Towards a framework for implementing individual funding based on an Australian case study

Although individual funding is increasingly being used around the globe as a mechanism to fund social care, its implementation is proving to be problematic and implementation strategies are not well developed. This paper proposes a framework for the successful introduction and implementation of individual funding programs based on the analysis of data collected in a qualitative case study conducted in an Australian not-for-profit disability agency over a 4-year period from 2003 to 2007. Data were gathered through participant observation and interviews with program participants and managers, and the findings were validated with those involved. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory is used to analyze the findings from a micro, meso, exo, and macro perspective. The following factors were found to be important for successful implementation: the meaningful involvement of the person with disability in decision-making; adequate resources; access to information and appropriate supports; suitable activities being available; knowledge of policies and procedures; policies ensuring oversight and responsible accountability; employment conditions for workers being safeguarded; and support for staff and managers to adjust to their new roles. Knowledge of effective implementation strategies is important for disability agencies and for governments promoting individual funding because this radically different funding arrangement requires new implementation strategies.

Leading an evidence-based, multi-stakeholder approach to evaluating the implementation of a new online learning environment : an Australian institutional case study

An Australian institutional case study is presented on the evaluation approach being adopted for the implementation of a new online learning environment. Well conceived and inclusive evaluation is seen as essential for the quality management of online learning environments. The focus is on identifying and reconciling the informational needs of various stakeholder groups in the institution, and developing a plan of action covering the key period of implementation. The significant judgements required to carry out evaluation in a multi-campus environment cannot be under-estimated. This is particularly the case given the more recent move to devolving resources and responsibility for the successful implementation of the environment to faculties in the institution concerned. It calls for a more sophisticated conception and set of practices around distributed leadership, as aided by institutions‘ teaching and learning centres. A set of strategic recommendations are offered to help with the evaluation task.

Reconceptualising engagement : a study of Australian academics

The management of human capital is a strategic imperative for knowledge based firms such as universities. Human capital has been described as the investment in people necessary to build the skills and capabilities to operate at their full potential and enable them to act in ways that enhance the competitiveness of organisations. This thesis is set amidst the series of changes made to the Australian Higher Education sector that have had a profound effect on the management of its human capital. The changes have larg ely been driven by government policy in response to globalisation, increased competition and technological advances. As a result the climate of universities has moved to a more cost efficiency-focused managerialism. Various studies have illustrated the significant consequences for the academic workforce and the way in which work has changed in the sector. Academics now face greater accountability for the quality and quantity of their teaching and research at a time when university funding has been constrained. The results have not been all positive for the quality of academics’ working lives and evidence points to heavy workloads and a steadily disengaging workforce. Despite this, many of the sectoral changes rely on an engaged and cooperative workforce to bring about greater productivity and quality of education to attract a larger share of international and domestic students. ... The two aims of this thesis are: to clarify the current definitions of engagement by bringing together the constructs and concepts that contribute to engagement; and to provide insight into the dimensions that shape engagement in Australian business academics ... The thesis also contributes to the dialogue on human capital and in particular, how it can be harnessed in key areas such as the knowledge industries and for targeted purposes such as the management of talent.

Knowledge management culture, strategy and process in Malaysian firms

Malaysia is one of the leading countries in Asia that are at the forefront in the development of a knowledge-based economy (KBE). The Malaysian government has been making substantial investments in both physical and technological infrastructure to facilitate knowledge-intensive economic activities. Foreign and local firms in Malaysia are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities brought by the emerging KBE. However, little is known as to how firms in Malaysia respond to this new trajectory of economic development. In particular, there is paucity in the literature as to how Malaysian firms manage knowledge in their organizations as they strive to achieve sustainable competitive performance. Little is known as to how and why firms in Malaysia develop and manage their intangible and knowledge-based resources as they operate and respond to the modern knowledge-based competitive economic arena. This paper examines a type of organizational culture that supports and promotes knowledge management (KM) within firms in Malaysia. The paper argues that KM-oriented culture shapes the overall KM strategy of firms, which consequently shapes the organizational process required to manage the firm's knowledge-based resources. The study uses survey data from a sample of 153 firms from Malaysia. Structural equation modelling was used to develop and test the measurement model of KM-oriented culture, KM strategy and KM process of the sample firms, as well as the structural model of their hypothesized relationships. The results show that firms with high level of KM-oriented culture demonstrated well-defined KM strategies. Firms that implemented well-defined KM strategies also reported that they have better KM processes in place. Building a KM-oriented culture within the organization is a pre-requisite to the implementation of any KM systems in Malaysian firms. Successful implementation of KM strategies, processes and the supporting technological infrastructure depends on whether organizational members consider KM as a norm within the firm. The study's focus on the linkages between KM-oriented culture, strategy and process in the context of Malaysian firms contributes to a more nuanced understanding of KM among firms in the Asian context in general, and in the Malaysian context in particular.

