At breaking point? Challenges for Australian film policy through the lens of genre (horror) films

Cultural policy settings attempting to foster the growth and development of the Australian feature film industry in era of globalisation are coming under increasing pressure. Global forces and emerging production and distribution models are challenging the “narrowness” of cultural policy – mandating a particular film culture, circumscribing certain notions of value and limiting the variety of films produced through cultural policy driven subvention models. Australian horror film production is an important case study. Horror films are a production strategy well suited to the financial limitations of the Australian film industry with competitive advantages for producers against international competitors. However, emerging within a “national” cinema driven by public subsidy and social/cultural objectives, horror films – internationally oriented with a low-culture status – have been severely marginalised within public funding environments. This paper introduces Australian horror film production, and examines the limitations of cultural policy, and the impacts of these questions for the Producer Offset.

Controlled flexibility and lifecycle management of business processes through extensibility

Vendors provide reference process models as consolidated, off-the-shelf solutions to capture best practices in a given industry domain. Customers can then adapt these models to suit their specific requirements. Traditional process flexibility approaches facilitate this operation, but do not fully address it as they do not sufficiently take controlled change guided by vendors' reference models into account. This tension between the customer's freedom of adapting reference models, and the ability to incorporate with relatively low effort vendor-initiated reference model changes, thus needs to be carefully balanced. This paper introduces process extensibility as a new paradigm for customizing reference processes and managing their evolution over time. Process extensibility mandates a clear recognition of the different responsibilities and interests of reference model vendors and consumers, and is concerned with keeping the effort of customer-side reference model adaptations low while allowing sufficient room for model change.

Encounters and content sharing in an urban village : reading texts through an archaeological lens

Archaeology provides a framework of analysis and interpretation that is useful for disentangling the textual layers of a contemporary lived-in urban space. The producers and readers of texts may include those who planned and developed the site and those who now live, visit and work there. Some of the social encounters and content sharing between these people may be artificially produced or manufactured in the hope that certain social situations will occur. Others may be serendipitous. With archaeology’s original focus on places that are no longer inhabited it is often only the remaining artefacts and features of the built environment that form the basis for interpreting the social relationships of past people. Our analysis however, is framed within a contemporary notion of archaeological artefacts in an urban setting. Unlike an excavation, where the past is revealed through digging into the landscape, the application of landscape archaeology within a present day urban context is necessarily more experiential, visual and based on recording and analysing the physical traces of social encounters and relationships between residents and visitors. These physical traces are present within the creative content, and the built and natural elements of the environment. This chapter explores notions of social encounters and content sharing in an urban village by analysing three different types of texts: the design of the built environment; content produced by residents through a geospatial web application; and, print and online media produced in digital storytelling workshops.

Rethinking copyrights for the library through Creative Commons licensing

Two recent and related social developments of note for libraries are an upsurge in cultural participation enabled by Web 2.0 media and calls in government policy for enhanced innovation through education. Ironically, these have occurred at the same time that increasingly stringent copyright laws have restricted access to cultural content. Concepts of governmentality are used here to examine these tensions and contradictions. In particular, Foucault’s critique of the author figure and of freedom as part of the will to govern within liberal democratic societies is used to argue for better quality copyright education programs in school libraries and library information science education programs. For purposes of teaching and research, copyrights are defined as agglomerations of legal, economic, and educational discourses that enable and constrain what can and cannot be done with text in homes, schools, and library media centers. The article presents some possibilities for renewal of school libraries around copyright education and Creative Commons licensing.

