Corporate social responsibility, new activism and public relations

Purpose – This paper aims to analyse why some contemporary corporate organisations are reluctant to articulate the effect of their market positioning behaviour on the unwilling communities that oppose their activities. It describes the communicative interactions between several large corporate organisations and the grassroots activist groups opposing their activities, in Victoria, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach – Extensive secondary data were collected, including extensive newspaper and radio transcripts from the campaign periods, web site downloads, letters and other campaign documents. The research design applied to the data, a qualitative, interpretative analysis, drawing on key theoretical frameworks.

Findings – The research findings suggest that powerful protest strategies, combined with the right political and social conditions, and a shift in the locus of politics and expertise, bring to light public concerns about the ethics of corporate practices, such as public relations, used egocentrically by organisations, to harmonise their activities in late modern Western society. It finds that no serious overhaul of business ethics can occur until the unity of public relations is critically scrutinised and reformed. It helps define an alternative holistic communicative approach which could be applied more widely to business practice that helps avoid the limitations and relativism of public relations.

Originality/value – The research flags new ways of thinking expressed in the notion of public communication that could lead to creative and unusual coherences vital to deal with the apparent ecological challenges for society in late modernity.

Integrating job stress and social exchange theories to predict employee strain in reformed public sector contexts

This research examines the organizational characteristics that contribute to employee wellbeing in public sector agencies that have undergone substantial organizational change. Two studies were undertaken, the first involving 2,466 police officers working in a state-based law enforcement agency, whereas the second comprised 1,010 occupationally diverse employees working in a State Government authority. The research was guided by a theoretical framework that begins with a model underpinning many large-scale job stress investigations—the job strain model (JSM)—and is expanded to incorporate widely used social exchange variables (i.e., psychological contract breach and organizational fairness). The results of hierarchical regression analyses from both studies confirm the value of the JSM. There was also strong support for extending the JSM to include the breach and fairness variables; however, proposed interactions between job demands and organizational fairness failed to add to the explanatory value of the model. The implications of these results particularly for public sector organizations that have undergone extensive reforms consistent with New Public Management are discussed.

Skills, strategies, sport and social responsibility : reconnecting physical education

Physical education is one of the more difficult subjects in the curriculum for generalist classroom teachers in primary schools to incorporate confidently into their teaching. In many primary schools, the generalist classroom teacher defers to a physical education specialist. This situation has both positive and negative features. In this context, this study brings together several prominent models of physical education teaching in an approach that enables the curriculum to be encountered through the interests of the children. This approach offers a generalist teacher, through appropriate professional development, a means for delivering a high-quality physical education programme, and also complements the repertoire of the specialist physical education teacher at both primary and secondary school levels.

Syphilis and AIDS : historical and social comparisons

Drawing on the literatures of history, sociology, epidemiology, and microbiology, this thesis compares syphillis with human immunodeficiency virus, with special reference to the social and historical factors likely to be relevant to the control or eradication of acquired imune dificiency syndrom (AIDS). The sudden appearance of a new disease causing suffering and death in a community, engenders apprehension and fear which is often manifested as hysteria against, and vilification of, those who have the disease. This fear is greatly increased should the disease be sexually-transmitted. Syphilis in a venereal form, occured in Europe toward the end of the 15th Century. Initially it was an acute, fulminating disease which rapidly spread through Europe and Asia. Attempts to control the disease have gone through periods of either partial successes or massive failures and have ended in frustration for the authorities. When the syndrome of acquired immune deficiency (AIDS) was first reported, it was seen in Western countries in homosexual men. However, as non-homosexual community members and children became infected, it became apparent to authorities that a pandemic was accurring. Within a few years, the disease was identified worldwide. Isolation of the virus (HIV-1), and development of test for detection of carriers, plus restoration of clean blood and blood-product supplies, have reassured the community to some extent. The history of syphilis shows that neither the epidemiological medical, nor the economic political approaches to disease control work, although there are positive aspects resulting from both. It is social responses that will offer the most hope in the long term for the control of AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases.