Packaged good : responses from Australian journalism educators on the Reporting Diversity project

The Reporting Diversity Project provides teaching materials on reporting cultural diversity for journalism educators and university students. This article reports the findings from a survey designed to gauge journalism educators' awareness of the online curriculum resources and their views on the usefulness of these materials. The survey was also used to capture journalism academics' views on educational resources produced with government support. This article includes the findings from a series of trials of the Reporting Diversity teaching resources with a small cohort of academics from throughout Australia. It includes their evaluation of the resources and reveals ways in which the modules are being used and adapted for different classroom settings.

The diversification discount and takeovers : some Australian evidence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the existence of a diversification discount in the Australian takeover market. A sample of 446 Australian publicly-listed firms involved in the market for corporate control was observed between 2000 and 2007. The authors examined two pre-announcement and four post-announcement periods, predominantly around the immediate event date, but also examined activity out to one year following the announcement.
Design/methodology/approach – An event study, in this case, is used to examine abnormal returns around the announcement of a merger or acquisition. The timeframe this study intends to focus on is the period from announcement date to a time one year down the track which, although some studies may deem it “long-term”, is still a relatively short-term measure of performance.While many variables in acquisitions have been looked at in depth over the years, such as outcome, nature, payment method and size of deal, one area which has had considerably less attention is the area of specialisation and diversification. That is, do focus increasing (or non-diversification) deals have different return patterns relative to focus decreasing (or diversification) deals?
Findings – The overall findings of this paper are fairly mixed, barring a few exceptions, and there does not appear to be a great deal of variation in return patterns based purely on whether the announced acquisition is non-diversifying or diversifying in nature.
Originality/value – The paper is of particular value in Australia. Most of the research of diversification to date has taken place in the USA. Australia is similar to the USA in that it has a well-developed economy based on common law principles and an active equity market, however, the existence of institutional and regulatory differences suggests that US results may not hold in Australia.

Using mobile phones as placed resources for literacy learning in a remote Indigenous community in Australia

Despite massive funding from the Australian government, the literacy achievement of Australian Indigenous children remains significantly lower than for non-Indigenous. With the aim of identifying innovative ways to improve Indigenous children's literacy achievement, this study explored the social practices surrounding everyday mobile phone use by Indigenous people in a remote Australian community. Informed by the notion of ‘placed resources’, which highlights the understanding that digital literacies are best considered as resources situated by social practices that have local effect, the study surveyed 95 people living in a remote Indigenous community about their mobile phone practices. The study also examined a video of a literacy event between a mother and her child around the use of a mobile phone. The findings revealed the strong relational aspects of phone use in remote communities. Integral to the concept of placed resources is a respect for the practices communities find important as they adopt artefacts for their everyday communication.

Sustaining the international competitive advantage of Asian firms : a conceptual framework and research propositions

The sudden loss of export markets by many Asian firms during the Asian financial crisis (AFC) has raised important questions on how firms in the region can regain and sustain their competitive advantage in international markets. This paper develops a conceptual model which focuses on certain key elements of a firm's internal resources as critical sources of competitive advantage and offers research propositions. It is argued that Asian firms can enhance their international competitive advantage by leveraging their internal resources within an external environment generally conducive to growth.

John Mystery and the Australian book trade

The John Mystery books are a collection of Australian children's books and ephemera produced by a little known publishing dynamo, Lester Sinclair, in the middle of the twentieth century. I identify factors which operated to position these items as forgotten elements of Australian literary history. After contextualizing the John Mystery brand of children's books, I suggest how children's literature scholars may find potential resources in the Children's Literature Collection and other heritage collections of the State Library of Victoria.

Towards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study

Objective To articulate a healthy and sustainable (H&S) diet; outline key health and environmental sustainability principles that can be applied in the selection of foods for inclusion in such a diet; and describe a methodology with which to assess the availability and affordability of a H&S food basket.

Design We synthesized publically available evidence on the environmental impact of different foods from academic, government, industry and non-government sources and constructed a hypothetical H&S equivalent of the typical Australian diet. Based on this, we constructed a weekly H&S food basket for a household of two adults and two children.

Setting Australia.

Subjects Australian populations.

Results The H&S diet is based on three overarching principles: (i) any food that is consumed above a person's energy requirement represents an avoidable environmental burden in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, use of natural resources and pressure on biodiversity; (ii) reducing the consumption of discretionary food choices, which are energy-dense and highly processed and packaged, reduces both the risk of dietary imbalances and the use of environmental resources; and (iii) a diet comprising less animal- and more plant-derived foods delivers both health and ecological benefits.

Conclusions We have focused on the articulation of a H&S diet not to facilitate ‘policy drift’ to focus on individual dietary choice, but rather to provide evidence to extend dietary guideline recommendations so as to integrate environmental considerations within the scope of food and health policy advice in Australia and elsewhere.

The value of executive director share ownership and discretionary accruals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between the value of executive director share ownership and discretionary accruals.

Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a dataset of 1,173 firm-year observations drawn from 188 Australian listed companies for the period 2000-2006. The analysis is based on multivariate regression analysis and ordinary least square models were used to investigate the relation between the value of managerial ownership and discretionary accruals. The issue of potential endogeneity is addressed by using a simultaneous equation system.

Findings – A negative relation is found between value of managerial share ownership and discretionary accruals at lower levels of value of ownership, which is consistent with the theorised incentive alignment that as the managers commit more resources to their firms, stakeholders impose less contractual constraints specified in terms of accounting numbers and managers make lower accrual adjustments. After a certain level of value of ownership is attained, a positive relations seen, consistent with increased discretionary accrual adjustments associated with stakeholders anticipating managerial entrenchment. Also, it is found that these results are driven by firms with income increasing, as opposed to income decreasing, discretionary accruals.

Practical implications – Shares and options are forming an increasing proportion of executive remuneration that continues to be the subject of much debate amongst regulators and in the media. Showing that the value of share ownership may be an effective internal governance mechanism to help align incentives adds to the debate and has policy implications.

Originality/value – The paper's primary contribution is finding that the value (as opposed to proportion) of share ownership, typically representing a sizeable proportion of managers' undiversified wealth, is a potentially direct driver of theorised incentive alignment and entrenchment effects associated with share ownership.

Australian cultural and innovation policies: never the twain shall meet?

 In recent years, Australian cultural policy-makers have begun to pay more attention to innovation policy. Several of the Australian states specifically address issues of innovation in their formal cultural policies, and the Australia Council for the Arts has published an Innovation Strategy which purports to constitute 'a coordinated approach to supporting creativity as one of Australia's most valuable assets' (Australia Council 2006).

However, despite this prima facie policy commitment to supporting and fostering innovation in the arts and cultural industries, there remains a disconnect between cultural and innovation policies in Australia. On the one hand, cultural policies in Australia are confused and incoherent in their approach to cultural innovation, and many policy settings as they apply to cultural industries are antithetical to the aims of fostering innovation and R&D. Meanwhile, innovation policies continue to pay only marginal attention to the creative arts and cultural industries. This disconnect will be briefly examined in three fields of cultural policy: arts and cultural funding; copyright and intellectual property policy; and broadcast media policy.

It is argued that rather than promoting innovation, existing policy frameworks in all three areas, when not specifically framed around the protection of vested interests, are often contradictory and inimical to the disruptive influence of innovative artists, technologies and firms. Possible reasons for the disconnect include pragmatic matters of busy ministers and low policy priorities, and conceptual confusion over the status and value of culture.

Rural and regional Australian public accounting firm services : service provision, concerns and tensions

Public accounting firms provide a necessary and important service for rural and regional areas. However, the provision of high-quality services is hindered by a number of factors. This paper reports the findings from a large-scale survey of professional accounting firm practitioners located in rural and regional Australia, identifying factors causing concerns and tensions and quantifying their scope and importance. Prominent concerns and tensions identified include adverse effects arising from the employment market, communications technology developments and legislation such as the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004 and the Financial Services Reform Act 2001.

Does organisational heritage matter in the development of offshore markets? the case of Australian life insurers

The globalization of financial markets over the past decade has focused the spotlight on the responsiveness of financial firms to international pressures. Insurance markets have traditionally relied on global networks not only to expand the insurers' sphere of influence but also to support domestic business. Until relatively recently, Australian insurance companies have not played a significant role in the development of international markets. However, in the last decade of the twentieth century Australian insurers ventured overseas on a scale without precedence. This article presents an historical perspective on the internationalization of the Australian life-insurance market with a view to understanding why these firms have been classified "late starters" in the internationalization stakes. In a broader capacity it provides insights into the impediments to overseas expansion and the forces encouraging or discouraging the development of cross border networks.

An investigation into the drivers of Australian REIT merger and acquisition announcements

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use Australian Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT) data to empirically examine potential influencing factors on A-REITs becoming a bidder or a target in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) area.

Design/methodology/approach – This study uses logistic regression analysis to investigate the odds of publically traded A-REITs being either a bidder or a target as a function of a number of financial and corporate governance variables.

Findings – Prior research in the US REIT M&A area has shown that target size is inversely related to takeover likelihood; in contrast, the authors’ Australian results show that size has a positive impact. Prior research on share price and asset performance has shown that underperformance increases the odds of an entity becoming a target, but this paper’s results further support these findings and provide confirmation of the inefficient management hypothesis. For acquirers it was found that leverage, cash balances, management structure, the level of shares held by related parties and the global financial crisis have an important impact on bidder likelihood.

Practical implications – Given that the literature suggests that investors can earn significant positive abnormal returns by owning targets, but incur significant abnormal losses by owning bidders, at announcement, this study will be useful to fund managers and other investors in A-REITs by investigating the characteristics of those firms that become targets and bidders.

Originality/value – This paper adds to the recent US REIT M&A literature by examining the second biggest REIT market in the world and reporting a number of factors that might influence A-REITs to become targets or bidders.