The reputation of the corporate social responsibility industry in Australia

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly seen as an imperative for sustainable business and there is a growing literature on the effect of CSR on corporate reputation. Despite this, a pall of ambiguity and uncertainty remains around what CSR means and how it should be practiced. This paper offers a unique addition to the body of literature to date by revealing that CSR is an emerging industry in Australia, which is in the process of developing its own reputation as a set of business practices. The paper is based on exploratory qualitative research using a case study methodology. Interviews were conducted with key actors within the industry to investigate shared understandings of what CSR means, perceptions of CSR practice and of the industry as a whole, and who is involved in shaping these perceptions. The research revealed that the CSR industry in Australia is in its early stages of development and is therefore in need of increased internal cooperation if it is to develop a strong reputation.

The economics of credence goods: An experimental investigation of the role of verifiability, liability, competition and reputation in credence goods markets

Credence goods markets are characterized by asymmetric information between sellers and consumers that may give rise to inefficiencies, such as under- and overtreatment or market break-down. We study in a large experiment with 936 participants the determinants for efficiency in credence goods markets. While theory predicts that either liability or verifiability yields efficiency, we find that liability has a crucial, but verifiability only a minor effect. Allowing sellers to build up reputation has little influence, as predicted. Seller competition drives down prices and yields maximal trade, but does not lead to higher efficiency as long as liability is violated.

Post-crisis: rebuilding a company, a reputation, a community

It is well recognised that when an organisation experiences a crisis caused by a natural disaster,publics are less likely to apportion responsibility to that organisation. This contrasts with crisesinvolving events such as product tampering, accidents or management transgressions where thelevel of organisational control is perceived or judged to be greater (Coombs, 2000, p. 86). In 2012,biomedical company Gambro’s manufacturing plant, based in Medolla, a small town of 6000 in theModena region of Italy, was hit by a devastating series of earthquakes. Damage to the plant hadsignificant and immediate impact for employees, customers and other key stakeholders, as operationsceased in the wake of the earthquakes.This chapter will reflect on Gambro’s crisis management response and their crisis communicationstrategies in response to the earthquakes and the ensuing rumours. An analysis ofGambro’s crisis response shows they acted to counteract stakeholder concerns and leveragewell-established stakeholder relationships. As Coombs (2000, 2006, 2007a, 2007b) makes clear,relationships are central to effective crisis management, and, although stakeholders often view anatural disaster as being removed from the organisation’s responsibility, this concession may not exist in a prolonged recovery period or where the stakeholders face a life or death outcome. Thesewere the very conditions Gambro faced. So, a relational approach can add depth to the attributionalanalysis of such a crisis (Coombs 2000, p. 86). To extend the analysis of crises caused bynatural disaster and Gambro’s crisis response, the chapter will also examine crisis communicationstrategies of similar disaster case studies.The international medical-technical company Gambro, headquartered in Sweden, has 13 productionfacilities in more than 90 countries, and employs more than 8000 people worldwide. Gambrohas operated in the Medolla region of Emilia-Romagna since the early 1960s.

The Expanded Human Kallikrein (KLK) gene family : genomic organisation, tissue specific expression and potential functions

The tissue kallikreins are serine proteases encoded by highly conserved multigene families. The rodent kallikrein (KLK) families are particularly large, consisting of 13 26 genes clustered in one chromosomal locus. It has been recently recognised that the human KLK gene family is of a similar size (15 genes) with the identification of another 12 related genes (KLK4-KLK15) within and adjacent to the original human KLK locus (KLK1-3) on chromosome 19q13.4. The structural organisation and size of these new genes is similar to that of other KLK genes except for additional exons encoding 5 or 3 untranslated regions. Moreover, many of these genes have multiple mRNA transcripts, a trait not observed with rodent genes. Unlike all other kallikreins, the KLK4-KLK15 encoded proteases are less related (25–44%) and do not contain a conventional kallikrein loop. Clusters of genes exhibit high prostatic (KLK2-4, KLK15) or pancreatic (KLK6-13) expression, suggesting evolutionary conservation of elements conferring tissue specificity. These genes are also expressed, to varying degrees, in a wider range of tissues suggesting a functional involvement of these newer human kallikrein proteases in a diverse range of physiological processes.

The Australian Parliament: A Gendered Organisation

Limited work has been undertaken on the subject of gender and Australian parliamentary institutions. This study of 13 male and 15 female members of the Australian parliament addresses this gap in the literature. Data from the study are used to explore the ways in which the institutions of political office operate as ‘gendered organisations’ (Acker 1990). What emerges from this analysis is the pervasiveness of gender across the processes, practices and discourses of the parliament. This is a space infused with hegemonic masculinity. This gendering is, however, normalised and/or minimised by many of the parliamentarians involved in the study.