Defining the flammability of cylindrical metal rods through characterization of the thermal effects of the ignition promoter

All relevant international standards for determining if a metallic rod is flammable in oxygen utilize some form of “promoted ignition” test. In this test, for a given pressure, an overwhelming ignition source is coupled to the end of the test sample and the designation flammable or nonflammable is based upon the amount burned, that is, a burn criteria. It is documented that (1) the initial temperature of the test sample affects the burning of the test sample both (a) in regards to the pressure at which the sample will support burning (threshold pressure) and (b) the rate at which the sample is melted (regression rate of the melting interface); and, (2) the igniter used affects the test sample by heating it adjacent to the igniter as ignition occurs. Together, these facts make it necessary to ensure, if a metallic material is to be considered flammable at the conditions tested, that the burn criteria will exclude any region of the test sample that may have undergone preheating during the ignition process. A two-dimensional theoretical model was developed to describe the transient heat transfer occurring and resultant temperatures produced within this system. Several metals (copper, aluminum, iron, and stainless steel) and ignition promoters (magnesium, aluminum, and Pyrofuze®) were evaluated for a range of oxygen pressures between 0.69 MPa (100 psia) and 34.5 MPa (5,000 psia). A MATLAB® program was utilized to solve the developed model that was validated against (1) a published solution for a similar system and (2) against experimental data obtained during actual tests at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration White Sands Test Facility. The validated model successfully predicts temperatures within the test samples with agreement between model and experiment increasing as test pressure increases and/or distance from the promoter increases. Oxygen pressure and test sample thermal diffusivity were shown to have the largest effect on the results. In all cases evaluated, there is no significant preheating (above about 38°C/100°F) occurring at distances greater than 30 mm (1.18 in.) during the time the ignition source is attached to the test sample. This validates a distance of 30 mm (1.18 in.) above the ignition promoter as a burn length upon which a definition of flammable can be based for inclusion in relevant international standards (that is, burning past this length will always be independent of the ignition event for the ignition promoters considered here. KEYWORDS: promoted ignition, metal combustion, heat conduction, thin fin, promoted combustion, burn length, burn criteria, flammability, igniter effects, heat affected zone.

