Managerial cognition and reputation : does communication about firms’ intangibles affect performance?

Corporate reputation is viewed as fundamental to firm performance, growth and survival and the maintenance and enhancement of that reputation is a key responsibility of senior executives. However, relatively little is known about the main dimensions of corporate reputation and the amount of attention given to them by senior executives. Based on the corporate reputation and intangible resources literatures, thirteen reputational elements were identified and the amount of attention given to those elements in a large, longitudinal sample of annual reports from Australian firms was measured using computer aided text analysis. This identified five, main reputational dimensions that were both stable over time and related to firms’ future financial performance.

The risks and returns of new public management : political business

Purpose – This article aims to consider success in terms of the financial returns and risks of new public management (NPM) in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Design/methodology/approach – Financial returns of New Zealand SOEs were examined through a review of their annual reports over a five-year period. Dimensions of risk were examined through interviews conducted in two phases over a two-year period with senior executives from 12 of the (then) 17 SOEs operating in New Zealand. Findings – Findings indicate the potential for SOEs to operate as profitable government investments, with clear support for positive financial returns under NPM. However, variations noted within individual SOEs also indicate that profitable and commercial operations may not be possible in all cases. An examination of the risks associated with SOEs’ operations reveals a number of dimensions of risk, encompassing financial, political (including regulatory), reputational, and public accountability aspects. Practical implications – There is a need for an enhanced awareness on the part of internal and external stakeholders (such as the government and general public) of the risks SOEs face in pursuing higher levels of profitability. Also required, is a more acute understanding on the part of internal and external stakeholders (e.g. government and the public) of the need for SOEs to manage the range of risks identified, given the potentially delicate balance between risk and return. Originality/value – While previous studies have considered the financial returns of SOEs, or the risks faced by the public sector in terms of accountability, few have addressed the two issues collectively in a single context.

Developing a conceptual framework of strategic entrepreneurship

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the integration of entrepreneurship and strategy to develop a conceptual framework of strategic entrepreneurship. The framework is developed through an analysis of theory and refined through an examination of practice. Design/methodology/approach: This framework is considered in the context of potentially entrepreneurial and strategic activity undertaken by 12 of the 17 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) operating in New Zealand in 2006-2007. Based on a review of documents, observation, and interviews with SOE executives, cases of 12 SOE activities were analysed to compare and contrast strategic entrepreneurship in practice. Findings: The findings reveal distinct elements within the four activities classified as strategic entrepreneurship, activities, such as leveraging from core skills and resources from a strategic perspective, and innovation from an entrepreneurial perspective. Originality/value: This study is one of the first to examine the nature of strategic entrepreneurship in practice and the associated financial returns.

The current context of Queensland primary teacher engagement with professional learning through professional associations

Engaging Queensland primary teachers in professional associations can be a challenge, particularly for subject-specific associations. Professional associations are recognised providers of professional learning. By not being involved in professional associations primary teachers are missing potential quality professional learning opportunities that can impact the results of their students. The purpose of the research is twofold: Firstly, to provide a thorough understanding of the current context in order to assist professional associations who wish to change from their current level of primary teacher engagement; and secondly, to contribute to the literature in the area of professional learning for primary teachers within professional associations. Using a three part research design, interviews of primary teachers and focus groups of professional association participants and executives were conducted and themed to examine the current context of engagement. Force field analysis was used to provide the framework to identify the driving and restraining forces for primary teacher engagement in professional learning through professional associations. Communities of practice and professional learning communities were specifically examined as potential models for professional associations to consider. The outcome is a diagrammatic framework outlining the current context of primary teacher engagement, specifically the driving and restraining forces of primary teacher engagement with professional associations. This research also identifies considerations for professional associations wishing to change their level of primary teacher engagement. The results of this research show that there are key themes that provide maximum impact if wishing to increase engagement of primary teachers in professional associations. However the implications of this lies with professional associations and their alignment between intent and practice dedicated to this change.

The role of institutional rural property in diversified investment portfolios in NSW, Australia

The food and fuel crisis experienced in 2006 to 2008 has highlighted the importance of agricultural commodity production throughout developing and developed economies and has placed greater awareness and importance on rural property and rural property markets. These factors have led to an increased interest from major property investment institutions and property companies in the role of rural property in a mixed asset or mixed property investment portfolio. This paper will analyse rural property sales in New South Wales for the period 1990-2008, and will compare total return performance across a number of rural property sectors based on geographic location and land use type. These results show that the inclusion of rural property in an investment portfolio has benefits in relation to return and risk.

