The role of the board of directors : perceptions of managerial elites

We highlight how directors and senior managers perceive the roles of a board to involve overseeing risk and compliance, strategy, governance, developing the CEO and senior management and managing stakeholders. We find that managers and directors perceive board effectiveness as linked to different combinations of these roles and that there appear to be differences in perceptions between different types of firms. We conclude that clarity around the board’s role set is critical to furthering the corporate governance research agenda, and that the relationship between board roles and perceived board effectiveness differs between managers and directors.

Reflections on the national trial of the draft Early Years Learning Framework and Educator's Guide

To promote and support informed discussion, we look here at the experiences of some services in the national trial of the draft Early Years Learning Framework, and the more recent trial of the supporting draft Educator's Guide. Reflecting on these experiences, the paper offers some examples of how a service can 'get started' with the EYLF.

The social work & human services workforce : report from a national study of education, training and workforce needs

This report analyses the national curriculum and workforce needs of the social work and human services workforce. Australia’s community and health services are among the fastest growing sectors of employment in the nation but the sustainability of an appropriately qualified workforce is threatened. Yet there is little integration of education and workforce planning for the community services sector. This contrasts markedly with the health services sector, where key stakeholders are collaboratively addressing workforce challenges. Our research confirmed rapid growth in the social work and human services workforce and it also identified: • an undersupply of professionally qualified social work and human service practitioners to meet workforce demand; • the rapid ageing of the workforce with many workers approaching retirement; • limited career and salary structures creating disincentives to retention; • a highly diverse qualification base across the workforce. This diversity is inconsistent with the specialist knowledge and skills required of practitioners in many domains of community service provision. Our study revealed a lack of co-ordination across VET and higher education to meet the educational needs of the social work and human services workforce. Our analysis identified: • strong representation of equity groups in social work and related human service programs, although further participation of these groups is still needed; • the absence of clear articulation pathways between VET and higher education programs due the absence of co-ordination and planning between these sectors; • substantial variation in the content of the diverse range of social work and human service programs, with accredited programs conforming to national standards and some others in social and behavioural sciences lacking any external validation; • financial obstacles and disincentives to social work and human service practitioners in achieving postgraduate level qualifications. We recommend that: • DEEWR identify accredited social work and human services courses as a national education priority (similar to education and nursing). This will help ensure the supply of professional workers to this sector; • VET and higher education providers are encouraged to collaboratively develop clear and accessible educational pathways across the educational sectors; • DEEWR undertake a national workforce analysis and planning processes in collaboration with CSDMAC, and all social and community services stakeholders, to ensure workforce sustainability; and • COAG develop a national regulation framework for the social and community services workforce. This would provide sound accountability systems, and rigorous practice and educational standards necessary for quality service provision. It will also ensure much needed public confidence in this workforce.

Project alliancing at National Museum of Australia : the collaborative process

Project alliancing is a new alternative to traditional project delivery systems, especially in the commercial building sector. The Collaborative Process is a theoretical model of people and systems characteristics that are required to reduce the adversarial nature of most construction projects. Although developed separately, both are responses to the same pressures. Project alliancing was just used successfully to complete the National Museum of Australia. This project was analyzed as a case study to determine the extent to which it could be classified as a “collaborative project”. Five key elements of The Collaborative Process were reviewed and numerous examples from the management of this project were cited that support the theoretical recommendations of this model. In the case of this project, significant added value was delivered to the client and many innovations resulted from the collective work of the parties to the contract. It was concluded that project alliances for commercial buildings offer many advantages over traditional project delivery systems, which are related to increasing the levels of collaboration among a project management team.

An example of developing a business model for information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption on construction projects – the National Museum of Australia project

Effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is necessary for delivering efficiency and improved project delivery in the construction industry. Convincing clients or contracting organisations to embrace ICT is a difficult task, there are few templates of an ICT business model for the industry to use. ICT application in the construction industry is relatively low compared to automotive and aerospace industries. The National Museum of Australia project provides a unique opportunity for investigating and reporting on this deficiency in publicly available knowledge. Concentrates on the business model content and objectives, briefly indicates the evaluation framework that was used to evaluate ICT effectiveness.

Stop whining and make the best of it: a cross-national comparison of response to regional disadvantage in the wine industry

Our cross-national field study of wine entrepreneurship in the “wrong” places provides some redress to the focus of the “regional advantage” literature on places that have already won and on the firms that benefit from “clusters” and other centers of industry advantage. Regional “disadvantage” is at best a shadowy afterthought to this literature. By poking around in these shadows, we help to synthesize and extend the incipient yet burgeoning literature on entrepreneurial “resourcefulness” and we contribute to the developing body of insights and theory pertinent to the numerous but often ignored firms and startups that mostly need to worry about how they will compete at all now if they are ever to have of chance of “winning” in the future. The core of our findings suggests that understandable – though contested – processes of ingenuity underlie entrepreneurial responses to regional disadvantage. Because we study entrepreneurship that from many angles simply does not make sense, we are also able to proffer a novel perspective on entrepreneurial sensemaking.

