Strengthening Australia's schools through corporate federalism?

The federal policy document, 'Strengthening Australia's Schools' (SAS), signified a new approach to commonwealth-state relations in schooling policy making--corporate federalism. Corporate federalism extended the application of neocorporatist strategies for managing and responding to crisis (here, in particular, Australia's worsening national and international economic situation) from the private to the public sector. The paper documents and evaluates the rationale for corporate federalism in SAS. Some possible future developments within federalism and schooling policy are also considered.

Dirty collar crime and the environment

In 2010, Vincent Ruggiero and Nigel South coined the term ‘dirty collar crime’ to define corporate entrepreneurs that monopolise waste disposal companies and profit from illegal environmental activities. This paper explores the ways in which ‘the environment’ has become big business for organised criminal enterprises. It draws on original fieldwork conducted in Italy and examines the exploits of the ‘eco mafia’. It concludes that the fluidity associated with term ‘environment’ and its cavalier usage in political and public discourse creates ambivalence for regulation and protection. Whilst trade continues to assert an international priority within the landscapes of global economics and fiscal prosperity; organized environmental crime takes advantage of growing markets. As a result, movements of environmental activism emerge as the new front in the surveillance, regulation and prosecution of organised environmental crime. Such voices must continue to be central to future green criminological perspectives that seek environmental, ecological and species justice.

Corporate social responsibility and the parameters of dialogue with vulnerable others

This article presents a case study of corporate dialogue with vulnerable others. Dialogue with marginalized external groups is increasingly presented in the business literature as the key to making corporate social responsibility possible in particular through corporate learning. Corporate public communications at the same time promote community engagement as a core aspect of corporate social responsibility. This article examines the possibilities for and conditions underpinning corporate dialogue with marginalized stakeholders as occurred around the unexpected and sudden closure in January 2009 of the AU$2.2 billion BHP Billiton Ravensthorpe Nickel mine in rural Western Australia. In doing so we draw on John Roberts’ notion of dialogue with vulnerable others, and apply a discourse analysis approach to data spanning corporate public communications and interviews with residents affected by the decision to close the mine. In presenting this case study we contribute to the as yet limited organizational research concerned directly with marginalized stakeholders and argue that corporate social responsibility discourse and vulnerable other dialogue not only affirms the primacy of business interests but also co-opts vulnerable others in the pursuit of these interests. In conclusion we consider case study implications for critical understandings of corporate dialogue with vulnerable others.

Director liability for uncommercial transactions : is s 588G(1A) impotent to provide liquidators the means to seek compensation for creditors?

In the 10 years since the addition of uncommercial transactions to the table of deemed “debts incurred” in s 588G(1A) of the Corporations Act, the sub-section has arguably achieved little. This article explains why this has been so, and what needs to be done to enable this aspect of Australia’s insolvent trading laws to operate effectively and as originally intended.

Will Queensland tort reform change valuation practice and valuers liability

It has been common practice over past property boom and bust cycles in Australia for financial institutions and property owners who have suffered a loss in the property downturn to sue valuers for negligence. Damages claimed are based on the price differential between the valuation at or nearing the peak of the market and the subsequent sale in the market downturn. However, the context of valuers liability has become increasingly complex as a result of statutory reforms introduced in response to the Review of the Law of Negligence Final Report 2002), in particular the introduction of Civil Liability Acts introducing proportionate liability provisions. Legislative reforms have had some positive outcomes for Valuers, however valuers need to continue to maintain high ethical standards, independence and professionalism in valuation practice.

Principles of Criminal Law in Queensland and Western Australia

Aspires to engage students in the criminal law in Queensland and Western Australia by explaining and applying its fundamental principles. In both these jurisdictions the criminal law stems from the Griffith Code, which was enacted in 1899 in Queensland and in 1913 in Western Australia.

TESOL in the corporate university

This article is an invited response to discuss the role of theory in the field of teaching of English as a Second Language and the place of TESOL in the contemporary university. It makes the case that TESOL is both an academic field in search of theoretical grounds but that its future is more dependent on its status as a social/institutional field, in Bourdieu's sense, within the corporate, performative university.