Tracking the Brisbane residential property market : Post GFC

Prior to the GFC, Brisbane and Perth were experiencing the highest increases in median residential house prices, compared to the other major Australian cities, due to strong demand for both owner occupied and investment residential property. In both these cities, a major driver of this demand and subsequent increases in residential property prices was the strong resources sector. With the onset of the GFC in 2008, the resources and construction sectors in Queensland contracted significantly and this had both direct and indirect impacts on the Brisbane residential property market. However, this impact was not consistent across Brisbane residential property sectors. The affect on houses and units differed, as did the impact based on geographic location and suburb value. This paper tracks Brisbane residential property sales listings, sales and returns over the period February 2009 to July 2010 and provides an analysis of the residential market for 24 Brisbane suburbs. These suburbs cover main residential areas of Brisbane and are based on an equal number of low, medium and high socioeconomic areas of Brisbane. This assessment of socio-economic status for the suburbs is based on both median household income and median house price. The analysis will cover both free standing residential property and residential units/townhouses/villas. The results will show how each of these residential property sub markets have performed following the GFC.

Actioning university-community engagement : leadership, mentoring and professional communities

This presentation focuses on actioning university-community engagement through a Department of Employment, Education and Work Relations (DEEWR) grant. The project associated with this grant is titled Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD) and it is currently in its third and final year of operation. TEDD aims to facilitate benefits for all partners (i.e., teachers, school executives, students, preservice teachers, university staff, and education departments). This project aims to facilitate understandings and skills on advancing mentoring and teaching practices for preservice teachers.

Transfer of Title by a Non-Owner : Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) exceptions to the nemo dat quod non habet rule

The fundamental personal property rule – no one can transfer a better title to property than they had – is subject to exceptions in the Sale of Goods legislation, which aim to protect innocent buyers who are deceived by a seller’s apparent physical possession of property. These exceptions cover a limited range of transactions and are restrictive in their operation. Australia now has national legislation - the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) - which will apply to many transactions outside the scope of the Sale of Goods Act and which includes rules for sales by non-owners which will provide exceptions to the nemo dat quod non habet rule for many common commercial transactions. This article explores the effect of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) on the Sale of Goods exceptions, explains that the new provisions are so wide that there is little continuing relevance for the Sale of Goods Act exceptions, and indicates where they may still apply.

Partners in education : the teacher education done differently (TEDD) project

There has been an abundance of education reform recommendations for teaching and teacher education as a result of national and international reviews. A major criticism in education is the lack of connection between theory and practice (or praxis), that is, how the learning at university informs practical applications for teaching in the classroom. This paper presents the Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD) project, funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). It outlines how it has re-structured its offering of coursework in a Bachelor of Education (BEd) held at an Australian university campus to embrace praxis. Establishing partnerships was crucial to the development of this project. TEDD initially gathered a reference group of educators, which included university staff, school executives, and other key stakeholders, who formed an Advisory Group and Steering Committee. These groups formed a collective vision for TEDD and aimed to motivate others, foster team work, and create leadership roles that would benefit all stakeholders. The paper presents how university units changed to include a stronger praxis development for preservice teachers. Preservice teachers take their learning into schools within lead-up programs such as Ed Start for practicum I, III, and IV; Science in Schools, and Studies of Society and its Environment (SOSE). Findings showed that opportunities for undertaking additional real-world experiences were perceived to assist the preservice teachers’ praxis development. Additional school-based experiences as lead-up days for field experiences and as avenues for exploring the teaching of specific subject areas presented as an opportunity for enhancing education for all.

Distributed leadership and professional learning communities

This paper focuses on understanding distributed leadership and professional learning communities (PLCs). Through an Australian Government grant, the Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD) project, data were analysed from 25 school executives about distributed leadership as a potential for influencing educational change through forums such as PLCs. Findings will be discussed in relation to: (1) Understanding the nature of a PLC, (2) Leadership within PLCs, (3) Advancing PLCs, and (4) PLCs as forums for capacity building a profession. A cyclic model for facilitating PLCs is presented, where information such as issues and problems are brought to the collective, discussed and analysed openly to provide further feedback. There are implications for leaders to up-skill staff on distributed leadership practices and further research required to determine which practices facilitate successful PLCs.

