Accounting information systems in a centrally planned economy : the case of the General Company for Pipelines (GCP)

The paper has a twofold purpose. First it highlights the importance of accounting information in the economic development of developing countries, with a particular focus on the nation of Libya. Secondly, using the case of Libya's General Company for Pipelines (GCP), it demonstrates that the use of accounting information to achieve economic development goals is determined to a large extent by the political/ideological setting in which it is generated. The study is based on a literature review and archival research, reinforced by a qualitative case study comprised of interviews, attendance at meetings and a study of internal documents. A study of The General Company for Pipelines (GCP) revealed that frequent politically driven changes in the structure and number of popular congresses and committees severely limited the use of accounting information, relegating it to a formal role. In consequence, accounting information had litle effect on stimulating economic development in Libya. This study focuses on one case study which does limit generalisability. However, it also suggests fruitful research areas considering the historic factors which have determined the accounting role in developing and planned economies. By providing insights about social factors which have determined the use of accounting in a planned economy, this study has implications for similar economies as they move towards a more globalised mode of operations which enhance the role of accounting in meeting economic development needs. If devleoping countries are to harness the potential of accounting aid in the achievement of their development plans, the social and political setting in which accounting has been conducted needs to be understood.

Resilience in critical infrastructures : the case of the Queensland electricity industry

The reliability of Critical Infrastructure is considered to be a fundamental expectation of modern societies. These large-scale socio-technical systems have always, due to their complex nature, been faced with threats challenging their ongoing functioning. However, increasing uncertainty in addition to the trend of infrastructure fragmentation has made reliable service provision not only a key organisational goal, but a major continuity challenge: especially given the highly interdependent network conditions that exist both regionally and globally. The notion of resilience as an adaptive capacity supporting infrastructure reliability under conditions of uncertainty and change has emerged as a critical capacity for systems of infrastructure and the organisations responsible for their reliable management. This study explores infrastructure reliability through the lens of resilience from an organisation and system perspective using two recognised resilience-enhancing management practices, High Reliability Theory (HRT) and Business Continuity Management (BCM) to better understand how this phenomenon manifests within a partially fragmented (corporatised) critical infrastructure industry – The Queensland Electricity Industry. The methodological approach involved a single case study design (industry) with embedded sub-units of analysis (organisations), utilising in-depth interviews and document analysis to illicit findings. Derived from detailed assessment of BCM and Reliability-Enhancing characteristics, findings suggest that the industry as a whole exhibits resilient functioning, however this was found to manifest at different levels across the industry and in different combinations. Whilst there were distinct differences in respect to resilient capabilities at the organisational level, differences were less marked at a systems (industry) level, with many common understandings carried over from the pre-corporatised operating environment. These Heritage Factors were central to understanding the systems level cohesion noted in the work. The findings of this study are intended to contribute to a body of knowledge encompassing resilience and high reliability in critical infrastructure industries. The research also has value from a practical perspective, as it suggests a range of opportunities to enhance resilient functioning under increasingly interdependent, networked conditions.

Developing new alliances in higher education leadership and governance : autopoietic application of the “arts” creative capacities

This paper, underpinned by a framework of autopoietic principles of creativity/innovation and leadership/governance, argues that open forms of creativity in ‘arts’ provide opportunity for impact upon concepts of development, leadership and governance. The alliance of creativity and governance suggests that by examining various understandings of artistic experiences, readers may perceive new understandings of alliance, application and assessment of such experiences. This critical understanding would include assessing whether such experience supports people changing their aspirations as they become what they want to be. Such understanding may also suggest that different applications of the creative capacity of the ‘arts’ offers relevance in alleged ‘non-creative’ areas of academe, particularly in areas of management, leadership and governance. This alliance also offers the possibility of new staff development programs that facilitate learning and building of individual capacity, as well as facilitate congruent development process and policy, particularly within academic organisational structures.

Raman spectroscopic study of the hydroxy-arsenate mineral geminite Cu(AsO3OH)•H2O

The mineral geminite, an hydrated hydroxy-arsenate mineral of formula Cu(AsO3OH)•H2O, has been studied by Raman and infrared spectroscopy. Two minerals from different origins were investigated and the spectra proved quite similar. In the Raman spectra of geminite, four bands are observed at 813, 843, 853 and 885 cm-1. The assignment of these bands is as follows: (a) The band at 853 cm-1 is assigned to the AsO43- ν1 symmetric stretching mode (b) the band at 885 cm-1 is assigned to the AsO3OH2- ν1 symmetric stretching mode (c) the band at 843 cm-1 is assigned to the AsO43- ν3 antisymmetric stretching mode (d) the band at 813 cm-1 is ascribed to the AsO3OH2- ν3 antisymmetric stretching mode. Two Raman bands at 333 and 345 cm-1 are attributed to the ν2 AsO4 3- bending mode and a set of higher wavenumber bands are assigned to the ν4 AsO43- bending mode. A very complex set of overlapping bands is observed in both the Raman and infrared spectra. Raman bands are observed at 2288, 2438, 2814, 3152, 3314, 3448 and 3521 cm-1. Two Raman bands at 2288 and 2438 cm-1 are ascribed to very strongly hydrogen bonded water. The broader Raman bands at 3152 and 3314 cm-1 may be assigned to adsorbed water and not so strongly hydrogen bonded water in the molecular structure of geminate. Two bands at 3448 and 3521 cm-1 are assigned to the OH stretching vibrations of the (AsO3OH)2- units. Raman spectroscopy identified Raman bands attributable to AsO43- and AsO3OH2- units.

