Generation next : post-cinema Australian moviemaking, innovation and implications for cultural policy

The Australian screen industries are a leading domestic creative industry sector at a crossroad. New production, distribution and exhibition technologies are challenging traditional models of ‘filmmaking’. For the screen industries to remain competitive they must renovate business models for an emerging marketplace. This paper is a preliminary examination of three key aspects of next generation filmmaking: post-cinema approaches to screen production, emerging production and business models, and issues for policy.

Contribution of cross-functional teams to the improvement in operational performance

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of cross-functional teams in the alignment between system effectiveness and operational effectiveness after the implementation of enterprise information systems (EIS). In addition, it aims to explore the contribution of cross-functional teams to improvement in operational performance. ---------- Design/methodology/approach: The research uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, in a two-stage methodological approach, to investigate the influence of cross-functional teams on the alignment between system effectiveness and operational effectiveness and the impact of the stated alignment on the improvement in operational performance. ---------- Findings: Initial findings suggest that factors stemming from system effectiveness and the performance objectives stemming from operational effectiveness are important and significantly well correlated factors that promote the alignment between the effectiveness of technological implementation and the effectiveness of operations. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis has been used to find the structural relationships and provide explanations for the stated alignment and the contribution of cross-functional teams to the improvement in operational performance. ---------- Research limitations/implications: The principal limitation of this study is its small sample size. ---------- Practical implications: Cross-functional teams have been used by many organisations as a way of involving expertise from different functional areas in the implementation of innovative technologies. An appropriate use of the dimensions that emerged from this research, in the context of cross-functional teams, will assist organisations to properly utilise cross-functional teams with the aim of improving operational performance. ---------- Originality/value: The paper presents a new approach to measure the effectiveness of EIS implementation by adding new dimensions to measure it.

New strength of competition and innovation : China’s independent television production

The state-owned media system in China has evolved considerably since 1994 when the first independent TV production company was officially registered. Today, there are thousands of independent TV production companies looking for market opportunities in China. Independent production companies have facilitated the circulation of program trade and investment, and in the process have encouraged innovation and professionalization. This paper focuses on the evolution of independents and the changing face of the television market. It discusses the ecology of independent television companies in China and how government regulations are impacting on the TV production market. It argues that independent TV is providing a new strength for China‟s TV market, one often suspected of being imitative, propagandistic and lacking colour.

Assessing the effectiveness of water sensitive urban design in Southeast Queensland

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) systems have the potential mitigate the hydrologic disturbance and water quality concerns associated with stormwater runoff from urban development. In the last few years WSUD has been strongly promoted in South East Queensland (SEQ) and new developments are now required to use WSUD systems to manage stormwater runoff. However, there has been limited field evaluation of WSUD systems in SEQ and consequently knowledge of their effectiveness in the field, under storm events, is limited. The objective of this research project was to assess the effectiveness of WSUD systems installed in a residential development, under real storm events. To achieve this objective, a constructed wetland, bioretention swale and a bioretention basin were evaluated for their ability to improve the hydrologic and water quality characteristics of stormwater runoff from urban development. The monitoring focused on storm events, with sophisticated event monitoring stations measuring the inflow and outflow from WSUD systems. Data analysis undertaken confirmed that the constructed wetland, bioretention basin and bioretention swale improved the hydrologic characteristics by reducing peak flow. The bioretention systems, particularly the bioretention basin also reduced the runoff volume and frequency of flow, meeting key objectives of current urban stormwater management. The pollutant loads were reduced by the WSUD systems to above or just below the regional guidelines, showing significant reductions to TSS (70-85%), TN (40-50%) and TP (50%). The load reduction of NOx and PO4 3- by the bioretention basin was poor (<20%), whilst the constructed wetland effectively reduced the load of these pollutants in the outflow by approximately 90%. The primary reason for the load reduction in the wetland was due to a reduction in concentration in the outflow, showing efficient treatment of stormwater by the system. In contrast, the concentration of key pollutants exiting the bioretention basin were higher than the inflow. However, as the volume of stormwater exiting the bioretention basin was significantly lower than the inflow, a load reduction was still achieved. Calibrated MUSIC modelling showed that the bioretention basin, and in particular, the constructed wetland were undersized, with 34% and 62% of stormwater bypassing the treatment zones in the devices. Over the long term, a large proportion of runoff would not receive treatment, considerably reducing the effectiveness of the WSUD systems.