Attitudes of employees and employers towards older workers in a climate of anti-discrimination

Attitudes and practices towards older workers were surveyed in Brisbane with 525 employees randomly sampled from the electoral roll and executives of 104 companies obtained by stratified random sampling from the Register of Workplaces (response rates, 60% and 80% respectively). The results indicated that “older workers” are young in terms of contemporary life expectancy, and younger for employers than employees; they have some desirable personal qualities (eg. loyalty), but are not perceived as adaptable; workers aged 25–39 were preferred on qualities held to be important in the workplace and there was minimal interest in recruiting anyone over 45 years.

Ensuring Correctness During Process Configuration via Partner Synthesis

Variants of the same process can be encountered within one organization or across different organizations. For example, different municipalities, courts, and rental agencies all need to support highly similar processes. In fact, procurement and sales processes can be found in almost any organization. However, despite these similarities, there is also the need to allow for local variations in a controlled manner. Therefore, many academics and practitioners have advocated the use of configurable process models (sometimes referred to as reference models). A configurable process model describes a family of similar process models in a given domain. Such a model can be configured to obtain a specific process model that is subsequently used to handle individual cases, for instance, to process customer orders. Process configuration is notoriously difficult as there may be all kinds of interdependencies between configuration decisions. In fact, an incorrect configuration may lead to behavioral issues such as deadlocks and livelocks. To address this problem, we present a novel verification approach inspired by the “operating guidelines” used for partner synthesis. We view the configuration process as an external service, and compute a characterization of all such services which meet particular requirements via the notion of configuration guideline. As a result, we can characterize all feasible configurations (i. e., configurations without behavioral problems) at design time, instead of repeatedly checking each individual configuration while configuring a process model.

The growth and international expansion of an emerging market retailer in Latin America

This study contributes to the literature on international retailing by addressing a gap in the literature as to how retailers from emerging markets expand internationally. This historical case study analyzes the growth and internationalization process of Chilean retailer Falabella, one of the largest in Latin America and has been able to compete with multinationals from developed countries. The research is based upon primary and secondary data sources including 33 oral interviews with company managers and family executives, as well as industry data, corporate reports, and trade journals. Drawing on institutional theory, the findings show that by belonging to a family conglomerate, engaging in networks and partnerships, organizational learning, and having an experienced management team helped Falabella gain legitimacy in all international markets.

Management characteristics and the decision to internationalize : Exploration of exporters vs. non-exporters within the Chilean wine industry

The objective of this exploratory study was to identify the key factors that enhance and inhibit the export activities of wineries and identify differences between exporters and non-exporters. Based on data collected from Chilean wineries, the findings of this study suggest that the major constraints for non-exporters are the lack of financial resources, limited quantities of stocks for market expansion, management’s lack of knowledge and experience, and the high cost of travelling and participating in trade shows. In addition, the main international markets for Chilean wineries were not psychically close markets as has been found for Australian or other wine industries. For domestic market oriented wineries cellar door sales were an important source of revenue. Finally, the results show that managers have educational levels and international experience exceeding those of other comparable New World wineries.

Pegasus Town : innovative marketing of a new property venture

Purpose – This paper aims to outline the challenges and tasks involved in a organising and marketing a new venture from conception to sales. It presents an interesting situation with which readers can identify and apply knowledge and skills associated with entrepreneurship and marketing and link this with the key learning objectives of a new venture marketing study unit. Design/methodology/approach – The case is constructed around key principles of marketing and entrepreneurship linked to a description of a contemporary venture written from a participant observer perspective supplemented with knowledge from interviews and archival research. Findings – The case shows how effective a diligent, creative approach to developing and selling a new venture can be. It demonstrates that effective marketing requires more than rote adoption of basic principles – it requires creative thinking and enterprising adaption of relevant principles to address the specific and well defined objectives of the venture. Research limitations/implications – The case is not intended to prescribe a particular marketing method or process; rather it is meant to stimulate creativity in the use of marketing knowledge and skills. Practical implications – The case represents an effective resource for both formal and informal teaching and learning. It demonstrates the requirement for innovative and creative adoption of marketing concepts to fit the demands of a new venture. Originality/value – The case specifically addresses an identified need for learning resources and information tailored to the area of entrepreneurial new venture marketing.