Workplace design in the knowledge economy : a case of the NetWorkPlace™©

This thesis explores a way to inform the architectural design process for contemporary workplace environments. It reports on both theoretical and practical outcomes through an exclusively Australian case study of a network enterprise comprised of collaborative, yet independent business entities. The internet revolution, substantial economic and cultural shifts, and an increased emphasis on lifestyle considerations have prompted a radical re-ordering of organisational relationships and the associated structures, processes, and places of doing business. The social milieu of the information age and the knowledge economy is characterised by an almost instantaneous flow of information and capital. This has culminated in a phenomenon termed by Manuel Castells as the network society, where physical locations are joined together by continuous communication and virtual connectivity. A new spatial logic encompassing redefined concepts of space and distance, and requiring a comprehensive shift in the approach to designing workplace environments for today’s adaptive, collaborative organisations in a dynamic business world, provides the backdrop for this research. Within the duality of space and an augmentation of the traditional notions of place, organisational and institutional structures pose new challenges for the design professions. The literature revealed that there has always been a mono-organisational focus in relation to workplace design strategies. The phenomenon of inter-organisational collaboration has enabled the identification of a gap in the knowledge relative to workplace design. This new context generated the formulation of a unique research construct, the NetWorkPlace™©, which captures the complexity of contemporary employment structures embracing both physical and virtual work environments and practices, and provided the basis for investigating the factors that are shaping and defining interactions within and across networked organisational settings. The methodological orientation and the methods employed follow a qualitative approach and an abductively driven strategy comprising two distinct components, a cross-sectional study of the whole of the network and a longitudinal study, focusing on a single discrete workplace site. The complexity of the context encountered dictated that a multi-dimensional investigative framework was required to be devised. The adoption of a pluralist ontology and the reconfiguration of approaches from traditional paradigms into a collaborative, trans-disciplinary, multi-method epistemology provided an explicit and replicatable method of investigation. The identification and introduction of the NetWorkPlace™© phenomenon, by necessity, spans a number of traditional disciplinary boundaries. Results confirm that in this context, architectural research, and by extension architectural practice, must engage with what other disciplines have to offer. The research concludes that no single disciplinary approach to either research or practice in this area of design can suffice. Pierre Bourdieau’s philosophy of ‘practice’ provides a framework within which the governance and technology structures, together with the mechanisms enabling the production of social order in this context, can be understood. This is achieved by applying the concepts of position and positioning to the corporate power dynamics, and integrating the conflict found to exist between enterprise standard and ferally conceived technology systems. By extending existing theory and conceptions of ‘place’ and the ‘person-environment relationship’, relevant understandings of the tensions created between Castells’ notions of the space of place and the space of flows are established. The trans-disciplinary approach adopted, and underpinned by a robust academic and practical framework, illustrates the potential for expanding the range and richness of understanding applicable to design in this context. The outcome informs workplace design by extending theoretical horizons, and by the development of a comprehensive investigative process comprising a suite of models and techniques for both architectural and interior design research and practice, collectively entitled the NetWorkPlace™© Application Framework. This work contributes to the body of knowledge within the design disciplines in substantive, theoretical, and methodological terms, whilst potentially also influencing future organisational network theories, management practices, and information and communication technology applications. The NetWorkPlace™© as reported in this thesis, constitutes a multi-dimensional concept having the capacity to deal with the fluidity and ambiguity characteristic of the network context, as both a topic of research and the way of going about it.

Changing lanes : an exploration of the journey from dance through choreography to directing and the spoken word

This paper reveals a journey of theatrical exploration. It is a journey of enquiry and investigation backed by a vigorous, direct and dense professional history of creative work.

Developing a theatre of the integrated actor : the application of the Suzuki actor training method within three theatrical contexts

This research project examines the application of the Suzuki Actor Training Method (the Suzuki Method) within the work ofTadashi Suzuki's company in Japan, the Shizuoka Performing Arts Complex (SPAC), within the work of Brisbane theatre company Frank:Austral Asian Performance Ensemble (Frank:AAPE), and as related to the development of the theatre performance Surfacing. These three theatrical contexts have been studied from the viewpoint of a "participant- observer". The researcher has trained in the Suzuki Method with Frank:AAPE and SP AC, performed with Frank:AAPE, and was the solo performer and collaborative developer in the performance Surfacing (directed by Leah Mercer). Observations of these three groups are based on a phenomenological definition of the "integrated actor", an actor who is able to achieve a totality or unity between the body and the mind, and between the body and the voice, through a powerful sense of intention. The term "integrated actor" has been informed by the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty and his concept of the "lived body". Three main hypotheses are presented in this study: that the Suzuki Method focuses on actors learning through their body; that the Suzuki Method presents an holistic approach to the body and the voice; and that the Suzuki Method develops actors with a strong sense of intention. These three aspects of the Suzuki Method are explored in relation to the stylistic features of the work of SPAC, Frank:AAPE and the performance Surfacing.