When the shoe doesn't quite fit: Regulating large commercial airports with expanding roles

Airports, whether publicly or privately owned or operated fill both public and private roles. They need to act as public infrastructure providers and as businesses which cover their operating costs. That leads to special governance concerns with respect to consumers and competitors which are only beginning to be addressed. These challenges are highlighted both by shifts in ownership status and by the expansion of roles performed by airports as passenger and cargo volumes continue to increase and as nearby urban areas expand outward towards airports. We survey five ways in which the regulatory shoe doesn‟t quite fit the needs. Our findings suggest that, while ad hoc measures limit political tension, new governance measures are needed.

'You're not fit to wear the shirt': towards a cultural sociology of the football shirt

The world of football is a matter of life and death for many of its fans, and has also attracted much sociological attention. Much of this scholarly work focuses on issues such as deviance, identity, globalisation and commodification (Elias and Dunning 1986; Giulianotti and Robertson 2009). More recently, there has been some evidence of a cultural approach to football and to the football shirt (Benzecry 2008). In this paper, we seek to develop this trend by examining the football shirt as a totem, and by understanding it as inserted into circuits of the sacred and the profane, and the authentic and the inauthentic. Through examples such as shirt throwing, badge kissing, shirt swapping and supporters‟ efforts to construct alternative, protest strips, we show that the football shirt is deeply embedded in narratives of authenticity, sacredness and profaneness. In doing so, we aim to represent football as a rich cultural practice, which involves secular rituals and performances.

Is your organizational culture fit for business process management?

All processes are modeled, all process metrics defined, all process support systems are set up; yet still, processes are not running smoothly and departmental silos are more present than ever. Both practitioners and academics tell the same story. A successful business process management (BPM) implementation goes beyond using the right methods and putting the right systems in place. In fact, an important success factor for BPM is establishing the right organizational culture, that is, a culture that supports the achievement and maintenance of efficient and effective business processes.

Its place in property education : where does property law fit into property programs?

Property law is one of the key elements in any property-based degree program. In particular, an understanding of 'property law' is one of the required knowledge fields for inclusion in property programs accredited by professional institutes such as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Appraisal Institute and the Australian Property Institute. Despite the importance of property law as a cornerstone element of all property programs this aspect of the program is often approached from a more generic legal perspective with teaching resources used and pedagogical approach more aligned to the study of law that property. The specificity of this type of program is rarely adequately acknowledged. The question arises as to what the study of 'property law' entails and what the composition of a 'property law' subject should be. Replicating the methodology used by Placid and Weeks (2009) in their examination of the current composition of real estate law courses in the United States, this paper examines the current composition and pedagogical approach adopted by Australian universities based on the study of three Queensland property programs. In particular the curriculum, teaching resources used, assessment and engagement strategies are considered with a view to making improvements to the way these property law courses can be more effectively tailored to property students. It is anticipated that the outcomes of this paper will be of interest to all academics who are responsible for developing and delivering property law subjects and those who manage property programs in Australia and internationally.

Negative change and job outcomes : the impact of subjective fit in public sector health care organization

There is an ongoing level of organizational-wide change (such as empowerment and downsizing) occurring within the Australian health care sector. However, there is a paucity of empirical evidence on how public and nonprofit sector nurses cope with these organizational-wide change initiatives and their consequences on individual and work outcomes. This will be the primary aim of the current paper. To this end, a path model is developed base on an integration of existing theoretical perspectives on occupational stress, change management, and person-organizational fit. Data were collected from 252 public and not-for-profit sector nurses. The path analysis suggests that public and nonprofit nurses experience positive and negative change initiatives. Negative change initiatives resulted in an increase in the level of administrative-related stressors. Nurses with more congruent values report less experience with administrative stressors. As nurses experienced more administrative stressors, they tend to report more job dissatisfaction. Nurses whose values were more congruent during organizational change reported higher level of psychological wellbeing. Nurses who were had higher level of psychological wellbeing were found to have higher job satisfaction, which subsequently led to a higher level of organizational commitment.

Studies on bending limitations for the optimal fit of orthopaedic bone plates

Distal tibial fractures are now commonly treated via intermedullary plate fixation due to higher rates of union and lower rates of postoperative complications. However, patient specific bone morphology demands manual deformation of the plate to ensure appropriate fit along the bone Distal tibial fractures are now commonly treated via intermedullary plate fixation due to higher rates of union and lower rates of postoperative complications. However, patient specific bone morphology demands manual deformation of the plate to ensure appropriate fit along the bone contours, and depending on the material of the plate, different outcomes have been reported along with postoperative complications. A comparative analysis of Stainless Steel 316L and Ti-6Al-4V alloys was carried to estimate the safe bending limit for appropriate fits. The results from the ANSYS FEA simulations were validated with experiments based on ASTM F382-99. It is found that SS316L is better suited for large deformations (up to 16˚ in proximal tip and 7.5˚ in distal end) and Ti for smaller deformation contours (up to 3˚ in proximal tip and 1.8˚ in distal end). The results of this study have profound implications for the choice of plates based on preliminary radiographical fracture examinations to ensure better fixation and higher rates of union of distal tibial fractures.