Print media portrayals of giving : exploring national ‘cultures of philanthropy’

In their 2010 study drawing on 500 empirical philanthropy studies, Bekkers and Wiepking identified eight consistently significant giving mechanisms. The pilot study reported here extends what is known about one mechanism, values, as a giving driver, in particular considering how national cultural values apply to giving. Personal values are not formed in a vacuum. They are influenced by the wider culture and society: thus values have a socio-cultural dimension. Accordingly, this pilot research draws on media theory and cultural studies work on national ethos to explore how these national cultural values interact with giving. A directed qualitative content analysis has been undertaken to compare US and Australian print media coverage about philanthropy. The two nations share an Anglo–Saxon orientation but differ significantly in national character and philanthropic activity. This study posits that a nation's media coverage about giving will reflect its national cultural ethos. This coverage can also shape personal values, thus implications exist for theory about the antecedents of personal giving values. Wider national values may drive or stifle giving, so this wider view of values as a driver has implications also for philanthropy promotion and fundraising.

Stop whining and make the best of it : a cross-national comparison of responses to regional disadvantage in the wine industry

Our cross-national field study of wine entrepreneurship in the “wrong” places provides some redress to the focus of the “regional advantage” literature on places that have already won and on the firms that benefit from “clusters” and other centers of industry advantage. Regional “disadvantage” is at best a shadowy afterthought to this literature. By poking around in these shadows, we help to synthesize and extend the incipient yet burgeoning literature on entrepreneurial “resourcefulness” and we contribute to the developing body of insights and theory pertinent to the numerous but often ignored firms and startups that mostly need to worry about how they will compete at all now if they are ever to have of chance of “winning” in the future. The core of our findings suggests that understandable – though contested – processes of ingenuity underlie entrepreneurial responses to regional disadvantage. Because we study entrepreneurship that from many angles simply does not make sense, we are also able to proffer a novel perspective on entrepreneurial sensemaking.

The national specificity of horror sources in Asian horror cinema

This dissertation explores the relationship between horror films and the national contexts in which they are produced by analyzing several Asian horror movies – Ringu (Japan), The Eye (Hong Kong) and Shutter (Thailand). Utilizing these films as case studies, the dissertation examines the degree to which genre cinemas are nationally-specific, and the degree to which it is possible to make genre films that can enter international markets and be comprehensible in various national markets as well. The dissertation also makes the following claims on the national specificity of genre cinema: i) The sources of frightening elements in horror films are nationally-specific. ii) There is a regional "Asian" horror because of the intertwining national histories and shared cultural elements across several Asian countries.

Project alliancing and information technology in building construction : the National Museum of Australia

The construction industry demands priority from all governments because it impacts economically and socially on all citizens. A number of recent studies have identified inefficiencies in the Australian construction industry by modelling the building process. A culture of reform supported by industry and government is now emerging in the industry – one in which alternate forms of project delivery are being trialed. The Australian Building and Construction Industry Action Agenda brought together industry and government to identify actions necessary to lift Australia’s innovative and knowledge creating capacity at the sector level. A central activity under this Action Agenda was dissemination of information relating to industry best practice initiatives in innovation, project delivery and the use of information technology. Government and industry identified project alliance contracting and more advanced information technology as means to increase efficiency in construction as part of a new innovative procurement environment.

The emerging role of the Board of Directors in enterprise business technology governance

In an increasingly business technology (BT) dependent world, the impact of the extraordinary changes brought about by the nexus of mobile and cloud technologies, social media and big data is increasingly being felt in the board room. As leaders of enterprises of every type and size, board directors can no longer afford to ignore, delegate or avoid BT-related decisions. Competitive, financial and reputational risk is increased if boards fail to recognize their role in governing technology as an asset and in removing barriers to improving enterprise business technology governance (EBTG). Directors’ awareness of the need for EBTG is increasing. However, industry research shows that board level willingness to rectify the gap between awareness and action is very low or non-existent. This literature review-based research identifies barriers to EBTG effectiveness. It provides a practical starting point for board analysis. We offer four outcomes that boards might focus on to ensure the organizations they govern are not left behind by those led by the upcoming new breed of technology-savvy leaders. Most extant research looks backward for examples, examining data pre-2010, the time when a tipping point in the personal and business use of multimedia and mobile-internet devices significantly deepened the impacts of the identified nexus technology forces, and began rapidly changing the way many businesses engage with their customers, employees and stakeholders. We situate our work amidst these nexus forces, discuss the board’s role in EBTG in this context, and modernize current definitions of enterprise technology governance. The primary limitation faced is the lack of scholarly research relating to EBTG in the rapidly changing digital economy. Although we have used recent (2011 - 2013) industry surveys, the volume of these surveys and congruence across them is significant in terms of levels of increased awareness and calls for increased board attention and competency in EBTG and strategic information use. Where possible we have used scholarly research to illustrate or discuss industry findings.