Electronic tendering: an industry perspective

The construction industry is categorised as being an information-intensive industry and described as one of the most important industries in any developed country, facing a period of rapid and unparalleled change (Industry Science Resources 1999) (Love P.E.D., Tucker S.N. et al. 1996). Project communications are becoming increasingly complex, with a growing need and fundamental drive to collaborate electronically at project level and beyond (Olesen K. and Myers M.D. 1999; Thorpe T. and Mead S. 2001; CITE 2003). Yet, the industry is also identified as having a considerable lack of knowledge and awareness about innovative information and communication technology (ICT) and web-based communication processes, systems and solutions which may prove beneficial in the procurement, delivery and life cycle of projects (NSW Government 1998; Kajewski S. and Weippert A. 2000). The Internet has debatably revolutionised the way in which information is stored, exchanged and viewed, opening new avenues for business, which only a decade ago were deemed almost inconceivable (DCITA 1998; IIB 2002). In an attempt to put these ‘new avenues of business’ into perspective, this report provides an overall ‘snapshot’ of current public and private construction industry sector opportunities and practices in the implementation and application of web-based ICT tools, systems and processes (e-Uptake). Research found that even with a reserved uptake, the construction industry and its participating organisations are making concerted efforts (fortunately with positive results) in taking up innovative forms of doing business via the internet, including e-Tendering (making it possible to manage the entire tender letting process electronically and online) (Anumba C.J. and Ruikar K. 2002; ITCBP 2003). Furthermore, Government (often a key client within the construction industry),and with its increased tendency to transact its business electronically, undoubtedly has an effect on how various private industry consultants, contractors, suppliers, etc. do business (Murray M. 2003) – by offering a wide range of (current and anticipated) e-facilities / services, including e-Tendering (Ecommerce 2002). Overall, doing business electronically is found to have a profound impact on the way today’s construction businesses operate - streamlining existing processes, with the growth in innovative tools, such as e-Tender, offering the construction industry new responsibilities and opportunities for all parties involved (ITCBP 2003). It is therefore important that these opportunities should be accessible to as many construction industry businesses as possible (The Construction Confederation 2001). Historically, there is a considerable exchange of information between various parties during a tendering process, where accuracy and efficiency of documentation is critical. Traditionally this process is either paper-based (involving large volumes of supporting tender documentation), or via a number of stand-alone, non-compatible computer systems, usually costly to both the client and contractor. As such, having a standard electronic exchange format that allows all parties involved in an electronic tender process to access one system only via the Internet, saves both time and money, eliminates transcription errors and increases speed of bid analysis (The Construction Confederation 2001). Supporting this research project’s aims and objectives, researchers set to determine today’s construction industry ‘current state-of-play’ in relation to e-Tendering opportunities. The report also provides brief introductions to several Australian and International e-Tender systems identified during this investigation. e-Tendering, in its simplest form, is described as the electronic publishing, communicating, accessing, receiving and submitting of all tender related information and documentation via the internet, thereby replacing the traditional paper-based tender processes, and achieving a more efficient and effective business process for all parties involved (NT Governement 2000; NT Government 2000; NSW Department of Commerce 2003; NSW Government 2003). Although most of the e-Tender websites investigated at the time, maintain their tendering processes and capabilities are ‘electronic’, research shows these ‘eTendering’ systems vary from being reasonably advanced to more ‘basic’ electronic tender notification and archiving services for various industry sectors. Research also indicates an e-Tender system should have a number of basic features and capabilities, including: • All tender documentation to be distributed via a secure web-based tender system – thereby avoiding the need for collating paperwork and couriers. • The client/purchaser should be able to upload a notice and/or invitation to tender onto the system. • Notification is sent out electronically (usually via email) for suppliers to download the information and return their responses electronically (online). • During the tender period, updates and queries are exchanged through the same e-Tender system. • The client/purchaser should only be able to access the tenders after the deadline has passed. • All tender related information is held in a central database, which should be easily searchable and fully audited, with all activities recorded. • It is essential that tender documents are not read or submitted by unauthorised parties. • Users of the e-Tender system are to be properly identified and registered via controlled access. In simple terms, security has to be as good as if not better than a manual tender process. Data is to be encrypted and users authenticated by means such as digital signatures, electronic certificates or smartcards. • All parties must be assured that no 'undetected' alterations can be made to any tender. • The tenderer should be able to amend the bid right up to the deadline – whilst the client/purchaser cannot obtain access until the submission deadline has passed. • The e-Tender system may also include features such as a database of service providers with spreadsheet-based pricing schedules, which can make it easier for a potential tenderer to electronically prepare and analyse a tender. Research indicates the efficiency of an e-Tender process is well supported internationally, with a significant number, yet similar, e-Tender benefits identified during this investigation. Both construction industry and Government participants generally agree that the implementation of an automated e-Tendering process or system enhances the overall quality, timeliness and cost-effectiveness of a tender process, and provides a more streamlined method of receiving, managing, and submitting tender documents than the traditional paper-based process. On the other hand, whilst there are undoubtedly many more barriers challenging the successful implementation and adoption of an e-Tendering system or process, researchers have also identified a range of challenges and perceptions that seem to hinder the uptake of this innovative approach to tendering electronically. A central concern seems to be that of security - when industry organisations have to use the Internet for electronic information transfer. As a result, when it comes to e-Tendering, industry participants insist these innovative tendering systems are developed to ensure the utmost security and integrity. Finally, if Australian organisations continue to explore the competitive ‘dynamics’ of the construction industry, without realising the current and future, trends and benefits of adopting innovative processes, such as e-Tendering, it will limit their globalising opportunities to expand into overseas markets and allow the continuation of international firms successfully entering local markets. As such, researchers believe increased knowledge, awareness and successful implementation of innovative systems and processes raises great expectations regarding their contribution towards ‘stimulating’ the globalisation of electronic procurement activities, and improving overall business and project performances throughout the construction industry sectors and overall marketplace (NSW Government 2002; Harty C. 2003; Murray M. 2003; Pietroforte R. 2003). Achieving the successful integration of an innovative e-Tender solution with an existing / traditional process can be a complex, and if not done correctly, could lead to failure (Bourn J. 2002).

Floating on a sea of talk: Reading comprehension through speaking and listening

Talk is the foundation for thought and understanding, and the key to literacy learning. Research demonstrates that powerful meta-cognitive strategies can be taught to help students self-monitor their comprehension when reading print and digital texts. This paper provides a repertoire of motivating speaking and listening tips to develop the meta-cognitive thinking of students in the elementary years.

