An exploratory study on the factors influencing managers’ use of mobile tablets

Although mobile tablets such as iPads are being used by many managers, there has been a relative dearth of research on the managerial use of the mobile technology. This exploratory study aims toidentify and understand the factors influencing the use of mobile tablets by managers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a panel of seven managers who had incorporated mobile tablets into their work routine. The study has found that the mobile tablet is a suitable device for managerial tasks due to these nine main factors: non-routineness, collaborative nature, time-critical, informationcentric, mobility, user friendliness of the interface, reliability, connectivity, and autonomy. Thisexploratory study fills in the research gap and provides a basis to help managers establish a business case for or against mobile tablets adoption.

Teacher education and critical inquiry : the use of activity theory in exploring alternative understandings of language and literacy

This paper explores the challenges of espousing a critical pedagogy within the managerial climate that presently shapes teacher education. It argues that current discourses of professionalism are incommensurate with a view of literacy as social practice and that they disregard complex semiotic ecologies in which both school and university students operate. Graduate teachers are constructed as the ‘providers’ of decontextualised literacy skills to school students whose existing communication networks are ignored. Rejecting this narrow view of professional practice, we draw on activity theory to analyse the social configuration of tertiary students’ identities and the textual resources that mediate their professional learning. This kind of research is needed to reveal the contradictions within and between activity systems in which tertiary students participate as well as to construct possible solutions to the contradictions identified.

Teacher education and critical inquiry : the use of activity theory in exploring alternative understandings of language and literacy

This article explores the challenges of espousing a critical pedagogy within the managerial climate that presently shapes teacher education. Current discourses of professionalism are incommensurate with an understanding of the way that literacy practices are grounded in the social worlds in which both school and university students operate. Such discourses construct graduate teachers as the providers of decontextualised literacy skills to school students whose existing communication networks are ignored. We argue that an alternative understanding of professional practice can be developed by focusing on the textual resources university students use to mediate their learning, and by locating their emerging professional identities within the activity systems and meaning-making practices in which they participate.

Use of management control systems in university faculties : evidence of diagnostic versus interactive approaches by the upper echelons

Drawing on upper echelon theory and focusing on the context of higher education reforms in Australia within new public management in university faculties/colleges, this study investigates the diagnostic versus interactive uses of management control systems by Deans/Pro-Vice Chancellors of Faculties/Colleges (hereafter called Faculty PVCs). It seeks to identify how the professional and experiential characteristics of these senior academic executives and the structure of their Faculty, impact on their managerial and collegial orientation as reflected in their approach to using management controls. A mail survey of Faculty PVCs is conducted amongst a census of all Faculties/Colleges of all universities in Australia. Supplementing this survey are semi-structured interviews with the PVC of the business and science Faculty at a large Australian university. Results reveal that PVCs who have had a longer career in higher education tend to use MCSs more interactively (or collegially). There is also evidence that as PVCs hold their current position for longer periods, they tend to move from an early diagnostic use of MCSs to a subsequent interactive use. Further, the higher the complexity of a Faculty the more a PVC will adopt an interactive approach to MCS use. Other PVC and Faculty characteristics did not reveal patterns of significant influence on the interactive or diagnostic use of MCSs. A key revelation from interviews is that PVCs will give over-riding importance to meeting centrally-set diagnostically-focused KPI, but still take a collegial approach within their Faculty to the broader use of MCSs. The findings lend limited support to upper echelons theory, but provide a grounding for further research into the impact that a managerial versus a collegial approach by PVCs/Deans may have on their Faculty’s growth in innovative capacities, teaching qualities or financial strength.

Action research : the use of enterprise resource planning system in construction engineering and project management

Although information communication technology (ICT) is long regard as very useful tool in today’s construction engineering and project management environment, organizations must not only operate based upon its original setting, but also requires on-going observation, additional features and fine is a very common phenomenon that organizations purchase the licensed “off their own business need. Due to the incapability of such software and inefficient customization, the possible result is making that ICT tool not user-friendly and sometimes the whole system becomes obsolete.

The purpose of this paper is to review and report those action organization to enhance the performance of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system launched in December 2002. Such actions include: improving data inputting method; removing the tran the organization’s “Delegation and Limits of Authority”; publishing the “League Table” amongst users; integrating the 3D Mode into the system and upgrading hardware.

Whilst the ultimate goals of such system are well beyond the time limit of this research study, an obvious interim result, achieved by this case studied organization, was winning a landmark project worth US$500 million after the ERP system was functioned prope and effectively. Their experience and success becomes an exemplar which can be borrowed by those companies, from managerial perspectives and as a roadmap, planning to adopt information technology (IT) strategy and use ICT tool in the construction engineering and project management framework. Singapore, where public housing provisions have been a major concern of their citizens as the building stock gets older.

Managerial share ownership and operating performance : do independent and executive directors have different incentives?

We investigate the relationship between managerial share ownership (MSO) and earnings as a measure of operating performance in Australia. To mitigate potential earnings management, we also use discretionary accrual adjusted earnings as an alternative measure of performance. We document a negative relation between MSO and performance followed by a positive relation. We suggest that these unique results are an artefact of certain Australian institutional features and imply that the ownership–performance relation is context-specific, with the wider corporate governance systems influencing the theorised incentive effects. We also posit that executive directors and independent directors have different ownership–performance incentives. Our results are consistent with this proposition and suggest that independent directors may be immune to the theorised incentive alignment or entrenchment effects associated with share ownership.