Corporate fraud and misconduct : investigative and regulatory priorities

This article investigates the profile of the companies that have been investigated for corporate fraud and misconduct. Our definition of fraud includes financial statement fraud, market misconduct fraud such as insider trading or false disclosures, and managerial fraud. The particular evidence presented relates to those instances of corporate fraud and misconduct investigated by the Australian corporate regulatory, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and relates to sanctions for fraud, misconduct or compliance breaches. Using data compiled from the public announcements in the ASIC reports over the period 2004-2008, we categorise the type of fraud and misconduct breaches ASIC chooses to report and investigate.

Corporate social responsibility and communication

Corporate activities are increasingly scrutinized for their effect on society and the environment. It is unthinkable that a corporation today will declare publicly that its only goal is to make money for its shareholders. Instead, corporations typically claim to balance the needs of society and the environment against the need to make a profit. That is, corporations say they practice corporate social responsibility (CSR). This edited volume explores the complexities of this seemingly simple claim.As such it is an essential resource to complement the latest academic thinking from management and communication research on how corporations communicate about CSR This chapter presents an overview of the book.

Public relations and corporate social responsibility

This study analyses trends and patterns in public relations literature about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through a content analysis of articles published between 1998 and 2007. The current status of the literature suggests that public relations scholars have broadened their approach to CSR from one solely encompassing communication management, as proposed by Clark (2000), to one that incorporates the management function and relationship management components of contemporary public relations thinking. The findings of the literature review suggest that there are opportunities for social responsibility to be incorporated into public relations through a process approach, which would foster stronger links between organizations, stakeholders and society.

An analysis of the corporate governance practices of smaller listed Australian companies

We examine the corporate governance environment of smaller listed Australian firms to investigate the factors that determine how firms respond to recommendations contained in corporate governance codes. We group corporate governance recommendations into three distinct categories and argue that differences in adoption costs between categories, together with firm specific factors, determine a firm’s decision to conform with the recommendation or to explain the reasons for non-conformance. Analysis of the conformance by smaller firms with governance recommendations highlights substantial differences in adoption rates between categories of recommendations. Our results also reveal that the cost of adopting specific recommendations, together with profitability, external audit quality, and ownership dispersion, jointly explain a firm’s decision to ‘comply or explain’. This study provides insights for policy makers and regulators regarding the appropriateness of corporate governance recommendations for smaller firms

The impact of litigation risk on corporate prospective disclosure : a review of the empirical literature

We review the literature on the impact of litigation risk (a form of external governance) on corporate prospective disclosure decisions as reflected in management earnings forecasts. From this analysis we identify four key areas for future research. First, litigation risk warrants more attention from researchers; currently it tends to be treated as a secondary factor impacting MEF decisions. Second, it would be informative from a governance perspective for researchers to explore why litigation risk has a differential impact on MEF decisions across countries. Third, understanding the interaction between litigation risk and forecast/firm-specific characteristics is important from management, investor and regulatory perspectives but is currently under-explored Last, research on the litigation risk and MEF attributes link is piecemeal and incomplete, requiring more integrated and expanded analysis.

Cameron's hot air. Pollution, fraud and the politics of carbon emissions

It is widely recognised that exposure to air pollutants affect pulmonary and lung dysfunction as well as a range of neurological and vascular disorders. The rapid increase of worldwide carbon emissions continues to compromise environmental sustainability whilst contributing to premature death. Moreover, the harms caused by air pollution have a more pernicious reach, such as being the major source of climate change and ‘natural disasters’, which reportedly kills millions of people each year (World Health Organization, 2012). The opening quotations tell a story of the UK government's complacency towards the devastation of toxic and contaminating air emissions. The above headlines greeted the British public earlier this year after its government was taken to the Court of Appeal for an appalling air pollution record that continues to cause the premature deaths of 30,000 British people each year at a health cost estimated at £20 billion per annum. This combined with pending legal proceedings against the UK government for air pollution violations by the European Commission, point to a Cameron government that prioritises hot air and profit margins over human lives. The UK's legal air pollution regimes are an industry dominated process that relies on negotiation and partnership between regulators and polluters. The entire model seeks to assist business compliance rather than punish corporate offenders. There is no language of ‘crime’ in relation to UK air pollution violations but rather a discourse of ‘exceedence’ (Walters, 2010). It is a regulatory system not premised on the ‘polluter pay’ principle but instead the ‘polluter profit’ principle.