Regulating Multi-National Corporations Through State-Based Laws : Problems with Enforcing Human Rights Under The Alien Tort Statute

Under the Alien Tort Statute United States of America (“America”) Federal Courts have the jurisdiction to hear claims for civil wrongs, committed against non-American citizens, which were perpetrated outside America’s national borders. The operation of this law has confronted American Federal Courts with difficulties on how to manage conflicts between American executive foreign policy and judicial interpretations of international law. Courts began to pass judgment over conduct which was approved by foreign governments. Then in 2005 the American Supreme Court wound back the scope of the Alien Tort Statute. This article will review the problems with the expansion of the Alien Tort Statute and the reasons for its subsequent narrowing.

Achieving better stewardship of major infrastructure assets through configuration of governance arrangements utilising Stewardship Theory

Major infrastructure assets are often governed by a mix of public and private organizations, each fulfilling a specific and separate role i.e. policy, ownership, operation or maintenance. This mix of entities is a legacy of Public Choice Theory influenced NPM reforms of the late 20th century. The privatization of the public sector has resulted in agency theory based ‘self-interest’ relationships and governance arrangements for major infrastructure assets which emphasize economic efficiency but which do not do not advance non-economic public values and the collective Public Interest. The community is now requiring that governments fulfill their stewardship role of also satisfying non-economic public values such as sustainability and intergenerational responsibility. In the 21st century governance arrangements which minimize individual self-interest alone and look to also pursue the interests of other stakeholders have emerged. Relational contracts, Public-Private Partnerships (PPP’s) and hybrid mixes of organizations from the state, market and network modes (Keast et al 2006) provide options for governance which better meet the interests of contractors, government and the community there is emerging a body of research which extends the consideration of the immediate governance configuration to the metagovernance environment constituted by hierarchy, regulation, industry standards, trust, culture and values. Stewardship theory has reemerged as a valuable aid in the understanding of the features of governance configurations which establish relationships between principal and agent which maximize the agent acting in the interests of the principal, even to the detriment of the agent. This body of literature suggests that an improved stewardship outcome from infrastructure governance configurations can be achieved by the application of the emerging options as to the immediate governance configuration, and the surrounding metagovernance environment. Stewardship theory provides a framework for the design of the relationships within that total governance environment, focusing on the achievement of a better, complete stewardship outcome. This paper explores the directions future research might take in seeking to improve the understanding of the design of the governance of major, critical infrastructure assets.

Looking through the haze of discontent : smokers as a data source

In the case of industrial relations research, particularly that which sets out to examine practices within workplaces, the best way to study this real-life context is to work for the organisation. Studies conducted by researchers working within the organisation comprise some of the (broad) field’s classic research (cf. Roy, 1954; Burawoy, 1979). Participant and non-participant ethnographic research provides an opportunity to investigate workplace behaviour beyond the scope of questionnaires and interviews. However, we suggest that the data collected outside a workplace can be just as important as the data collected inside the organisation’s walls. In recent years the introduction of anti-smoking legislation in Australia has meant that people who smoke cigarettes are no longer allowed to do so inside buildings. Not only are smokers forced outside to engage in their habit, but they have to smoke prescribed distances from doorways, or in some workplaces outside the property line. This chapter considers the importance of cigarette-smoking employees in ethnographic research. Through data collected across three separate research projects, the chapter argues that smokers, as social outcasts in the workplace, can provide a wealth of important research data. We suggest that smokers also appear more likely to provide stories that contradict the ‘management’ or ‘organisational’ position. Thus, within the haze of smoke, researchers can uncover a level of discontent with the ‘corporate line’ presented inside the workplace. There are several aspects to the increased propensity of smokers to provide a contradictory or discontented story. It may be that the researcher is better able to establish a rapport with smokers, as there is a removal of the artificial wall a researcher presents as an outsider. It may also be that a research location physically outside the boundaries of the organisation provides workers with the freedom to express their discontent. The authors offer no definitive answers; rather, this chapter is intended to extend our knowledge of workplace research through highlighting the methodological value in using smokers as research subjects. We present the experience of three separate case studies where interactions with cigarette smokers have provided either important organisational data or alternatively a means of entering what Cunnison (1966) referred to as the ‘gossip circle’. The final section of the chapter draws on the evidence to demonstrate how the community of smokers, as social outcasts, are valuable in investigating workplace issues. For researchers and practitioners, these social outcasts may very well prove to be an important barometer of employee attitudes; attitudes that perhaps cannot be measured through traditional staff surveys.

