Accounting at home in developing economies : Current practices and implications for the accounting professional

We determine the extent of accounting at home in developing economies in this research. We then consider the role of the accounting profession may have in promoting accounting values at home. A language of business, accounting today plays a fundamental support role within the business community to evaluate the impact past decisions, and foresees directions for future initiatives. Sound accounting practices are fundamental to ensure symmetrical information dissemination across various stakeholders. Accounting literature has sought to investigate a number of questions that attempt to improve the practice of accounting in the corporate world. Equally, we must obtain adequate understanding of how we use accounting in our everyday life, and how accounting could assist the people most affected by the effects of accounting scandals, economic conditions, and corporate collapses.

Professional identity of management accountants : leadership in changing environments

The professional identity of management accountants (MAs) is evolving. According to 8,727 descriptors expressed by 1,158 participants, a range of characteristics of MAs are competing in shaping the identity of future MAs. Respondents strongly valued qualities such as professional principles, hard work, intelligence, analytical and forward thinking in MAs. Further, more innovative, dynamic and people-oriented qualities were strongly suggested for future MAs, with roles relating to multi-skilled business integrator, business partner/advisor, leader, change agent, and decision enabler/maker. Cultivating leadership qualities in the management accounting profession is critical according to participants. Projecting a positive image of the profession and CIMA, and innovative training in management and leadership skills can further support MAs to meet future challenges. Most of all, understanding business and continued personal development by individual MAs is highly valued in shaping the future leadership identity of MAs. Our quantitative data show positive relationships between the professional identification, image and reputation, and leadership qualities of MAs. This suggests that the more one identifies with the profession, the more one is likely to report higher levels of leadership qualities that support members to internalise the desired meaning of their profession and to create a positive image and reputation. After the financial crisis of 2008–2009, the image of financial professions has been tarnished and unpredictable markets and unstable employment opportunities have challenged the profession across all sectors. Many respondents, especially CIMA members, suggested that the turmoil of the financial crisis did not impact negatively but rather elevated the pivotal role of MAs in contributing to cost efficiency and value creation.

Experimental studies of wireless communication and GNSS kinematic positioning performance in high-mobility vehicle environments

In order to support intelligent transportation system (ITS) road safety applications such as collision avoidance, lane departure warnings and lane keeping, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) based vehicle positioning system has to provide lane-level (0.5 to 1 m) or even in-lane-level (0.1 to 0.3 m) accurate and reliable positioning information to vehicle users. However, current vehicle navigation systems equipped with a single frequency GPS receiver can only provide road-level accuracy at 5-10 meters. The positioning accuracy can be improved to sub-meter or higher with the augmented GNSS techniques such as Real Time Kinematic (RTK) and Precise Point Positioning (PPP) which have been traditionally used in land surveying and or in slowly moving environment. In these techniques, GNSS corrections data generated from a local or regional or global network of GNSS ground stations are broadcast to the users via various communication data links, mostly 3G cellular networks and communication satellites. This research aimed to investigate the precise positioning system performances when operating in the high mobility environments. This involves evaluation of the performances of both RTK and PPP techniques using: i) the state-of-art dual frequency GPS receiver; and ii) low-cost single frequency GNSS receiver. Additionally, this research evaluates the effectiveness of several operational strategies in reducing the load on data communication networks due to correction data transmission, which may be problematic for the future wide-area ITS services deployment. These strategies include the use of different data transmission protocols, different correction data format standards, and correction data transmission at the less-frequent interval. A series of field experiments were designed and conducted for each research task. Firstly, the performances of RTK and PPP techniques were evaluated in both static and kinematic (highway with speed exceed 80km) experiments. RTK solutions achieved the RMS precision of 0.09 to 0.2 meter accuracy in static and 0.2 to 0.3 meter in kinematic tests, while PPP reported 0.5 to 1.5 meters in static and 1 to 1.8 meter in kinematic tests by using the RTKlib software. These RMS precision values could be further improved if the better RTK and PPP algorithms are adopted. The tests results also showed that RTK may be more suitable in the lane-level accuracy vehicle positioning. The professional grade (dual frequency) and mass-market grade (single frequency) GNSS receivers were tested for their performance using RTK in static and kinematic modes. The analysis has shown that mass-market grade receivers provide the good solution continuity, although the overall positioning accuracy is worse than the professional grade receivers. In an attempt to reduce the load on data communication network, we firstly evaluate the use of different correction data format standards, namely RTCM version 2.x and RTCM version 3.0 format. A 24 hours transmission test was conducted to compare the network throughput. The results have shown that 66% of network throughput reduction can be achieved by using the newer RTCM version 3.0, comparing to the older RTCM version 2.x format. Secondly, experiments were conducted to examine the use of two data transmission protocols, TCP and UDP, for correction data transmission through the Telstra 3G cellular network. The performance of each transmission method was analysed in terms of packet transmission latency, packet dropout, packet throughput, packet retransmission rate etc. The overall network throughput and latency of UDP data transmission are 76.5% and 83.6% of TCP data transmission, while the overall accuracy of positioning solutions remains in the same level. Additionally, due to the nature of UDP transmission, it is also found that 0.17% of UDP packets were lost during the kinematic tests, but this loss doesn't lead to significant reduction of the quality of positioning results. The experimental results from the static and the kinematic field tests have also shown that the mobile network communication may be blocked for a couple of seconds, but the positioning solutions can be kept at the required accuracy level by setting of the Age of Differential. Finally, we investigate the effects of using less-frequent correction data (transmitted at 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 60 seconds interval) on the precise positioning system. As the time interval increasing, the percentage of ambiguity fixed solutions gradually decreases, while the positioning error increases from 0.1 to 0.5 meter. The results showed the position accuracy could still be kept at the in-lane-level (0.1 to 0.3 m) when using up to 20 seconds interval correction data transmission.

Non-invasive method for detecting changes in soil moisture using wireless sensor networks

There are several popular soil moisture measurement methods today such as time domain reflectometry, electromagnetic (EM) wave, electrical and acoustic methods. Significant studies have been dedicated in developing method of measurements using those concepts, especially to achieve the characteristics of noninvasiveness. EM wave method provides an advantage because it is non-invasive to the soil and does not need to utilise probes to penetrate or bury in the soil. But some EM methods are also too complex, expensive, and not portable for the application of Wireless Sensor Networks; for example satellites or UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) based sensors. This research proposes a method in detecting changes in soil moisture using soil-reflected electromagnetic (SREM) wave from Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Studies have shown that different levels of soil moisture will affects soil’s dielectric properties, such as relative permittivity and conductivity, and in turns change its reflection coefficients. The SREM wave method uses a transmitter adjacent to a WSNs node with purpose exclusively to transmit wireless signals that will be reflected by the soil. The strength from the reflected signal that is determined by the soil’s reflection coefficients is used to differentiate the level of soil moisture. The novel nature of this method comes from using WSNs communication signals to perform soil moisture estimation without the need of external sensors or invasive equipment. This innovative method is non-invasive, low cost and simple to set up. There are three locations at Brisbane, Australia chosen as the experiment’s location. The soil type in these locations contains 10–20% clay according to the Australian Soil Resource Information System. Six approximate levels of soil moisture (8, 10, 13, 15, 18 and 20%) are measured at each location; with each measurement consisting of 200 data. In total 3600 measurements are completed in this research, which is sufficient to achieve the research objective, assessing and proving the concept of SREM wave method. These results are compared with reference data from similar soil type to prove the concept. A fourth degree polynomial analysis is used to generate an equation to estimate soil moisture from received signal strength as recorded by using the SREM wave method.

Teacher professional standards : mirage or miracle cure - an archaeology of professionalism in education

This thesis is a problematisation of the development and implementation of professional standards as the mechanism to enhance professionalism and teacher quality in the teaching force within Australia and, more specifically, Queensland. Drawing on tools from Foucauldian archaeological analysis, the dominant discourses of professionalism from the academic literature, Australian federal and state policy documents and narratives from Queensland teachers are examined. These data sets are then cross referenced, analysing the intersections and divergences between the different texts. Findings suggest that through policy, political strategy and derisory statements from various authoritative voices, the managerial discourse of professionalism through professional standards documents has been unduly privileged as a means of regulating teachers, despite the fact that teachers themselves do not share this dominant notion of professionalism. The teachers in this study proffer ‘new classical-practical professionalism’ as a counter discourse, or discourse of resistance, to managerialism. However, an application of Foucault’s theorisations on power-knowledge reveals that their spoken discourses mean they are in fact yielding to the discourse of professional standards as docile bodies.

Transforming habitus: Changing self, changing school

Since 2004, Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) students at a low socioeconomic area Australian urban secondary school have used participatory action research to investigate issues of disengagement and absenteeism among their peers. Their research revealed that Indigenous students, who made up about 8% to 10% of the school’s population lacked a sense of belonging to the school. The researchers also revealed an apparent official disregard of the academic or sporting achievements of Indigenous students and, more disturbingly, their presence within the school. The young researchers followed up their findings with action to address the issues. These actions have resulted in a positive change of culture across the whole school, with Indigenous students now able to express pride in their heritage and feel some degree of ownership of the school.

Using reflective practice assessment in the first year of law to encourage a positive professional identity and promote law student well-being

In this paper we argue that intentional curriculum design in the first year of law should encourage law students to develop an emergent sense of a positive professional identity. When first year law students engage with a nascent notion of a positive professional identity, their well-being is supported because their studies are informed and contextualised by a sense of purpose for their future professional life. In a first year law subject run for the first time at the QUT Law School in 2011, reflective practice was successfully used to achieve these goals. The paper discusses the subject, the opportunity of using reflective practice to teach a positive sense of professional identity, and some student perspectives on the subject’s design.

Australian Learning and Teaching Council, Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement for Architecture

The development of the Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement for Architecture (the Statement) centred on requirements for the Master of Architecture and proceeded alongside similar developments in the building and construction discipline under the guidance and support of the Australian Deans of Built Environment and Design (ADBED). Through their representation of Australian architecture programs, ADBED have provided high-level leadership for the Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Project in Architecture (LTAS Architecture). The threshold learning outcomes (TLOs), the description of the nature and extent of the discipline, and accompanying notes were developed through wide consultation with the discipline and profession nationally. They have been considered and debated by ADBED on a number of occasions and have, in their fi nal form, been strongly endorsed by the Deans. ADBED formed the core of the Architecture Reference Group (chaired by an ADBED member) that drew together representatives of every peak organisation for the profession and discipline in Australia. The views of the architectural education community and profession have been provided both through individual submissions and the voices of a number of peak bodies. Over two hundred individuals from the practising profession, the academic workforce and the student cohort have worked together to build consensus about the capabilities expected of a graduate of an Australian Master of Architecture degree. It was critical from the outset that the Statement should embrace the wisdom of the greater ‘tribe’, should ensure that graduates of the Australian Master of Architecture were eligible for professional registration and, at the same time, should allow for scope and diversity in the shape of Australian architectural education. A consultation strategy adopted by the Discipline Scholar involved meetings and workshops in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. Stakeholders from all jurisdictions and most universities participated in the early phases of consultation through a series of workshops that concluded late in October 2010. The Draft Architecture Standards Statement was formed from these early meetings and consultation in respect of that document continued through early 2011. This publication represents the outcomes of work to establish an agreed standards statement for the Master of Architecture. Significant further work remains to ensure the alignment of professional accreditation and recognition procedures with emerging regulatory frameworks cascading from the establishment of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). The Australian architecture community hopes that mechanisms can be found to integrate TEQSA’s quality assurance purpose with well-established and understood systems of professional accreditation to ensure the good standing of Australian architectural education into the future. The work to build renewed and integrated quality assurance processes and to foster the interests of this project will continue, for at least the next eighteen months, under the auspices of Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC)-funded Architecture Discipline Network (ADN), led by ADBED and Queensland University of Technology. The Discipline Scholar gratefully acknowledges the generous contributions given by those in stakeholder communities to the formulation of the Statement. Professional and academic colleagues have travelled and gathered to shape the Standards Statement. Debate has been vigorous and spirited and the Statement is rich with the purpose, critical thinking and good judgement of the Australian architectural education community. The commitments made to the processes that have produced this Statement reflect a deep and abiding interest by the constituency in architectural education. This commitment bodes well for the vibrancy and productivity of the emergent Architecture Discipline Network (ADN). Endorsement, in writing, was received from the Australian Institute of Architects National Education Committee (AIA NEC): The National Education Committee (NEC) of the Australian Institute of Architects thank you for your work thus far in developing the Learning and Teaching Academic Standards for Architecture In particular, we acknowledge your close consultation with the NEC on the project along with a comprehensive cross-section of the professional and academic communities in architecture. The TLOs with the nuanced levels of capacities – to identify, develop, explain, demonstrate etc – are described at an appropriate level to be understood as minimum expectations for a Master of Architecture graduate. The Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA) has noted: There is a clear correlation between the current processes for accreditation and what may be the procedures in the future following the current review. The requirement of the outcomes as outlined in the draft paper to demonstrate capability is an appropriate way of expressing the measure of whether the learning outcomes have been achieved. The measure of capability as described in the outcome statements is enhanced with explanatory descriptions in the accompanying notes.

