Securing participation : experiments in a one-day introduction to economics

Classroom experiments and exercises served as a one-day introduction to economics for students who felt insecure about taking first-year business classes. The first experiment addresses demand in isolation, while the second addresses supply. Supply, demand and equilibrium are integrated in a pit market in which all students have equal expected profits. A monopoly pricing exercise addresses market failure. Exercises use many incremental questions to reveal principles of microeconomics. Evaluations show that at the end of the program, students were familiar with economic results and concepts, and were more comfortable with talking economics.

ANZAC day to VP day : arguements and interpretations

This paper offers a survey of recent military historiography. The author considers its fragmentary nature, and argues for integrative and comparative approach.

Recovery from gynaecological day surgery : are we underestimating the process

This paper reports a study investigating the post operative experiences of 80 women following gynaecological day surgery. Women kept a diary for the first 4 days following surgery. The diary included a recovery rating scale and a symptom management index focusing particularly on symptoms. A telephone interview conducted on post-operative day 10 further explored experiences. Results at day 4 indicated women experienced significant problems with pain, moving around and tiredness. By day 10, women were still experiencing tiredness, pain and other lingering problems. The study indicates that patients experience more problems than discharge education assumes.

Impact evaluation of a five-day short course in health promotion: workforce development in action

Issue addressed: This paper reports on impact evaluation of a series of five-day Short Courses in Health Promotion that have been delivered to more than 2,000 people since 2002 as part of a statewide workforce development strategy.

Methods: A triangulated mixed methods research design was selected for the evaluation. Data were collected through a mail survey, key informant interviews, focus groups and organisational case studies. Stakeholder and participant involvement were central to the evaluation.

Results: Organisational change emerged as a key theme. Impacts of the short course were felt in relation to health promotion practice and on organisational capacity to conduct health promotion, while the development of confidence and skills of participants to engage in collaborative opportunities was a not unexpected, but important, benefit of the course.

Conclusions: A short course is effective if attention is given to quality delivery, adult learning methods, participant involvement, appropriate targeting, good planning, and adequate funding. However, respondents commonly report the need for organisational change in order for health promotion practice to be embedded into organisations and for practitioners to be supported in their efforts to re-orient services towards health promotion.

How ophthlamic day surgery patients convalesce at home : an exploration of the salient issues

Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed surgical procedure in Australia. In the next 10-15 years, the number of people needing this surgery is expected to double, This article is based on a study, which explored the types and levels of symptoms experienced by patients post-ophthalmic surgery. Patients were asked to complete two instruments: a 'Postoperative Symptoms Diary' and a follow up 'Telephone Survey Questionnaire'. Eight males and 15 females (n = 23) with a mean age of 80.5 years were recruited. The findings revealed that patients' symptom levels decreased over time, except for tiredness and moving around which increased slightly on Day 4 post-operatively. A carer was required for an average of 2.3 days. This study highlighted the discrepancies in current day surgery literature, which recommend that a carer is needed during only the first 24 hours post-operatively.

Analysing Anzac Day: the past, the present and future?

The aim of this paper is to identify the challenges that a social marketing campaign, which is predicated on Anzac Day and its commemorations and aimed at developing nationalistic behaviour in Australians, might face in the future. Questions posed for this paper are: Is this a viable campaign to promote nationalistic behaviour in Australia? Are there risks associated with such a campaign? In this discursive and exploratory paper Anzac Day and its commemorations are examined using generic marketing tools available to social marketers, specifically the Product Lifecycle (PLC) and consumer profiling, namely generational research. The results indicate that it is possible to predicate a social marketing campaign on Anzac Day and its commemorations to develop nationalistic behaviour in Australia, but there are some inherent risks associated with such a campaign. Issues are raised with regard to the mono-cultural nature of such a campaign; which generational segment(s) might take ownership of the commemorations in the future; and the surrounding structural and community-based strategies that will enhance such a campaign.

Strawberries any-time, any-day, any-where : a strategic marketing analysis

While the number of Australian strawberry producers has declined by 40% over the past decade the value of production has increased by 58%. Such changes reflect structural changes occurring within an increasingly competitive industry. This paper discusses a study that was conducted to develop a marketing strategy that was conducted in order to reposition an industry so that it may grow in the face of a maturing product life cycle.

To establish a benchmark position, an industry analysis based on the Five Forces model was first undertaken. This analysis was followed by a consumer analysis which consisted of (a) a series of focus group discussions and (b) a comprehensive consumer marketing research survey. The findings of this survey enabled a series of market segments to be identified and profiled. Based on these results a strategic marketing communication campaign aimed at increasing strawberry consumption was developed and implemented.

Anzac day in the new millennium: insights from New Zealand millennials

Since 1916, New Zealanders have honoured soldiers of war on the 25th of April at commemorative events. The day is now known as Anzac Day, and the acronym ‘Anzac’ stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, which was established in World War I. Anzac Day commemorative events are emerging a popular cultural activity in which New Zealanders, many of whom are young, are now participating. From an event management perspective, however, the increasing popularity of attendance at the commemorative events is problematic, with potential to negatively impact the experience of attendance and the sites at which they are held. There is a need to gain a greater understanding of the experience of attendance at the events so that strategies can be developed to maintain and enhance their authenticity and integrity, while optimising their sustainability in the New Millennium.

The aim of this study was to provide information about the experience of attendance from the attendee’s perspective for later use by managers of the events. The study employed the theory of emotions to examine the consumption experience, and used a qualitative approach for this purpose. Two focus groups were undertaken in New Zealand comprised members of the generational segment, the Millennials. The data were analysed considering the literature on emotions, special event tourism, as well as the literature on dark tourism. In some ways, the special event tourism and dark tourism literatures seem to be paradoxical, however, in this study they seemed to compliment each other. A complex set of motivations, emotions and resulting attitudes, behavioural intentions, and behaviours were revealed. With this information, event managers are better able to understand the experience of attendance and consider these issues when developing strategies to manage the events. The results presented here are part of a larger study, as further data is currently being collected on the topic in Australia. Hence, there are opportunities for cross-cultural analysis about this important aspect of New Zealand, and Australian, culture.

Contemporaneous intra-day volume, option, and futures volatility transmissions across parallel markets

The primary objective of this article is to investigate volatility transmission across three parallel markets operating on the Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE), both within and out of sample. Half-hourly observations are sampled from transaction data for the share price index (SPI) futures, SPI futures options, and 90-day bank accepted bill (BAB) futures markets, and the analysis is carried out using the simultaneous volatility (SVL) system of equations as well as competing volatility models. The results confirm the poor ability of GARCH models to fit intraday data. This study also applies an artificial nesting procedure to evaluate the out-of-sample volatility forecasts. Implied volatility has very limited (if any) predictive power when evaluated in isolation, whereas the SVL model with implied volatility embedded provides incremental information relative to competing model forecasts.