Envisioning Indochina : the spatial and social ordering and imagining of a French colony

The emergence of Indochina in the French imagination was articulated in both representational and institutional modes. Representation involves the transmission of colonial ideals through more obtuse means; that is, through literary texts, travelogues, exhibitions, film and advertising. However, these textual sites feed from and invest in a material situation, which was the institutional arm of colonialism. Indochina was institutionally articulated in cartographic maps and surveys, in the new social spaces of cities and towns, in architectural and technological forms, through social technologies of discipline and welfare and in cultural and religious organisations. The aim of this thesis is to analyse, across a number of textual sites, the representation and institutionalisation of Otherness through the politics of space in the French colony of Indochina, Indochine in this sense becomes a spatial discourse. The French constructed a mental and physical space for Indochina by blanketing and suffocating the original cultural landscape, which in fact had to be ignored for this process to occur. What actually became manifest as a result of this projection stemmed from the French imagination. Just as the French manipulated space, language also underwent the same process of reduction. The Vietnamese script was latinised to make it more 'useable' and ‘accessible’. Through christening the union of Indochina; initiating a comprehensive writing reform; and renaming the streets in the colonial cities, the French used language us another tool for 'making transparent'. Furthermore, the colonial powers established a communication and transport network throughout the colony in an attempt to materialise their fictive (artificial) vision of a unified French Indochinese space. The accessibility and design of these different modes of transport reflected the gendered, racial and class divisions inherent in the colonial establishment. At the heart of representing and institutionalising Indochina was the desire to control and contain. This characterised French imperial ordering of space in the city and the rural areas. In rural areas land was divided into small parcels and alienated to individuals or worked into precise grids for the rubber plantation. In urban centres the native quarter was clearly demarcated from the European quarter which functioned as its modern, progressive Other. The rationale behind this segregation was premised on European, nineteenth century discourses of race, class, gender and hygiene. Influenced by Darwinian and neo-Lamarkian theories of race, this biological discourse identified the 'working class', 'women' and 'the native' as not only biologically but also culturally inferior. They were perceived as a potential, degenerative threat to the biological, cultural and industrial development of the nation. In the colonial context, space was thus ordered and domesticated to control the native population. Coextensively, the literature which springs from such a structure will be tainted by the same ideas, and thus the spaces it formulates within the readers mind feed on and reinforce this foundation. Examples of gender and indigenous narratives which contest this imaginative, transparent topography are analysed throughout this thesis. They provide instances of struggle and resistance which undermine the ideal/stereotypical level of architectural and planned space and delineate an alternative insight into colonial spatial and social relations. The fictional accounts of European women and indigenous writers both challenge and reaffirm the fixity of some of these idealised colonial boundaries. In various literary, historical, political, architectural and cinematic discourses Indochina has been und continues to be depicted as a modern city and exotic Utopia. Informed by the mood of nostalgia, exotic images of Indochina have resurfaced in contemporary French culture. France's continued desire to create, control and maintain an Indochinese space in the French public imagination reinforces the multi-layered, interconnected and persistent nature of colonial discourse.

Guest editors' introduction: active citizenship and social accountability

By active citizenship, we [Oxfam] mean that combination of rights and obligations that link individuals to the state, including paying taxes, obeying laws, and exercising the full range of political, civil, and social rights. Active citizens use those rights to improve the quality of political or civic life, through involvement in the formal economy or formal politics, or through the sort of collective action that historically has allowed poor and excluded groups to make their voices heard. [… .]

At an individual level, active citizenship means developing self-confidence and overcoming the insidious way in which the condition of being relatively powerless can become internalised. In relation to other people, it means developing the ability to negotiate and influence decisions. And when empowered individuals work together, it means involvement in collective action, be it at the neighbourhood level, or more broadly. Ultimately, active citizenship means engaging with the political system to build an effective state, and assuming some degree of responsibility for the public domain. (Green 2008: 12, 19)

Pubertal stage and the prevalence of violence and social/relational aggression

OBJECTIVE We examined associations between pubertal stage and violent adolescent behavior and social/relational aggression.

METHODS The International Youth Development Study comprises statewide representative student samples in grades 5, 7, and 9 (N = 5769) in Washington State and Victoria, Australia, drawn as a 2-stage cluster sample in each state. We used a school-administered, self-report student survey to measure previous-year violent behavior (ie, attacking or beating up another person) and social/relational aggression (excluding peers from the group, threatening to spread lies or rumors), as well as risk and protective factors and pubertal development. Cross-sectional data were analyzed.

RESULTS Compared with early puberty, the odds of violent behavior were approximately threefold higher in midpuberty (odds ratio [OR]: 2.87 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.81–4.55]) and late puberty (OR: 3.79 [95% CI: 2.25–6.39]) after adjustment for demographic factors. For social/relational aggression, there were weaker overall associations after adjustment, but these associations included an interaction between pubertal stage and age, and stronger associations with pubertal stage at younger age were shown (P = .003; midpuberty OR: 1.78 [95% CI: 1.20–2.63]; late puberty OR: 3.00 [95% CI: 1.95–4.63]). Associations between pubertal stage and violent behavior and social/relational aggression remained after the inclusion of social contextual mediators in the analyses.