An action research approach for the professional development of Vietnamese nurse educators

Nurse education in Viet Nam is undergoing substantial reform. In order to facilitate the change, in 2007 the Viet Nam Nurses Association formed a collaborative partnership with the School of Nursing and Midwifery at an Australia university. This collaboration gave rise to the Viet Nam Nursing Capacity Building Project under the leadership of Professor Genevieve Gray, funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies. The new four year competency based nursing curriculum frame is expected to be implemented in September 2011 following approval by the Viet Nam Ministry of Education. The focus of this paper is the Teaching Fellowships Program, an initiative of the Viet Nam Nursing Capacity Building Project, developed to help meet the challenges associated with leading and dealing with the curriculum change. The paper explores the development of the program and justifies an action research approach, illuminates key issues, and briefly refers to changes to the next fellowship program.

Putting the cart before the horse? Driving student engagement through first year career identity development in a large multidisciplinary creative industries cohort

It is now widely accepted that first year students benefit from pedagogies which mediate and support their transitions to university, and assist them to develop an adaptive student identity. We present an initiative which takes an alternative and additional approach to this way of viewing the first year experience. Based on research into creative industries career trajectories, this initiative focuses on the establishment of nascent career identity and professional self-concept amongst 600 first semester Bachelor of Creative Industries (BCI) students at QUT. The BCI is offered as a three year undergraduate program involving self-selection of majors, minors and electives, and also as a four year double degree with Business and Law faculties. Students engage in a scaffolded process of initial career visioning and reflective course planning, based on their own industry and careers research, guided by industry-active academic and careers staff, and drawing upon the experiences of final year students.

Social ties as key knowledge transfer agents between Indonesian and Australian universities : Perspectives from an Indonesian university

As two neighbouring countries, the number of transnational programs between Indonesian and Australian universities is significant. However, little is known about how transnational programs can facilitate knowledge transfer between the partner universities, which is often assumed by the Indonesian universities. Based on a case study regarding a dual degree program between an Indonesian and an Australian university, this paper outlines preliminary findings concerning the role of social ties between the staff of the two partner universities in creating positive inter-university dynamics that is vital for successful knowledge transfer. Using an inter-organisational knowledge transfer theoretical framework, social ties between the staff of the two universities are viewed as an important agent in facilitating knowledge transfer by building trust between the partners, moderating the perception about risk in the partnership, and creating a more equal power relation between the universities. Based on this study, Australian lecturers of Indonesian background and Indonesian lecturers who are alumni of Australian universities are important to initially establish these social ties. While face-to-face contact is still perceived as the ideal means of transferring knowledge and building trust among the Indonesian university staff, those who have stronger social ties with their Australian counterparts tend to use ICT-based communication to acquire knowledge from the Australian university compared to those who have more limited social ties with their Australian counterparts. This paper concludes with some implications for building positive social ties between Indonesian and Australian university staff to strengthen the knowledge transfer process.

Dynamics of rod and cone photoreceptor interactions under mesopic light levels

Visual adaptation regulates contrast sensitivity during dynamically changing light conditions (Crawford, 1947; Hecht, Haig & Chase, 1937). These adaptation dynamics are unknown under dim (mesopic) light levels when the rod (R) and long (L), medium (M) and short (S) wavelength cone photoreceptor classes contribute to vision via interactions in shared non-opponent Magnocellular (MC), chromatically opponent Parvocellular (PC) and Koniocellular (KC) visual pathways (Dacey, 2000). This study investigated the time-course of adaptation and post-receptoral pathways mediating receptor specific rod and cone interactions under mesopic illumination. A four-primary photostimulator (Pokorny, Smithson & Quinlan, 2004) was used to independently control the activity of the four photoreceptor classes and their post-receptoral visual athways in human observers. In the first experiment, the contrast sensitivity and time-course of visual adaptation under mesopic illumination were measured for receptoral (L, S, R) and post-receptoral (LMS, LMSR, L-M) stimuli. An incremental (Rapid-ON) sawtooth conditioning pulse biased detection to ON-cells within the visual pathways and sensitivity was assayed relative to pulse onset using a briefly presented incremental probe that did not alter adaptation. Cone.Cone interactions with luminance stimuli (L cone, LMS, LMSR) reduced sensitivity by 15% and the time course of recovery was 25± 5ms-1 (μ ± SEM). PC mediated (+L-M) chromatic stimuli sensitivity loss was less (8%) than for luminance and recovery was slower (μ = 2.95 ± 0.05 ms-1), with KC mediated (S cone) chromatic stimuli showing a high sensitivity loss (38%) and the slowest recovery time (1.6 ± 0.2 ms-1). Rod-Rod interactions increased sensitivity by 20% and the time course of recovery was 0.7 ± 0.2 ms-1 (μ ± SD). Compared to these interaction types, Rod-Cone interactions reduced sensitivity to a lesser degree (5%) and showed the fastest recovery (μ = 43 ± 7 ms-1). In the second experiment, rod contribution to the magnocellular, parvocellular and koniocellular post-receptoral pathways under mesopic illumination was determined as a function of incremental stimulus duration and waveform (rectangular; sawtooth) using a rod colour match procedure (Cao, Pokorny & Smith, 2005; Cao, Pokorny, Smith & Zele, 2008a). For a 30% rod increment, a cone match required a decrease in [L/(L+M)] and an increase in [L+M] and [S/(L+M)], giving a greenish-blue and brighter appearance for probe durations of 75 ms or longer. Probe durations less than 75 ms showed an increase in [L+M] and no change in chromaticity [L/(L+M) or S/(L+M)], uggesting mediation by the MC pathway only for short duration rod stimuli. s We advance previous studies by determining the time-course and nature of photoreceptor specific retinal interactions in the three post-receptoral pathways under mesopic illumination. In the first experiment, the time-course of adaptation for ON cell processing was determined, revealing opponent cell facilitation in chromatic PC and KC pathways. The Rod-Rod and Rod-Cone data identify previously unknown interaction types that act to maintain contrast sensitivity during dynamically changing light conditions and improve the speed of light adaptation under mesopic light levels. The second experiment determined the degree of rod contribution to the inferred post-eceptoral pathways as a function of the temporal properties of the rod signal. r The understanding of the mechanisms underlying interactions between photoreceptors under mesopic illumination has implications for the study of retinal disease. Visual function has been shown to be reduced in persons with age-related maculopathy (ARM) risk genotypes prior to clinical signs of the disease (Feigl, Cao, Morris & Zele, 2011) and disturbances in rod-mediated adaptation have been shown in early phases of ARM (Dimitrov, Guymer, Zele, Anderson & Vingrys, 2008; Feigl, Brown, Lovie-Kitchin & Swann, 2005). Also, the understanding of retinal networks controlling vision enables the development of international lighting standards to optimise visual performance nder dim light levels (e.g. work-place environments, transportation).

HRM in professional service firms : engendering commitment to what or whom?

Professional service firms (PSFs) present HR professionals with a number of unique challenges, as they share characteristics of both service and knowledge intensive organizations. While many of these firms are relying on High Commitment Work Practices (HCWPs) to enhance critical employee behaviors such as service quality and turnover, the analysis presented in this paper raises questions about traditional understandings of commitment in professional service environments. In particular, data from three Danish financial investment PSFs suggest that employees are more committed to developing and promoting their own professions than to the organization itself, which has important implications for the way in which HCWPs are designed and utilized. In addition, the focus of HCWP research has favored the use of social exchange theory as an underpinning framework for considering the impact of HR practices on employee commitment. In the context of PSFs, we question the applicability of social exchange theory and instead draw upon the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework (1982) to analyze how specific HRM practices contribute to the development of commitment, and to successful organizational outcomes in PSFs.

Selective essays in competitive environments

This thesis is a collection of essays that utilises descriptive and empirical tools to examine competitive environments such as in academia, superrich and sport. The essays capture different aspects of the winner-take-all phenomenon by looking at citation and publication inequality in a top tier economics journal namely the American Economic Review. How globalisation and corruption influence the accumulation of extraordinary wealth and finally, how in a fairly equal competition, that is in the National Rugby League in Australia, wearing red shirts could lead to a comparative advantage and hence, tip the balance between winning and losing. The results within academia indicate that a highly unequal distribution exist, in which only a few top authors or institutions produce the majority of output. Furthermore, the results obtained in the superrich environment indicate that corruption and globalisation enhances the accumulation of extraordinary wealth. Finally, the results in the sport environment are mixed. While we find support for a positive effect of wearing red jerseys in our descriptive analysis, we find a negative effect when we control at the team level. However, when we investigate the relative difference in the degree of redness between home and away team, we find a quite strong positive effect of wearing red shirts even after controlling at the team level.