Managing illegal street racing and associated risky driving behaviour : An Australian perspective

Illegal street racing has received increased attention in recent years from the media, governments and road safety professionals. At the same time, there has been a shift from treating illegal street racing as a public nuisance issue to a road safety problem in Australia, as this behaviour now attracts a penalty of increased periods of vehicle impoundment leading to permanent vehicle forfeiture for repeat offences. This severe vehicle sanction is typically applied to repeat drink driving offenders and drivers who breach suspensions and disqualifications in North American jurisdictions, but was first introduced in Australia to deal with illegal street racing and associated risky driving behaviours, grouped together under the label of ‘hooning’ in Australian jurisdictions. This paper describes how Australian jurisdictions are dealing with this issue. The research described in this paper drew on multiple data sources to explore illegal street racing and the management of this issue in Australia. First, the paper reviews the relevant legislation in each Australian state to describe the cross-jurisdictional similarities and differences in approaches. It also describes some results from focus group discussions and a quantitative online survey with drivers who self-report engaging in illegal street racing and associated behaviours in Queensland, Australia. It was found that approaches to dealing with illegal street racing and associated risky driving behaviours in each Australian state are similar, with increasing periods of vehicle impoundment (leading to vehicle forfeiture) applied to repeat hooning offences within prescribed periods. Participants in the focus groups and respondents to the questionnaire generally felt these penalty periods were severe, with perceptions of severity increasing with the length of the penalty period. It was concluded that there is a need for each jurisdiction to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of their vehicle impoundment and forfeiture programs for hooning. These evaluations should compare the relative costs of these programs (e.g., enforcement, unrecovered towing and storage fees, and court costs) to the observed benefits (e.g., reduction in target behaviours, reduction in community complaints, and reduction in the number and severity of associated crashes).

Virtual product placement as a new approach to measure effectiveness of placements

Product placement is a fast growing multi-billion dollar industry yet measures of its effectiveness, which influence the critical area of pricing, have been problematic. Past attempts to measure the effect of a placement, and therefore provide a basis for pricing of placements, have been confounded by the effect on consumers of multiple prior exposures of a brand name in all marketing communications. Virtual product placement offers certain advantages: as a tool to measure the effectiveness of product placements; assistance with the problem of lack of audience selectivity in traditional product placement; testing different audiences for brands and addressing a gap in the existing academic literature by focusing on the impact of product placement on recall and recognition of new brands.

Developing creativity and innovation in management education : an artful event for transformative learning

This paper argues that management education needs to consider a trend in learning design which advances more creative learning through an alliance with art-based pedagogical processes. A shift is required from skills training to facilitating transformational learning through experiences that expand human potential, facilitated by artistic processes. In this paper the authors discuss the necessity for creativity and innovation in the workplace and the need to develop better leaders and managers. The inclusion of arts-based processes enhances artful behaviour, aesthetics and creativity within management and organisational behaviour, generating important implications for business innovation. This creative learning focus stems from an analysis of an arts-based intervention for management development. Entitled Management Jazz the program was conducted over three years at a large Australian University. The paper reviews some of the salient literature in the field. It considers four stages of the learning process: capacity, artful event, increased capability, and application/action to produce product. One illustrative example of an arts-based learning process is provided from the Management Jazz program. Research findings indicate that artful learning opportunities enhance capacity for awareness of creativity in one’s self and in others. This capacity correlates positively with a perception that engaging in artful learning enhances the capability of managers in changing collaborative relationships and habitat constraint. The authors conclude that it is through engagement and creative alliance with the arts that management education can explore and discover artful approaches to building creativity and innovation. The illustration presented in this paper will be delivered as a brief workshop at the Fourth Art of Management Conference. The process of bricolage and articles at hand will be used to explore creative constraints and prototypes while generating group collaboration. The mini-workshop will conclude with discussion of the arts-based process and capability enhancement outcomes.

Birthing practices of traditional birth attendants in south Asia in the context of training programmes

Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) training has been an important component of public health policy interventions to improve maternal and child health in developing countries since the 1970s. More recently, since the 1990s, the TBA training strategy has been increasingly seen as irrelevant, ineffective or, on the whole, a failure due to evidence that the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in developing countries had not reduced. Although, worldwide data show that, by choice or out of necessity, 47 percent of births in the developing world are assisted by TBAs and/or family members, funding for TBA training has been reduced and moved to providing skilled birth attendants for all births. Any shift in policy needs to be supported by appropriate evidence on TBA roles in providing maternal and infant health care service and effectiveness of the training programmes. This article reviews literature on the characteristics and role of TBAs in South Asia with an emphasis on India. The aim was to assess the contribution of TBAs in providing maternal and infant health care service at different stages of pregnancy and after-delivery and birthing practices adopted in home births. The review of role revealed that apart from TBAs, there are various other people in the community also involved in making decisions about the welfare and health of the birthing mother and new born baby. However, TBAs have changing, localised but nonetheless significant roles in delivery, postnatal and infant care in India. Certain traditional birthing practices such as bathing babies immediately after birth, not weighing babies after birth and not feeding with colostrum are adopted in home births as well as health institutions in India. There is therefore a thin precarious balance between the application of biomedical and traditional knowledge. Customary rituals and perceptions essentially affect practices in home and institutional births and hence training of TBAs need to be implemented in conjunction with community awareness programmes.