The generation of new high-angle boundaries in aluminium during hot torsion

The crystallographic rotation field for deformation in torsion is such that it is possible for orientations close to stable orientations to rotate away from the stable orientation. A Taylor type model was used to demonstrate that this phenomenon has the potential to transform randomly generated low-angle boundaries into high-angle boundaries. After imposing an equivalent strain of 1.2, up to 40% of the simulated boundaries displayed a disorientation in excess of 15°. These high-angle boundaries were characterised by a disorientation axis close to parallel with the sample radial direction. A series of hot torsion tests was carried out on 1050 aluminium to seek evidence for boundaries formed by this mechanism. A number of deformation-induced high-angle boundaries were identified. Many of these boundaries showed disorientation axes and rotation senses similar to those seen in the simulations. Between 10% and 25% of all the high-angle boundary present in samples twisted to equivalent strains between 2 and 7 could be attributed to the present mechanism.

Organizing forms in change management: the role of structures, process and boundaries in a longitudinal case analysis

This paper examines change management at William Angliss Institute of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) against the three organizational dimensions of structures, processes and boundaries identified by the INNFORM Study. Its experience confirms that even when an organization adopts a systemic approach and implements change across each design dimension, optimal performance benefits depend on mutually reinforcing and complementary changes. Furthermore, improvement to processes, particularly communications and human resources practices, plays a pivotal role, as complementary change across all dimensions depends ultimately on the contribution and commitment of organization members. Case findings also highlight the need for ambidextrous forms of organizing that combine 'controllability' with 'responsiveness'. The conceptual notion of organizing dualities has been employed to provide a practical interpretation of the ostensibly competing imperatives implied by ambidexterity. This case explores the dualities that can be demonstrated for the INNFORM triumvirate of structures, processes and boundaries. The dualities interpretation emphasizes an acceptance of texture and the simultaneous presence of what are conventionally viewed as incompatible organizing forms. This was considered a useful conceptual vehicle in the analysis of a case study covering nearly ten years of serious change interventions, where one theoretical view can be misleading in understanding the subtleties and complexities of the actual changes that occurred.

The plasticity of professional boundaries: a case study of collaborative care in maternity services

A case study of twenty-nine midwives and nine obstetricians working in a regional, public sector Australian hospital demonstrates the plasticity of professional boundaries within a post-welfare state. Driven by new discourses of globalisation, marketisation, managerialism and consumerism, professional boundaries in health care are being blurred, reordered and reconstituted. Government policies that call for a new interdisciplinarity between maternity professionals may be seen as responses to the above pressures. However, there remain considerable barriers to achieving collaborative models including conflicting interpretations of risk, of women's bodies and of childbirth; the veto power of decision-making retained by obstetricians; questions of professional accountability; and diversity over appropriate styles of micro-interaction. Collaboration demands a new egalitarianism to eclipse the old vertical system of obstetric dominance and this means that midwives need to create a distinctive professional specialty, or new object of knowledge. Midwives' skill in 'emotion management' could provide this speciality in addition to their rational-technical knowledge and thus elevate midwifery to an equivalent professional status with obstetrics but as yet neither obstetrics nor midwifery have realised its professionalising potential

New forms of organising : changing structures, processes and boundaries in a public sector institution

Globalisation, deregulation, privatisation, and advances in communications technologies have intensified competition and impacted on the structures, processes and boundaries that define organisations. Increased competition at both the local and global level calls for increased responsiveness and flexibility, and continuous improvement and innovation. As organisations endeavour to become more attentive and responsive to environmental trends, and customer needs and expectations, they are experimenting with different forms of organising. This has included flattening structures, devolving decision-making responsibility and encouraging greater collaboration and knowledge transfer across functional areas.

The William Angliss Institute of TAFE operates in the post-secondary sector which has experienced significant changes over the past decade as a result of: wide-ranging public sector reforms imposed by successive governments; budgetary cutbacks; accountability and performance improvement pressures; increased national and international competition, industrial relations changes and more demanding, sophisticated customers. This paper draws on the INNFORM Study's three organisational design dimensions of structure, process, and boundaries to examine the nature and degree of change that has taken place at the Institute. Case study findings indicate that while William Angliss has implemetted changes across the three design dimensions, the depth and breadth of these vary and this has impacted on overall performance outcomes. Its experience suggests that even when an organisation adopts a systemic approach and implements changes simultaneously across structure, process and boundaries, optimal performance benefits will not accrue unless these elemental changes are mutually reinforcing and complementary. It also suggests that improvement to processes, particularly communications and human resources practices must be an overarching consideration, as complementary change across all three design dimensions depends ultimately on the contribution and commitment organisational members are prepared to make.

Crossing boundaries between learning and research : doctoral programs at a distance

Australian distance education, from school to university contexts, typically concerns teaching people the knowledge, values and skills that constitute their chosen courses of study; whereas doctoral courses principally concern candidates learning how to produce – through producing – significant original new knowledge. This paper considers the history and contemporary practices of Australian off-campus doctoral education and argues that these are at the forefront internationally. It is argued that understanding the provision of quality doctoral education at a distance requires a form of conceptual boundary crossing by policymakers, distance educators, and (especially) doctoral education practitioners, in order to develop and/or enhance future practices.

Losing innocence : finding the line between emotional bonds and boundaries in protective service work

This paper builds on existing literature on the notion of emotional labour by investigating work in a child protective service environment. Notable characteristics of formal organisations, such as child protective services, are that they operate within a legal framework and that workers' professional duties have great influence on clients. This paper examines the intricacies of the worker-client relationship and the emotional dynamics of the service interactions by interviewing a group of workers in a public hospital in Victoria, Australia. This research extricates the complexities in the client-worker relationship by examining a range of work characteristics including their roles as professional caregivers, the emotional bonds and boundaries in the workers-client relationship, the intensity and magnitude of felt and displayed emotions, as well as the self-management of emotions and clients' emotions. This study adds to existing knowledge on the emotional expressions, experiences and regulation of emotions of the professional work lives in a child protective service work environment.
This paper is divided into the following sections. The first section details protective service work within the larger framework of human service work, and how the worker-client interface is different from other front-line service work. This is followed the need to examine the emotional dynamics of work in a child protective service organisation. Next, a study of these emotional dynamics in a child protective service organisation is reported. The paper concludes with a consideration of the wider implications for the sociology of protective service work, and how affective issues differ other service work roles.

Investigation of processing conditions of melded parts to determine process boundaries

Melding, a novel method for producing seamless joints in thermosetting composites utilising the Quickstep™ process, is explored in this paper. The effect of processing conditions on the quality of melded joins is examined and a set of processing boundaries defined so that the strength of melded joints is optimized. HexPly® 914c pre-preg material was exposed to a range of processing temperatures prior to joining via the melding process. Differential Scanning Calorimetry analysis was carried out to investigate the degree of cure of material prior to final joining, and it was found that minimal cure occurs at temperatures below 120°C. After consolidation and cure of the melded parts, short beam shear testing was conducted to evaluate the strength of the melded interface. Exposure temperatures between 65°C and 120°C were found to optimize short beam shear join strength. Mode I double cantilever beam and mode II end notched flexural tests showed no detrimental effect of elevated exposure temperatures prior to joining.

Breaking the boundaries : improving the assessibility, extent and responsiveness of support services for distance education students

Massey University, in common with other tertiary distance education providers, faces the challenge of improving the accessibility, extent and responsiveness of the support services it provides to extramural students. In particular, the university is challenged by the need to develop and deliver support services responsive to the changing needs of an increasingly diverse student population. This paper outlines the key findings of a comprehensive review of Massey’s support policy and services for extramural students. It describes how the review findings, and material from the body of literature on the provision of support for distance students, were used to inform the development of a new support policy for extramural students. How this policy is being made operational in practice, through the design, development and implementation of an extensive range of new student support services, including a range of services provided online, is outlined. A summary of progress made so far is provided. The paper concludes with some guidelines that may be useful in informing the practice of colleagues working to break the boundaries to student participation in support services.