A comparative analysis of major ERP lifecycle implementation, management and support issues in Queensland Government

This paper reports on a study of ERP lifecycle major issues from the perspectives of individuals with substantial and diverse involvement with SAP Financials in Queensland Government. A survey was conducted of 117 ERP system project participants in five closely related state government agencies. A modified Delphi technique identified, rationalized and weighed perceived major issues in ongoing ERP life cycle implementation, management and support. The five agencies each implemented SAP Financials simultaneously using a common implementation partner. The three survey rounds of the Delphi technique, together with coding and synthesizing procedures, resulted in a set of 10 major issue categories with 38 sub-issues. Relative scores of issue importance are compared across government agencies, roles (client vs implementation partner) and organizational levels (strategic, technical and operational). Study findings confirm the importance of this finer partitioning of the data, and distinctions identified reflect the circumstances of ERP lifecycle implementation, management and support among the stakeholder groups. The study findings should also be of interest to stakeholders who seek to better understand the issues surrounding ERP systems and to better realise the benefits of ERP.

A Framework of Issues in Large Process Modelling Projects

As process management projects have increased in size due to globalised and company-wide initiatives, a corresponding growth in the size of process modeling projects can be observed. Despite advances in languages, tools and methodologies, several aspects of these projects have been largely ignored by the academic community. This paper makes a first contribution to a potential research agenda in this field by defining the characteristics of large-scale process modeling projects and proposing a framework of related issues. These issues are derived from a semi -structured interview and six focus groups conducted in Australia, Germany and the USA with enterprise and modeling software vendors and customers. The focus groups confirm the existence of unresolved problems in business process modeling projects. The outcomes provide a research agenda which directs researchers into further studies in global process management, process model decomposition and the overall governance of process modeling projects. It is expected that this research agenda will provide guidance to researchers and practitioners by focusing on areas of high theoretical and practical relevance.

Australian Indigenous students: addressing equity issues in assessment

This article provides the background and context to the important issue of assessment and equity in relation to Indigenous students in Australia. Questions about the validity and fairness of assessment are raised and ways forward are suggested by attending to assessment questions in relation to equity and culture-fair assessment. Patterns of under-achievement by Indigenous students are reflected in national benchmark data and international testing programmes like the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Sstudy and the Program for International Student Assessment. The argument developed views equity, in relation to assessment, as more of a sociocultural issue than a technical matter. It highlights how teachers need to distinguish the "funds of knowledge" that Indigenous students draw on and how teachers need to adopt culturally responsive pedagogy to open up the curriculum and assessment practice to allow for different ways of knowing and being.

Issues in the development of pitch labelling skill

Pitch discrimination skills are important for general musicianship. The ability to name musical notes or produce orally any named note without the benefit of a known reference is called Absolute Pitch (AP) and is comparatively rare. Relative Pitch (RP) is the ability to name notes when a known reference is available. AP has historically been regarded as being innate. This paper will examine the notion that pitch discrimination skill is based on knowledge constructed through a suite of experiences. That is, it is learnt. In particular, it will be argued that early experiences promote the development of AP. Second it will argue that AP and RP represent different types of knowledge, and that this knowledge emerges from different experiences. AP is a unique research phenomenon because it spans the fields of cognition and perception, in that it links verbal labels with physiological sensations, and because of its rarity. It may provide a vantage for investigating the nature/nurture of musicianship; expertise; knowledge structure development; and the role of knowledge in perception. The study of AP may inform educational practice and curriculum design both in music and cross-curriculur. This paper will report an initial investigation into the similarities and differences between the musical experiences of AP possessors and the manifestation of their AP skill. Interview and questionnaire data will be used for the development and proposal of a preliminary model for AP development.

Contemporary issues in Australian family law: Do we need a more unified and interventionist judicial model

Recent decisions of the Family Court of Australian reflect concerns over the adversarial nature of the legal process. The processes and procedures of the judicial system militate against a detailed examination of the issues and rights of the parties in dispute. The limitations of the family law framework are particularly demonstrated in disputes over the custody of children where the Court has tended to neglect the rights and interests of the primary carer. An alternative "unified family court" framework will be examined in which the Court pursues a more active and interventionist approach in the determination of family law disputes.

Security and legal issues in E-tendering

The Queensland Department of Public Works (QDPW) and the Queensland Department of Main Roads (QDMR) have identified a need for industry e-contracting guidelines in the short to medium term. Each of these organisations conducts tenders and contracts for over $600 million annually. This report considers the security and legal issues relating to the shift from a paper-based tendering system to an electronic tendering system. The research objectives derived from the industry partners include: • a review of current standards and e-tendering systems; • a summary of legal requirements impacting upon e-tendering; • an analysis of the threats and requirements for any e-tendering system; • the identification of outstanding issues; • an evaluation of possible e-tendering architectures; • recommendations for e-tendering systems.

Economic issues in funding and supplying public sector information

In May 2005, a research team began to investigate whether designing and implementing a whole-of-government information licensing framework was possible. This framework was needed to administer copyright in relation to information produced by the government and to deal properly with privately-owned copyright on which government works often rely. The outcome so far is the design of the Government Information Licensing Framework (GILF) and its gradual uptake within a number of Commonwealth and State government agencies. However, licensing is part of a larger issue in managing public sector information (PSI); and it has important parallels with the management of libraries and public archives. Among other things, managing the retention and supply of PSI requires an ability to search and locate information, ability to give public access to the information legally, and an ability to administer charges for supplying information wherever it is required by law. The aim here is to provide a summary overview of pricing principles as they relate to the supply of PSI.

Governance issues in accounting

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify some key issues for the analysis of corporate governance based on the papers within this special issue including the Guest Editor's perspectives. Design/methodology/approach – The five papers included in this special issue are summarized and their main contribution to the literature is highlighted. Findings – The paper collectively deal with the role and impact of corporate boards on the quality of information provided to capital markets. Practical implications – The theoretical and empirical research included in the special issue advance the understanding of corporate governance which provides impetus for practitioner and policy change. Originality/value – The normative concepts of best practice need to be validated by empirical testing in the context of firms and their institutional settings. This suite of papers provides evidence of the effectiveness of corporate governance in improving accounting quality