CONCLUSIONS Pubertal stage was associated with higher rates of violent behavior and social/relational aggression, with the latter association seen only at younger ages. Puberty is an important phase at which to implement prevention programs to reduce adolescent violent and antisocial behaviors.

The transnational corporation, corporate social responsibility and the 'outsourcing' debate

Current popular debates in the United States and Australia on the topics of 'jobless recoveries' and the 'outsourcing' of skilled IT jobs to India (most conspicuously) evidence a confusion as to the institutional role of the business firm and its obligations to the broader stakeholder community, as well as to the more specific differences between outsourcing and the spatial restructuring of corporate value-chains. This paper will take up several issues in the hope of clarifying this confusion, including the essential nature of the business firm as an economic, political and social institution; the possibilities for social responsibility and stakeholder management in large internationalised firms; and the critical distinctions between domestic and international outsourcing and spatial restructuring. Data from the 'outsourcing' debate will be referenced to illustrate the differing logics/rationalities of relevant stakeholder groups.

Men’s emotional responses to their partner’s pregnancy and their views on support and information received

The main aim of this study was to extend previous research of men’s experiences of pregnancy; 48 Australian men and their pregnant partners took part. Most men reported feeling positive about the pregnancy, emotionally well supported and well informed. Men reported receiving more valuable information from their partner than from doctors/obstetricians, family or the internet and were accurate observers of women’s depression levels.

Inequalities in cardiovascular disease mortality : the role of behavioural, physiological and social risk factors

Background While the relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is well established, the role that traditional cardiovascular risk factors play in this association remains unclear. The authors examined the association between education attainment and CVD mortality and the extent to which behavioural, social and physiological factors explained this relationship.

Methods Adults (n=38 355) aged 40–69 years living in Melbourne, Australia were recruited in 1990–1994. Subjects with baseline CVD risk factor data ascertained through questionnaire and physical measurement were followed for an average of 9.4 years with CVD deaths verified by review of medical records and autopsy reports.

Results CVD mortality was higher for those with primary education only, compared with those who had completed tertiary education, with an HR of 1.66 (95% CI 1.10 to 2.49) after adjustment for age, country of birth and gender. Those from the lowest educated group had a more adverse cardiovascular risk factor profile compared with the highest educated group, and adjustment for these risk factors reduced the HR to 1.18 (95% CI 0.78 to 1.77). In analysis of individual risk factors, smoking and waist circumference explained most of the difference in CVD mortality between the highest and lowest education groups.

Conclusions Most of the excess CVD mortality in lower socio-economic groups can be explained by known risk factors, particularly smoking and overweight. While targeting cardiovascular risk factors should not divert efforts from addressing the underlying determinants of health inequalities, it is essential that known risk factors are addressed effectively among lower socio-economic groups.

Patent management and social software

The worldwide increase of patent applications and the important role patents play in economic development make the management of intellectual property (IP) an important area for many companies. At the same time, the complexity in decision-making and IP process management necessitates a high degree of collaboration between various enterprise divisions such as strategy and policy making and market research. In this paper we present an ongoing case study at a large international automotive manufacturer that is exploring the potential of social software to support patent management. We conducted 31 semi-structured interviews to identify relevant patent processes at the company as well as typical operational problems within these processes. This leads us to derive four propositions on how social software can support patent processes. We conclude by providing an overview of the next steps in our research project. Our results present a first step in understanding the role of emerging social software services in enabling collaborative patent management.

Impact of personalized recommendation and social comparison on learning behaviours and outcomes

ELearning suffers from the lack of face-to-face interaction and can deprive learners from the benefits of social interaction and comparison. In this paper we present the results of a study conducted for the impact of social comparison. The study was conducted by collecting students’ engagement with an eLearning tool, the attendance, and grades scored by students at specific milestones and presented these metrics to students as feedback using Kiviat charts. The charts were complemented with appropriate recommendations to allow them to adapt their study strategy and behaviour. The study spanned over 4 semesters (2 with and 2 without the Kiviats) and the results were analysed using paired T tests to test the pre and post results on topics covered by the eLearning tool. Survey questionnaires were also administered at the end for qualitative analysis. The results indicated that the Kiviat feedback with recommendation had positive impact on learning outcomes and attitudes.