Dumbing it down : where do standards fit?

In Australia, Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs are delivered in a variety of settings. You can be enrolled within a course in a high school, at a technical institution, private training provider or at your place of employment. Recognition of prior learning, on the job training and industry partnerships are strong factors supporting the change of delivery. The curriculum content within these programs has also changed. For example within the Business Services programs, the prerequisite and corequisite skill of touch keyboarding to an Australian Standard has moved from a core requirement in the 1990’s to an elective requirement in the 2000’s. Where a base skill becomes an elective skill, how does this effect the performance and outcomes for the learner, educator, employer and society as a whole? This paper will explore these issues and investigate the current position of standards within the VET curriculum today.

How fit is your organizational culture for business process management?

While business transformations often primarily focus on technological and methodological solutions, there is consensus that having the right organizational culture is critical for the successful change of business processes.

The first year experience of social work students : developing a “sense of fit” and engagement with the profession : a practice report

Engagement is believed to be critical to a successful first year experience. This paper examines a range of strategies introduced into a first year Social Work and Human Services unit at Queensland University of Technology. The focus of these strategies was to enhance student engagement through building connections with peers, lecturers and the Social Work and Human Services professions. It is argued in this paper that students are more likely to continue with their studies if they are supported in building an emerging identity as both a university student and as a Social Work or Human Services practitioner. A range of strategies was introduced, including restructuring the unit to include an early intensive teaching block; inviting current practitioners to speak with students about the realities of practice; and embedding an academic skills component into the unit. Feedback from students highlighted the success of these strategies in developing their academic skills, building connections and embedding a sense of fit with the profession.

A novel iterative method for simulating patient-specific optimal deformation and fit of fracture fixation plates

This paper proposes a new iterative method to achieve an optimally fitting plate for preoperative planning purposes. The proposed method involves integration of four commercially available software tools, Matlab, Rapidform2006, SolidWorks and ANSYS, each performing specific tasks to obtain a plate shape that fits optimally for an individual tibia and is mechanically safe. A typical challenge when crossing multiple platforms is to ensure correct data transfer. We present an example of the implementation of the proposed method to demonstrate successful data transfer between the four platforms and the feasibility of the method.

Flexibility in change practices and job outcomes for nurses : exploring the role of subjective fit

Aims To integrate existing theoretical perspectives on change management, subjective fit and occupational stress to better understand the effects of change on employee adjustment. Background Although subjective fit with organizational goals and objectives has been shown to have positive effects on employee adjustment, its role in the organizational change–occupational stress context is not understood. This represents a caveat in research when considering the notion that those who feel that they fit with the organization's goals may be better equipped to reconcile and deal with change. Design A cross-sectional survey of nurses from public and non-profit sector hospitals was conducted. Method Data were collected from 252 public and non-profit sector nurses via online surveys. Data were collected from June–October in 2010. Structural equation modelling was used to test the direct and indirect effects among the focal variables. Results The results showed that public and non-profit nurses experience flexibility-limiting and flexibility-promoting change initiatives and that these are differentially related to the perception of administrative stressors and adjustment with these relationships directly and indirectly influenced by perceptions of subjective fit. Flexibility-limiting change initiatives led to lower levels of subjective fit, higher levels of administrative stressors and less favourable adjustment. On the other hand, flexibility-promoting change practices led to higher levels of subjective fit, lower levels of administrative stressors and ultimately better adjustment. Conclusion The results further the theoretical understanding of the role of subjective fit in organizational change and occupational stress theories.

Why fit contact lenses? Part 1 - clinical reasons

There are probably two main reasons why some practitioners do not bother fitting contact lenses – that it is not profitable and it is clinically too difficult. Although this article will concentrate on clinical issues rather than questions of profitability, I feel that the belief that contact lens fitting is not as profitable as prescribing spectacles is unfounded.

Why fit contact lenses?

Contrary to what many practitioners believe, current generation contact lenses are easy to fit, are well tolerated, provide superior vision, are physiologically compatible with the anterior ocular structures, cause few serious complications and are cost effective. These factors will be explored with examples of advancements that have occurred in contact lens practice over the past two decades. Consideration will also be given to the role of optometrists, the contact lens industry and educational institutions in promoting contact lenses as an alternative form of vision correction.