

Often used interchangeably, ethics and morality are complex terms concentrating on issues of right and wrong behaviour. Beauchamp and Bowie (1993) stated that the term morality suggests a social institution, composed of a set of standards which are pervasively acknowledged by the members of a culture, or alternatively a social construction. The application of ethics and moral values to the business environment applies across all sectors, including for-profit, non-profit and government, however Rubin (1990) found that the normative ethics, those which society accepts as ethical behaviour, varies from sector to sector. In the non-profit sector, to which many sport organisations belong, Rubin (1990) found that because the community expects more ‘good’, they accept less ‘bad’. As many sport organisations throughout the world remain largely non-profit, linked with the commonly held belief that sport is a foundation for moral behaviours, the idealistic expectation of ethical conduct placed upon them may be different to those of more mainstream business organisations.

Mewett (2003) noted the importance of sport as a social phenomenon which ramifies widely through society to become an intrinsic part of culture and community life. The different expectations of ethical conduct and moral value placed on sport organisations increases the public interest in the ethical dilemmas faced by these organisations. Using the concept of conflict of interest as an example, this paper will examine the tension and difference between the community and social understanding and expectations of sport, and those of the sport organisations themselves.

Reflections on the public interest in accounting

The expression, ‘the public interest’ is so ingrained in policy development, that reforms in accounting are often championed under the notion that such developments will enhance the well-being of the community. While the public interest is well understood at policy level, at operating level the expression is ambiguous and has a multiplicity of interpretations. Current conceptions of the public interest are inadequate to define a principle which must stand as a measure of public policy. Who exactly is the public, what are the interests of the public, and what does it mean to serve the public interest? Consequently, members of the accounting profession are expected to comply with a principle that is vague and ambiguous. This paper undertakes a critical analysis of the public interest in accounting relying on a typology of public interest theories (normative, consensualist, process, and abolitionist theories) developed by Cochran [Cochran CE. Political science and “the public interest”. The Journal of Politics 1974;36(2):327–55]. The analysis indicates that existing knowledge and understanding of the public interest, is in part, consistent with some aspects of the Cochran’s [Cochran CE. Political science and “the public interest”. The Journal of Politics 1974;36(2):327–55] typology of public interest theories and inconsistent in others. The analysis also indicates that there is room for the profession to provide further guidance on the meaning of the public interest and how to apply it in practice.

Designing ethical systems for online systems

Ethics is an important element in all aspects of Information Systems (IS), from the design, operation and delivery of such systems. Most research has focused upon traditional IS system design and the associated ethical issues. There are many aspects of ethics that can impact the design and operation of Information Systems, but online system design is often overlooked. The paper will focus upon a design approach that allows for the design on online systems and considers the ethical issues. The approach was developed and validated in regards to a tertiary environment.

Building commitment through integrating employees

Corporate collapses of past decade have affected all stakeholders through a loss of public confidence, loss of jobs and loss of shareholders' funds. We have seen poor business decisions, extravagant business acquisitions, lack of attention to detail, exorbitant directors fees, lack of board scrutiny and inadequate disclosure internationally and in Australia in cases such as Enron, WorldCom, HIH, the Australian Wheat Board, and numerous state banks. This paper analyzes annual reports, web sites and CSR/ Sustainability and Governance reports of twenty selected companies to highlight the position of human resources and labour in their governance frameworks, and by linking the data to Stum's (2001) performance pyramid, evaluates the extent of organizational commitment. It concludes that despite all the rhetoric around employees being stakeholders, employees continue to be viewed as 'outsiders' with governance primarily focused on shareholder concerns. Employees are primarily seen as constituents of legal and regulatory frameworks and employee codes of conduct and lack a position in strategy and effective decisionmaking structures, thereby conveying to employees that they are perceived only as workers, and not as a person (Stum, 2001). Naturally, the organizations fail to win the commitment of their employees.

Corporate governance : some key challenges and opportunities for accounting researchers

The focus on corporate governance has grown exponentially over the last decade. As evidenced by the increasing number of codes of best practice developed by leading international bodies such as the OECD, the Commonwealth and CalPERS (refer Demirag et al. (2000) for a fuller list of publications), corporate governance reform has now become a key global issue. Not only do factors such as the increasing globalisation of financial markets, the growth in multinational corporations and regional economic developments motivate the need for good corporate governance, but the recent spate of large corporate collapses such as Enron and WorldCom in the United States and HIH Insurance in Australia clearly signal the urgency for significant improvements in corporate accountability and reporting.

Information security governance : when compliance becomes more important than security

Current security governance is often based on a centralized decision making model and still uses an ineffective 20th century risk management approach to security. This approach is relatively simple to manage since it needs almost no security governance below the top enterprise level where most decisions are made. However, while there is a role for more corporate governance, new regulations, and improved codes of best practice to address current weak organizational security practices, this may not be sufficient in the current dynamic security environment. Organizational information security must adapt to changing conditions by extending security governance to middle management as well as system/network administrators. Unfortunately the lack of clear business security objectives and strategies at the business unit level is likely to result in a compliance culture, where those responsible for implementing information security are more interested in complying with organizational standards and policies than improving security itself.

Communication and new media : broadcast to narrowcast

Presents a new way of looking at media and mass communication. Traces the history, development and theories of mass communication and the emergence of new media. Looks at questions of ethics, regulation and governance.