Transforming the psychological contract through a continuous innovation methodology

This paper introduces the Corporate Culture Change Cycle: a continuous innovation methodology for transforming the psychological contract in an organisational context. The eight step process is based on the action learning model. The purpose of this methodology is to benchmark the psychological contract against eight changing values of the employment relationship as a basis for facilitating a process of aligning the changing needs of employer and employee. Both the Corporate Culture Change Cycle and the New Employment Relationship Model have been validated in several organisational settings and subsequently refined. This continuous innovation methodology addresses gaps in the psychological contract, change management and continuous innovation research literatures. The approach therefore should be of interest to researchers in these fields of study and from a practical perspective for managers wishing to transform their workplace cultures.

Realising competitive advantage through HRM in New Zealand service industries

An emerging source of competitive advantage for service industries is the knowledge, skills and attitudes of their employees. Indeed, achievement of a 'service quality' culture, considered imperative for competitive advantage in service organisations, supposedly results from the use of best practice human resource management (HRM), and from a strategic approach to their implementation. This paper empirically explores the use of these dimensions of HRM as a source of competitive advantage. It finds high-performing service organisations actively engage best practices across the areas of recruitment and selection, training and development, communication and team working. Evidence of a strategic approach to the implementation of these practices is also found.

Managing knowledge in an outsourcing environment

What an organisation does versus what it out-sources to the market is a classic boundaries of the firm question that has previously been dominated by efficiency arguments. However, a knowledge-based view suggests these boundaries are integral to the ability of a firm to deploy existing knowledge stocks efficiently, as well as develop new knowledge through learning that will drive future competitiveness. Furthermore, the nature of these boundaries, in respect of their permeability is critical in understanding the likelihood of knowledge flowing into and out of the organisation. Using these concepts, we present a case study of Main Roads Western Australia to illustrate how these principles have allowed it to start rebuilding its internal capabilities through repositioning its operational boundaries and via ensuring their boundaries are highly porous as they move more major projects into alliance contracts.

Transitioning students to work through authentic employment-based training in an Australian senior secondary VET program.

A common challenge among OECD countries has been the development of education and training pathways that accommodate student needs and interests at the upper secondary level (OECD, 2000). The introduction of trade-focussed Australian Technical Colleges (ATCs) has met with mixed response. The ATCs aim to create a supported transition from school to work through dual pathway programs enabling students to follow a trade career while completing their upper secondary studies. There has been little explicit examination of the effectiveness of such senior secondary school arrangements. Using one such Australian Technical College as a case-study, this paper investigates the perceptions of the employers and students who were associated with the college. Using mixed-methods consisting of quantitative perception surveys and focus interviews, the results of this study show that students and employers are very satisfied with the College and illustrate that students have made significant gains in relating their learning to the workplace and everyday life.

Re-valuing construction through project delivery

In moving from lowest cost adversarial based traditional procurement towards value driven methodologies the challenges range from re-engineering the process, to metrics and team alignment. This paper describes research into methodologies which encourage alignment of project partners towards achieving mutually beneficial goals. The research identifies nine variables which influence the achievement of successful projects delivering value. Results from case studies illustrate that not all parties can achieve value for themselves which directs attention to the balance between deliverables and the interests of team members. Re- valuing construction demands refocusing towards the delivery of operational assets and their place in the value system whilst recognising the need to manage the delivery process and the team to align the value to the parties. The objective of the project was to develop tools and recommendations for reform of project delivery in the building and construction industry to transform business-as-usual performance into exceptional performance. Benefits flow not only to the construction industry, but to the community as a whole because a more sophisticated industry can deliver more effective use of assets, financing, operating and maintenance of facilities to suit the community’s needs. This research was funded by the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation.